Sauteed Tilapia with lemon-peppercorn pan sauce

I was looking for something quick and easy for dinner tonight, well this one caught my eye. I dont know if green peppercorns and capers are the same thing...if not, I used capers instead (which I'm sure I'd prefer if they are different!) This is a very light meal. It was quite tasty!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (i used 1/2 c. broth and 1/4 c white wine)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons drained brine-packed green peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 (6-ounce) tilapia or sole fillets
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons butter
• Lemon wedges (optional)

Directions:

• Combine first 3 ingredients.
• Melt 1 teaspoon of butter with oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.
• While butter melts, sprinkle fish fillets with salt and black pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour; shake off excess flour.
• Increase heat to medium-high; heat 2 minutes or until butter turns golden brown.
  
• Add fillets to pan; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
  
• Remove fillets from pan. Add broth mixture to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits.
  
• Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes).
  
• Remove from heat.
  
• Stir in two teaspoons of butter with a whisk. Serve sauce over fillets.
  
• Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.
  

Sweet potato fries with avocado dip

I needed something to go with the buffalo chicken strips, so I decided to try these fries since they also had a "kick" to them. The avocado dip also intrigued me. I found this on foodnetwork.com. The fries did not, unfortunately, come out crunchy but I thought they still had a nice flavor, especially with the dip!

Ingredients (fries):

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, cut into 4-inch long and 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick fries
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed
  
• 1 teaspoon paprika
  
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (omitted since I did not have it)
  
• Coarse ground rock salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
• Place the sweet potatoes in a large bowl and toss with olive oil until the sweet potatoes are coated. Add the paprika, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper; toss to distribute evenly.
• Arrange the coated fries in a single layer on the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack until the sweet potatoes soften. Transfer the pan to the upper rack of the oven and bake 10 minutes longer, until fries are crispy. Serve with Avocado Dip.

Avocado Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup cream cheese
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped.
• 2 scallions, white and light green part only, chopped (omitted b/c Jake doesn't like them)
  
• 1 lime, juiced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

• Place the avocado, mayonnaise, cream cheese, jalapeno, scallions, and lime juice into a blender or small food processor. (I just hand blended them w/ a potato masher)
  
• Blend for 1 minute or until you have a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Buffalo chicken fingers

This recipe came from another blog "Ambers Delectable Delights". I believe she got the recipe from cooking light. These are so yummy. Jake loved them!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (used black since I don't have red)
  
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed cornflakes
  
• 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup hot sauce (Franks Red Hot)
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup fat-free ranch dressing (We used blue cheese)
  
• 4 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks (omitted...by accident....I bought them and forgot)
  
• 4 carrots, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks (omitted, on purpose :-P)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.
  
• Place egg whites in a shallow dish.
  
• Place cornflakes in a shallow dish.
  
• Working with 1 chicken strip at a time, dredge in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in cornflakes. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken strips, flour mixture, egg whites, and cornflakes.
• Lightly coat chicken strips with cooking spray.
  
• Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until done, turning once.
• Combine hot sauce, pepper sauce, and Worcestershire in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter. Drizzle hot sauce mixture over chicken. Serve with ranch dressing, celery, and carrots.
  

Rosemary pork chops

I really had high hopes for these. They were soo sooo easy to make, but I bombed with them. I put too much rosemary on them and it was just so overwhelming. I might try them again sometime with less rosemary.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
  
• Cooking spray

Directions:

• Preheat broiler.
• Combine first 4 ingredients.
  
• Rub the mixture over both sides of pork chops.
  
• Place the pork chops on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Chicken Stroganoff

I am on a healthy kick right now...well, I'm trying to be. So my new favorite recipe site is cookinglight.com. That is where I found this recipe. I was a little weary of it, but it came out pretty good! You can even make this into beef stroganoff if you just exchange the chicken broth for beef broth, and the chicken for beef!

Ingredients:

• 4 turkey-bacon slices (I used 8, and it didnt make any drippings, so I just used some cooking spray)
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips (I cut them into chunks, not strips
  
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (used 4)
  
• 1 (8-ounce) container reduced-fat sour cream (used fat free)
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles
  
• added mushrooms

Directions:

• Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.
  
• Remove bacon from pan; crumble.
  
• Add onion and chicken to drippings in pan; sauté 6 minutes.
  
• Add bacon, broth, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic; bring to a boil.
  
• Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
• Combine the sour cream and flour, stirring until smooth.
  
• Add sour cream mixture to pan, and bring to a boil. (I added the broth to the sour cream so the sour cream would not be chunky...just stir in the broth a little at a time to the sour cream mixture then put it back into the pan)
  
• Reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  
• Serve over egg noodles.