BBQ Tofu

So the title of this one might be a biiiiiit misleading. I live in the city and I don't own a grill (nor am I allowed to.) But, I did what all of us city dwellers must do- compromise and find the next best fit! A few weeks ago I was wandering and stumbled across one of the many farmer's markets in Harvard Square. Lucky for one local seller, I was in a shopping mood. (Although, unbeknownst to her, it's not all that challenging to persuade me to buy things- food or clothes!) What I bought that day was a locally made bottle of BBQ sauce. Although there were many varieties I bought the variety entitled "Sassy Mo'Lassy." (I'm not sure I'm ready to admit I bought this less for the delicious taste and more for the name of the product. Plus, you can't go wrong when buying local anyway!!!) (Find out more about the product here!)

BBQ Tofu Recipe:

Prep time: 0-24 hours (see below)

Cook time: on average 15 minutes (see below)

Ingredients:

Sassy Mo'Lassy BBQ sauce

1 block firm tofu

canola oil

Directions:

1. Open tofu and drain liquid.

2. Place tofu between two plates. Place a heavy object on-top to help squeeze out extra fluid. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.

3. Slice and dice tofu into approx one inch blocks

4. Place half of the diced tofu in one container and the other half in another container. Add 2 tbsp of BBQ to each container. Close lid. Shake. And let sit for 1-24* hours.

5. After tofu has had time to soak up the yummy sauce, it's time to cook it! Heat 1 tsp canola oil on medium-low in a cast iron pan.

6. Place tofu in pan and turn frequently. Cook time depends. If you want to just warm the tofu, time is usually <10 minutes. If you want the tofu to be a little crispy, I would cook approx 20 minutes or until you see the tofu browning.

*The longer you let the tofu soak in a sauce, the stronger flavor it will have. One hour works, but I've really begun to enjoy the 24 hour soak!!

Make It a Complete Meal:

What's a complete meal you ask? A complete meal = starch + protein + vegetables. We've got the protein covered here. I happened to have a box of lentils and frozen green beans. I followed the instructions on the box and boiled my frozen green beans. Here's your chance to be creative! Fix and prepare you're favorite starch and summer time vegetable!! Enjoy!!

Vegetable Pita (with a KICK!)

Are you looking for some spice in your life?! Me too! Lucky for you you've come to the right spot. It's summer time and the moment is here to cook with local and fresh ingredients. And I've got a quick one for you!

Vegetable Pita (with a KICK!)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Serves: as many or as few as you like

Ingredients:

Joseph's pita

green beans

tomato

red pepper

olive oil

salt

black pepper

crushed red pepper

Directions:

1. Rinse, dice and chop all vegetables. You choose the variety.

2. Add 1 tsp oil to cast iron pan and warm over medium heat.

3. Add green beans and red pepper.

4. Sprinkle salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper.

5. Stir occasionally.

6. Add tomatoes and stir.

7. Remove from heat and place in pita.

VOILA! Yummy meal in less than 10 minutes!!

Sumer Time Sweet Treat- Homemade Popsicles

Summer's not over yet and sometimes we all just want a tasty treat. Women's Health magazine was two steps ahead and released six recipes for frozen pops. I tried making the 'Blood Orange & Cream' pops twice. Below are two varieties of the recipe!

Orange & Cream Popsicle Version One

Ingredients:

1 small orange

1/8 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup orange juice pulp free

1/4 cup 1% milk

Directions:

1. Chop orange into small bite size pieces

2. On high, boil sugar and water stirring until water is dissolved.

3. Add oranges and lower heat. Stir for a minute or two.

4. Remove mixture from heat and add in vanilla, milk, and orange juice.

5. Pour mixture into popsicle molds.

6. Freeze for 8 hours!

Of Note:

Blood oranges are not in season in August so I used a regular navel orange. It wasn't my favorite, but it works. Blood oranges are in season in TX from December to March and in CA from November to May. (Courtesy of wiki.) I also used less sugar than the original recipe recommended.

Nutrition Facts:

68 calories per pop

Recipe makes 4 pops

Orange & Cream Popsicle Version Two

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar water/simple syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup orange juice pulp free

1/2 cup 1% milk

Of Note:

Blood oranges are not in season and I didn't love the texture of the orange, so in round two I eliminated the orange. For anybody who likes to make delicious tasty (alcoholic) drinks, a typical staple is simple syrup. Why turn on the stove in the heat of the summer when simple syrup is sitting on the counter, waiting patiently to be used?! :) I also wanted more of the creamsicle-y feel so I increased the milk portion and decreased the OJ portion. The end product is a lighter in color popsicle with a more creamy texture! :)

Directions:

1. Mix simple syrup, vanilla, OJ, and milk together.

2. Pour mixture into popsicle molds.

3. Freeze for 8 hours!

Nutrition Facts:

75 calories per pop

Recipe makes 4 pops

Summer Bean Salad

One of my favorite newsletters is CSPI's Nutrition Action. There isn't enough space on this webpage to state all the things I like about it! :) But, as luck has it, I have room to discuss their recipes. Every newsletter (or health letter as they call it) includes a few recipes. Despite usually approving of them, I rarely try them- until now!! With all of this excessive Summer heat, I was in desperate search of a 'light,' heat-free recipe. And voila! I found it in the July/August 2011 newsletter. If you subscribe to the letter, you will see the original in print. Otherwise, you're stuck with my modifications below!! ;)



Summer Bean Salad
Ingredients:
Salad:
1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 ripe avocado chopped
2 tomatoes diced
1 cucumber chopped


Dressing:
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp regular mayonnaise
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
1/3 cup canola oil


Directions:
Toss all 'salad' ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and toss gently. This recipe tastes best if cooled in refrigerator before serving!


