Category: Heart Healthy

10 Minute Farro Salad

10 Minute Farro Salad

Posted on by gch_admin

The 10 minutes is a bit misleading. It refers to the type of farro I used: Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Farro. The actual recipe takes about 30 minutes. It’s best if you let it sit for about an hour after you’ve made it just to let the flavors blend. You could chill it or leave it out at room temperature.

Ingredients:

1 bag Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Farro
1-1/2 C frozen corn
2 large carrots
1 beet
1 large sweet onion
2 stalks of celery with leaves
1 green pepper
1 jalapeño pepper
1/4 cup EVOO
6 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper
1 tsp Herbs de Provence (or other favorite herb blend)
Optional: crumbled feta, avocados, or sliced olives for garnish

Instructions:

Trader Joe's 10-Minute Farro

Add the bag of farro and 2 cups of water to a pan and turn to high. When it boils turned down to simmer and cover. After 10 minutes remove from heat, add the corn on top, re-cover and let sit for five more minutes.

While farro is cooking, coarsely chop celery, carrot, onion, beet, jalapeno. Add celery and beet pieces to a large bowl. Set the rest aside.

When farro is done, drain and add to the bowl with the beets and celery.

In the same pan in which you cooked the farro, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and turn heat to medium. Sauté the pile of chopped vegetables for about five minutes, then add them to the bowl along with the rest of the oil and vinegar. Season with salt pepper and seasonings and mix well.

Farro Salad

Chill in the fridge for about an hour or so and, if desired, top with crumbled feta and olives just prior to serving. Serve with grilled chicken sausages and a side salad. Or omit the sausage and add a can of drained black beans or chickpeas for a wonderful vegetarian meal.

Farro Salad with Avocados and Sausage

Power Smoothie Recipe with Beets and Ginger

Power Smoothie Recipe with Beets and Ginger

Posted on by Lisa P

Power Smoothie with Beets, Chia, and GingerThis power smoothie is surprisingly good considering the amount of bitter greens. The recipe makes three big servings so definitely reduce the quantities if you’re only making it for yourself. It seems like a lot of ingredients because it is! Of course any of the smaller items (lime, ginger, chocolate, almonds, etc) are all optional. Just don’t remove large amounts of wet ingredients or you’ll be adding water to get it thin enough to blend properly (let alone drink!).

1/3 honey dew melon, seeded and rind removed
2 dozen (or so) red grapes
1 stalk celery with leaves
1 piece of lime or lemon
1 fresh beet
1 banana
2-3 C pre-chopped mixed greens (turnip, mustard, collard, etc.)
1″ piece of fresh ginger
1″ piece of 100% chocolate
1/2 C oats (preferably gluten-free and organic)
1/2 C acai or other juice
1/3 C chia seeds
handful of almonds
1 tray of ice cubes

The night before, soak the chia seeds and almonds in the juice. Peel and coarsely cut the beet and the ginger and toss all that in there as well. Stick it in the frig.

In the morning, you’ll want to process the watery items (melon, grapes, celery) first. You can choose to chop them in to smaller pieces if you like but you really don’t need to if you’re using a power blender, like Vita-Mix or Blend-Tec. So throw that watery stuff in there and blend it on low for 15-20 seconds to get it broken down.

The chia/juice mix will be kind of solid, so scrape that into the blender container next.

Then add everything else. The order doesn’t matter much but I usually put the dry stuff (oats) in last, and then the ice cubes on top.

Process on high (according to your blender’s instructions), tamping it down as needed to get it going. Blend for about 45 seconds or so and then pour and drink right away.

Smoothie Power Mix

Posted on by Lisa P

Add 1/2 Cup of this power mix into your smoothie for an extra boost of nutrition and energy.

This recipe makes 8 servings, which is enough for 4 of my smoothies. Most of the smoothie recipes on this site make 2 servings, so if you only make 1 smoothie serving at a time this will be enough for 8.

1/2 C organic instant oats
4 scoops of protein powder (about 1/2 C total)
1/4 C chia seeds
4 servings of Super protein

Store in air-tight container, shake well before each use.

Yoatmelon Breakfast smoothie

Posted on by Lisa P

1/2 cup grapes
1 thick wedge honeydew melon without rind or seeds
1/2 stalk of celery
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon Chia seeds
1/4 cup quick cooking oats uncooked
Small wedge lime without peel
1/2 tray of ice cubes

Put everything in a vita mix or very strong blender in the order listed. Start on low and then increase speed to high. Blend for one minute. Pour into your favorite tall glass and enjoy.

Crunchy Cucumber Salad for 2

Posted on by Lisa P

This cucumber salad is made with miniature English cucumbers. They’re not expensive and you don’t have to peel them. This makes a great little side salad, and it’s crunchy enough to hold up til tomorrow so you can have the leftovers lunch.

3 miniature cucumbers or similar amount of pickling cucumbers
1 small shallot or piece of sweet onion
1/2 medium tomato (or more to your liking)
oil and vinegar
Italian seasoning blend

  1. Prep your space:  Get out a medium cutting board, a knife, and a small bowl. If your garbage can is not nearby, have a little plastic bag open next to your work space for scraps.  Grab your steel and give your knife a quick sharpening.
  2. Wash the cucumbers since you’ll be leaving the skin on. Wash the tomato too if you haven’t already.
  3. Cut the ends of the cukes off, and then slice them at a diagonal, very thinly.  About an eighth of an inch or less.  Toss them into the bowl.
  4. Peel the shallot and cut off the hard end. If using onion obviously you can skip that part.  Slice as thinly as possible.  A very sharp knife makes all the difference here.  Scrape the pieces up with your knife and bang them in the bowl as well.
  5. Cut the tomato into smallish wedges.  Into the bowl they go.
  6. Shake some Italian seasoning onto the vegetables.  This is where you have to judge for yourself how much seasoning you like.  If you’re not sure, start with 1/4 tsp, mix it in, and look at it.  That’s about as much as I use, but you might like more or less.  It’s OK to guess, the world won’t end if you add a little too much.
  7. I use olive oil and white wine vinegar, but you could use regular oil and apple cider vinegar.  It’s a different flavor in the end, but we’re not talking gourmet here, we’re just trying to get dinner on the table.  About a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon or so of oil should do it.  Mix it up, taste one, and add more if you like.
  8. Put the bowl (with spoon) into the frig to sit while you make the rest of your meal.  Maybe you could stir it once or twice if you remember.

This is my favorite summer go-to salad.  Hope you enjoy it!

Step 2:
Miniature English Cucumbers

Step 6:
Crunchy Cucumber Salad

Yield: 2 Cups
Prep time: 10 minutes
Calories: Hardly any

Quick Kale & Cabbage Fry Recipe

Posted on by Lisa P

Toss this easy kale recipe together as a nutritious side, while your main protein dish bakes or braises.

1 T olive oil
1/2 small cabbage
1/2 red pepper
1 medium shallot or 1/4 C sliced sweet onion
1 1-inch piece of jalapeño (optional)
2-3 sun dried tomatoes (optional)
1 medium carrot
1 bunch kale
seasonings Continue reading “Quick Kale & Cabbage Fry Recipe” →