Tag Archives: Dressing

Its only Tuesday?

Posted on March 8, 2011 | 21 Comments

Good morning! Hopefully you are doing better than I am right now. I am stressed. With a midterm today, personal issues, and a new puppy, I am not doing so well. If anyone has any advice on crate/potty training young puppies, I will gladly take it. She is also very scared. She cowers away from being pet or picked up. If you do manage to get her and lay with her, she will cuddle you for hours. Her name is Nina and she is adorable – but so much work. Now I understand why my mom never let me have a pet growing up….

This is a simple recipe but it is delicious. I find myself making it all the time when I don’t have a clue what I want, but I know I want it to taste good. It never disappoints.

Grilled chicken salad with lemon-tahini yogurt dressing


Recipe: Serves 1

The dressing –

1 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp greek yogurt

squeeze of lemon juice

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp mustard

1 tbsp avocado (optional – I just had it!)

1 tsp Apres vin garlic infused grape seed oil (optional, but awesome)

sea salt

Directions – Mix it all other and toss with the salad (chopped romaine lettuce, avocado, tomato, grilled chicken, & cucumber).

Benefits:

Tahini * a good source of essential unsaturated fatty acids, copper, iron, calcium, fiber and B vitamins. Copper is good for treating some of the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Magnesium can help lower blood pressure and help women going through menopause maintain normal sleeping patterns. Also, seseami seeds have the highest content of phytosterols of all nuts! Phytosterols look similar to cholesterol and are believed to lower cholesterol levels, aid in immunity and decrease the risk of some cancers!

Lemon * a great source of vitamin C. Lemons are also said to help balance the bodies PH and put it into a more alkaline state.

 

→ 21 Comments

Posted in Food

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Two recipes from the sea

Posted on March 1, 2011 | 12 Comments

Yesterday was the last day of me trying to completely clean out my fridge and freezer. Somehow, this yielded me eating fancy schmancy seafood for both lunch and dinner. Not that Im complaining… Both of these recipes are quickies, but they stay classy.

Time to go to Whole Foods….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scallop Salad Sandwich

Warm scallop salad on a toasted whole wheat bun!

Recipe: Serves 1

6 scallops, thawed

1 whole wheat bun, toasted

few spinach leaves

1 tbsp mayo

1 tsp greek yogurt

1/2 tsp dill

pinch cayenne pepper

few drops lemon juice (optional)

sea salt

Directions – Coat a pan with grape seed oil. Cook the scallops on the stove on medium-low heat. Flip only once. They are done when they are white all the way through! Do not overcook them. Meanwhile, toast your bun and prepare the dressing. Mix the mayo, greek yogurt, cayenne pepper, dill, and sea salt in a bowl. When the scallops are done, transfer them to the bowl with the dressing. Slice them and toss in the dressing. Put the spinach and scallop salad in the bun and enjoy! Serve with a side salad.

 

This next recipe is insanely quick and delicious, but the picture doesn’t do it justice. I rarely blog dinner because it is virtually pointless when you don’t have compelling pictures to back it up. Without natural light, my pictures look flat and lackluster :(

Seared Salmon with Steamed Broccoli and Herbed Goat Cheese Dressing

I made this in less than 10 minutes. No joke.

Recipe: Serves 1

4 oz salmon

1/2 head broccoli

1 tbsp sour cream

1 tbsp goat cheese

1 tbsp greek yogurt

1 tsp fresh chives, chopped

1/2 tsp dill

squeeze of lemon juice

few drops Worcestershire

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Directions – Lightly oil a pan with grape seed oil. Cook the salmon on the stove at medium heat, skin side down. Meanwhile, steam your broccoli. The lazy way is to chop it up and put it in a bowl with 1/2 tbsp of water. Cover it with a small plate and microwave it for 1 minute. Voila!

Prepare your sauce by simply combining the goat cheese, sour cream, yogurt, dill, chives, lemon juice, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stirring. [Sauce adapted from the cookbook Nourish.]

When the salmon is about a third way cooked, flip and cover. When it is no longer bright pink, it is done. You can eat the skin or toss it.

Drain the broccoli and place on a plate. Top with salmon and goat cheese sauce. Enjoy! Feel free to serve with a grain of some sort. Or dessert…….;)

Benefits:

Scallops * are extremely high in protein (they are a MUSCLE, after all!) and a great source of B vitamins, which play a key role in metabolism and hangover prevention. They also contain several minerals and are a good source of omega 3′s! Omega 3s aid in lowering LDL and VLDL and raising HDL cholesterol.

