Baked Oatmeal Pudding

My husband and I eat oatmeal almost everyday for breakfast. I tried this recipe today from the WomenHeart's All Heart Family Cookbook. It's very good, but I would make it with less sugar next time.

• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (or less)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds)
• 1/4 cup dried cherries, cranberries, or strawberries
• 1 firm ripe apple or pear, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 325. Coat an 8″ square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, oil, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in the oats, baking powder, salt, nuts, dried fruit, and apple or pear. Stir just until well blended.
3. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and the top is light golden brown. Spoon into bowls and top with blueberries.

Per serving: 278 calories, 96 calories from fat, 11 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 4 g monounsaturated fat, 3 g polyunsaturated fat, 71 mg cholesterol, 257 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 8 g protein.

Salmon Belly with Soy Calamansi Sauce

Here's a recipe I should try soon.

Photo and recipe from inquirer.net

½ k salmon belly, cut into lengthwise pieces
2 tbsp calamansi juice for marinating
2-3 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, sliced into rings
¼ c soy sauce
1/3 c water
¼ c calamansi juice for the sauce

Clean salmon belly, removing the scales on the skin and any sharp bones that may still be attached. Marinate in the two tablespoons of calamansi juice for 10-15 minutes. In a large skillet, heat cooking oil to medium and sauté onions until soft, about two to three minutes. Transfer onions to a clean plate.

Add salmon belly to skillet and stir-cook until salmon starts to become firm and pinkish in color, about three to four minutes. Combine soy sauce, water and the ¼ cup calamansi juice and pour into skillet. Return the cooked onions to skillet. Simmer until salmon is fully cooked (the texture must be flaky), about one to two minutes. Serve with rice.

Tips

Don’t marinate the salmon in calamansi for longer than 15 minutes. The acid in the calamansi could break down the protein in the fish.

You can adjust the proportion of the soy sauce, water and calamansi according to desired taste.

If the salmon starts to stick to the pan, add a little more cooking oil. Spoon off any excess oil from the pan before pouring in the soy-calamansi sauce.

Lemon-Soy Dressing

I'm not into salads, but if ever I have to prepare salad, this dressing from The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook looks easy enough to make. And best of all, I have all the ingredients available all the time.

If you were to peek into my refrigerator at any point in the year, this is the salad dressing you would be most likely to find. It is a pleasing blend of flavors, is low in fat, keeps forever, and is very, very good.

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup dark sesame oil
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
4 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all the ingredients in a glass jar and shake well.
Serve at once or store in an airtight container for several months in the refrigerator. Stir or shake well before using.

Makes 1 cup.

Roast Pork Loin with Mushrooms and Tomatoes

Here's a recipe I tried tonight from Yahoo! Food

Photo and recipe from Yahoo!Food.

• 1 pound plum tomatoes, cut into thick wedges
• 1 pound small button mushrooms, stems trimmed
• 5 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 (2 1/4 pound) boneless pork loin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, combine tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, and move mixture to sides of pan (leaving center free).
2. Sprinkle pork with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cumin, coriander, and oregano, rubbing mixture in. Place pork in center of pan.
3. Roast until meat registers 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer and mushrooms are tender, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven.
4. Cut off a third (10 ounces) of the pork loin, and set aside for making pressed pork sandwiches. Slice remaining pork, and serve with tomatoes, mushrooms, and any pan juices.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition Info per Serving

• Calories: 469 kcal
• Carbohydrates: 12 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Fat: 26 g
• Protein: 45 g
• Sugars: 4 g

Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter

I haven't tried this recipe from Cooking Light yet, but it sounds delicious. I have a bunch of asparagus spears in the refrigerator so I will cook this tomorrow.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 5 spears)

• 40 asparagus spears, trimmed (about 2 pounds)
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• Cracked black pepper (optional)
• Grated lemon rind (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet; coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until tender.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle over asparagus, tossing well to coat. Garnish with cracked pepper and rind, if desired.

Nutritional Information:

Calories:45 (60% from fat)

Fat:3g (sat 1.8g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:1.9g

Carbohydrate:3.9g

Fiber:1.7g

Cholesterol:8mg

Iron:0.7mg

Sodium:134mg

Calcium:18mg

Sesame Salmon with Spicy Cucumber Salad

Here's the second recipe from WomenHeart's All Heart Family Cookbook. I used mini cukes (another term for cucumber) as I didn't find any of the bigger cucumbers.

Bursting with omega-3 fatty acids, all salmon is nutritionally beneficial. Wild salmon, however, has the highest amount of these essential fatty acids, so opt for it whenever possible.

Salad

3 hothouse cucumbers, peeled, quartered, and seeded
6 radishes, julienned
1 scallion, sliced
4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Salmon

4 salmon fillets (6 oz each), skinned
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400F. Coat a baking sheet with sides (jelly-roll pan) with cooking spray.

To make the salad: Slice the cucumbers at an angle into 1/2"-thick pieces. In a large bowl, toss together the cucumbers, radishes, scallion, vinegar, sugar, and pepper flakes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the salmon: Place the salmon on the prepared pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and soy sauce. Brush the vinegar mixture on the salmon and sprinkle with the black pepper and sesame seeds, pressing the seeds onto the fillets. Roast for 8 minutes, or until the fish is opaque. Serve with the salad.

Serve with steamed asparagus, if desired.

Serves 4.

Per serving: 200 calories, 92 calories from fat, 10 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 4 g polyunsaturated fat, 47 mg cholesterol, 314 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 21 g protein.

Better-for-You Black Bean Chili

Whenever I go to the library, no matter what I do, I always gravitate towards the cookbook section. I was glad I found this cookbook called, WomenHeart's All Heart Family Cookbook. So far, the two recipes I've tried were good.

I know - another chili recipe. But I like this as it has sweet potatoes or "camote". I've never been a fan of camote until recently. Served it with zaa'tar bread.

Bingo! Almost every single ingredient in this quick, satisfying chili is a heart healthy food. Take the time to thoroughly rinse canned beans before draining and reduce the sodium content by up to 30 percent.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (14.5 oz each) no-salt-added whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chile peppers, drained
1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and chopped (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and potato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and chile peppers. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Spoon the chili into bowls and top each serving with some of the avocado.

Serves 6.
Per serving: 234 calories, 94 calories from fat, 11 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 7 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 300 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrates, 10 g fiber, 7 g sugar, 7 g protein