After I let my ego out the back door, I do realize my version of hummus is just way too thick and heavy, especially to two small boys who are used to creamy and smooth (thank you food industry).  But I don’t want to add so much additional oil (or other ingredients the industry has at its disposal) to mine that it calorically defeats the purpose of enjoying this healthy treat on a regular basis.

Enter: Susan Schady’s hummus.  My dear friend skipped through my front door a few weeks back, proudly displaying a big container of her 100th (maybe 10th?) attempt at hummus: she had finally reached the pinnacle in the homemade hummus realm! And, being the wonderful gal she is, she was willing to share it with all of us.  Thank you Sue – you are the best!

By the way, she sent me some wonderful snap peas and celery to dip into it – making it even more the good-for-you snack we should all reach for!

Hummus

Not-So-”Schady” Hummus

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic
1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, plus 1/4 cup of the liquid
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

In a blender, pulse the garlic.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until creamy.  If you want a “thinner” hummus, add a bit more water (or olive oil).   Serve with an assortment of crudite.

I’m really picky about granola.  Most are loaded with too many added sugars, and to me that defeats the whole purpose of trying to eat a healthy breakfast.  I buy my granola from Our Local Foods.  It is by far the best “store-bought” (they make it in-house from owner Maria’s secret recipe) granola I have ever tasted.  I order it through Kitchen Table Cuisine every week.  It’s not overly sweet (honey is the only added sugar, second to last in ingredients list), and full of heart-healthy oats, flax meal, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and other tasty ingredients that make it worth the $8.95 price.

However you want to layer it, give this a try at your next breakfast.

Breakfast parfait

Breakfast Parfait

Serves 4

1 16 oz tub organic nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt (or use plain yogurt and add a smidgen of vanilla extract – will cut some sugar)

2 1/2 cups of an assortment of cut-up fruit: banana, mango, pineapple, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry

1 1/2 cups granola (homemade recipe or from Our Local Foods – see link above)

In a large bowl (or 4 individual bowls), spoon 1/2 of the yogurt.  Top with 1/2 of the fruit, layering as you’d like over the yogurt.  Top with 1/2 the granola.  Add a second layer of yogurt, then fruit, then granola.  Enjoy!

Nutritional Breakdown (per serving):

Calories 260

Total fat 5 g

Saturated fat 0 g

Cholesterol 5 mg

Sodium 80 mg

Carbohydrate 40 g

Dietary fiber 5 g

Protein 15 g

I served the roasted cabbage with some soy-sesame marinated salmon.

Roasted Napa Cabbage with Sesame Dressing

1 head Napa cabbage, (about 1 1/2 pounds), rinsed, drained and cut into bite sized pieces (tough bottom of stalks removed)

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 Tbsp Mirin rice wine

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

3 scallions, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

5 dashes hot sauce, or to taste

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss cabbage and canola oil in a large roasting pan and spread out in an even layer. Roast until beginning to wilt and brown, about 15 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.

Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl.  Drizzle over cabbage and toss.  Serve immediately.

Fresh Napa Cabbage in Bite Size Pieces

Roasted Napa Cabbage

Roasted Napa Cabbage with Salmon

Last week Sue brought over the broccoli soup I posted several months back. It’s been a big hit with friends for ease in preparation and kid-approval factor.  You must give it a try!  Along with the soup she sent some yummy rotisserie chicken and this salad – which is so quick and easy to make you have no excuse to not give it a try.

Greens with goat cheese and strawberries

Greens with Goat Cheese and Strawberries

Recipe by Susan Schady

1 bag mixed greens

1 log creamy goat cheese (approximately 1/2 ounce per person)

1 cup quartered  fresh strawberries

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1 bottle Brianna’s Blush White Wine Vinaigrette

Arrange goat cheese, strawberries and pine nuts over greens and dress with approximately 1-2 Tbsp of Brianna’s dressing per person.  Enjoy!

