Pesto Balsamic Mozzarella Panini

This was one of those days when I wasn't sure what to make for lunch, but just happened to have a group of tasty complimentary ingredients.  I usually have pesto, onion, lettuce, bread, and sun-dried tomatoes.  This day I happen to have some fresh mozzarella to tie it all together.  I would normally use whole wheat bread, but I happen to have some pesto bread from the farmer's market so I used that.  I sprinkled a little bit of balsamic vinegar on the bread for an extra touch of deliciousness.  I used a panini maker to toast it, but you can also turn the oven on to broil and turn once after about 2 minutes, then broil 1-2 more minutes.

Pesto Balsamic Mozzarella Panini

What you'll need:
- 2 tbsp pesto  (see recipe below)
- 2 pieces whole wheat bread
- 2 ounces part-skim mozzarella, sliced
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- thinly sliced red onion
- 1/4 cup spinach

Homemade Pesto
- 1/3 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 4 large parsley leaves (~1tsp)
- 8 fresh oregano leaves
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp each pepper and salt
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp pine nuts
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend.

Southwest Salad Packable Lunch

Whenever I make salad for dinner, I always chop up a little extra of whatever veggies I am cutting and put it in my salad lunch box.  If there is extra meet, then I will throw that in a baggie and bring it to work with the salad.  This makes it super easy to make a healthy lunch for the office.

On this particular evening,  I did not have any meat to put on the salad.  But  I have eggs at all times; and I had also just bought an avocado. So I hardboiled an egg.  Below in the "What to do" is what I describe to be the perfect way to hard boil an egg.  It is important not to overcook the egg, otherwise you get that grey/green ring around the yolk.  It is also important not to add a cold egg to hot water, otherwise it is likely to crack open.

I also cut the avocado open in half lengthwise and took out the pit.  I stuck some slices of lime on top of one half to prevent browning.  Then I held them together with a rubber band.  This makes it easy to take to work and cut up some avocado without any hassle or brown spots.  I pack salsa and plain Greek yogurt in two individual small containers and put those in my salad lunch box.  It's super easy and really low in calories.   You could also add on some rinsed black beans for some added fiber and protein.

Packable Southwest Salad Lunch

What you'll need:
- 1.5 cups salad greens
- 3 tbsp chopped green peppers
- 2 tbsp sliced red onion
- 2 tbsp salsa
- 2 tbsp 2% plain Greek yogurt
- 1 hardboiled egg
- 1/2 an avocado, chopped
- 1/4 tomato, chopped
- 1/2 lime

What to do:
1. Take an egg out of the fridge 10 minutes prior to starting to allow it to come to room temperature.  Put a small pot of water on the the stove and set to medium high heat.  After the water is warm, about 2-3 minutes, add the egg gently.  Let it stay on a low boil for 10 minutes.  Remove egg and place in cold water.

2. Cut 2-3 thin slices from the lime and place on the avocado.  Wrap in rubber bands to keep together.  Keep the rest of the lime for the salad.

3.  In a sealable container, place the salad greens, green pepper, and red onion,  Sprinkle with juice from the lime. Put the salsa and greek yogurt in two separate small containers.  Put a paper towel around the egg and place in a plastic bag; separately bag the tomato.  Refrigerate overnight or during the morning and enjoy an easy low-calorie lunch. Recipe makes one serving.  I do recommend having some fruit with it for a full balanced meal.  

Nutrition Information
299 calories, 19g carbs, 9g fiber, 14g protein, 21g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 348mg sodium

Nectarine & Caramelized Onion Mini Pizza Appetizer

Fruit on pizza started becoming popular when people realized they loved the sweet-savory combo.  Regular pizza is all savory.  It's fatty and salty from the cheese and meats.  But adding in some fruit gives it a whole different character.  It can also be a good option, health-wise.   Adding fruits adds flavor without lots of calories, no saturated fat, and no sodium

This is a super easy appetizer.  I didn't even bother to make my own pizza dough.  I just used sandwich thins, which easily act as thin crust for the pizza.  I used a little bit of two different cheeses: mostly colby jack and a little parmesan.  The colby jack was just a pre-sliced piece of cheese made for sandwiches.  I used half of it.  I just tore off pieces and put it on the bread.  I caramelized the onions over very low heat for about 25 minutes. Two most important things to remember when caramelizing onions: 1. Cut them all in uniform size; 2. Do not burn the onions.  I created the pizzas, then put them in the oven set to broiler for 4 minutes.  Our broiler sets to 550*F, which is pretty high.  I would recommend a little lower about 475*F.

