a bean counter's food blog
Although it may seem like I eat meatballs at every meal, I occasionally opt for different meats of the non-ball variety. (Like when I’ve run out of meatballs and don’t have the necessary ingredients to make more.) Tonight was one of those nights. With a grumbling belly and nary a meatball in sight, I decided to remix my usual spaghetti squash with some ingredients I had on hand.
Enter Spaghetti Squash with Sausage, Pesto, and Tomatoes:
Talk about a happy accident!
Once I got home from the grocery store, I was on a mission: to make the couscous stuffed chicken featured in this month’s Cooking Light. I had even pre-snipped the recipe out and hung it up at the stove:
Hard core.
I was pretty excited to try this recipe for a few reasons. First, I have a giant tub of Rice Select Tri-Color couscous in my cabinet that has been begging to be used. Second, I love any excuse to use my meat mallet.
Let’s be honest… I like any excuse to type “meat mallet” 
Even though the ingredients list is fairly long the dish came together pretty easy. First, I pounded the chicken breast out to about 1/4 inch thickness and sliced in half. For the couscous mixture, I brought 1/4 cup of fat free low sodium chicken broth to a boil then added 1/4 cup of the couscous. Then you cover the couscous, remove it from the heat, and let it hang out for about 4 minutes.
Then add in the flava:
The Cooking Light recipe called for olives (BLEGH!) and olive oil, which I omitted and instead subbed in sundried tomatoes and spinach. Divide the couscous mixture between your chicken breast halves:
And them roll them up jelly roll style…. Easy right?
Ummm not so much. I had a couscous blow out and half of the filling fell out! So, I went with my guts and seared the chicken on all sides, then plopped into a baking dish and kind of mashed the extra couscous mix on top of the chicken.
Then I popped it into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
And VOILA!
Couscous crusted chicken!
The couscous got a little crispy in the oven, and it reminded me a lot of breaded chicken!
Of course I had a salad on the side.
Overall, the couscous crusted chicken idea is AMAZING. Now I just need to come up with some sort of sauce to go along side… Hmmmmm……
Stats on 1/2 of the Couscous Crusted Chicken Recipe: 203 calories, 16g carbs, 4g fat, 26g protein, 1g fiber
Couscous Crusted Chicken Ingredients List (Serves 2)
Sometimes I have foodie visions. This is my term for the moment when a random collaboration of ingredients convene in my brain and its seems as though there is nothing I can do to regain control of my thoughts… except of course, try out the random concoction … all the while hoping it doesn’t make me ralph.
My most recent foodie vision consisted of some of this:
plus
What’s that, you ask? Good question! This lovely dinner concoction consisted of:
Repulsed? Don’t go all eggplant on me yet!
First, I baked the spaghetti squash in a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes (since this was just a lil guy). Then I used a fork to scrape out the squash noodles.
Meanwhile, I sprayed a skillet with some cooking spray and tossed in the hummus to get it heating up:
Then I added the tomatoes and chicken:
Once everything was warmed through, I added the spaghetti squash and some red pepper flakes.
Presto!
This was really tasty and simultaneously really weird 😯
Several times during the meal I got a faint reminder of macaroni and cheese which I found even weirder–but that gave me ANOTHER foodie vision I must try sometime soon…. Cheesy spaghetti squash! Stay tuned, folks!
Overall, I like this idea and I’m definitely going to play with it some more. I think wilted spinach would be a really nice addition and maybe a different flavor of hummus….. we shall see… we shall see.
Stats on the spaghetti squash/hummus concoction: 199 calories, 20g carbs, 6g fat, 14g protein, 5g fiber
CALL TO ACTION! Now that the weather is changing, I’ve been craving WARM lunches…. I am bored & I need inspiration for yummy/healthy WARM lunches to bring to work….. Any ideas?
