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Cooking Voyage - Adventures of a Health Nut Foodie

Tengo Una Cita Con Quesadilla!

July 18th 2009 03:56
Hola amigos!
Sorry. Couldn't resist starting a post about Mexican food with some Spanish. I'm going to be pulling out all that I remember from one year of the language in high school (which I left soon after to pursue Latin instead, something far less useful, but far more interesting). Lucky for you, all I remember is Hola amigos and "Tengo Una Cita Con Anita" which translates to "I have a date with Anita," something that has never been useful to me and probably never will, as I never intend to have a date with Anita (no offense to you Anitas out there, I just tend to not have dates with all members of the female gender, regardless of name). So now that I've exhausted all remaining knowledge of one whole year in Spanish class, I'll move on to what is really the only and most important part of this post. Food.

So you know that quesadilla that's just calling your name at Taco Bell? The temptation's so strong that you decide to go ahead and put on your shoes and head to the drive-through at 11 pm. You can't help it. You see the commercials and just HAVE to have that cheesy, melty, spicy quesadilla. And without a second thought, you've arrived at the fast food joint, shelling out the how-many-ever bucks for a meal filled with fat and calories.
Yep. That quesadilla. So how about this? Instead of paying someone to help clog your arteries or add to your waistline, take a little time out of your day to make your own quesadilla. Not only is it far healthier than the fast-food joint version, but it tastes better too. And you can make it to fit your own taste buds by adding whatever vegetables/meat combos you want. It's completely customizable. Sound good? Awesome. Then get to cooking with this recipe!

Chicken Quesadillas

1 bonless skinless Smart Chicken breast, cooked and sliced
2 tortillas (I use La Tortilla Low-Carb, Low-Fat Whole Wheat tortillas)
¼ cup shredded fat free cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream
1/2 teaspoons taco seasoning
2 slices Kraft 2% Swiss cheese slices
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
1 large white onion, sliced

In a small bowl, combine shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning. Microwave for about 30 seconds, or until cheese is melted. Set aside for now.

In a frying pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, saute sliced peppers and onions over medium-high heat until tender. Remove from heat.

Spray pan once more with nonstick spray. Place tortilla in the bottom of the pan and spread half the sour cream and cheese mixture over half the tortilla. Place half sauteed veggies and chicken over sauce. Top with Swiss cheese slices, torn into smaller pieces and spread out. Let cook for about 1 minute. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the toppings. Allow to cook until cheese has melted. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Remove from heat and cut into four pieces. Serve with salsa and fat free sour cream. Serves two.



This was just the combination of meats and veggies I used. Feel free to switch out ground beef, shrimp, steak, or ground turkey for the chicken, any combination of vegetables your heart desires, and your favorite cheeses (pepperjack is a good choice, too). Mix and match to come up with different flavorings.
So next time you're craving Mexican food, instead of getting into your car and indulging in a quesadilla laden with fat, carbs, calories, and God knows what else, why not give this a shot? You can eat the same size quesadilla for about 1/3 the calories and 1/8 the fat. Seriously? Seriously. How can you even consider the alternative after hearing that?
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Hot, Sizzling, Skinny. . .Peppers

June 15th 2009 00:38
Well, we've moved on past the awkward introductions part. Whew. Glad that's over. Now let's assume we've covered the small talk, such as the current weather patterns and the happenings of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton (isn't that what everyone's small talk consists of?), and move on to what this blog is really supposed to be about: food!
Before I jump into this recipe I recently tried/modified, I'm going to explain where I originally had something similar to this. I had the intense pleasure of having this dish at a restaurant called Abuelo's. It's not a huge chain, but they're out there a few places. Texas and Kansas are the two places I know they're at for sure. If you ever fly into KCI airport and have some time, take the five mile trip down to Zona Rosa and go to the Abuelo's there. Trust me, it'll be worth it. Not exactly health food, but hey, I figure you have to splurge every once in awhile.
Anyway, the first time I was there, I ordered the Chile Manzanillo, which is a poblano pepper, roasted and stuffed with imperial crab, shrimp, scallops, and a lobster sauce. Delicious. Words simply cannot describe the levels of magnificence this dish brings to my taste buds. So I won't even try. Just know, it's good. I was instantly hooked and have never ordered anything BUT this while I am there.
Unfortunately, there are no copy-cat recipes for this. Anywhere. So the task was left to me to try to recreate it based on what I know was in it. And then the next job was to try to make it a healthier dish. Which brings me to the recipe: my first attempt. It is still not perfect, but a delicious dish nonetheless, and healthy at that! So here it is: my first attempt at a new dish for my first recipe on my first blog. Lots of firsts here. Enjoy!

Chile Manzanillo

3 green bell pepper

6 oz crab (use whatever kind you like)
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/4 cup egg substitute or 1 egg (I just like using egg substitute because it eliminates the process of whisking the egg. . . whole eggs are just as healthy!)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
dash of Worcestershire sauce
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of cayenne (I actually put quite a bit more because I like it HOT!)

1 can Progresso Lobster Sauce
1 red bell pepper, sliced very thin
1/2 cup sweet yellow corn, frozen
2 tbs skim milk

Alright, so first off, you want to roast your green peppers. It doesn't really matter how you do this. I put it into the toaster oven for about 20 minutes, rotating it every once in awhile, until the skin is blackened and blistered. Then put it into a bag and seal, letting it steam, for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the skin, and set aside.
Now preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
While your pepper is roasting, saute the onions in a small frying pan. You can saute it in oil or butter, but to save some calories and fat, I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray. It works just as well. After you finish sauteing the onions, remove from heat and allow to cool. While they're cooling, combine the egg, mustard, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Mix well. Add cooled onions (make sure it's cool, otherwise it could start to cook the egg) and then mix in the crab. Set aside for now.
For the lobster sauce, saute the red bell pepper, just as you did the onions, until soft and tender. Then mix together the Lobster sauce, sauteed peppers, corn, and milk.
Okay, so now that you have all the separate parts, time to put them together.
Start by taking your roasted pepper and splitting it in half. Put it into a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon 1/3 of your crab mixture into the pepper. Then top with 1/3 of the sauce. Simple as that. You can try to close the pepper up, but I had mine stuffed so full, it didn't work out too well!
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is good and thick.
Remove from oven and commence the face-stuffing!

Anyway, I tried to upload a picture of it, but cannot find my card reader anywhere. I just spent the last 11 minutes looking for it (I know it was exactly 11 minutes because it was one full episode of Spongebob Squarepants). But anyway, it's delicious and it looks delicious. I would suggest serving it with some brown rice and steamed veggies, and just kind of mix it all together in the lobster sauce that just oozes out of the pepper. Also, check back for some modifications I plan to make to it, including adding some bread crumbs into the stuffing and some shrimp and scallops into the sauce. But for right now, it's a start, and not too bad of one at that.

Oh, I also have some nutrition on the peppers. Here ya go!
(This is without the Progresso sauce. I know the sauce would add about 60 calories.)
Calories: 140
Calories from fat: 20
Carbohydrates: 17 grams
Protein: 15 grams
Cholesterol: 33 mg
Fiber: 5 grams
Sodium: 211 mg

Tune in next time (and by next time, I mean in the next three days) for a Twinkie Cake (that's right. . . a cake like a Twinkie!) for less than 160 calories per slice!! Now I know you can't miss that. . .

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