You had to see this one coming! If green smoothies mean St. Patrick’s Day, then the Reilly family celebrates most days. Check out the recipe in the picky kids post. And, feedback welcome on my new food photography hobby, which I’ve started as a result of my upcoming Trader Joe’s cookbook. Happy Green Drinking!
St. Patty’s Day Week: Green Food #1: TJ’s Seaweed Snack
Photo by: Deana Gunn
St. Patrick’s Day chez Reilly is more festive than any other occasion, so we celebrate it the whole week. Take for example our breakfast this morning (March 14th): Green oatmeal and green soymilk on cereal. Good thing we’re head to toe in green clothing as we’ve learned that foods with extra food coloring usually end up in our laps.
In honor of green foods, and since I haven’t been posting our recent new food creations (they’ve become top secret for my new Trader Joe’s cookbook, which you’ll be able to see in print in November!), I’ll be posting a new favorite GREEN food each day this week. Today’s snack would make St. Patrick, RD (the dietitian sibling) VERY proud: Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snack. I (thankfully) picked up 3 of these new creations at TJ’s last night. They were on sale for $0.99 each and who doesn’t like roasted, seaweed, or snacks? No risk in buying 3, and hallelujah, since we were down to 1 package within 10 minutes of my arrival home.
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Dietitian: “I can’t eat these fast enough!” (and completely inhaled 1 entire package consisting of “2” servings)
Bitchin’ Husband: “These are stinky. And they taste like fish.” (Victory for Bitchin’ Dietitian!)
5-Year-Old: “THESE ARE SO GOOD!!!” (and completely inhaled 1 entire package minus what 3-year-old brother grabbed)
3-Year-Old: “Yum! Kellllerrrr!!?! Save some for me!”
1-Year-Old (if he could talk): “I’ll have one. Ooh, look at this thing crumble up into a static mess on the carpet! Another please!”
What green snacks help YOU celebrate the Irish life?
“I Don’t Do Beans” Beans
If you love beans, you’re definitely healthier for it. Eat up! But what about the haters? Thankfully, nature developed red lentils… the anti-bean bean, which cooks quickly (15 minutes from bag to fork), disintegrates nearly completely in soups, sauces, stews, and rice dishes, and is just as nutritious as cannellinis and pintos: 7 grams of fiber & 7 grams of protein per half-cup cooked lentils. Look for them in the grocery store with the dried beans (GOYA makes a mean red lentil), or with the Indian foods.
Here are a few ways to sneak’m & stuff’m:
- Add 1/2 cup dried red lentils to marinara sauce. Simmer the lentils with 1 jar of marinara for about 15 minutes, until lentils are mere flecks of light red sunshine. If you want to really top the nutrition charts, toss in a bag of frozen chopped spinach.
- Add 1-2 cups of dried red lentils to a pot of soup or chili. Simmer for at least 15 minutes, or until the warm creation is fully cooked. Play a game called “Find the Lentil.” Nobody wins!
- Simmer 1/2 cup dried red lentils with 1 chunked sweet potato in 2 cups water for 15-20 minutes. Mash with a touch of salt and pepper. Who stole the lentils?
Other ways to trick the masses?
New Year, New Food! Hot Pants Cornbread
You may remember the No Fat Pants Nachos from Superbowl weekend, and are probably wondering if I can think of any recipe titles that don’t involve pants. I’m wondering the same thing! What I do know is that it took a nephew-meeting trip to Atlanta, and my sis-in-law’s veggie chili to get me to finally make a version of the Whole Foods favorite: Jalapeño Cornbread. You know the one you always sample, but never buy? Well don’t start now–just make it! It’s so totally easy, invigorating, and will definitely put a spark in your shorts:
Hot Pants Cornbread
Makes 9 servings
3/4 cup corn meal
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat will add 20 days to your life)
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond, oat, or other non-dairy milk, preferably “original” rather than vanilla
1 Tablespoon cornstarch vigorously dissolved in 2 Tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
Preheat oven to 400º F. Lightly oil a 9-inch by 9-inch baking pan. Mix all dry ingredients, then add wet ones slowly until all ingredients are moist. Pour into baking dish, sprinkle with diced jalapeño, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Tip: sprinkling the jalapeño on top of the bread rather than mixing it into the batter is a strategic way to accomodate hot pant phobiacs and kids. Just leave a small section of bread untopped, and you’ll know it’s completely fire-free!