Last weekend, I caught 5 minutes or so of Giada’s cooking show on the Food Network on which she made a sausage and caramelized onion calzone. Are you drooling yet? Ever since then, I’ve had this image of sausage and caramelized onions floating around in my head, beckoning to me. I just so happened to have a leftover sausage from last Sunday’s cookfest, so I decided to put it to use today:
YUMMMMM….. I haven’t made a pita pizza in AGES! Jennie O’s mom and pop would be so darn proud! 😀
First up, I cranked the heat on the oven to 350 degrees, sprayed a small skillet with cooking spray, and placed it over medium high heat. Once the skillet was hot, I added:
Onions & garlic. Anytime you start a recipe off with these two ingredients, there’s an unwritten guarantee it’s going to be delicious. Didn’t you know??
I reduced the heat slightly at this point just to make sure I didn’t burn the garlic or onion. Then I just let the onions do their thing, stirring them occasionally.
Meanwhile, I topped a Joseph’s low-carb pita with 1/4 cup Classico Fire Roasted Tomato & Garlic Sauce and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
Once the onions were soft and a nice light brown color, I added them on top of the pita along with 1/2 a link of pre-cooked & chopped up Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage.
I cut up a light Sargento Mozzarella string cheese into small sticks and tossed those on top then seasoned with a sprinkle of dried oregano and some black pepper:
Then I popped this beauty into the oven for 10 minutes, until everything was heated through and the cheese was melty:
I also fixed up a small side salad, which consisted of romaine lettuce, 1/2 a roma tomato, some chopped red onion, and 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse lite Caesar dressing: 
I REALLY like Ken’s Lite Caeser by the way.
Nom nom nom!
Sometimes the simplest of ingredients combine to make the most amazing meals. It is the best of both worlds!
Ingredients List: Sausage & Caramelized Onion Pita Pizza
Stats on my pita pizza: 236 calories, 17g carbs, 11g fat, 22g protein, 6g fiber
With September here already (where the heck did August go, by the way?), I’ve already got my head in “fall mode”. My favorite time of the year is BY FAR the last quarter – October, November, and December. I love the weather, the excessive parties and family activities, and I also love how things just seem to slow down from the fast pace of summer. Speaking of fast-paced summers, it saddens me that I haven’t been doing much cooking lately. The good news is I’ll have plenty of time to cook… in two more weeks!
Breakfast #1
Ever since last weekend’s awesome breakfast fit for vacation, I’ve been craving the spinach and tomato breakfast burrito. (Let’s be honest, I’ve been craving the potatoes and pancakes too) … So last night instead of doing my usual batch-scrambled eggs, I made a double serving of the spinach and tomato scrambled eggs.
First up, I chopped up:
I sprayed a skillet down with some cooking spray, and once it was hot I tossed in the garlic and onions.
While these guys were cooking I whisked together the following in a bowl:
Once the onions were soft, I poured the egg mixture on top and seasoned everything up with S&P and red pepper flakes. I let the eggs start to cook up, and when they were about 1/2 way done I added the tomato and spinach:
Look how delicious:
While the eggs were getting their groove on, I also roasted up some broccoli that was seasoned with black pepper and garlic salt:
Is it just me, or does that broccoli look really happy to be here?
2 happy campers:
One of which I brought to work with me today to introduce to my friend Heinz:
Stats on B#1: 205 calories, 15g carbs, 5g fat, 23g protein, 2g fiber
B#2 = OO 😀
OVERNIGHT OATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! What a great way to end the workweek!
Doesn’t that just bring a smile to your face??? 😀
YUM.
Stats on B#2: 233 calories, 44g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber
Lunch
What better way to end the Bruegger’s Bagels giveaway, then to have Bruegger’s for lunch, of course!
Today I went with the Spinach & Lentil soup, and a half sandwich with turkey and lots and lots of veggies. I can’t believe this is the HALF sandwich. It was HUGE!
The Bruegger’s Giveaway ends tonight at midnight (eastern time), so get your posts in!