Comunidad Health Foods

First of all, some housekeeping: before I say anything, I have to apologize for disappearing for so long. L was in for the weekend and what kind of Valentine would I be if I left him to his own devices while I wrote to you guys for an hour? Not the worst, for sure, but I decided against it, anyway. He thanks you for your understanding. Second, I got an unexpected Valentine's Weekend Surprise of being awarded my very first blog award! The Food Hound, a witty and engaging food blogger who took notice of Floptimism when I was seriously doubting that anyone actually read my ramblings, picked me (and 15 other people, shh!) for her Stylish Blog Award! technically I'm supposed to pass this one and do a whole bunch of stuff, but I think I'll pass because (a) it's been a long day and a longer weekend, and I'm a bit beat (b) I don't actually interact with many food bloggers; I really just admire from afar, and I tend to gush about those blogs every time I tell you about one of their recipes (c) yes, I'm one of those stinkers who reads chain emails and then just hits delete, no matter how many wishes they prove to grant if you pass it on. But I nonetheless appreciate it, and as I told her via a lengthy comment to her post: Food Hound, if I weren't such a party pooper, you would be at the top of my Stylish Food Blog Award list.

Now, onto the food! You have to say the name of this dish with a bounce in your voice. Go on, try it - I like to think it's fairly reminiscent of Dr. Suess himself, not that I'm tooting my own horn at all. This recipe is technically not of my own doing, but I did spiffy it up a little bit with tons of veggies and even some chicken to make you feel less guilty for making a meal out of globs of cheese and carbs, even if you do use the complex, whole wheat variety as I did. This pasta dish is really good - I know this because in my notes I wrote that phrase in all capitals. It's cheesy and creamy, with a fresh crunch from essentially flash-cooked veggies. It's filling and satisfying, and, yes, it meets all of my standard requirements for a keeper meal that I repeat virtually every recipe: it's versatile enough that I can throw in whatever I have on hand, it's a fast meal so I can walk in at 6:00 and be eating by 6:30, and it just tastes good. The only thing it really doesn't have going for it is the amount of dishes it dirties, but I wouldn't let that stop you.

The original recipe is called "No Bake Mac-n-Cheese" and the headline of the article containing it is titled, "All-natural, healthy creamy mac & cheese in 25 minutes." For a while I teeter-tottered back and forth between agreeing with this "health claim" and not - it's certainly a trimmed down version of the Classic American Comfort Food, and the changes I made to it definitely up the nutrition factor, but...I dunno, it's still mac-n-cheese. In the end, though, once you see this recipe I think you'll agree that there's not too much to criticize about this recipe (unless, of course, you want the uber-heavy, loaded-down-with-cheese traditional form of mac).

Last time we left off with an ode to plain chicken, and the many different split-second wardrobe changes it can make in your freezer over the course of the week/month for easy meals that never get old. So, how about we talk about an example of such an exciting, quick meal that utilizes these pre-cooked chicken recipes? How genius, you say? Well, I'm glad you think so!

Let's get one thing straight: I never liked protein-centered salads very much - you know, egg, tuna, chicken. I honestly just thought they looked a little goopy, sometimes smelled a little funny, and didn't really deliver in the flavor department, unless you like a whole lot of mayo. Which, I don't know, there are weirder things to like. Anyway, what I do like is to make my own chicken salad. I've talked about this twice before, but that was a long time ago.

This Chicken Waldorf Salad is my version of a light, creamy-with-the-occasional-crunch, sweet-yet-savory chicken salad. No mayo in sight, thank you very much. (As a side note, I really don't dislike mayonnaise that much. In fact, I find it pretty tasty. But I don't keep it in the fridge, so therefore I don't use it pretty much ever anymore.) Instead of the mayo, I use any combination of yogurt and sour cream - low or non fat, bien sur. I also throw in some veggies and healthy nuts, topple it over a nice bed of lettuce, and, if I so choose, round it out with some whole wheat pita (though this last part is, of course, not necessary).

I've held off writing about this ever since my neighborhood turned into the new Antarctica, feeling obligated to share heartier casseroles or baked goods with you instead. But I just ate chicken salad last week (not this one - a different one, which is a whole other story not to be delved into at the moment), thus abolishing my own conception that this is a warm weather meal. Au contraire, it's a very nice option for a filling (but not overly-so) meal, any time of year.

Could that be any easier? And it has everything: lean protein, some fruit, some veggies, low/non fat dairy, some fiber and whole grain if you go the pita route. Plus, it's delicious, and that's really what we're after, right?

