Curry Rubbed Roasted Chicken!!!

When I was at the store the other day whole chickens were on sale for 83 cents a pound!!!! That's like stupid cheap...so I stocked up!!! My standard roasted chicken recipe wasn't really floating my boat, even though it is totally delicious, so I decided to mix it up! Years ago Oprah published a super tasty curry rubbed chicken recipe and that was all I could think about. I wanted that recipe but with a little bit more spicy goodness. I've combined a couple of recipes together here to make this amazing chicken! Serve this with rice and some tasty green vegetables to help cool your mouth off. You could even make a lovely apple chutney to go along with this warm and spicy dish.

Roasted Curry Rubbed Chicken

1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs.

2 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
8 tsp curry powder
4 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp ground ginger

4 tsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered

1. Preheat your oven to 425F (Yes!!! Make it a hot!!!) Line a roasting pan with heavy duty foil. Set it aside. 
2. In a small bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Take your chicken out of the fridge and dry it off with a paper towel. 
3. Rub the inside and outside of your chicken with the olive oil. This will help the rub stick so be sure to do this! 
4. Now take the rub and rub in ALL OVER the inside and outside of your chicken. Use ALL of the rub! Don't be afraid!!!! Use it all!!!!
5. Stuff the onion into the chicken cavity and place your chicken in the roasting pan.
6. Place in oven and roast for 75-85 minutes, turning at least once during the cooking process. Make sure your chicken is done. The internal temperature should be at least 165F. 

Delicious Cauliflower Pizza

As a person who can't eat gluten I often find myself longing for a delicious pizza. That tasty cheesey goodness and toppings piled high...ah...those were the days!!!! It would also be genius if there was a pizza that wasn't ten million calories per slice!!! I mean...who wants to eat a measly little tiny skinny slice of pizza...we all want to take a big juicy bite of a nicely appointed slice of pizza! Today I tried out a recipe that I found on Pinterest and was pretty darn satisfied! I changed the recipe a little...because that's how I roll...but here it is...the recipe for my delightful lunch!

Cauliflower Pizza
Makes 4 personal size pizzas, 5PPV per pizza

Crust:
2 eggs
2 cups fat free shredded mozzarella
2 cups raw shredded cauliflower (use a ricer, cheese grater or food processor for this)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, julienned

Toppings: (feel free to add whatever you want at this point!)
1 cup marinara sauce
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 yellow squash, thinly sliced
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
Sliced deli ham (or whatever meat you want...or none if you don't want any!)
Basil Ricotta

Basil Ricotta:
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 tbsp fresh, chopped basil
pinch salt
fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 450F. Line two cookies sheets with either silpat mats or greased parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the shredded cauliflower, eggs, mozzarella, basil and garlic. Mix it all up with your hands! Divide it into 4 equal parts and press it out onto the lined cookies sheets so that each one is nice and even. Mine were about an 8" circle. 
3. Bake the crusts for 12-15 minutes.
4. While the crusts are baking, mix the ricotta, basil, and s&p together in a small bowl. Set aside. 
5. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Top with marinara sauce. Add sliced zucchini, squash, onion & ham. Drop dollops of the basil ricotta on top of the vegetables. Press the dollops so that they are a little bit flat. 
6. Put the topped pizzas back in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
7. EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Black Bean Goodness

So yesterday I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer and in an effort to be thrifty, I rummaged through my meager "pantry" in an attempt to find something that I could turn into dinner. What I found was a can of sardines, some canned tomatoes, black beans, and lots of random rices! Of all the options the black beans looked the most promising...so I was off to Pinterest to see if I could dig up a recipe to make some burgers. Eureka! I found a low fat recipe, and because I'm crafty, switched it up a little bit because I don't know about you, but this girl doesn't have "artificial smoke flavor" readily available! Here's the deliciousness that I came up with:

Black Bean Burgers!

Black Bean Burgers

Makes 4

3 PPV per patty

1 tbsp chia seeds, smashed with mortar and pestle
3 tbsp warm water

1- 15oz. can black beans, drained, rinsed and mashed

2 gloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. old fashioned oats

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Cooking spray

1. In a small bowl, combine the chia seeds and water. Let sit for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. 
2. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients and mix well with your hands. Divide the goo into 4 equal patties and place flat on a plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm.
3. Spray a large pan with cooking spray and heat over medium high. Cook patties until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Best eaten the same day you make them, but they are ok microwaved the next day for lunch :)

All-Purpose GF Flour Mix & A Little Cornbread!

As you may have seen on Facebook or Instagram I received a fabulous gift in the mail this week! Someone sent me a copy of the latest Gluten-Free Girl cookbook (check out her blog here: Gluten-Free Girl) and so far the cookbook is genius!!! Since it was SUPER HOT outside today, naturally, I decided to bake! Oh...and to make black bean chili! I wanted some delicious cornbread to go with my chili but I didn't have any of the good all-purpose gluten free flour mix that I like. Luckily for me, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day has a recipe for an all-purpose flour mix! I had to get crafty because the recipe calls for potato starch and I'm allergic to potatoes...so I used arrowroot instead and ended up with super delicious, fluffy and delicate cornbread. I doused mine with butter and honey and watched an episode of Psych to wrap up my Saturday! Here are the recipes for both the flour mix and the cornbread!

Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix

300g sweet rice flour
400g millet flour
300g arrowroot starch (or potato starch)

Pour all of them into a large bowl and whisk until well mixed. Store in an airtight container.

Sweet White Corn Cornbread

1 1/2 c. GF all-purpose flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. white cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8 square pan with either butter or cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Whisk to mix.
3. In a 2 cup measuring cup mix milk, eggs and oil. Pour into the flour mixture and whisk. Add melted butter and whisk until all lumps are gone. Pour into prepared pan. 
4. Bake for 35 minutes or until lightly browned on top and toothpick comes out clean. Top with butter & honey! 

Cali-Persian Fest!

Many thanks to the June issue of Bon Appetit and my lovely friend Hannah for a weekend of RIDICULOUSLY amazing food! We ate like royalty! The menu included Shirazi Salad, Shallot Yogurt, Jeweled Rice, Grilled Saffron Rack of Lamb and Rose Water Shortbread Cookies! The recipes are all from Bon Appetit but the inspiration to actually make all of this dreamy food was a visit from a my dear friend, who came to take care of me post-surgery. All of the recipes in the Cali-Persian article are AMAZING!!!! If you don't have this issue run, don't walk, to the closest store and get it! You will be in love!!!! I'm only going to share one of the recipes here because it uses rose water and it is a delightful dessert that is gluten free! Happy cooking everyone!

Rose Water Shortbread Cookies

½ tsp. ground cardamom

1 ½ c. white rice flour, plus a little for rolling if needed

¾ c. powdered sugar

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

1 tsp. rose water

1 tsp poppy seeds

1.     Whisk cardamom and 1 ½ c. rice flour in a medium bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a medium bowl until smooth. Add egg and rose water and beat to blend.

2.     Reduce mixer speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients (dough will be stiff). Cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

3.     Preheat oven to 300F. Scoop level tablespoonfuls of dough and using lightly floured hands (I didn’t need to flour my hands!), roll into balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 ½” apart. Using a fork or another utensil that can make a decorative pattern in dough, flatten balls to a ¼” thickness. Sprinkle cookies with poppy seeds.

4.     Bake cookies until firm but still pale, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool. (Makes about 3 dozen cookies)

For the love of pumpkin!

I am completely in love with fall!!! I love the smell in the air, the crisp leaves underfoot, the bright orange, yellow and red decorations & the piles of pumpkins spilling out of every shop front! I especially love pumpkin pie...topped off with a good dollop of fresh whipped cream...YUM! I am also a HUGE sucker for anything labeled "Pumpkin Smoothie"! Unfortunately most of the smoothies out there in the world have about ten billion calories and would totally thwart all of my weight loss efforts. Being bitten by the pumpkin bug earlier this week, I played with a few recipes and came up with one that is delicious and pretty darn nutritious! Happy fall!!!!

Pumpkin Smoothie
Serves 1

4-5 ice cubes
1/2 c. nonfat milk
1/3 c. pumpkin puree
1/3 c. nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 whole ripe banana
Several shakes of pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. maple syrup (optional!)

Put everything in your blender and hit the on button. Once it's all blended, dip a spoon in and taste it to make sure you have enough spice going on. Add more spice if you need it. Pour it into your favorite smoothie glass and enjoy!

2-3 Points Plus Values (2 without maple syrup, 3 with)

Hamburger Cornbread Casserole

My sweet friend Laura requested that I post something a bit more on the healthy side...and seeing as how she has a house full of cute kids to feed...I figured that this casserole would be fantastic! This casserole came about from a hankering for cornbread and a thawed out pound of ground beef as well as some random mushrooms that I used instead of beans to save the Weight Watchers points! I love that the casserole was perfect on a hot summer night but would also make a cold winter evening totally cozy! This is a great meal for a family or a house full of friends! 

Hamburger Cornbread Casserole

1 lb. ground beef, 95% fat free

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 portabella mushrooms, chopped

1 14oz. can diced tomatoes

1.5 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp chili powder

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 c. flour (I used gluten free but all-purpose is great)

1/2 c. cornmeal

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

1 tbsp canola oil

1/2 c. milk

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Coat an 11x7 in. baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet, cook onion and garlic over medium heat until onions are just starting to get soft. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add the meat and cook until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, chili powder and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Taste your filling and add salt & pepper if it needs it. Transfer to an the prepared casserole dish. 
3. For topping, in a small bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon over filling; gently spread to cover the top. (You could add cheese to the topping if you want to be decadent!)
4. Bake, uncovered, for 14-18 minutes or until filling is bubbly and a toothpick inserted into topping comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

Note: You can really go crazy with the filling in this! You could add corn, celery, fresh chopped tomatoes, beans, zucchini, spinach (cooked & drained) or any number of other deliciousness! It's super versatile so use whatever you have in your fridge!