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Teriyaki Mushroom, Spinach, and Chicken Salad+

4 points

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
10 cup sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine) or 2 tablespoons water plus 1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
8 cups baby spinach (about 6 ounces)
1 3/4 cups chopped green onions

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes or until chicken is just done, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan.

2. Add mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to pan; stir-fry 6 minutes or until mushrooms brown and most of liquid evaporates. Add 1 tablespoon oil, ginger, and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan; add soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar. Cook 2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Remove pan from heat; stir in spinach and onions.


CALORIES 205 ; FAT 8.4g (sat 1.5g,mono 3.6g,poly 2.8g); CHOLESTEROL 33mg; CALCIUM 82mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.4g; SODIUM 629mg; PROTEIN 19.3g; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 2.9mg

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Bacon, Potato and Gruyere Souffle

Cooking spray
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
1 3/4 pounds peeled white potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 3 medium)
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
1 cup thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) finely grated Gruyère cheese
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
6 large egg whites

Preparation
Lightly coat 6 (8-ounce) soufflé dishes with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Place potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until very tender; drain. Cool. Combine potatoes, buttermilk, and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a food processor; process until smooth. Transfer potato mixture to a large bowl.

Position oven rack to lowest setting; remove middle rack. Preheat to 425°.

Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add leek to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Add leek, cheese, and bacon to potato mixture; stir well to combine.

Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl; beat at high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Gently fold one-fourth of egg whites into potato mixture; gently fold in remaining egg whites. Gently spoon mixture into prepared dishes. Sharply tap dishes on counter 2 to 3 times to level. Place dishes on a baking sheet; place baking sheet on the bottom rack of a 425° oven. Immediately reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove soufflés from oven). Bake 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the side of soufflé comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 soufflé)

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Bacon, Gruyère, and Ham Strata

2  cups fat-free milk
1  cup chopped green onions
1  cup egg substitute
1  tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4  teaspoon ground red pepper
12  ounces sourdough French bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 10 cups), toasted
3/4  cup diced ham
Cooking spray
1  cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
4  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (drained)

Combine milk, green onions, egg substitute, mustard, and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add bread cubes and ham; stir well to combine. Pour into a 2-quart baking pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Uncover dish, and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with bacon. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until bread mixture is set and cheese is bubbly.

Yield: 6 servings

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Thai Shrimp and Tofu with Asparagus+

I did not find this spicy at all.  Would recommend more curry paste and/or sriracha sauce.  Flavors not very complex (to this old tongue) – consider other spices? A few nuts or using a nut oil might also help.  It is a yummy combo with mushrooms and asparagus.  Could also use fish chunks instead of shrimp.  Serving size is large – could serve 4 with this.

1/3  cup oyster sauce
1  tablespoon fish sauce
2  teaspoons sugar
1  teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1  tablespoon canola oil, divided
1  (14-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2  pound frozen peeled and de-veined medium shrimp, thawed
2  cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 4 ounces)
1  cup pre-chopped onion
1  tablespoon bottled minced fresh ginger
1  tablespoon bottled minced garlic
1  pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 cups)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add tofu. Cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned; set aside. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan; add shrimp. Cook 2 minutes on each side or just until opaque; set aside. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in pan; add mushrooms, onion, ginger, and garlic. Cook 2 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, stirring frequently. Add asparagus; cook 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add sauce, tofu, and shrimp back to pan; cook 1 minute or until heated.

Yield: 3 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

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Steak Diane

5 points

Yield:  6 servings (serving size: 1 steak and 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (about 1 inch thick)
1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper evenly over steaks. Add steaks to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan; cover and keep warm.

Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add shallots, and cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add water and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spoon sauce over steaks, and sprinkle with parsley.

CALORIES 197 (40% from fat); FAT 8.7g (sat 3.3g,mono 3.3g,poly 0.3g); IRON 3.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 73mg; CALCIUM 18mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.8g; SODIUM 312mg; PROTEIN 24.2g; FIBER 0.1g

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Turkey Soup Provençal+

5 points

Yield:  4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4cups)

1 pound left over turkey
1/2 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence, crushed
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained
4 cups chopped fresh spinach

Cut turkey into bite-size pieces.

Add turkey, herbes de Provence, beans, broth, and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in spinach; simmer 5 minutes.

CALORIES 294 (12% from fat); FAT 3.8g (sat 1.5g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.4g); IRON 6.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 75mg; CALCIUM 206mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.4g; SODIUM 890mg; PROTEIN 40g; FIBER 5.4g

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Curried Vegetable Samosas with Cilantro-Mint Chutney+

5 points

Yield:  4 servings (serving size: 5 samosas and about 1 tablespoon chutney)

Chutney:
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 serrano chile, coarsely chopped
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger

Samosas:
1 1/4 cups mashed cooked peeled baking potatoes
1/4 cup cooked yellow lentils
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
1 teaspoon butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup frozen petite green peas, thawed
10 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

1. To prepare chutney, combine first 9 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Set aside.

2. To prepare samosas, combine potatoes, lentils, mint, curry powder, 1 teaspoon butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cumin. Gently fold in peas.

