Healthy Eats - What do you make?

I made this odd combo a few days ago and started to wonder about how others make simple, nutritious, minimal ingredients, and really good for you snacks and meals. Looking for ideas that are not to time consuming to put together and would like to keep it ALL natural or as close as possible.

Hard boiled egg white only, Joan Arc great northern beans and some really good slap you silly hot sauce.

Gave the dog the egg yolks. And yeah it did taste good, the sauce did wonders for the whites and beans.

Hot Sauce http://www.slapyousilly.net/factory1.html
This sauce is great!

Lunch is probably the easiest place to start eating healthier, in my experience. It is so easy to waste a lot of money on really unhealthy food if you are eating out very often. Recently my girlfriend and I have been making a large portion of some sort of grain/bean/vege salad on Sunday to take for lunches a couple days during the week. If you bring along some fresh fruit it makes for a filling, tasty, and nutritious meal.

I should say it isn't fast in the preparation sense, but since all of the work is done ahead it is super fast during the week.

I do a lot of the organic brown rice or brown rice and grain that is frozen at Trader Joe's. Micro that three minutes, stir fry whatever vegetables I have whether fresh or frozen, add rice, and top it with a fried egg. I have a really good omelette pan that I just put a little olive oil spray in and make the egg and it's a small size, so I add some liquid egg white to it. Double up on the protein, but still get the goodness of one yolk, and of course, some sort of Louisiana hot sauce.

If you're taking this for lunch, just scramble the egg and then add to the rice to take to work.

I try to eat relatively low carb (sticking more to the 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat). I also work from home & I'm single, so lunch & dinner are often thrown together when I realize it's getting late & I've been nose-to-the-grindstone for too long.

A few of my go-to staples:

Egg, bresaola & cheese English muffin: I use the 100-calorie high-fiber multigrain English muffins. Although I tried a number of times to cook a muffin shaped egg in a frying pan, I ultimate realized that a Pyrex custard cup in the microwave works better. I do a light grease with olive oil, put the bresaola in the bottom, add 1 egg + about 1/4 cup of egg whites, then top with just a little cheese (for the fat). Microwave ~1m15s at 50%, put on toasted muffin.

I also use the same English muffins with TJ's chicken burgers, a little BBQ sauce and some caramelized onions for a fast lunch sandwich.

I like living grain tortillas (available at Whole Foods) which are higher in protein & fiber. I'll do a quick "quesadilla," though won't always use cheese. I often do refried beans & cooked turkey or chicken with salsa & avocado. I actually find that almond cheese melts pretty well & don't taste completely fake when mixed into a dish, so sometimes I'll use that, too. (It's pretty high in protein, which is a bonus.)

A good brown rice (I prefer Lundberg short grain) can be made in advance and reheats well (covered, steamed to reheat). I'll make a big batch once a week & then mix in:
Protein (poached chicken, leftover beef that's been roasted, grilled salmon, marinated tofu)
Veggies (roast ratatouille that I've made in advance, oven-roasted broccoli, oven-roasted asparagus)
Sauce (ratatouille often needs no additional sauce, otherwise I love a flavorful tomato chutney, which is versatile & healthy without a lot of calories, or a tablespoon or two of teriyaki)

I find I am a much healthier cook when I use the grill. For example, last night we had whitefish grilled on a cedar plank (just a little olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh herbs), grilled mushrooms (a medley from a ubiquitous farmers' market stand - blanking on the name - that were done in a grill basket with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme), grilled corn on the cob and a green salad.

Ful Ful Ful

Breakfast of tenacious kids who overthrow dictators.

jblth wrote:\Recently my girlfriend and I have been making a large portion of some sort of grain/bean/vege salad on Sunday to take for lunches a couple days during the week.

I'd love to hear more about what kind of combos you make with grain and/or beans. I need inspiration! I make tabouli, and a salad based in black beans and corn, but need more variety.

My favorite quick hot weather dinner is salad with grilled protein of some kind -- a variation of Thai beef salad; a variation of Waldorf salad with lots more greens; a variation of salade Nicoise (less quick than some others); and last night, grilled chicken breast with greens, jicama, grape tomatoes, avocado, purple onion and orange segments, with an orange vinagrette. I can throw the veggies and dressing together while the small bit of meat is grilling, it's light, it's quick, it's delish.

Judy H wrote:

jblth wrote:\Recently my girlfriend and I have been making a large portion of some sort of grain/bean/vege salad on Sunday to take for lunches a couple days during the week.

