Experimenting with Healthy Makeovers

Weekend menu planning. Doing my cardio on Jimmy's treadmill, I caught an episode of "Eat, Shrink and Be Merry" (I wish!). Walk on and walk it off. The feature recipe was the Moussaka. I am going to give it a try along with their butter chicken.

Big Fat Low Fat Greek Moussaka

Review: Yes, this was quite labour intensive! It took 70 minutes to prep. The end result was light and delicious: 2 potatoes vs. 1 lb; a generous layer of grilled zucchini and eggplant sprinkled with feta (Jimmy didn't notice); savory layers of meat sauce with hints of balsamic vinegar, mint and oregano; and oh my! that topping. Jim usually loves one pot meals. If only the flavour lived up to its wonderful aroma. I give this recipe ** out of *****! 

Better Butter Chicken
Review: I had help in the kitchen for this one! I so enjoy cooking with Jim. Traditional butter chicken contains ghee (a form of clarified butter), yogurt and heavy cream. To lighten things up, this recipe replaced these ingredients with 1/3 c. of light sour cream and 1/2 the butter. The chicken marinaded all day in a tandoori sauce. after cooking it, instead of deboning the drumbsticks, we tossed them into the sauce. The aroma was a-ma-zing! I would make this again but, I would stick to a more traditional recipe for the spices. Why did they leave out the garam masala? So essential in Indian cooking. *** out of *****.
And for Friday's Italian night menu... we have:
Penne with Garlic Shrimp and Feta
Review: I use to make a version of this recipe where I used orzo which gave the dish a risotto consistency. A lighter pasta would add to this recipe. I'm thinking spaghettini or angel hair. More feta, more liquid! Feta and hot pasta are a wonderful combination and part of this cook's repertoire. The idea is to use those ingredient as a base and just wing the rest! Now, there's a strange expression: wing it! ** out of *****.