Healthful snacks from Price Cutter’s Nutrition Consultant, Jessica Idleman.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bunch of Kale (preferably organic), rinsed and dried
• Extra Virgin olive oil (about a tablespoon)
• Dash of unrefined sea salt (about ½ teaspoon)
• Cracked black pepper
• Lemon juice (optional)

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Fold kale leaves in half length wise. Hold the vein from the bottom of the leaf and pull it up and out to remove. Tear the remaining leaf into large pieces and lay on a cookie sheet. Drizzle lightly with oil. Add a small (very small) amount of salt and a few large grinds of pepper. Toss with your hands to disperse ingredients evenly among the leaf pieces. Pieces may seem dry but resist the urge to coat with oil and spices. Kale offers a lot of flavor and is easy to over season.

Lay pieces evenly on a cookie sheet (do not heap). Roast for approximately 10-15 minutes or until a few of the leaves begin browning on the tips. Cool slightly and enjoy. Store in aluminum or paper bags, not plastic.

Summer in the Ozarks is a great time of year for cooking and eating. There are more opportunities to cook with the great weather for grilling and more time to eat during the longer days! With all of this time for food on our hands, it would do us well to try and eat a little lighter and maybe even a bit healthier!

This week’s menu is light, healthy, and delicious! The first course, Watermelon with Goat Cheese, Olive Oil and Toasted Cumin Seed, may sound a bit strange, but I think that when you taste it you will enjoy it quite a bit. The creamy, tangy, goat cheese blends perfectly with the crunchy, sweet, watermelon. The oil and toasted cumin provide a savory element that nicely rounds out the dish.

For the entrée, I made soft tacos. So, you’re thinking, “Tacos? That is the best he can do?” Well my friends, these tacos are beyond ordinary. First of all, I like to let my guests make their own tacos. I make taco meat using ground Smart Chicken for those who like meat. I also provide a large assortment of fresh vegetables, cheese, and sauce so that a vegetarian taco can be made as well. The kicker is the homemade flour tortillas as they are always a treat. The presentation of veggies, tortillas and full ingredients laid out on the table is a beautiful site to behold!

We have some excellent strawberries on sale this week so I whipped up one of my favorite combinations: Strawberries with Port Wine Reduction. I added some low fat Weight Watcher’s yogurt to top it off. The creamy yogurt with the tangy strawberries and the sweet Port wine is really delicious. I hope you like it!

In This Menu:

• James’ Chicken Tacos
• Watermelon with Goat Cheese, Olive Oil, and Toasted Cumin Seed
• Strawberries with Port Wine Reduction

Makes 12 tacos

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. Smart Chicken ground
  chicken

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Taco meat seasoning
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1½ cups Borden grated
  cheddar-colby mix

• ½ cup Hiland sour cream
• ½ cup red radish, diced
• ½ cup each yellow and red bell
  pepper, diced

• ½ cup diced zucchini, diced
• ½ cup diced tomato
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• ½ cup bicolor sweet corn mixed with ½ cup rinsed black beans, and 2 T. diced red onion
• 1 cup salsa, your choice

PREPARATION

Get a skillet hot, add oil and sauté chicken until almost done. Add your taco seasonings. If you don’t have a taco seasoning that you like to use, add 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, and ½ cup water to chicken. Mix spices in well, bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, until liquid is cooked out. Toss the diced avocado in the lemon juice to keep it from browning. Arrange remaining ingredients in small serving bowls. Serve with warm home made tortillas (see below).

For the Flour Tortillas:

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening
• Warm water

PREPARATION

In the bowl of a counter top mixer or small bowl, mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add lard and beat with paddle at medium speed until the mixture looks like coarse meal. If you do not have a counter top mixer, cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter. In either case, after the shortening is cut into the flour mixture, add a little water at a time, stirring between each addition until a dough is formed. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes until soft and pliable. Wrap in plastic and let the dough rest for 30 minutes in refrigerator.

If you have an electric tortilla press/cooker, use it now. If not, divide dough into 12 round balls. On a floured board, flatten a dough ball into a round disc. Flour a rolling pin and roll out until dough is very thin, almost transparent. If you are having trouble or just want your tortilla perfectly round, roll out then place a proper sized plate or other round object on top of the rolled out dough. With a sharp knife, cut around the edge of the plate, removing irregular edges. Save dough edges to make more tortillas.

