A Practical Guide To Healthy Living

I have a little kitchen crisis every year when the weather turns nice.  I want to maximize time outside goofing off and I don’t feel inspired to cook.  Or at least I don’t want to cook complicated, heavy food.  I develop a yen for convenience food (hello, Trader Joe’s?) and a devil-may-care attitude that leads me to consider feeding my kid dinner from the ice cream truck.  But I know I need to get it together, because I feel crappy when I eat out too often, and frankly, I even find take-out to be boring after too many nights.  So as I resolved to eat more soup this winter (and sure ‘nuf, I’m souped out), I resolve to find more quick-but-delicious items for this spring and summer. 

This salad’s a start.  This is a salad that’ll make you psyched to eat salad.  It’s got a unique collection of ingredients and a tangy yogurt dressing.  It’ll all go together in 40 minutes or fewer, and it won’t mess up your kitchen too much.  I’d put this in the springtime category, though, because you need to use your oven . . . and who wants to do that when the weather gets hot?

 Baby Greens Salad With Roasted Sweet Potatoes (adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

Preheat the oven to 450.  Toss together the potatoes, onion and oil and spread on a large rimmed baking sheet that’s been covered in foil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the beans and the walnuts to the potato mixture and toss to incorporate.  Roast about 5 more minutes, or until the beans are tender.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, vinegar and garlic.  Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste. 

Top the lettuce with the roasted veggies and drizzle with the dressing.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Do you have some protein lovers who might feel snubbed by this as a main course?  It’d pair nicely with some pre-cooked chicken sausages – choose a mild flavor – apple, cherry and apple, etc.  Or if you’re veggie, you could bake some tofu steaks alongside your potatoes and serve those alongside.

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Today’s recipe is born of fridge-cleanup and a need for speed.  All the ingredients can be purchased at Trader Joe’s, but feel free to sub your favorites.  Although the sauce for the spinach is “creamy,” it’s healthful because it’s made with Fage 0% Greek yogurt.  Make sure that your mixture isn’t still simmering when you stir in the yogurt, though, because the yogurt will curdle.  This is super-speedy – ready in about 20 minutes, and could easily be scaled up to serve more people.

TJ’s Lemon Chicken With Creamy Spinach Sauce

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Cut chicken into strips. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, stirring to warm it through. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and stir. Add spinach and toss with tongs until it’s just beginning to wilt. Remove pan from heat and cover to wilt spinach completely, approximately 1 minute more. Remove the lid, stir in yogurt and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve spinach sauce over pasta.

Serves 2 to 3.

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The only downer to trying to eat more fish is the fact that you have to buy your fish the day you’re going to prepare it.  And for many of us, that’s hard.  The best work-around I’ve come up with is to buy flash-frozen fillets from either Trader Joe’s or from Whole Foods.  These are fresh-tasting and can be kept around and defrosted when you’re hankering for fish, but I think the freezing changes the texture a bit in a way I don’t love.  I think that baking garners the best results from flash-frozen fish, so if you have some hanging around your freezer, you might want to give this recipe a whirl with those.

This chili-lime cod recipe is adapted from one in Real Simple that I found on-line.  It’s a departure from how I usually prepare cod – either steamed Asian-style or else baked with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  The spice combo here is simple, yet adds zingy flavor to the fish without overpowering it. 

Here, I give you the roadmap for a complete meal:  Fish, sweet potato and steamed broccoli on the side.  My adaptation calls for doubling the sauce recipe so that you can drizzle it over the broccoli too . . . . deeee-licious and super-speedy.  This entire meal can be ready in 20-30 minutes!

Chili-Lime Cod With Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli (adapted from Real Simple)

Heat the oven to 450.  Coat a oven-safe baking dish with cooking spray.  Arrange the fillets in the pan and sprinkle with chili powder, oregano and salt.  Bake 5-7 minutes or until the cod is opaque and flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Meanwhile, scrub the sweet potatoes and prick each several times with a fork.  Arrange them on a paper towel in the microwave and microwave them in 2-minute intervals until they’re tender to the touch.

