A Practical Guide To Healthy Living

I love salads, but for me, salads need heft if I’m going to have one as a meal.  This one’s got it goin’ on:  A great mix of greens and protein, with sweetness from the mango, savory flavor from the chicken, a wonderful peppery bite thanks to the arugula . . . . all wrapped up with an easy, super-flavorful dressing and the surprising crunch and flavor of cumin seeds.  If you’d like a bit of starch with this, serve warm naan (which you can even get at Costco, now – wow!) on the side.

Arugula Salad With Chicken & Mango (adapted from Bon Appetit)

Whisk the oil, chutney, lemon juice and curry powder in a bowl to blend.  Add the water to thin it out – if you need more water, that’s fine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Put the arugula in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 of the dressing.

Divide the arugula between plates and scatter the chicken and mango over each.  Drizzle with remaining mango dressing (to taste, you may have extra).  Top each serving with a dollop of the yogurt and sprinkle with the cumin seeds. 

Serves 2 – can easily be scaled up.

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Two posts in as many days?  Starting to feel like my old self again! 

This “recipe” originally appeared in Body + Soul magazine in a piece on using up leftovers . . . it’s good enough, though, to purchase ingredients for – or to use up what’s in your pantry.  I always keep a package of Whole Food’s frozen pre-cooked brown rice handy, and there is always basil pesto base in the fridge.  This goes together in a   is infinitely customizable – no brown rice?  Try farro or wheat berries.  Don’t have Parmesan?  Romano or an Italian blend would be great.  This makes a great side dish for almost any protein . . . we noshed on leftover rotisserie chicken, but it’d be tasty with Italian chicken sausages, tofu, chicken, burgers (veggie, beef and/or turkey), etc. etc.!

Brown Rice Salad With Pesto & Cherry Tomatoes (adapted from Body + Soul)

Stir pesto into the rice and season with salt and pepper.  Mix in the tomatoes, Parmesan and basil and serve!  This is great leftover – try some in your lunch the next day . . . .

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Hey friends, remember me?  Despite what you might think, I haven’t forgotten about the blog . . . truth be told, I’m actually beginning to miss blogging.  I miss interacting with people about food.  Lately I’ve been interacting with people about floor refinishing, wall-painting, hauling our crap from one house to another, end-of-year teacher gifts, etc.  etc. etc.  All good, but as you know, food’s my real passion.   [Read more →]

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Wow, it’s been a long time since my last post – I’m still here – just immersed in another project.  Two weeks ago, D. and I up and bought ourselves a new house – 3 minutes away from this old house, but in a neighborhood we’ve always coveted and watched since we moved to town.  It was all quite unexpected, so in the last 2 weeks, not only have we purchased a new home but we’ve readied ours for market and started showing it.  Talk about whiplash.  Talk about the need for convenience food!  Especially now that we’re living in the “show home.”  The amount of counter-wiping and surface-clearing required to show your house is horrifying.  Not to mention that you become the “crumb Nazi” to your kid.  I hope L. will still speak to me when this is all over . . . she is irritated by the whole affair, and really?  Who can blame her?  A friend said she knew someone who had her kids eat in the tub when they were showing the house.  That sounds like a great idea to me right now, except we can’t all fit in the tub and L. hates to eat alone. [Read more →]

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 So I mentioned that I wanted to make more salads, with really good dressings, right?  Well, in my usual type-A way, I’m going nuts trying all sorts of different vinaigrettes. Today, I’m sharing two of my latest favorites.  I gotta tell you – I’m struck by just how good a salad can be if you use homemade dressing.  Like restaurant good, in your own lil’ kitchen.  It’s really, really worth the effort.

The first recipe is for a delicious, creamy feta vinaigrette from an old issue of Food & Wine.  I used this on giant Greek dinner salads – I chopped up a bunch of romaine lettuce, diced up bell pepper, cubed cukes (for me, remember D. is a cuke-phobe), sliced up cherry tomatoes and grilled chicken cutlets (sprinkled with S&P and oregano) to put on top.  It was delicious.   Here’s what you do:

Feta Vinaigrette (adapted from Food & Wine magazine)

Put the cheese, lemon juice, water, oregano and olive oil into a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.   Makes ¾ cup.

Now this next one – this is the dressing I’ve been nomming all week since I made it.  I am literally craving salad.  Craving a salad?  Yes – it is that good . . . it’s crazy-good – I mean, look at that picture up top – that’s my salad, folks.  Baby spinach leaves topped with sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and baby beets – then dressed with sliced almonds and this most luscious sweet vinaigrette.  How can you not love a bowl of healthy goodness like that?  Health in a bowl, I tell you! Here’s what you do:

Honey Vinaigrette (adapted from Delicious Dishings)

Combine the oils in a measuring cup. Place the vinegar and honey into a blender or food processor. Start the machine and add the oils while the machine is running.  This dressing can be stored in the fridge for a month.

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D. and I had dinner at Phillip Tang’s newish place, East By Northeast on Saturday night, and it was superb.  Another small place, though, so timing is everything (I’d say strive for 6:00 if you don’t want to wait) – although the crowd waiting to be seated isn’t as big as it is at Coppa.  But you know what?  It should be.  [Read more →]

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Oh friends, today’s recipe’s a treat.  A healthy, tasty treat brought to you by another blogger I follow.  Her real name’s Dara Michalski, but she goes by the moniker “Cookin’ Canuck” – she’s originally from Canada, you see.

Dara adopted this from Deborah Madison’s bible Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and I tweaked Dara’s take yet again.  Serve this flavorful pilaf alongside a nice piece of broiled fish (brush it with olive oil and dust it with cumin and salt and pepper too, if you like) or a piece of grilled chicken.  Just be forewarned – the side dish might steal the show at supper.

Spiced Bulgur Pilaf With Dried Cherries & Pine Nuts (adapted from the Cookin’ Cunuck’s recipe)

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add the onion, garlic, coriander, cumin and a sprinkle of salt.  Sauté until the onion is translucent.  Add the bulgur and the broth, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from the heat and mix in the cherries.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Just before serving, stir in the green onions and pine nuts, fluffing the pilaf as you go.

Serves 4.

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This is a great little recipe.  It may be quite different from what you’re cranking out on a typical weeknight, but it won’t be much more difficult.  Don’t be afraid of the chopping – that’s almost the entire time-cost of preparing this dish – so really, in just 30 minutes, you can serve your family a healthful meal that is high protein, low calorie, tasty and fun.  Keep a fork handy – because although you’re supposed to eat these with your hands, they can get a little messy.  And put a bottle of sriracha on the table, so those who like heat can spice things up!

Thai Turkey Cabbage Rollups (adapted from Cooking Light)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the ginger and turkey to the skillet and cook, breaking up the turkey, until the meat is no longer pink.  Place the turkey in a large bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Spoon turkey mixture into cabbage leaves, roll up, and enjoy!

Serves 4.  I served this with Chinese noodles dressed with some sesame oil and soy sauce (one of L’s favorite comfort foods) and some Asian Slaw on the side.

To make this vegetarian/vegan, sub in vegetarian fish sauce (although Cooking Light says you can omit the sauce, I think it’s essential to the flavor of the dish) and crumbled tofu instead of turkey. 

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