Comunidad Health Foods

Surprise! It looks like I haven't run away from this blog permanently, after all. This summer has really been kicking my butt - it seems like if I'm not packing my bags to go somewhere, I'm either working or playing laundry catch-up. Sometimes, though, I find a spare second to eat - imagine that! - and it's times like these that call for a smoothie like this one. This is a sizeable powerhouse beverage, on the powerhouse beverage scale. There's no whey protein or anything like that, but it does incorporate (undetectable) amounts of Healthy Stuff like spinach and flax seeds.

Occasionally, I worry about some of my nutrient levels, particularly iron ever since I gave up non-grassfed beef and therefore consume less red meat in general. By sneaking trace amounts of non-heme iron (the bountiful but pitifully absorbed kind of iron) into unexpected places and meals, like this breakfast smoothie, I feel a little better nutritionally about my decision to cut back on the sad-but-affordable cows.

I highly recommend trying to start your day off (or end it) with a nice smoothie. By using a base recipe like the one below and getting a little creative, you can create a naturally sweet, nutrient-dense, filling and satisfying meal that is both portable and delicious. It's also a great way to sneak things like spinach and flax seeds into unsuspecting childrens' bellies, or so I hear. The one I made didn't even turn green from The Green Stuff, so you really can trick them if necessary. But really, once they taste it, I don't think you'll have much of a problem getting them to come back for more.

Strawberry-Mango Power Smoothie
Yield: 1 serving
The Ingredients
1 mango, cubed
1/3 C strawberries (an approximation - I used 4), hulled & halved (if small) or quartered (if large) + 1 for garnish
1/4 C spinach, loosely packed
6oz. fat free vanilla greek yogurt
2 tsp. flax seeds
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. dried lemon peel or fresh zest

The Method
1. Layer the strawberries, yogurt, spinach, and mango in a blender. Sprinkle the flax seeds on top.
2. Starting on high and alternating to medium pulses if necessary as it gets more liquidy, blend the ingredients. Pause every so often to scrape down the edges to ensure that all of the components get thoroughly chopped up and mixed together.
3. When everything looks well blended, add the nutmeg and lemon peel/zest, and pulse on low until they are fully incorporated.
4. Pour into a glass and place in the freezer to chill for several minutes. While I waited for this to happen, I cleaned up and prepared my strawberry garnish.
5. For the strawberry garnish, vertically slice the strawberry into thin strips without fully detaching them from the hull. Spread apart with your fingers, and slip the strawberry onto the edge of the glass.

The Verdict? Very filling, very satisfying, and no - you don't taste the spinach or the flax seeds. Using greek yogurt keeps the smoothie thick and creamy, plus it gives you a nice dose of protein. I would have loved to have added maybe half of a frozen banana, to both cool it and add an extra dimension to it. After all, what smoothie doesn't have banana in it? However, ours were beyond ripe several days ago, and I didn't think quickly enough to chop them up and freeze them before they met their trash can fate. I also think a little extra strawberry would have been nice here.


As a whole, this is a fast and satiating recipe that really helps me get through those busy days without feeling weighed down by fast food or starved because all I had time to grab was a bag of grapes or an apple. There's fiber in this, vitamins galore, vegetarian sources of protein, and most importantly, a whole ton of flavor. Check it out sometime. In the meantime, I'll try not to run away so much. I still have a ton of recipes to share!

I warned you that I wouldn't have any enticing pictures of today's post, and it turns out that I wasn't lying. However, what I do have is a satisfyingly simple chicken . salad (as opposed to chickensalad, if you get my drift) that you don't have to feel guilty about eating. Yesterday, I told you about my Tzatziki/Yogurt Chicken Salad and hinted at my idea of a Thai-Inspired/Peanut Butter Chicken Salad, which I am here to tell you about tonight.