Place the broccoli in a microwave-safe covered dish and microwave in 1-minute intervals, stirring in between, until broccoli is bright green and tender.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small skillet.  Cook, stirring constantly, until butter begins to brown.  Add the cumin and the lime juice and continue to cook (keep stirring!) about one minute more.

Remove the fish from the oven, drizzle ½ the butter mixture over the top of the fish and ½ over the steamed broccoli.  Serve the sweet potatoes with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a little salt sprinkled over the top.   

Serves 4.

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I urge you to make it this one.

 I know you’re not all as obsessed with nutrition as I am.  But do you have an appetite for a little more information?  Something practical and easy to read?  Something that empowers you by providing information on current hot topics and foods that “real” people eat like products from conventional supermarkets and items available at chain restaurants?  I have a recommendation for you . . . the Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).  If you’re going to read one health/nutrition periodical, this should be the one.

First, a little background.  CSPI was founded in 1971 as an independent non-profit consumer health group.  You may never have heard of CSPI, but you’ve felt their impact.  From their website: 

CSPI’saccomplishments include leading the efforts to win passage of laws that require Nutrition Facts on packaged foods (and, later, to include trans fat on those labels), define the term “organic” for foods, and put warning notices on alcoholic beverages. CSPI also conducted eye-popping studies on the nutritional quality of restaurant meals and movie theater popcorn, helped to increase funding for the government’s food safety inspections and nutrition and physical activity programs, and spurred new policies in some cities and states to remove soda and junk foods from schools. CSPI also helped New York City adopt the nation’s first ordinances to ban trans fat from restaurants and list calorie information on menus and menu boards, and is working with other cities and states on similar measures.

CSPI doesn’t accept government or industry funding, and the Nutrition Action Healthletter accepts no advertising, so what you’re getting in this pint-sized publication (issues top out at around 15-20 pp. maximum) is unvarnished and unbiased.  Period.

Why should you spend $24 for 10 issues?  Because it’s readable and relevant.  Take, for example, the April, 2010 issue.  The cover story is about why Americans need to cut down on salt, along with practical advice on how to do it.  You’ll see ways to “defuse a salt mine” – namely, how to add ingredients to a typical Chinese take-out dish or the boxed prepared food you get at the supermarket to bring down the sodium content per serving.  You’ll see a side-bar with popular menu items from large chain restaurants (think Panera, Olive Garden, Chipotle) along with their sodium content.  You will be astounded.

Other features this month include one on probiotics.  The article cuts through the advertising hype and gives you the skinny on how to spend your money on probiotic foods and supplements.  Another article reveals the sugar and calorie-content of coffee drinks and popular menu items at major chains like Starbuck’s, McD’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.  Included here are helpful charts with the calorie, sat. fat, added sugar and caffeine content of popular menu items, along with suggestions for which are considered by CSPI to be a “Best Bites.” You could literally cut these pieces out and tuck ‘em in your wallet for reference if you’re a frequent flyer at any of these chains. 

Interspersed with the big articles are news-bites on various hot-button nutrition issues, along with the monthly “Healthy Cook” feature which serves up inspiration for quick ‘n’ easy whole-foods cooking.

I’ve been a subscriber for something like 15 years, and I’m paid up through 2012.  I pay for my subscription, and I haven’t been approached by anyone to endorse this publication.  I’m inspired to recommend it to you only by my respect for the CSPI and my adoration of the Healthletter’s content.  If you’re looking for some nutrition information to chew on, but not too much, this is the pub. for you.  Find out more here.

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What do you eat when you eat alone?  Do you pick and nibble and eat at the counter or in front of the t.v.?  Or do you make yourself a full-on meal?  Although we all need an occasional junk-food feast, I advocate eating a real meal, even if you’re by yourself.  Chances are, you’ll feel more satisfied and that you’ll eat better if you do.

Although we’re a family of 3, I make a lot of meals just for me.  D. travels a lot, and L. won’t eat anything interesting or reasonable (most of the time), so I’m stuck eating makeshift suppers or else biting the bullet and cooking a meal for myself.  In the wintertime, I do big batches and eat them during  the week, but now that the weather’s getting nicer, I want lighter, fresher fare. 

