Looking for some easy healthy breakfast ideas? Here’s my go-to list. I don’t normally have time to eat breakfast before work, so I’ll often make something easy that I can grab on my way out the door and either eat in the car or at my desk when I get to work. Continue reading “Healthy Breakfast Ideas”
Category: Recipes
Pasta Mish Mash
Serves: 2 people
Hands-on time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
This pasta dish is a great way to use up leftover items from the week. A thick pasta (penne or fusilli work great) plus a ton of veggies and some protein are all it takes. The ingredients are very flexible, and I’ve never had a bad batch!
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb thick pasta such as penne or fusilli (gluten free preferred)
- 1 C of onions, peppers, shallots, fennel, cabbage or other fragrant vegetable with a lot of water content
- 1 C any leftover non-starchy vegetable such as broccoli, green beans, brussels sprouts, asparagus, etc.
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- 1-1/2 C leftover protein
- meat-based: chicken sausages, meatballs, chicken, steak, pork chops, etc.
- vegan/vegetarian: cooked chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, pine nuts, peas, soybeans, etc.
- 1/2 C white wine or chicken broth (veggie broth if vegetarian/vegan)
- 1/2 tsp italian seasonings (or herbs de provence)
- 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- parmesan cheese (optional, omit if vegan or dairy-free)
Pernil (Puerto Rican Roast Pork)
This Puerto Rican Roast Pork (traditionally called “Pernil”) recipe was inspired by a friend many years ago who taught me the deliciousness of the cuisine of Puerto Rico.
Note: the pork needs to be seasoned the day before cooking. Make sure to note this in your meal plan on the day before you plan to cook and serve it.
Basic Linguine with Clam Sauce
I make this linguine with clam sauce recipe at least once a month. I’ve got it down to a science, and on a good day I can whip it up in 15 minutes. I usually have the ingredients on hand, which means I don’t even need to plan ahead and it can fill in for those occasional “OMG I didn’t plan and I have to make something quick” days. ()There are more of those than I care to admit, but let’s not talk about that.)
<Original recipe with canned clams here.>
Healthy Chicken Piccata with Spinach (GF)
Serves: 4 people
Hands-on time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
This recipe started as a much higher-calorie version of chicken piccata from Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I replaced the all purpose flour with millet flour to make it gluten free, omitted the shallots and parsley, used pre-minced garlic, and reduced the quantities of oil and butter by almost half. The result is a healthy chicken piccata that is much lower in calories while still retaining the delicious flavor. The spinach at the end was also my personal touch, which I think makes the dish more complete (and prettier!). [Side note: The original recipe was way too lemony for my taste so I cut that back as well. Feel free to add more lemon back in if you like it that way.] Continue reading “Healthy Chicken Piccata with Spinach (GF)”
Chicken Piccata (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
Serves: 4-6 people
Hands-on time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
This is one of those recipes that looks complicated because of the number of steps involved, but once you get started it goes pretty quick. Even so, it is a tad longer than 30 minutes but totally worth the extra time! Continue reading “Chicken Piccata (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)”