Comunidad Health Foods

I've been craving me some vegetarian dishes recently. I tend to eat one meatless meal per day, and if not, something lighter and not quite so meaty, like eggs. Leading up to the end of the semester, though, I started to clean out the fridge and freezer of all things that would go bad if left alone for a month, and frozen meat is much more of a threat than canned beans. So, a little veggie entree is much welcomed in my mind right now. I made this recipe for quinoa and black beans a long time ago, but I like to try to match up my food thoughts and feelings with the recipe I share with you, even if it's not a recipe I just got back from preparing.

This recipe for quinoa and black beans is the quintessence of simplicity. In fact, had I not made certain changes, I fear it might even be (dare I say it?) - bland. Fear not, though! I did interfere with Eating Well's suggestions, and tampered away to result in a very clean-tasting, refreshingly uncomplicated dish that I am very happy with. You taste every ingredient, and the sour cream does a nice job of binding it all together. I almost don't want to call this a recipe, because it could be so easily adapted to whatever is in your fridge at the moment. I've even made other, somewhat similar quinoa-and-black-bean combos (one such recipe I've even posted here already). Maybe that's why it's called "quinoa and black beans:" anything more concrete than that like "stir fry" or "pilaf" would tie it down too much. However, if you follow the ingredients list that I used, I don't think that you'll be disappointed. This can even be made in one pot if you cook the quinoa first and then add in everything else, and who doesn't love small messes in the kitchen?

I have temporarily traded in my apple hat for a pumpkin hat, in order to share with you a healthy but decadent recipe appropriate, in my book, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even dessert. Here's what you do: you take yogurt, pumpkin, and some syrup and spices, and you slather them between two pieces of deliciously, perfectly cooked french toast, and you let the pumpkin filling melt and warm just a little bit before slicing the whole thing in half and enjoying it immensely. The inspiration for this little gem of a sandwich came in stages: first, I really wanted to make some brinner (breakfast for dinner), but omelets are an all-too-common lunch item for me and pancakes are a little labor intensive/difficult to cut into small servings; second, I wanted to do something fall-festive, as usual; third, I was shockingly interested in venturing away from the world of apples. And so, there you have it: pumpkin-stuffed french toast, one of the few things in this world that are both saintly and heavenly (re: indulgent) at the same time.

Now, of course, I'm not ready to write this down on a recipe card just yet and sticking it into my recipe box for good. It's rare that I'm satisfied with anything, even a recipe borrowed from an already-perfected-elsewhere, on the first go-around. I added too much cinnamon, though I combated that a little bit by upping some sweetness (maple syrup) and pumpkin puree. Also, if you want this to be for a dessert or you just like things really sweet, you might be disappointed in the sugar level of this. I found it to be excellent for dinner, but my sweet tooth was still yearning for a little bit more simple carbohydrates in that meal. As it was, it was mildly sweet and very pumpkiny, and extraordinarily creamy. Be sure not to overcook the french toast - for me, this is critical for anything french toast related, and especially so for something like this. I briefly considered added some apple to the sandwich (ha! You thought I was over that!) but had just eaten an apple earlier in the day and didn't really feel like another one. Plus, it was nice to have just the pumpkin in there. Something like raisins might be nice, though, even just as a topping.

Pumpkin-Stuffed French Toast
Yield: 1 Sandwich, plus extra filling (trust me, you'll be thankful for this)
The Ingredients - The French Toast
1/2 C egg whites
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
2 slices bread (I used whole grain oatmeal bread, and loved the delicateness - yes, I'm using the word delicate to describe a whole grain - of the oatmeal component; it was a very soft bread)
butter, for cooking (1/2 Tbsp. or less)
The Ingredients - The Filling
6oz. plain greek yogurt (you could also use vanilla, or even regular yogurt - though it might be less creamy with the latter)
3/4C pumpkin puree
1 tsp. cinnamon (1/2 - 3/4 tsp. might have been more appropriate)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. apple cider
1 tsp. brown sugar

The Method
1. Combine all of the filling ingredients in a small dish or bowl, and set aside.
2. Combine the egg whites, cinnamon, milk, syrup, and pumpkin puree in a shallow dish (like a pie plate), and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a skillet, preferably big enough for two slices of bread to fit side by side. Keep the heat fairly low - no higher than medium.
4. Dip each piece of bread into the egg dip, letting both sides soak up the liquid, and place onto the skillet. Cook for around 2 minutes; the bottom should be a nice golden brown. Flip over, and place about 1/3 of the filling onto one half. Cook open-faced until the piece without the filling is cooked on both sides.
5. Place the "empty" piece of bread on top of the one with the filling, and cook for a little bit longer; this whole process from the time you flip the pieces of bread to the time it's all finished should only take another 2 minutes or so.
6. Plate, cut in half, and enjoy!

