Curried Black Beans Patties with Yogurt Sauce

These Curried black beans patties are so tasty; sautéed onion and garlic combined with the curry powder bring up a nice flavour. These patties are so good for lunch. I like to eat them as a sandwich with whole wheat pita bread and some of the yogurt sauce. 

Best Thin-Crust Pizza Dough Ever!!

Two medium pizza crust with only one cup of all-purpose flour, one cup of whole wheat flour, yeast and water combined with 2 tbsp. of olive oil to keep the dough from getting soggy.

This recipe is the best; the crust is very thin and tastes yummy. I used my food processor to make this dough, but it also works by hand. This is a very easy and inexpensive recipe for a homemade pizza from scratch.

For the topping, I used some left over pesto sauce, very thin zucchini slices, fresh tomatoes and kalamata olives.

Eggplant Frittata

Eggplants or aubergines are naturally low in calories, are fat free and are excellent source of fiber. Yesterday, I made a delicious skinny frittata with buttery sautéed eggplants, garlic and parsley...perfect for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner!!

Crispy Breaded Oysters Appetizer

These crispy breaded oysters make a fancy appetizer for entertaining. They’re delicious and healthy, without the added fat.  Oysters coated with egg panko and cheese, and then baked until crisp and golden.

If you are an oyster lover, you may want to double the recipe; these baked breaded oysters are so light and tasty.

Seafood Tortilla Wrap Pizza

Lazy Sunday… lazy seafood pizza; you know when you are craving some delicious, gourmet food but you’re so lazy to make it. You then choose to substitute the fresh ingredients for precooked or canned ingredients.

I used tortilla wrap for the crust, canned clams, canned tuna, smoked salmon and imitation crab meat.

It did taste great but for sure fresh clams and crab would taste way better!

Poached Egg, Tomatoes and Caper Salad

Poached eggs are my favorite for breakfast or lunch. I eat them with veggies, sweet potato fries, or on top of a toast with fruits for breakfast…etc. There are so many ways to eat poached eggs and I assure you that this recipe is so satisfying!

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Spinach-Skinny Simple Breakfast-Sunday

This is the perfect breakfast for a lazy Sunday morning. I just love this combination of eggs, spinach and smoked salmon. I do add Italian seasoning, but really you can add any of your preferred herbs, like chives, parsley…etc.

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Spinach works also for lunch or dinner; instead of the toast, I add a side of sweet potato fries or sauteed mix vegetables. 

Moroccan Lamb Kebabs

It’s been a long time since my last post. I have been making some changes in my professional life and luckily my husband and my friends provided all the support I needed.

My recipe today is Lamb Kebabs. In Morocco, we use charcoal when grilling, for the best and juiciest meat ever.

Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

When I just heard about Clean Eating, 3 years ago, I was so impressed; it’s NOT a diet and it makes you lose weight.

Those Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, from one of the Clean Eating Magazine, were one of my first recipes to try.

 

Who doesn’t like grilled cheese sandwiches? but these ones aren’t loaded with butter and full fat cheese.  They’re made with black beans spread, shredded chicken, low fat cheese and crispy whole wheat bread.

 

They’re skinny, delicious and great for any time of the day. My little family likes to accompany them with a nice healthy soup.

 

Tuna and Peaches Verrine

Did you know that tuna and peaches go well together?? I didn’t, until yesterday.

I like to eat my lunch with fruits so even with small portions, I feel full. I was having tuna salad and I just grabbed one of my daughter’s snacks… a cup of diced peaches (no sugar added). I was surprised!! The taste and texture were amazing.

So to make something fresh, skinny and simple for summer time, the idea of Tuna and Peaches Verrine came to my mind…and it also makes an elegant appetizer. I like colourful food J

Sweet Potato Hummus

The idea of this sweet potato hummus came from one of my favourite snacks. I like to spread hummus on a piece of crostini bread and top it with a slice of roasted (or slow-cooked) sweet potato. So since I love the taste of this combination, I decided to make my usual homemade hummus, with garbanzo beans, and add microwaved or steamed sweet potatoes to it.

You get the nutty flavour from Tahini and the sweetness from the potatoes…mmm you won’t be able to stop J 

Ground Beef Feta inspired Turkish “Gozleme”

Every year, we like to attend different festivals in Calgary. We especially never miss the Turkish Festival in July. Nice music and great food.


Source:http://www.calgaryturkishfestival.com/

My daughter enjoys traditional Turkish food; Beef, lamb and sausage (Sujuk) sandwiches. We order one sandwich of each and then we share. So delicious!! For dessert, her favourite is Baklava.