I’m quite certain the basmati and chickpea dish was not meant to be served over the salad, but I couldn’t help myself!  I LOVE topping my greens with a grain-based salad – whether at room temp or warm.  I enjoyed this flavorful dish at room temperature, but I am sure it tastes equally as amazing heated through. Denise even provided us with additional curry should our taste buds have requested, but I thought she nailed it as-is.  Thanks Denise!

Chickpea basmati rice and kale salad

Chickpea Basmati Rice Salad

Ingredients (play around with this as you like)

2 cups cooked basmati rice

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 bottle masala sauce (or homemade if you choose)

Mix all ingredients together and flavor with additional curry if needed – enjoy!

Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad

Any of your favorite vinaigrette dressing will do with this dish.  Denise made a wonderfully clean vinaigrette.  Something light and/or citrusy works best with this.

The kale and brussels sprouts are finely sliced to create more of a slaw – you may want to use a mandolin or for the Brussels sprouts, pulse in your food processor.  I have another Brussels Sprouts slaw recipe here.  Toss finely chopped greens together and enjoy!

Enter my amazing friends!  I cannot begin to express how thankful I am for the friends in my life/my whole family’s lives!  In such a down and out state, my friends have been there to drive me and my children virtually everywhere, have been bringing me yummy, healthy, soul-satisfying meals for THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT, and doing anything and everything to make sure my family and myself are taken care of.  I find it heartwarming to know that I am surrounded by the most amazing women in the world!  THANK YOU – to everyone!

As I begin to blog more frequently and heal, I want to share with all my followers the meals they’ve been sending to me.  I’m going to start with one by my friend and neighbor Cynthia.  Here is her email to me below, as to why she chose this recipe, what cookbook it’s from, and where she even got the beef to cook it.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.  It was just what the doctor ordered

From Cynthia: “This is rom my favorite cookbook – The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook by Anna Pump.  Whenever I think of something to bring to someone recovering from illness or having a baby, I think of this recipe.  I guess the rich beef stew seems so nourishing to me.  I’ve copied the recipe here straight from the book with her notes (and my notes are below.)”

Beef Stew with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Beef Stew with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

A stew rich with wine, pungent with sun-dried tomatoes, and perfect for cool evenings.

1/4 pound lean bacon strips, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 pounds stewing beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
3 cups peeled and finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons peeled and minced garlic (about 4 large cloves)
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
3 1/2 cups red Burgundy wine
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 bay leaves, broken in half
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
32 small white onions, skins left on
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound small mushrooms, stems removed
Thyme sprigs (for garnish)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Brown the bacon in a large saute’ pan.  Transfer to a plate and set aside.  Discard all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat.  Add half the beef to the fat in the saute’ pan.  Brown over medium-high heat.  Transfer the browned meat to a large casserole and repeat this procedure with the remaining meat.
Place the onion and garlic in the same pan.  Brown, over medium heat, stirring a few times.  Add the flour and stir until blended with the onions.  Add the wine, stock, and tomatoes.  Stir to scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper.  Bring the liquid to a boil.  Then pour it over the meat in the casserole.  Bake the stew, covered, for 2 1/2 hours.
When the stew is almost ready, place the small unpeeled white onions in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes and drain.  When they are cool enough to handle, remove their skins and set aside.
Melt the butter in a skillet and saute’ the mushroom caps over high heat until lightly browned and heated through, about 3 to 4 minutes.
To serve, add the bacon, onions, and mushrooms to the stew.  Stir carefully to mix them in.  Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Yields: 6 to 8 servings
Preparation time: 3 hours

Anna Pump’s notes: This stew can be made 3 days in advance, then reheated in a 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes.  I usually serve it with Barley Pilaf followed by a crisp green salad and a platter of assorted cheeses.  For dessert I find that fresh Raspberry Ice Cream and a plate of Madeleines are a perfect finale to this hearty dinner.

My notes: For the beef, I used McCutchen Farm’s grass-fed sirloin steaks.  I only use about 1 cup chopped onion.  I chop the sun-dried tomatoes coarsely.  I find I usually can add more chicken stock, say 3 cups or so, to stretch it a little.   I don’t add that many of the small white onions: seems like the recipe has a lot of onion!  I like to serve it over rice with a nice green salad and crusty bread.

Thank you Cynthia for such a wonderful and satisfying meal!

Fried egg, tomato, spinach and veggie sausage on brown rice wrap

While searching for my usual Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain wraps (YUM!) at Whole Foods, I happened upon a product that, while it may have been available for some time now, was new to me: Food for Life Brown Rice tortillas.  I wanted to bring them home and give them a try, in the hopes of providing my gluten-sensitive friends and clients with another gluten-free product to try.

At first glance, the tortillas appeared to look like most wheat-based flour tortillas.  However, when I (carefully because they stuck a bit) unwrapped one tortilla from the package, the tortilla had a bit of a rubbery feel and plastic sheen.  My first attempt at the tortilla was to make a cold veggie wrap.  When I attempted to roll the tortilla it literally split in half.  If there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s a tortilla that cracks and breaks, spilling the insides all over.  I chucked the brown rice tortillas and opted to make my wrap with the sprouted grain tortillas.  Note to self: do not serve these cold.

Not being one who gives up easily, the next morning I thought I’d make an egg sandwich for breakfast.  While my egg was frying on the griddle, I heated the brown rice tortilla.  Now I was on to something!  I filled the tortilla with a veggie sausage patty (Morningstar Farms), a fried egg, some spinach and tomato and it rolled up beautifully!

Although I’ll be honest I believe this product was more trouble than it was worth (e.g., sometimes I’m just too lazy to heat a tortilla), it still had a nice flavor and when warmed, some flexibility to it so that you can actually wrap it up.

With 130 calories, 2.5g total fat, 24 g carb, 2 g fiber and 2 g protein – Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas are certainly an acceptable and similarly healthy alternative to wheat-based tortillas.  If you have a gluten intolerance, it’s a great way to enjoy your favorite burrito, wrap or soft taco in.

Kacie's Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad

Kacie’s Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad

Serves 6

1 pound cooked chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces (I poached mine in chicken broth to add flavor)

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 medium red onion, diced

1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries (more if you like)

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds (more if you like)

Dressing:

zest of 1 orange

juice of 1 to 1 1/2 lemons

2-3 Tbsp Duke’s lite mayo

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Toss chicken, celery, onion, cranberries and almonds in a bowl.

2.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and mix into chicken salad.  Season with salt and pepper.

Serve in a whole wheat pita or tortilla with lettuce and tomato, or like I did in a Bibb lettuce wrap.

Nutrition Facts (per serving):

Calories 210

Total fat 8

Saturated fat 1 g

Cholesterol 65 mg

Sodium 140 mg (more if you add more salt)

Carbohydrate 12 g

Dietary fiber 2 g

Protein 25 g

Shrimp 'n Shells

This is a quick, easy, and tasty weeknight meal that can be made under 30 minutes.  The whole wheat shells offer ample dietary fiber and a nice texture and the shrimp a good low-saturated fat source of protein.  Pair with a dark leafy green salad and you’re on your way to a healthful meal everyone will enjoy!

Shrimp ‘n Shells

Serves 4

6 oz (1/2 box) whole wheat pasta shells

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 14.5 oz can organic diced tomatoes

1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved

handful fresh basil, chopped

2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

red pepper flakes (optional)

1.  Cook pasta according to package directions, preferably al dente.  Drain and set aside.

2.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle with olive oil.  Saute shrimp for two minutes, add tomatoes and olives.  Cook until vegetables heated through and shrimp pink, about 5 minutes.  Add cooked pasta, toss in basil and feta and enjoy!  It’s that easy.

Nutrition Facts (per serving):

Calories 380

Total fat 11 g

Saturated fat 2.5 g

Cholesterol 175 mg

Sodium 850 mg

Carbohydrate 36 g

Dietary fiber 7 g

Protein 34 g