This chicken salad is much more savory than the yogurt one from yesterday, and although I used virtually the same base ingredients, simply changing the sauce made today's salad an entirely new meal. I think this one might be my favorite of the two. Also, even if you can't see it, believe me when I tell you that it's pretty darn attractive to boot - salad greens, orange carrots, red peppers, creamy tan peanut butter. The colors are perfect. It packs a double dose of protein - one a very lean source, and the other healthfully plant-based - some good, unsaturated fats, and lots of vegetables for all (okay, most) of your vitamin and mineral needs. The meal is low in saturated fat and sodium (depending on the peanut butter you use), as well as sugar. I can't swear on my life that this is an honest-to-goodness Thai flavor profile, but I'm going out on a limb here and saying that it should at least be loosely inspired by that cuisine. Whatever the cuisine, it's delicious, and way more exciting than any mayonnaise-based chicken salad you could ever dream up.

Thai-Inspired Chicken Salad
Yield: 1 Serving
The Ingredients
1/2 C (approx.) cubed, grilled chicken
1/8 C (or roughly 1 segment of a medium-large) red bell pepper, chopped
1-2 Tbsp. zucchini, coarsely chopped
1/2 carrot, washed, peeled, sliced thinly & then halved
1 C (approx.) salad greens (I used a combination of a packaged romaine mix and spinach)
Salt & pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. all natural peanut butter (beware of hydrogenated oils in the ingredient list)
Hot sauce (a few healthy splashes)
Cinnamon & Red Pepper Flakes, a pinch each
Cumin, a dash
Olive oil, to create a more liquidy consistency


The Method
1. Combine the first four ingredients in a small or medium bowl.
2. Combine the last five ingredients in a separate, small bowl. Adjust flavorings for taste.
3. Add the sauce to the meat and veggie mixture, and stir up to fully incorporate.
4. Serve over the salad greens, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper if necessary, and enjoy!

Feel free to add actual peanuts or your own mix of spices and/or veggies, or using homemade peanut butter (which I am impatiently waiting for a good time to try)! I've made pita sandwiches with this general "theme" before, with excellent results. So really, the possibilities are endless, you just have to use your imagination a little bit. I could imagine a Curry Chicken Salad, a Tropical Chicken Salad, and - a combination that disgusts my family but intrigues me - a savory chocolate chicken salad. Maybe. That last one could wind up being a total flop.

Or it could wind up being the most spectacular combination of flavors and tastes ever.


You never know if you don't give it a shot.

I was never a fan of those mayonnaise-based salads: chicken, potato, macaroni, you name it. I feel like it's this calorie-laden, not very interesting mess of ingredients parading as light and healthy. However, that does not mean that I dislike chicken salads. Au contraire! Here, I present to you one of two salads I made tonight using grilled chicken that the head of the household had grilled early on in the day.

This chicken salad is yogurt-based, adding those super probiotics, vitamins, and minerals without the fat (unless you like whole fat yogurt, that is). It tastes light, which is perfect for days as hot and muggy as it was today, yet it is one of the furthest things from bland I have ever tasted. The sauce actually reminds me a lot of the tzatziki I made a little while back, and as I suspected back then, it does pair excellently with chicken.

I think I've mentioned before how much I enjoy non-dinner meals, because I feel so free to experiment. It doesn't matter if I botch something, because it's just for me. I don't have to worry about feeding anyone else (usually, until L coerces me into making something for with him). This is proof of that, and you could easily do something similar. All I did was take chicken, some vegetables I had on hand, and a sauce full of flavors that sound like they would work together. For the sauces, all you need to do is add ingredients little by little, building on the flavors until you reach the taste you're going for. Trust me, I'm no Top Chef, so anyone can do this - especially with practice.

What's more, aside from cooking the chicken, this recipe goes from zero to in your belly in seconds (okay, minutes) flat, and would take little extra time to double or quadruple to suit your needs. I highly recommend trying it out, or at the very least using it as inspiration for an unconventional, healthier chicken salad of your own.

