LivingAfterWLS Recipes

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Seared Halibut with Green Salad

This is show-stopping delcious! All WLS patients tolerate fresh greens differently. Measure your WLS portion according to your tolerance.

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
4 - 6oz halibut steaks or fillets
1/2 lb mixed salad greens
4 medium cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
Juice & Zest of two lemons
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt, cracked black pepper to taste
zest of one lemon

Directions:
Divide lettuce mixture on 4 plates.

Preheat a 12-inch stainless steel skillet over medium high heat for 2 minutes. Do not use oil or cooking spray. While pan is heating chop sage and garlic and juice lemons.

Rub halibut with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side in hot pan. Fish will be opaque when done. Remove from pan and place on salad greens.

In same pan add garlic, sage and lemon juice to hot pan and heat for about 30 seconds.

Turn off heat and add olive oil whisking to combine. Drizzle over salads and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Garnish with lemon zest & serve.

Note: A WLS patient should be able to eat 3 ounces of the halibut. Store the remainder with the greens in an airtight container and enjoy for lunch the following day.

Poached Eggs Over Sautéed Spinach Greens

I like this recipe simply because it is a change from the same old hard-cooked egg. It is easy to make and showy to present - a great weekend brunch dish.

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 chicken eggs
1 tsp light vinegar (rice, apple cider, or white wine)
about 4 cups water
1 cup thinly sliced green onion
6 medium cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups fresh baby spinach
4 tablespoons chicken broth (divided)
juice & zest of one lemon
salt and black pepper to taste


Directions:
Bring water and vinegar to a fast simmer in a skillet large enough to fit eggs. Make sure there is enough water to cover eggs.

While water is coming to a simmer, heat 1 tablespoon broth in a separate stainless steel 10-12 inch skillet. Sauté sliced green onion in broth over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add garlic slices and continue to sauté stirring constantly for another minute.

Add baby spinach, remaining broth, and lemon juice, and simmer covered on medium low heat for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Spinach will wilt down considerably.

When done season by tossing with lemon zest, salt and pepper. Divide mixture among 4 plates.

In the boiling vinegar water poach eggs until desired doneness. This will take about 5 minutes, or just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove from vinegar water with a slotted spoon and place on top of greens.

One egg and ¼ of the spinach mixture is a serving. Adjust to your WLS needs.

Lemon Herbed Chicken Breasts

This recipe gives new life to the tired chicken breast. It is prepared with the skin. Please discard the skin before eating - chicken skin is nothing but fat and even a little will derail a WLS patient's weight loss/weight maintenance effort. You can often find a fresh herb blend at the supermarket - if available use 5 teaspoons of the chopped mixed herbs in place of the rosemary, sage and thyme.

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts with skin on
2 medium cloves garlic pressed
Juice and Zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoonschopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
salt and cracked black pepper

Directions:
Preheat broiler on high. Place ovenproof metal pan under broiler to get hot. Do not use glass or Pyrex for this.

Season chicken with a little salt and pepper. When pan is very hot, about 5 minutes, put chicken in pan, skin-side up, and return to broiler. Turn heat to low. Don’t put too close to flame. It is best to put in middle of the oven, about 7 inches from the heat source. Broil for about 15 minutes, or until done, depending on thickness of chicken. Keep an eye on the chicken so it does not burn.

While chicken is cooking chop herbs.

In a separate small skillet add chopped herbs, lemon juice, broth, pressed garlic, salt and pepper. Heat on medium heat for just ½ minute.

When chicken is done remove skin, slice, and place on platter. Drizzle herb sauce over chicken. Garnish with lemon zest.

Note: A WLS person should be sated with 3-4 ounces of this delicious chicken. The leftovers are a healthy convenient lunch. Package in 3-4 ounce servings and enjoy!

Orange Dream Smoothie

Mayo Clinic Cookbook p. 286
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups fresh orange juice, chilled (make sure it is unsweetened)
1 cup vanilla soy milk, chilled
1/3 cup silken or soft tofu
1 package artificial sweetener of your choice or 1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ice cubes
Orange slices for garnish

Directions:
In a blender combine the orange juice, soy milk, tofu, sweetener or honey, orange zest, vanilla and ice cubes. Blend until smooth & frothy, about 30 seconds.
Serve in tall glasses garnished with an orange slice.

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

Serves 4

Note: check with your WLS nutritionist before having strawberries. Some centers discourage early post-ops from having berries that contain seeds. If you prefer, substitute frozen peaches or blueberries for the strawberries in this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 cup silken or soft tofu
1 banana peeled, sliced
1 cup frozen strawberries or frozen peaches
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup Splenda sweetener

Directions:
Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth, about 1 minute.

Serve in tall chilled glasses.

Healthy Chocolate Smoothie

This is so creamy delicious you won’t realize it’s good for you. The addition of protein powder is a smart way to reach the daily protein requirement set by your WLS center. A 1-cup serving of this smoothie has about 12 grams protein.

