Moroccan Chicken & Lentils

Let's start with a foodie confession. Some people think foodies and "real cooks" don't take shortcuts. For example, my dear mother-in-law. The first time she tried this eggplant caponata I had made, she needed the recipe. When I sent her a link to the original recipe from Mario Batali, she exclaimed, "who knew what a potchke this is!" (That's basically Yiddish for a big pain in the tuchus.) I asked what she was talking about, because I actually think of the recipe as rather easy. She says, "welllll, you have to make the tomato sauce..." If you look at the original recipe, Mario says you should make his homemade tomato sauce. Really? I never thought for a second about doing that - tomato sauce from a can is perfectly fine for me, especially in a recipe like this where there are so many other flavors added to the final product. She couldn't believe that someone like ME would take that shortcut.

Which brings me to my confession: I'm not afraid to take shortcuts. While there are plenty of things I think are just silly not to make from scratch, there's a time and a place for pre-made goods. For instance, one of our favorite dinners to eat on nights when we know there's very little time to cook is "gyros". That's in quotations because I use the term loosely. Basically, I just saute some ground turkey with Penzeys Greek seasoning, garlic, and lemon juice, and pile it on a low-carb wrap with tomatoes, onion, and store-bought tzaziki. Tzaziki, out of a tub, from the grocery store? Well, yes. One the one hand, it's certainly not difficult to make and I'm sure I could make a very tasty version, but that would defeat the purpose of a meal I can have ready to eat in just about 12 minutes. And so, I let a certain Joe make my tzaziki (his title starts with a T.)

Of course, after we ate the "gyros", I needed something else to use up the tzaziki, and my friend Branny reminded me this yogurt sauce with cucumbers and garlic sauce also goes pretty well with Moroccan-inspired food. Oh, did I mention I was looking for another no-fuss dinner, something unlike a potchke, if you will? Branny suggested Moroccan spiced chicken and lentil dish, and she even so nicely went as far to Google one for me. I was all set to make it, but then remembered I already had a Moroccan style crockpot chicken recipe, so I decided to just adapt that one a little. Cooking lentils in the crockpot was a first for me, and I was a little worried they'd turn to mush, but I had nothing to fear. They came out tender but certainly held their shape and kept a little bit of a bite, and the spices and dried fruits all worked well together. And the tzaziki on top added a great final touch!

Crockpot Moroccan Chicken & Lentils
Printable Recipe

1 large onion, diced (150gm)
4 cloves minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup golden raisins (40gm)
1 cup brown lentils
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch of cloves
pinch of cayenne pepper
freshly ground salt, to taste
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
2 cups fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp cider vinegar
fresh chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish

Place onions, garlic, peppers, raisins, and lentils in crockpot.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Combine all seasonings and toss with the chicken. Place half of the chicken in the skillet and cook until browned on one side; turn and brown the other side. Add chicken to the slow cooker. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Pour in the broth and cider vinegar, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve hot, garnished with cilantro if desired.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 341.5
Total Fat: 2.4 g
Cholesterol: 98.6 mg
Sodium: 400.0 mg
Total Carbs: 37.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 14.1 g
Protein: 51.3 g

Gumbo, by a Massachusetts HealthNut

Let's say you receive a free sample of Penzeys New & Improved Cajun Seasoning. And the Saints are playing in the Superbowl (and being from Mass, you're certainly not rooting for their opponent!) And Mardi Gras is around the corner. And one more thing - you've got to finish up your TrueBlood season two marathon before it disappears from on demand viewing. What do all of these call for? Celebrating by making your first gumbo, of course!

That's right, I've never made, nor even eaten, gumbo. But I do know that the first thing everyone asks when you're going to make gumbo is, "are you going to make the roux?" Well, as I understand it, the roux is essential. It's also very bad for you. I'm sure you already guessed that if I was going to make gumbo, I was going to make it healthy. My first choice was to make it for the Superbowl, but since Ben hasn't decided if he's watching at home or not (I most likely am), I decided to make it for our evening in catching up on TrueBlood.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to desire a healthier gumbo, because the folks at Eating Well have already come up with a fairly clever solution. Instead of cooking the flour to a intense richness with an equal amount of oil, it's first toasted to a deep nutty brown in a dry skillet. Then, a fairly small amount of oil is used to saute the vegetables, and the flour is added just before the broth to create the thick base.

