2 wonderfully WLS friendly recipes.

Ratatouille

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced thin
2 tsp minced garlic (used jarred minced garlic)
1/2 firm eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes (3 cups)
1/2 lb small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces (1 1/2 cups)
1 small bell pepper (any color) cut into 1 inch strips (1 1/2 cups)
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1TBL fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp fresh marjoram, or 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
~In a large saucepan heat 1 TBLspoon oil over med. heat and add onions and garlic. Cover & cook over med-low heat for 10 min. Stirring a few times until almost tender, but not browned.
~ Meanwhile, in lrg skillet heat 2 TBLspoon oil until hot (but not smoking!) and add eggplant & cook for 5 min. tossing several times until light brown
~add remaining TBLspoon oil and zucchini along with bell peppers & cook for 5 min, or until veggies are crisp-tender.
~add onion mixture to skillet and cook uncovered over med-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring a few times
~add tomatoes, thyme, marjoram, salt, & pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, until veggies are tender, but not mushy.
~serve hot, or at room temp

What I did:
I needed protein, and my hubby needed a protein as well. So I sprayed a small skillet with Pam and quickly cut up some sausage (4 turkey sausage links) and fried them to put a nice crisp on it and then dumped them in along with the tomatoes to allow them simmer with everything else and lend that wonderful sausage flavor to the dish!

Conclusion:
This has a BEAUTIFUL flavor! We had only one half serving left over (which is good! since leftover are wasted in my house since my surgery! hehe). This is really a simple, quick stew. The flavors are soo great and wonderful together. Just a nice dish. Great for us WLS peps! My family enjoyed a fresh slice of french bread with some Bree cheese on it as a side and for dipping. I had a few slices of the Bree (great protein!) and the cheese is wonderfully mild flavored and just soo creamy!! We will TOTALLY be making this again! I do think it's going to be a staple in our house at least once a month or every other month. WOOT!


Yummy Ratatioulle!!! This is what I had for my snack and filled me up soo much!



Singapore Chicken

Ingredients:
1 TBL olive oil
4 tsp curry powder
1 lrg onion, sliced
1 lb chicken breast cutlets, trimmed of fat and cubed
1 can pineapple chunks in juice, drained and juice reserved
1 TBL cornstarch
1 cup fresh or canned mung bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
1 TBLS reduced-sodium soy sauce

Directions:
~in a med skillet mix oil & 3 tsp curry powder over med. heat until it starts to bubble
~Stir in onion and heat on med-low heat, cover and coo****il onions are tender, about 6 min.
~Stir in chicken, cover and cook over med heat til meat is no longer pink
~meanwhile in a small bowl combine pineapple juice & cornstarch and add to chicken mixture and cook on high heat until bubbling then reduce heat to low.
~Stir in pineapples chunks, bean sprouts, and soy sauce with remaining tsp curry powder. Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes.
~remove from heat and let stand for five minutes for flavors to combine.

Conclusion:
I sampled this dish as I was cooking it. I had to add 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 TBLS sesame oil and 1/8th tsp red pepper. It was WONDERFUL when I added all these spices! Yummy goodness!
I made almond brown rice with Indian spices added to the boiling rice water along with olive oil and slivered almonds. My husband LOVED it!! I had a small taste and it was really good. hehe

The chicken tasted soo wonderful the day after!! All those spices got to marry and mix and just sit and flavor that chicken and it was soo good!! Oh my gosh!! This is going to be a great make ahead dish and reheat when crunched for time!

My hubby's plate with the almond rice I made for him. He LOVED it!!