Paella

Today I hosted girl's dinner at my place and I decided to make paella, it's a traditional Spanish dish that can be made with a combination of meats and seafood, depending on the chef's mood. I like to keep it simple and use just chicken, pork and shrimp. I have made it before whit mussels and calamari as well, but I just personally do not enjoy mussels at all....

It is very very easy to make this dish, it just takes a little bit of time:
Serves around 6 - 7 people

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 pound of shrimp
2 butterfly cut pork chops with no bones
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 large red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 chicken buillon cube
salt/pepper
Soy sauce
Whorcheshire sauce
1 tbs of dijon mustard
4 cups of rice

Preparation:
Slice the meats in small cubes, slice very thinly the peppers and onion, mix them with the chicken and pork in a bowl, sprinkle salt and pepper, add a generous pour of soy sauce and whorecheshire and mix, set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Peel the shrimp and mix with soy sauce and whorcheshire sauce, add the mustard and the garlic, minced. Let it rest in the fridge as well.

around 45 mins before serving:
In a large pan over medium - high heat add some olive oil and cook the pork and chicken mix, around 7 - 10 minutes. place it in a bowl and let it seat for a second.
In the same pan add a little more olive oil and cook the shrimp, around 6 - 8 minutes, set aside.
In a big sauce pan boil 4 cups of water with the chicken buillon, turn the heat off and add the 4 cups of rice, let it cook, when it is done add the cooked meats and shrimp and make sure to use the juices as well, stir until the rice is completely covered with the sauce and it's ready to serve!

You can also add some cilantro and achiote powder if you would like to make the rice a little more orange, by adding it in the boiling water.
If you would like to use mussels, you can cook them in white onions, garlic, white wine and parsley, boil the spices together add some season all and put the mussels, cook them until they open. If you see any mussels open before cooking discard them, that means they are not fresh!

Parsley is a great garnish!
Enjoy!

Perfect Omelet

Since I have been trying to eat healthier I have been exploring different ways to make meals not boring and healthy at the same time, although I have to eat lots and lots of salads, I also try to make fun breakfast dishes, since it is your first meal of the day, it is important to make sure you get all the balance to give you a great start.

In my Spinach Omelet I use:
1 small can of spinach, 80 calories
1/4 cups of Low Fat mixed cheese, 30 calories
2 large eggs, 156 calories
1/4 of a tomato
1/4 of a red onion
1 garlic clove

I make sure all the veggies are cubed very very small, and then with a drizzle of olive oil in a medium pan I saute the tomatoes, onion, garlic and spinach. Once that is cooked I whip the eggs and add salt and pepper, put it in the same pan used before and let it cook for 1 minute, add in one side (kind off more into the middle so you can close the omelet afterwards without breaking it) the veggies and top them with the cheese, close the omelet carefully and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, and voila! Delicious and healthy!!
Enjoy!

Snack time

Going forward with my healthy eating I was craving a snack while updating my blogs, so I decided to make myself a pot of fresh jazmine tea that I brought from China and to complement it I got I sheet of Honey Maid crackers, which have 120 calories per serving ( 2 whole sheets! ) if you want to get some more flavor you can spread I wedge of Light Laughing Cow cheese for 35 cals or Lucern Light Cream cheese for 120 calories for the whole little cup, which for me lasts like 2 or 3 servings! It's so easy to be healthy! Enjoy!!










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Healthy lunch!

Home made spinach salad, mix approximately one cup of fresh spinach with half a can of garbanzo beans (60 cals), 4-6 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 of an avocado, 1/4 of a sliced red onion, you can add grilled chicken for a protein! You an substitute the garbanzo beans for kidney beans, lentils or black eyed peas.... Super easy, yummy and healthy!

For your dressing use Marzetti dressing, their light mixes have 70 calories per serving (2 tablespoons, you an use half of that!)

Bonne appetite!




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Veal Picatta

I usually do not just copy stuff from other sites, but this dish is amazing and low in calories, it is from the Whole Foods website, I cooked it a couple of nights ago and it was amazing, fast and easy! The only change I made is that I sauteed the capers with some lemon juice before cooking the meat in the pan, think it gives the veal more flavor! 

