Thursdays are the days when we turn our thoughts to healthy cooking, here at TDT195. I believe that in order to truly be healthy and lose weight, you need to eat the majority of your meals at home. No, that doesn't mean you bring home a bag of burgers or a pizza and chow in front of your TV. It's home cookin' folks, with fresh ingredients and a little love. Enjoy it around a table with those you care about most.I've often used a line that I stole from my tree hugging, health food loving, vegan wife, Tabitha, "Salads are traps." They are if you eat the fat-laden dressings while dining out, but made at home, salads are a great way to get uber-healthy fresh vegetables, beans and nuts into your diet, in an easy and delicious fashion. You don't need to be a good cook to make a good salad. I prefer mixed field greens or mesclun greens and Tabitha likes the more bitter varieties, such as frisee, radicchio or a nice 'peppery' arugula.
Below are three of my favorite recipes with three different styles. We have a traditional Italian vinaigrette, a spicy chipotle honey-lime and an Asian orange-sesame, which my sister loves. I usually use my Magic Bullet to make my salad dressings, but you can finely dice your solid ingredients and vigorously shake them in a jelly jar or similar vessel.
Use these dressings sparingly, otherwise you might as well go to the Olive Garden or T.G.I. Fridays. Toss your salads until the leaves glisten, but you see no residual dressing on the bottom of the bowl.
If you like your salad slightly more or less acidic, adjust the vinegar levels to your liking. If you blend your dressing and it seems too thick, just add a little water and blend again. In case you aren't aware of current food parlance, EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Cya tomorrow for Part 6 of "How Did I Get Here",
M
Mike's Italian Vinaigrette
Serve this with any salad, roasted vegetables or even on a sandwich. Add toasted pine nuts for some extra crunch and great flavor. I also enjoy it tossed with artichoke hearts.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup EVOO
1.5 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
4-5 basil leaves (finely chopped, unless using a blender)
1 small shallot (finely chopped, unless using a blender)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Blend or shake vigorously in a jar, until emulsified.
Spicy Chipotle-Lime Dressing
This is great over Butter or Bibb lettuce with sliced steak or grilled chicken. Another great use is over sliced avocado and fresh tomato. Add toasted pepitas, a.k.a. pumpkin seeds for the perfect accent.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup canola oil
zest of 1/2 a lime
Juice of 1 lime (If the limes aren't particularly juicy, be sure to have a back up lime on hand.)
1 tsp unseasoned rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs cilantro, finely chopped
1.5 tsp chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped (more or less to taste)
1/4 tsp salt
Blend or shake vigorously in a jar, until emulsified.
Connie's Favorite Dressing
I whipped this up years ago for a nice summery salad with canned mandarin oranges. My sister couldn't get enough. Back then, I used the juice from the canned Mandarin oranges but they are loaded with sugar or, even worse, high fructose corn syrup. These days I use orange juice, instead. Served with shredded Napa cabbage, prepared slaw mix or any soft, mild lettuce. I add toasted, sliced almonds or pecans and orange segments and/or craisins. Any grilled meat would also go great with this flavorful dressing.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup canola oil
1.5 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs orange juice
1 Tbs honey
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
2 Tsp cilantro (finely chopped, unless using a blender)
2 tsp orange zest (optional)
Blend or shake vigorously in a jar, until emulsified.
What I ate today and how I exercised:
Breakfast ~ Pumpkin Flax Raisin Bran w/unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Lunch ~ Un-turkey pita sandwich and sweet potato hash (recipe in the future)
Dinner ~ Boca burger on a whole grain sandwich round
Dessert ~ 2, 50 calorie pieces of dark chocolate w/cranberry and almonds
Exercise ~ I am embarrassed to admit that I feel asleep on the couch and did not walk. I shall now hang my head in shame.
When I was on a diet last year I "discovered" how much I loved chopped salads. Because everything was chopped into tiny pieces it would take many forkfuls to finish the salad and forced me to eat slower (one of my eating faux pas since childhood). You can put anything you like into a chopped salad, you just have to chop it up everything into pieces no bigger than .5"x.5" pieces. The traditional lettuce to use is romaine hearts or iceberg. I like mine with finely diced red onion, roma tomatoes, chopped roasted red peppers and/or yellow pepper rings (for zing), chopped or grated carrots, halved kalamata olives and pine nuts (or almond shavings). I used to use walnuts, but I find walnuts are too high in fat and calories to warrant their inclusion in a salad. Sometimes if I'm feeling really randy I splurge myself with some really sharp parmesan cheese. If I have it available I also add some pre-cooked beans like kidney or lentils.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm consciously dieting I only use balsamic vinegar or an oil/fat free store bought dressing and I also add a pre-packaged spice combination like Mrs Dash.
I put all of that in my salad bowl and cover it with a large plate and shake it around to really mix everything together and get the dressing on each piece. Make sure you hold the plate tight because it is a bitch cleaning up balsamic dressing off of the floors and counter tops and clothes...which I know from first-hand experience.
That last comment was by Rick Julian who still can't figure out how to have his name appear in the comment header.
DeleteThanks, sometimes Randy or is it Rick? :)
ReplyDeleteI was going to write "sometimes when I'm feeling randy"...but I knew you'd be all over that comment. :-)
Delete