Heat a skillet or griddle to 350° (medium high for 3 to 5 minutes in skillet). Add a little vegetable oil and place a tortilla on griddle. Cook for about 4 minutes until you see bubbles form and the cooked side is lightly browned. Turn over and repeat cooking process. Remove from heat and keep covered. Serve warm. If you want to refresh tortillas later, wrap in damp paper towels and microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 seedless watermelon
• 1 log of creamy goat cheese
  (available at our Plus stores)

• Olive oil
• Cumin seed
• Kosher salt
• Mint sprigs

PREPARATION

Remove the rind from the
watermelon and cut into ½” cubes. For each appetizer portion you should cut about 12 cubes. Cut the goat cheese into cubes as well. This is easier if you dip your knife in some hot water, dry it, then cut through the cheese. Toast about 2 teaspoons cumin seed per appetizer portion by placing a skillet over medium high heat. Add the cumin and stir or toss constantly until the seeds begin to smoke lightly. Remove seeds from heat and set aside.

Arrange the melon pieces and goat cheese on a large plate. Sprinkle very lightly with some Kosher salt; about ¼ teaspoon per serving. Drizzle about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil evenly over fruit and cheese on each plate. Top with a little cumin seed and garnish with fresh mint sprig.

Port wine reduction is easy to make and is very versatile. It does as well on steak as it does on fresh berries. Try it with anything you use a sauce for, you will be surprised at how good it is!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bottle inexpensive Port wine
• 2 pints strawberries
• 2, 8 oz. containers low fat Weight
  Watchers Vanilla Yogurt

• Mint sprigs for garnish

PREPARATION

For the reduction: place Port wine on the stove in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 30 minutes or more. You must watch carefully because if it boils too long, it will turn into “tar”! When the bubbles begin to noticeably grow in size, the reduction is close. Boil for another 4 to 5 minutes and remove from heat. The sauce should be the consistency of warm pancake syrup. Let reduction cool. This will keep without refrigeration for up to two months or longer. I keep it in a squeeze bottle like honey.

Wash the strawberries, remove the tops and cut into halves. Place in three or four wine glasses. Drizzle Port wine reduction liberally over berries. Spoon some yogurt over the top. Garnish with the mint. Amazing!

Yep, that’s right! Winter is over and it is time to shed some of those holiday and cold weather pounds. This week’s menu is low fat and healthy, and most importantly, it tastes good! If you try and eat better and the food does not satisfy you, chances are that you will go back to your old ways.

If you are cutting carbohydrates, you can leave the bread crumb topping off of the salmon and don’t serve it with the rice. In the same manner, you can leave the croutons off of the Caesar salad. I think your kids will love the smoothie, which is also a very healthy alternative to the usual sugar-packed dessert.

In This Menu:

• Salmon with Parmesan Crust
• Simple Asparagus
• Knorr Mushroom Rice
• Low-fat Caesar Salad
• Pineapple and Strawberry Smoothie

• 4-6 oz. filets of salmon
• ½ cup Dijon mustard
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lemon

Spread a thin layer of the mustard over each piece of salmon. In a small bowl or pan, mix the bread crumbs with the cheese, salt, and pepper. Place the salmon, mustard side down into the bread crumb mixture. Press gently to evenly coat the top of salmon. Place salmon in a lightly greased baking dish, breaded side up. Bake at 400° for 10 to 15 minutes or until salmon reaches desired doneness. Salmon can be eaten medium rare and I like to cook it to the point that the middle is slightly translucent. Serve salmon with rice and asparagus.

• 2 quarts of water
• 1 large bowl of ice water
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Bring the 2 quarts of water to boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to medium. Remove rubber bands form the asparagus and place in the boiling water. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from pan and immediately plunge in ice water. When completely cooled, remove from ice water and drain well. This can be done up to 2 days ahead of time. When ready to serve, heat olive oil in a medium skillet and toss asparagus with salt and pepper until warmed through.

Follow package direction for cooking rice. Keep warm until ready to serve.

To plate:

Place ½ cup of the rice in the center of the plate, then place a piece of salmon on top of the rice. Lay 4 to 6 asparagus spears at an angle on the side of the fish. Cut 4 thin, round slices from the lemon and cut each round ½ way through. Twist the lemon rounds and place on top of fish. Squeeze remaining lemon juice over the top of fish and asparagus.

• 1 cup non-fat yogurt
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon coarse, black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon anchovy paste (optional)
• 1 bag Dole Leafy Romaine Lettuce
• 2 cups croutons (optional)

In a large bowl, mix yogurt with next seven ingredients using a wire whip. Add lettuce to bowl and toss until the lettuce is evenly coated. Top with croutons.

• 1 fresh pineapple, cored, skinned, and cut into 1″ pieces
• 2 pints strawberries, tops removed and cut in half
• 1 cup orange juice
• 3 packages sugar substitute like “Equal” or “Sweet n Lo”
• 2 cups of ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend on high speed until the ice is crushed and the texture is completely smooth.