Fab Fit Squad

If your salads are becoming boring, you need to re-think the basics and spruce up those greens. Check out these fanciful salads that boost your enthusiasm for eating these healthy sides and enjoy the crunch of some good greens for the picnic months ahead.

Robust Salads Are Built On Protein

We all know how much I stress protein at all meals. Add a powerful punch to your salad is to include some protein, namely in the form of seafood, meats, beans, or hard boiled eggs.

Here are some ideas cooked shrimp, canned salmon or white albacore tuna on top of your bed of greens. Perhaps your salad would benefit from black or kidney beans for a Mexican twist. Juicy grilled chicken, thinly sliced into strips, could add a smoky barbecue flavor to a simple salad. If you choose different marinades, you’ll get different flavor influences. Think of marinading beef in Teriyaki before grilling.  Then those delicate, thin strips will blend well with ingredients borrowed from Asian cuisine.

Sweet Salads Are Meant To Surprise

A classic salad that always surprises is the Waldorf salad, made with a variety of fruits, including apples, cherries, dates, grapes, or even fresh pineapple. You’ll substitute the mayo with greek yogurt and some lemon juice.  I like to add in shredded coconut, YUM!!! Ambrosia salad is an explosion of fanciful delights, including bright colors and the sweet flavors of  mandarin oranges, blackberries, strawberries, grapes and coconut, but the name says it all, so don’t limit your choices.

Then there are big fruit salad bowls filled with everything from watermelon to berries, bananas, and grapes, apples, kiwi, mango, pineapple, cantaloupe and a host of other fruits in between.  Add crunch with nuts like walnuts, pecans, pistachios, or almonds.

Using a light vinaigrette dressing may sound odd with all that fruit, but the touch of savory brings out the sweet juices and makes the salad taste all the better. You can also toss the fruit salad with a mixture non-fat yogurt or cottage cheese to give your salad a little protein boost. The options are as varied as your taste buds.

Gourmet Salads Call For Clever Ingredients

For a truly unique salad creation, you have to go deeper into the range of greens you use in your salads. Look at food in a whole new way and choose combinations of flavors and textures that will light up the eyes of guests as they taste your best efforts.

Try mixing eclectic greens like endive, arugula, and watercress with avocado, crab meat, Greek olives, and grapefruit, along with hard-boiled eggs for a fresh take on a classic salad. Sprinkle a touch of nutmeg and cinnamon with golden raisins and chopped tart apples, and toss with shredded cooked chicken or turkey, and a touch of balsamic vinaigrette for a delightful new salad. Go tropical with mango, papaya, figs, or summer melons, adding the right compliment of spice like ginger, curry, or fresh mint. Top with toasted coconut for a truly fanciful salad.

Seeds and Sprouts Add the Finishing Touch

No matter what you put in your salads, you’ll always want to have an eye-catching topping that completes a gourmet creation you can be proud of. The best choices are often seeds and sprouts, since they add texture and depth to all types of salads for all types of meals. Seeds add color and dimension, almost a solid, formidable look, while sprouts are often heaped on in a big fluffy pile, providing a playful and unruly look to the salad.

For seeds, you could choose sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, milk thistle, or alfalfa seeds, just to name a few. With sprouts, you have mung bean sprouts, broccoli sprouts, and alfalfa sprouts. Then there are the lesser known choices like radish sprouts and clover sprouts. These types of ingredients go very well with most salads but especially with dishes that are made with quinoa, tofu, tempeh, and jicama.

With a little imagination, and time to seek out unique ingredients, you can walk away from conventional thinking and create wonderful, fanciful salads to enjoy.

Do you have a favorite salad you want to share, please leave me some comments below.

One of things I love most about fall is pumpkin.  I love anything with pumpkin, just the mention of pumpkin on a menu and I’m ordering it if there is a pumpkin product on the grocery shelf I’m buying it.

Pumpkin not only tastes great, but it’s a superfood.  It’s low in calories and contains fiber, magnesium and carotenoids.  Studies of carotenoids show that it can reduce the risk of heart disease, macular degeneration and certain cancers.  What pushes pumpkin to the top of the super food list is the alpha- carotene content.  Studies have shown that it can slow the signs of aging.  Yes, you read that correctly.

I hear all the time, that folks would like to add pumpkin to their diets but don’t know how.  Below find three ways you can add in some pumpkin.  There recipes can also be interchanged with acorn or butternut squash.

Here are three ways you can get a little more pumpkin into your diet.

Pumpkin Smoothie

• ¼ c pumpkin
• ¾ c All Whites egg whites
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 chopped small apple
• ½-1c water (to taste)
• 1 t agave

Put all ingredients in blender.  Add a few ice cubes, the more ice cubes you add the thicker your shake. To thin out your shake add some more water to desired consistency.

