Open-Faced Chicken Burgers

This has become a staple in our house. It's easy, quick and healthy. The original recipe called for ground turkey and used ricotta cheese. I substituted ground chicken and didn't have any ricotta cheese so I substituted cottage cheese and added feta. They're so juicy and light on the carbs. A lot of times, when I have them as left-overs I don't even use the bread on the bottom.

****Please excuse the horrible pictures! I really need to work on them. And yes, I used reduced fat cheese that doesn't melt as well.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup vertically sliced sweet yellow onion
  
• 1/4 cup part-skim cottage cheese
• 1/3 cup Feta (I don't normally measure it, I just dump some in)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 1 large egg white
• 1 T italian seasoning
  
• Cooking spray
• 4 (1-ounce) slices reduced-fat Swiss cheese
• 4 slices bread (I've used everything from wheat to english muffins)
  
• Dijon mustard

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned; stir occasionally. Transfer onion to a bowl.

Preheat broiler.

Combine cheese and next 4 ingredients (through egg white). Divide turkey mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Return pan to medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook 4 minutes or until brown. Turn patties over; cook 1 minute.

Place bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; broil 2 minutes or until toasted. Spread 1 tablespoon mustard on each bread slice; top each serving with 1 patty and onions. Top with cheese and broil until melted

Nutritional Information

Calories:

348 (23% from fat)

Fat:

9g (sat 4g,mono 2.2g,poly 2.6g)

Protein:

43.4g

Carbohydrate:

22.4g

Fiber:

1.5g

Cholesterol:

50mg

Iron:

2.1mg

Sodium:

848mg

Calcium:

325mg

Ellie Krieger's Garlic Fries

I made these along with Parmesan Crusted Tilapia. They're a little time consuming but were tasty. I might have used a little bit too much Olive Oil due to my inability to measure. :) There wasn't a huge garlic flavor to them so I found that a little disappointing. I'm going to keep looking for a better fry recipe but use this as a fall-back until I find a better one!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
  
• 3 large baking potatoes, 12 ounces each
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat the garlic and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain the garlic from the oil with a small mesh strainer. Set both garlic and oil aside.

Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch sticks. In a large bowl, toss the oil, potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the potatoes onto it in a single layer. Bake until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes.

Remove potatoes from the tray with a metal spatula. Toss with parsley, reserved garlic, and additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately.