Recipe for Spicy Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, and Sriracha

If you love sugar snap peas like I do, you have to try these Spicy Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas.

Recently I talked about my profound affection for sugar snap peas, and I decided it might be fun to experiment with them as the starring ingredient in a stir-fried vegetable side dish.  Not that I hadn't stir-fried sugar snap peas before, but never like this with them sliced diagonally to reveal the tiny peas inside.  I have no idea where I got the idea of slicing the peas for a stir-fry, but I loved the results.  The pods cooked more quickly, and a few tiny peas spilled out, adding visual interest and a lot of sweet pea flavor to the finished dish.

Friday Favorites: Five Favorite Salads with Cabbage

I'm crazy for this Napa Cabbage and Red Cabbage Salad with Fresh Herbs and Peanuts.

I love, love, love cabbage, so I'm thrilled it's one of those cruciferous vegetables that everyone should be eating regularly.  I especially like raw cabbage in salads, both for the crunch and the slightly sweet flavor, and through the years cabbage salads have been showing up regularly on the blog.  Truth is, I hard a hard time narrowing this list down to only five salads to feature for Friday Favorites, but after spending some time clicking around the long list of Cabbage Salads in the recipe archives, these five were the ones that made the cut.  (If your personal favorite cabbage salad didn't make the list, I'd love to hear in the comments about which one you like best.)

Easy Recipe for Pesto Lemon Rice

I made this Lemon Pesto Rice for a dinner party over the weekend, and there were no leftovers!

This ultra-easy recipe for Lemon Pesto Rice is a great side dish any time you have a few tablespoons of leftover pesto in the fridge.  I made this on Saturday night when my niece Alyson, her fiance Nick, and their friend Rachel came for what we call a "cooking lesson." The truth is that all three of them are pretty good cooks, but it's been fun teaching them some techniques they might be hesitant to try on their own.  We completely devoured this rice, which I think is the perfect side dish for anything that goes with the flavors of basil and lemon, so if you want leftovers I'd recommend you double the recipe!

Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Sugar Snap Peas

Sugar Snap Peas are definitely one of my favorite crunchy snacks!

I think I might have even given a little squeal when I looked in the newest book, The South Beach Diet Supercharged, and found sugar snap peas listed as Phase One for the South Beach Diet.    I had assumed they were phase two when I mentioned these tasty treats back in 2007 as one of my favorite South Beach Friendly snacks.  I buy them in the big bag you see above (from Costco) and this is one vegetable I almost always have in my fridge.  Peas are one of The World's Healthiest Foods, so they're also something I feel good about grabbing for a snack. With all that going for them, I decided it was time to officially make these packaged sugar snap peas one of my Kalyn's Kitchen Picks.

Bread Machine Recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Oats, Bran, and Flax Seed

This is one of my favorite bread machine breads, perfect for a cold February day!

(This favorite bread machine recipe was revisited and added to Recipe Favorites February 2011.)  I spent weeks on a quest to create South Beach Diet friendly bread using my Oster Bread Machine, and  this is the recipe I came up with! Previously I'd made South Beach friendly bread in the bread machine using a mix, but this time I wanted to make bread from scratch using all whole wheat flour, very minimal sugar, and a fair amount of fiber. The bread you see above is the winning recipe, after seven earlier versions and a lot of helpful suggestions from bloggers, relatives, and a parent from school!

Recipe for Napa Cabbage Salad with Red Bell Pepper, Cilantro, Peanuts, and Dijon-Ginger Dressing

I loved this salad with Napa Cabbage, Red Bell Pepper, Cilantro, Peanuts, and a Ginger-Dijon dressing.

I'm a huge fan of every type of cabbage, but lately I've been loving napa cabbage, used widely in Asian cuisines and also called Chinese Cabbage.  Napa cabbage has a more delicate flavor than regular green cabbage, although I'm guessing this salad would still taste pretty good with green cabbage if you're a cabbage fan.  This is another idea I found in Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast, but this time I experimented with the dressing several different times and ended up with one that's changed quite a bit from the original recipe.  I loved the flavor blend in my version of the dressing, with rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, ginger puree, sesame oil, and agave nectar blended together with vegetable oil, but if you had sweet-hot Chinese mustard, I think that would also be a great choice for this.  I ate this huge bowl of this salad for lunch, and made it several times after that to test dressing variations, and this version is a keeper for me.

Friday Night Photos: Superbowl Party Food

Here's a peek into what the Denny family brings for the annual Super Bowl party!

This year the Denny Family Super Bowl Party was moved to my brother Dave's house, and as usual the family ignored my suggestions for diet-friendly Super Bowl party food and brought all kinds of fattening treats.  Some years I manage to be pretty moderate in what I eat, but this year I indulged more than I should have.  Good thing the Super Bowl is only once a year!  For several years I've been sharing photos of food from the party, and this year one of the healthier offerings was the 7-Layer Mexican Dip pictured above.  If you ate this with celery or sweet mini-peppers, it would even be pretty South Beach Diet friendly, but of course no one does!

Roasted Asparagus with Garlic

When big fat spears of asparagus appear in the spring, it's time to try roasting them with garlic.

(This revisited recipe was updated and added to Recipe Favorites, February 2011.  I'm seeing asparagus in the stores lately, so it got me thinking about this favorite way to prepare it.)  When asparagus was on sale at one of my favorite markets in Salt Lake, I made Chicken with Asparagus and Three Cheeses, and then I had more asparagus in the fridge, so I tried this recipe, an adapted version of Roasted Broccoli with Garlic. It was a great tasting dish, and a simple way to dress up plain roasted asparagus. I tried it out on some friends who came for dinner, and they loved it.