Speaking of vegetables, there's one that I'm fairly sure is essential to a proper gumbo: okra. And, it's a vegetable I've never had before. Southerners claim you either love it or hate it, and that the latter is more likely for non-Southerners. But, seeing that I hardly meet vegetables I don't like, I made sure to get my hands on some okra for my gumbo.

Now, back to the recipe - are you dying to know how it came out with froux? (that's a faux roux, by the way.) First, a couple things about this Eating Well recipe I needed to adapt. You might notice that the calorie count on their version is nice and low, but then you might notice that it only calls for twelve ounces of protein, total, for four servings. Maybe that's ok for some, but I prefer more to make a satisfying dinner and fuel my body with good calories. If you read a little more into it, you might see that the recipe calls for rice- and that's not the typical mound of rice in the bottom of a bowl of gumbo; it is rice that's cooked into the stew. I decided to omit that and serve our gumbo over rice instead. Brown rice, of course. Finally, I omitted the seasonings it called for and used my Penzeys instead.

You may take our reviews for what they're worth - two New Englanders who prefer healthier eating and have never been around real gumbo (I think Panera carried it for a while, but, I'm pretty sure that doesn't count!) I thought it was very good - and I was pleasantly surprised at the distinct flavor given by the stewed celery and okra; for me these set it apart from other spicy tomato-based stews. The Cajun seasoning is comprised of a laundry list of herbs such as paprika, thyme, cayenne, dill, and even cardamom, and these provided what I hope was an authentic Cajun flavor (of course, I can't be sure!) And Ben's opinion? He was a lot more than satisfied, loving every bite perhaps more than the next. Good thing the recipe makes four servings, two for tonight, and two to possibly sway my husband to stay home for the Superbowl.

Louisiana-Style Gumbo by a Massachusetts HealthNut
Slightly adapted from Eating Well
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (30gm)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, chopped (150gm)
1 large green bell pepper, diced (150gm)
1 cup diced celery
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth*
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen cut okra
2-3 tsp Cajun seasoning blend
1 bay leaf
8 oz medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (10oz total) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 links Andouille chicken sausage, such as Trader Joe's, thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
Hot sauce, to taste

In a dry saucepan over medium heat, toast the flour for about 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns a deep, nutty brown. Remove the toasted flour to a small bowl. Add the oil to the pan and cook the onions, peppers, celery and garlic for about 5-7 minutes, until softened. Sprinkle the flour in, stirring to coat the vegetables.

Add the broth, a little at a time, stirring well to combine. Bring to a simmer and add the tomatoes, Cajun seasoning, okra, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until the liquid has been reduced to about 3/4 of the initial volume. Put the lid on to partially cover, and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Add the chicken, sausage, and shrimp; cover and simmer for about 5 minutes or until chicken and shrimp are cooked through. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve over hot brown rice with hot sauce, if desired.

*Note: this is the amount called for by the original recipe. That recipe also called for cooking a half cup of rice in the stew, so I realized afterward that the recipe probably accounted for extra liquid to cook that rice. So, I later simmered uncovered to let some of it cook off so the gumbo would be thicker.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 362.1
Total Fat: 10.1 g
Cholesterol: 163.6 mg
Sodium: 1,408.8 mg
Total Carbs: 21.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.9 g
Protein: 42.5 g

Baked Winter Squash Falafel - 2 Ways

Sometimes you feel like a (chick)pea. Sometimes you don't. This could be a mantra when it comes to falafel. Or, could it?

The moment I came across the Baked Sweet Potato Falafel over at the Pink Apron, I immediately added them to my "to make" list. I've eaten falafel plenty of time, though not recently as I just haven't ventured to find the great falafel near where I live (I've heard it does exist, though.) And as you can probably figure, there's not much frying going on in my home, in the 51 weeks per year that it's not Hanukkah. This wasn't even the first time I'd seen recipes for baked falafel, but the difference this time was that it was the first time I was enticed enough to try. Other recipes for baked falafel had me thinking, "there's no way these could come out close enough to the real thing to be worthy of my time." These sweet potato falafel, however, were already deviating enough from the norm, that I figured I wouldn't necessarily be expecting "real" falafel, so it would be worth a shot. That, and the fact that Kelly's falafel looked delicious crisp and delicious.

So I made the falafel, almost the same way Kelly did, with one semi-minor changed. As I often do, I swapped butternut squash for the sweet potato. Sweet potato has many things going for it, but squash has a lot less calories and carbohydrates per serving, so it fits my nutritional needs a little better. I thought about using canned pumpkin puree, since that would be easier - there would be no need to peel, seed, and roast a squash to get required one cup of mashed veggie. But I had a slight fear that the pumpkin would be too wet, so I went ahead with roasting the squash. As promised, these turned out really darn good. The spice combination was perfect, and they had a crunchy exterior and tender inside. We had them for dinner atop a big chopped salad of romaine, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted beets, and chickpeas, all drizzled in a yogurt-tahini dressing. And later that week my husband enjoyed them wrapped inside a Joseph's low-carb lavash for lunch.

And I still had some of that yogurt. And some pumpkin puree in the fridge. Which made me wonder - should I give it another shot with the pumpkin? See if I can make this recipe one (well, actually a few) steps easier?

I mentioned the recipe to my good friend and cooking partner-in-crime, who happened to be coming over that weekend, and who also happens to eat a gluten-free diet. I thought I'd do my re-make of the recipe to share with her, but then I realized on little problem: it calls for bulgur. Not ok for celiacs. I had been so excited about the idea of incorporating winter squash into my falafel and baking it, that I didn't even notice it lacks the traditional falafel ingredient - chickpeas! So I went back to the drawing board and decided to try a different route altogether, to test out my pumpkin idea, to achieve crunchy baked falafel, and have it be gluten-free too. I pretty much took a classic falafel recipe and added pumpkin, and followed the instructions for baking from the first recipe.

The result? Also very delicious! And a bit more reminiscent of classic falafel, with a slightly sweet and earthy undertone. I added a step of cooking the pumpkin a bit on the stove top to dehydrate it, but I'm not even sure that was necessary, because I found myself adding a little bit of water to help the mixture work through the food processor. So next time (and there will be one) I'll just skip that.

These recipes are very similar nutritionally (although the chickpea version has a bit more fiber and protein), and we honestly really enjoyed them both. I didn't bother to take a picture of the second because they honestly don't look very different. Which one you make might just depend on whether you have bulgur or chickpeas in the pantry, and whether you want the falafel to be gluten-free or not. I'd probably stick with the second one because I do really love chickpeas, but I'd never even have thought to make these had I not come across the bulgur and sweet potato recipe first!

Printable Recipes

Baked Winter Squash Falafel
for when you don't feel like a (chick)pea!
Adapted from The Pink Apron

1/2 cup bulgur wheat
3/4 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cooked, mashed butternut squash

2 tablespoons nonfat milk
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, divided
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
1/8th teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the bulgur and broth in a saucepan. Set aside for 10-15 minutes, or until bulgur has absorbed some of the broth. Heat mixture over medium heat and once a boil has been achieved, turn the heat to low and cook until no water remains, stirring occasionally.

Stir together the milk, roasted squash, garlic and parsley.

In a food processor, pulse together the chickpea flour, breadcrumbs, and seasonings. Add the squash mixture and the cooked bulgur and pulse until evenly combined.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a small cookie scoop to portion the mixture, and roll into balls with wet hands. Drop the falafel onto the baking sheet. Bake 40-45 minutes, flipping the falafel halfway through.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 159.9
Total Fat: 1.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.2 mg
Sodium: 128.4 mg
Total Carbs: 33.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.2 g
Protein: 5.1 g

Baked Pumpkin Falafel
For when you feel like a (chick)pea!

1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 cup chickpea flour
generous pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the chickpeas and pumpkin a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine (larger chunks of chickpeas may remain, but this is ok because you are going to pulse some more.) Add remaining ingredients and pulse several more times, until mixture is evenly combined.

