Mean, green, lean and damn good!

You know me. You know I like to get the good stuff in so I will have less room for and less inclination towards crappy foods. This is my warm-weather go-to smoothie: sweet, tropical flavor and it blends really nicely.

Ingredients:

This is for an approximately 16oz serving.

• pineapple = frozen, I use about 1/3 cup
• mango = frozen, about 1/3 cup
• spinach = fistful
• avocado = 1/4 to 1/3 of an avocado
• cilantro = a few sprigs, to taste

Add a little water or chilled green tea to thin it out a little. If you're taking it on the run, you'll want it to be a little on the thinner side- the thicker the consistency, the more difficult it will be to drink on the go!

I like this recipe because it has a pretty solid nutrient content. While it may not contain huge amounts of any one nutrient, the list is impressive:: vitamin a, beta carotene, b2, b3, b5, b6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin c, vitamin e, calcium, chromium, flouride, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, zinc

A few blending tips:

• When you're making smoothies, you want to make sure that the more fibrous and/or the lighter ingredients should be the closest to the blade. I use a NutriBullet, so when I'm filling the cup thingy, I add the heaviest items first and end with the lightest. This way, when I screw on the blade attachment and flip it upside down the ingredients that need the most slicing and dicing are pushed down onto the blade by the heavier stuff. For a regular stand blender, add the light stuff first- remember, you want the lighter stuff near the blade.
• Always add a liquid. I usually opt for tea or water, but I use one borrowed smoothie recipe that calls for apple juice. For my palate, anything other than tea or water makes the concoction too sweet.
• Press start and walk away. Something about the noise the blender makes, usually compels me to stop it too quickly and the smoothie ends up chunkier than I prefer. Turning it on and then doing something else for a minute or so allows it to work for a sufficient amount of time, and makes it nice and smooth.
• If you're going to add yogurt, do it after its the consistency you want. 

What are your favorite smoothie recipes?

Offer up any creative cilantro recipes!

Salad Solutions

We all have this idea that salads are the magic solution to losing weight or staying svelte. While making a salad is a great way to up your veggie intake and get a little more fiber into your diet, you need to be mindful of what else is going down the hatch with that lettuce. I'll go over a few tricks I employ to keep the nutrition-value high and the negative-impact low (salt, high calories, and yes, even sugar).

First off, I'm a romaine girl. If we don't have romaine I'll go for iceberg, and occasionally I'll opt for a spinach salad-- but romaine ranks as my favorite.

I use others like arugula and kale in non-salad capacities. Sometimes I'll make smoothies and throw in some kale or top a frozen pizza some arugula. I even put arugula in a smoothie once because I didn't have any other suitable vegetables/greens, and it turned out pretty good! I was pleasantly surprised.

I always swap....
Roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I'll take about 1 cup of the mixed seeds, soak them in some warm water with a little salt for maybe 30mins. Then roast them in coconut oil @ 425 for 8 minutes, stir, then another 6-8 minutes.

They add the crunch that I miss from getting rid of croutons.


My favorite salads:
(all dressings are "edited" :: see below)

Brunch salad:
(+) 1c romaine
(+) 1 diced hard-boiled egg
(+) 1 strip extra crispy bacon, crumbled
(+) 1/2 small tomato
(+) diced red/yellow/orange pepper
(+) a little cheese (if we have smoked gouda, I'll usually go for that.
(+) roasted seeds
(+) Balsamic dressing or mustard dressing

Sandwich salad
(+) 1c romaine
(+) 1 slice deli turkey
(+) shredded cheese
(+) diced red/yellow/orange pepper

(+) diced pickle (if I have stackers, I'll use one; if it's a spear, I'll use maybe 1/2)
(+) roasted seeds
(+) Balsamic or mustard dressing

Caesar salad
(+) 1c romaine
(+) 2-3 tbs fresh romaine
(+) roasted seeds
(+) if we have leftover chicken, I'll use that
(+) Caesar dressing

Monochrome salad
(+) 1c romaine
(+) cucumber
(+) roasted seeds
(+) TomaCado dressing
(+) because is not very colorful, I'll sometimes throw in other chopped veg if we have them on-hand

Spinach salad
(+) 1c spinach
(+) 4-5 walnuts
(+) 1/3 diced apple (I like the skin on)
(+) a few sliced grapes (if we have them)
(+) roasted seeds
(+) Balsamic dressing

Dressing Dilemmas
Mindless pouring of dressing is where a lot of people end up turning their salads into something light and nutritious... into something calorie-dense (you're still getting the nutrients from the veg-- but you've now smothered them in salty/sugary goop.

