Broccoli Salad Revised

One of my go-to recipes, before I actually cooked, was a cold broccoli salad. You know the kind, made with a mayonnaise/vinegar/sugar dressing with raisins or craisins, cashews, and the like. Well I found the following recipe for a Broccoli Crunch Slaw from Everybody Likes Sandwiches (which is quite true, who doesn't like sandwiches??)

Anyway, looking for a quick, healthy, good, different dinner I decided to make this new twist on an old favorite.

Ingredients:
- 1 large head of broccoli
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- 1/4 c roasted almonds, chopped
- 1/4 c dried cranberries
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt (I used 0% fat)
- 2 tbsp mayo (I used fat free)
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- dash of hot sauce
- squirt of honey
- salt and pepper to taste
(FYI - the dash and squirt terms are straight from the original)

Directions:
- Use a large knife to thinly chop up the broccoli into a rough slaw. Dump into a medium sized bowl along with the red onion, almonds, and cranberries.
- Put the remaining ingredients into a small jar with a lid and shake.
- Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Pour onto broccoli slaw and toss until everything is coated


The final verdict? Just ok. It was tasty, though I think I prefer cashews to almonds and I would've liked it to have been a little sweeter. Maybe I should've added a dash or pinch of sugar. I got a heaping 3 portions out of this, making it about 2 pts/serving.

More Mac and Cheese

We've already established my love affair with macaroni and cheese and since I really do have at least six different types bookmarked I pulled one out of the bag to make for a friend's Fourth of July BBQ yesterday. This recipe hails from The Food Network and is Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese.

Ingredients
1/2 pound elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp powdered mustard
3 cups milk (I used fat free milk)
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf (I opted not to use this)
1/2 tsp paprika
1 large egg
12 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I used 2%)
1 tsp kosher salt
fresh black pepper
Topping: 3 tbsp butter and 1 cup bread crumbs

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf if you used, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
- Temper in the egg*. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
- Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.


*I had no clue what "temper in the egg" was so after looking it up this was what I found: to gently heat egg yolks before adding to a hot sauce by adding a small bit of the sauce and beating well; this technique prevents curdling. Basically, you beat the egg then add a tbsp of the sauce and continue to beat before adding to the large pot.

This turned out great! The recipe said it yields 6-8 servings, but because it was more of a casserole it was easy to cut it into pieces. I got about 12 out of it, making it 6 pts/serving. And definitely worth it! I received lots of compliments on the dish and even heard the words "Laura is a the bomb cook!" Talk about an ultimate compliment for someone who has just begun to cook! In any case, one more mac and cheese recipe down... only a half dozen more to go!

Bruschetta for Book Club

I actually made this recipe last week for book club, but am a little delayed in posting. Anyway, a friend organized a book club (my very first!) so for our first get together I wanted to make some sort of yummy/sophisticated appetizer. The final decision was Bruschetta with Peach Salsa and Brie from In Good Taste. Brie is probably my least favorite cheese, but I know most people love it and I thought this sounded like a fresh, summery dish, perfect for book club. And it was!

Ingredients
2 large peaches, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups - so I ended up using 3 peaches)
1 large red bell pepper, chopped finely
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
dash of ground cayenne pepper (I didn't have any so substituted chili powder)
8 oz french bread baguette
4 oz chilled Brie cheese

Directions
Prepare salsa: In a medium bowl, mix peaches, bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, sugar, lime juice, and chili pepper.
Arrange bread slices in an even layer on a baking sheet. Top each bread slice with 1 piece of cheese; broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts and bread is toasted. Remove pan from oven.
Assemble bruschetta: Top each bread slice with about 1 1/2 tbsp of the fruit salsa.
Serve immediately.

The original recipe said 24 pieces (slices of bread), but I was able to get about 27. Points value is 1 pt/1 piece of bruschetta.

The end result? A big hit with the book club! People really seemed to enjoy it. Plus there was extra salsa that was put out to enjoy with chips! Considering there were several meat options, this ended up being a great vegetarian option! Success indeed!