Salmon * contain monounsaturated fats, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorous, and vitamins A, D, B6 and B2. The omega 3 fatty acids raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Also makes hair grow faster (from personal experience!) and your skin smoother.

Dill * aids in digestion, is a relaxant, can help ease insomnia, and contains the antioxidants monoterpenes, which protect against cancer!

Cayenne pepper * high in antioxidants and temporarily raises the metabolism!

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Food

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Make now. Thank later.

Posted on July 13, 2010 | 13 Comments

I made this for dinner for my friend Clare and I. I went into Whole Foods with no clue what to make and was trying to think of my favorite dishes from restaurants. At my favorite restaurant in Santa Barbara, I always get the fried chicken salad with buttermilk dressing and cornbread. At one of my favorite restaurants in Austin, I always get the fried catfish beignets. Clearly, they aren’t the healthiest of meals, but I don’t go out to eat often! So no biggie. Anyway, with these dishes in mind, I came up with…

Southern Salad with Crusted Catfish and Maple Pecan dressing.

This may sound like heavy dinner but it is actually pretty healthy. You can adjust the amount of dressing if you’re watching calories, but its so flavorful, you don’t need a mass amount anyway! :)

Recipe: Serves 2 Southern belles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 cup pepitas

2   4-ounce filets of catfish

whole wheat flour

1 egg

scoop of cornmeal

chili pepper

cajun seasoning

salt and pepper

canola oil

maple syrup

honey

light sour cream

milk

Preheat the oven to 400.

Roast chopped pecans and pepitas at 400 until browned. The pecans will be done earlier, so be sure to scoop them out first.

Mash a handful of roasted pecans until they are a fine powder. On a plate, combine the powdered pecans with a scoop of cornmeal, salt, and a few shakes of cajun seasoning and chili pepper.

Dredge the catfish filets in whole wheat flour. Dip into 1 beaten egg. Then, dip them into the cornmeal mixture until thoroughly coated.

Spray a pan with canola oil. Pan fry the filets for a couple minutes on each side at medium heat until they are lightly browned.

For the dressing:

In a bowl add a handful of roasted chopped pecans and a big squeeze of maple syrup. Mash the pecans into the syrup. Add a small squeeze of honey, two big spoonfuls of light sour cream, and 2 tbsp of milk. Mix and mash well.

To serve:

Toss your mixed greens in the dressing and top with the catfish. Garnish with sliced peaches, roasted pecans, and roasted pepitas.

Benefits:

Pecans * contains vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, protein and fiber! The fat in pecans is 90% monounsaturated and 70% monounsaturated (the good kind). Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant. Studies have shown that pecans can lower cholesterol and thus are heart healthy! They also have been linked to reduced risk of breast cancer and weight loss.

Catfish * a lean source of protein that contains omega 3′s.

Peaches * a delicious source of vitamin A and C, niacin, and potassium.

Pepitas * contain fiber, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin K, copper, iron, tryptophan, and healthy fats!

→ 13 Comments

Posted in Food

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing – the best.

Posted on May 7, 2010 | 2 Comments

I have a slight addiction to honey mustard salad dressing. It all started last year in the dorms at lunch. Often times, the only edible things were the salad bar and the soft serve machine (that incredible vanilla nectar probably powered 70% of my triathlon team workouts). The salad dressing I got literally everyday was the honey mustard. Over summer, I was looking for the certain brand that they bought and I finally found it at Costco. Looking at the ingredients, I was very sad and decided to make my own healthy version.

The dressing in the photo is a bit more runny than I prefer, but you can tweak it to match your tastes!

Recipe:

Chop 1/3 of a clove of garlic into tiny pieces. Put it into a small bowl.

Add 2 tsps white balsamic vinegar. Mash the garlic a bit.

Add 1 tbsp honey.

Add 1 tbsp dijon mustard.

Add 1 tsp oil. Give it a dash of salt and a twist of freshly ground pepper. Stir vigorously and enjoy!

Benefits:

Mustard * Improves digestion (by stimulating increased saliva production) and contains the same antioxidants as turmeric (which gives it its yellow color)!

Honey * Raw honey contains many beneficial enzymes and bacteria and has also been found to be anti-bacterial

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Food

Tagged , , , , ,