Quick, Colorful Breakfast / Potato Cakes with Bell Pepper Eggs

     A quick breakfast this morning. We go through eggs often but this time we wanted to make it a bit different and colorful to brighten the day. We had left over mashed potatoes from the other night so we turned those into potato cakes and added a little bit of mozzarella cheese and a few snips of green onions. 

     On the left we have two fried (well) eggs. To add some color and taste Jordan threw some some diced green, yellow and red bell peppers. I was a bit apprehensive about eating bell peppers on my eggs but in the end I gobbled it right up. 

     Overall, it was a quick meal and simple, we just wanted something different than just eggs and say... toast. 

Homemade Italian Nachos

Inspired by Johnny Carino's.

Baked wonton wrappers
Italian sausage
Black olives
Chopped tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese
Alfredo sauce

Radishes Au Gratin

I heard that baked radishes taste a lot like potatoes, so I thought...why not make radishes au gratin?! I couldn't find any recipe online, so I made one up based on a potatoes au gratin recipe. I also tried to make it less calories, omitting the milk and using a minimal amount of butter and cheese.

Radishes Au Gratin
(serves 2-3 people as a side dish)

About 15-20 fresh radishes, sliced thinly
1 yellow or white onion, sliced into thin rings
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 slices of cheese - I used Muenster
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover the bottom of a round glass baking dish with the sliced radishes (you can overlap and make layers). Arrange a layer of onion on top. Melt the butter, and using a spoon, drizzle it over the top of the dish. Then sprinkle the flour over the dish. Season the dish with salt and pepper. Be aware that radishes are basically flavorless...I would suggest at least 1/2 tsp of salt. Next tear the cheese into smaller pieces and place it on top of the onion layer. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 50 minutes.

THIS IS SO DELICIOUS. I've made it twice so far. :)

Mozzarella-basil-tomato tart

Fresh Tomato Tart at Ezra Pound Cake
from The Completely Italian Vegetarian Cookbook

Greek hummus wraps

Hummus Salad Wraps from Mediterrasian.com

Greek Pita Pockets from Mediterrasian.com


According to the family, this is the most filling vegetarian recipe we've ever had. It's a combination of the above recipes.

Hummus spread on whole-wheat flat bread, then covered in feta cheese, red onions, black olives, lettuce, tomato, grated carrots, and best of all.....Frank's Red Hot sauce.

It's a very refreshing meal, but filling at the same time. Plus it's really beautiful and colorful, and everyone can customize their sandwich with their favorite toppings. Definitely recommend this. :)

The hummus was homemade, created with chickpeas, olive oil, walnuts, red pepper flakes and some more of Frank's Red Hot. (I can't get enough of that stuff!)

Italian fried eggs on garlic bread

Fried Egg with Tomato & Mozzarella from Ginger Rose

I first made a version of this after I saw Giada DeLaurentiis make it on her show. When I saw Ginger's post, I knew it was time to make it again.

I love the combination of eggs and tomato sauce! I often make egg pizzas in the morning or actually...any time of the day. This version served on top of french bread is delicious and savory...definitely a satisfying and easy meal!

Tomato quiche majig

It looks horrible and calorie-ridden, doesn't it?

Not so!!! I found this recipe in a book called Country Cooking, which is filled with all kinds of amalgamations of butter and grease and lard. This is an example of how to take a fatty recipe and use replacements to make it healthy. I don't have the recipe to share with you, but these are just suggestions you can use to healthify a country-fied greasy quiche or omelette.

Instead of heavy cream (gasp!) I used plain fat-free yogurt. Instead of a pie crust, I used a thin layer of frozen hashbrowns. Instead of the layer of shredded cheddar, I used a couple slices of Muenster cheese, and sprinkled just a little of the shredded cheese on top. I also added some extra veggies to the filling.

After all that, it was about 300 calories for a fourth - a FOURTH - of that casserole dish. Mind-boggling! :)

Frozen yogurt and chile relleno casserole

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt from David Lebovitz
1/2 c for 127 calories

Chile Relleno Casserole from Peertrainer.com
6 servings for 288 calories each

I first tasted Pinkberry frozen yogurt when my family visited Hollywood two summers ago. Since then we have tried to find a frozen yogurt that is comparable. The frozen yogurt with berries at Central Market comes pretty close. Well then I found this recipe, and this is the closest thing yet.

I will definitely make this again, and double it, because there was not enough to go around with 7 people. I will use a little less sugar next time. We topped ours with white chocolate chips, but pretty much any fruit, nut, or chocolate topping will taste good with this yogurt.

The chile relleno casserole was a recipe that I found randomly, when I was looking for tips on how to make a low-calorie chile relleno. (Although it's made from a very large chile, at Mexican restaurants it's usually stuffed brimming, overflowing with cheese....and usually has at least 600 calories.) I've never heard of peertrainer.com but this recipe was good, so I might look to see if they have other tantalizing recipes.

Enchiladas

Here's some enchiladas based on this recipe from Hungry Girl.

I basically stuck to the recipe, but changed a few ingredients. I changed the refried beans to mashed up black beans, and added soy meat crumbles. Plus, I straight up used Mexican blend shredded cheese instead of the fat-free kind.

I do not condone using fat-free shredded cheese, because you know what? It tastes like plastic. It looks like plastic. I don't want plastic on my enchiladas. That's just my personal preference. Take a look at the Hungry Girl photo. That enchilada looks like it's covered with yellow hot glue. But by all means, use it if you're desperate to chop off some calories. EDIT: Or of course you could use reduced fat. Nothing wrong with that. Usually.

In total, I estimate there's about 260 calories per enchilada after the changes. But they're very filling. I say have yourself a bit of guacamole, a little salad, and you've got a meal.

Chipotle white beans

This is a recipe I snatched from 101 Cookbooks, which was originally Giant Chipotle White Beans. I didn't change much, I just used small white beans instead of giant, and added some chickpeas. For the cheese I used chunks of queso fresco.

This recipe makes a gorgeous panful that makes you think you're eating a big cheesy pizza...we gobbled it right up. The chipotle sauce and red pepper flakes make it really spicy, so have a big glass of ice water ready.