Post recipes that might help those of us trying to keep our weight under control in a healthy manner...!

I made the most yummy stuffed bell peppers tonight…

3 bell peppers, any color
10 oz. firm tofu (I used high protein tofu)
3-4 ounces soy chorizo
apprx. 1/3 – 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Wash the bell peppers and cut out the stems so the top has a nice opening. Remove any seeds.

In a bowl, mash the tofu with a potato masher. Add the chorizo and cheese (save a bit of cheese to the side). Mash it all together with your very clean hands, or with the potato masher. (You could probably also put it into a food processor.)

Pack the tofu mixture into the bell peppers well. Put them, standing, into a small baking pan (I wonder if a loaf pan would fit them? Hmmmmm…), and sprinkle the last bit of cheese on top. Bake until the peppers are soft and the tofu is cooked through, about 30 minutes or so.

Yummm!!

_{this image from thumbs.ifood.tv}

This is a recipe for you, if you are like me and buy a cartload of carrots that you forget to use until it becomes a now-or-never sort of thing. And this is also a recipe for you, if you are like me and don’t care whether your soup is done up fancy with imported French onions and drizzles of whatnot-infused oils. It’s simple, oops-what-shall-I-make-with-this food that happens to be yummy, too.

All ingredient measurements are approximate. Makes 4-6 full bowls.

12 medium-large carrots, washed and cut into 2” long segments
2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups lowfat milk
1/4 yellow onion
nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, and salt to taste

In a large cooking pot, put the cut up carrots, as close to one layer as possible. Add enough water to just barely cover the carrots. Bring to a boil on high heat, then turn the heat to med-low and simmer until the carrots are tender but not mushy (about 15 minutes or so).

Using a slotted spoon, remove the carrots from the cooking water and put them into a blender. Save the water in the pot. Add all of the other ingredients to the blender and pulse until the carrots begin to blend. Continue blending on high, stopping every so often to stir the mixture. You can add a bit more milk if necessary.

Return the blended carrots to the cooking water and stir together. If you would like a thinner soup, you can add a bit more water or milk.

I only had French bread to go with this soup, but I think it would be even better with a dark bread, like a whole wheat seeded bread or what used to be called s** bread.

_{Sorry, that is an offensive term to Native Americans, but I don’t know any other name for it and it is one of my favorite breads! Let me know if there is another name for that dark, sweet, molasses-y bread.}

Go easy on the bread if you’re watching what you eat…

Just made this tonight…SO yummmmm!

1 c. dry orecchiette pasta (or conchiglie/shells)
3 tsp. good olive oil
juice of two very juicy Meyer lemons
12 – 16 oz. reduced fat feta cheese
1/4 c. pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan

Cook the pasta in boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain. Return to pan. Drizzle olive oil over the pasta and stir to coat. Squeeze the lemons into the pasta, then stir the juice into the pasta. Crumble the feta and sprinkle the pine nuts into the pasta, add salt and pepper to taste, and stir to mix thoroughly.

Serve with a tablespoon (or less!) of parmesan sprinkled over each serving. Serves 4.

Variations: You can add spinach, sundried tomatoes, or other veggies to this as well. This was just so lovely and simple tonight!

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I made some split pea soup earlier this week, and love it! I haven’t made it in at least a year…

2 1/4 cups green split peas
2 1/2 quarts water, veggie stock, or chicken stock
_{^{I used part of an opened container of organic chicken stock, then realized the other container I had was for pho and had lemon, lime, and ginger…you could hardly taste the difference in the soup, but it really added some subtle deliciousness to it…!}}
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. dried parsley
optional: 1/2 to 1 c. chopped veggie or turkey ham…I used veggie ham.

2 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Pick over the peas and remove any small pebbles or stones. Wash and drain peas. Place in a 4 quart pan with the onion, herbs, garlic, and ham-like substance if you are using it. Add the liquid. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover loosely and simmer about 1/2 hour, still stirring occasionally.
Add the carrots and celery and continue cooking for another 1 hour or so until peas are tender, stirring occasionally so they don’t stick in a lump on the bottom of the pot.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve alone or, if you’re not watching carbs, with hot, dark bread.

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I was being lazy, but wanted to make easy veggies using one pot. Here’s what I did:

Apprx. a dozen fresh sugarplum tomatoes, washed
Apprx. 2 cups of haricots verts (or green beans – haricots verts are thinner than regular green beans, but you could use green beans), cleaned and trimmed
Sea salt

Put the sugarplum tomatoes into a small saucepan. Fill with enough water to just cover the bottom of the pan – almost halfway up the sides of the tomatoes. Pile the haricots verts on top (using the tomatoes almost as a steam rack) and sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Bring the water to a boil, covered. Steam beans until they are tender, then remove. Keep the tomatoes in the pan and continue to boil uncovered until the water is reduced, but not boiled away, and the tomatoes are getting cooked and tender. Use a potato masher or large fork to press the tomatoes until they pop, cook briefly, and top the cooked haricot vert with the tomatoes. They will be sweet and fresh tasting!