Of note, the dish will look its best if you chop and add the avocado at the last moment before serving. Otherwise, the avocado turns brown overnight and doesn't look aesthetically pleasing! (But, yes, still tastes yummy!!) Enjoy!!

Sources of Fat in the USA

All-in-all, I think this pie chart is fairly self explanatory; I'm not sure what commentary I can add that isn't already obvious. Really, this is just an FYI post.

Table 1. Top Food Sources of Saturated Fat(a) among US Population, 2005–2006 NHANES(b)

Ranking Food item (Contribution to intake (%))

1 Regular cheese 8.5
2 Pizza 5.9
3 Grain-based desserts 5.8
4 Dairy desserts 5.6
5 Chicken and chicken mixed dishes 5.5
6 Sausage, franks, bacon, and ribs 4.9
7 Burgers 4.4
8 Mexican mixed dishes 4.1
9 Beef and beef mixed dishes 4.1
10 Reduced fat milk 3.9
11 Pasta and pasta dishes 3.7
12 Whole milk 3.4
13 Eggs and egg mixed dishes 3.2
14 Candy 3.1
15 Butter 2.9
16 Potato/corn/other chips 2.4
17 Nuts/seeds and nut/seed mixed dishes 2.1
18 Fried white potatoes 2.0

(a) Specific foods contributing at least 1% of saturated fat in descending order: Cold cuts, yeast breads, salad dressing, pork and pork mixed dishes, soups, other white potatoes, reduced fat cheese, cream, quickbreads.
(b) NHANES = National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Healthier- and Still Tasty- Whole Grain Banana Muffins

Anybody reading my blog who knows me well knows that I often dance to the beat of my own drum. I'm often five steps behind and rarely two steps ahead. With that said, I decided that the impending heat wave was a great time to bake! :) Who really likes to bake in the dead of winter anyway?! (I think my bed often needs extra attention that time of year. (Read nap!) :))

Perhaps another reason to bake was that I bought too many bananas. Blame it on the Spring and abundance of fruits and vegetables if you will; one might think I'm shopping for a family of five with all the fresh produce I buy sometimes. But, no, it's just lil' ol' me.

As I'm staring at these bananas knowing I won't eat them as they go from pre-ripe to over-ripe I get a super craving for muffins! MUFFINS! :) But, of course, not your icky store bought or super size me, weight gain promoting, fast food muffin! After a quick search on the internet I came across a healthier recipe! And- of course- I modified it (as seen below!)

(Mostly) Whole Grain Banana Muffins:

Prep time: 15-20 minutes or less

Cook time: 18 minutes

Recipe makes 11 muffins

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose white flour

3/4 cup 100% whole wheat flour

1 cup oats

<1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3 medium bananas, mashed

5 tbsp Smart Balance, melted

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 whole egg

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2. Since I dont use Pam Spray, I took a paper towel and poured a little bit of olive oil on it. Then I wiped each part of the muffin tin. Do the same or spray each tin with Pam Spray.

3. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients. Mix well.

4. In a small bowl mix mashed bananas, melted butter spread, milk, and egg.

5. Pour all of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix well but don't over mix.

6. Scoop mixture into muffin tin.

7. Bake at 400 degrees for about 18 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown!

8. Remove and let sit for a few minutes before removing muffins from tin and cooling on a wire rack!

Nutrition Facts:

The original recipe I linked to listed the nutrition facts so I thought I would do the same.

1 serving equals 1 muffin

Per serving:

200 calories

4.5 grams total fat (mostly monounsaturated, mind you!)

2.5 grams fiber

4 grams protein

No added salt

Make it a healthy breakfast! Choose one of the following examples!

-1 muffin + 1 banana + 8oz 1% milk

-1 muffin +1 hard boiled egg + 1 cup of fresh strawberries

-1 muffin + 1 0% greek blueberry yogurt

I believe in portion control!
Boo to high calorie muffins!

Just an FYI! (And I do believe this is one of the lower calorie muffins! Gasp!)

DD Honey Bran muffin

490 calories

15 grams fat

5 grams fiber

7 grams protein

450 mg sodium

P.S.

These muffins are really delicious. I have blogged about just as delicious, but very dense breakfast biscuits before. Although these are mostly whole grain, they are almost the same melt-in-your-mouth goodness you might just be craving! :) Don't believe those who say healthy or healthier foods aren't tasty. Boy are they W R O N G, wrong! :) Happy indulging!

Seriously tasty yummy goodness! :)

Locally Grown, Bought, and Prepared: Sauteed Beet Greens

Well, it's that time of year when Farmer's Markets are open! YAY! Today's recipe is inspired by fresh vegetables and health! Today's pick is beet greens. I decided to sautee the grees, which we're delicious! View original recipe here!

To make it a complete meal, I went to the local market and bought some wild salmon. I marinaded it in a lime, ginger sauce! Delicious (I might add!) Mix together 1/2 squeezed lime, 1/2 tsp powdered ginger, and 1 tsp honey. Let raw fish sit in sauce for at least a half hour. To cook fish, sear on each side in a frying pan for 3-5 minutes or until no longer raw!

And of course I needed a -healthy- starch, for which I chose a small sweet potato. I baked it at 350 degrees for an hour. Slice open, squish, :) and add a 1/2 tsp butter.

So, obviously, this meal is not quick (although an hour is not super long either.) There is some preparation involved, but if you plan ahead you can fit this in. The most important thing is that you're left feeling satiated (full) and not looking around for those oh-so-tasty and unhealthy treats! Happy Eating!! :)