Black Bean Couscous Salad

Our family loves this salad and it is so good for you. This salad is great for a warm day-add some chicken or turkey and you have a great main dish!

Black Bean Couscous Salad
(about 12 servings)
1 cup couscous
1 ¼ c. chicken broth
3 T. olive oil
2 T. lime juice (lemon if you’re out)
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
½ tsp. cumin
4-8 green onions
1 red bell pepper
1/4 c. cilantro
1 c. thawed, frozen corn or small can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
A handful of grape tomatoes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the chicken broth and then stir in couscous.
Cover, remove from heat, let stand 5 min. (think Minute Rice)
Combine oil, juice, vinegar, cumin in small bowl.
Chop onion, red pepper, and cilantro.
Fluff couscous with fork.
Toss all ingredients in large bowl.
Tastes good the next day!

1 serving: 109g.(3/4 cup)-218 cal.,4.3g fat,6.5g fiber,4WW points

Ceviche

We're having Mexican food for Mother's Day dinner at my parent's house tomorrow, so I made Ceviche. I got the "recipe" from my Mexican friend, Angelica, and it always turns out yummy. There aren't any measurements... you kind of need to eyeball it and adjust to your taste. I'll list the amount I used today, but be forewarned... it made A LOT.

CEVICHE

imitation crab (1 package from the frozen section - serves 4)

uncooked shrimp (1 lb. Try to find the little ones, otherwise cut up the big ones)

tomatoes - chopped (I think I used 4-5 medium sized Roma)

onion - chopped (1 large)

cilantro - chopped (1 bunch)

limes - for juice (I don't recall how many I used... maybe a dozen? You need a lot of juice)

hot sauce (I use El Tapatio)

* Marinate the raw shrimp in the lime juice until pink. (The acid in the lime juice "cooks" the shrimp)

* Add all the other ingredients, hot sauce to taste.

* Serve with tortilla chips or tostadas.

NOTE: The longer it sits, the better the taste. Recommend making it several hours (at least) before serving.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

I got this recipe from Cooking Light, but made a few changes to it. Don't be afraid of the fact that they are healthy, they really are good. My son's friend said he had never had blueberry muffins before and tried them and even he liked them!

1 2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I use the Splenda mix)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
2 large eggs
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 Tbs. granulated sugar(opptional)

Preheat oven to 400 degree. Place oats in food processor; pulse 6 times. Place in large bowl. Add flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) to oats in bowl. Stir well with a whisk. Make a well in the center of mixture.

Combine buttermilk, oil, rind, and eggs in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Gently fold blueberries into the batter.

Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups coated with cooking spray or foil liners; sprinkle with 2 Tbs. sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched in the center. Remove from pans immediately. Place on wire rack to cool. Yield: 16.