My roommate and I made two recipes tonight, both with cilantro.  My dad hates cilantro so my mom never cooked with it.  I tried it in a couple of recipes when I started cooking for myself and I love it!  The first recipe we made is the Indian-Inspired Butternut Squash, which is from the newest Cooking Light cookbook “Cooking Light  Way To Cook”.  Then we also made Spicy Tuna Pita with Cilantro from Martha Stewart’s Magazine “Everyday Food”

Indian- Inspired Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon of honey

½ teaspoon curry powder

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Peel and cube 6 cups of butternut squash (about 2 medium squash).  Toss squash in oil, season with salt and pepper, if desired.  Place squash in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500 for 10 minutes or until tender.  Remove from oven; toss squash with raisins and remaining ingredients.  Serve immediately

Yield: 6 servings (serving size 3/4 cup)

CALORIES 97; FAT 2.6 g; PROTEIN 1.3g; CARB 20.3g; FIBER 3.7 g; CHOL 0 mg; IRON 0.0 mg; SODIUM 6 mg; CALC 53 mg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spicy Tuna Pita with Cilantro

1 can (6oz) chunk light tuna packed in water, drained (We used chunk white, b/c that is what we has in our cupboards)

3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise

¼ cup fresh cilantro

½ teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 regular-size (6-inch) whole-wheat pita, cut in half

4 lettuce leaves (We didn’t have this so we just had them without, still yummy!)

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Fill pita halves with lettuce and top with the tuna salad. (Serves 1) (We doubled the recipe)

Enjoy

-K