Tuna Artichoke Melts

Tuna Artichoke Melts
published in Light & Tasty June/July 2006, p19

Ingredients

1 can (6 ounces) light water-packed tuna, drained and flaked
1/3 cup coarsely chopped water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt-free lemon-pepper seasoning
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
2 English muffins, split and toasted

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the tuna, artichokes, mayonnaise, 1/4 cup cheese, lemon-pepper and oregano. Spread over English muffin halves.

Place on a baking sheet. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 3-5 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; broil 1-2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 2 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 2 open-faced sandwiches equals 335 calories, 8 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 47 mg cholesterol, 989 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 34 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 4 very lean meat, 2 starch, 1 fat.
***
Made May 1st. I'm always looking for tuna sandwich variations for our after church lunch. I've never made anything with artichokes before, so I was a little nervous. The sandwiches weren't bad.

Because my oven isn't working completely like it should, I first toasted the English muffins in the toaster then topped them and baked them until the cheese melted. This seemed to work fine.

Pineapple Tuna Salad Sandwich

Pineapple Tuna Salad Sandwich 2 pts/1/4 c. serving
published in Light & Tasty April/May 2006, p53

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt-free herb seasoning blend
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cans (6 ounces each) light water-packed tuna, drained and flaked
8 slices Italian bread
4 slices tomato
4 lettuce leaves

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the applesauce and mayonnaise. Stir in the celery, green pepper, pineapple, onion, seasoning blend, garlic powder and pepper. Add tuna; mix well. Spread over four slices of bread; top with tomato, lettuce and remaining bread. Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 sandwich equals 310 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 26 mg cholesterol, 715 mg sodium, 42 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 28 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 very lean meat, 2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1/2 fruit.

*********
Made March 6, 2011. Not bad. It was pretty good with the tomatoes and lettuce. Jared added crumpled tortilla chips and salsa to his and really liked it. Aaron ate the tuna salad on a tortilla chip with salsa. He actually ate about 6 of them befor he decided he was through. I ate one that was leftover and it really is pretty good with the salsa and chip!

We didn't have the Italian bread so we just used our sandwich bread.

Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches 9 points/4 servings (1/2 c. each)
published in Light & Tasty October/November 2006, p48

Ingredients

2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
6 tablespoons Miracle Whip Light
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 dinner rolls
8 lettuce leaves

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the chicken, Miracle Whip Light, cranberries, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Cut tops off rolls; hollow out each roll, leaving a 1/2-in. shell. Line each with a lettuce leaf; fill with chicken salad. Replace tops. Yield: 4 servings.

Editor's Note: This recipe was tested with Miracle Whip Light salad dressing.

Nutrition Facts: 2 sandwiches equals 354 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 83 mg cholesterol, 796 mg sodium, 41 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 25 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 very lean meat, 2 starch, 1 fruit, 1 fat.

*****
Made Sun, Feb 27, 2011. I ended up changing the recipe a little bit because we didn't have celery, and I thought that additions might be nice. Here are my variations:

- used 1 13 oz container of canned chicken (shredded)
- add 1 TB of sunflower seeds
- add 1 TB of coconut
- add 1/4 c. chopped pecans

My final product ended up being 8 points just for the salad while the original recipe is 9 points including the dinner rolls.

Everyone really liked the salad. Aaron isn't much of a carb eater, so I put his in a lettuce leaf and that worked really well. This was a nice change to the usual tuna sandwich after church on Sunday.

Fruited Chicken Salad

Fruited Chicken Salad 7 pts for 1 cup

Made April 26th. We really enjoyed this recipe!! I was really surprised when I inputted the recipe to see it total 7 points. The nutritional info as written is only 4 points. I'm not sure where the 3 extra points came from, but my guess is that it is because I used 5 of the Tyson teriyaki chicken filets. The other change I made to the recipe was using 1 c. of raisins instead of 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of dates. Whatever the cause, it was worth the 7 points!!

This salad was really good on a bed of lettuce (like a lettuce wrap), as an open face sandwich, and also in a pita. In fact, I went to the store today just to buy pita bread to finish off the leftovers!

Aaron refused to eat it last night, but he tried my pita sandwich and liked it. He asked for his own and suprised me when he was able to pick out all the ingredients, well all the fruit ingredients at least. While I went to take a nap, Aaron made his own snack size version of his sandwich:

Hot Swiss Chicken Sandwiches

Hot Swiss Chicken Sandwiches 6 pts

Spicy French Dip Sandwiches (Crockpot)

Spicy French Dip LT03, 116, 7 pts

Made on Feb 17th. This is one of those rare recipes where the published nutritional info and my final product actually match point values. The meat part is only 3 points, but once you add the bread product it makes 7 points. I used whole wheat bolillos as our breading.

I really liked these. It was so simple to put together and the meat was really juicy and flavorful. I did not add the can of jalepenos because we don't do spicy too well. I had a 24 oz pork roast on hand, so that it was I used even though the recipe calls for beef sirloin tip roast.