We had this dish for the first time tonight, JBQ liked it a lot. It’s easy to do and pretty impressive-looking.

Ingredients (for 2)
* 2 big portobello mushrooms
* low-fat sausage (1 if they are big, or 2 if they are small)
* 1 finely chopped garlic
* 1 shallot, finely minced
* 1 tbspoon chopped bell pepper
* 1/3 cup of frozen spinach
* fresh mozzarella
* parmesan cheese
* olive oil
* salt and pepper

Execution
1. Cut the stem of the mushrooms and chop it finely. Scrap the internal of the mushrooms with a teaspoon and put the scrapped part together with the chopped stems.
2. Cut the sausage(s) in thin round pieces. Chop the shallot, bell pepper too. Preheat the oven at 350 F (200 C).
3. In a frying pan add 1 tablespoon olive oil, and saute the shallot, chopped mushrooms, pepper, garlic, spinach and sausage for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of parmesan.
4. Fill up the portobello mushrooms with the saute’d ingredients and place them on an oil-greased oven dish.
5. Cut some thin mozzarella pieces and place them on top of the mushrooms. Bake for 25 minutes. Eat warm.

Fajitas is one of my favorites Mexican recipes, as long as I live in a country that stores sell the needed ingredients (e.g. easy in USA, but it’s tricky to find them in Greece).

Ingredients (for 1)
* 0.35 lbs (150 gr) of tenderloin or london-broil beef
* 1.5 tablespoons of salsa of your choice
* 1/8 of the big kinds of onions
* 1/4 of a green bell pepper
* 3 tablespoons of guacamole
* 3 tablespoons of sour cream
* 1 tablespoon of olive oil
* 3 tortillas

Execution
1. Cut the beef, onion and pepper in thin, long strips, like in the picture below.

2. In a big frying pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat it up on “high”. Add the beef and stir-fry it for 2 minutes.
3. Turn ON the oven to 400F (205C) and put the 3 tortillas in it. Bake for a few minutes just until warm, in parallel to the frying below.
4. In the frying pan add the onions and peppers and keep stirring for another 2 minutes. Add the 1.5 tablespoons of salsa and keep stir-frying until all liquids are gone and the onions/peppers now seem a bit softer (but not soggy).
5. Place the frying pan on top of a table-top protection. In a small plate put the 3 warm tortillas.
6. In your main plate take 1 tortilla, spread 1 tablespoon of sour cream and 1 tablespoon of guacamole on it, and then spoon on it 1/3 of the frying pan’s ingredients. Close the tortilla as in the picture below and enjoy! Repeat step 6 two more times until the rest of the ingredients are gone.

Tip: You can sprinkle some shredded mexican or cheddar cheese on the frying pan after step 5.

This is a list of my top-5 foods ever, in order.

1. Greek Easter lamb (one of the best things in life, possibly because it’s only served once a year traditionally)

2. Char Siu barbecued pork fried rice (as prepared in this restaurant in Surrey, UK)
3. Lamb Biryani (Indian, when well-prepared and not too spicy)
4. Greek Patsas (my mother’s version, with avgolemono and lots of garlic)
5. Seafood-bean salad or Greek Yuvarlakia (can’t decide which)

Best dessert: Tiramisu (Italian)
Best drink: Orangina (French)

Special mention: Pita souvlaki (Greek)

Τίς κοιλοίας ή αγαλίασιν…

Yogurt is a kind of food that doesn’t get enough attention from food blogs or books. It is a very healthy kind of food, but unfortunately, consumers tend to buy the $0.75 jelly-yogurts in superstores rather than the real, “Live, Active and Probiotic Yogurt“.

I must admit that when I am on a low-calorie diet I am eating Danon’s yogurts that only have 40-60 calories each. But the truth is, I don’t like their taste at all — I have trouble swallowing them! Not because they are low-calorie, but because these “commercial-looking” jello-type of yogurts are not real yogurts. They are pasteurized milk with jello and some fruit additives. They suck both health-wise and taste-wise IMO.

I challenge you to buy some real yogurt, the “live” kind that usually comes in less glamorous big placeholders (yes, they are more expensive). Then, pour some good quality syrup on top of some of it, sprinkle some walnuts or minced fresh fruits too, and then eat it. If you still like the jelly-type of yogurts, then you deserve the diarrhea you get every week by not letting real yogurt take care of your intestines.

A yummy slow-cooked stew, with your choice of white or red meat. We loved this recipe so much that we had the dish twice in two days: with beef and chicken respectively! The only non-standard kitchen appliance you will need is a slow-cooker, aka Crock-Pot. It’s worth the 30 bucks it costs.

Ingredients (for 2)
* 350 gr of red or white meat of your choice
* 1/4 cup of red wine (white wine will do too)
* 2 baby potatoes (the ones that are eatable with skin)
* 90 gr frozen French green beans
* 3/4 cup of canned chunked tomatoes
* 1/4 cup of chunked carrots
* 80 gr green frozen peas
* 5 button mushrooms
* 1 tbspoon white flour
* 1 stick of celery
* 1 garlic clove
* 1 shallot
* 1 tbspoon of olive oil
* salt, pepper to taste

Execution
1. Turn ON the crock-pot on “high”. Cut the meat in big chunks and place it in the crock-pot. Sprinkle on top of the meat the flour. Replace the cover on the crock-pot.
2. On a cutting board, prepare the vegetables: Slice the shallot, carrots, garlic, celery and cut the mushrooms in half. Place them all in the crock-pot and then also add the frozen green beans and peas.
3. Remove some of the water from the tomato can, and then cover the ingredients in the crock-pot with the chunky tomatoes. Add the wine and 1 tbspoon of olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper. Stir, replace the cover.
4. If you chose chicken/turkey, cook for 3 to 3.5 hours. If you’ve chosen game or other red meat, cook for 5 hours.
5. Add the washed baby potatoes (with their skin) just 1 hour before you turn off the crock-pot. Serve hot!

Ben Mauer was over for dinner tonight (one of the MonoDevelop hackers), so I took the opportunity to also prepare a Greek salad. And it’s time to share my big recipe secret for the ultimate Greek salad (aka “horiatiki”).

Ingredients (for 2)
* 1 tomato
* 1/3 of a small cucumber, peeled
* 1/6 of a green bell pepper
* 1/6 of the big kinds of onion
* 1/4 feta cheese (~50 grams)
* 6 olives
* oregano, some lemon juice, optionally a bit of salt
* 3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil

Execution
1. Cut the tomato in 6 vertical slices. Cut the cucumber in round, thin-ish slices. Cut the green pepper in thin vertical slices. Cut the red onion in vertical slices (not too thin). Cut the cheese in cubes. Place all above ingredients and the 6 olives into a big salad bowl.
2. Sprinkle with the oregano, lemon juice and salt. Add the olive oil. Mix well.
3. Preferably serve with hot home-made bread or Italian ciabatta. Kali orexi!

Tip: If you don’t have the time to prepare the salad when also preparing lunch/dinner, after “step 1″ you can secure the bowl with a transparent wrap and place it in your fridge. As long as the “step 2″ ingredients have not being mixed into the bowl, the salad’s ingredients can keep fresh for up to 5 hours!

The easiest way to do a risotto — the lazy way! Not a low-carb recipe, but a low-cal one at 200 calories. Vegetarian and delicious!

Ingredients (for 1)
* 45gr of a rice of your choice (160 cals)
* 3 tablespoons of a Mexican chunky salsa of your choice (15-20 cals)
* 3 medium-sized washed, sliced portabella mushrooms (15-20 cals)
* 0 calorie non-stick spray

Execution
1. Boil rice as per package instructions in a pan. Drain.
2. In the meantime, spray in a small frying pan twice with the non-stick spray and fry the sliced mushrooms for 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
3. Back in the pan, place the salsa and under medium heat cook it until most of its liquid has evaporated.
4. Add the drained rice in the pan and stir well. You can choose to serve the mushrooms on top of the risotto, or stir them in too. Serve hot.

Tip: If the salsa you chose is pretty plain, don’t hesitate to add cilantro, thyme, parsley or any other similar fresh spice.

This is the Greek-style recipe for lentils, but with an added French connection: sausage. It’s a very healthy dish, lots of fiber and iron in it. If you don’t add any olive oil, you still get a big, filling plate of lentils that’s only 200 calories.

Ingredients (for 1)
* 50 gr raw brown lentils (120 cals)
* 1/2 of a small tomato (10 cals)
* 1/2 of a low-cal sliced sausage (60 cals)
* 1 shallot (3 cals)
* 2 cloves of garlic (2 cals)
* 1/5 cup of lemon juice (5 cals)
* 1 tbspoon of olive oil (optional, 120 cals)
* salt

Execution
1. Put the lentils in a big open dish and go through them one by one to remove any non-lentil elements or small stones that may be found in the package. After that, wash the lentils with running hot water for a minute (use your hands to literally wash the lentils).
2. Add 3 cups of water in a saucepan under high heat. Cut the onion & the half tomato in small pieces and add them to the saucepan. Then, add the garlic, the lentils and the salt (and the olive oil if you are not dieting).
3. Replace the cover of the saucepan and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. Add more water as needed if the lentils are not yet cooked through (it should be a bit watery, but not as much as a soup — cooking times are different between brands so you will have to experiment).
4. About 5 minutes before it’s all ready, stir in the lemon juice and the sausage and continue cooking in medium heat. Serve hot.

I call this recipe In-Basil, and it has only one requirement: that you like the basil-garlic taste. JBQ doesn’t like it for example, I do though. This version has about 200 calories, depending on the meat or fish used. It is also South Beach Phase-I compliant.

Ingredients (for 1)
* 110 gr of either chicken/turkey breast or white fish (80 to 120 cals)
* 1/2 cup of fat-free vegetable (or chicken) broth (10 cals)
* 60 gr of garbanzo beans (35 cals)
* 10 thin slices of zucchini (5 cals)
* 1 big minced garlic clove (3 cals)
* 1 tspoon minced basil (2 cals)
* 2 button mushrooms (10 cals)
* 6 cherry tomatoes (15 cals)
* 1 shallot (5 cals)
* 0 calorie non-stick spray
* Black pepper

Execution
1. Preheat grill-pan to high heat. Grill the meat or fish of your choice until done. Set aside.
2. Cut the shallot is small pieces. Cut the mushrooms in two. In a saucepan, spray twice with the non-stick spray and bring to heat. Saute the shallot and mushrooms for about a minute. Add the basil and garlic and saute for another 30 seconds.
3. Add the vegetable broth, zucchini, garbanzo beans and black pepper. Stir and let it cook until few tablespoons of sauce remain.
4. Add the tomatoes and stir again. After about 30 seconds place the contents to your plate, but try to keep most of the sauce still in the saucepan.
5. Return the saucepan to the heat and add the fish/meat. Turn over 2-3 times and cook until most of the sauce has evaporated (usually a minute later). Serve hot next to the vegetables.

Tip: You can substitute the garbanzo beans with some potato gnocchi if you are not dieting (not pictured). Asparagus is not bad in this context either.

One of the products I use as a dessert in my low-calorie diet is Del Monte’s “Mandarin Oranges in Lite Orange Gel” (or peach). The pack has 4 cups, 128 gr each, for 60 calories each. Today I found a brand new product from Jell-O though, called “Jell-O Fruit Passions” (difficult to find as of yet, I got it at San Mateo’s Draeger’s), which has 60 or 70 calories (depending on the flavor, choose from 4 different flavors) for a full 170 grams. Their cups are huge! Very filling. Price wise Jell-O’s new line is 20% cheaper than Del Monte’s, but the thing is that Del Monte offers 4 small cups while Jell-O 2 bigger ones. Nevertheless, the Jell-O version will definitely replace the Del Monte ones in my diet (even if it requires refrigeration at all times and has smaller expiration date). Jell-O’s version lets me eat 25% more, for the same amount of calories.