I’ve gained a little weight over the last few years. I’m sure I could blame it on turning 50 and a slowing metabolism. I could argue that life is short and we should eat the butter. Goodness knows I love to cook and love to eat. However, I’m not happy that I have what a friend of mine refers to as “the bigness.” So I’m taking a closer look at how I cook and what I’m eating.

I don’t believe in unrealistic or faddish diets. I just want to drastically cut down on my fat intake and switch to healthier carbohydrates. This week’s recipe serves six and each serving has 455 calories and 4 grams of fat.

Tuscan Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 red or green bell peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 28-oz. can tomatoes
2/3 cup red wine
1 16-oz. can cannelini beans, drained
1 15.5-oz. can red kidney beans, drained
½ cup bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and cook chicken until it is no longer pink. Remove from pan.

Cook onions and pepper in the chicken juices – don’t forget to add salt and pepper. Add garlic and oregano. Cook for a few minutes and add tomatoes, wine and cooked chicken.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add beans and cook an additional 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Then pour contents into an oven-safe dish. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and place in an oven set to broil until browned. Watch closely and don’t let it burn.

I served with a side of fresh herb mixed greens and baby kale. Instead of salad dressing, I squeezed the juice of a lemon slice over the top.

In all honesty, I missed the fat. But that being said, dinner was tasty and I felt satisfied. I’m sure in time I’ll get used to less fat and enjoy the benefits of a smaller waistline.

I love cooking with fresh ingredients. Last week green peppers were calling to me in the produce section, so I bought four.

After spring cleaning, I found pantry items that needed used. I’m too frugal to throw anything away. I had canned salsa from last fall and an old box of stuffing mix. Who knows where the stuffing mix came from, but it won’t be wasted. I made stuffed green peppers to go with chicken breasts and salad.

Stuffed Green Peppers
1 onion, diced
1⁄2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pint salsa or canned roasted tomatoes, divided
1 box stuffing mix
2-1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
2 Tbsp. butter

Drizzle a little olive oil in an oven-safe dish. Cut off the tops of the green peppers and reserve. Clean out the seeds and ribs. Set the peppers into the dish and rub the exteriors with olive oil.

Sauté the onions in olive oil. Then add 1 cup salsa, stuffing mix, butter and 1-1⁄2 cup stock, mixing together until well incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the green peppers. Put the tops back on the stuffed peppers.
Mix the remaining salsa and stock together and pour over the peppers. Cover and cook in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.

While the peppers cooked, I seasoned boneless skinless chicken breasts with salt, pepper and chili powder. I seared each side in olive oil in an oven-safe pan. Covered with a lid and placed in the oven with the peppers for the remaining 25 minutes.

While those dishes finished, I prepared a simple side salad. Dinner was really tasty. It looked complex, but was very simple. In fact it was pretty filling so I ended up eating only half the pepper and saving the rest for lunch the next day.

My little asparagus patch is putting out loads of green shoots. Each day I pick more than a handful. Last week I roasted some for a side dish and on Saturday I made asparagus bisque. The weather was cool, so warm soup and homemade bread made for a comforting dinner.

Asparagus Bisque
1 stick of butter, divided
1 onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bunches asparagus, cleaned, separated and sliced 1″ thick
8 cups vegetable stock
1⁄4 cup flour
1 cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste

I knew I would be making asparagus bisque for dinner on Saturday evening, so that morning I cleaned the asparagus and cut off the woody ends. I used the ends in a vegetable stock set to slowly cook in my crockpot all day. Then David and I went outside and worked on the vineyard trellis reconfiguration. Later that evening after it started to rain, we walked inside to the wonderful aroma of vegetable stock, just ready for the bisque.

Start by separating the asparagus tips from the remaining stalk. Reserve the tips for later while slicing the stalks. Sauté the onion, celery, garlic and asparagus stalks in 4 Tbsp. of butter in a large deep pot for about 15 minutes. Don’t forget to add salt and pepper. Then add the vegetable stock. Cook for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Puree the vegetables (using the immersion blender I suggested you get for Christmas) until silky smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

In another small skillet, sauté the asparagus tips in 4 Tbsp. of butter. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Then add 1 cup cream and stir until it thickens. Add to the pureed vegetables. Turn the heat on low and stir while the soup thickens. Check and adjust seasonings.

I served the bisque with homemade bread. A dollop of sour cream, yogurt or shredded cheese on top of the soup would be good – if you have it.

Utilizing a bread maker, combine the following:
2 tsp. yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp. sugar
1 cup combined rye flour and ground flax seed
3-1/2 cups bread flour
¼ cup gluten
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp. oil
2 tsp. caraway seeds

Select the dough setting on the bread maker and turn it on.

After about an hour and 15 minutes, the bread will have kneaded and risen. Remove and shape into two loaves, placing on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 415 degrees for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove, letting the bread cool for about 20 minutes before slicing – if you can wait.

Roughly chop vegetables: 1 onion, 3 celery ribs, 3 carrots, a handful of asparagus ends, or other vegetables you want to use.

Saute in olive oil until lightly browned.

Place in crock pot with a parsley, thyme, and sage bundles, 4 cloves smashed garlic, 8 peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, and 3 quarts of water. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Strain the vegetables, reserving the liquid for stock.

Last Saturday morning while walking the beagle pup, I stopped by my asparagus patch hoping for new green shoots. I saw one with another just barely poking up its head. Yes! I love asparagus. I picked the one long green shoot, and since it was just one – the first – I ate it while I walked to the greenhouse to check on seedlings planted a couple of weeks ago. That asparagus shoot tasted so green, fresh and well…like spring! Oh, my goodness, I was inspired.

On Sunday while shopping for groceries, I purchased a bundle of asparagus. Those are good, but not as good as the ones grown in my own garden. However, with anticipation of more to come, I made pasta carbonara with asparagus, bacon and lima beans. It is a rustic Italian dish and wonderfully tasty.

Pasta Carbonara with  Asparagus, Bacon and  Lima Beans
1⁄2 lb. bacon, cooked and diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup lima beans, thawed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 bunch asparagus, 1-inch sliced
4 ea. fresh eggs
1⁄4 cup parsley, minced
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 lb. pasta, cooked and drained
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place a large oven-proof serving bowl in the oven to warm.

Boil water in a large pot and cook pasta. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and reserve. I usually cook the onions in the bacon grease, but for a healthier option discard the grease and use olive oil. Cook the onions until tender and then add lima beans and garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes more.

Add wine and chicken stock, reduce heat to low and let simmer until lima beans are tender and liquid is reduced. Add asparagus and cooked bacon. Keep warm over very low heat. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary Just before the pasta is done, pull the warm serving bowl from the oven. Whisk eggs, parsley and Parmesan cheese together in the bowl. Drain the pasta and add to the egg mixture. Toss well to combine. The hot noodles will cook the egg mixture making a creamy sauce. Add the bacon-vegetable mixture and toss again.

Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.

The Lenten season is well underway and I have always followed the practice of giving up a luxury, making personal improvements and increasing Bible studies during that season. Many people do the same and recently I learned that an Internet poll declared the top 10 things people give up for Lent, starting with number 10, are fast food, soda, chips, sweets, swearing, school, social networking, twitter, alcohol, and the number one thing given up during Lent is chocolate.

Another tradition observed during Lent is not to eat meat on Fridays – somehow fish isn’t considered meat. We always ate fish on Fridays and I suppose crab cakes, shrimp or tuna steaks were really a delicacy not a cause for suffering. However, one of my sons once declared that he’d be giving up fish for Lent – funny kid. Last Friday I made curried-shrimp and vegetables served over rice.

Curried Shrimp and Vegetables
1 large onion, julienne sliced
2 carrots, sliced on a bias
2 celery ribs, sliced on a bias
2 Tbsp. oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz. can coconut milk
1 Tbsp. curry paste
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1⁄2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1⁄2 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
1 lb. shrimp, peeled
2 tsp. dried basil
Salt and pepper
4 cups cooked rice

Begin by sautéing the onion, carrots and celery with the oil, adding a little salt and pepper, over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Add the coconut milk, curry paste and brown sugar. Stir until all is incorporated and turn the heat down to simmer.

Add peas and lima beans. Bring the contents back up to a simmer. Then add shrimp and dried basil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Don’t over-cook the shrimp. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice; the recipe feeds 4.

If I had it, I would’ve used freshly chopped basil sprinkled over the finished dish instead of dried. Also, using chicken instead of shrimp is an option. If so, cube, cook and remove from the pan before sautéing the vegetables. Then add back to the dish at the end.

Another idea – and more in line with observing Lent – is to double the amount of peas and lima beans, skipping both shrimp and chicken. The recipe is just a guideline; that’s what I love about cooking.