This will take a while... but it's worth it!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole A complicated recipe that's worth the wait

Ingredients:

-Cooking spray

-4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

-1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

-1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

-1/3 cup (3 oz.) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

-1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1/4 teaspoon black pepper

-2 cups chopped onion, divided

-6 garlic cloves, minced and divided

-1 cup fat-free lower-sodium chicken broth

-2/3 cup salsa verde

-1/4 cup water

-3 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeno pepper

-9 (6-inch) corn tortillas

-1/4 cup (1 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

-Preheat Oven to 425.

-Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; saute 4 minutes on each side. Place skillet in oven; bake at 425 for 10 minutes or until done. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 15 minutes. Shred chicken and place in a medium bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro, corn and next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) to chicken; toss to combine.

-Return pan to medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup onion; saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 garlic cloves; saute 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add onion mixture to chicken mixture; stir to combine.

-Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups onion, remaining 3 garlic cloves, broth, salsa, 1/4 cup water, and jalapeno in medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Carefully pour mixture into a blender; add 2 tablespoons cilantro. Process until smooth.

-Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tortillas; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove tortillas from pan; repeat procedure with remaining tortillas. Cut tortillas into quarters.

-Spread 1/2 cup salsa mixture in the bottom of an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 12 tortilla quarters over salsa mixture. Spoon half of chicken mixture over tortillas. Repeat layers, ending with tortillas. Pour remaining salsa mixture over tortillas; sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned. Top with remaining cilantro. Yields 4 servings.

Nutrition info: 371 calories per serving

Cheers! Try a Spanish wine or beer.

Origin: Our savior, Cooking Light.

Notes: Don't get frustrated. This recipe takes quite a while and has many steps. If you hate cilantro, leave it out. The original recipe calls for chicken thighs on the bone, but I think boneless chicken is so much easier to work with. Bon Appetit!

Veggies? Check. Sauce? Check. Meat? Check. Pasta? Oh yeah.

Sausage, Tomato and Arugula Fettuccine Lush tomatoes, spicy meat and flavorful arugula combine to create a healthy and delicious pasta

Ingredients:

-9 ounces fettuccine or linguine

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-6 ounces Italian turkey sausage

-2 teaspoons minced garlic

-1 pint cherry tomatoes

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon black pepper

-3 cups baby arugula leaves
-2 ounces pecorino Romano cheese, shaved

Directions:

-Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 2/3 cup cooking liquid.

-While pasta cooks, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage if necessary. Break sausage into bite-sized pieces and add to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently to crumble. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper; cover and cook 2 minutes.

-Mash tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to break them up. Cover pan; reduce heat to low and cook 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Add pasta, reserved 2/3 cup cooking liquid and arugula; toss well. Sprinkle with Romano cheese. Yields 4 servings.

Nutrition info: 356 calories per serving

Cheers! Try a good chianti or a good Italian companion.

Origin: Cooking Light strikes again!

Notes: Arugula is delicious but can be fairly peppery and strong, so you may want to use a little less. If you're not a fan of that taste, spinach will do fine. Also, the original recipe calls for fettucine, but I've found that linguine is a little lighter and works great. Also, sausage links work well - we prefer chicken sausage - so that may be another option rather than heavier sausage.

We're having spaghetti tonight. Psych!

Spaghetti Squash A tasty but extremely healthy alternative to real pasta

Ingredients:
-1 medium-sized spaghetti squash

-1/2 24-oz jar marinara sauce

-1/4 chopped onion

-3 cloves minced garlic

-1 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon pepper

-pinch red pepper flakes

-cooking spray

-2 basil leaves, for garnish

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 375.

-Cut spaghetti squash exactly in half lengthwise. Place rind side up on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

-While spaghetti squash bakes, heat a large saucepan over medium high heat, coated with cooking spray. (You can also use a little olive oil.) Saute onion five minutes or until slightly tender. Add garlic and cook another minute. Turn heat down to low and add the sauce. Keep warm.

