Today’s recipe is a simple, hearty  and healthy dinner salad that boasts high protein and high fiber.  If you skip the added chicken, you could serve this as a pretty and creative side dish.  Or sub tofu for chicken, and create a vegan one-dish meal.  In any case, this’ll cost you only 30 minutes of your time, counter to table.

Orange Chicken Quinoa

Boil 1 1/4 c. water in a small saucepan.  Add rinsed quinoa, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for approximately 12 minutes, or until the water is absorbed by the quinoa.  Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes and then fluff.

While the quinoa is cooking, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.  Trim the scallions and cut into 1-inch pieces.  Saute the chicken and scallions in a skillet with 1 t. of olive oil, until the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Meanwhile, make the dressing.  Cut 1 inch off each end of the orange.  Squeeze the orange ends into a small bowl, to get about 2 T. of juice.  Whisk together the orange juice, the lemon juice, 3 T. olive oil, salt and pepper.  Peel the remainder of the orange and slice it very thinly.

Add the chicken mixture, the dressing, sliced orange and the pistachios to the quinoa and toss.  Taste for seasoning – add more lemon juice, salt and/or pepper if desired.  Arrange 1 c. of salad greens on each of four plates, garnish each with 1/4 of the chicken mixture.

Serves 4.

Adapted from the Nutrition Action Healthletter, April 2009

Tip: Are you using non-stick cookware?  It’s more than suspect from a health-standpoint, it could be downright dangerous.  Did you know that a properly seasoned cast iron frying pan is virtually non-stick?  The secret is to heat it up before you begin cooking your food.  The 1 teaspoon of oil in this recipe more than coated my cast iron frying pan and created a non-stick surface for my chicken – all for only 10 extra calories per serving.  And bonus!  If you use cast iron cookware, you’ll get a little extra iron in your diet.

I suspect that lima beans aren’t on your top 10 favorite veggies list, but who knows?  You might surprise me.  I have a great recipe for you today that that just might convince the haters out there . . . trust me, OK?  This is easy, very tasty, and very quick – 15 minutes max from counter to table.  How’s that for incentive to try?

Lima Bean & Feta Salad

Cook the limas according to package directions until just tender – do not overcook them!  Drain them and set them aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy frying pan and add the tomatoes and garlic.  Cook over medium-high heat until the tomatoes are beginning to color.  Add the feta to the pan and toss the ingredients together for about 1 minute.  Tip into a large bowl and mix with the beans, dill and olives.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

This serves 4-6 as a side dish, but it’s a great light lunch or dinner if you serve it with some nice fresh Syrian bread.   How do you tell it’s fresh bread?  Do like all the little old ladies do and squeeze it . . . if it feels soft and slightly springy, it’s the good stuff.  Don’t be shy!

Cabbage is in season!  Cabbage is sturdy, abundant, inexpensive, plus it’s tasty, and a nutritional powerhouse.  Do you like cabbage?  Have you ever eaten cabbage in anything but cole slaw?  If you’re ambivalent about it, I urge you to give cabbage another shot. 

There are three main types of cabbage: green, red and Savoy. Both green and red cabbage have smooth-textured leaves. Savoy cabbage leaves are more ruffled and yellowish-green (that’s it in the photo above).  Red and green cabbage have a more defined taste and a crunchy texture, whereas Savoy’s is more delicate.  Savoy is my favorite.

What should you look for in a cabbage?  Choose cabbage that’s firm and dense with shiny, crisp, colorful leaves without cracks, bruises and blemishes.  There should be only a few outer loose leaves attached to the stem. You should also know that pre-cut cabbage, either halved or shredded, loses its valuable vitamin C content.

When you get home, keep your cabbage cold:  this helps keep it fresh and retain its nutrients.  Put the whole head in a plastic bag in the crisper of your fridge.  Red and green cabbage will keep this way for about 2 weeks, Savoy will keep for about 1 week.

Here are three of my favorite ways to prepare cabbage – two involve curry powder, but each has a completely different taste.  Each of these recipes was originally intended as a side dish, but I eat each of them as a main course often.  Give them a try, and feel free to post your own in the comments.

 Curried Cabbage

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the curry powder and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in the onion and cook until it’s translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  Add the cabbage and cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is wilted and soft to the bite, about 7 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and yogurt.  Salt to taste.

Serves 4.  Chickpeas are a great addition for added protein and fiber, as are chunks of well-pressed extra-firm tofu.  If adding tofu, I’d saute that in the oil/curry powder mixture ’til it’s crispy, then remove it from the pan before adding the onions, etc.  You might need a touch more oil in this case because the tofu will sop up your initial oil.  Adapted from Eating Well Magazine.

Curried Red Cabbage Slaw

Combine the cabbage, bell pepper and onion in bowl and toss to mix.  In a small pan, combine the vinegar and sugar and heat to dissolve the sugar;  pour over the vegetables and leave to cool slightly.  Combine yogurt and curry powder and mix this into the cabbage mixture.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Mix in raisins.  Chill.  Just before serving, pour off any accumulated liquid and briefly stir the slaw again.

Serves 4.  Adapted from The Half Hour Cook by Jenni Fleetwood.

Sauteed Savoy Cabbage With Walnuts

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the cabbage and saute, stirring frequently, until soft to the bite.  If the cabbage starts to brown and/or the pan starts to get too dry, lower the heat and add approximately 1-2 T. of chicken broth.  Remove from heat, stir in walnuts and salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 2 but is easily doubled.  Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten.

It’s getting chilly more often here in Massachusetts, and my tastes are transitioning from cool crisp salads to warm comfort foods.  That pasta I posted  a couple weeks ago is great, but you can’t eat rich foods like that all the time – you need to balance those out with some lighter selections.

