Cobb Salad in a Wrap

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There aren't many people who don't like a loaded, classic Cobb Salad. The popular Cobb is one of those quintessentially American salads created at a moment's notice (sort of the same way that the classic Caeser salad was prepared in Mexico) back in the mid-1930's in California. I prefer the salad presented with each of the toppings in distinct sections on top of the bed of lettuce; whereas some folks (even the Mimi's Cafe restaurant chain) tosses all the toppings together with the lettuce.

Those famous Cobb ingredients include (all chopped) boiled eggs, avocados, tomatoes, crisply cooked bacon, red onions, blue cheese, chives, and cooked chicken which are beautifully presented on top of a variety of fresh lettuces. The only dressing that I ever consider for a Cobb Salad is blue cheese, but any dressing that you prefer can be used.

Today I prepared a lower- calorie version of the Cobb salad in the form of a turkey wrap! It was a perfect low-cal substitute and thoroughly flavorful and filling. My husband looked at it and said, "I find it hard to believe that this wrap is low-cal!" Well, it is! This wrap is going to make some encore appearances in my lunch boxes, that's for sure!

Turkey Cobb Salad Wraps
(adapted from "Fresh Food Fast")

2 cups shredded/ chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup chopped tomato (1 medium)
1/4 cup chopped green onions (I used both red and green onions)
1 Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/4 cup cooked, chopped bacon (my addition)
3 Tbsp. blue-cheese yogurt (I was unable to locate this in 3 different stores, so I used 1 Tbsp. blue cheese dressing)
8 oz. thinly sliced smoked turkey
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 multi-grain flat breads with flax (such as 'Flatout')

Spread the blue cheese yogurt or dressing on one side of each flat bread.
Layer all the ingredients on top
Roll up the flat breads around the ingredients into individual wraps.

Makes 4 wraps that contain 301 very filling calories each. Super for lunch!

Above is a a peek inside to see the ingredients before rolling up the flat bread. The turkey slices are on the right already semi-rolled up in the wrap. The only items missing from these wraps from the original Cobb Salad are the chopped boiled eggs and chopped chives. Those can easily be added without a huge amount of extra calories.

And that wraps up this post with one last look at some creamy avocados and crisp bacon bits peeking out!

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Below is a photo that illustrates a traditional presentation of the ingredients on top of a Cobb Salad.

(photo from "LaLosh")

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Fresh Peach and Pineapple Crumble

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I have a man in my life who has been screaming for me to make a dessert.  That would be the man that I married; a rather thin guy who has been super supportive of the lower calorie, less fattening dishes that I've been making to help me reach my weight-loss goal.  He has happily been eating everything because the recipes have been so surprisingly full of flavor.

But no desserts have graced our kitchen since the holidays and he has been very patiently waiting to have something sweet to eat other than ice cream and Oreo cookies (always a good stand-by for him).

So I turned to that trusty little cookbook that I've been cooking from this month, Fresh Food Fast, by Cooking Light and found a delightfully refreshing Tropics-meets-the-South crumble.  Nothing beats fresh fruit, so I bought a fresh pineapple and thawed out some of my summer Carolina peaches that I always freeze in huge batchs every June and July.  Mmmmm . . . what a surprisingly yummy pair that pineapple and peaches make.  I never would have thought to put the two together.  This is really good, everyone . . . plus it is on the lighter side, because you don't bake the cake, you simply use the cake mix (sorry, not completely home-made) to sprinkle on the top with a little butter (use butter replacement if you like) instead.  So simple too!

I was really good too; having only about 4 bites of this, plus no ice cream or frozen yogurt either that is recommended in the recipe.  Hubby, of course, indulged in not only one, but two servings of the crumble with generous scoops of real vanilla ice cream (in other words, no low-fat ice cream for him).

For the full recipe and other photos, click on "Read More" under my signature below.


Fresh Peach Pineapple Crumble

1 cored fresh pineapple (if available, purchase one that is already cleaned and sitting in juice)
3 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
Cooking spray
1/2 cup butter, melted (1/4 was recommended, but it did not moisten the cake mix enough to create the crumble batter)
1 box of pineapple supreme cake mix (such as Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional: I left off since hubby hates nuts, but they'd be nice to add)
Low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat an 11 x 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Drain pineapple, reserving 3 Tbsp. of the juice.
Chop pineapple to measure 3 cups.
Combine chopped pineapple and juice with peaches and pour into the baking dish.
Stir butter into the cake mix.
Spread batter over the fruit.
Generously spray the top of crumble mix with more cooking spray.
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
Serve warm with frozen yogurt.

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Seasonal Saturday and Fresh, Clean and Pure Friday

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The winter season.  We certainly are experiencing it in a big way this year!  I have to be honest and say that it is my least favorite season, so I look for any way that I can to enjoy it.  I love having a warm fire to sit by at night while I read.  I enjoy creating comfort foods.  I even enjoy cleaning out my pantry, which I did during the snow storm this past week!  And finally, staying inside gives me precious time to work on the quilts that I fall behind on.

So with that said, today is Saturday, so it's time for another Seasonal Saturday get-together that continues from Fresh, Clean, and Pure Friday.  I welcome you to share any post on what or how you are doing to enjoy or even to 'get through' the winter season!

So many bloggers are posting about how they are cleaning up their lives and making commitments (and not just breakable resolutions) to their goals!  I've found and am following so many new blogs where the focus is on cleaning up nutrition, organizing and de-cluttering, 'minimalizing', cleaning up negative brain chatter, and more inspirational activities and ideas.  I could stay up all night long reading some of the great posts focused on ways that people are improving their lives!  So here we go again!  What are you doing that you'd like to share a post in which you've been cleaning or freshening up your lives?
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Fresh, Clean and Pure Friday is for any blogger that has a post related to any way that you have freshened up your life! (all solicitation posts to sell stuff, to promote giveaways, or to just display coupons, etc. will be deleted).

It's a brand new year, 2011. So please share any post on any way that you're starting fresh, cleaning up, or purifying your life, your cooking, your environment . . . simple as that!  Your post does not have to be from this week or even recently, or have a particular date or range of time; it can be something that you want to post from even a year ago if you like.

"What exactly do is "FRESH?" Here is a brief list to guide your decisions on what to post!

•  fresh scent/s
• freshly prepared food
• a fresh new look/outfit/design/decor/organization tip
• a fresh new quilt, or any new hand-made treasure
• a fresh new beauty/exercise routine
• fresh flowers
• fresh new outlook, beginning, start, idea, experience, goal
• anything harvested
• fresh, clean and pure: make-up or products you use
• anything unused and free from dirt, soil, impurities
• . . . that's just to give you an idea of what 'fresh' things or behaviors that can be included in your post

Every THURSDAY I post the Linky list that extends into Seasonal Saturday for one week. 

If you can, please put a link back to this get-together.  The badge is at the bottom of this blog, but that's not an issue if you don't paste it on your post, just a link please, is just fine.

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