Serves two

Ingredients:
2 cups vanilla soy milk
½ cup silken or soft tofu
1 banana, peeled & sliced
3 tablespoons chocolate protein powder
1 teaspoon peanut butter
4 ice cubes

Directions:
Place all ingredients in blend and process about one minute until smooth. Serve immediately or chill. May be frozen and enjoyed as a frozen chocolate treat.

Chicken with White Wine and Mushrooms

You'll never look at that same 'ole boneless, skinless chicken breast again after trying this easy delicious recipe. The recipe can be prepared in less than an hour.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves, skinless, boneless
Salt and Pepper
All purpose flour
Non-stick cooking spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 14 1/2- to 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup dry white wine

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; dust lightly with flour. Spray a heavy large skillet, add oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and sauté 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to rimmed plate and cover loosely with foil.

Add onion, carrot, celery, parsley and garlic to skillet; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices and wine. Boil sauce until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Return chicken to sauce. Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken and sauce to plates and serve.

Seared Halibut with Green Beans, Scallions and White Wine Sauce

This recipe can be prepared and executed very quickly. It also uses few enough ingredients that you could purchase all of them in the express lane of your local supermarket on the way home from work. I used flash-frozen green beans and they were terrific.

Ingredients:
1 pound young green or wax beans
Four 7-ounce halibut fillets, each approximately 1 inch thick
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Non-stick cooking spray
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc or other dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 scallions (green onions) white part only, finely sliced on the bias
1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
1 large, ripe tomato, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup diced canned tomato, drained may be substituted)

Directions:
In a pot of boiling salted water set over high heat, cook the green beans for 3 to 4 minutes, until tender. Drain and place them in the center of a large, warm serving platter. Cover and keep warm.

Season the halibut on both sides with salt and pepper. Spray a 12-inch sauté pan with non-stick spray, add the oil and heat over medium-high heat. Cook the fish for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Turn, reduce the heat to medium, and cook about 4 minutes longer, until the fish is opaque in the center and browned on both sides. Put the fish on the platter with the beans and cover to keep warm.

Pour off any oil in the pan and add the wine and lemon juice. Raise the heat to high and deglaze the pan by scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Cook until the sauce reduces by half, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and stir in the butter, a piece at a time, to enrich and flavor the sauce. Add the scallions, capers, and tomato. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over the fish on the platter. Serve immediately.

Salmon with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce

This recipe takes a bit of time to prepare but the result is outstanding. It is a good weekend evening meal. I hope you enjoy. You can substitute non-stick spray for the olive oil, but the olive oil is heart healthy and adds a nice flavor to the meal.

Sauce:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 cups dry red wine
2 cups canned beef broth
8 fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Mushroom Sauté
6 shallots, minced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (1 teaspoon dried)

Salmon
6 5-ounce skinless boneless salmon fillets
salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add wine, beef broth, thyme and 1 bay leaf; boil until liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 35 minutes. Strain sauce into small saucepan.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in another heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes. Add mushrooms; sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Add tarragon and chicken broth; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve in a bowl.

Using same skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and sauté just until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Turn off heat and allow salmon to rest, uncovered.

Bring sauce to simmer. Add butter; whisk just until melted. Season with pepper. Serve salmon and mushrooms topped with red wine sauce.

Beef Medallions in Red Wine Sauce

This quick, rich entrée is terrific served over baked squash (acorn, butternut or spaghetti squash). In less than 30 minutes you can serve this restaurant quality meal that is rich in protein and nutritious. If serving with baked squash put that in the oven before doing any other preparation.

Ingredients:
One 1 1/2-pound beef tenderloin
Non-stick spray
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 large shallots, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups canned beef broth
2 cups dry red wine

Directions:
Cut tenderloin crosswise into 12 equal rounds. Pound beef rounds to flatten to generous 1/4-inch-thick medallions. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Generously spray a heavy large skillet with non-stick spray. Working in batches, sauté beef in skillet until brown on outside but still pink in center, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer beef to plate. Tent loosely with foil.

Add butter to same skillet. Add garlic, shallots and thyme; sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Add broth and wine. Boil until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Return beef and any collected juices to sauce in skillet; heat through, about 1 minute. Transfer beef to plates, Spoon sauce over.

Cornish Game Hen with Raspberry Red Wine Sauce

This elegant but easy recipe is the perfect entrée for a romantic dinner. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. For each person increase ingredients by ½. This is phenomenally delicious! (Chicken breasts could be used in place of the game hen).

Ingredients:
1 1 1/2- to 1 3/4-pound Cornish game hen, halved
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Non-stick cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil

4 shallots, chopped
2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2/3 cup dry red wine
2/3 cup frozen raspberries
1 teaspoons (or more) sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions
Preheat oven to 500°F. Sprinkle hen halves with thyme, salt and pepper. Spray heavy large skillet with non-stick spray, add olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add hen halves, skin side down, and cook until brown, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer hen halves to baking sheet (do not clean skillet). Place in oven and roast until juices run clear when thigh is pierced, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet. Add shallots and sauté over medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add broth, wine, raspberries, 1 teaspoon sugar and allspice. Boil until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, scraping up browned bits and crushing raspberries, about 12 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper; add more sugar, if desired. Serve hen halves with sauce.