I'd love to hear more about what kind of combos you make with grain and/or beans. I need inspiration! I make tabouli, and a salad based in black beans and corn, but need more variety.

This is what I ended up making yesterday; the theme is usually what's in season and/or around that needs using.

4-5 bell peppers of various colors, diced
1 ear of corn, off the cob
1 sweet onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup pearled farro
15.5 oz can of cannellini beans
1/3 cup green garlic pesto (green garlic, green onion, almond, olive oil, Parmesan)
salt, pepper, olive oil

Lightly sauté the peppers, corn, onion, and zucchini in some olive oil. I prefer them fairly firm. Cook the farro in 2.5-3 cups of salted water or stock. Drain and rinse the beans. Toss everything together with the parsley; dress heavily with the pesto; add salt and pepper to taste.

Brown rice, salads, grilled chicken and soup are all on the list of healthy eats. I posted my soup on another thread. Its basically like a faux Tuscan bean soup loaded with northern beans, chopped onions, garlic, carrots, celery, swiss chard or kale and mushrooms if I have them. I add cooked farfelle pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. The only thing is I like to start out with sauteeing a few slices of bacon to give it flavor. There is another Italian soup called scarole and beans (Escarole and beans) that a lot of people make and its pretty healthy too.

Also love broccoli salad with pine nuts or walnuts, sunflower seeds and raisins.

I compromise most of my healthy food with a little bacon to guush it up.

I try to eat relatively healthily most of the time. After dropping 40 pounds a few years ago and keeping it off, my new eating habits kind of stuck, and I generally design my menus around copious amounts of vegetables and some lean protein. During grilling season, this is pretty easy to do: red peppers, zucchini, asparagus, etc., maybe a side salad, and a protein and you have a delicious meal. Braised cabbage is another one of my favorite vegetable sides. Stir fries are easy peasy for relatively healthy eating, as long as you don't forget the vegetables and don't use too much oil (although you definitely want a decent amount of fat in your diet. My calories are probably about 40-50% carb, 20-30% protein, 20-30% fat.) Frittatas and omelets are another light and healthy standby (I use whole eggs. I don't think there's anything particularly unhealthy about egg yolks.) Poached chicken breast can actually be quite tasty in a Coronation chicken-type salad (I make mine with yogurt and a little dab of mayonnaise, and use sugar-free apricot preserves as the sweet component, although you might judge the latter as "unhealthy" based on your personal definition) or stuffed into tortillas for tacos or enchilads. A corn tortilla is usually about 50 calories, and you can stuff most anything you want in there, so that's another one of my healthy go-tos. Try it with braised greens (like Swiss chard) and caramelized onions this Rick Bayless recipe is one I use.

Here are some dishes which I like to make:
Baby Bok Choy with Braised Shiitake Sauce (I add tofu to this dish and sometimes some ground pork or pork meatballs)
Tuna Cannelli Bean Salad
Quinoa, Mango & Black Bean Salad

Habibi wrote:Ful Ful Ful
Breakfast of tenacious kids who overthrow dictators.

That recipe for Ful does sound good. I am kinda a new bee when it comes to cooking and eating Mediterranean type foods. Made a recent visit to Pyramid Supermarket in Palos Heights to pick up some Hummus, pitas and boneless/skinless chicken tenders. Did up the chicken in some olive oil and garlic on the stove in a covered pan...it was a great meal. Awhile back had some Dolmades from a joint called Desert Rose in Worth on Harlem. They were good, would like to make some of these at home sometime. Think they were made from grape leaf, rice and some sorta spice or parsley?
Will have to search later for a recipe for these and some homemade hummus later.


For stuff out of a can this stuff was good.

http://www.desertrosefoods.com/

Yes hummus would also be a healthy food as well as baba ganoush....ratatouille too which has many vegetables. I've been meaning to make homemade hummus for some time but have not gotten around to it.

Here's a great summertime soup from Eastern Europe that I made last night:

Chłodnik. Basically, cold borscht with sour cream/yogurt/buttermilk. I used only nonfat yogurt in my version. Lots of different ways to do this, but basic idea is lots of grated or finely diced cooked beets + soured dairy + some type of broth, topped with fresh herbs, usually dill and/or chives. A squeeze of lemon juice or some other acidic component (I used some leftover pickle brine) is usual, as well as some other vegetables like cucumbers, and some diced hard-boiled eggs but you can improvise as you wish. The Lithuanian version of this is called saltibarsciai, if you want to research some recipes.

Cbot wrote:

Habibi wrote:Ful Ful Ful
Breakfast of tenacious kids who overthrow dictators.

