Asian Glazed Drumsticks (reposted from skinnytaste.com)

If you have someone in your life who refuses to eat, “health food,” out of  sheer principle, do what my younger sister did: feed these wings to that person without telling them they’re healthy, and listen to them rave about how awesome they are!

Brian, as I’ve mentioned, is the best home cook I’ve ever met — and that is not a statement skewed by my love for him. Unfortunately, he cooks with oil, and butter, and cream, and bacon, and every other deliciously terrible ingredient he can find without gaining weight or, as of yet, hurting his health. I, on the other hand, feel sluggish, congested, and tired after even one big, greasy, delicious meal, and I can gain and lose multiple pounds a day depending on what I put into my body.

Dinner, as you can imagine, is usually two versions of the same dish –a his-and-hers, if you will. I try to get him to eat my versions of pot pie, or fake fried chicken, and 10 out of 10 times I’m met with a resounding,”No!”

When my younger sister sent me the link to these Asian style chicken wings, with an email telling me they’ve become one of her husband’s favorite meals, but she’s blatantly hiding the fact that they’re low cal and low fat, I pounced on the chance to woo Brian with a healthy meal.  I’ve tried this before, and it hasn’t worked. Don’t get me wrong, there are dishes of mine he loves, but this is the first,”healthy,” recipe he’s gone gaga over. A vote from Brian is like a vote from Mikey in the old Life cereal commercials (did I just lose everyone under 33?) This is, hands down, as good as any high fat, high calorie drumstick recipe you’re gonna find. I hope you love it as much as we do!

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 2 drumsticks •Calories: 213 • Fat: 4.7 g • Protein: 27.5 g • Carb: 12.7 g • Fiber: 0.4 g

Ingredients:

8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
olive oil spray
1 cup water
1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp chives or scallions, chopped
1 tsp sesame seeds

Directions:

In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little spray oil. Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 8-10 minutes, until it becomes thick, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don’t want it to burn when it start becoming thick) Transfer chicken to a platter and pour sauce on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve.

Italian Shrimp Fettuccine (Adapted From the Facebook Page, Slow Cooker Recipes)

One of my favorite things about cooking is that (unless you’re baking) ingredients and recipes are more like suggestions than black and white rules. The key is not being afraid of making mistakes. Some of the dishes you’re most excited about are going to be epic fails. Don’t worry about it. With a little practice (and a lot of mistakes) you’ll get a good feel for flavors that go well together, as well as what YOU like and dislike. That’s when the fun begins. I’ve colored outside the lines, questioned authority, and added my own twist on just about everything I’ve done since I was a teenager. I look at cooking as one more opportunity to question, “what if…” or suggest, “let’s try…” and see what comes of it.

A friend of mine shared the inspiration for this recipe on Facebook a couple of days ago, and I couldn’t wait to make it my own. (To see the original recipe, simply search for the Slow Cooker Recipes page on Facebook.) I made very minor changes to make the recipe healthier, and a few taste based changes. This is a fantastic example of a recipe that can be made with a wide variety of veggies and herbs, depending on what YOU like. In fact, I’ll probably swap out every ingredient except whole wheat pasta and shrimp, and make an entirely new dish each time I make it.

I’d love to hear what people are doing with and adding to the recipes I post. Please share.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (14 1/2 oz)

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/3 cup white wine

8 oz fettuccine

3/4 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil and cooking spray in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste.  Saute for 1-2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, parsley, wine, and liberal amounts of salt and pepper. (Tomatoes need a lot of salt and pepper. Taste and add more as needed.)  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, cook fettuccine an a large pot of boiling, salted water, according to directions.

Add shrimp and lemon juice to tomato mixture. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until shrimp turn pink. Serve over the fettuccine. Enjoy!

Brian’s Steak or Chicken Fajitas with Black Bean Mango Salsa

Brian’s making fajitas with a black bean and mango salsa tonight. I can’t tell you how excited I am. Every artist has a standard repertoire, and fajitas are part of Brian’s. They’re also one of the only recipes in his, “repertoire,” I eat guilt free. As long as I can deny his, “babe, you want some more?” luring me to the dark side of over eating, his fajitas are a healthy, and incredibly delicious meal. Which — by the way — they should be. At it’s core, fajitas are nothing more than grilled meat, vegetables, and tortillas. Ingredients that make up a pretty well-rounded, healthy plate. Unfortunately, depending on who prepares them,  fajitas can be terribly deceptive. Chevy’s chicken fajitas, for example, have 870 calories, and 37 grams of fat per serving! Their steak fajitas have 790 calories, and 49 grams of fat! Oh, and, by the way, that’s without tortillas! Wha Whaaat?!? Who eats fajitas sans tortilla?!?

I’m not sure why some restaurants or recipes call for so much oil and fat; fajitas is a meal that truly does taste as amazing when prepared with calorie and fat content in mind as it does when only taking taste into consideration. I hope, after trying Brian’s, you agree. Enjoy!