Super lazy cooking, but tasty!

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I picked up some ahi steaks at Trader Joe’s recently, and ZH wanted pasta with butter and parmesan tonight to go with it. I usually think of “tropical” flavors when I am making tuna, or Asian, but wanted something different to go with the pasta. I found this recipe, Which I outlined below. It was SO good! We had it with spaghetti with a bit of butter, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan (very small portion for me!); and very simple blanched haricots verts with a fresh sugarplum tomato “sauce.” (The next recipe I post.)

Ingredients

2 (5 ounce) ahi tuna steaks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used maybe 2-3 times as much as this)
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
Directions

Season the tuna steaks with salt and cayenne pepper.
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the peppercorns in the mixture until they soften and pop, about 5 minutes. Gently place the seasoned tuna in the skillet and cook to desired doneness, 1 1/2 minutes per side for rare. Note: I did about 2-3 minutes per side then turned off the heat, covered it, and allowed it to cook the rest of the way through gently because I doubted whether it was sushi grade…

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 301 | Total Fat: 17.8g | Cholesterol: 71mg

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I don’t remember where I saw this, but it’s been on my mind ever since. I made it tonight and it was GOOOOOD! Even ZH ate it.

Spaghetti Squash
1 medium spaghetti squash

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and set to steam, cut side down, for 20-30 minutes, until a fork poked into it shows it to be tender. Remove it from the steam and let it sit for about 10 minutes to cool.

While you’re steaming the squash, make your favorite meatball and tomato sauce recipe. You can use turkey, red meat if you go for that kinda thing, or a mix of ground tofu and ground tempeh (seasoned for flavor). The seasonings can be adjusted to what you have or like (fresh herbs are great), but here’s what I used tonight:

Meatballs

1/2 lb. ground turkey breast
1/3 lb. ground turkey thigh
1/4 onion, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 c. grated parmesan
2 large cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 small jar tomato paste
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
I would have added a splash of red wine if I had it…

Grated parmesan

Heat about 2 Tbsp olive oil over med-low heat in a deep skillet. (I like cast iron.) Mix all of the meatball ingredients together very well. Roll into golf-ball sized balls. Place into the hot oil and turn until browned on all sides.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl and pour over the meatballs. Continue cooking over low heat for about 30 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and flavors blend. (It’s REALLY good if you have time to let this simmer for an hour or more on the stove, stirring and adding a bit of liquid as necessary.)

Scrape the still-hot spaghetti squash strands out with a fork and put onto dinner plates. Top with sauce and meatballs. Sprinkle with parmesan.

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I do not generally like carob as a “candy,” but there is a local vegetarian restaurant that makes carob smoothies that are SO yummy. I was craving one a few days ago, so I bought some carob to make it at home. Carob has its own list of health benefits, including helping alleviate allergic asthma and lowering cholesterol.

I don’t like thinking of carob as chocolate as many people suggest. Telling someone they are eating chocolate and then giving them carob is a lowdown dirty trick. Carob is carob. Why not just enjoy it for what it is?

These measurements are just approximate…

1 1/2 cups milk, almond milk, or soy milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder of your choice
1/4 cup powdered carob
1/3 – 1/2 avocado
Your preferred sweetener, to taste (use a light touch!) _{^{-I tried to use dates, but they didn’t seem to do well in the blender and just got stuck under the blades. I ended up putting about a teaspoon of sugar in the smoothie – not much!}}

Blend. Drink. Feel healthy!

_{image from choosingraw.com}

_{When I found this image to use, I found it went with this raw vegan recipe for a carob smoothie, which I may try soon and put under my raw vegan recipe goal!}

You can use most kinds of vegetables for this – potatoes, beets, turnips, carrots, onions, sweet potato, squash, etc., and use different seasonings. I think these taste good with the stoneground mustard.

2 large carrots, cut into chunks about 1 – 2 inches long. Cut the thick end into half lengthwise as well.
6 small roasting potatoes (mix of yellow and red is good), cut into 1/4 lengthwise
1/2 large white onion, cut into 1” pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. stoneground mustard
1 Tbsp. rosemary (optional)
salt
black pepper
fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the vegetables. Stir together with the rosemary, olive oil, vinegar, stoneground mustard, salt, and pepper until the vegetables are coated. Spread evenly into a small roasting pan.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through and browned.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle chopped parsley over everything.

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I haven’t made this in forever, but I used to make this all the time in the summer. You can also use blanched green beans instead of cucumbers.

2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced very thinly
1 red onion, sliced paper thin
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley (curly parsley is fine)
3-4 oz. crumbled Feta cheese
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (apprx.)
4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar OR
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and 2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar (apprx.) (that’s how I made it today)

Place the onions, cucumbers, parsley, and feta in a flat-bottomed serving bowl, alternating layers in that order. In between layers, drizzle olive oil and vinegar. After doing the last layer of cucumbers, drizzle with oil and vinegar, then sprinkle the remaining feta and parsley on top.

Allow the flavors to mingle at least 30 minutes. Serve chilled or room temperature.

_{Photo: mine! :-)}