Pumpkin Protein Pancake

• ¼ c Oatmeal
• ¼ c pumpkin
• ½ c cottage cheese
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 t vanilla extract (you could also use almond extract)
• 2 t nutmeg (you could also use cinnamon, cloves or pumpkin pie spice)

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth.  Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat.  Pour batter into pan and cook about 2 min a side.  You should get about 3 medium sized pancakes

Pumpkin Soup

• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 can chicken soup stock (can you veggie)
• 1 t sea salt (may add more for taste)
• 1 t chili powder (may add more for taste)
• 1 t garlic (may add more for taste)
• 1 T cilantro
• 1c soft tofu

Place all ingredients in a stock pot.  Simmer until hot.  Place ingredients in a blender or food processor.  You could also use an immersion blender.

To increase your protein content to this soup, you can add in some chicken or turkey.

It started out really simple, I was looking for a new mid morning snack. I feel into a rut and was looking to branch out.  Then we had a bit of a heat wave and I didn’t feel like cooking anything. It’s one of the few times a year that not having an air conditioner in New England is a bad thing.

Any who.. I started making smoothies and I can’t stop! My smoothies have taken on a life of their own.  My latest creation.

1 T powdered greens
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 kiwi peeled
1 t Udo’s oil
4 oz sweet potato (yes a sweet potato) — previously roasted
1/2 c water
handful ice cubes

Take all of this mix in a blender and blend until smooth.  The shake will be green, but will taste great.  If you feel that you need it, you make add 1/2 t honey to add some sweetness.

We all have those mornings where we are running out the door and can’t quite cook a meal or now that the summer has finally arrived and its too hot and you just don’t want to cook give this smoothie a try.

• 1/2 mango
• 1/2 banana
• 4 strawberries — frozen
• 1 scoop of protein powder (any flavor)
• 6 ice cubes
• 1 and 1/4 cup cold water

Put all in your blender and blend until desired smoothness and thickness.  Want this to be a little more satiating add in some good fat give 1 t coconut oil, flax or udos.

Source: Sweet on Veg

Quinoa is pronounced keen-wah and has a rice-like appearance with a crunchy texture and slightly nutty flavor. It’s a staple in my cupboards because it takes great warm as well as cold. Here are a few other reasons why you should think about giving quinoa a try.

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It’s the first big weekend of the summer, you’re staring at the invitation thinking how can I do this AND keep to my lifestyle. Guess what YOU CAN! Offer to bring side dishes or part of the main course. With a grill there are so may choices grilled veggies, lean meats and great salads.

Here are a few dishes you can give a try.

Roasted chick peas – (2) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and dry with papertowel. Put in a bowl and season with 1T chili powder, 1t kosher salt 1T olive oil. Place on cookie sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cook for 30-40 min keep you eye on the for the last 10 min to make sure they don’t burn.

Grilled citrus shrimp –1 to 1 1/2 pounds of uncooked medium shrimp peeled. Squeeze 2 medium oranges and 1 lime in a mixing bowl. Now add 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 t kosher salt. Like it a little spicy add in crushed red pepper flakes. Put shrimp and marinade in a ziplock bag and refrigerate for  at least 30 minutes.  Grill about 2 min/side or until shrimp turns pink.

Hummus cucumber cups — Cut 4 cucumbers into thick 1 inch slices. Using a melon baller, scoop at the seeds (careful don’t break through bottom) and add in hummus. You can use store bought. I like the garlic lovers.

Here’s a marinade to give a shot.

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, 1/2 c parsley, 1/2 c olive oil, 2 limes squeezed, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 t salt and 1/2 t crushed red pepper and 2 T red wine vinegar . Mix together using a food processor or hand mixer.

No matter what the temperature is outside, I can always eat soup. The thing I love most about soup is that it’s freezable and you can add any cooked meat you like to it to make it a complete meal. Here are a few quick soups that I make regularly.

Beef and Vegetable Soup
Brown some lean hamburger meat, onion and garlic in a large pot. Once the meat is completely cooked drain any excess fat add any frozen/canned vegetables you like. I usually add chopped canned tomatoes, green beans, white beans, broccoli or stewed canned tomatoes chopped into bite size pieces.  Just throw the meal together and add a bit of some seasonings, I like mine on the spicy side so I’m always adding a little crushed red pepper. Play with varying spices to see which ones you really like the best. (more…)

On the calendar Easter is next Sunday, but by looking at any of the stores   Easter should have been shortly after Valentine’s Day. You can’t go through a store without those tempting treats popping out at you. Personally I’m a sucker for the Cadbury mini eggs, those things just call me! I’m sure you have an Easter treat that just screams your name.  Leave me a comment below and let me know what it is.  Oh my how could I forget that I’m also a SUCKER for peeps, you know the marshmallow ones. Yum, Yum give me some! Okay enough about the unhealthy, let’s talk about surviving Easter without packing on the pounds.

I hope of a few of these ideas help you out. If you have any additional tips, I would love to hear them just leave them in the comments below.