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

Ingredients

1 1/2 can (12-14 oz each) black beans drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion very thinly diced

1/2 mango diced

1 can (12-14 oz) diced tomatoes

1/2 can (12-14 oz) sweet corn drained

1 tbsp diced cilantro

1 tbsp hot sauce (I use tapatio)

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

splash of fresh lemon juice

Directions

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and chill. The longer it chills, the better it is. Make it a day in advance, if you can. If not, chill while you’re making your fajitas. Taste and add more salt, pepper, and hot sauce before serving.

Fajitas

Ingredients

1 lb flank steak/flat steak or chicken

1 green bell pepper sliced thinly

1/2 red onion sliced thinly

1 cloves diced garlic

1/2 packet (1.27-ounces each) fajita seasoning mix

4 tbsp Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Tortillas as desired

Greek yogurt

Hot sauce

Directions

Season both sides  of meat with 1/4 packet of fajita seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Lightly oil grill, grill pan, or frying pan. Grill the meat over medium-high heat for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board, cover with tin foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Once rested Slice into thin strips.Once the meat is off the grill pan and resting, oil the grill pan again, and then add the bell peppers, onions, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Grill the mixture for 2 minutes at medium high. Turn down to medium low, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add remaining fajita mix to pan, and return meat to the pan, with 1/4 cup water. Bring mixture to a boil, and then lower the temperature to medium low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

While fajita mixture is simmering preheat oven to 350. Warm the tortillas in the oven for 1-2 minutes. Plate tortillas, and top with greek yogurt, hot sauce, and black bean mango salsa as desired. Add fajita mixture, roll, and enjoy!

Who’da Thunk Ratatouille Would Become One of My Favorite Meals?

Ratatouille — Until recently I didn’t know how to say it, I didn’t know what was in it. The only thing I new about Ratatouille was that a cartoon rat in a kids movie seemed to have an affinity for the dish. It’s not a dish I’d ever thought about making or even trying, and if you’d told me before trying it that Ratatouille would become a craving — something I absolutely have to have all ingredients for in my home at all times, I’d have looked at you cockeyed. Thankfully, my boyfriend Brian’s cousin bought us Plenty, a cookbook written by Yotam Ottolenghi, for Christmas. And she was excited about it! She said she’d found the book while living in Spain, and that she, literally, used the book every day. (Check out NPR’s review of the book here.)

Poor Brian is not adventurous when it comes to food, which is odd when you consider his love of food. If asked about his personality, any friend or family member would site food, love of cooking, and sharing home cooked meals as a major part of who he is. That doesn’t mean, however, that he has a large comfort zone regarding food — no fish, unless it’s fried, meat with every meal, if he can’t pronounce the name, he probably won’t eat it, etc. Ratatouille, therefore, is a dish I make while he’s cooking fried chicken or some other forbidden meal that begs me to try, “just one bite,” but never stops with just one bite.

Yotam Ottolenghi introduces this recipe by writing, “Although I call this ratatouille, the name doesn’t do it any justice, as this is the most magnificently delicious dish, nothing like the drab pile of limp zucchini I’d normally associate with the name…” He says it perfectly. This is a must try recipe. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do! (I also hope that someday I can get Brian to try it…)

***Warning: This recipe uses oil, and the word, “frying.” Please don’t be afraid. Olive oil is good for you! Of course, you don’t want to fry every meal you eat, regardless of the type of oil used for frying, but we need fat to survive, and every ingredient in this recipe (minus the small amount of sugar for taste) is loaded with nutrients, so enjoy it. Your taste buds, and your body will thank you!***

Ingredients

7 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice (the size is not pertinent. What matters, is that the veggies are diced into large pieces, and they are all the same size.)

4 garlic cloves, sliced

2 red peppers, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1 cup peas

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1/2 large eggplant, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1 sweet potato, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 package tofu, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp tomato paste

salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup water

chopped basil to garnish

Directions

Pour two-thirds of the oil into a large pot, and place on medium high heat. Add the onions, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, stir in the garlic and red peppers, and fry for another 5 minutes. Add the squash, and continue frying another 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, lift the vegetables out of the pot and into a medium bowl, leaving as much of the oil in the pot as possible. Top the pot off with the remaining oil. Add the peas, zucchini, eggplant, and tofu to the hot oil, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return the contents of the bowl to the pot. Add the potato, tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir well, then pour in the water, or just enough to half-cover the vegetables. Cover with a lid, and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes. Taste the vegetables, and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, preheat the oven to 400F. Use a slotted spoon to gently lift the vegetables from the pot and into a large, deep roasting pan to make a layer about 1 1/4 inches thick. Pour the liquid over the vegetables and place in the oven to cook for 30 minutes. At this point all the vegetables should be very soft, and most of the liquid evaporated. Garnish with basil, and serve.

Serves 4

Crustless Spinach, Onion and Feta Quiche (original recipe posted on sparkpeople.com)

My sister, Bethany, sent me this recipe from sparkpeople.com. Click here for the original recipe.

Honestly, my tweaks were so minor, I am essentially re-posting sparkpeople.com’s quiche recipe. (As well as their photo.) I added tomatoes, used soy milk instead of non-fat, and replaced half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. (I KNOW we should only be eating whole wheat flour, but, to me, it just doesn’t taste as good. I’m sorry!)

There are 5 great things about this recipe: 1) if you slice it into 4 servings, it has less than 250 calories, 2) It’s as easy as mixing a few ingredients and throwing them in the oven. 3) you can use whatever veggies you want and love, essentially making a brand new quiche every time you bake it. 4) It tastes as good cold, the next day as it does right out of the oven. 5) It’s soooooo good! Thanks, Bethany!

Crustless Spinach, Onion and Feta Quiche

Technically crustless but the addition of flour makes for a delicious crusty bottom and sides to this quiche.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, diced

6 oz (about 1 large handful) spinach

1 roma tomato, diced

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup eggbeaters

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

pinch cayanne pepper

1 1/3 cup soy milk

1/2 cup feta cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400F.
Lightly grease a 10-inch pie pan
Coat a medium frying pan with a good amount of cooking spray. Add diced onion and cayenne pepper. Salt and pepper to taste, and cook over medium-high heat until translucent and tender (about 3 minutes.) Add in fresh spinach and cook until just wilted. Set aside to cool for a few minutes
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, then stir in spinach-onion mixture, as well as diced tomatoes.
Pour quiche base into prepared pan. Top with feta cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until center is set and the outside edge is golden brown.
Let set for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie

For Labor Day weekend, Brian and I had two of our closest friends over for burgers, beer, and catching up. I made turkey burgers for the ladies, while Brian made a more sinful burger for the gents.

I was surprised a couple of days later — bent over, with my head in my fridge, staring at  leftover ground turkey — at how rarely I eat ground turkey. It’s delicious, nutritious, and inexpensive. I’m not sure why it took me so long to get on the ground turkey bandwagon, but I am officially on. This recipe was a result of having ground turkey, a handful of leftover veggies, and a couple sweet potatoes lying around. I hadn’t eaten Shepard’s Pie in years, so I adapted a recipe I found posted on simplyrecipes.com by Elise Bauer. Click here for the original.

Don’t be put off by the photos. Shepard’s Pie is one of those meals that doesn’t look like much, but I promise each bite is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

1 onion chopped

1-2 cups vegetables – chopped carrots, corn, peas (your choice)

2 large yams

Nonstick no calorie butter spray

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4-1/2 cup soy milk at your discrepancy

Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

METHOD

Peel and quarter yams, boil in salted water until fork tender (about 20 minutes).

While the yams are cooking, coat large frying pan with large amount of butter spray.

Sauté onions in butter spray until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas at the end of the cooking of the onions. Add additional cooking spray each time a new vegetable is added.

Add ground turkey, and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add half a cup of water, and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes.

Mash yams in bowl with soy milk. (Truthfully, yams are velvety enough by themselves, that you don’t have to  add milk, but you absolutely can if you’d like.) Season with salt and  pepper to taste.

Place turkey mix in baking dish. Distribute mashed yams on top, and sprinkle with Panko. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely.

Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Yield: Serves four

For Better or For Worse

I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with food. When Brian and I started dating years ago, we were working 12-15 hour days , and getting home between 10 and 11 at night. Back then, I refused to eat dinner with him for fear of gaining even one pound.

“Are you sure?” he’d prod, “You have to be starving.”

I always answered that I’d had a late lunch, which was usually true. Even so, a 3 o’clock lunch does not leave a girl satisfied at 10 at night — especially after working fifteen hours…

It was when Brian and I moved in together that my fear of food morphed  into a passionate love affair. Brian’s an amazing home cook. He makes simple vegetables taste indulgent. He takes care and time with each aspect of a dish. Cooking is his art and his outlet.

Of course Brian’s one of those ridiculous specimen’s that couldn’t gain five pounds if his life depended on it. The first time I saw the oil and butter responsible for making a simple vegetable so enticing, I was horrified, but the lure of my new lover was strong, and my fear of fat quickly disappeared. I, unfortunately, am not one of those ridiculous specimen’s that has trouble gaining weight. After two years of living together, I’d gained 40 pounds! The following year I lost 50 pounds, and it’s been a roller coaster ever since.

Part of what I find difficult about eating well is how much providing or presenting a great meal to those he loves means to Brian. I am in no way blaming Brian for any weight gain. Food is simply an important part of our relationship. A lot of our time is spent cooking together. Brian finds joy in teaching and sharing. There’s laughter and love when we cook. I needed to find a way to end my unhealthy affair with food without losing the joy in food itself, as well as what it provides in my relationship.

The answer came from Brian: cook together, and make two versions of everything! He still has both his outlet, and his time to provide through food by teaching me, and brainstorming with me on how to, “health up,” the meal without losing flavor or satisfaction. I hate diety foods. I want rich, flavorful meals. But I also want the waistline I had after losing 50 pounds, and I believe we’ve created some damn good dishes!

This blog is for everyone out there who has the same feelings regarding food and health. We may all have different back stories, and reasons, but the desire is the same — we want taste, we want satisfaction, and we want health.

I’ll share recipes that have been, “healthed up,” but don’t taste like it, always, of course, giving credit if the recipe is inspired by a chef, cookbook, or online site. I can’t wait! I hope people love them as much as I do, and find as much joy and comfort in them as I have.