Polenta with Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Mozzarella

Makes 4 servings, 5 points each

Ingredients:
16-18 oz tube of polenta
14 oz can of diced tomatoes flavored with garlic, basil, and oregano, Drained
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 eggplant (this recipe called for zucchini, but I wasn’t in the mood)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese,

Directions:
Cut eggplant into thin (1/2”), bite-size slices and broil on greased baking pan for about 25 minutes on 450, until golden. Cut Polenta into 8 rounds (I had 18 oz so did 9 rounds). Cook on oiled skillet, medium heat, about 3 minutes on each side, till golden. Remove from skillet and set aside. Place mushrooms in skillet and sauté about 7 minutes. Add tomato, salt, pepper and cook 1-2 minutes, turn off heat. Arrange 2 polenta rounds on plate. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, and eggplant on top. Top with ¼ cup mozzarella. Enjoy!

*I found this recipe to needed a little extra kick. You might consider adding a pinch of cumin to the mushrooms and tomatoes. I topped mine with salsa (adding some extra moisture and tang), and roasted garlic cloves.

Chickpea Cakes
Makes 6 servings, 2 points each.

This recipe was featured in the Houston Chronicle, but after reading it I realized I have the same recipe in my Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. I didn’t want the spice so I left out the hot sauce and served mine on a pita with fat free sour cream, red onion, and tomato. The recipe I was given was served with salsa which sounded good, but I was craving the Greek take on this. I think next time I make this, I’ll add cilantro and parsley to the patty mix so it will be even closer to a falafel. This did come darn close though. I doubled the recipe so I have TONS of leftovers. I also only used ½ the cornmeal for coating and replaced the sour cream with fat free plain yogurt, all of this cut out 3 points which brought each patty down to 1.5 points a piece! I’d say my pita pocket was 3.5 points and certainly filling with my side salad.

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon hot sauce
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons white-cornmeal
Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:
1. In a food processor, puree the chickpeas, sour cream, garlic, cumin, salt, hot sauce, and 2 tablespoons cornmeal. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
2. Remove from fridge, form the mixture into six 3-inch patties, about ½ inch thick. Place remaining cornmeal on a place, and gently dredge the patties through to coat both sides.
3. Spray a large nonstick skillet with olive-oil cooking spray, and set over a medium heat. Add the patties, and cook until browned on the bottom, about 5-6 minutes.
4. Spray the tops of the patties with oil, then flip and cook another 5-6 minutes.

Vegetarian Chicken with Black Bean Sauce
Makes 4 Servings

I took this recipe from my Take-Out Tonight! cookbook by weight watchers and made it vegetarian. I've found that the stir-fry I make at home has this generic chinese flavor instead of being lemongrass chicken, black pepper chicken, etc. This was SUPER simple and reminded me how cornstarch helps the consistency in the sauce. My only complaint was that the sauce needed a little more punch, maybe a hint of chili pepper sauce next time will do the trick.


Ingredients:
4 naked veggie chicken breasts by Quorn
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
2 tablespoons black bean sauce (found in the asian section)
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar (I used agave nectar)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic gloves, minced
1/4 pound white mushrooms quartered (left this out and added my own because Robby isn't a mushroom fan)
1/4 pound fresh snow peas
1-2 carrots, thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Combine the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the corn starch in a medium bowl; toss well to coat and set aside. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of corn starch, broth, black bean sauce, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Heat a nonstick wok or large, deep skillet over medium high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in the oil, then add the chicken. Stir-fry until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic; stir-fry until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, snow peas, and carrots; stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add the broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, 1-2 minutes.

Serving size is about 1 cup. This was a 5 point recipe before, but replacing it with fake chicken brought it down to 2 points, that seems crazy! I served mine with 1/2 cup of rice and some chives form my yard. Sorry about the blur on the photo, I had cornstarch goo on my lens and didn't realize until it was too late.