Recipe for Slow Cooker Cannellini Bean Stew with Tomatoes, Italian Sausage, and Kale

Turkey Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, Cannellini Beans, and Kale turn into a delicious stew in the slow cooker!

My friend Lydia and I have both become quite infatuated with experiments in our slow cookers, and the experimental part in this Slow Cooker Cannellini Bean Stew with Tomatoes, Italian Sausage, and Kale was adding the kale to the slow cooker after the other ingredients had cooked for a few hours.  I was really thrilled with how the raw kale softened perfectly in the slow cooker with just a little more cooking time, and the slightly chewy kale was one of my favorite parts of this dish!

Recipe for Lettuce Wrap Fish Tacos with Spicy Cabbage Slaw and Avocado

These delicious Lettuce Wrap Fish Tacos were made with leftover grilled fish!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  These Lettuce Wrap Fish Tacos are something I'd enjoy any time of year, so when I cook fish on the grill I like to make extra so I can have these the next day!)

I'm not sure why it took me so long to think of using leftover grilled fish to make fish tacos, but a few days ago when I revisited the recipe for Grilled Halibut with Cumin and Lime, I realized how that cumin-and-lime-marinated halibut would work so perfectly in fish tacos.  The following day I experimented and came up with these Lettuce Wrap Fish Tacos that I thought were just a perfect lunch.  My brother Rand was at my house the day I made these (helping me with an exciting change in my life) and he loved the fish tacos just as much as I did.  If you don't have any leftover grilled fish, check the recipe for instructions on how to cook some fish just to make these tasty fish tacos.

Shrimp, Avocado, and Red Pepper Salad Recipe

A delicious salad with shrimp, avocado, red bell pepper, and celery.

(First posted 2007.  Updated with better photos and step-by-step instructions, September 2012.)  A few days ago I posted 90 Healthy No-Heat Lunches for Taking to Work, and I don't think I even included this favorite salad from back in 2007, but this would make a great take-to-work salad, especially if you kept the avocado separate and mixed it in just before you eat.  Fresh shrimp is pretty much impossible to find in Utah, but I love to make salads like this with frozen, cooked shrimp that's been thawed overnight in the fridge.  Then I use a little of the shrimp "juice" from the frozen shrimp to add more flavor to the dressing for the salad, a a trick I also like for adding flavor to my family's favorite shrimp and macaroni salad.  This is a quick salad that looks relatively fancy for the little time it takes to make, and I've made it many times since I first came up with the recipe.

Recipe for Val's Easy and Amazing Yellow Squash with Tomatoes and Parmesan

If you're like me and still have garden squash, this recipe is a Must Try!

When my sister Val called last week and told me she'd come up with a new way to cook yellow squash that was becoming her new favorite, I couldn't wait to try it, and I loved this combination of yellow squash sauteed with onion and a generous amount of garlic, barely warmed tomatoes, and Parmesan.  I made it again with Val's son Jake to take photos, and he agreed it was definitely a keeper.  I know that Fall has officially arrived, but my garden doesn't seem to have gotten that memo, so if you still have garden squash like I do, you need to put this on your "Must Try" list!

90 Healthy No-Heat Lunches for Taking to Work

This post has 90 healthy ideas for take-to-work lunches such as Egg Salad in Pita with Green Olives, Green Onions and Dijon, Kalyn's Favorite Antipasto Salad, Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps with Capers and Tomatoes, and Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Red Bell Peppers, and Cilantro.

During the years I taught elementary school and also worked on this blog, I was grateful for leftovers that I could take to school and warm up for lunch,  But when you don't have a place to heat food at the workplace, healthy lunches are a lot more challenging.  I had a request on the Kalyn's Kitchen Facebook page to share ideas for healthy brown bag lunches that don't need to be heated, so for a few weeks now I've been looking for brown-bag friendly favorites that I'd enjoy for a healthy lunch.  Once I got started I found quite a few options; hope there is something here that will appeal to you if you're someone who packs a lunch for work!

Recipe for Black Bean Salad with Jicama, Tomatoes, Cilantro, and Lime

A delicious salad combination with black beans, jicama, tomatoes, cilantro, and lime!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  This salad with black beans, jicama, tomatoes, and Cilantro is something I highly recommend making before the garden tomatoes disappear for another year.)

I'm still savoring the end-of-summer tomatoes from my garden, so I hope tomato-deprived readers won't be too upset if I share a few more recipes using them before the calendar officially flips over to fall. (When I don't have garden tomatoes I've been known to buy those "tomatoes on the vine" from Costco, but only if they have that fresh tomato smell.) This recipe was adapted from a salad my friend Bonnie found in The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook. I changed the dressing a little to add more flavor (and cut down the lime juice, which Bonnie recommended.) I loved the crunch of jicama in the salad and made it twice in a week, so even if you have to buy tomatoes, give it a try before the salad days of summer are gone for another year.

