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I would call myself a heavy consumer of produce. Yep. My hubby and I can attack a whole head of lettuce (okay, maybe just half), as long as it isn’t filled with the typical, boring salad constituents like iceberg, pale tomatoes, and onion. Ugh – how is that even legal? I think the best salad I had ever eaten at a restaurant was at Habana, a Cuban restaurant in Costa Mesa’s the Lab (aka the anti-mall, as they say it). The salad was half a head of romaine lettuce, brushed with olive oil and grilled (yes! You CAN grill romaine!), then topped with marinated eggplant and other vegetables. I’m all about sharing, but I was swatting eager forks away from my meal that night!
Anyways, my point is, I try to add things to salads that will keep them interesting. Adding things like beans, peas, sun-dried tomatoes, or avocado all provide antioxidant-fighting nutrients and gives you a hefty amount of fiber to your day. Here’s my “Green with Envy” salad. I don’t really put amounts of anything in the recipe, because are you really going to measure “1/4 cup of clover sprouts” or “2 tablespoons of petit peas?” I don’t think so. You’re just going to add whatever you fancy. But I’ll give you the exact proportions for the cilantro-yogurt salad dressing – I assure you, you’ll feel almost green goddess-like (or Jolly Green Giant-like, for you men out there) eating this salad.
Green with Envy Salad
serves as many as you want 
Green leaf lettuce
Clover sprouts or pea sprouts (don’t eat alfalfa sprouts for now due to salmonella contamination – read about it here from the FDA!)
Thinly sliced green apple
Petit peas
Snow peas or sugar snap peas
Medium-boiled eggs
Fried shallots (you can find these prepackaged in Asian grocery stores)
Freshly cracked black pepper
For the Cilantro-Lime dressing:
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/4 cup plain lowfat yogurt
2 Tbsp fat-free mayonnaise
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Pinch of salt, to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper
Preparation:
1. Compose your salad however you like. For the salad dressing, combine all ingredients in the food processor or blender, and blend until the salad dressing is uniform in consistency. Top the salad with your Cilantro-Lime salad dressing, and serve!
I love this. Seriously. All you have to do is throw in some mint leaves and sugar into the bowl of your food processor, give it a whirl a few times, and you’re done. Do I really need to write the recipe? Ok, fine. Just for you.
I don’t remember where I got the idea for this, but I remember seeing “mint sugar” a while ago in some magazine at the bookstore, and the idea suddenly came to slap me on the forehead today because 1) it was hot, and I wanted some cold fruit, 2) I was cleaning out my fridge and realized I had no idea what to do with my fresh mint, and 3) these peaches I bought are sour, but I’m hungry and have to find a way to make them better. Oooh, I know, mint sugar! And let me tell you, the minty sweet sprinkle definitely gave the peaches a whole new dimension…perfect, as this weekend marks the beginning of a hot summer!
Do what you will with this, but it’s definitely an easy alternative to dress up a simple fruit salad for a party without having to feel like you need to compensate by adding dollops of whipped cream or custard to make it pretty. The possibilities are endless – dip the rim of your glass in some mint sugar and fill it up with lemonade or a mojito. Now the ideas are spinning around in my head – instead of using mint, try Thai basil too, which I bet would convince any fruit-o-phobe to eat their fruits if you spinkle it on fresh-cut watermelon or pineapple spears!
Mint Sugar
makes about 1/4 cup
1/3 cup loosely packed mint leaves (rinsed, then patted until completely dry with paper towels)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1. Combine ingredients in a food processor. Pulse a few times, until the mint leaves are finely chopped. Serve immediately.
I didn’t live too far away from home when I was in college, and like the usual college student, would come home on the weekends to do the usual – laundry, sleep, and grocery-shop in my mom’s pantry for some goodies to take back to my apartment. We didn’t have cable for some time, but we did have public television programming, and I really looked forward to Saturdays, where they’d have the regular cooking show lineup. This is where I learned so many cooking techniques – the whys and hows of cooking, oftentimes killing two birds with one stone by running on the treadmill in front of the TV.
My fave shows were Jacques Pepin’s Fast Food My Way, Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie, America’s Test Kitchen, and Mark Bittman Takes on America’s Chefs. These were where the real cooking started – no need for glitz and glamour, just real, unadulterated food. Because of America’s Test Kitchen, I made the best Hot & Sour Soup my husband and I ever ate. I would lovingly cradle my subscription to Cook’s Illustrated, Christopher Kimball’s no-fuss magazine that doesn’t even have vivid pictures on every page, but reads like an intriguing novel.
