Sweet Chili Brussels Sprouts

We tend to get into a real rut with side dishes, typically leaning towards a steamed green vegetable or roasted root vegetables. So, when we were figuring out what to have with a roast chicken this week Matt said he wanted different. We remembered the brussels sprouts Matt's mom had served at Thanksgiving, that everyone loved, and decided to try to replicate them.

Actually, it ends up these were super easy to make and super tasty too. The chili sauce give the brussels sprout the perfect mix of sweet and sour flavor. A touch of soy sauce cuts through the sweetness a bit. Make sure to cook the sprouts until golden brown to bring out their nutty flavor.

Sweet Chili Brussels Sprouts

1/2 T olive oil
3 c brussels sprouts
1 T sweet chili sauce
1/2 T soy sauce

Stir the sweet chili sauce and soy sauce together, set aside. In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil over high heat. Add the brussel sprouts. Stir while cooking until the sprouts are golden brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the sauce mixture.

Makes 2 servings
Approximately 110 calories per serving

We served the brussels sprouts with a serving of forbidden rice and 3 oz of chicken for a 420 calorie dinner. This was one of those meals where everything tasted really good mixed together.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski

Smoked Salmon Pasta

Here's a pasta that comes together in about 15 minutes and yet is still nice enough to serve to guests. It was a great busy Sunday night dinner for us.

A good deal of the flavor in this dish comes from the smoked salmon, so I would suggest getting the a good one. Or you could smoke your own like we do. The rest of the dish is composed of classic salmon pairings; cream cheese, capers, red onion and dill. It's creamy with a little crunch from the onions and briny bited from the capers. We use skim milk and light cream cheese to keep the calories around 400 a serving, but we don't lose any of the creamy richness.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

4 oz medium shell pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 c chopped red onion
2 t all-purpose flour
1/2 c skim milk
2 oz light cream cheese
4 oz smoked salmon, flaked
2 t capers (Matt thought the amount was just right, I'd add more next time)
2 T chopped fresh dill

Cook the pasta according to directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Sprinkle in the flour, cook while stirring for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the milk until slightly thickened and bubbly. Turn heat down to low and stir in the cream cheese until melted. Add the salmon and capers. Stir and cook until everything is hot.

When the pasta is done, stir about 1/2 cup (use more or less to get the sauce to a consistency you like) of the pasta water into the sauce. Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce.

Serve with dill sprinkled over the top.

Makes 2 servings
Approximately 415 calories per serving

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski