Thai Pepper Lettuce Wraps

This low carb recipe is delicious with any leftover cooked chicken, or ground beef or pork and amazing with crab!

Serves 4

2  C Shredded cooked chicken, ground meat / poultry or crab
1  Shallot or small red onion, diced
1/4 C Cilantro, chopped
2 Tsp Sesame oil
1 Thai chili, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Head of Boston or bibb lettuce - outer leaves

Toss together shredded cooked chicken, cooked ground meat or crab with the shallot, cilantro, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste. Wrap up the filling in lettuce leaves for a fast and easy dish (or appetizer)!

Julie Languille - busy wife and mom, owner

Dinners In A Flash - Easy Dinner Recipes and Online Dinner Planner

Grilled Chicken Salad - Light and Delicious!

Okay, so those of us that are food focus, occasionally need to watch their weight, or at least I do. This salad is one of my favorite go-to meals when I am counting calories and carbs. The great thing is, my family loves it too.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Cool and Cream Cottage Cheese

4 C Salad greens, washed and spun dry

1 Cucumber, sliced

4 Mushrooms, sliced

2 Tomatoes, minced

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1 C Cottage cheese, fat free

2 Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless - 8 oz each

1 tsp oil (I use MCT oil)

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Seasoning salt

Italian salad dressing, fat free and low carb (no added sugar - I use Cysco)

Pound the chicken to an even thickness, about 1/3 inch. (I use a rolling pin.) Season with seasining sal, drizzle with oil, lemon and zest. Let stand which the grill preheats. Grill the chicken on both sides until cooked through, about 8 minutes. (I turn it every 2 minutes to get crosshatched grill marks.)Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest.

Meanwhile in a large salad bowl, combine lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumbers and mushrooms, and toss to combine. Dress with salad dressing. Top with cottage cheese and spread it a bit to cover the top of the salad. Finely chop the chicken into small pieces and scatter warm chicken over the salad. Serve.

Julie Languille - busy wife and mom, owner

Dinners In A Flash - Easy Dinner Recipes and Online Dinner Planner

Seared Chicken with Rosemary Fig Sauce

This recipe is delicious. It cooks in about 15 minutes, has few ingredients, but is packed with flavor. It is a great dish to serve to company. I served it on the deck last night to rave reviews and was then rewarded with a lovely sunset.

Seared Chicken with Rosemary Fig Sauce

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts - 6 oz ea

1/2 tsp each salt, pepper and garlic powder

Butter flavored cooking spray

2/3 C Fig all fruit spread

1 Tb Rosemary - fresh, minced

1/4 C port or other sweet wine

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Combine the 3 spices and season chicken on both sides and coat the chicken with cooking spray. Brown chicken on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. In a small bowl whisk together remaining ingredients and pour into the pan with the chicken. Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Uncover and cook for another minute to allow the sauce to thicken slightly. Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce drizzled over.

Julie Languille - busy wife and mom, owner

Dinners In A Flash - Easy Dinner Recipes and Online Dinner Planner

Grilled Halibut with Lemon Pesto

This is a perfect summertime dinner. It is on the table in 10 minutes! It is light and fresh and delicious.

Grilled Halibut with Lemon Pesto

4 Halibut (or tilapia or other white fish) fillets, about 6 oz each

Cooking spray

Salt and pepper

2/3 C Basil leaves, firmly packed

1/4 C Parmesan cheese, grated

2 Tb Olive oil

2 tsp Garlic

1 Tb Lemon zest, grated

1 Tb Lemon juice

Preheat the gill and spray it with cooking spray. Season the halibut on both sides with salt and pepper. Combine remaining ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth and thick. Grill halibut about 4 minutes per side, or until done. Serve the halibut drizzled with pesto.

Julie Languille - busy wife and mom, owner

Dinners In A Flash - Easy Dinner Recipes and Online Dinner Planner

Crispy Two Potato Pancakes with Ricotta Filling

Not just one potato pancakes, but two potatoes! Sweet potatoes, russets and carrots combine in this savory, sweet, crispy, creamy recipe that is filling, economical and a huge hit with the kids. It is also a great way to get them to eat their vegetables!

Crispy Two Potato Pancakes with Ricotta Filling

Potato and vegetable pancakes fried crispy and golden sandwiched with creamy ricotta. Yum! Frugal, company worthy and kid friendly! Serve these on top of a big salad and you’ve got a complete meal.

Serves 4

1/2 C Flour
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
2 C Potato, grated
1 C Carrots, grated
2 1/2 C Sweet potato or yam, grated
1/2 C Parmesan cheese - grated
2 Tb Parsley - flat leaf, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Vegetable oil - for frying
1 C Ricotta cheese

Heat a skillet with a little oil over medium high heat.

In a bowl add flour and whisk in eggs, Add vegetables, parmesan, parsley and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Spoon 3 TB piles of the mixture in the pan and flatten slightly. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden. Work in batches until all pancakes are cooked. Sandwich together potato pancakes spread with cheese. Serve hot.

Julie Languille - Easy Dinner Recipes and Online Dinner Planning

Easy Recipe - Crab Cakes with Lemon Aioli

Crab cakes make a simple, fast and easy yet elegant dinner. Serve them over lightly dressed greens. The succulence of the crab is simply delicious and very satifying. This recipe is not one of those that is overwhelmed with too many binding ingredients. The crab is really the star and the simple dipping sauce lets the crab flavor shine through. Make extra and pop some in your freezer. When you’re ready to cook them, they go straight into the saute pan without needing to thaw them.

Crab Cakes with Lemon Aioli

1 lb Lump crab, picked over and squeeze dry of excess water
1/2 C Bread crumbs
1/2 C Mayonnaise
2 Green onions, sliced
2 Tb  Butter
2  Tb Olive oil
1/2 C  Mayonnaise
1 Tb Lemon juice
2 Tsp Grainy mustard

Combine crab meat and other ingredients gently. Separate into 8 patties pressing them firmly to hold together. May be frozen at this point or sautéed in butter and olive oil until lightly browned on both sides and heated through.

Whisk together mayonnaise, lemon juice and mustard to serve with cakes as a dipping sauce.

Julie Languille, busy wife and mom and owner

Dinners In A Flash dot com - Easy Dinner Recipes and Online Dinner Planning

Unexpected Asparagus

Have you ever eaten asparagus raw? If you can’t imagine crunching down on a stalk, imaging tasting in sliced crosswise into cross section about the size of a pea. They are surprisingly sweet, and delightfully crunchy. I tossed them in with my salad tonight and they were wonderful.

Easy Unexpected Asparagus Salad

1/2 bundle Aspagus, pencil thin

3 cups Lettuce

1/2 C Pecans, toasted

1/2 C Grapes, halved if large

2 tsp Stone ground mustard

3 Tb Olive oil

1 Tb Lemon juice (if fresh or vinegar)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

Cut away two to four inches of the asparagus stems depending on how fresh they are and cut them crosswise in quarter inch slices. Combine vegetables and toss to combine. Whisk together mustard, lemon, salt and pepper and then drizzle in the oil whisking briskly to emulsify. Toss with the salad and serve.

Easy Recipe for Crepes

Yum. Thin, delicious crepes, hot out of the pan and filled with delicious toppings. We made these fresh for breakfast this morning and they were delicious. Crepes are also a great easy dinner recipe filled with savory fillings like sauted spinach, mushrooms and cheeses.

For breakfast we topped them with powdered sugar, lemon juice, butter and jam.Also try them with peanut butter, brown sugar, and/or nutella. Beyond delicious!

Here’s the easy recipe:

Crepes

2 eggs

1/2 C Milk

1/2 C Water

1/4 tsp Salt

2 Tb Sugar

1 C Flour

2 Tb melted mutter, plus more for oiling the pan.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, water, sugar and salt. Stir in the flour and whisk until smooth., then add the melted butter. Heat an 8 or 10 inch skillet over high heat, add butter and swirl to caot the pan. Add about 1/3 cup of batter, let set for a moment, then swirl to coat the pan, tilting the pan so the batter spreads. Cook until set on one side then flip over. Cook for a brief minute more, then flip out onto a plate. Top as you like, roll or fold according to your preference and serve.

Julie Languille, busy wife and mother and owner

Dinners In A Flash Dot Com - Easy Dinner Recipes and Dinner Planning

Risotto Cakes Rock!

Next time you make risotto, make extra so you have enough leftover to make risotto cakes. Yesterday I made some and they were SO good. I spent most of the day working in the yard, since springtime on Whidbey Island is so green, I swear if you stood still long enough the foliage would grow right over you. So we all worked up a great appetite working in the yard.

Leftover risotto doesn’t look like much, and although the easy recipe idea sounded good, I wasn’t so sure when I took the risotto out of the fridge and it was a cold, firm, white lump. Never  the less, I poured some bread crumbs into a shallow dish, heated some EVOO and butter in a skillet and carved off a large spoonful of risotto. I tried forming a patty with the spoon, but that wasn’t cutting it, so I used my hands and formed small patties. Then I pressed them into the breadcrumbs until well coated on both sides.

I put them into the waiting skillet and they sizzled. I let them cook until they formed a crispy golden crust then gently flipped them over. They’re a bit crumbly when they are warmed through. The crust formed more quickly on the second side. Carefully I removed them and plated them for my husband and I.

Oh my gosh, they were SO good. Crispy on the outside, creamy and delicious on the inside. They were amazing. My husband insisted I make some to share with the neighbors, because they love risotto. They were very pleased to receive them, let me tell you and I was happy to share.

You’ve got to try them!

Julie Languille

Busy wife and mom, and owner

Dinners In A Flash - Easy Dinner Recipes