500 Calorie Challenge

My hubby's office has a fitness competition going on and every week there is a challenge. The office is divided into teams and they get points for doing the challenges. This week it is 500 calorie meals. Since I am the meal planner (and because I love stuff like this) it was up to me to come up with recipes.

The meal has to be 500 or less calories, 15g of fat or less, he has to try it, rate it on a scale of 5 stars, and share the recipe with the office.

I Googled 500 calorie recipes, but I decided to edit something I was already planning on cooking because A) if I choose some recipe with foods we never eat I have to make a trip to the grocery store B) I didn't find a recipe on-line that sounded any better than the Dover Sole I had in the freezer.

Menu:

Dover Sole with Lemon-Pepper Butter Sauce
Steamed Green Beans
Whole Grain Rice Blend

Ingredients:

Trader Joe's Package of Wild Caught Frozen Dover Sole
Just under 1/2 stick of butter*
Lemon-Pepper Seasoning
Parsley
Salt



Green Beans
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cayenne Pepper



Rice Select Royal Blend (Texmati Brown & Red Rice with Barley & Rye)
Cumin
Garlic Powder
Bay Leaf
Garlic Clove



Directions:

I started with the rice because it takes the longest. I just followed the package directions and added to it about 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp cumin. I did not add the optional butter (which is why I chose to throw in a few spices to keep it from being too boring).

Next I set things up for steaming the green beans. I just added a few inches of water to a large pot, dropped the garlic clove and bay leaf in there. I never know how much it helps the flavor to put stuff in the steaming water... but I know it smells good.

The fish was next. I followed the package directions at first and put the frozen fish in to the pan.



After about 5 seconds I realized I didn't like this and put them into the microwave to defrost.



Once defrosted it was much better. I was using tongs to flip them and I regret that because as it cooked the fish became very tender and was falling apart! It didn't affect the taste but doing it again, I would use a spatula instead.

I used a cast iron skillet and set the temperature to medium-high. Then I melted the butter, added the fish and sprinkled with seasoning. I eyeballed the seasonings but I would estimate about 1/2 tsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning, 1/4 tsp parsley & 1/2 tsp salt. When the fish looked like it was mostly cooked (prolly about 5 minutes), I flipped it over once and removed it from the pan.






While the fish was cooking, I threw the green beans into the steamer and added seasonings.



Here is the final product:



Calorie Counting:

I have always known that butter is bad (duh) but it kind of shocked me with the calorie counting just how quickly calories from butter add up! On any non-challenge day I totally would have had butter in the rice & the veggies as well as the fish. So I have learned my lesson today.

1 serving Green Beans 20 cal 0 g fat
1 serving Rice 160 cal 1.5 g fat
2 Fish Fillets (butter included) 300 cal 13.5 g fat

TOTAL: 480 cal 15 g fat

*Note: I edited the butter amount to be just enough to make 15 g of fat. I was not going to have a drop less than we could get away with.


Cost Analysis:

Green Beans from Wegmans $2.99
1 cup (dry) of rice $6.29 / 5 = $1.26
TJ's Dover Sole Package ~$5-
(I lost the receipt for the fish so I might come back and edit this after going to TJs again, but I have to at least estimate and I am pretty sure it as 4-something because I bought it mainly because of the cheap price)

$9.25 for a meal for 3
$3.08 per person


So in conclusion we had a meal that was less than 500 calories, with 15 g of fat, and cost < $5 per person. Pretty awesome... every dinner should be that practical. :-)

I forgot to ask Hubby how many stars he gives it and he is asleep (I am furiously typing so I can do the same, but I have to get my blog in before bedtime, haha). I enjoyed the meal, the fish was yummie and I pretty much always like rice and veggies. I was a little worried about not having butter in them but the seasonings were just enough to make me forget about butter. I would cook it again.