Use a small cookie scoop to portion the mixture, and roll into balls with wet hands. Drop the falafel onto the baking sheet. Bake 40-45 minutes, flipping the falafel halfway through.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 148.8
Total Fat: 2.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 323.5 mg
Total Carbs: 29.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 10.4 g
Protein: 8.4 g

Yogurt Tahini Sauce

1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
3 tbsp tahini
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
freshly ground salt, to taste

Whisk or blend all ingredients until smooth; adjust seasonings to taste.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 52.6
Total Fat: 3.1 g
Cholesterol: 1.9 mg
Sodium: 17.9 mg
Total Carbs: 2.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g
Protein: 3.9 g

Sesame Maple Ginger Tofu

Tuna and grilled chicken. These are the staples of my lunches. Once in a while I'll have leftovers from dinner, but more often than not I'm eating either grilled chicken or tuna on a low-carb lavash, or some kind of tuna concoction in a bowl. And one day, I decided I was a little bored with all of that.

Tofu is a good source of protein - and a cheap one, too. I thought it would be good to incorporate into my lunch rotation, but frankly, I am not so great at cooking tofu. At least, in the handful of times I've tried, I've never been able to obtain a good texture no matter whether I tried baking, pan-frying, or grilling it. Then I came across Erin's post on baked tofu over at Fresh365. Her method for baking perfect tofu was different than any others I had seen, in that it called for baking at a very high temperature for a shorter period of time (500F for 30 minutes). I decided to give this a shot. And after that, I decided I would never again go back to baking tofu at 350F for 45-60 minutes, because this was just THAT much better. For the first time in my own home, I was enjoying tofu with a nice crisp exterior and flavorful inside.

Tofu can be flavored with pretty much anything you like - something as simple as the soy sauce and sesame oil that Erin suggests, or you can get a little more fancy if you like. Bottled dressings, marinades, and sauces can be used, or you can whisk together your own concoction. One afternoon while browsing my new favorite site - EatingWell.com, I stumbled upon a recipe for tofu baked in a sauce of tahini and maple syrup. The recipe also contained some roasted vegetables and a suggestion for serving with pasta, but I thought the sesame-maple tofu alone would be a great addition to salads or stirfry's.

I've now made this recipe twice, and I've enjoyed it equally on a big colorful salad of spinach, arugula, roasted beets, colorful peppers and cauliflower and chickpeas; or on top of spinach sauteed with mushrooms and garlic for a hot lunch. If you are still trying to master tofu, I really suggest you give this higher-cooking-temperature-method a shot, and feel free to get creative with whatever sauces and flavorings you like.

Sesame-Maple-Ginger Tofu
Adapted from Eating Well
Printable Recipe

1 14-ounce block extra-firm water-packed tofu, rinsed, patted dry and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp Toasted Sesame Ginger Seasoning, or just sesame seeds and a generous pinch of ground ginger and crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 475°F.

Spray a ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and add the tofu cubes; lightly spray with more nonstick cooking spray and season with salt & pepper. Roast for 10-12 minutes, or until the pieces of tofu are lightly browned on the bottom. Turn the pieces over, and roast for another 10 minutes.

Whisk tahini, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup and vinegar in a small dish until combined. Remove the tofu from the oven, and toss with the tahini mixture and the sesame seeds (and ground ginger and crushed red pepper, if using.) Return to the oven and roast for another 5-10 minutes, turning once, until desired crispiness is reached.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 148.4
Total Fat: 8.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 148.8 mg
Total Carbs: 7.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.9 g
Protein: 10.0 g

Beet & Butternut Phyllo Flatbread

Ever since beets came into my kitchen just a couple weeks ago, I've been smitten. These beautiful ruby-colored vegetables are really perking up my food and adding new dimension where I didn't know it was needed. For example, beets with butternut squash... and shallots, walnuts, and goat cheese. I knew that butternut squash could certainly hold its own with those other ingredients, but I thought they might get along really well with beets too.

Recently I heard a suggestion to use phyllo dough to make a pizza. This reminded me of the extra package I had sitting in my refrigerator. I had been trying to think of a way to use this for a dinner for a while, but nothing thrilled me - until the idea of using it as a light, flaky crust for fresh and earthy ingredients.