Nectarine & Caramelized Onion Mini Pizza Appetizer

What you'll need:
- 1/4 cup chopped white onion
- 1 whole wheat sandwich thin
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 0.5oz colby jack cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
- 1 small nectarine, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp parmesan cheese

What to do:
1.  Preheat the oven on a broiler setter (heat coming from the top) to 475*.

2.  Heat a skillet over medium heat; add 1 1/2 tsp olive oil.  Add onions and stir frequency.  Cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Then lower the heat to low or simmer.  Continue to stir frequently for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

3.  Separate the sandwich thin halves.  Spread the remaining olive oil over the the insides of each; then spread the mustard on each; top with colby jack cheese, then caramelized onions, then nectarines, and finally the parmesan cheese.

4.  Place each pizza on a baking dish.  Put in the top 1/3 of the oven (but not on the very top level) and cook for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes.  Watch these carefully because they will easily burn.  Recipe makes 2 servings.

Nutrition Information
140 calories, 19g carbs, 4g fiber, 5g protein, 6g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 225mg sodium

Easy Salad with Chipotle Hash Brown, Chicken Sausage, and Cilantro Lime Dressing

I saw a recipe for chipotle cilantro latkes well over a year ago.  I saw the recipe and immediate thought it is something Ben would love.  But I never knew how to make it part of a meal.  Then with the big storm of June 29, 2012, we did not have any power.  I did an inventory of food and found that I had all right ingredients to make a salad with chipotle latkes: potatoes, salad greens, low fat plain Greek yogurt, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, Al Fresco chicken sausage, bell peppers, onion, limes, cilantro puree in a tube.

So I made the latkes, which are similar to hash browns made of shredded potato, egg, flour, and flavorings.  In culinary school we semi cooked the potatoes before shredding.  This seemed to make the potato extra sticky.  We would put them on the the skillet and they just stuck there.  We tried so many different things- more oil, less oil, hotter oil, less hot oil, but none of it worked.  I remember that being a really aggravating cooking session.  So this time I tried not cooking the potato at all.  It worked better.  It was still a little sticky, but worked much better. 

This meal can be made mild, medium, or extra spicy.  I accidentally made it just a little too spicy for me, but Ben loved it.  Ben actually loved the whole meal so much he said it was his new favorite meal.

Easy Salad with Chipotle Hash Brown, Chicken Sausage, and Cilantro Lime Yogurt Dressing

What you'll need:

For the potato hash browns

- 1 medium potato, washed

- 1 tbsp plain Greek yogurt

- 1 chipotle pepper, finely chopped

- 1 tsp egg white

- 1/2 tsp cilantro puree

- 1 tsp grated onion

- 1 tbsp breadcrumbs

- pinch of cumin

- pinch of salt

- 2 links chicken sausage (such as Al Fresco), skin removed, in 1/2" slices

- 4 cups salad green

- 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

- 1/4 cup thinly sliced yellow onion

- 6 grape tomatoes, halved

- 1/2 tbsp olive oil

- 1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

- 1 tsp adobo sauce

- 1 tsp cilantro puree

- 2 tbsp lime juice

- pinch of salt

- 1/2 tsp agave nectar

What to do:

1.  Use a thick cheese shredder to shred the potatoes.  Rinse over a strainer and squeeze our the excess water; pat dry.  Combine with the next 8 ingredients.  Form into 4 patties and set aside.

2. The Alfresco sausage is precooked, but I reheat it in the pan and get it a little bit crispy.  If you are using raw sausage, be absolutely sure to cook it all the way through in a saute pan over medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil.

3. Combine the Greek yogurt and the next 5 ingredients (through agave nectar) and set aside.

4. Add about 1 tbsp olive oil (enough to cover the bottom) to a flat pan and heat over medium on the stove.  Add the potato hash browns and cook about 2 minutes on each side.  Move them around a little bit frequently to make sure they do not completely stick to the pan.

5. Make two salads with the greens, bell pepper, onion, and tomato.  Sprinkle each with 1/4 tbsp olive oil.  Top each with two hash browns, chicken sausage, and cilantro lime yogurt dressing.  Recipe makes 2 servings.

Nutrition Information

381 calories, 36g carbs, 4g fiber, 28g protein, 14g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 667mg sodium

A Dietitian's Snack Food

I have two snacks pretty much every day. One snack at 10 or 11am, then again around 3:30pm. It's like clockwork for me. I realize I am hungry, and I know what time is.

One of the easiest things to bring to work with me is fruit and nuts. I get 1/4 cups nuts such as almonds or walnuts then grab an apple or nectarine or 1/2 cups of grapes or berries. It's really easy for me to eat between seeing patients without making a mess or taking a long time to eat.

Today I am eating walnuts and blueberries. This is a good combination of buttery flavor from the nuts and sweet and tangy from the blueberries. You get some healthy fats, including omega 3s, from the nuts and some fiber from both the nuts and fruit. Also, these two foods are super high in antioxidants and certainly make it onto my Super Foods list.