Tzatziki Chicken Salad
Yield: 1 serving
The Ingredients
1/2 C (approx.) cubed, grilled chicken
1/8 C red bell pepper, chopped
1-2 Tbsp. zucchini, coarsely chopped
1 C (approx.) salad greens (I used a combination of a packaged romaine mix and spinach)
2-3 Tbsp. plain or vanilla fat free yogurt*
1/2 - 1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dried dill
The Method
1. Combine the first three ingredients in a small or medium bowl.
2. Combine the last three ingredients in a separate, small bowl. Adjust flavorings for taste.
3. Add the sauce to the meat and veggie mixture, and stir up to fully incorporate.
4. Serve over the salad greens, and enjoy!

*Note: I used regular 'ole Dannon vanilla low fat yogurt, but this produced a pretty thin, sweet sauce. Next time, I will definitely try either a vanilla or even plain greek yogurt (fat free) to change the consistency.

After this, I put together a Thai-inspired (in my brain, anyway) peanut chicken salad to bring with me to work tomorrow. I will absolutely post the "recipe" for that, as well, but I didn't take a picture before packaging it up, so I won't make any promises on the beautiful imagery front. In the meantime, give this a shot! Pull out some fridge or pantry items, and see where they take you. The absolute worst that can happen is that you botch a recipe, and know how to change it for the better next time around.

Father's Day this year, for my family, has turned into a weekend affair in the mountains. My dad asked for a quiet weekend with all of us, just relaxing and spending time together. So, here I am, sitting in a little house, with no recipe or pictures with which to please you. No banana bread. No dinners. Not even a special Father's Day Weekend Breakfast or Brunch.

I considered not updating this weekend. I'd like to spend my time outside, trudging through my copy of Anna Karenina that has been weighing down my bedside table since the beginning of the semester, and forgetting all about trying to draw attention to this blog, trying out new recipes, and combating family members who have wildly different ideas of meal composition than I do. However, I wanted to ask all of you a question:

What are your thoughts on restaurants?

You see, I'm growing to severely dislike them. Maybe it's because I'm a control freak, a frugal spender, and a nutrition & dietetics major. Maybe it's because I enjoy cooking my own food and sharing it. Most likely, it's all of these things combining and preventing me from appreciating a much-loved American past-time. We went out to breakfast this morning, and I ordered an English Muffin. An English Muffin! That's it! You see, I was going to get their french toast and ask for it with blueberries. There's this amazing blueberry farm near the restaurant and I was convinced they would get their blueberries fresh from there. However, being the perpetual pessimist that I am, and highly skeptical of the quality and nutrition of all prepared foods, asked if the fruit was fresh. It was drenched in syrup. The toast comes buttered. There is not a fruit cup on the menu. Egg whites are $1.50 more than regular eggs - do you know how much of a mark up that is?

So, I ordered an english muffin, and figured I'd get some fruit when I got back to the house. Of course, the english muffin came slathered in butter. I ate it anyway, since I refuse to send food back to be thrown away. I'm not so much of a health-food snob that I can't bear to eat a pre-buttered piece of bread, right? Right?? But all I tasted was the butter, and it just got to me, you know? It was the icing on the most disappointing, mood-tipping piece of cake.

Where did simplicity go? Where did fresh food go? Why do restaurants rob you blind for wanting to be healthy? I don't want syrupy blueberries or english muffins drowned in butter. I don't want to have to choose between a defrosted veggie burger patty with no flavor, and a regular specialty burger with spices that sound new and exciting. Health food does not have to be boring or bland, and it certainly should not be so difficult to find on a menu.

So, because my family so evidently finds me insane and unrelated to them as a result of my opinions on this matter, I turn to you. I'd like to know what other people think of the issue. Maybe you don't think it's an issue at all, and that I am making a mountain out of a mole hill in the eyes of many people. That's okay. Agree with me, disagree with me. Sit on the fence! I'd just like to hear the opinions of other people. Sitting in this small house surrounded by the people who raised me, I could use a little shake up.

And when I get back to civilization, I promise you a recipe, complete with pictures. And, in the spirit of shaking things up, let's make it a fantastic new...chicken recipe! I know, I know, my ingenuity surprises even me sometimes.

Happy Father's Day to everyone! I hope that you find a spare moment to spend with your family - whether it be in your own kitchen, or someone else's.