I would say that the combination of toppings worked really well together and would be equally delicious as just an arugula salad with the roasted vegetables, walnuts and goat cheese. However, it was all really well-complimented by the delightfully crispy crust too!

Beet & Butternut Phyllo Flatbread Pizza
Printable Recipe

8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1 medium sized beet
200gm peeled butternut squash (the "neck" piece from a small squash will work well)
2-3 small shallots, sliced thinly (about 50gm)
2oz goat cheese
3/4 oz chopped walnuts
2 handfuls of arugula

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking dish with aluminum foil. Lightly spray the squash with olive oil cooking spray on all sides and place it on the foil. Take another small piece of foil and lightly spray; scrub the beet and wrap it in the foil. Place on the baking sheet with the squash. Roast both of these for about 45-60 minutes, until tender. Cool.

Reduce oven heat to 350. When the squash and the beet are cool enough to handle, peel the beet and slice thinly to yield 150gm sliced beets. Slice the butternut squash into thin rounds as well.

Carefully lay out one sheet of phyllo, and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Layer another sheet on top, spray, and repeat until all 8 sheets have been stacked. (Hint: Keep a damp cloth over the full stack of phyllo when not in use to keep it moist and prevent tearing.) If desired, cut the stack of phyllo in half to make two individual flatbreads. Transfer to a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet. Divide the sliced beets and squash evenly among the phyllo, and then the shallots, arugula, goat cheese and walnuts. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until phyllo is crispy and cheese begins to melt.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 391.1
Total Fat: 14.6 g
Cholesterol: 13.0 mg
Sodium: 359.4 mg
Total Carbs: 55.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.9 g
Protein: 13.4 g

Shout out to MA Readers & Food Bloggers!

I figure (at least, I hope!) I have some local readers so I wanted to share an event I'm attending and see if anyone else I "know" might be going!

Next Sunday, January 31st, the 2010 Worcester's Best Chef competition is taking place at Union Station. I know what you Bostonians are thinking. Why the heck would I drive to Worcester to get good food? Well I assure you, we've got plenty of it - so much that I often find it hard to justify making the east-bound trip for good dining.

This event, hosted by Billy Costa and featuring some celebrity judges, will round up a bunch of the best local chefs and attendees will get to taste everything and vote on their favorites. There is also a wine tasting. Needless to say, I plan to arrive with my belly empty!

I'm really looking forward to this as a chance to try some new samplings from the chefs at my favorite restaurants, and hopefully discover some new places to visit. Just last night, Ben and I ate at Yama Zakura in Northboro. (Most definitely worth the trip from anywhere in MA!) We were reminded that Chef Anna won the judges' choice award in this competition two years ago, and we were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to chat with her about this year's event. She gave us some hints about what she is making, and her enthusiasm certainly bumped up my own by a few notches. If even half of these chefs share the same passion and talent as Anna, it's going to be a most delicious evening!

So, is anyone out there already planning to attend? If not, would you like to? You can purchase your tickets by heading over to event website. Certainly let me know if you are going so we can plan to meet up!

Pumpkin Flax 'n Fiber Waffles

You know those appliances and gadgets lying around your kitchen in dark cabinet corners - the ones you decided you simply had to have? (You probably made these decisions around the time you were getting married, if you are married.) We all have them. Mine is my waffle maker. Everyone needs one of those, right? Well, I suppose you need one, if you can find waffle recipes that you want to make. I always seem to fail in that department. I'll get myself on a waffle kick and find myself scouring the internet to find that one recipe that is low enough in fat and carbs that I won't feel guilty eating it on a weekday. It must be out there, somewhere, buried deep in the internet. I haven't yet managed to find it, so my waffle iron stays buried as well.

I finally decided to take matters into my own hand and create a waffle high in fiber and good fats, and low in sugar. (Actually, there's none.) And of course if I'm going to eat a waffle, it better be a pumpkin one. I came up with a recipe using crushed Fiber One cereal and flaxmeal in place of some of the flour, and you know what? It's pretty darn good - and good for you. These are not sweet waffles so they certainly benefit from a drizzle of syrup - in my case, sugar-free (one of the few exceptions to me ban-the-artificial-sweeteners kick.) Or, they'd be good with a smear of natural peanut butter for an extra dose of good fats. They make a great dinner too when paired with some apple chicken sausage, as we did on the night of this baking experiment. And the extras? They're in the freezer, ready to pop out for a quick weekday power treat.

