Ginger adds a little zing to healthy chicken dish

Tonight I cooked up a Weight Watchers recipe for dinner. It was so good, and very easy. Took all of 13 minutes. My sister has been raving about the success she's had dropping a few pounds lately on Weight Watchers, and the online program looks great, if for no other reason than to try some of the healthy recipes on the Web site. I used the wok for this, and adapted a little to add more onion and garlic than the recipe suggested. Pineapple and fresh ginger add delicate flavor, and brown rice provides a bit of whole grain texture:

Chicken with pineapple in black bean sauce

1 pound skinless chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 green onions, chopped (use white and green portions)
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/4 cup black bean with garlic sauce
1 20-ounce can pineapple tidbits in 100 percent juice
Canola oil cooking spray

Heat electric non-stick wok to medium high. Coat with one spritz of cooking spray. Cook onions, garlic and ginger in the wok, stirring with a wooden spoon, for three minutes. Add chicken. Cook five minutes, stirring frequently. Add black bean sauce and pineapple with juice. Simmer five more minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve over cooked brown rice.

Bake marinated pork chops when grill won't light

It is pouring rain. Happy Memorial Day. We had planned to grill today, so I marinated extra thick pork chops. And then -- after a couple of storms' worth of hail and rain, the grill wouldn't light. So we had to regroup and figure out a different way to cook the chops. I browned and baked them, and they were actually quite delicious.

I didn't bother looking up a recipe for the marinade; I just sloshed various ingredients in a gallon-size freezer bag and threw the chops in. Here's basically what I did:

Baked marinated pork chops

Combine in a gallon-size freezer bag:

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion
1 crushed garlic clove
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sweet basil

Seal bag, shake well to combine ingredients. Add three or four thick pork chops. Shake well. Let marinate at least two hours.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium high heat. Brown chops (with a good share of your marinated onion and garlic bits) in olive oil, three minutes to a side until well browned. Line a casserole dish with aluminum foil. Place browned chops in the foil, topping with extra pan juices and onion bits from skillet. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Break from tradition with mayo-free potato salad

Today after getting home from a quick road trip, I didn't have a lot of energy for cooking. But it's Memorial Day weekend, so -- after finding that the fresh dill growing in my garden is thriving--I had a hankering for homemade potato salad. I threw some ingredients together-- potatoes, pickles, onions, red pepper pieces, olives and artichoke hearts, before I realized that the only mayonnaise in my fridge had an expiration date of June '07. So I pitched that jar of mayo and created a healthier-than-traditional potato salad. We'll grill flatiron steak and some corn on the cob to go with.

Potato salad with red pepper, hold the mayo

8-10 medium-sized red-skinned potatoes, boiled just 'til soft (about 15 minutes. Do NOT rinse potatoes after cooking)
1 jar artichoke hearts, chopped, and accompanying marinade
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 large dill pickle, chopped
4 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup Dijon-style mustard
Sprigs of fresh parsley

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Chill at least two hours before serving.

Grilled asparagus kicks off farmers' market season

We hit the farmers' market for the first time this season on Saturday. Bought beautiful asparagus, which the vendor recommended we grill. We hadn't done this before. He suggested putting the stalks into a plastic bag with a little olive and salt and pepper, shaking that up and then laying the stalks onto the grill and turning often 'til they're just a little blackened.

Last night we had a crowd of out-of-town family here for dinner and weatherwise, it was the best spring evening we have had all year. Dave grilled up German sausage (from YB Meats-- what a great store!), asparagus, some green and yellow bell peppers. I wrapped potato rolls in foil and heated those for just a few minutes on the grill too to go with our sausage. Added some store-bought potato salad and tabouli to the mix. An easy backyard picnic. The asparagus was especially elegant.

Shrimp spinach salad is ultimate convenience food

I don't shop for dinner in the frozen-food aisle, because it's so easy to make a healthy, fresh meal quickly from scratch. The other night I threw supper on two plates in less than a minute. I started with a layer of bagged baby spinach, added some dried cranberries, a few mini-carrots, some baby tomatoes, and a few crumbles of feta cheese. I added sliced almonds, a morsel of artichoke heart and a generous layer of pre-cooked cocktail shrimp I'd bought at the fish counter at my grocery store. I spritzed on some no-fat dressing and we were set. Genuine lean cuisine, no microwave needed.