Yellow Bell Pepper Romesco Sauce

I am by nature a plain (read: lazy) cook, which is what makes having sauces like this one so great. I made a big batch of this yesterday and will eat it for days on striped bass fillets (broiled with salt and pepper), roasted vegetables (cut up, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted), roasted chicken (rubbed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted), and with just plain sliced bread.

I used yellow bell peppers because they looked so pretty at the produce market, but you can use red or orange ones instead. To make this even faster, you can even use roasted red peppers from a jar. You’ll need about 1 mounded cup of drained peppers. And if you don’t have pine nuts, you can substitute almonds or walnuts.

Put this low-carb, low-cal sauce on almost anything—it’s good stuff to have around when you don’t feel like cooking.

Yellow Bell Pepper Romesco Sauce

Makes generous 1 cup

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 large yellow or red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, stems and seeds removed

2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed through a press

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the pine nuts in a small baking dish and bake, shaking the pan once or twice, until the nuts are lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool (don’t keep them in the hot pan or they will continue to toast).

2. Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a small rimmed baking pan and place the bell pepper halves skin side up on the pan. Broil the peppers, turning the pan as needed, until the skin of the peppers is blackened and blistered, about 10 minutes. Transfer the peppers to a bowl; set a plate over the bowl to hold in the heat. Let stand until the peppers are cool enough to handle, 15-20 minutes. Peel away and discard the skins of the peppers.

3. Combine the pine nuts, peppers, and the remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. (If your peppers are really large, you might need a little more liquid to get to a “saucy” consistency; you can add a few teaspoons of cold water or chicken broth.) Serve at once, or cover and refrigerate up to 4 days.

Each serving (about 2 tablespoons): 4 g carbohydrate, 73 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 1 g protein, 71 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 0; Exchanges: 1 fat

Roasted Vegetables with Charmoula Sauce



I love it when I find a recipe for a sauce that turns ordinary ingredients into a special meal without a lot of fat or calories. Carrmoula, a simple Moroccan sauce that’s made with fresh parsley and cilantro and ground spices, is just such a recipe. I’ve paired it here with a combination of roasted vegetables (use whatever vegetables you have on hand), but you can serve it with fish or roasted chicken too. It’s best not to make it too far ahead, since the herbs will lose their bright green color after a couple of hours.

Roasted Vegetables with Charmoula Sauce

Makes 6 servings

6 ounces fingerling potatoes or small baby potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half

4 carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 red onion, cut into wedges

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips

1 small acorn squash, cut into wedges and seeded

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

3 tablespoons reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth or water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

Generous pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, bell pepper, and squash in a large bowl. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and toss to coat. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer on two large rimmed baking sheets. Bake, turning the vegetables once, until tender and well browned, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, the parsley, cilantro, broth, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, and cayenne in a blender and process until pureed. (the sauce makes about 1/2 cup)

To serve, arrange the vegetables on a serving platter and drizzle evenly with the sauce. Serve hot or warm.

Each serving: 20 g carbohydrate, 146 calories, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 2 g protein, 179 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 1; Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable

Healthy Homemade Meatloaf

Heinz, maker of Classico pasta sauces, said today that they were surprised by the National Consumers League criticism. The NCL thinks Heinz should not be allowed to say that their products are made from fresh tomatoes, when in fact, they are made from “reconstituted industrial tomato concentrate.” Read the article at Food Navigator.

This news, along with the leftover brown rice from yesterday’s post, made me think of having a great homemade meatloaf topped, not with ketchup or with a jarred pasta sauce, but a quick and easy homemade tomato sauce.

You can make the sauce in less than 30 minutes, while the meatloaf bakes, and though it’s not made from fresh tomatoes, it has none of the added sugars that almost all jarred sauces have and certainly no industrial tomato concentrate. Serve it on pasta, chicken breasts, grilled salmon, almost anything.

Meatloaf with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Makes 8 servings

Meatloaf

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small red bell pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced  

1 clove garlic, minced

2 pounds extra-lean ground beef

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice  

1 egg

1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley  

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, drained

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Tomato Sauce

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or use about 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°.

To make the meatloaf, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and tilt the pan to coat the bottom. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl to cool slightly.

Add the ground beef and all the remaining ingredients to the onion mixture and mix well with your hands. Place the beef mixture in a large shallow baking dish (a 13 x 9 Pyrex is perfect) and shape into a loaf (about 12 x 5 inches). Bake the meatloaf uncovered for 1 hour.

While the meatloaf bakes, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and tilt the pan to coat the bottom. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the tomatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes. You can leave the sauce as it is if you prefer it chunky, or for a smoother sauce, use a potato masher to break up the tomatoes a bit. Stir in the basil, salt, and pepper (the sauce makes about 3 cups). Cut the meatloaf into slices and serve topped with the sauce.

Each serving: 17 g carbohydrate, 240 calories, 8 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 83 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 25 g protein, 257 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 1; Exchanges: 1 starch, 3 lean protein, 1/2 fat