Indian Style

Dal Makhani (black lentils and kidney beans in a spicy cream sauce) and Mutter Paneer (fresh cheese and green peas in a spicy sauce) with brown rice.

How did I learn to make these exotic delicacies? Easy! I bought these spice mixes at an international grocery store, and followed the instructions on the back.

Sunday night comfort food

Pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and braised carrots with dill.

4 oz. beef: 250 calories
1/2 cup mashed potatoes: 100 calories
1 cup carrots: 50 calories
1/4 cup gravy: 25 calories

Out to Dinner: 18 Asian Sushi Bar

Tonight's dinner was at 18 Asian Sushi Bar in Blakeney.

Salad with ginger dressing:

Chicken noodle soup:

Garden roll (avocado, carrot, cucumber):

Breakfast Quesadilla

Good morning!

1 8-inch flour tortilla
1 egg, scrambled
Sauteed onions and mushrooms
1/4 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
Served with salsa verde and 1 tbsp. light sour cream

300 calories

Chicken in Red Wine Sauce

I was going to call this "coq au vin", but it wanders so widely from the traditional recipe that it probably shouldn't be called that. One member of the household remarked that "The chicken was better than it looked." High praise indeed! I cooked the chicken in the pressure cooker, so it only took 15 minutes under pressure, and it was tender and juicy.

1 tbsp. butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
4 chicken leg quarters, skin removed
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp. tomato paste
8 oz. white mushrooms, quartered
8 oz. carrots, cut into chunks
8 oz. frozen pearl onions
2 tbsp. cornstarch in 1/2 cup water

Melt the butter in the pressure cooker, and saute the chopped onions and carrots for 5 minutes with the lid off. Add the chicken, wine,  chicken broth and tomato paste, and cover the pressure cooker with its lid. Cook on high heat until the cooker comes to pressure, then lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, saute the mushrooms, carrots, and pearl onions in a non-stick pan with cooking spray. After the chicken has been under pressure for 15 minutes, release the pressure and open the cooker. Remove the chicken and put it in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan and boil to reduce by half, then thicken it with cornstarch mixture. Add the cooked mushrooms, onions, and carrots to the sauce, and serve it over the chicken.

I have not done the calorie math on this recipe, but with the skin off the chicken and little added fat, it's probably not too bad.

Sneaky Snack

Remember that innocent-looking packet of fruit and nut snacks I bought a few days ago?

The nutrition label says it's 160 calories per serving, but apparently there are 2.5 "servings" in that tiny bag. Here's what a serving looks like:

Also the second ingredient is neither fruit nor nuts, but "sesame sticks" - sugary crackers.

Caveat emptor.

The best-laid eggs... er, plans

This was supposed to be a perfectly circular poached egg perched on top of a circle of avocado slices, atop a circle of toasted white bread, in a neat little column.

Oops. It still tasted good though.

1 oz. white bread: 75 calories
1 oz. sliced avocado: 47 calories
1 egg: 70 calories