That recipe for Ful does sound good. I am kinda a new bee when it comes to cooking and eating Mediterranean type foods. Made a recent visit to Pyramid Supermarket in Palos Heights to pick up some Hummus, pitas and boneless/skinless chicken tenders. Did up the chicken in some olive oil and garlic on the stove in a covered pan...it was a great meal. Awhile back had some Dolmades from a joint called Desert Rose in Worth on Harlem. They were good, would like to make some of these at home sometime. Think they were made from grape leaf, rice and some sorta spice or parsley?
Will have to search later for a recipe for these and some homemade hummus later.


For stuff out of a can this stuff was good.

http://www.desertrosefoods.com/

I actually think that canned hummus can be better than some of the stuff we call hummus here in the US. At least the canned stuff was made in the Middle East, so the flavors are a bit more authentic.

If you don't want to invest in tahini or can't easily find it, but want to make hummus, one cheat is to use a can of the canned stuff + a can of garbanzos, plus olive oil, lemon & garlic. The sesame tahini taste will be a little light, but it's decent shortcut. (If you have some sesame oil, that can help.)

I am eating a lot of lean protein these days and have been enjoying a sort of Asianesque concoction of lean (but not extra lean) ground turkey, lots of ginger, garlic, scallions, a minced hot chili or siracha, soy and fish sauce.

Cbot wrote:I made this odd combo a few days ago and started to wonder about how others make simple, nutritious, minimal ingredients, and really good for you snacks and meals.

Breakfast today was brown rice (ziploc bag of rice from three days ago), 2 oz chopped BBQ pork (warmed up), kimchee, natto, some dried laver and a glass of ice water and a handful of pineapple.

yesterday's breakfast was some pan warmed walnuts, kefir on top, threw in some blueberries, sliced bananas and one slice of bacon.

Inspired by a recipe in The Dirty Life (by Kristin Kimball...highly recommend), I bought a bunch of young Swiss chard at the Green City Market yesterday. I chopped it up as well as some tomatoes, sauteed some garlic & shallots in a little olive oil then threw in the chard & tomatoes. Once they were soft & melted, I cracked an egg into the mixture & added just a little feta for flavor, and scrambled it all together. Tasty summer dinner!

That sounds delish!

Possibly my favorite light summer salad made from blanched Klug asparagus, thin (think asparagus width) slices of tomatoes and onions, mixed with white wine vinegar, good olive oil and fresh oregano and thyme. Made a big batch and it gets better every day. Had it last night with 2 flourescent orange yolked C&D eggs loosely scrambled with grey sea salt and fresh pepper. mmmmm....

I took three dips to a party recently:

1. homemade cannelini bean dip - blended with rosemary-flavored olive oil and kosher salt. Went over bigger than I expected.
2. store-bought hummus - comments were that this was too bland. I should have augmented with olive oil, salt, maybe paprika.
3. Rube Goldberg'd Chilean pebre, from store-bought (Garden Fresh Market) pico de gallo with added olive oil, cilantro, salt, garlic, and lemon juice - fambly members at the party couldn't get enough of this. Now I know what to give for Christmas.

Dippers for all three: pita bread cut in wedges, warmed/browned in oven, sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

knitgirl wrote:I am eating a lot of lean protein these days and have been enjoying a sort of Asianesque concoction of lean (but not extra lean) ground turkey, lots of ginger, garlic, scallions, a minced hot chili or siracha, soy and fish sauce.

That Asianesque dish sounds great! Did you cook yours on the stove top or?
Make some burgers or a loaf with what you mentioned, throw them on the grill or pit with some Apple and Hickory woods or just lump/charcoal and see what happens.

Did another sorta odd combo today. Keeping my healthy train moving full steam oh head.
Fresh Kale uncooked, hummus and some corn El Milagro tortillas. Super simple, mega healthy and tasted really good. The Kale and hummus blended well with each other.

Cbot wrote:Hard boiled egg white only, Joan Arc great northern beans and some really good slap you silly hot sauce.

Brilliant! That looks delicious and I may well steal it for the Food Desert Project.

Tonight we had kale that I steamed lightly and then shocked with cold water and dressed with a dead-simple dressing made with the mortar and pestle: garlic and coarse salt, pulverized, then a slosh of vinegar and bigger slosh of olive oil.

I also like to make healthier dips: tzaziki made with greek yogurt, shallots, cucumber, dill and salt, or tyrokavteri (feta and red peppers) My problem is making sure the item I'm dipping is healthy...