-When spaghetti squash is done, let it cool a few minutes. Take a fork and run down inside of the squash. It should be in the shape of small pasta noodles. Do this over a colander in case there's any excess liquid.

-Divide "pasta" evenly over two plates. Top with sauce and garnish. Yields 2 servings

Nutrition info: 200 calories per serving (estimated)

Cheers! Whatever's good with pasta. Try a fresh Chianti or Pinot Grigio.

Source: Nowhere, really. Everywhere?

Notes: Be sure to cut the squash exactly in half, or it will not bake evenly. Aside from that, there's not much way to screw this up, unless it's overcooked. Consider it a large serving of vegetables. Since the squash is a veggie and potentially bland, be sure to coose a tasty sauce with herb-like flavors.

If you've got a few hours on a Saturday...

Slow Roasted Tomato Pasta Lots of flavor in every lucious bite

Ingredients:

-3 pounds plum tomatoes, cored and halved lenthwise

-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

-2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

-1/4 teaspoon black pepper

-6 whole peeled garlic cloves

-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

-12 ounces uncooked fettuccine or linguine

-3/4 cup (3 ounces) shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

-3 tablespoons torn fresh basil

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 225.

-Place tomatoes on a jelly-roll pan. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Bake for 4 hours.

-Heat large skillet over low heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and garlic; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic and chop. Combine garlic, tomatoes and red pepper in pan.

-Cook pasta in boiling water with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt for 8 minutes or unil almost al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Increase heat to medium-high under tomato mixture, and stir in reserved cooking liquid. Cook 3 minutes. Add pasta; cook for 1 minute, tossing to combine. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cheese and basil. Yields 6 servings.

Nutrition info: Approximately 389 calories per serving.

Cheers! All summer pastas call for white wine. If you can find it, try an Overstone Sauvignon Blanc. It's from New Zealand.

Source: Cooking Light. They have great summer foods.

Notes: Don't let "4 hours" taunt you. It's not like you're actually cooking for 4 hours. You can watch two movies while you make this. Or five episodes of 'Dexter' or 'Glee.' You can use plum or roma tomatoes... just be sure they shrink, blacken and are juicy when they're done.

Dat's a smokey pizza pie!

Grilled Pizza How to give your pizza a grilled gourmet flavor

In my very first post, I gave you my recipe for homemade pizza, which involves making the wheat dough from scratch. If you want to do something different or turn that up a notch, may I recommend grilling your pizza.

It's not as hard as it sounds, but if you fail once or twice, don't feel bad. To the right is a picture of my first diasastrous attempt. Hopefully this will help you avoid that. I'll split the tips between charcoal grilling and gas grilling.

Charcoal Grilling - You will need to use fewer coals than normal, and pile them all to one side of the grill. The reason is, you can't cook the pizza over direct heat, or you'll completely burn the crust. So, here's what you do: get the fire ready as normal, just on one side. Make sure the rack has nonstick spray on it.

Then, put the dough down in the middle of the grill, rotating after about a minute. Then remove the dough from the grill entirely, flip it over, and add your toppings to the side you just grilled. It should be slightly browned and/or have grill marks on it.

After all your toppings and cheese are on, put the pizza on the grill, on the side opposite of the coals, so it's on indirect heat. Cover the grill and let it cook. Every two or three minutes, remove the cover and rotate the pizza with a big spatula, then re-cover. This will prevent the crust from getting burned on the side closest to the coals. Repeat this process until the cheese is cooked through, and then you should have a delicious, smokey pizza.

Gas Grilling - This pizza will still be delicious, but it will not have quite as smokey a flavor. But the good news is it's easier to cook. Here's what you do: turn all your burners on medium to high heat, and let the grill heat up. Put the dough down on the middle of the grill and cook over direct heat for about two minutes, with the cover on.