Recipe for Swiss Chard, Mozzarella, and Feta Egg Bake

It may be nearly fall but my garden is still overflowing with Swiss chard, and this is a great way to use it.

Whether you're trying to lose weight or just trying to eat a healthy diet, you can never go wrong by eating more vegetables.  A few years ago I realized one way up your daily intake of veggies was by incorporating vegetables into breakfast dishes, and since then I've come up with lots of different breakfast ideas that involve vegetables.  You can use vegetables in breakfast casseroles or egg muffins, but lately I've been fond of a slightly different type of breakfast dish that I call an egg bake.  This Swiss Chard, Mozzarella, and Feta Egg Bake has lots of Swiss chard with just enough egg to hold it together, and my garden is still overflowing with chard, so I really need to make it again.

Vegetarian Whole Wheat Pasta Recipe with Fried Kale, Tomato Sauce, and Goat Cheese

This Vegetarian Whole Wheat Pasta Recipe with Fried Kale, Tomato Sauce, and Goat Cheese is a quick dinner.

Sometimes there's nothing more comforting than a simple bowl of pasta with a few flavorful ingredients.  When I make pasta for a main dish, I try to use a lot of healthful low-glycemic ingredients in proportion to the amount of pasta, and this recipe for Vegetarian Whole Wheat Pasta with Fried Kale, Tomato Sauce, and Goat Cheese uses a generous amount of fried kale and a simple-but-tasty sauce made with canned tomatoes.  The main thing that makes this recipe such a keeper is the way the goat cheese melts into the pasta, and the goat cheese and kale flavors together are a nice combination.  I first made this with my nephew Jake on a day when we'd cooked and sampled several other things, and even thought we weren't that hungry by the time we tried this, we both gobbled it up!

Leftover Chicken Pesto Salad Recipe with Edamame (or Peas)

Leftover Chicken Pesto Salad is the perfect use for leftover rotisserie chicken!

(Updated with step-by-step photos, September 2012.  If you're making Pesto from your garden basil, this salad is a very tasty way to use it!)  When I first made this Leftover Chicken Pesto Salad, I wasn't sure it was going to be anything special, but after it chilled in the refrigerator I loved the way the flavors blended into a combination I really loved.  I used my homemade Basil Pesto with Lemon, but even if you only have basil pesto from the store, this salad is a great way to use leftover chicken and this simple recipe is about as easy as they come.  The original version had green peas, but this time we used edamame for a Phase One version of the salad.  It's relatively high in fat from the mayo, pesto, and olives, so for South Beach dieters I'd eat a small portion with a nice big green salad on the side.

Recipe for Grilled Salmon Packets with Tomatoes, Olives, Garlic, Thyme, and Saffron

This recipe for Grilled Salmon Packets is something I've made many times for guests.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.   I first tried this recipe for Grilled Salmon Packets with Tomatoes, Olives, Garlic, Thyme, and Saffron right after I finished my house renovations and had a brand new deck and grill, and it's something I've made for guests many times since then.)

This was the first recipe I tried when I finally got my grill out of the neighbor's garage, where it's been stored (for a worthwhile reason). I'd been anticipating trying some of the grilling recipes I've longingly saved, and as soon as I took a bite of this salmon cooked in foil with tomatoes, olives, garlic, thyme, and saffron, I knew this was a recipe I'll make over and over. Not only does it have so many flavors I love, but it was so easy that you can have it on the table in 20 minutes. And no worries if you don't have the optional saffron, I'm sure this combination will taste wonderful without it.

Slow Cooker Recipe for Spicy Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos (or Tostadas) with Avocado Salsa

Spicy Shredded Chicken cooked in the slow cooker and then made into lettuce wrap tacos or tostadas!

These Spicy Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos are one of those recipes that every slow cooker fan will appreciate because once you've made the spicy shredded chicken, there are endless ways to use it.  I experimented a few times with the slow cooker part of the recipe to get the chicken flavored just like I wanted it, and we made lettuce wrap tacos and tasty chicken tostadas, but you could also use this shredded chicken to make regular tacos, nachos, burritos, or even enchiladas.  And don't skip the avocado salsa, which was the perfect thing to go with the spicy meat.

Recipe for Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Fried Kale, Tomatoes, Olives, Feta, and Pesto Vinaigrette

Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Fried Kale, Tomatoes, Olives, Feta and Pesto Vinaigrette!