This is one sandwich you'll want to eat with a fork and a knife, and you can certainly enjoy it open-faced if you want a smaller meal.

As for all of that pumpkin-yogurt filling you'll have left-over...well, okay, you could keep the filling the same and make 2 more sandwiches, and then you wouldn't have any extras. However, I would highly recommend keeping some of this in the refrigerator - use it as a parfait with granola and dried fruit, add it to some oatmeal (more on that later!), use it as a dip for - you guessed it - apples, it really is versatile. Plus, it doesn't use the whole can of pumpkin puree, so you have extra of that to do with as you wish, too. If you're worried about not using it all at once, freeze it in 2 Tbsp. portions so that you can pull some out as you need/want it (ice cube trays are great for this).

So, you see, I am capable of making a fall dish without apple in it! I also have a lot of recipes saved to share that are not fall-themed, but since it's getting to be close to Thanksgiving and once that comes, it won't even be November anymore, I figured I should cram them in while I still can.

I'm very good at creating names for recipes, no? But really, the title of this post says it all: amidst all of the apple goodness I've been gabbing on about, these really do take the cake. Or top the cake, whatever that saying is. The point is, they're good. Really good. And they are so enormously bursting with fall that your belly will have its own private autumn party once it realizes what delights you have just fed it. What's more, I would actually be able to justify eating these muffins for breakfast, whereas I place most of the other muffin recipes I've seen in my cupcake folder. Seriously, take a look: whole wheat flour - check! olive/canola oil - check! actual fruit - check! low fat dairy - check! modest amounts of sugar (but in somewhat sneaky forms) - check! See, it's really not so bad. Definitely a breakfast "splurge" compared to my usual kashi + lowfat milk/yogurt + fruit, but it also won't be sending me running for the treadmill at record speed, or really any speed at all.

These apple cider muffins have gotten everyone's stamp of approval and L, in particular, enjoys them immensely. The recipe is actually supposed to make donuts, but as I've yet to get my hands on one of those cool donut pans, I decided to give it a shot in muffin-form, muffin tins being the closest contraption I had to a donut pan. I will, of course, try these out as they were meant to be when my restraint gives in and I buy myself more kitchen equipment (or the holiday gift gods endow me with wonderful goodies next month), but if you're like me and all you have are some muffin tins, do. not. wait. They are beyond moist, and rolling them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture - though a little weirder for a muffin than a doughnut - adds this slight crunch that really can't be beat. They aren't super sweet, in fact I'd call them pretty mild, but man could I eat a whole batch of them.

My one and only complaint, okay well maybe the first of two complaints, is the salt. I know, I know, I really need to stop on my salt rampage at some point, and I've likely gone psychotic with how stubborn I am about limiting my intake (I promise you that I do consume a decent amount - well over the minimal amount required for your body to not go kaput on you). But I added half the amount of salt, since I wasn't using any salted butter or really any food sources of sodium at all...and I taste it. No one else has complained of it, so maybe you should make it the way the recipe intends, and leave me to my deranged salt-free existence, but I can taste it when I bite into the muffin. It's this very vague, subtle flavor - certainly an entirely different beast than taking a handful of potato chips or biting into a pickle; rather, it tastes a little bit like you've been inhaling ocean air for an afternoon and the taste just kind of...lingers. I've experienced this before with foods, so next time I will try eliminating the salt altogether and just see if it changes it.

The second complaint is that I baked them without cupcake liners, just greasing the pan with some olive oil because, as I've mentioned before, it's all I really keep on hand aside from butter. But you see, olive oil has a fairly low smoke point, and whether or not this is indeed the culprit, my muffin exterior that came in contact with the pan was just a teensy bit browner than I would like. This could also be a result of my having kinda dark muffin tins, though I think I baked these the second time entirely on lighter metal pans. So I'm going with the no liners thing. You don't really notice it when you bite into it, but you can see that the outside edges are darker. Like I said, the salt thing was my only real complaint. And even that might be a figment of my imagination.