Pumpkin-Flax 'n Fiber Waffles
Printable Recipe

1 cup (120gm) all purpose flour
1 cup (60gm) Fiber One Cereal
1/2 cup flax seed meal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp powdered buttermilk
1/2 tsp each ground cinnamon & ginger
dash of ground cloves
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg substitute

Preheat waffle iron.

Place cereal in a food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed (alternatively you can put the cereal in a plastic bag and crush it with a rolling pin.) Add to a mixing bowl with the flour, flax seed meal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, powdered buttermilk, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Whisk to combine.

Make a well in the center, add remaining ingredients, and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Spray waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and cook according to manufacturer's directions to desired crispiness.

Waffles freeze well and may be reheated in a toaster oven.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 143.2
Total Fat: 4.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.8 mg
Sodium: 220.2 mg
Total Carbs: 24.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.7 g
Protein: 5.5 g

Salmon Tacos with Beet-Citrus Salsa

Reflecting back on 2009, I learned quite a few thing. Among them, that I'm actually quite alright with my healthy eating & fitness fixation and I don't need to look at these as a burden or something that makes me so different from others. I learned how wonderful my friends are and that I look forward to growing together and continuing with the next stages in our lives. And I learned that I like beets.

Why is liking beets so significant? Well, there are not many foods I can think of that I truly don't like. And I mean, have tried several times and don't like. For a long time, the beet was one of them. Somehow in 2009, my liking of beets started to turn around. A few times I could tolerate them. And then, one day, I truly started liking them - and finally, craving them. And then I knew it was time to bring them into my own kitchen rather than just enjoying them in others.

I could have started simple, with a baby spinach salad topped with roasted beets and goat cheese - a classic combination. I've had various versions of that, so I wanted to try something different. I decided that the seasonal beet might pair well with another so-right-now ingredient: the citrus. And that this earthy, tangy combination would compliment a seafood like salmon. And that's how these salmon tacos with a beet-citrus salsa came about.

You might think that the orange slices in that salsa were colored by the beets (those babies like to spread their juice everywhere) but these were actually some lovely blood oranges I found at Trader Joe's. A little bigger than a clementine but smaller than the average orange, these beauties have a swirly purple and orange flesh. They are also seedless, making them a perfect pick for a citrus salsa.

These tacos were overflowing but I'd rather the need for a fork to scoop up all the yummy filling than to have a skimpy taco. I was really happy with my first attempt using beets at home, the salsa was the perfect compliment to the salmon. Crispy corn taco shells, peppery arugula and salty, tangy feta rounded out the flavors. You might be wondering where I got those nicely rounded, crisp taco shells. I actually baked them myself from soft corn tortillas (instructions for this are included below.) A much better alternative than the small fried ones you might buy in the grocery store, and a little change from the soft tacos we usually have.

Salmon Tacos with Beet-Citrus Salsa
Printable Recipes

Beet-Citrus Salsa

1 medium beet, roasted, about 8oz
1 small orange or two small clementines (60gm segments)
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 small shallot, minced (20gm)
1 small jalapeno pepper, minced
1 tbsp each minced cilantro and mint
splash of Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Vinegar or lime juice
salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Scrub the beet clean. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with nonstick cooking spray, and wrap the beet inside it. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hour, or until tender when pierced with a knife or fork. Remove from oven and let cool.

Peel the beet and dice to yield about 150gms.

Cut a small slice from the orange so that it can sit on a flat surface. With a paring knife, go around the orange, cutting away the skin and white flesh. Then, slice in between the "skins" of each segment to remove clean orange segments.

Combine the diced beets and orange segments with remaining ingredients; adjust seasonings to taste.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 69.5
Total Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 215.2 mg
Total Carbs: 15.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.4 g
Protein: 1.9 g

Salmon Tacos with Beet-Citrus Salsa, Arugula and Feta

1 recipe Beet-Citrus Salsa
2 4oz wild Alaskan sockeye salmon filets
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp each cumin and chili powder
4 6" corn tortillas
2 cups arugula
1 oz crumbled feta cheese

To make baked crunchy taco shells, preheat oven to 450F. Wipe the grates of the oven rack clean if needed. Place tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel, and microwave on high for 30 seconds, or until pliable. Open oven, slide rack out, and while holding a plate or baking sheet underneath, spray the rack with nonstick cooking spray. Carefully drape the tortillas over the grates, and coat them with a bit of nonstick spray too. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Remove from oven and set aside.

Preheat the broiler. Mix together the brown sugar, chili powder and cumin. Place the salmon filets, skin side down, on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Rub the spice mixture onto the fish, then season with salt and pepper. Broil for 10-15 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Flake the fish away from the skin (the skin will stick to the foil to be disposed of.) Divide the arugula, fish, and salsa among the taco shells, and sprinkle with feta before serving.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 454.7
Total Fat: 15.6 g
Cholesterol: 82.6 mg
Sodium: 517.8 mg
Total Carbs: 47.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.2 g
Protein: 30.6 g

How to Incorporate Cardio in an Effective Strength-Training Program

I know I told you I wasn't going to do it - that is, start talking more and more about fitness on this blog. This is a food blog and it will remain as such. However, one of my readers, Amelia, asked an important question in response to The Burn Box, and I would like to share my response with all of you and invite anyone who wishes to discuss. The question is:

After much deliberating and in need of a new training plan to follow I have decided to start the NROLFW. I read the book this past weekend and started on Monday. I have lifted heavy in the past, then of course read mixed reviews about lifting vs. cardio and my lifting began to slack off. So far I like the plan. However, I am a bit confused on the cardio part. I was used to running about 25 miles per week, but I'm not sure how that would effect and/or fit into NROLFW. Any thoughts/ suggestions/ or help you can offer about how to incorporate a healthy amount of cardio would be great! I am following the suggested meal plans in the book and doing my best to stay in the 40/30/30 range. Thank you!

You may have noticed me reference NROLFW. This is short for The New Rules of Lifting for Women, a great program which teaches the importance and benefits of heavy lifting for women. More than just a workout program, the author tells women something we don't often hear: that we don't need to do that much cardio. That the hours we are used to spending on the elliptical or pounding the pavement are just not very effective for muscle building and fat loss, and that if we want to see progress in our strength training program, we need to limit the long-endurance cardio.

Many women simply don't want to accept this because it goes against everything most of us have been taught for years. I had a hard time myself. The book suggests that you really only need your lifting program, and that's three times per week. As someone used to working out 5 or 6 days per week, I just couldn't wrap my head around that and so I confess I've always maintained an extra 2-3 days of cardio on top of the lifting program. Here is my response to Amelia:

Hi Amelia, First of all, thanks for the kind words! It really means a lot.

As for cardio w/NROLFW, the book explains it best, but my understanding is that the body can't effectively train for long endurance-style cardio and build muscle/strength at the same time. They are two opposing biological mechanisms. As your body gets used to longer endurance cardio, your metabolism is becoming more efficient: that is, learning to run itself on less fuel, in order to conserve energy for what lies ahead. The idea between heavy weight lifting in order to build strength is that you train your metabolism to become less effective: that is, requiring lots of energy to repair and build muscles. This is done through short spurts at high intensity followed by recovery.

This is not to say you can't do any cardio along with NROLFW, and my personal opinion is that you can do more than what the authors suggest. However, I wouldn't suggest doing anything extreme like training for a long distance event, does that make sense? If you enjoy cardio, I would still keep up with it, but maybe you can mix it up a bit. Take advantage of HIIT workouts (which are a part of the program beginning in stage 2 or 3). Usually, I don't do these on the same day I lift, instead I make this part of my cardio day - I will do the HIIT and then round out an hour or so with steady-state work such as running. Try plyometric drills (body weight matrix is coming your way!) or bunch jumping. Give a shot at kickboxing or step aerobics. Again, the ieda is that we are constantly mixing things up so our bodies don't get complacent with one kind of activity. Hope this helps!