Bittman Takes On America’s Chefs was a no-fuss, straight-forward approach to cooking, where even the most daunting dishes seemed easy and interpretation was not only encouraged, but an absolute necessity. Here’s a recipe that was inspired from one of the episodes that featured chef Suvir Saran and his tandoori prawns. I remember thinking, “This is awesome! Indian food made simple!” After watching that a few years ago, I went to the library, checked out his cookbook, and Phong and I made the Sweet Pepper Biryani with Cumin and Fennel. SO. GOOD. I need not say more – we’ve kept the same recipe, tucked away in my chicken-scratch recipe collection, for over 2 years now. It has flecks of fennel dust on it, but that’s part of my nasty recipe notebook’s charm.
Many of you may already know I put yogurt in A LOT of my baking to add moisture and lend a tender crumb; marinating meat in yogurt imparts a whole new flavor (not yogurt-y, by the way) while still tenderizing the meat. This is my interpretation, with the spices I had in my cabinet thrown in. I sliced zucchini, lengthwise into ribbons, and hubby grilled those too – I think they’re more fun to eat that way! Enjoy!
Tandoori-Style Grilled Chicken
serves 4-6
2 lbs chicken thighs or breasts, skinless, boneless
1 1/4 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp sea salt
Preparation:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients except for the chicken. When all ingredients are combined, put the chicken in the yogurt marinade, making sure all the marinade coats the chicken. Place in the fridge, covered, for about an hour. Then grill it till it’s done!
Salmon is probably the easiest fish to make a meal out of; you can bake it, roast it, pan-fry it, or eat it raw in the form of sushi. I love how buttery the meat tastes, yet you know that the oil from the fish is loaded with some good omega-3 fats. And if you choose wild-caught salmon instead of farm-raised, you’ll reap the extra bennies of knowing that your fish is lower in total fat, higher in protein, and doesn’t have synthetic colors injected into them to make their flesh appear more pink.
Here’s a simple, 2-minute way to prepare your salmon before sliding it into the oven. Just create a nice dry rub with a little brown sugar, which will form a thin crust of flavor for the fish. Place atop a bed of greens, add some roasted asparagus spears on the side along with crusty bread of brown rice, and there – a complete meal.
Dry-Rub Salmon with Asparagus Spears
serves 4
1 lb asparagus spears, trimmed at the ends
2 tsp olive oil
a pinch or two of sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
Juice of 1/2 lemon
For the salmon:
1 1/4 lb fresh salmon
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt-free grilling blend (I use Mrs. Dash Chicken Grilling Blend)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
Cooking spray
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a jelly-roll pan, combine all ingredients for the asparagus and lightly toss. Roast in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, turning the asparagus spears halfway through roasting, until fork-tender. Take out asparagus and turn down the heat to 325 F.
2. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, grilling blend, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and sea salt. Spray the inside of a jelly-roll pan with cooking spray, and place the salmon on the pan. Spread 1/2 of the spice mixture on top of the salmon; flip over and repeat with the other side. Place the salmon in the oven and bake for about 15-18 minutes, until cooked through and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve on top of a bed of greens or rice.
No, it’s not because I let these bask out in the sun for a few hours after baking (although it is a rather nice day out today). These blondies are “tan” with the addition of a little reduced-fat peanut butter, my secret to cutting the fat instead of using melted butter, but still resulting in a dense, moist bar cookie (I also substitute it for some of the butter in banana breads, too – bananas and PB are a match made in heaven, after all!). The peanut butter adds an extra layer of flavor – slightly nutty and a great variation from the regular, vanilla/butter combination. Of course, I couldn’t resist dropping in a few semisweet chocolate chips in for good measure. You can always add whatever you have on hand for your mix-ins – chopped pecans, walnuts, or dried cherries would all be lovely.
And best of all, check out my nutrition facts for these blondies. Not too bad, eh? Oh, and if you bring these to a party or give these as gifts, make sure you let the recipient know that these contain nuts, just in case that someone has a nut allergy!
Tan and Nutty Blondies
makes 16
2 Tbsp reduced-fat peanut butter, heated in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, until runny
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ultragrain flour, or all-purpose flour, mixed with 2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Nonstick cooking spray
1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 8 x8 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and oil with the brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract; stir to blend. Add the flour/cinnamon mixture and stir to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the baking pan and bake, for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean.
Nutrition Facts per serving (1 serving = 1 blondie bar): 124 calories, 5.8 grams fat, 16 grams carbs, 2 grams protein