Serves 2

Pair this classic combination of veal, capers, lemon and parsley with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Ingredients

6 ounces 365 Everyday Value Enriched Egg Noodles
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon butter, divided
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, divided
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 boneless top round veal scaloppine (about 1/3 pound total)
Salt & ground black pepper to taste
2/3 cup 365 Everyday Value Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 tablespoon 365 Everyday Value Organic Capers, drained
2 lemon wedges

Method

Cook noodles. Toss with 1 teaspoon butter and 1 tablespoon parsley, divide between 2 plates and keep warm. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season veal with salt and pepper and cook, flipping once, until golden brown and just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes total; remove from pan, place atop noodles and keep warm. Return skillet to heat, add broth and simmer until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon each butter and parsley, capers, salt and pepper; pour sauce over veal and noodles and serve with lemon wedges.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 13oz/369g-wt.): 500 calories (190 from fat), 21g total fat, 7g saturated fat, 135mg cholesterol, 520mg sodium, 53g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 1g sugar), 24g protein

Light and delicious!

Since the holidays are just around the corner and we need to fit in that cute black dress for the Company's Christmas party, I have decided I am going to post some recipies that will make you not only feel full and good, but also that are low on calories.

You can start your day with a Light Vanilla Activia Yougurt, I absolutely love this kind, it is sweet and not as heavy as most of the other other there, perfect to mix it with your favorite fruit! And it is only 70 calories!

In my case I like to add 1/2 a cup of my favorite cereal, today I used Honey Nut Chex, that gives you 160 calories per 3/4 of a cup, so you roughly have 120 calories here. Then I added 2 strawberries sliced, the calories in these are between 7 and 10 each, so you assume you have 20 more calories here. Then I top it with a drizzle of my favorite raw nuts, for me walnuts do the trick but you can add pecans, almonds, anything! The caloric intake should not be more than 60 calories in the walnuts, that is if you put a quantities similar to 3 whole walnuts... remember this is to add crunch not to add consistency.

Roughly you consumed 250 calories, which most of them are not from fat, so you would be able to burn them easily throughout your morning!

If you are hungry in the middle of the morning you can have lots and lots of hot tea and a banana, or you can also get different varieties of 100 clories snacks!

Food Trucks

This has been an increasing trend, now you see food trucks all over the city, today i tried my first one.... H town Streats, they set up shop at Willard and Montrose on Tuesdays, their menu is short but precise and very reasonably priced.



Great option if you are on the run!




Let me know some other ones you love!!

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Easy BBQ Pork Ribs

Serves 6 people
Prep Time: 20 - 30 mins
Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 racks of pork ribs
Kosher salt
Dried thyme
Dried rosemary
Freshly ground pepper
1 small bottle of soy sauce
1 cup of brown sugar
1 small bbq sauce bottle (your personal favorite)

Instructions:

Lay the pork ribs in a large disposable aluminum tray, cover the ribs with soy sauce and let them simmer for 10 minutes. Get rid of the excess of soy sauce, noticing that your ribs should have a light glaze over them.

In a separate bowl mix a generous amount of thyme and rosemary with the brown sugar, add a pinch of salt and grind enough pepper to sprinkle both racks. Make a nice rub with the igredients.

Cover the ribs with the rub make sure you cover the back and front of the rack and put aside, turn the grill on medium/high heat and wait for it to get into 450 - 500 degrees.

Put the whole tray in the grill and close for 1.5 hours, you will see that the rub melted and the ribs are nice and covered in sugar. With a brush gently cover the front and back of the ribs with bbq sauce and flash seare them on each side. (3 - 4 minuutes at the time) Then set the ribs back into the aluminum tray and with a spoon cover them with the juices that have been dripped on the tray.

Lower the heat to medium and keep smoking them for as long as you want (minimum of 30 more minutes) your ribs will be so tender and yummy everyone will go back for seconds!

Tip: You can slice apples or pears and place them under the ribs in the aluminum tray for aroma. You can also add some honey into the bbq sauce to make it sweeter!

Caldwell Wine tasting

My husband and I in our last visit to Napa had the pleasure to meet the owner of Caldwell Vineyards, John Caldwell is so much fun, filled with anecdotes and love for wine.



We had the best time ever, we sampled over 10 wines and chatted for 3 hours! Can't wait to come back!

The private cave drilled where the barrels are store is breath taking, very personal and cozy perfect for some vino and cheeses!












