Posts Tagged ‘recipes’
Last night at FitLifeSF HQ, I made one of my favorite meals, but I have to say it didn’t go as well as hoped. This is part of the reason I’m so glad to be committed to this feature on the blog- it forces me to actually make note of what I’m putting in the pot so that I might be able to recreate things with some accuracy. I have several “favorite recipes,” among them Chicken Lettuce Wraps and certain soups and stews that are knock-your-socks-off awesome sometimes, and “OK but not great” others.
As for dinner last night? It was was a Chicken Curry with garbanzo beans and spinach. Usually, I can make a super yummy/spicy “Chicken tikka masala” knock-off. In fact, for the month of October, it was my pre-and-post long run staple. Last night, though, I think a new brand of garam masala and too much tomato puree left me with something not as wonderful as I’d have liked. I am committed to spend some time getting the recipe repeatable for y’all.
In the meantime, here is a recipe from Cooking Light for Murgh Makani, a reasonable substitute, which is a tikka masala-esque Cashew Chicken dish. When I made this recipe, I increased almost all of the spices. (Also, note that this recipe is not nearly as “healthy” or “clean” as the curry I made last night. Hence this one is way tastier, but not exactly cleansing food. As an aside, this is my biggest gripe about Cooking Light magazine– if you really dig into it, the recipes aren’t super healthful, and they shrink the serving sizes to next-to-nothing to make the numbers acceptable.)
As a wonderful balance to our less-than-stellar curry night, we were watching Superstars of Dance last night to catch the Shaolin monks when, much to my surprise, there was my old intern, Mythili Prakash, demonstrating bharata natyam dance for team India!
Inspired by a recipe in the Jan/Feb issue of Clean Eating magazine, we had Lemon Artichoke Chicken tonight. Here’s how it went down:
- Prep and steam two artichokes, quartered, with some lemon and preheat the oven to 450
- Pound two chicken breasts thin and set aside with salt, pepper and the juice of half a lemon
- When the artichokes are nearly steamed (About 40 minutes or so), take off the heat
- Dredge chicken breasts in a little whole wheat flour seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano
- Add a 2- second spray of olive oil to an ovenproof sautee pan. When hot, brown chicken on each side and remove from pan (it will not be cooked through.)
- Add one leek, sliced and two cloves garlic, crushed to the pan. Sautee until barely soft. Add about a cup of chicken stock and the juice of one lemon. Place the chicken breasts back in the pan and arrange the artichoke wedges around.
- Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of Whole Wheat Panko and a handful of capers over everything and pop it in the oven
- Cook for about a half an hour, or until the top is browned
- Remove pan to the stovetop over med/high heat. Remove the chicken and artichokes, add about a half cup of wine, the juice of another half lemon, plus salt, pepper and chicken stock to taste. Once it comes to a simmer, add back in the chicken breasts and simmer for 3 minutes or so until the sauce thickens up some. Serve with brown rice.
I had 4 oz of breast, a whole jumbo artichoke, 1/2 cup of brown rice, and my calorie tracker puts this at only about 400 calories. In fact, I need to research some “clean eating” desserts in order to get to my 1500 cals for the day!
Originally I was going to be the “food maven” here at FitLife HQ, and, I have to admit, I’ve slacked off in my duties (at least as far as posting- I think Rob can attest I’ve been keeping it up behind closed doors.) As both of us are using 2009 as the year we really commit to the “eating right” part of the program, I figured it’s time to step up the food-related content on the site.
I need some help with a name for this segment on FitLifeSF… your suggestions welcomed!
Tonight at the FitLifeSF compound, we dined on…
Roasted Vegetable Barley Salad with Ricotta Salata and Dijon Chicken Breast
Welcome to the first food post on FitLifeSF… and, happy Cinco de Mayo!
I love Mexican food. Like, a lot. So what better day to start off with what I hope will be some inspriation for everyone to find ways to continue loving the things they love- either in moderation (as I am with the well-measured 1.5 oz of Tradicionalhere by my side) or in a healthier version, as I did with this tacos recipe.
What does “healthy” mean in the context of my postings here on FitLife SF? Well, it depends. Sometimes it will be calories, sometimes it will be fat, sometimes it will be adding veggies, sometimes all three. In all cases, though, the food I make contains “real food.” No poly-styro-carbonate fat-free binders. I think the most extreme I get is using egg whites or natural fat replacements like fruit purees and lower-or-non-fat dairy products. Nothing too scary.
So, without further ado, I bring you…
Jicama Tacos with Chipotle Crema
Fans of Top Chef will no doubt recognize the inventive replacement of a traditional corn or flour tortilla with jicama. I have to admit, I was with Zoi when I said “there is NO way that tastes good.” But, I am pleased to report that this recipe turned out really well! Here’s what I did:
The raw materials:
I started with a big ol’ jicamaand some chili-rubbed Kobe beef flank steak kabobs leftover from yesterday. The meat is from our favorite neighborhood meatmart, Avedano’s, and kabobs also have leeks, red and orange pepper, and mushrooms.
First, I sliced the jicama on the thinnest setting of my new mandoline.
Then, I salted and limed it and set it aside.
Next, I made:
Chipotle Crema
½ 5.3 oz Tub Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
1 tsp ground chipotle (to taste)
A few scrapes of lime zest
Dash of Worchestire
Salt
Pepper
Orange Juice to Thin
Mix yogurt with first six ingredients. Thin with orange juice to slightly-runny consistency. Check for taste, then set aside while preparting the tacos. Taste and adjust seasonings again before serving.
Corn and Black Bean Salsa
Corn- fresh from cob preferred, or 1 can well-drained
Black Beans, rinsed and well-drained
½ Jalapeno pepper (with or without seeds, depending on desired heat)
¼ Red Onion, diced
(When making this stand-alone, I add one small bell pepper diced, but today the kabobs have grilled bells pepper in them)
Squeeze of lime
1 handful cilantro, chopped (1-2 tbs, or to taste)
Salt
Pepper
Pinch of sugar
Place corn, jalapenos (and bell pepper, if using) and onions in hot nonstick skillet sprayed with olive oil (I like Spectrum Naturals brand, or use my knock-off Mr. Misto.) Season with salt and pepper, add a pinch of sugar and toss to coat. Leave it be until the corn starts to pop around and you smell a nice corn aroma coming from the pan. Flip once and repeat. At this point, you should have nicely caramelized corn and onions and some bits stuck to the pan. Add the juice of a small half of lime and use a rubber spatula to help loosen some of the bits on the pan. Add the well-rinsed black beans and toss. Add a handful of cilantro and set aside.
Finally, I spruce up the meat and veggies on the kabobs by chopping an sauteing with a splash of lime and a dusting of cumin.
To construct the tacos, place a spoonful of the Corn and Black Bean Salsa on a jicama sheet, topped with some of the meat mixture, 1/4 oz of Ricotta Salata cheese, and a thin slice of avocado, roll and place seam-side down on storebought mango salsa. Drizzle with the chipotle cream, and there you have it!
According to my calculations, a whole plate of these puppies comes in at under 350 calories, very low fat (well, if I’d used a flank steak other than the Kobe I had left over), and more protein than carbs (with the option of swaying that even more if you leave out the black beans.) And, did I mention it was really good?