For the past couple of weeks I have been reading Eat For Health by Dr. Fuhrman (more on that later) and trying some of his recipes. The first couple were not really what I would call successes - for instance 'Tomato Tornado Soup' looked like it would be really good, but we could barely eat one serving, giving it an overall rating of 2 stars...It has potential and could be really good...I think...but currently I'm not sure how. If I figure it out, I will post a modified recipe. This week, however, has had several successes and I thought I would post some recipes in case you are looking for some good healthy dinner (or desert) ideas yourself! Sorry, I haven't taken pictures of anything, hopefully I will remember next time! So this post isn't too long, I will start with the vegetarian dishes, then do the meat and desert dishes in the next post.
Baked Potato Fries
2lbs Yukon Gold or Sweet Potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
4 cloves fresh garlic or 2 tsp garlic powder (I used garlic powder, but next time I'd like to try fresh or minced)
1 TBS Olive Oil
2tsp onion powder
no salt herb seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash table seasoning)
Peel potatoes if not organic and cut into strips (mine weren't organic, but I just washed them)
Mix remaining ingredients and toss with potatoes
bake for 30-45min at 350 until lightly golden and tender (I think I did 45)
***these were quite tasty and sodium-free....at least until I dipped mine in a little bit of ketchup =) I'd like to try it with sweet potatoes and see how different they would taste. When you are making them they smell like they will be really strongly-flavored, but they were actually very mild.
Black Bean Lettuce Bundles
2cups canned black beans (no salt)
1/2 large avocado, mashed (or 1 small avocado)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 scallions, chopped (grocery store didn't have scallions, so I just left them out)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (also missing from the grocery store and my bundles, but I'll bet it would
have added nice flavor)
2 TBS lime juice (could be b/c I was missing a few ingredients, but I thought 2 TBS was a little much)
1tsp cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3cup mild salsa (low sodium)
8 large romaine lettuce leaves
Mash beans and avocado together
mix in all other ingredients except lettuce (I threw everything in a food processor, worked great)
place approx. 1/4 cup of filling in center of lettuce and roll like a tortilla
***I think it would be even better, although more calories, to get a whole wheat tortilla, spread a couple leaves of lettuce over it, cover lettuce with filling and roll the whole thing together. It would make it a little more filling too.
Quinoa Bean Salad
*this is better made the day before so all the flavors have time to blend*
2cups cooked quinoa (I used red, but I don't think it matters)
1 15oz can white beans, drained
1cup carrots
1 cup currants (I used raisins)
1/2cup walnuts, chopped
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I don't like raw onion too much, so I used 1/3-1/2 an onion and chopped it up with everything else. It gave just a hint of onion flavor...and made me need gum afterwards!)
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 orange or yellow pepper, chopped (I used both b/c they came in a package)
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2, but in retrospect I don't think 3 would be overpowering)
1TBS chili powder
2tsp low sodium soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1/2 cup goji berries (optional) (What is a goji berry anyway?)
Cook quinoa according to package directions
place other ingredients in large bowl and mix
add quinoa and toss
***.5 - I put all the veggies in a food processor, which worked great, but if you like bigger, chunkier veggies, that may not be your best option. I really liked this recipe - It makes enough for 6 people easily, so be prepared, but the leftovers taste just as good !
California Creamed Kale - I fully expected to not like this recipe, but it was shockingly tasty!
2 bunches Kale, leaves removed from stems and chopped or shredded
1 cup raw cashews (all we could find were salted, so I soaked them for about an hour and rinsed them before use - it seemed to work pretty well)
1 cup soy milk
4 TBS onion flakes (good, but I might try 3TBS next time)
1TBS Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest (optional) (I left it out since it's not something you can get at walmart)
Place Kale in large steamer pot - steam 10-20 min until soft (I think I did 30...oops!)
Meanwhile, place remaining ingredients in high powered blender and blend until smooth
(Note: sauce can be used with broccoli, spinach, or other steamed veggies)
Place Kale in colander and press with a clean dish towel to remove excess water
Coarsely chop and mix kale with cream sauce.
***.5 - This was very tasty, although it got cold quickly and it's definitely better warm! I was a little short of 2 bunches of kale and may go buy some more tomorrow to add it to my leftovers since there seems to be a lot of cream sauce. I love the lightly cashew flavor! Also, it looks like you will be steaming a TON of kale, but it actually shrinks a lot...and turns kind of a gross greenish-brown color, but don't worry, it tastes good!
So there you have it - my early forays into the world of healthier eating! (...and in case you were curious, over the past several weeks between working out (sporadically) and increasing my veggie intake I have finally broken through the barrier and lost my first 5lbs!!! YAY!!!!)