3. Working with 1 egg roll wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers to prevent drying), cut down middle to form 2 long rectangles. Moisten edges of wrapper with egg. Spoon 1 tablespoon potato mixture near bottom edge of wrapper. Fold up from 1 corner to the opposite outer edge of the wrapper, making a triangle. Fold over to opposite side again as if folding up a flag. Repeat fold to opposite side to form a triangle. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

4. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Lightly coat samosas with cooking spray. Add samosas to pan, and cook 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve with chutney.

CALORIES 288 ; FAT 2.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.2g); CHOLESTEROL 29mg; CALCIUM 43mg; CARBOHYDRATE 58.3g; SODIUM 574mg; PROTEIN 11g; FIBER 5.4g; IRON 4.6mg

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September 2, Cabane de Prafleuri to Arolla

Day Summary

    • 6.5 hours (Kev time)
    • 9.5 miles
    • gain 735 m, lost 1353 m

And we thought yesterday was hard…  Looking back, if I had known what this day entailed, we might never have taken the trip.  Or I would have at least done anything to avoid this day.  I HATE heights.  I like to think that my fear of heights is healthy.  There are reasons why you shouldn’t get too close to the edge or be too far off the ground!  I’m not an over-the-top acrophobe; I can rock climb, as long as I’m roped in and trust my belayer.  But I once had a small panic attack before climbing up Half Dome in Yosemite, and I was unable to overcome a more serious sense of panic while attempting the Mountaineer’s Route of Mount Whitney in California.  I’m actually surprised that I was able to meet today’s challenge without a similar episode.  And I guess I’m also surprised that this trail is even included on the Walker’s Route – it is seriously vertical.  If you can handle ladders (which I don’t do well with), then there is an “easier” way over Riedmatten (Pas de Chevres); but however you slice it, getting over the pass is seriously steep.

Here is the journal entry for today:

Today was another LONG day.  Kev’s distance and timing are laughable (or cryable!).  Prafleuri is in a DANK, DARK area that is the beginning of a dam further down.  We first had to hike a short distance to get to Col de Roux – not so bad.  Then it seemed to take forever to get down to Lac Dix.  Barry’s blisters really bothered him.  He felt slow, and even worse, he felt bad about being slow.  CURSE Kev and the signs for being misleading about time expectations.  We finally made it around to the bridge on the other side of the lake where we stopped and fortified ourselves with a snack.  Then we were ready to attack the long ups and downs before making the final push UP to Col Riedmatten.  There was a detour to get past an avalanche wash-out of the trail (noted in the book), and then over and up and down and around lots of boulders.  I’m getting really tired of that.  But the “hike” – that is CLIMB up to the col was crazy/amazing.  Forget not making it up Whitney, this was even more challenging.  And the weather was on again/off again with showers and clouds.

This was a challenging day – have I emphasized that enough?  Making the col was fabulous, but it was cold and windy, so we had to descend before taking a break for lunch.  We have learned to celebrate making it over passes by having little butter cookies with chocolate Matterhorns on them (called Mont Chocos).  YUM!

Once on the other side, it was much easier hiking down into Arolla.  When we finally arrived, we stopped for a beer and a break to relieve the blisters.  Then walked down to our hotel – Hotel Mont Collon.  This is a crazy OLD hotel – with 5 stories and I think there is only one other room occupied tonight.  They knew who we were when we arrived.  Old, creaky place, and though I had reserved a room with just a sink, the owner graciously offered us a room with a bath at no extra cost 🙂

Dinner was amazing!  The food was great and the service equal to the best restaurants we’ve been to – and there was only one other table of 2 being served (though the owner’s family was also eating at a large table around the corner).  We had a full 4 course meal – soup, salad, entree and dessert that was delicious.

Tomorrow we plan a break from the original schedule.  The weather isn’t great and Barry’s feet need some time to heal.  Bon soir.

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The view down to Lac Dix after passing Col de Roux

It didn’t look that far away, but it seemed to take forever to get down to the lake – maybe that was just because of the blisters…

There were a lot of marmots checking out our progress

Lac Dix from the other side – you can see the road that we walked on the left side of the lake

Hiking up to Col Riedmatten – steep, but the ladders at Pas de Chevres scared me more than this did

WE MADE IT!

It was cloudy and cold – so we made our way down before stopping for lunch

The town of Arolla

Mont Collon

Our fabulous hotel

Our “summit” treat (to celebrate making it over passes since we weren’t actually summiting anything)