Lightened-Up Buffalo Chicken Salad

One of my favorite meals out is a buffalo chicken salad from Granite City.  I've never been brave enough to look up the nutrition, but I know it's bad! My mother-in-law saw this recipe on "Cook Yourself Thin" and passed it along to me.  It was wonderful! In my opinion, the highlight was the creamy blue cheese dressing! Since starting weight watchers I've been sticking to vinaigrette dressings to save points, but this dressing is low in points and delicious! Next time I plan to add diced tomatoes and black olives to the salad!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons hot sauce (more if you like hot)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound chicken tenders
1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs or Panko bread crumbs (I used regular bread crumbs)
 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
6 celery stalks, thinly sliced

Dressing Ingredients:
 1 ounce crumbled blue cheese (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons nonfat or low-fat buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper.


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the hot sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt in a shallow dish until well blended. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2. Put the bread crumbs shallow dish. Dredge each chicken tender in the bread crumbs, completely coating both sides. Transfer to the rack of a broiler pan or to a metal rack fitted over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, turning once, until chicken is cooked through and crust is golden brown, about 12 minutes.

3. While the chicken is baking, stir together the cheese, yogurt, buttermilk and pepper. Toss with the lettuce and celery until well coated. Divide the dressed greens and chicken tenders among 4 serving plates and serve immediately.

This recipe serves 4 at 6 weight watchers points per serving.

Quesadillas

A few weeks ago my sister in law told me about these awesome 1 point tortillas! I had heard of them, but I'd never been able to find them at the store. She told me where to find them at Dominick's, and when I found them I knew I wanted to try to make a lightened-up quesadilla! Here's the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients:

2 Tortilla Shells (note: one  tortilla shell is 1 ww pt, but 2 shells are 3 pts)

1/4 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese

2Tbs light sour cream

2Tbs chunky salsa

1Tsp olive oil

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together salsa and sour cream; set aside.  Add 1/2 tsp of the olive oil to a skillet. Place one tortilla in the pan spreading it around to coat the bottom side with oil.  Spread the sour cream mixture over the tortilla.  Evenly sprinkle the cheese over the sour cream mixture.  Cover with the second shell and cook over medium heat.  Watch carefully! When cheese is melted and the bottom tortilla is slightly brown and crispy, remove the quesadilla to a plate.  Add the other 1/2 tsp of the olive oil to the pan and return the quesadilla to the pan, uncooked side down. Cook for another few minutes or until bottom tortilla is crispy. Cut into four triangles and enjoy!

The entire quesadilla is 7 weight watcher points

Easy Vegetarian Lima Beans

I might be in the minority on this one, but I LOVE  lima beans, especially the ones from Cracker Barrel.  I decided to try to make a lighter copy-cat version, and I'm really pleased with how they came out.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. bag of frozen lima beans

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 chicken bullion cube

1Tbs light butter spread (I used Brummel & Brown)

1 clove of garlic, pealed and slightly smashed

 garlic salt, black pepper,  & onion powder to taste

Directions 

Add chicken broth  and bullion to a pot and bring to a boil. Add lima beans and enough water just to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low; add all other ingredients, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until beans are tender. 

One cup of beans is 2 weight watcher points .

Pizza/Pasta Casserole

This is a recipe I made out of left-over ingredients in my fridge and pantry.  I'm already thinking of ways to change it and make it better for next time. Since we had so many pizza toppings left over, I decided to try turning them into a casserole! It would be easy to incorporate all of your favorite pizza toppings and make this your own! If the points are too high for you, you could use less cheese or leave out the pepperoni and make it a vegetarian casserole by adding green pepper, mushrooms and spinach.

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups of Barilla Plus Rotini Pasta (Aldi now makes their own brand of plus pasta!)
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 jar (6 servings) of marinara sauce
26 slices of pepperoni (I used regular, but you could use turkey pepperoni to make it even lower in points)
dried oregano or italian seasoning

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta on stove top until almost soft; leave slightly al dente. Drain pasta and pour it into a greased baking dish.  Pour pasta sauce over top.  Slice 16 of the pepperoni slices into small squares; add to casserole dish.  Add one cup of the cheese.  Stir well.  Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese evenly over top and arrange the last 10 pepperoni on top.  Sprinkle with desired amount of oregano or italian seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese melted.

If you cut into 8 servings, each serving is 6 weight watcher points
If you cut into 6 servings, each serving is 8 weight watcher points

Feta-Stuffed Zucchini

I just tried these for the first time, and they are AMAZING!!! It was so yummy, I forgot I was eating a vegetable! If you like zucchini, you should definitely give these a try!

Ingredients:
2 zucchini (about 7 inches long, halved lengthwise)
1 tablespoon Brummel & Brown or other low-fat butter spread
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg white
1 1/2 tablespoon flour
2 ounces feta, crumbled
Paprika

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an ovenproof dish. With a small knife, cut around the zucchini, leaving a rim. Cross hatch the center, then scoop out with a grapefruit knife or the tip of a small spoon.

In a small skillet, melt the butter until shimmery. Add the zucchini scoopings, shallot and garlic and saute until soft.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white lightly. Stir in the flour, feta and cooked zucchini. Stuff the zucchini boats. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for 25 minutes 30 minutes, then brown slightly under the broiler.

The entire batch is only 5 weight watcher points! :-)

Mexican Beans and Rice

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 cups hot cooked rice (microwavable for speed or parboiled)
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen sweet corn
• 1 15-ounce can less sodium black beans or pinto beans
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a medium skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, sauté onions and jalapeno peppers until softened. Sprinkle cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add rice, crushed tomatoes, sweet corn and black beans, and simmer for 10 minutes. Top with 2% shredded cheddar and serve as a side or a vegetarian main dish.

Recipe makes 6 serving.  Each serving is 5 weight watcher points.

White Bean Chicken Chili

This was something new I decided to try.  It's great topped with low-fat cheese and sour cream!

Ingredients:
2 cans white beans (undrained)
1 small can chicken broth
1 jar picante sauce
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the crock pot.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork.

This makes 8 one-cup servings at 4 weight watchers points per cup.