Classic Macaroni Salad - 4 points per serving

Another one from WW website. 




Salads
Points per serving: 4
Yield: 8 servings
Difficulty: easy
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
8 oz uncooked macaroni, elbow-variety 
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste (for cooking pasta) 
1/2 cup(s) reduced-calorie mayonnaise 
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard 
1/2 tsp garlic powder  
1 cup(s) celery, chopped
1/3 cup(s) red onion(s), finely chopped   
2 Tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped  
1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste   
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

Instructions

• Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions; drain and transfer to a large bowl.
  
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard and garlic powder; stir mixture into cooked macaroni. Fold in celery, onion and parsley; season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or chilled. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving.

NOTES: This is made with regular pasta - I would swap out for whole wheat pasta, though I'm not sure how it would effect the points values.  Comments on the WW said it's a good recipe to build on, add tomatoes, shrimp, etc. if you wanted to. 

Spinnach Artichoke Dip - 2 points plus per serving

This one comes to us from WW.  I have NOT tried it yet.




Snacks
Yield: 12 servings
Difficulty: Easy
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients
 2 spray(s) cooking spray
 1/2 pound(s) spinach, baby leaves, washed and dried*
1 1/2 cup(s) canned artichoke hearts, without oil, drained
1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 tsp table salt   
1/2 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup(s) reduced-fat sour cream 4 oz low fat cream cheese, at room temperature

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 7 1/2-inch deep-dish glass or ceramic pie plate (or oval oven-proof dish) with cooking spray.
• In a food processor, combine spinach, artichokes hearts, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, Parmesan cheese, sour cream and cream cheese; puree until smooth. Using a spatula, scrape dip into prepared dish; smooth top into an even layer. Bake until golden on top, about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on desired doneness. Serve warm. Yields about 1/4 cup serving.

NOTES: I saw in one of the comments where someone said they were going to use this to fill a portabello mushroom cap - what a brilliant idea for the fourth of july!

Curried Egg Salad Sandwich: 3 or 4 points per serving (without bread)

This one is from Weight Watchers, I haven't tried it myself yet, but I will review it as soon as I do!  It looks simply WONDERFUL!


 Servings: 2
Points per serving (see below)

Curry powder adds great flavor to egg salad. The yellow color also fools the eye into thinking there are more than only 2 egg yolks in the recipe.

Ingredients

4 Egg Whites (large, boiled)
2 Egg Yolks (large, boiled)
2 1/2 Tbsp reduced-calorie mayonnaise (using Reduced Cal = 4 points per serving, 9 points for total recipe not including any bread)
OR . . . 2 1/2 Tbsp Fat Free mayonnaise (using Fat Free Mayo = 3 points per serving, 6 for total recipe not including any bread)
1 Tbsp raisins, chopped   
1 Tbsp red onion(s), finely chopped   
3/4 tsp curry powder   
1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste   
2 leaf/leaves Boston lettuce   

Bread not included in the point total for this recipe so that you can figure out what YOUR favorite bread would add to the points total.  Consider making a lettuce wrap instead, if you're short on points! 

Instructions

• In a bowl, combine egg whites and yolks, mayonnaise, raisins, onion, curry powder and salt.
  
• Place 1/2 cup egg salad on each of two slices of toast; top each with a lettuce leaf, torn or folded to fit bread. Top each sandwich with a second slice of toast. Yields 1 sandwich per serving.

Notes

• Instead of the red onion, you could use either sliced scallions or snipped chives.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip (YUMMY!!!) - 2 points

This one is from the new WW cookbook - it's fantastic with Carrots!  It makes 4 servings, 2 points each.  It's great for taking to a game, or munching on when guests are coming over - they'll never know it's Weight Watchers!

2 large red bell peppers

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp tomato paste

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1.       Line rack of broiler pan with foil and preheat broiler

2.       Cut bell peppers in half, remove seeds.  Arrange peppers, cut sides down, on prepared pan.  Broil 5 inches from heat until skin is blackened, about 10 minutes.  Transfer peppers to large zip-loc bag.  Seal and let steam for 10 minutes more.