Moral of the story? Bake these. They don't require much apple, though I have upped the amount and will either do so again next time or leave even more in larger chunks. I just can't get enough of that! You probably have all of the ingredients on hand except the apples (and maybe apple cider and maple syrup, and maybe yogurt, but I think those three are all pretty standard at this time of year - maybe?) and they're super easy to make. Anything that doesn't require me to whip out my hand mixer is a winner in my book. Although you probably could use a real mixer if it pleased you. But really, even with mixing it all by hand, the most labor intensive part is chopping the apples, and - sshh! - you can totally use a food processor for that.


Apple Cider Muffin-Donuts, courtesy of Squirrel Bakes
Yield: Almost 2 dozen muffins, closer to 18
The Ingredients

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.

I lied to you, you mysterious internet peruse-ers out there. I told you back in the days of Passover 2010 that I would update within the following week with my delicious, innovative Strawberry Mango Crisp dessert. And then, as things tend to go at school, my mind strayed to less interesting yet clearly more pertinent to my eventual graduation things, and now here we are, still twiddling our thumbs until my recipe decides to show its sorry face.
I'm not posting it tonight, either.

You see, I did this 5k Walk for Hunger over the weekend, and halfway through they handed us all big bushels of bananas - seriously, seven bananas per person. I'm not sure why, since none of us were hungry in the serious or long-term sense of the word, nor could any of us eat a whopping seven bananas over the course of the roughly 1.5 remaining miles. Maybe they didn't think the 5k was challenging enough, and so they added several pounds of banana weights to our loads. Regardless, I came home 7 bananas richer than I left, and by the next day, they were all a beautiful brown, begging for banana bread. Two loaves worth, in fact.

I have this killer recipe that everyone who tastes falls in love with. It's nothing more than a simple Food Network steal, but it turns out perfectly every time, so who's to argue? Still, there was this other recipe that has been calling to me, intriguing me, for months, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try it up against the tried and true recipe. I bookmark thousands of recipes (you think I'm exaggerating), yet I am constantly thinking about this one saved recipe: naturally sweetened banana bread - whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of butter, bringing the sugar of the bananas out in place of any added sweeteners. Curious, aren't you?

How curious do you become when I tell you that it rose beautifully, baked perfectly, and made me a very proud baker when I pulled it out of the oven?

Maybe you don't share my enthusiasm, but if that's the case, I will now tell you that upon tasting it, my enthusiasm dwindled. Severely. And then my family tried it - and deflated my ego down into negative values. Rubbery. Bland. Dry. My grandmother pointed to the piece on her plate with just one bite taken from it, and told me the rest was going in the trash.

I didn't think it was that bad. The banana flavor definitely did not come through, and I can't figure out why. Does applesauce cancel out banana flavors? Does added sugar enhance it? Anyone? Help!?

I haven't given up on it, though. We all agreed that a combination of the two recipes might be in order - an experiment that I will tackle over the summer, perhaps. You see, "my" original recipe is pretty perfect, but the temptation to slim it down a little bit (I know, I know, some things need to be full-fat and beautiful as the world intended them to be) is too much to bear. I am all for high calorie, decadent chocolate cakes, but banana bread with its masquerade as breakfast food? It could use a few fewer slabs of butter and heaps of sugar. It is pretty darn sweet, after all, and I think a slight modification in that department might not hurt, at the very least.

Anyway, I would appreciate any input any of you ghost readers out there may have. Have you experienced this before? Do you have a favorite banana bread recipe?

While you ponder these thought-provoking questions, I leave you with the recipes:



Banana (Walnut) Bread, courtesy of foodnetwork.com
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (Note: I have successfully swapped in all whole-wheat flour several times)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt (of course, omitted, thanks to mama's salted butter)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C sugar
3 very ripe bananas (the ones I had were enormous, so I just used two)
1/2 C toasted walnut pieces (I wish I could bake it with these, but no one in my family will eat nuts in their food, so I have always made it without).

Instructions

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled, so don't worry), and remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack. Wrap in plastic wrap. The banana bread is best if served the next day.

Naturally Sweetened Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 Mashed Bananas

1/3 C vegetable oil, butter, or applesauce

2 eggs

2 C flour (whatever you desire - I didn't have whole wheat on hand so I used all purpose)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 C chopped nuts (again, omitted)

Pinch of Salt (omitted)

Instructions

Mash bananas in a bowl. Add oil (or butter) and eggs and mix until creamy. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the nuts.

Oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Pour mixture into pan. Bake at 325°F for 45 minutes to an hour. To check if it’s done, insert a knife or toothpick in center and if it comes out clean, it’s cooked.

Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice.