The Most Flavorful Dish! (Recipe Included)
As you may already know I competed against two other gourmands in a celebrity cook-off this June 26. Wow, that was an exciting day. Though I’ve cooked for family, friends and my nutritional consulting clientele, the style and heat of competitive cooking is really something else! I managed to walk away with “Most Flavorful Dish’ prize, but the best prize of all was making some great new friends along the way.
At the end of this post I’m going to give away the recipe to my winning dish: “Eggplant Stuffed with Minted Spinach Lemon and Feta Salad.” It’s very easy to prepare at home, so please try it.
Here are some live photos tweeted from Veria TV:
Eggplant Stuffed with Minted Spinach Lemon and Feta Salad
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Fresh Mint Leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons Low-Fat Feta, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Aubergine Eggplant, halved lengthwise, stems on
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 cups Baby Spinach Leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 teaspoons Pine nuts
Directions
Using a paring knife or serrated spoon, spoon out the flesh of the eggplant (Aubergine eggplants are also known as the small Italian eggplants), leaving the skin of the 2 halves in tact as shells. Dice the flesh of the eggplant into small cubes.
Sprinkle the kosher salt on the the cubes of eggplant and place in a colander, and also sprinkle the inside of the eggplant shells with salt and place them face down on a paper towel. Let sit for 10 minutes to get rid of some of the moisture of the eggplant.
Press the eggplant in the colander down using a paper towel and then gently wipe the inside of the shells with a paper towel as well to remove the salt and moisture.
Rub the outside of the eggplant shells with a tablespoon of olive oil all over the skin.
Combine the lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt, and mustard together and mix well. Put this lemon dressing to the side.
Using 2 separate saute pans, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in each. In one of the pans, also add 2 tablespoons of water. Place the eggplant shells in the pan that has the water and oil, skin side down. Cover the pan and let cook on a low light for 10 minutes to soften the eggplant skins. After 10 minutes, remove from the pan, blot any excess oil with a paper towel, and let sit to cool for 5 minutes.
In the other saute pan, add the garlic and onion, and cook for 2 minutes just until the onion begins to look translucent. Next add the diced eggplant from the colander, and cook another 3-5 minutes until the eggplant begins to soften. Next add the spinach and cook for one minute until it begins to wilt.
Remove the eggplant, onion, and spinach mixture to a bowl, and stir in the mint. Tent the entire mixture with foil and let sit for 2 minutes. Using the same saute pan, add the pine nuts and roast for 2 minutes.
Pour the lemon dressing into the bowl with the vegetable mixture and mix well. Next add the crumbled feta and the roasted pine nuts, and again mix well.
Scoop the vegetable mixture into the two eggplant shells. Garnish each half with a sprig of mint and serve immediately.
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I’ll be in the ‘Unlock the Taste of Summer’ Cook-Off!
I’m so delighted to announce that I’ve been invited to join a cook-off judged by celebrity chef Andrea Beaman! This June 26th, two other bloggers and I will be cooking live for Veria & Whole Foods’ “A Taste of Summer Tour” at Glastonbury, Connecticut. We only have fifteen minutes to cook a dish – aren’t we supposed to have at least thirty minutes? Haha! But to be sure I’ll be going in there with pans blazing ready to do my culinary best.
You can actually join in on the action wherever you are. Just drop by Veria’s Facebook page at 11am ET on June 26th to see the contest streamed live, and tweet @Veriawellness with #unlocksummer to join the discussion.
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In mid-January of this year, the USDA disclosed new guidelines (the first major overhaul in 15 years) it intends to pass to make school lunches healthier. The current guidelines for school lunches are so high in sodium, fat and calories that it’s no wonder the U.S. nation has such a drastic problem with childhood obesity.
The new proposed guidelines do attempt to reduce sodium, establish calorie limits by age (calorie limits have never been imposed in the past), switch from whole milk to 1% milk, add more fruits and vegetables and reduce starches/starchy vegetables (e.g. French Fries). According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, over 32 million children eat school lunch, so clearly these menu choices have a huge impact on our children’s lives and the future of our country.
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Get Fit And Sexy While Surfing The Internet
After our previous article on how to turn television time into a more stimulating exercise (either physically or mentally), I was inspired to write about how to make computer time more healthy and how to lose calories while sitting. Most people complain that they spent a lot of time chained to their desks and want to know how they can add some fitness to their workdays.