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Dietitian: “Like cake with spice, without being spicecake!”
Bitchin’ Parents, Brother, and Sis-in-Law: “Moist, and not overly spicy.”
1-Year-Old (if he could talk): “Ooh, cake for dinner! Is it my birthday again?”
Looks like yet another victory for pants. How do YOU ignite your cornbread?
New Year, New Food! Roasted Reds for Valentine’s Day
Trader Joe’s had red bell peppers on sale this week for 69 cents each! Can you believe it?! I bought 10. And in all my years of making, demonstrating, and inhaling roasted red pepper hummus, I’ve never actually roasted my own red peppers. Can you believe THAT? So today I broke the trend for my New Year, New Food Resolution, and got my red on in prep for Valentine’s Day. Here’s what resulted:
Roasted Reds
Makes 4 servings
5 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1” square slices
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/8 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Evenly distribute sliced red peppers into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic powder, basil, and salt. Bake for 60 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
Add a half-cup of these to any hummus recipe, tower them on top of whole wheat pasta, or down ’em as a simple side dish.
Nutrition Information Per Serving: 74 calories, 4 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 108 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrates, 3.5 g fiber, 0 g sugar, 2 g protein, 175% vitamin A, 473% vitamin C, 2% calcium, 5% iron
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Dietitian: “What took me so long? These are scrumptious!”
Bitchin’ Husband: “Can these substitute for red velvet Valentine’s cake?”
5-Year-Old: “Mom, you forgot to give me red peppers!” (after eating her whole serving)
3-Year-Old: “Now can I play with my Nerf dart guns?”
1-Year-Old: (if he could talk) “Easier to chew than the raw ones, but a little harder to throw. I’m going to have to think about this.”
Looks like these heart-healthy red peppers are a perfect way to show your body some love this Valentine’s day. What red creations do you and your cupid adore?
SuperBowl Sunday: Chips, Dips, and No Fat Pants!
Eventhough it’s the commercials that draw me in more than the actual game, and despite my bad Buffalo Bills track record, I always watch… and munch… for the duration. Go Bills!
According to the Snack Food Association, the average SuperBowl viewer downs 1200 calories in snack food (not including meals & drinks). America hoovers 27 billion calories in potato chips alone. That’s 1.8 billion grams of fat (!!). Let’s see Oprah wheel THAT in! The second most popular snack food is tortilla chips–coming in at 8.2 million pounds–which are often buried in a sea of belt-blowing cardiac catastrophe… until now!
Dun Dun Duuuunnn!! Introducing a way to annihilate a plate of nachos and keep the fat pants in the closet!:
No Fat Pants Nachos
Makes enough for 8 fans
1 13-ounce bag tortilla chips (they don’t need to be the low-fat Baked kind)
1 16-ounce can low-fat, or fat-free “refried” beans (like the delicious ones Bearitos makes)
1/2 cup water
1 jar (about 16 ounces) favorite salsa
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 avocado, cut into small chunks
1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Hot sauce, as much as possible
Get 4 plates. Evenly distribute chips on the plates. Heat the beans with water in a microwave-safe bowl or glass liquid measuring cup. Pour 1/4 onto each of the 4 chip plates. Pour salsa evenly over the 4 plates and sprinkle each plate with chopped veggies, avocado, and cilantro. Coat liberally with hot sauce, if using. Chow down!
Nutrition info per serving: 229 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 538 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrate, 10 g fiber, 8 g protein, 32% of your daily Vitamin A, 9% of your daily Calcium, 87% of your daily Vitamin C, and 13% of your daily Iron.
*A serving of “Fat Pants” Nachos may have 800 calories and over 20 grams of fat!*
Not bad, right?!?
New Year, New Food! Tahini Dressing for Veggies
Here is a live coverage of this week’s new recipe creation, Tahini Dressing for Veggies. There isn’t an easier way to get more raw veggies into your core.
Tahini Dressing for Veggies
Makes 1 cup
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Blend. Add another tablespoon of water for a thinner dressing. Pour over veggies or dip them in. Eat up!
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Dietitian: “That’s pretty tasty! I can’t wait to put that on falafel.”
Bitchin’ Husband: “Wow. Good. No more for me though.”
Bitchin’ Kids: “Really good. Can we have dessert now?”
Is that 5 stars? That only took 4 weeks! What do YOU do to get more raw goodness into your being?
Veggie pHortification
Bitchin' Dietitian & Kris Carr
Check out my blog posting today on CrazySexyLife.com imparting wisdom on ways to alkalinize your meals with veggie deception! And speaking of Crazy Sexy, I caught up with Kris Carr (author of Crazy Sexy Diet and the rest) this weekend on her book tour. I had the honor of doing the technical review of her book, and in it’s launch week, it’s sold out at Amazon & Barnes & Noble! Go Green Goddess!
UPDATE (27-Jan): Crazy Sexy Diet is on the New York Times Best-Seller List! A round of celebratory chlorophyll shots for all!!
New Year, New Food! The 5 AM Latté
It’s been an overdrive-type week chez Reilly, so this week’s new food is actually a beverage. It’s been appropriately named the “So What That It’s 5 AM Latté”… or for extra taxing weeks when that’s too many words, simply “The 5 AM Latté.” Use vanilla almond milk and save precious time by avoiding the lengthy sugar-adding step. If you have an espresso machine, get the stepladder, dust it off, and fire it up. If not, you can brew double-strength coffee and this’ll be just as fierce.
So What That It’s 5 AM Latté
Serves 1
8 oz vanilla almond milk (such as Almond Breeze or Silk Pure Almond)
Dash of cinnamon
2 shots of espresso, or 2 oz double-strength coffee
Microwave or heat milk + cinnamon in a saucepan until steamy hot. Pour into favorite mug. Brew coffee or espresso and pour immediately into mug ‘o milk. Sip fast or slow. Let the day begin!
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Dietitian: “The sun’s not up? What’s it waiting for?”
Bitchin’ Husband: “Oh Thank God.”
Bitchin’ Kids: “Can we have one of those, but in a margarita glass?” (What are we teaching these kids?!)
Definitely a winner. How do you start your early days?
New Year, New Food! Where Have You Bean, Burger?
For this week’s new food, I reacquainted myself with my old culinary delights at The Cancer Project. I actually made this recipe for the first time while teaching a cooking class a few months ago (yes, bold!), but I made some short-cuts this time around. It’s modified from The Cancer Project’s Garbanzo Burgers. What I love about these veggie burgers is that they’re easy and cheap to make, they actually stick together, and they’re not made from manipulated soy isolates. Plus, they’ve got a kick-your-pants curry flavor, which is totally scrumptious!
Chica Chica Chickpea Burgers
Makes 6 4-inch patties
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 small carrot, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 celery stalk, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander or cardamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adds spice, so optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet until they begin to pop and become fragrant. Set aside in a mixing bowl.
Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic.
Chop beans in a food processor, using an on/off pulsing action, or by hand using a potato masher. Leave some chunks. Add to vegetable mixture, along with soy sauce, curry powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Stir in enough flour to form a stiff dough. Knead 30 seconds, then form into patties.
Heat oil in a skillet. Cook patties over medium heat until first side is lightly browned, then flip and cook second side until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side.
Serve on a bun with all the fixin’s or along with rice and a heaping side of veggies.
What the critics said:
Bitchin’ Dietitian: “Cold or Hot, These are soo good!!”
Bitchin’ Husband: “What’s in these? With some Frank’s hot sauce, they’re awesome!”
5-Year-Old: “I *think* they’re good. I just don’t have my taste buds back yet.” (Has a cold.)
3-Year-Old: “After 2 bites, can I be done?”
1-Year-Old: (if he could talk) “I can’t flick these the way I can Cheerios, so I guess I’ll eat one. And another!”
That looks like at least 4 stars to me. Another winner! What scratch burgers do you love?
Delish & Healthy-ish With Jen Reilly, RD 