Three Dinner Recipes

I thought it might be nice to make a post about some of the food I have been making for dinner lately.  I took pictures of three meals I have made this past week and I will do a little review on them here for you.

First up is Three Cheese Garden Pizza!  I love pizza.  In fact, pizza and chips are my Achilles heel.  There is no need to order pizza out, it is super easy to make at home!  I like to keep a refrigerated package of pizza dough from Pillsbury on hand for when I want to throw a pizza together.  I like this pizza because it has a lot of vegetables in it and it is a great pizza for any and all vegetarians.  I make this in the Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan, but you could also make it on a round pizza stone as well.

I took a few pieces out before I remembered to take a picture.  I love this pizza!

Ingredients
1 package (10 ounces) refrigerated pizza crust
1 small onion, sliced into rings
1 medium zucchini, sliced
2   plum tomatoes, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2   garlic cloves, pressed
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Roll pizza crust into a 14-inch circle on Pizza Stone. Bake crust 7 minutes. Remove from oven; Slice onion, zucchini and tomatoes. Slice mushrooms Using Garlic Press, press garlic over crust; spread evenly. Sprinkle mozzarella and cheddar cheeses evenly over crust; top evenly with onion, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Grate Parmesan cheese over vegetables using Rotary Grater. Sprinkle with seasoning mix. Bake 15-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown; remove from oven. Cut into wedges.

Recipe can be found on the Pampered Chef Website HERE  

Notes: I despise mushrooms and therefore I leave them out.  If you have a vegetable slicer (such as the Pampered Chef Ultimate Mandoline or the Simple Slicer this recipe goes super fast)  Did you know that pre-baking the crust prevents the crust from getting soggy from the tomatoes?
8 servings: Calories 210, Total Fat 9 g, Saturated Fat 5 g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Carbohydrate 21 g, Protein 12 g, Sodium 450 mg, Fiber 1 g
Points Plus Value: 6 points per slice

 Next up is a spin off a recipe that my friend Casey VanWagenen posted on Facebook the other day.  It is Butternut Squash Curry Soup and you can find the original recipe HERE

I decided that this would be really good served with chicken over rice to make a real curry.  I also decreased the amount of curry by about a tsp.  When I cooked the chicken I cooked two chicken breasts in my Pampered Chef Round Covered Baker on HIGH in the microwave for 15 minutes.  I seasoned it with a mild Indian Curry rub that PC no longer sells :-(  But you could season it with any Indian seasoning you like, or even just plain curry powder.  If you like curry, this is a really good dish.  Also, when I made this my blender was dirty so I cut the butternut squash in half, and baked it at 425 deg for an hour and 15 minutes (super easy to do) and then scraped out the inside and plopped it into the soup.  Worked just as well.  I also thought that it tasted just fine without the honey and I didn't add the yogurt.  This dish is very flavorful and filling and very healthy!  I cooked brown rice in this photo

Since it is a soup it is a little watery, but that adds a ton of flavor to the rice!

 Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (2 1/2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more, to taste
2 tablespoons honey

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat in a 6-quart stockpot. Add onions and garlic and saute until soft but not brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the butternut squash, broth, curry powder and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat stir in honey and puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender until smooth. Season with salt, to taste.

Ladle into serving bowls and add a dollop of yogurt.

Nutritional Analysis (Per Serving)
Calories: 295 Total fat: 6.5g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 415mg Carbohydrates: 56g Protein: 11.5g Fiber: 7.5g

 Third and Finally, the recipe I made tonight: General Tsaos Chicken.  This was so easy to make. It is originally a Weight Watchers Recipe, and it is 5 points plus per serving and it makes four servings (that being said, my husband ate over two servings worth for dinner so it makes small servings).  But Matt kept saying how yummy it was the entire time he was eating it!  He probably commented about four times throughout the meal!  I found this recipe on my favorite blog.  She keeps a separate blog for her recipes.  http://www.runsforcookiesrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/general-tsaos-chicken.html
I just copied the ingredients and instructions below since I didn't modify it at all.

I just have a picture of the chicken in the pan. I served this with white rice and mixed vegetables on the side

General Tsao's Chicken From http://www.runsforcookiesrecipes.blogspot.com/
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 tsp. crushed ginger
2 tsp. peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
4 servings cooked brown rice

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in oil. Add garlic and crushed red pepper (if you want to make a less-spicy version for the kids, hold off on the pepper). In a separate bowl, combine the chicken broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger. Pour over chicken and bring just to a boil. (Remove the kids portions here, and then add the pepper if you want). Reduce heat and simmer. Serve over rice.


Calories: 196.8 Fat 4g Carbs 11g Protein 27.5g Fiber 0g   (not including Rice)