This recipe for Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Fried Kale, Tomatoes, Olives, Feta and Pesto Vinaigrette was something that started out as a complete experiment when I was cooking with my nephew Jake and we'd just gotten some Garofalo Whole Wheat Fusilli in the mail from Amazon.com.  I'm such a fan of the Garofalo Whole Wheat Spaghetti that I've been using for a few years now, that I couldn't wait to experiment with this new whole wheat pasta shape.  (And if you've been disappointed by other whole wheat pastas, I can assure you that this Italian whole wheat pasta tastes great!)  Jake and I experimented with some kale from the garden and other ingredients we had on hand, and this delicious pasta salad was the happy result!

Grilled Zucchini "Lasagna" Recipe with Italian Sausage, Tomato, and Basil Sauce

Low-Carb and Gluten-Free "Lasagna" with grilled zucchini replacing the noodles!

(Updated with new photos and better instructions, September 2012.)  This recipe is for vegetable gardeners in the northern hemisphere who might be wondering how to use one of those huge zucchinis that suddenly appear overnight. For years I've been making "lasagna" using zucchini in place of the lasagna noodles, and this is one of my favorite uses for those monster zucchinis that are inevitable if you have a garden.  Grilling the zucchini removes some of the liquid that might otherwise make the zucchini too watery, and if you don't have an outdoor grill you could certainly do this on a stove-top grill pan. Of course, using zucchini instead of pasta makes a version of lasagna that's low-carb, gluten-free, and South Beach Diet friendly, (and could easily be vegetarian without the sausage in the sauce) but it's delicious as well!

Recipe for Garlic-Lover's Vegetable Stir Fry with Eggplant, Zucchini, and Yellow Squash

This simple stir-fry with garden veggies is something I'd never get tired of!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites.  This stir-fry that I first made with late-season garden veggies is something I'd never get tired of eating.)

Even if you don't have a wok, stir frying is a simple way to turn out great-tasting meals from very few ingredients. I learned how to stir-fry years ago by taking a Chinese Cooking class taught by a visiting professor from China, and once you master the basic technique, you can get good results with many different combinations of ingredients. This stir-fry dish was inspired by the last few vegetables I picked from my garden. I used a combination of eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash, but you can easily make this with just one of those ingredients.

Recipe for Spicy Slow Cooker Rice with Green Chiles, Green Onions, and Cheese

This Green Chile and Cheese Rice cooks in the slow cooker while you're making the rest of the meal.

I wasn't going to post this recipe for Slow Cooker Green Chile and Cheese rice for a few more weeks, but when I published the updated recipe for Hamburger Kebabs, a reader named Amanda asked for the recipe for the rice dish on the plate, and I promised I would post it this week.   So for Amanda, and anyone else who'd like an absolutely fantastic side dish made from leftover cooked rice and a few other ingredients you probably always have in the fridge, here's my new favorite recipe featuring rice.  

Slow Roasted Tomato Hummus Recipe

If you have Slow Roasted Tomatoes, use some to make this delicious hummus!

(Updated September 2012 with better photos and step-by-step instructions.)   This post is a little bit of a public service announcement for anyone who has Roma or San Marzano tomatoes in the garden; this is prime time to be making Slow Roasted Tomatoes, those delicious little morsels of roasted tomato that capture the flavors of summer.  I've been making them every summer for quite a few years now, and back in 2007 when I had some thawed in the fridge I used them to come up with this recipe for Slow Roasted Tomato Hummus, which is now one of my favorites!

Recipe for Low-Sugar and Fat-Free Fresh Peach Frozen Yogurt

Creamy and flavorful low-sugar and fat-free fresh peach frozen yogurt!

Food blogging is different from ordinary cooking in an important way, because if you cook something amazing but you don't have photos that make it look good, you can't share that recipe on your blog.  When I set out to record the deliciousness of this Low-Sugar and Fat-Free Fresh Peach Frozen Yogurt, the first time I overestimated the recipe and the ice cream freezer overflowed, and the second time I accidentally deleted the process photos before I saved them on my computer.  The third time was the charm though, and now I have a bunch of little containers of this frozen yogurt in the freezer, in a size that guarantees portion control!  I got my peaches from the fabulous Trina, and I heard over the weekend from a reliable source that fresh peaches are still abundant, so I hope you'll try this before they're gone for the year.

South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-up for August 2012 (and Happy Labor Day everyone!)

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipe for August was definitely Al's Famous Hungarian Cucumber Salad.

It's hard to believe it's Labor Day weekend, but I know the calendar doesn't lie.  I keep reminding myself that warm weather usually lasts at least through September in Utah, which is a good thing because I have some very tasty warm-weather foods to share in this Round-up of South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes that I've posted on Kalyn's Kitchen or found on other food blogs during August.  Once I have this collection of tasty Phase One Recipes posted, I'll be taking the rest of the holiday weekend off to relax and enjoy the nice weather.  Happy Labor Day weekend; I'll be back on Tuesday with a new recipe.