Chick Pea Pasta Salad

Ingredients
1 can of Garbanzo Beans (chick peas) rinsed and drained
2 cups of whole grain pasta
2 cups of fresh spinach (sliced in ribbons)
1 lemon (juice and zest)
2 T olive oil
2 splashes of white wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta and let cool, toss together all ingredients and mix well. Very light a refreshing side dish or add grilled chicken and make it a meal!

Weight Watcher friends: 1 cup has about 5 points but you could add more spinach and less pasta and it would be closer to 3-4.

Green Bean Salad

This is a regular side dish at our house, goes great with chicken, fish or steak!

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh green beans
1 cup chopped tomatoes ( I love using grape tomatoes halved)
1/4 cup red onion sliced thin
1/4 red wine vinegarette
1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled

Directions
To make the green beans crunchy, snap the ends then snap them in half. Bring water to a boil and toss the beans in for 3 minutes at a rapid boil. pour them into a strainer then shock them in a ice bath (bowl of ice cold water) Let them sit for about 3 minutes so they get cold quick. This helps them to maintain a bright green color!  Pour them in a bowl, add fresh tomatoes and onion and toss them with the dressing and top with feta. You can make this ahead and place in fridge. Serve it cold!

Weight Watchers Friends: This is a delicous side dish for 2 points!

Veg-Head Three Bean Chili

I hav emade this Rachel Ray recipe before and it was great, I made this again tonight and it was just as good as I had remembered!

1T olive oil

1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped

1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped

1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

1 cup pale beer or Vegtable stock

1 (32- ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 14 ounce can peteite diced tomatoes

1 (14-ounce) can black beans

1 (14-ounce) can dark red kidney beans

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 can vegetarian/fat free refried beans

6 baby carrots, diced

Directions:

Over medium heat, add oil to a deep pot and combine onion, peppers, carrots and garlic. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes to soften vegetables. Deglaze pan with beer or broth, add tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and stirring to combine.

Season chili with cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. Thicken chili by stirring in refried beans. Simmer over low heat about 5 to 10 minutes longer, then serve up bowls of chili and top with shredded cheese, scallions, and tomatoes.

Weight Watchers Friends: This has 6 points for a 1.5 cups. Very good!

Source: Food Network

Rainbow Kale Slaw

This is such an incredible way to eat kale!!! My best friend, Miki, emailed this Whole Foods recipe to me to try. A great raw food recipe! It tastes delicious and you can feel great eating it.

Ingredients
1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
4 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1 small head, quartered and cored)
2 navel oranges peeled and segmented
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1 small orange)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine kale, cabbage, orange segments, onion, bell pepper and sunflower seeds.
In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, orange juice, vinegar and pepper. Pour over the kale mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Weight Watcher friends: This has 0 points if you don't use the sunflower seeds! However I love them and think they really add to it so I count it as 2 points per serving for 1.5 cups.

Source: Whole Foods

Double Bean Burritos

Ingredients

1/4 c red pepper, diced
1/4 c red onion, diced
1/4 c zuchinni, diced
1/4 c mushroom, diced
1 can beans (whatever you like, I used a three bean mix, black, kidney and pinto)
1 can fat free refied beans (warmed)
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup brown rice
6-8 whole wheat tortillas
1 lime
1 T fresh cilantro


Saute veggies in a nonstick skillet and set aside. Cook canned beans and add 1/2 c salsa for flavor. Cook rice then add the juice of a lime 1 t salt and 1 T of fresh cilantro, mix together. To assemble, warm tortillas, then layer, two spoonfuls of refried beans, rice, veggies, bean/salsa mixture then add more fresh salsa to the top and roll up.

Weight Watcher Friends: You can add cheese or sour cream to these but will need to adjust the points. I made them with a medium sized whole wheat tortilla and mine had 8 pts each, but they were really filling and very good! You could also make them with corn tortillas and that would reduce the pt value by 1 pt.