Recipe for Asian Flavored Wild Salmon Patties with Ginger, Scallions, and Sesame-Lime Mayonnaise

These Salmon Patties start with chopped raw salmon that's seasoned with Asian flavors.

Last year my brother Dave and his four sons went to Alaska and fished for salmon and halibut.  I've been the grateful recipient of some of the frozen wild salmon and halibut they had shipped back to Utah, so lately I've been looking for some new ideas for cooking both these types of fish.  If you enter "salmon recipes" into the search bar on the blog, you'll see quite a few recipes for salmon, including Salmon Patties made with canned salmon, but this type of salmon patties are a completely new way to cook salmon for me.  They're made with chopped raw salmon, flash frozen so they keep their shape, and then pan-fried in a small amount of olive oil.  The salmon patties are seasoned with Sriracha and plenty of ginger and scallions and served with a delightful sesame-lime mayonnaise that goes perfectly with the salmon.

Recipe for Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash with Smoked Sweet Paprika

If you're cooking Valentine's Day dinner at home, here's a delicious side dish suggestion.

Which is better, a romantic Valentine's Day Dinner at home, or dinner out in a nice restaurant?  I'd love to hear in the comments what people think about that, but for those cooking Valentine's Day Dinner at home, might I recommend this Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash with Smoked Sweet Paprika that's sure to wow any sweetheart who likes butternut squash.  I got the recipe from my friend Margarethe, a good cook who says ever since she discovered the recipe she's made it at least once a week.  Margarethe also shared the recipe for the Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Aioli Sauce that I loved when she brought it to a party at my house last summer. 

Friday Favorites: Four South Beach Diet Friendly Chocolate Cookies for Valentine's Day

If you're looking for low-sugar cookies with chocolate for Valentine's Day, these are some of my favorites.

(Updated and added to Recipe Favorites, February 2011)  I don't think there's any doubt that holidays are more challenging for dieters than day-to-day eating, and holidays like Valentine's Day that are strongly associated with sugary treats can make even the most steadfast dieter lose their resolve. I've been working on a new low-sugar chocolate treat to post for Valentine's Day, but so far none of the things I've tested have turned out to be blog worthy. In the meantime I'm proposing four low-sugar chocolate cookie ideas from the past that can help you celebrate Valentine's Day without completely abandoning your diet. Let's start with the Flourless and (almost) Sugar-Free Cookies with Peanut Butter and Chocolate that I made last Valentine's Day.

Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

If you're baking with whole wheat flour, this whole wheat pastry flour can really expand the options.

You don't have to do a lot of poking around on my blog to realize I'm not really a baker, but the last few years I've become interested in whole grain baking.  In the process of experimenting with that, I discovered two products that were new to me that I now love to use when I'm baking.  I featured  white whole wheat flour for one of my Kalyn's Kitchen Picks, so it seemed like I should give equal time to whole wheat pastry flour.

Recipe for Spicy Sausage, Lentil, and Tomato Soup

This Spicy Sausage, Lentil, and Tomato Soup may be my favorite lentil soup ever!

Today I woke up to snow on the ground, which makes me especially happy that I have some of this Spicy Sausage, Lentil, and Tomato Soup in the freezer.  I made this a couple of times to get the recipe just right, upping the the amount of spices, sausage, and tomatoes and decreasing the lentils in the final version, and this might be the best lentil soup I've ever made.  Of course, I love, love, love lentil soup, which isn't a bad thing at all since they're one of The World's Healthiest Foods.  If you're someone who's still undecided about lentils, I challenge you to try this soup and I'm betting you'll become a lentil fan!

Recipe for Spicy Cabbage Salad with Tomatoes, Radishes, and Celery (Puerto Rican Cabbage Salad)

This slightly-spicy cabbage salad got three thumbs way up when I tested the recipe!

Today's the Super Bowl, and face it, quite a few of us who are attending Super Bowl parties are going to be eating some things we might normally avoid.  Even though I have a list of South Beach Diet friendly Super Bowl party options, I also believe that it's not exactly a crime to indulge a little for a special occasion, as long as you get back on track right away.  Here's a healthful and mind-blowingly good salad that will be the perfect thing for day-after eating. 

Five Fun Things on Friday and My Family Rocks!

Thanks to Sara, Kate, and Val for the nieces and nephews rocks for my new magnet board!

It's been a while since I've done a post about fun things on Friday, but if you read about this week's fun things I think you'll agree they're all worth sharing!  Keep reading to hear more about why my family rocks, and other fun things!

Easy Recipe for Ham and Dill Pickle Appetizer Bites

It was my sister Pam who introduced our family to these Ham and Dill Pickle Appetizer Bites.

A few days ago I suggested Hummus and Cucumber Appetizer Bites for a diet-friendly Super Bowl party offering, and these Ham and Dill Pickle Bites are another option if you're looking for something that's a bit lighter for game-day fare.  My sister Pam first had these ham and dill pickle bites as a store sample, and she's been making them ever since for Denny family parties, where even the non dieters will chow down on them.  If you'd like to make these dairy-free and even lower in calories, you can skip the cream cheese.  When I made these lots of other ideas popped into my head, so check after the main recipe for more options  (If you have other good ideas for variations, please share in the comments!)

South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for January 2011

Kalyn's Favorite Phase One Recipe for January 2011 was these Asian Lettuce Wraps.

January is the month when I post Phase One Recipes on the blog to help the many people doing Phase One during that month, so of course there are a lot of recipes in this round-up!  Some people think Phase One is really challenging, but every month when I'm saving recipes, I'm always surprised at how many options I find for Phase One.  All the past months of Phase One Round-Ups are archived on the blog, so any time you're trying to eat Phase One meals, you can find good ideas from Kalyn's Kitchen or other food blogs in the  South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up archives.