Then, turn the middle burner(s) off, remove the dough, flip it over and load up the toppings. When you put the pizza back on the grill fully loaded, put the pizza in the middle of the grill, over the indirect heat (no burners on underneath it). Keep the cover on, but do rotate the pizza every four or five minutes to prevent burning on the edges. When the cheese is cooked through, you're done.

That's it. Try experimenting with what works best for you. The only way you can screw it up is if you burn the crust, so rotating is key. Good luck!

Fruit, veggies and cheese... in a soup. And it's good.

Potato, Leek and Cheese Soup An unexpected combo hits all the right notes

Ingredients:

-4 leeks (about two pounds), trimmed, split lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch rounds

-2 tablespoons unsalted butter

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-3 celery stalks, chopped

-1 pear, peeled, cored and chopped

-6 garlic cloves, minced

-1 1/2 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

-6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

-1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

-1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary or sage leaves

-1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

-Microwave potatoes on high for a couple of minutes. Set aside to cool.

-Place leeks in large bowl or sink full of cold water. Soak for 10-15 minutes to remove sand and dirt. Carefully skim out leeks, leaving grit behind. Drain well.

-Melt butter and olive oil together in large suacepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until very tender, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat if leeks begin to brown. Add celery and cook, stirring occasionally to soften, about 5 minutes. Add pear and garlic. Saute for two minutes longer, being careful not to brown the garlic.

-Add potatoes, broth, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring soup to a low boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, 20-25 minutes.

-Cool soup before pureeing. Ladle half the soup into the bowl of a food processor or into a blender fitted with a metal blade. Blend until smooth. Return pureed soup to the pot with the remaining chunky soup. Stir to mix. Reheat on low.

-Remove soup from heat and stir in rosemary and/or sage and feta cheese. Serve warm, topped with additional crumbled cheese.

Nutrition info: Unknown, but sure less than 350 calories per serving.

Cheers! Try a fruity white wine to bring out the taste of the pear. Try Overstone Sauvingon Blanc, for example.

Source: A good friend and soup guru.

Notes: The original recipe does not call for nuking the potatoes first, but I find if I don't, they're a little too crunchy. If you have an immersion blender, you can use that rather than ladling half the soup into a food processor or blender. Just be sure to leave about half of it chunky to get the right texture. Also, the soup originally called for blue cheese instead of feta. Blue cheese is strong and feta is mild, so it depends on what your tastebuds crave. You could even try goat cheese, or any crumbled cheese, for that matter. If you are unsure exactly how to cut and clean a leek, check it out on Youtube. There are lots of helpful videos.

A Healthy Version of Pesto

Pesto A healthy but satisfying version of a classic

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 cups basil leaves

1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 medium garlic cloves, peeled

1 teaspoon table salt

1/4 cup onion

1/4 cup bell pepper

1/2 cup cooked shrimp

8 oz uncooked penne or bowtie pasta

Directions:

-Place pine nuts in small skillet. Set pan over medium heat. Cook until nuts are golden, shaking pan frequently to prevent burning, about three minutes. Transfer nuts to plate or bowl to cool.

-In a food processor, combine nuts, basil, broth, cheese, oil, garlic and salt. Process until smooth and thick.

-Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

-Saute onion and pepper in small saucepan. Cook for 3 minutes. Add pesto sauce and shrimp. Cook 3 minutes.

-Combine pesto sauce with vegetables, shrimp and pasta to the pasta pot. Yields 4 servings.

Nutrition info: Approximately 350 calories per serving.

Cheers! In the wintertime, try a chianti. In summer, try a dry sauvignon blanc.

Source: Weight Watchers. And our own spin to it.

Notes: The original recipe doesn't call for the shrimp or the veggies. Tailor it to what sounds good to you. Making it with sausage is tasty, or possibly different veggies. If you don't care about the calorie coiunt, try using more oil and less broth. Although, I find this is very satisfying the way it is.