Tonight's entry is going to be a little bit different. Rather than focusing on a recipe, I have a technique that I've been using as a college student who is often pressed for time, working in a very small (shared) kitchen. As much as I love flavor complexity, I also really appreciate a simple recipe on occasion - especially when it comes to chicken. Chicken breast, like many other "center of the plate" foods (tofu, grains, you name it), is really only ever as good as the ingredients made with it, assuming we're not comparing overdone, dried out chicken breasts to moist, well-cooked ones. By batch cooking using a very simple, understated recipe for chicken, I can freeze all of the extras and have a more or less blank palate for countless quick-fix meals in the future. At the same time, they aren't so bland that you wonder why you even bothered including the chicken in your recipe in the first place.

Although you could think up enough spice, herb and marinade combinations that fit this criteria to try a new one each day for a year, these two are ones that I have tried recently and definitely recommend. The first one is an Italian blend of herbs that adds a touch of flavor while still leaving the chicken versatile enough to through into pretty much any recipe you might stumble upon in the weeks to come. The second is a smokier, paprika-spiced chicken that offers a slightly more intense flavor profile, but can still blend into a lot of various types of recipes. I have used both as stand-alones, as well as in salads, casseroles, and wraps - and not just plain ones, either. I have added sundried tomatoes and pecans to the smokier one, for example, and it worked out wonderfully. Like I said, these "rubs" or coatings are present enough to give the chicken some taste, but subtle enough to not overpower whatever main taste you're going for any given night. You can shred, dice, slice, or leave whole before freezing, adding another option for diversifying your menus without locking yourself in the kitchen for hours on end each night.

Notes: *I like to think that the reason I continue to try to cook fat pieces of chicken in a short amount of time is that I am an incurable optimist. However, I always wind up having to butterfly them to speed the process up and get the middle cooked. So, you could alternatively butterfly the chicken from the very beginning, which would decrease the necessary cooking time and also prevent precious chicken juice from running out halfway through the cooking process.

Now, once the chicken that you are planning to freeze has cooled, at least enough to handle comfortably, prepare it as you would like (shred, dice, etc.), and place in a freezer-safe container. I like to use ziplock bags for shredded chicken and wax paper surrounded by foil for full pieces. Allow the chicken to cool completely before sealing, then pop in the freezer for a quick, easy meal another night!

There are always a couple of nights each week where I don't get back to my apartment until after 6:00, and no matter how much I love to cook and how much I hate those frozen, microwavable dinners...I'm hungry. I don't want to wait an hour to eat. I want to eat, digest, and still have time to eat a nice little sinful dessert before bedtime - scratch that, before 2 hours before bedtime, since I try to be good even with my sinful dessert and give my belly time to digest before it switches into sleep mode. Sometimes, I do pop a meal into the microwave, and sometimes, that meal is not one I had prepared earlier on in the week and frozen myself. However, what's even better than that is finding a recipe that you can make, fresh, in no time at all.

This recipe for Taco Pasta is by far one of the easiest, simplest, and most delicious recipes I've devised. It takes no more than five minutes to throw together once the pasta has cooked, which means you're looking at, what? A 20-30 minute meal, tops? It may not solve the dinner situation for someone coming home at 8pm, but it's perfect for those 6:30-7 nights. Plus, it's pretty healthy, heavy enough to fill you up but not so much that you feel gross about eating it so late at night, and it has tons of flavor. I wouldn't have it any other way, come on! Have you noticed my opinion on bland food? It doesn't fly in the Floptimism Kitchen. Period.

I tend to do a lot of "Mexican" themed dishes. Really, they're all some form of variation on each other: burritos, fajitas, taco salad, taco pasta, my Mexican Fiesta Omelet. I do enjoy many other cuisines, but this is a set of ingredients that I tend to keep in my kitchen more than others (except, maybe, Italian), and most of the ingredients pack a big flavor punch with limited extraneous calories and prep time. Plus, I'm a one-person household, basically, so when I buy a jar of something like salsa, it gets used for many meals until it's gone. But beyond that, I've found Mexican foods in general really great for home cooking. You can also easily do vegetarian with them, throwing in some black beans, or scrap that and include any kind of meat your heart desires. It's flexible that way. Plus, it's a safe choice, despite having that creative element in your ability to mess around with some ingredients based on what you have on hand. And if you're walking in at 6:30 and want dinner a-sap, it might not be the best night to toy around with flavors. This will give you something reliable and fast, no questions asked.

Taco Pasta Toss

The Ingredients*