Hi! Welcome, CDawson! (I know a C. Dawson - do you live in a Chicago suburb?)
You will recieve an e-mail when someone posts to a thread that you've posted on. Sometimes there's an option to "subscribe to this thread" (or something similar to that). You can find some very tasty recipes posted by other members just by scrolling thru the Recipe Swap forum, and you can "Create a New Topic". Also, under the "Resource" tab, you'll find some Spark recipes.
If you want a couple to try, here are some that I've tried. These were all posted here in the recipe swap by other members. You may want to double-check the nutritional information. I'm not sure which ones had them when I found them, and which ones I calculated. Should be okay, but you may want to double check.
Pasta with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (this one wasn't bad. I'm not sure yet what I think of sun-dried tomatoes. I love the flavor, but I'm not sure about the texture).
Serves 2
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1” cubes 1 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon fennel seeds or more 1 carrot, peeled, cut into matchstick-size pieces ½ cup chicken broth ¼ cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes 6 ounces linguine, freshly cooked ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Add chicken and sauté over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot, and fennel seeds. Saute until onion is tender, adding chicken broth as needed to keep vegetables from sticking to pan. Stir in sun-dried Tomatoes and rest of broth. Continue cooking until carrot is crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Mix together pasta, chicken mixture, and Parmesan cheese.
Creamy (without the cream!) Wild Mushroom Pasta (this one was really good. I used 5 ounces of shiitake and 5 ounces of regular button mushrooms)
The "cream" in this recipe comes from blending some of the mushrooms and broth together. This creates a thick, rich texture for the mushroom sauce without all of the saturated fat and calories of real cream.
Serves 4
* 1 tablespoon olive oil * 2 cloves garlic, minced * 10 ounces wild mushrooms, any type or combination * 1 & 1/2 cups low-sodium, vegetable broth * 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried, ground rosemary * 1 teaspoon dried, ground thyme * Fresh ground black pepper, to taste * 1/4 cup grated, fresh parmesan cheese * 12 ounces (dry weight) any whole grain pasta, such as wheat, spelt, buckwheat, kamut, or rye
Bring a large pot of water to boil while preparing the other ingredients. Clean and coarsely chop the mushrooms; many mushrooms require a simple rinse for cleaning and the stems should be included in the recipe, if possible. Mince the garlic and grate the fresh parmesan cheese. In a deep skillet or stove-top pan, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium heat until the garlic just begins to turn golden. Add the low-sodium vegetable broth and mushrooms and return the mixture to a simmer. Add the rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and 1/2 of the parmesan cheese and stir. Take a moment to add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to instructions. Stir the mushroom mixture at a low boil for approximately 5-7 minutes, until mushrooms have cooked down in size. Very carefully (it's very hot!) remove approximately 1 cup of mushrooms and broth and place in a blender. Very carefully (it's very hot!) blend the mushrooms and broth (add as much broth from the pan as needed to allow blending into a thick liquid). Be sure to use a lid on the blender, but place the lid lightly on the blender and lift a bit several times to vent the steam as you blend. This will prevent steam and pressure from building up which could cause the lid to "blow off" the blender. Return the blended mushroom & broth to the pan and stir to combine with the other mushroom mixture. Reduce heat until pasta is ready. Drain pasta and add pasta and mushroom sauce together. Stir to combine ingredients and coat pasta. Dish onto plates and sprinkle each serving with a bit of the remaining parmesan cheese.
Serving Suggestion: For a nice meal, serve with salad or cooked greens. Add in a whole grain bread and you have a delicious, easy-to-prepare meal.
*For a lower sodium dish, omit parmesan cheese or use low-sodium parmesan cheese. Without parmesan cheese, the recipe provides 86 mg sodium per serving.
Curry-Coconut Shrimp (This one was excellent! I love curry dishes, I love shrimp, and I love coconut, so it was a winner from the start!)
1 tsp canola oil 1/2 cup each minced onion and minced red bell pepper 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp ground cumin 3/4 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp curry powder 1 cup light coconut milk 1 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional) 1 pound uncooked jumbo shrimp, peeled 1 tbsp cornstarch 2 tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro 4 cups hot, cooked brown rice
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions, red pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add cumin, coriander and curry powder. Cook for 1 more minute. Add coconut milk, sugar and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 min. Stir in shrimp. Increase heat to med-high. Cook and stir until shrimp is cooked through, about 4 minutes. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with 1 tbsp water. Add to shrimp mixture. Cook until sauce is bubbly and has thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat. Serve shrimp and sauce over hot rice.
Makes 4 servings: each serving is 393 calories, 7.4g fat, 2.8g saturated fat, 26.7g protein, 53.9g carbohydrate, 4.7g fiber, 193.4g cholesterol, 381.6 mg sodium
Curried Chicken (This one was so quick and easy. And quite tasty. I added the exact measurements that I liked - it was posted without some of the measurements. I also added the salt and peppers myself, just to kick it up a notch as Emeril would say!)
About 6 T. Olive Oil 4 Chicken Breasts (3 oz. each) 4 Slices of Sweet Onion 2 T. Curry Powder Crushed Red Pepper to taste Salt and Pepper to taste Hot cooked rice (1/2 cup per serving)
Sprinkle both sides of chicken breast with curry powder. Lay 1 slice of onion on top of chicken breast. Wrap Chicken in foil and back at 350 degrees for 40 min or until chicken is done. Sprinkle with red and black pepper and salt. Serve over hot rice.
Calories: 467; fat 21 g.; carbohydrates 43 g.; protein 24 g.
CDAWSON 4/6/06 11:17 P
i am new to spark people and really like it already but i don't quite get the posting thing yet--where do you post/find recipes and if you ask a question how will you know if someone answered you??? help
BECKY00418 4/6/06 4:54 P
This is an awesome topic! I've been a member for just over 2 weeks, LOVE to cook, but haven't tried any of these yet. I have, however, tried a couple from other Spark members, and all of them have been incredible! If you haven't tried any of them yet, do it! People tend to share their best recipes with others.
I love chicken Marsala, and will be trying that recipe very soon! And the quesadillas, and the parmesan chicken, and .... shall I keep going? There were so many that sound yummy.
Thanks so much for the input. I'm a brave cook - I'll cook a new dish for company, and if it's good it's good, and if it's not, then I apologize and I never cook it again. But I'm sure it's less intimidating for some people to try a new dish when first they hear about it from others.
MAMAWOLFE3 4/6/06 3:55 P
My family and I really liked the Chicken and bean burritos. My son could not get enough he loved and has asked me to make "that black spicy chicken stuff"
FOODPOOD 4/6/06 10:35 A
I tried the SP recipe for spinach with golden raisins and pinenuts recently. Wow! Delicious! Well, I improvised with what we had, so it was escarole instead of spinach, and I forgot about the lemon zest. I just squeezed some lime on top at the end, but would probably use lemon juice next time. Anyway, even with all the substitutions, it was a big hit at the dinner table! Yum!
GOJULESGO 2/17/06 4:14 P
Nope you're not alone. I really love these recipes. They've allowed me to add a lot of variety to our meals without having to work hard at trying to figure out how to fit it into my plan.
REDERICA1980 2/17/06 4:03 P
Hi Jules. I did not know if it was just me. Thanks for your input!
GOJULESGO 2/17/06 3:56 P
REDERICA1980, I've recently made Chicken Marsala and Sweet & Sour port stir-fry and agree there is not a lot of sauce. My DH adds soy sauce to his stir fry so he doesn't mind too much. I added extra mushrooms when I made Chicken Marsala. Next time I'll try increasing the sauce a little too.
REDERICA1980 2/17/06 10:42 A
I made the Sweet and Sour Pork Stir-Fry and the Chicken Marsala. Both were good, however, my DH did not like the fact that there was a not a lot of sauce included in both. Do you guys find that too, or how to you compensate for that? I did increase the sauce for the marsala, but not the stir-fry. Thanks!
I really wasn't sure about them looking at the ingredient list. My 11 yr. old son loved them too.
The recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp canola oil for 1 cup almonds. The almonds looked too oily to me in the pan, so I added about 3/4 cup more almonds to the pan. The seasoning I kept the same as the recipe called for. There was still plenty of seasoning for almost double the almonds.
I hopefully will be able to resist them for the rest of the evening.
LJM0403 2/16/06 4:49 P
Made the Chicken Ratatouille last night--the serving was large (lots of veggies!) and delish!
BOUTROSK 2/16/06 1:59 P
We've found several we like so far, including:
--Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken....made this for 2nd time last night...really good! --Creamy Chicken Enchiladas...not so much like real enchiladas, but good for what they are, very creamy, feels decadent.
We've made others, but that's what I remember off the top of my head. Good thread...it was interesting to see what people have liked...now I'm going to try some other ones!
DUKNIT 2/16/06 11:19 A
Sam, no, the marsala makes it brown. Enjoy! :)
SAMI17 2/14/06 9:47 P
DUKNIT,
Thanks. It must be like cooking sherry? That would probably make it red?
YEEHAWSISTER 2/14/06 9:32 P
I have tried the noodle salad and it was good. Wait to add the ramen noodles though, or they get soggy.
Great idea!
DUKNIT 2/14/06 5:05 P
Oh, you all are making me hungry! haha I tried the Pasta Delight and it was wonderful!!! My family and I can't even tell a difference with the whole wheat pasta. Just cook it a little longer. The veggies in it were delicious! The Chicken Marsala was awesome. I used marsala cooking wine from the grocery store and it was terrific! The cooking wine is near the vinegar, bbq sauce, etc.
DOLLFANCIER 2/14/06 2:07 P
Great recipes * Banana-Nut Bread (a loaf is baking in the oven right now and the house smells so good) * Almond Chicken Salad with Asparagus (I squeezed on extra lemon juice & added a dash of salt to mine) * Banana Oatmeal Cookies * Cajun Chicken Caesar Salad I think there are more calories/svg based on what is in the recipe so I used --2 oz. chicken breast per svg --1 tbsp salad drsg (60-calorie/tbsp) --1 tbsp Trader Joe's shaved parmesan cheese (20 cal/tbsp) * Rotini with Steamed Vegetables * Savory spinach with Tomatoes * vegetarian Chili (for those who like it hotter, I serve hot salsa as a condiment)
YUM!
LUCKYCHARM0222 2/14/06 6:49 A
I've tried the Chicken Parmesan (YUM), the Lemon Chicken (Double YUM), the Rosemary Red Potatoes (Very YUM), and tonight I'm making the garlic Potatoes. I'm anxious to try a few of the other recipes too.
FROGQUEEN 2/13/06 10:34 P
I made the Bean and Macaroni Soup and loved it. My son loved it as well.
I have also made the Caribbean Black Beans (I think thats the name) twice now and we really like that one too.
SAMI17 2/13/06 9:33 P
Tonight we tried the 20 Minute Creole Chicken again. We used "Bennett's" Chili Sauce. It was not hot and very sweet. So-so... but much better than the 1st time I tried it, since I almost died trying to eat it that time.
Also, I forgot about:
Greek Tostada - This was awesome!!! You toast the pita halves in the oven and they get crispy (watch them, I burned them twice before it worked). I had my doubts that this would be bland, but it was great. Try it if you like hummus and chicken.
Last night we tried:
15 Minute Chili - This was really good and lots of flavor. I think I like this better than my regular recipe.
Jicama Salad with Chile and Lime - Just OK. I'm not sure I liked the chile in there. I think if I make it again, I will leave it out. Kind of like a fruit salad with all the oranges.
GOJULESGO 2/13/06 9:05 P
Thanks, I think I'll try it tomorrow night.
SAMI17 2/13/06 9:00 P
GOJULESGO, I used white wine, actually. I think I used a chardonay. I buy those individual little bottles that come in the 4 packs because I can use one to cook with and I don't have to open a whole bottle of wine. I did really like it with the mushrooms and the wine... yum.
MOZEMEN 2/12/06 3:08 A
My family loved the Sticky Chicken (but wished it were spicier), the Chicken with Oregano, and the Mediterannina Baked Fish. The Lemon Chicken didn't go over so well--too bland--but then again, we live off hot, hot food.
SKINI-ME 2/11/06 11:55 P
I made the "Chocolate Cake with Rasberry Sauce" It was great. It was kind of like chocolate cheesecake but sweeter.
I am going to make it for Valentine's day but I am going to put it in muffin tins to make individual servings.
Sandy
GOJULESGO 2/11/06 8:45 P
Sami I'm sooo glad I finally found someone who has made the Chicken Marsala. I've been wanting to make it but I've never heard of Marsala wine. Where can I find it?
SAMI17 2/11/06 8:30 P
Good idea. I like this topic. I really like the Spark recipes because they load into the tracker.
I have tried:
Apricot Cookies - These are more like bars. They are good served hot with 1/2 cup of vanilla icecream over them. 240 for the whole thing, and it's like eating cobbler. Even with the ic they are ok, but great with it!
Green Bean Saute - My husband was sweet and made a whole meal from the recipes in Spark. This was great and we both ate a bunch and I had enough for 2 days of leftovers. Good side dish.
Pasta Italiano- Lots of veggies and whole wheat pasta with ground turkey. Ok. I though it was a little dry (my husband made this, so I didn't tell him). I will probably add more tomato sauce next time.
20 Minute Chicken Creole - I wasn't sure what to use for "chile sauce" so I used siracha... it was WAY too hot. My husband and I could barely eat it and my stomach hurt afterwards. It did taste good, though and I will remake it if I find a milder chile sauce. If anyone has recommendations, let me know.
Chicken Marsala - AWESOME!!! This was great and didn't taste low fat. I would totally recommend this. Just be careful, I burned my thumb really bad pouring the chicken stock into the hot pan.. ;-)
GOJULESGO 2/11/06 4:13 P
I had one last night too! They're like my Friday night reward. Better than pizza!
FINDINGMINIME 2/11/06 10:55 A
Tried the chicken quesadilla last night. It was really good!!
GOJULESGO 2/4/06 8:52 P
I've only been using Sparkpeople for two weeks but I love the recipes. I make my family eat whatever I eat, so I've tried several recipes. Here's what I've tried so far: Scallop Kabobs-Yum! I didn't have enough green peppers so I also used red & yellow peppers. They were all good.
Sweet & Sour Pork Stir-Fry -even my kids liked it Chicken Quesadillas -this is probably my favorite! I make it with pre-packeaged chicken like Tyson, and put it on foil in my toaster oven. (I flip it to make sure both sides are crisp)
Spinach & Feta Personal Pizza- I made this once, & didn't toast it long enough for the tortilla to get crispy so I ended up rolling it up and eating it like a wrap. It was still pretty good.
Garlic-Spiked broccoli & Mushroooms w/Rosemary- I don't know what cremini mushrooms are, but I used regular mushrooms and it was really good.
Cool Cucumber Salad- I like cucumbers in vinegar, but this recipe calls for red onion and it made the whole thing bitter. Next time I'll use a different onion.
Savory spinach w/ Tomatoes-this was good, even the leftovers.
Sticky Chicken- should be named spicy chicken, my whole family enjoyed this but the skin was pretty spicy.
Jumpin' Jambalaya- this was good, but after I made it I noticed that the serving size is 4oz. When you measure 4oz of this, you end up with a lot of rice and not much shrimp or turkey sausage, so I felt a little robbed.
Chicken Oregano w/ Sweet Peppers- my second favorite. I cook the chicken in my Foreman Grill then follow the recipe. After the first time I made it, my husband asked me to cut back on the parsley so I used a tablespoon instead of 1/4c
Tofu Fettuccini Alfredo- I've never eaten tofu before so I wasn't sure what to expect but it was pretty good. I added mushrooms when I made it.
Hope this helps.
S.UDDIN 2/4/06 5:29 P
I have tried the chicken parmesan recipie and I loved it.
HDRURY 2/4/06 1:55 P
I thougt it might be nice to have a spot to "rate" some of the recipes from Spark People. I have made several and some are great, others so/so:
Applesauce Carrot Cake Under Desserts- great for a coffee break and I really like the taste of the whole wheat flour, but not too sweet, so if you are looking for something sweeter, try
Carrot Raisin Bread Under Desserts - very yummy, more like a dessert and only 100 calories for a 1/2 inch slice
3 cabbage Slaw Under Sides - really like the dressing, we've used this as directed and also with
Chicken Quesadillas -this is probably my favorite! I make it with pre-packeaged chicken like Tyson, and put it on foil in my toaster oven. (I flip it to make sure both sides are crisp)