Tapas!

This weekend, my parents and Jeff's parents were in town for Robin's baptism and Saturday night we had tapas for dinner!* They were so fun to make and eat. This pic was taken tonight, when we had leftovers for dinner. Counter-clockwise on the plate: cucumber, red bell pepper strips and broccoli, pita chip, feta cheese and red bell pepper dip, pita chip, hummus, pita chip, eggplant dip, pickled okra, tabouli.

I'm mostly guessing on the points, really (except the feta cheese dip), but it was all really healthy and if eaten in proper porportions, can be a very WW wise meal.

We made:
Hummus (previously blogged)
Feta cheese and roasted red pepper dip
Pita chips (previously blogged, in the hummus entry)
Tabouli
Crudites with Spinach Dip
Eggplant dip

Feta Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper dip
2.5 points for 1/4 cup
While making this, I realized it's sort of a variation on pimento cheese spread. I'm eating some of this with pita chips as I type this!

Ingredients

• 1 4oz package crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 of a 12oz jar of roasted red bell pepper
• Red pepper flakes to taste**

Directions

• Add ingredients to food processor and process for a few minutes until smooth.
• That's it!!

Tabouli
I'm GUESSING the points value for this is 3 for a cup? I made this using a pre-packaged Tabouli mix that included the cous cous and seasonings. I added 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 3/4 of a diced cucumber, 3/4 of a diced large tomato, and about 1/8 red onion, diced. I found the Tabouli mix in the produce section at Walmart for less than $2! By the way, the directions on the package said to let it all sit together in the fridge for at least 4 hours. I completely FORGOT that I made this so we didn't even eat it last night!! I had some this morning and then again as part of my dinner tonight. ;)

Crudites and Spinach Dip
We bought Spinach Dip and my mom cut up some veggies for dipping. We had red bell pepper, cucumber, broccoli, and red onion. I don't have the spinach dip package still, so I don't know the points here!

Eggplant Dip
I got this recipe from a friend, Merrill, on one of my message boards. It turned out SO good and it made a LOT. Jeff even liked it!! The only points really come from the olive oil used, so I will conservatively call 1 cup of this 1 point. I "Hollyfied" the recipe slightly by adding dried oregano, using fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, and using crushed tomatoes rather than tomato paste and in a larger quantity.

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, cut into 1" cubes
• 2 red bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces
• 1/2 red onion, cut into 1" pieces
• 1/4 tomato, cut into 1" pieces
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2-3 Tbs dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of canned crushed tomatoes

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Place all vegetables except crushed tomatoes onto a baking sheet covered with foil
• Drizzle with olive oil
• Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper
• Hand toss until all veggies are covered with oil, oregano, salt and pepper
• Cover with foil
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until veggies are soft when pierced with a fork
• Place into food processor with crushed tomatoes (you may need to do several batches as this makes a lot) and just lightly process. This should be very chunky.
• Serve with pita chips.
• Note, this is good either hot, room temperature or cold! By the time you get it all processed it will be room temperature.

Notes:

*We started preparing everything while everyone was at our house, so I just put things out for everyone to eat as it was prepared. First was the Spinach Dip, crudites and some French bread that was sprinkled with sesame and poppy seeds and roasted garlic. We also had dill havarti cheese that we served at the same time. Next was hummus and pita chips, then the feta dip. Finally, the eggplant dip was served. Jeff noted that the way it was served was not conducive to portion control!! Good point, but I didn't want people waiting!! :)

**I did not use red pepper flakes in the feta dip. Jeff's parent's don't really eat spicy food, so I had to hold back a little!! I think that the eggplant dip would be really good with red pepper flakes as well... next time I make it I'll put them in!

Update to Mahatma Brown Rice directions

Update to my short rant on Mahatma Brown Rice directions

I got brave and decided to make Mahatma brown rice in the microwave according to the new directions. Guess what?? Perfect rice. So, apparently using 3.5 cups of water and microwaving uncovered on high for 35 mintues actually works. Which is excellent because it saves 10 minutes!

Cuban Black Beans

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

4 points for 1/2 cup of brown rice and 1/2 cup of beans

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com. A couple of weeks ago, the news coming out of Cuba inspired me to find a Cuban recipe. This passed the "Jeff test" so I think this is now in my reprotare. This picture actually came from the 2nd time I made these beans. I used a pound of dry black beans instead of canned.

Ingredients

• 2 cans black beans (or 1 pound of dry black beans)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 bay leaf
• 1.5 tsp paprika
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1 Tbl dried oregano
• 1 large jalapeno, diced
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cu balsamic vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions (canned beans)

• Prepare rice according to package directions*
• If you are using canned beans, it really doesn't get any easier. Just add everything to a pot, stir and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
• Serve over rice

This picture was taken when I prepared this using canned beans.

Directions (dry beans)

• I use the quick soak method, which basically is after beans are rinsed and sorted, add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour.
• Drain water from beans, add 6 cups of fresh water, then add all other ingredients.
• Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours.
• While beans are cooking, prepare rice according to package directions*
• Serve over rice

*Note: see my posts about preparing rice, here and here.