I feel confident in saying I've been pretty successful with this program over the past year, with the amount of cardio I've done. Could I have done better, and is there still room for improvement? Of course. As I said (and you can see in my workout log in the "Burn Box") I still do a decent amount of cardio. Sometimes I wonder if even that is "too much", though. What do you all think? For those who have been wondering about how to mix cardio with strength training, does this explanation help? For this with experience, what has worked for you? Have you had to make changes with your cardio routine along the way to see more progress?

Chicken Albondigas Soup

When my January issue of Bon Appetit arrived and I saw meatballs on the cover, I was less than thrilled. I don't have very fond memories of meatballs from childhood (sorry, Ma, but there's plenty you do better!) I started to come around when I met my husband - he swooned me with his balls. No, not those ones! Turkey balls, simmered in spaghetti sauce (nope, not even homemade, but it was good enough for these non-Italians!) served over piping hot pasta. But now, I can't remember the last time we've had that meal. Not because we're married and I do 99% of the cooking, but rather, because pasta is almost off-limits in these parts.

I flipped to the meatball feature anyway, and found the kind of ball I'd like to throw around in my kitchen - a Mexican style meatball favored with roasted poblano peppers, simmered in a rustic ancho chile soup. The soup included grated zucchini in addition to the more traditional rice, which intrigued me. I decided to give it a shot, with a few touches to lighten it up. First, I swapped all beef for chicken - what could be wrong with a chicken meatball in chicken broth? Next, I swapped the breadcrumbs in the meatball mixture for oats. Mostly because my panko was ridiculously old, but it also bumped up the healthiness factor. I found the meatball mixture to be quite loose, understandably because I used such a lean meat. Therefore, it was pointless to pre-form the meatballs, but they held their shape perfectly when I scooped them up with a cookie scoop and dropped them right into the simmering soup. Since the recipe called for pure ancho chile powder, and I had some dried chiles hanging around in the cabinet, I just crushed those up in my spice grinder. Brown rice replaced the white. Finally, I baked the tortilla strips instead of frying them. Obviously!

We were quite happy with this soup - it's hearty and the spice warms the soul on a chilly winter night. The meatballs had their own distinct flavor from the roasted poblanos, and turned out light and tender. The grated zucchini was a great way to add lots of texture to the soup, without lots of extra calories and carbohydrates by using more rice. Overall, a very successful healthyfication!

Poblano-Chicken Albondigas with Ancho Chile Soup
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Printable Recipe

Meatballs
2 large poblano peppers
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1/2 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1/4 cup finely grated onion
1/2 cup plain oats
1 large egg
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican), crumbled
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large dried ancho chile peppers
8 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
1/4 cup brown rice
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lime juice

Toppings
4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips
Chopped fresh cilantro

Roast the poblano peppers. This can be done on a grill, over a gas burner, or under a broiler. First, spray the peppers with nonstick cooking spray. To roast them under a broiler, place on a baking sheet and under the preheated broiler. Cook for a few minutes, until the skin is blistered charred, then turn, and continue to cook until the pepper is charred on all sides. Alternatively, grill the peppers (or hold over the gas burner flame) on each side until the skin is blistered and charred. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool enough to handle, the skins will easily peel off. Peel, seed, and chop the peppers. These will keep in the refrigerator for at least a few days, so this step may be done ahead of time.

Combine the meatball ingredients in a food processor and pulse until chicken is finely chopped and all ingredients are well-combined.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes. Meanwhile, seed the dried ancho chile and tear into smaller pieces. Grind to a powder in a spice or coffee grinder to yield 3 tablespoons. Add the chili powder and garlic to the onions, and cook one minute more. Add the broth, water, and oregano and bring to a boil. Add the brown rice, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes.

With the soup at just a simmer, using a small or medium cookie scoop, form the meatballs and drop them into the soup one by one. Add the zucchini, cover, and cook gently (do not let the soup come to a boil) for about 20 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 450F. Place the tortilla strips on a baking sheet and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Just before serving, stir the cilantro and lime juice into the soup. Season to taste with salt, and add more lime juice if necessary. To serve, garnish bowls of soup with tortilla strips and extra cilantro.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 422.8
Total Fat: 9.2 g
Cholesterol: 118.9 mg
Sodium: 1,431.5 mg
Total Carbs: 49.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.2 g
Protein: 36.2 g