First of all, are you following the rules of healthy computer usage? For every hour you sit down in front of your computer or at your desk, you should spend five minutes stretching your legs, preferably walking outside while thinking calm, gentle thoughts. These exercises you can do at your desk may not seem like much, but that can already add up to 30 minutes of exercise a day or more, while making you more productive at work, since stretching and centering exercises reduce the number of careless mistakes made at work.
Sphere: Related ContentCan Watching Television Help You Lose Weight?
Yes You Can Turn TV Time Into Workout Time!
Sometimes my son gets furious with my husband and me when we strictly limit his daily TV time because it means he must find other ways of amusing himself, which can range from anything to reading to playing outside. But we are strict about this rule because it keeps him more active and it strengthens his brain!
However, even with our nationwide obesity epidemic, there seems to be no escape from television. How do you reason with a child who desperately wants to watch Hannah Montana or Spongebob? How do you reason with adults, who after a day of work, want to sit down to a brainless activity like television to relax? Unless they want to exercise while watching TV? According to csun.edu, the average American spends a whopping four hours per day in front of the TV. Television appears to be, for most, a necessary evil, but it is eroding away our ability for healthy weight loss both physically and mentally.
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Smoothies: The Real Deal or Just a “Health” Trend?
In today’s busy world, the reality for many of us is that we have to eat on the go. Many busy people trying to stay healthy turn to smoothies as a solution for eating on the go. So the question remains, is this a kind solution for healthy living or not?
There is really no straight answer to this question because it depends where you get the smoothie and what ingredients are used to make it. Smoothies in many retail shops are made with added sugars, pre-sweetened fruit, high-fat yogurt/ice cream and unhealthy toppings. However, if you love your smoothies and want some tips on making them healthier, I invite you to read on…
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Delicious, Underutilized Oatmeal!
In my last post, we discussed how many eggs you should be eating and what your safe levels of cholesterol should be. Now what if I told you there was an actual breakfast food that could reduce cholesterol? Yes, it’s oatmeal! Oatmeal magically reduces the amount of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol in your body.
Oatmeal’s other fun factor is that it makes you feel full a lot longer, making it easy to reduce your calorie intake just by exchanging your normal greasy breakfast with this one-bowl wonder. Plus, it can be easily portable and a quick snap to prepare, making it a great option to bring to work.
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How Many Eggs Should You Be Eating?
Too much of a good thing?
One of the diets I skimmed through today is called “The Simple Pescatarian Diet” which adheres to some solid health principles, such as eating lots of fish, fresh fruit and dairy (mercury levels and lactose intolerance aside) but I feel its overuse of eggs is a tad questionable. The regimen advises the dieter to eat 6-7 scrambled eggs during the week, which led me to today’s blog question: how many eggs should you be eating?
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Master Yourself, And You Master The World
Through mass media and self-help diatribes, we’ve been bombarded with such tired adages as “Give it 100%!” or “Go all the way!” Lately I’ve been hearing such ridiculous statements such as “Give it 110%!” or even larger figures. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we can give a hundred percent to everything in our lives without becoming overwhelmed. We often divide ourselves up between a variety of roles, and mindless pep talk like that doesn’t really grasp the reality of the human condition. Sometimes you need to give it less than a hundred percent, and today I’d like to encourage you to do just that when you are eating: eat only until you are eighty percent full, a technique known by Japanese as hari hachi bu [1].
Continue Reading
Does Spicy Food Burn Fat?
Eat Hot Stuff. Become Hot Stuff. Nice!
My husband turned me on to spicy foods after we got married, and now I love turning on the heat!
But I Don’t Like Spicy Food!
If you don’t like spicy food, it may be just because you haven’t tried the right kind. Perhaps the spicy food you tried was far too spicy, or you tried to wash it down with water, which swirls the spiciness around your mouth and makes spicy food even hotter. If you would like to neutralize the spiciness, Isuggest that you eat your spicy dish with a glass of non-fat milk to lessen the sensation. If you still can’t take the heat, you can skip this article. But I warn you – you’re missing out on something delicious, not to mention something very potent for weight loss!
Sphere: Related Content- The Most Flavorful Dish! (Recipe Included)
- I’ll be in the ‘Unlock the Taste of Summer’ Cook-Off!
- Are The USDA’s New Lunch Program Guidelines Enough of an Improvement?
- Surfing The Internet To Lose Calories?
- Can Watching Television Help You Lose Weight?
- Smoothies: The Real Deal or Just a “Health” Trend?
- Magical Oatmeal: Your Best Breakfast Yet?
- How Many Eggs Should You Be Eating?
- Control Your Calories With Hari Hachi Bu
- Does Spicy Food Burn Fat?
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