This is a recipe adapted from one in Eating Well Magazine.  Eating Well is great – if you haven’t seen it, you might want to try to snag yourself a copy to check it out.  Their emphasis is on whole foods and seasonal ingredients, but also on relatively quick preparations (most are ready in 45-minutes or fewer).  Nutrition information is included for each recipe.  A subscription is a great way to keep yourself from getting into a rut with your cooking and might encourage you to try new combinations and ingredients.  There’s also an iPhone app, available for $2.99, which looks great for meal ideas on the fly.

This “salad” really isn’t “salady” at all, but rather a warm mixup of sausage, arugula and red potatoes.  Despite the ingredients, it cooks up quickly into a healthy, hearty weeknight dinner, perfect for these cool autumn days.  Enjoy!

Warm Chicken & Potato Salad

Bring 2-inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Place potatoes in a steamer basket and steam, covered, until just cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl and add arugula, tent with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, spray a medium skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat.  Add the sausage and cook until browned and heated through, about 5 minutes.  Add this to the potato/arugula mixture and re-cover.  Save the pan!

Using the same skillet in which you just cooked the sausage, add vinegar, maple syrup and the mustard, and scrape up any browned bits.  Gradually whisk in the oil.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until the arugula is wilted.  Season with pepper.

Serves 4.  Great with some crusty bread – I often get a bake-at-home loaf or French rolls (better portion control with these!) from the freezer at Whole Foods.

This is another super quick recipe. I found the inspiration for this from a thread on Chowhound, which, if you don’t use it already, is a GREAT resource for home-cooking ideas (also for area-specific dining ideas).

Mexican Quinoa

Cook quinoa according to the package directions, using the broth (not water).

Meanwhile, heat the kidney beans with the salsa.   Add the spices above, or tweak to taste.  Add the heated salsa mixture to the cooked quinoa and stir in the green onion and spinach until the spinach is wilted.

Serves 4.

This is a staple at our house.  If you use prepared ingredients, it’ll take you approximately 20 minutes to get this from counter to table!  That’s less time than ordering take-out, and this is a low-cal, high-fiber one-dish meal that’s fresh and flavorful.  You can’t say that about anything at your local pizza house, can you?

Chicken With Broccoli & Bulgur

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.  Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and the garlic and cook until chicken is almost cooked through, approximately 2-3 minutes.  Stir in broth, bulgur and lemon peel.  Arrange the broccoli florets on top.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for 7-10 minutes until the chicken, broccoli and bulgur are tender.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 1.5-cup servings.

Adapted from the American Heart Association Quick and Easy Cookbook.

Not everyone reading this blog wants to follow my current low-cal craze, so if you’ve got the urge to splurge, especially since the temps have dropped here in the Northeast, here’s a recipe for you to cook up this weekend.

My husband’s birthday was last week, and because it was chilly and rainy on Saturday, I indulged D’s love for my baked pasta.  My master recipe is below, but know that this is an easy one to riff off of if you want to.  Does your crew like mushrooms?  Quarter some nice buttons and throw them in.  Other veggies?  Zucchini perhaps?  Would be great in here.  Love a particular type of cheese?  Add more of that, please!   This is the basic version, which is what I usually make.  We have a nice spinach salad with Dijon vinaigrette on the side, and of course, crusty bread from Iggy’s.  Bon appetit!

Sarah’s Pasta Bake

Preheat oven to 350.

Remove the sausages from their casings and add them to a large skillet that’s been lightly coated with a little olive oil.  Start breaking the sausage apart to brown it, and once it’s gotten going, add the onion and garlic.  Cook this until the sausage is cooked through and the onions are translucent.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until it’s a little less than al dente – it should taste slightly under-done.  It’ll cook up more in the oven with the sauce, and you don’t want soggy pasta, do you?  As a certain 6-year-old would say, “eeeeeeew!”  Drain this and return it to the pan.

Add the sausage/onion/garlic mixture to the pasta along with all your sauce and mix the whole mess together gently in the pot. 

Spray a 9X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.  Put a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta mixture into the pan, then scatter some of your cheeses over the top.  Add more pasta mixture, more cheese, etc. until you use up both – it really doesn’t matter if you have cheese on top or not.

Cover this with foil and throw it in the oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until it seems to be getting warmed through.  Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes or so, or until the top gets browned and crusty.

Remove from oven and eat it up!  This’ll serve approximately 6 people as an entree, depending on the appetites of those you’re feeding.

A couple of notes:  You can assemble this ahead of time, cover it, and put it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.  Remove it about 1 hour before you want to bake it and let the casserole come to room temperature.  Follow the baking directions above . . . this is great for get-togethers where you actually want to visit with your guests.  

I have two favorite sources for sausage.  Either DePasquale’s in Newton, or the garlic rosemary sausages from Formaggio in Cambridge.  Both of these are intensely flavorful sausages – you get a lot of bang for your buck with these.  Both are housemade and therefore super fresh.  But use whatever’s your favorite in here, and if you want to make your life even easier, buy bulk so you don’t have to peel off the casings.

Some of you who know me know that I’m currently sporting this crazy brace – I have terrible tendinitis in my left leg/ankle and this thing is supposed to give my leg a rest and help decrease the inflammation.  The jury’s still out on whether it’s making any difference in the tendon, but the verdict otherwise is that it’s a huge pain in the a** to wear around.  It weighs over 5 lbs. on its own, and comes up to just below my knee.

For some, takeout would be the way to go, but now, more than ever, I want a healthy meal at dinnertime.  I can hardly exercise at all, and, well, I’m “of a certain age” such that exercising is pretty much a necessity – unless I want to show off everything I eat on my lower-half.  So I’m trying to find more convenient dinners that minimize prep but which also emphasize healthy components.  And where do I go for inspiration?  Trader Joe’s, of course.  [Read more →]