I've come up with a few solutions so I don't lose out on the flavor of the dressing, but still maintain the caloric integrity of the salad.


Mustard Dressing

(+) spicy mustard
(+) grainy mustard
(+) swish in a little water

Makes for a really light, but flavorful dressing. I love this whenever I use egg or deli meat in my salads




TomaCado
(+) 1/3 mashed avocado
(+) 2-3 tbs tomatillo salasa
(+) a little water
(+) sometimes I'll mix in a little srirracha if I want it a little extra zingy

This one was born out of boredom. I had made a salad for lunch and we were having another as a side for dinner. I opened the fridge and just took out a few things that I thought might go together. Success!



Balsamic
This one is super easy. For the first few uses, I just pour some dressing into a little bowl and dilute it with water. Same flavor, fewer... other things.

On many store-bought dressings, they add copious amounts of sugar and/or salt. By diluting it, you're reducing the weird shit in 1 serving AND you're stretching it so it lasts longer.





Creamy Dressings
This is a play on the same theme as the Balsamic dilution strategy. I cut anything creamy with Greek yogurt. Just pour it into a little
bowl, a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt, and a little bit of water so it mixes better.

I do this to Caesar and ranch dressings. I also do it to anything involving mayo: mixing it into chicken salad, tartar sauce, etc...

Burrito Bowl

I swear, it tastes better than it looks!

I was craving a burrito bowl from Chipotle the other day, but if you're clued in to the weather catastrophe in New England, then you'll know that most non-essential outings just aren't happening. I've basically only left the house to go to the gym, grocery store, or for job interviews. As I was leaving the gym, I decided to skip the 20 minute drive to Chipotle and drove home. Despondently, I opened the fridge.... and literally like a sign from heaven, there was literally every ingredient I needed sitting at the front of every shelf! Since it was Ash Wednesday and I'm trying to observe, I was meatless that day... and after the gym, I needed a big 'ole helping of protein... AND most importantly, I was starving.

Here's what I came up with (from the bottom up):

+ rice

+ low-sodium black beans

+ orange and yellow peppers (amt equaling 1 pepper) sauteed with 1/2 thinly sliced onion, a few shakes of cumin, a squeeze of sriracha, and 1 thinly sliced tomato thrown in right before I turned the heat off. To cook these, I like to throw a lid on the frying pan to keep it warm since there are a few other steps before chow time.

+ shredded cheese

+ lettuce (I would have used romaine, but we only had iceberg)

+ guacamole

+ 2 small flour tortillas

A few things:

Rice and beans create a complete protein (meaning that it contains all the essential amino acids). If you're vegan, vegetarian, or even someone who doesn't eat a lot of animal protein (that's me-- largely because its expensive), you should know at least a little about how to create complete proteins.

Part of the reason I decided against the Chipotle run, is that sometimes when I eat restaurant food (especially Panera) my mouth feels all weird and itchy-- and I suspect its because of the high levels of salt. Sodium intake is something worth being conscious of. It can be a huge roadblock if you're trying to lose weight, but also affect your blood pressure and you body's electrolyte balance.

Lastly, I wouldn't ordinarily go for so many carbs in one meal, BUT I had an intense workout and I needed a calorie boost. I spooned some of the mixture into the tortillas and ate it kinda like soft tacos.

I definitely recommend attempting a homemade burrito bowl. It was super satisfying and filling. There was a good complete protein, about 1.5 servings of veg, the healthy avocado fats, and the satisfying carby-ness of the tortillas.

(pats self on back)