We also had Lamb Gozleme; it is a traditional Turkish hand made fresh pastry, filled and sealed then cooked. 

Source:http://www.calgaryturkishfestival.com/

Of course I couldn’t wait to make a skinny version at home. So instead of using flour dough, I chose whole wheat tortilla, and I did substitute extra lean ground beef for lamb. For the spices, I went for Zaatar since it goes perfectly with meat and feta cheese. Also I added some mozzarella cheese to hold the filling together.

So as you can see it’s not the traditional Turkish Gozleme, looks more like a quesadilla...I just got inspired!!

Salmon Balls à la Marocaine

Sardine Balls in tomato sauce is a classic Moroccan dish. You will say why am I using Salmon for this recipe?? Well, I couldn’t find any fresh sardines, so I thought using fresh salmon would work, since it has the same oily texture as sardines.

Paprika, cumin and curcuma add the Moroccan taste to these Salmon balls. The sauce is thick and zesty; you can smell bay leaves in it. Also, the addition of  cooked rice keeps those balls moist and melting in your mouth.  

Tip: Warm or cold, leftover is great for sandwiches!!

 

Moroccan Tortilla -Omelette de Patate- with Pineapple Salsa

This is the Moroccan version of the Spanish Tortillas. In Morocco, we make it with fried potato, but not as crispy as French fries. Also spices are different; we use paprika and cumin.

To make it skinny, I boiled the potatoes and then sautéed them in a tbsp of olive oil until golden and crisp.

Moroccan Tortillas taste great weather served warm, cool, or at room temperature. During summer time, we used to make tortilla sandwiches, my brother, sister and I. Tortilla wedges into French baguette (Parisienne) with lots of hot sauce (harissa). That was our standard lunch when going to the beach. And on our way back home, we finish up with left over…so many memories!!

Prawns with Feta cheese and Basil

I’m back from my holiday!! We’ve been to Vancouver, BC. It’s a great destination for holidays, and fortunately we had a nice, sunny weather. One week away was very refreshing.

On our way to Vancouver, we stopped by Shuswap. Our friends T & S have a nice cabin there and my daughter really enjoyed her time with her friend Niki . Here are few snaps from our trip photos.

We visited so many places in Vancouver, but personally I loved Granville Island. It is considered one of North America’s best markets; fresh produce, gourmet foods, baked goods and lots of seafood.

Also, we’ve been to a nice ‘fancy schmancy’ restaurant, as my daughter said. The House of Fish. One of the appetizers we ordered, was the Flaming Prawns with Feta Cheese. We really enjoyed that dish, combining prawns, diced tomatoes, roasted red pepper, basil and feta cheese.

Back home, I decided to replicate this dish. So to make it skinny and simple, I substitute olive oil for butter in the sauce and I chose low fat feta cheese.  

Cubed Fruits...Great for parties

We’ve been invited to a BBQ party, last week. Nice weather and great food; I particularly fell in love with a lovely fruit salad. It wasn’t actually a salad; it had cubed watermelon and pineapple, but no dressing!!!  

This appealing and amazingly simple fruit plate was a hit at the party. And since I am blogging about skinny and simple recipes, I thought that would be good to share.

 

Ingredients:

Cubed Watermelon
Cubed pineapples

Garlic Zucchini Patties

If you have any extra zucchini, waiting in your fridge for a recipe, these patties are an excellent way to use them up. Make the batter with 1 egg, flour and baking powder. Add onion, parsley and garlic for flavours and then grated zucchini. Quick, skinny and delicious patties for a light summer meal!!

Skinny Salmon Patties

Back home in Morocco, we use fresh sardines to make these patties.

Garlic, parsley, cumin and paprika are the base for any Moroccan fish dish. I just substitute oats for flour and added tomato paste for moist patties.

I’ve tried them with fresh and canned salmon and it taste almost like sardine’s ones.

Serve these patties with your favourite side dish.

Skinny Baby Potato Salad-The Moroccan Taste

This potato salad is very easy to make and compliments any kind of meal.  Cumin, Lemon and olive oil are the only ingredients to make the vinegrette. It is a fresh and healthy choice when you’re in a hurry to get something done for lunch or supper.

Traditionally, Moroccan Potato Salad is made with peeled red potatoes, cut into small cubes.

Egg Omelette with Blue cheese and thyme Crostini

I’ve been making Egg Omelette with Blue cheese Panini for a long time. It’s an easy and quick lunch or light dinner.

For an easy and quick appetizers or snacks, I thought small bites would work perfect. So I made a crostini topped with tomato slice and egg omelette with blue cheese & English thyme.