My favorite wine was the Rose Zinfandel and the Syrah Port! Can't get enough!!!

Tastings are by appointment only, believe me you don't want to miss this opportunity if you around Napa!

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Easiest Cold Salad Ever!

 My husband and I always have dinner parties at our house, it is always a hard decision what to serve, specially since we have only one oven and we like to make sure we an appetizer/salad dish, an entree with some side dishes and a dessert.. So it is nice to be able to put together some simple dishes that you can prepare ahead of time and save in the fridge until dinner! This is one of my favorites:

Bowtie pasta with Italian Sausage and Spinach; ingredients:
(serves 6)

1 box of bowtie pasta
5 mild italian sausages (you can also mix hot italian sausages to add a little kick to the salad)
2 bundles of fresh spinach
1 medium white onion
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese

 In a medium size skillet cook the chopped onion and garlic for a couple of minutes, then peel the sausages and add to the mix, cook for around 10 - 15 minutes or until you see the sausage turn brownish instead of red, make sure you cook the sausage all the way. Don't forget to break the sausage in big chunks, so you can have some meat on every bite!

In a separate deep skillet bring water to a boil and cook the spinach, just for a couple of minutes, until it becomes soft and with a bright green color. Remove from the water and put it in a bowl filled with iced water, this makes the spinach maintain it's vivid color until serving!

Chop the spinach into big pieces, you don't want it to be too stringy once people are eating it.

Cook the pasta and mix it with the sausage, you do not have to use the whole box of pasta, it depends of how meaty you want the salad to be, we like to use the whole box an make sure people can have seconds!

After you make sure the stir well the pasta with the sausage add the spinach, making sure you mix it well so you can get everything on each bite, add parmessan cheese to taste.
Cheers!

Chicken with Artichokes and Capers

Oh my gosh, I had never tried to make this, but I will have to say kuddos for me! lol

First I started by pat drying a chicken breast, then with a very sharp knife I cut open the breast into one big thin piece. (My technique, cut 1/3 on the top not getting to the edge of the breast, open it like a book and then from that same end cut another fillet to the opposite end, again not getting to the end)

Season the open breast with salt and pepper, with the mallet gently hit the breast to make sure the thickness is even all around. Set aside and sprinkle olive oil.

Cut 2 garlic cloves in small squares, use 3 table spoons of capers and 1/3 of a can of artichoke hearts, cut one lemon in 4 pieces. (For the artichoke, i like to cut the top part off, to make sure you are only getting the softer ends of the heart)

In a medium size skillet drizzle a little bit of olive oil, mix the capers and artichoke hearts with the garlic and saute for 4 minutes, then squeeze the lemon juice on top of them and add 1 table spoon of butter, keep sauteing for another 3 minutes and add a tiny bit of all purpose flour to add thickness. Afterwards add 1/4 of a cup a heavy whipping cream, and whip it!

In a separate pan put the other garlic clove with a little bit of olive oil and cook the chicken breast, about 5 minutes on each side, or until you see a little bit of brown in the meat. Add the mix of capers and artichoke with it's juices and keep cooking the chicken breast for another 4 minutes.

And voila! It is ready to serve!

Stone Crabs @ Trulucks

If you are in the Houston area on a Monday night, you HAVE to stop by Trulucks! They have $60.00 all you can eat fresh Florida's Stone Crabs!

I have been craving stone crabs for a while so yesterday I asked my husband to take me there, we were so impressed, not only we had to wait for 15 minutes for our table cause on a Monday night at 9 pm, the restaurant was full! Wuju! guess the recession passed through Houston without much damage... But the atmosphere was very cheerful, the piano was playing, jazz in the backgrounds, drinks everywhere and medium size stone crab claws floating around!

We sat down, and you have a choice of soup or salad, or both to start with, portions are very generous, and when you are ready to attack the stone crabs, a group of broken claws come your way, between 8 - 7 on the first serving, giving you enough to cover the $60.00 right there. You also have a choice of any of their side dishes, we choose sweet potato fries that were delicious! and grilles asparagus. After you are done with your first tray, the server asks you if you would like some more and brings smaller servings of 3 claws at a time until you satisfy your appetite. I made it through 13 of them...

We enjoyed a bottle of sauvignon blanc, and finish our evening with a delicious carrot cake! The service was excellent and the environment was fabulous! Highly recommend it!