Last night’s dinner was so fast, and so tasty, I had to share it.  I had everything in the pantry or the freezer, and in fewer than 30 minutes I’d whipped up a lovely, healthful meal for myself (along with leftover noodles and plain chicken plus an apple for L.).  The Lemon-Tarragon chicken has a sunny taste and cooks up super-fast thanks to pounding it out.  The salad is fruity and bright as well – and can you say “antioxidant blast?”  Spinach, beets, oranges, walnuts . . . this’ll set you up right.  Better than that bag o’ Doritos you were thinking about,  for sure.

Lemon-Tarragon Chicken (adapted from Cooking Light)

Place the chicken breast in a heavy-duty Ziploc bag, or between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound to ¼-inch thickness with a meat mallet or a heavy skillet.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt.

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice and tarragon in a small bowl and whisk to combine. 

Coat a small skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium heat.  Once hot, add the chicken and cook for approximately 3 minutes on one side.  Turn the breast over, and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side, or until no longer pink.  Drizzle the lemon-tarragon mixture over the chicken and turn to coat in the pan.  Serve.

Serves 1.

Spinach Salad with Beets & Oranges (adapted from Cooking Light)

Peel the orange, segment, and cut each segment into 4 pieces.

Place the spinach in a salad bowl.  Arrange the beets and orange pieces over the spinach. 

Combine the oil, vinegar and pepper in a small bowl and pour over the salad. Top with walnuts.  Serve.

Serves 1.

If you’re cooking for 1+, I’m sure the recipes as written would be terrific.

What’re your favorite solo meals?  Share them in the comments!

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Hey Friends!

Did you notice anything new around here?  I got inspired by a recent reader comment and finally got off my duff to add a “print this” option to each post . . . it’s not pretty enough for me, but it’s functional.  You can now print a copy of any post you like without all that annoying sidebar junk taking up space and wasting your paper.

Keep those comments coming, and if you know of a WordPress plugin for printing that’ll allow me the flexibility to place the icon wherever I want it, please clue me in!

Cheers,

Sarah

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Mmmmm Mojo – the “sweet & salty trail mix bars” from Clif.  Now you know I’m a fan of the whole food.  Not so much a fan of the the processed food or the Franken-food . . . but sometimes an apple or banana won’t cut it as a convenient meal-replacement when I’m out and about. 

I have been digging these bars lately – they’re sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy, which hits most of my cravings.  They’re around 200 calories each, but also have 8-10 grams of protein (2-4 grams from nuts, 4-5 grams from soy rice crisps), so they’ll keep you feeling fuller, longer. And although you shouldn’t get into the habit of eating these instead of whole foods, if you’re craving something sweet & salty and/or need a filling snack on the go, these are 70% organic, contain no GMOs, are low-glycemic and have no trans-fats or processed sugars.  So they’re better than a ‘dog at 7-Eleven or a trip through the McD’s drive through, for sure.

I get mine at either Whole Foods or at Trader Joe’s, and right now my favorite flavor is the Mountain Mix. Find out more on Clif’s website.

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I came home ravenous from Pilates yesterday.  But I didn’t want to start raiding the cupboards for “whatever” – I wanted a healthful lunch.  On Sunday, I found organic pea shoots at Trader Joe’s – they come in a 4 oz. clam shell container, and if you haven’t tasted these, they taste like springtime.  That’s them up there in the picture – they’re delicate, yet crunchy, and they’re a glorious green color.  What’s more, they’re super low-cal and they pack a nutritional punch, too.  Per serving, pea shoots have 7 times more vitamin C than blueberries, 8 times more folic acid than bean sprouts, and 4 times more vitamin A than tomatoes. 

I whipped up this delicious little salad in 10 minutes, and now you can, too.

Pea Shoot & Edamame Salad

Combine the pea shoots and edamame in a large bowl.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the pea shoots/edamame mixture.  Enjoy!

Serves 1, but could easily be scaled up.

In case you’re wondering . . . that wasn’t all I had for lunch.  I also about 3/4 c. 0% Fage yogurt topped with 1/2 c. organic blueberries, 1/2 c. All-Bran cereal, and a little agave drizzled over the top . . . .

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