Recipe: Zucchini Sauté

This recipe is a modified form of a zucchini sauté from the 17 Day Diet cookbook -- I love how the lemon brightens up the dish. 


Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt substitute
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3 TBS Parmesan cheese

To Make:

• Put pine nuts into a dry skillet and heat over a low flame, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes. Careful not to burn them! Once they are done, set aside.
• Grate the zucchini and use a strainer to squeeze out the excess water.
• Spray the skillet with nonstick spray and put over medium heat until the surface of the skillet is warm.
• Add the grated zucchini and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. 
• Stir in salt substitute, pepper, and lemon zest, and garlic powder. Continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes. 
• Transfer zucchini to serving dish and stir in pine nuts and cheese. 

Serves: 4

Each Serving: 80 calories, 5g carbs, 6g fat, 4g protein, 614mg potassium, 67mg sodium

Variations:

• If you slice the zucchini into longer strips instead of grating it, the dish takes on more of a "spaghetti" texture.
• My friend suggested that this dish begs for a bit of a cream sauce. If you choose to do so, I would recommend no more than 1-2 TBS of light sour cream, just to mimic an Alfredo sauce.

Recipe: Mushroom and Fresh Basil Frittata

I love eggs for breakfast because they're delicious and they keep me full until lunch. The great thing about this recipe, because it makes four servings, is it makes a great brunch or "Breakfast-for-Dinner" Entree.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Liquid Egg Whites
• 3 Cups Sliced Mushrooms
• 1/3 Cup Skim Milk
• ½ Cup Whole Fresh Basil Leaves
• ½ Cup 2% Four Cheese Blend (Shredded Cheese)
• 1 TBS Olive Oil
• Salt Substitute and Pepper to taste

To Make:

• Preheat oven to 350° F
•  Sauté mushrooms (in olive oil) in a 10 inch non-stick, oven-safe skillet over a medium flame. (This should take 5 minutes)
• While mushrooms sauté, combine egg whites, milk, salt substitute and pepper.
• Chop fresh basil and add to egg white mixture
• Add ¼ cup of shredded cheese to your egg mixture
• Pour egg mixture over mushrooms in skillet, and cook in oven for 20 minutes
• Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the eggs and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the eggs have set

Servings: 4

Each Serving: 149 calories, 4 g carbs, 6 g fat, 19 g protein, 323 mg sodium

Obviously, you don’t have to use basil and mushrooms when making frittatas – there’s hundreds of variations you could try. You could go crazy with ingredients, or pair it down to a few and let those flavors really shine through.

Here are a few combos to get you started – just keep in mind, the nutrition facts for this recipe will change if you use different “add-ins”:

• Onions and Swiss
• Tomatoes, Spinach, and Feta
• Bacon and Cheddar
• Ham, Green peppers, (and a dash of hot sauce on the side)

Happy Cooking!

The US has the Saltiest Fast Food in the World

I think we can all come together and admit that fast food is horrendously unhealthy for you. It's processed, has very little nutritional benefit, and has a ridiculous amount of salt. But is this universally true? Is fast food "better" for you in some countries than in others?

The Canadian Medical Association published a study in its journal on Monday which stated that not only does the salt content in fast food vary substantially depending on the type of food, the chain, and the country in which it is produced, but most alarmingly, that the US has the saltiest food in the world.

In the study, "The variability of reported salt levels in fast foods across six countries: opportunities for salt reduction", nutritional data on the sodium content of six international fast food chains in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, the UK, and the US was studied. Average salt contents were compared between chains, and between countries. 

The study found that salt contents across the surveyed countries varied drastically. For instance, while chicken products in the UK contained 1.1 g of salt per 100 g serving, the same portion of chicken in the US contained 1.8 g of salt. 

Even as a non-fast-food-eater, I found the results of this study alarming. A long term high-sodium diet is lethal, and can lead to high blood pressure, hypertension, heart disease, and kidney failure.

I do not like products with high sodium contents, so I opt to use Morton's Salt Substitute in place of salt in all my recipes. Instead of table salt, or sodium chloride, Morton's salt substitute is potassium chloride which is much better for your body, and tastes the same. 

I will be discussing more about sodium, (and potassium, my favorite macro-nutrient after protein) in later posts, but I'm curious what my readers think of this study. 

Recipe: Easy Baked Chicken

I've mentioned it before, but I eat a lot of chicken. While salmonella once caused me to shy away from this protein powerhouse, I am proud to say I have mastered the art of juicy, oven baked chicken breasts.

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast 
• Salt Substitute
• Pepper
• 1tsp. Olive Oil

To Make:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Place chicken on aluminum foil-covered baking sheet
• Lightly coat the chicken breast in olive oil (which will allow it to brown nicely) and season with the salt substitute and pepper. 
• Bake chicken for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken's juices run clear when you slice into it with a knife.

Now, if you want to mix things up a bit, I posted a link to an article from Men's Health magazine a few weeks ago, which listed 50 different ways (and seasoning combos) for chicken. 

Enjoy!

Recipe: National Pound Cake Day

Happy National Pound Cake day, Fellow Foodies! Pound cake is traditionally made with a 1:1:1:1 ratio of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, but I’ve included a healthier alternative below in honor of the holiday!

Enjoy!

Won’t Make You Gain a “Pound” Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat cake flour
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt (Or salt substitute)
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 TBS light corn syrup
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 6 large egg whites
• 2 cups sugar divided
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 325 °F. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all purpose-flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk whole eggs, buttermilk, oil, corn syrup, and vanilla in another medium bowl until well-blended.
3. Beat egg whites in a third bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until light and foamy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff glossy peaks form.
4. Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy. Add the remaining sugar and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes. Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the blended butter and cream cheese – until smooth. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites with a rubber spatula until just smooth (and no white streaks remain). Fold in the remaining egg whites. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake pound cake 1 hour to 1 hour and ten minutes – until a skewer inserted into it comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes; loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto the rack to finish cooling. Let cool at least an hour before slicing.

Serves: 20

Per serving: 261 calories, 12g fat, 35 g carbs, 5g protein, 167 mg sodium (if using regular salt), 73 mg potassium

For comparison,traditional pound cake serving using 1:1:1:1 ratio : 355 calories, 21g fat, 27g carbs, 4g protein, 162mg sodium, 39g potassium