So you want a healthy quick no-preparation-needed snack? Grab some fruit and a healthy 1oz portion if nuts!

Mac and Cheese with Infused Milk and Zucchini

I could have sworn I wrote about infused milk while in Dubai, but I don't see the post anywhere.  So if this is a repeat, I apologize.

This recipe uses two things to try to try to make Mac and Cheese a little healthier:  infused milk and veggies.  Infused milk is easy to make and can be used for a lot of different recipes.  In school, we infused milk with red onion, bay leaf, and cloves, and then simmer about 10 to 15 minutes.  We used that to make white sauce for pasta dishes or any creamy dishes like lobster thermador.  In school we used whole milk.  I decided to try using 1% milk.  With lower fat milk, you have to be careful not to overheat the milk, otherwise it with curdle.  Infusing a low fat milk is a good way to add lots of flavor without adding fat.

Infusing milk

To infuse milk for this recipe,  I added red onion, bay leaf, whole peppercorns, and whole garlic cloves.  Everything added is whole or in large pieces to make it easier to strain.  I then kept the milk at a lower simmer for 15 minutes.  To thicken the milk, you have to add a roux. A roux is equal parts butter and flour. The buttery spread I had in Dubai did not melt normally, so I had to skip this step.  I recommend doing it with real butter and white flour and just using small amounts. You melt the butter, whisk in the flour, then let cool slightly.  To combine the roux and the milk, one must be warm or hot, and one must be about room temperature.  They can't both be hot, or both be cold

For the zucchini, you can chop up finely by hand, grate it, or use a food processor to chop it up.  In dubai, I only had a knife, so I just made thin strips.  For the noodles, you par cook them in water, then finish cooking them in the oven in the sauce.  Do not rinse the noodles after cooking in water, to help them absorb the sauce.

Mac and Cheese with Infused Milk and Zucchini

What you'll need:
- 3 cup 1% milk
- 2 dry bay leaves
- 1/2 small red onion
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 5 whole peppercorns
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup grated gruyere cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
- 1 large zucchini, grated
-  2 cups dry pasta elbows
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs

What to do:
1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.

2.  Cook pasta in a large amount of boiling water.  Cook pasta 2 minutes less than package directions.  Strain, but do not rinse.

3.  In a sauce pan, heat milk with the next 4 ingredients.  Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Melt butter in a small sauce pan on low heat.  Gradually whisk in flour and cook about 2 minutes.  Take off heat, and let cool slightly.  Mixture must be at room temperature before adding in the milk.

5.  Strain milk.  Gradually add milk into the flour mixture, whisking constantly.  Bring to a boil and take off heat.  Add in ricotta cheese, gruyere, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese; add in salt and pepper and mix.  Add in cooked pasta and grated zucchini.  Transfer to a baking dish (~1 1/2 - 2" deep); top with bread crumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven 12 minutes.  Makes 4 servings.

Grilled Steak and Grilled Romaine Salad

This meal is not my typical dietitian-healthy meal.  It has steak and bacon. I would normally not serve two sources of red meat in one meal, but it works with this meal.  I made grilled romaine salad for my family and they all seemed a little skeptical.  Is there any benefit to grilling the lettuce? No, but it is something different.  It has a smokey taste which ties in well with the steak.  If you use a charcoal grill, you get even more great grill flavor.  I haven't tried yet, but I would try cooking the lettuce on a cedar plank the same way you would with fish on a cedar flank.

To grill salad ingredients, you just have to make sure they don't burn or dry out.  For the onions, I wrapped them in foil.  For the romaine lettuce, lightly coat with olive oil and make sure you do not put it over the flames until the end.  Let it sit over burners that are no turned on for the first 5 minutes, then lay over low flames for 4 minutes turning once.

Grilled Steak and Grilled Romaine Salad

What you'll need:
- 2 steak tenderloins, 4oz each
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup sliced red onion
- 1 head romaine, medium sized, cut in half lengthwise
- 1/2 tomato, chopped
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp chopped fresh chives
- 2 pieces center cut bacon

What to do:
1.  Combine steak and the next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a bag and mix.  Let steak marinate about 30 - 40 minutes.

2.  On the stove, cook bacon in a pan over medium-high heat.  Let cool; crumble into small pieces.

3.  Heat one side of the grill to medium-high heat.

4.  Combine yogurt and the next 4 ingredients (through chives); set aside.  Wrap onion in foil.  Cook on the grill about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle steak with a pinch of salt just before grilling.  Cook steak on grill about 5 minutes each side for medium doneness.  Serve 1 steak with half the lettuce, onion, tomato, yogurt dressing, and top with bacon.