Orange Asparagus

We got some fresh asparagus in our produce box this past week. I have never cooked fresh asparagus so started searching for recipes. I found this one in a Weight Watchers cookbook that I got for Christmas.

Orange Asparagus - 4 servings
1 pound fresh asparagus, cleaned well and cut or broken into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (this was the juice of one orange)
salt and pepper to taste




Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil. Place asparagus in the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes.
Drain. Return to pan and stir in the orange zest, juice, salt and pepper.
Serve immediately.

Italian Zucchini Pie

This is another recipe I have had from many years ago. DH is not a fan of zucchini so I never make it but had to try it today. (I had two servings for lunch) I think if he just tries it, he will like it. 

 Italian Zucchini Pie 6 servings (if you are using an 8 inch pie crust/pan, cut the recipe in half)

 4 c thinly sliced zucchini (no need to peel it)

 1 c chopped onion 

1/4 c margarine (I had some butter so used that - I'm sure that made it taste better)

 2 Tbsp dried parsley or 1/2 c chopped fresh parsley 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

1/4 tsp garlic powder 

1/4 tsp basil

 1/4 tsp oregano (I used a little more as I really like oregano) 

2 eggs 

8 oz mozzarella, shredded 

10 inch pie crust

 2 tsp prepared mustard (I used dijon) 

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

 Cook and stir zucchini and onion in margarine about 4 minutes. Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano and cook 1-2 minutes longer. It will be a litle watery. Using a slotted spoon, remove zucchini from pan and place in a large mixing bowl. Discard liquid. (I could have eaten the zucchini just like this as a side dish. Will have to remember that for another meal.) Slightly beat the eggs and add to the zucchini. Add the 2 cups cheese. Stir to mix well. Spread mustard in bottom of prepared pie crust. I did not measure - just squirted some in the pie crust and spread with the back of a spoon. Pour in zucchini mixture and spread evenly. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Cucumber/Zucchini Salad

This salad can be made with cucumbers, zucchini or a combination of both. I think it would also be good with some sliced onion added. I have this recipe from many years ago when olive oil and red wine vinegar were not commonly used (at least not in small town Midwest USA).
The original called for 2 Tbsp oil, that probably would have been Mazola corn oil or Wesson oil. Seems like that is all we had then. Two TBSP seemed like a lot so I cut it in half and used olive oil. I love red wine vinegar so chose that instead of plain old white distilled or cider vinegar.


Cuke/Zuke Salad 4 servings

1 large cucumber or zucchini, sliced (about 4 cups)
1-2 Tbsp finely cut fresh dill (I did not have fresh so used about 1/2 tsp dried. You can adjust for your own taste.)
2 Tbsp low fat or fat free sour cream
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper

Slice cuke/zuke and place in large bowl. Sprinkle with dill.



Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over vegetables.


Chill at least an hour or two.

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana

I got this recipe from Weight Watchers online. I believe it was a community recipe. I may have changed it just a little - my version is 7 PointsPlus.

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana - 6 serving - 7 PointsPlus each
5 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 cup dried plain bread crumbs
4 egg whites
1 medium eggplant ( approx 1 lb after trimming, 1/4 inch slices)
14 oz tomato sauce
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
2 cups mozzarella part skim, shredded
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with nonstick spray (I put aluminum foil on my baking sheets and sprayed the foil)


Combine the flour, oregano and black pepper in a shallow bowl. Beat the egg whites in a second shallow bowl. Put the bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl.


Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, place in the flour turning once so both sides are lightly coated.


Dip the floured slice into the beaten egg whites. Lastly, dredge the slice with bread crumbs to coat both sides.


Place in single layer on the baking sheets. Spray tops of all the slices with cooking spray.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes - turn and bake another 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meanwhile mix tomato sauce, garlic powder and Italian seasoning in a bowl. Spray bottom of 9 x 13 casserole dish. Spoon 1-2 Tbsp of tomato sauce in dish and spread to lightly coat the bottom.
Layer half the eggplant on top of the sauce in the dish. Spoon half of the remaining tomato sauce over the layer of eggplant. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella.
Place rest of eggplant slices on the cheese - cover with remaining tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.


Bake 12 -14 minutes (I was baking dinner rolls so the oven was set at 350 degrees so I baked about 15 minutes. Since the eggplant is already cooked you just need to heat it through and melt the cheeses).

Orange Chicken and Broccoli

Orange Chicken with Broccoli (4 servings - 5 Points Plus each)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
2 1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour (divided)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup fat free chicken broth
1 tsp minced garlic
2 1/2 cup uncooked broccoli, small florets and cut up stems
2 tsp orange zest
Juice of one orange

Cut chicken into thin slices or bite size pieces. Place in a large bowl and toss with the flour, sale and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet until water sizzles. Place chicken in skillet in a single layer and cook until lightly browned - about 5 minutes - turning as needed. Remove to a plate.
Put 1 cup of the broth and the garlic in the skillet and bring to a boil, scraping the browned chicken pieces from the skillet. Add broccoli, cover and cook 1 minute.

In a small cup, stir together remaining 1/2 cup of broth, 1/2 tablespoon flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt, add to skillet and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Cover and cook until broccoli is crisp tender and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in chicken and orange zest; heat through.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in orange juice.


Serve over rice.

Jello Ribbon Salad

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
5 small packages of gelatin - I use strawberry, orange, lemon, lime and berry blue for a rainbow salad but you can do all the same color or alternate with two colors - whatever you like
2 cups sour cream
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold water - plus about 5 cups boiling water
2 tsp vanilla

Stir the unflavored gelatin into 1/2 cup cold water to soften. Stir in 2 cups sour cream.

Meanwhile, put 2 cups milk and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Stir the hot milk mixture into the sour cream, add 2 tsp vanilla and set aside.
Dissolve first flavor of gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. My first layer was the strawberry.


Pour strawberry gelatin in a 9 x 13 glass casserole. Place in refrigerator until set.




Pour a little more than 1 cup of the sour cream and milk mixture over the strawberry jello it is set. It helps to pour into a spoon placed just above the jello. This allows the mixture to gently spread across the gelatin and not break it up. Place in the refrigerator to set the white layer.


Meanwhile you can dissolve color number 2 (orange for my recipe) in 1 cup boiling water. I usually place this in the refrigerator to chill but you do not want it to set.

Gently pour the second color layer over the white layer. Here I hit the white layer with the backside of the spoon and disturbed it. You can see some of the white floating in the orange. You can also see the red layer through the white - it happens! This won't be visible when the salad is finished and when you cut it into serving pieces, most people won't even notice.

Chill to set the orange layer, then repeat with another white layer (just a little more than a cup).
While the second white layer is chilling, dissolve color number three - the yellow/lemon gelatin.

Gently pour the lemon gelatin over the white layer. This one came out much better and you can't even tell there was a mishap underneath :-)

Chill the yellow layer and repeat another layer of white.
While this third layer of white is chilling, dissolve color #4 (green/lime) in 1 cup boiling water.

After the green sets, add another layer of white using what is left and then the blue gelatin.

And here is the result.

And a side view - it looks very impressive when you cut it in squares and serve one a small salad plate. Or you can just scoop it out with a spoon :-)

One year on July 4th I made this using red and blue gelatin with the white stripes. I layered them blue, white, red, white, blue, white, red, white and instead of putting a solid blue layer on top I poured the last blue layer in a separate pan and when it chilled I used a star cookie cutter to cut out 'jiggler' stars. I place them randomly on the white layer. When we arrived at the picnic, the blue stars had slid around on the white layer - but the white was dyed blue where they had been - it was sort of cute !

Wedding Recipes

Several people have requested these recipes from DD#1's wedding reception. They are easy - easy!

Italian Cream Cheese
1 brick cream cheese (low fat works fine)
1 package Good Seasons salad dressing mix (dry)

Pour dry salad dressing mix onto a plate and spread it out in a thin layer. Unwrap the cream cheese and roll it in the dressing mix covered completely with the mix.
Place on a clean plate and serve with crackers.


Blueberry Punch (makes 1/2 gallon)

1 envelope of Kool-Aid - Berry Blue
1/2 c sugar
6 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate
Water
Vanilla ice cream

Mix the Kool-Aid, sugar and lemonade concentrate in a 2 quart pitcher. Add water to make 2 quarts. Pour into punch bowl. Add scoops of ice cream if desired.

The original recipe was one my Aunt Betty sent in for DD#1's cookbook. It used raspberry kool-aid and orange juice concentrate. We wanted blue punch for the wedding so we tried this combination and it was a hit!