3.       When cool enough to handle, peel the peppers and cut into large pieces.  Put in a food processor.  Add all the remaining ingredients and puree, add a little water if it’s too thick.  Serve at once, or refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms - 3 points

I made these the other night.  They were FANTASTIC!!!!

Ingredients
2 ounces of feta
2 ounces of light cheese
1 Tbsp Newmans Own Balsalmic Vinigarette Dressing
1 package of frozen chopped spinach (you could probably use fresh, too, if you prefer)
leek
3 portabello mushrooms
garlic and herb marinade
salt
1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

Directions
Wash the mushrooms, remove and coarsly chop the stems.  Place mushrooms in a large plastic baggie with about 1/4 cup of garlic and herb marinade.  They don't need to sit too long - even 30 minutes is long enough.

Cut up some leek as well.  spray a pan and sautee the leeks and mushroom stems.  Add a dash of salt.  Remove from heat.

Thaw and drain the spinach.  Squeeze dry, removing as much of the liquid as possible. 

In a bowl, mix spinach, cheeses (except parm) leek and mushroom mixture, 1 Tbsp balsalmic vinagrette dressing, salt and pepper. 

remove your mushrooms from the marinade and pat if there's too much staying on the mushroom - just for good measure, to avoid too many points. (so, if it's pooling inside the cap, you might want to get some of that out).  Stuff the mushrooms with the spinach mixture. 

Mix panko and parm.  and sprinkle on the top.  Hit each cap with a bit of olive-oil or cooking spray.
I cooked mine on the grill, medium-low heat, for about 20 minutes.  You could do them in the oven as well, I suppose.  But keep in mind with mushrooms - LOW HEAT, longer time.  You need the mushroom to release it's water into the cap, to moisten the filling, you also want the filling to heat through, and be cheesey and good - so be patient!  It's worth it!

Mashed "Potatoes" - 2 points per serving

This is from Weight Watchers - it's 2 points per decent sized serving, the recipe makes 4 servings.
The best part is, you really don't need ANY extra butter on these babies!  maybe a little extra salt, but that's it!

Ingredients
8 oz cauliflower, fr3esh, or frozen, raw, florets
3 small yukon gold potatoes, uncooked, peeled, cut into small pieces for boiling
2 cloves garlic - fresh, peeled
1 tsp salt, table, divided (I use more than this!)
1/4 cup milk (lowfat or light)
2 tspButter, regular, with salt
pepper to taste
chives to taste

Directions
Place cauliflower, potatoes, garlic and 1/2 tsp of salt in medium saucepan and add enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil and cook until vegetables are tender (about 10-15 minutes).  Drain and return to pan.

Stir in milk, butter, a bit more salt, pepper, and mash with potato masher until smooth.  Stir in chives and serve. 

This says it yields about a half cup per serving, and maybe I used more cauliflower than called for, because I get close to a full cup per serving.

Vegetarian Fajitas - 5 points (chicken variation - 6 points)

Here's another great meal idea . . .

You can get low carb, high fiber tortillas that actually taste good at Costco (they're by La Tortilla Factory), 2 points each
Stir Fry up some veggies - lots of em - zuccini, yellow squash, onion, peppers, mushrooms, maybe even asparagus, and add in fresh cilantro and a packet of fajita seasoning mix (0 points if you use a spray instead of oil)
1/2 cup fat-free refried beans - 2 points

You can add a Dollop of Sour Cream (1 point) and some salsa (0 points) and you've got yourself a fajita! 

If you prefer, you can also cook up some boneless, skinless chicken breast, shred it and add more fajita seasoning, and use that instead of the refried beans.  1 full breast is 3 points.  I doubt you'd even USE that much. . .but if you did, you'd be looking at a whopping 6 points per fajita, and I bet you can't eat more than 2 of 'em!

Best part is - you'll have lots of left over veggies cooked up for snacking, and they'll have great flavor.  Put them with some brown rice the next day, for lunch!