Are you bored of your same old meat and vegetable stir-fry?
Kabobs are a fun way to get the whole family involved in cooking a healthy weekday or weekend meal. Everyone can skew their own kabobs with their favorite meat, vegetables, and fruit before placing them on the grill or baking them in the oven. Skew a rainbow!
Lean protein (meat and meatless options): shrimp, chicken breast, fillet, scallops, tofu, and tempeh
Vegetables: bell pepper, onion, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, mushrooms, whole cherry tomatoes, and Brussels sprouts.
Fruit: pineapple chunks, quartered peaches/nectarines/plums, whole strawberries, and peeled kiwis
Tropical Kabobs:
Instead of using store brought marinades and BBQ sauces, create your own low sugar, salt-free marinade to brush on your kabobs containing olive oil, lime juice, fresh cilantro, garlic, and various dried herbs and spices.
INGREDIENTS:
Ingredients:
Yield: 6 Servings (2 kabobs per serving)
· 1 lb of meat per recipe:
1/2 lb of raw shrimp and 1/2 lb raw skinless chicken breasts
OR
1 lb of either shrimp or chicken breast
· 2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch x 1 inch pieces
· 1 zucchini, cut into thick slices
· 1 large red onion, cut into 1 inch x 1 inch slices
1. If you are grilling your kabobs, soak the wooden skewers in a pan of water for at least a half hour. If you are baking your kabobs, you do not need to soak the wooden skewers.
2. If grilling, pre-heat grill at 400 F°. If baking, pre-heat oven at 350 F°.
3. Skew the shrimp, chicken breast, bell pepper, zucchini, red onion, and pineapple onto the wooden sticks. The wooden skewer should pierce the shrimp (facing flat like a number 6) two times. Place assembled kabobs on a large plate or tin pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients and brush the marinade onto the assembled kabobs.
5. Grill the kabobs for 10 minutes or bake the kabobs for 35 minutes.
*Cooked chicken turns white and cooked shrimp turns white/pink.
6. Serve immediately
*Leftovers: disassemble kabobs and refrigerate in a sealed tight container. Reheat shrimp, chicken, vegetables, and pineapple for 2 minute in the microwave. Add warm leftovers to a salad with mixed greens or ½ cup of cooked brown rice.
Tempeh is made from cooked and slightly fermented soybeans and formed into a patty, similar to a very firm veggie burger. It is low in sodium yet packed with protein, iron and calcium. Tempeh is a cholesterol-free vegan-friendly food.
Try something new this week or hop on the Meatless Monday train by incorporating one of these vegetable proteins in a meal and/or snack, if you haven’t already.
Cut uncooked tempeh into 8-10 slices or cubes and place in a small bowl. Add marinade to the tempeh and mix well. Let tempeh sit in marinade for 15 minutes. Cook tempeh on medium in a skillet for about 5 minutes on both sides or until tempeh is golden brown. While tempeh is cooking, prepare the salad ingredients in a large bowl and orange vinaigrette in a small bowl. Add the cooked tempeh and vinaigrette to the salad and mix well.
Frozen sweet treats become very appealing this time of year, as the weather is getting warmer and a cold dessert always seems to make Spring and Summer at lot cooler. Self-serve frozen yogurt stores are popping up in every corner, where you pay by the weight of your cup. You are allowed to serve yourself from one or multiple frozen yogurt flavors and can sprinkle your yogurt with an assortment of toppings.
Frozen yogurt is lower in fat than regular ice cream per serving, but you still need to think of frozen yogurt as a treat and eat it in moderation. You can quickly create a high calorie dessert with more than 1 serving of yogurt and multiple toppings. The toppings sometimes can add up to more calories and fat than the actual frozen yogurt alone. Therefore, try to chose 1-2 flavors of frozen yogurt and add 1-3 toppings. The most nutritious toppings are fruit, sprinkles, dark chocolate, granola, almond slices, and chopped walnuts.
Make your own dairy-free, non-fat frozen yogurt by blending one special ingredient, a frozen banana! A banana is naturally sweet and forms a creamy and fluffy consistency when blended. Top your frozen treat with blueberries, which not only do they add texture to yogurt, but also they add phytochemicals to decrease inflammation and Vitamin C to maintain a healthy immune system.
INGREDIENTS:
Ingredients:
Yield: 2 serving (1 serving= ½ cup, 83g)
· 2 – 7-8 inch bananas (medium), peeled and sliced
· 2 tsp of vanilla extract
· 1 cup of fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
· Other toppings: walnuts, pistachios, strawberries, unsweetened coconut, cocoa nibs, dark chocolate chips, or sprinkles.
DIRECTIONS:
Directions:
Freeze banana slices for about 2 hours or overnight. Place banana slices and vanilla extract in a food processor (or blender) and mix the ingredients until you have smooth and fluffy consistency similar to frozen yogurt. Scoop out your “frozen yogurt” into a dish and top your treat with blueberries or other toppings of your choice.
Did you know that white beans are a potassium superfood? High in protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and super low in fat and calories (compare to fatty animal protein sources). White kidney beans are also known as cannellini beans. Cannellini beans are often featured in traditional Italian recipes. White kidney beans are nutritionally rich foods. These beans are high in protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber, yet low in fat. A half cup serving has 150 calories and a whopping 600 mg of potassium! For those interested in lowering blood pressure using food and exercise—potassium –rich foods such as white beans should be a staple on your plate.
This salad is a classic combination of heart-healthy foods—perfect for a springtime luncheon entree.
INGREDIENTS:
One 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
One 6-ounce can or pouch chunk-light tuna packed in water, drained and flaked
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped basil or sage
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl gently toss together the beans and tuna. Fold in the red onion, basil or sage, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
Serves 4
NUTRITION
Per 1/2 cup serving:
Food weight: 2.5
Calories: 244
Fat: 12 g (0 g EPA, 0 g DHA, <1g ala="" font="">
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 17 mg
Sodium: 422 mg
Carbohydrate: 18 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Sugars: <1 font="" g="">
Protein: 17 g
Note: to lower sodium count, simply omit the salt.
—a superbly flavorful, nutritious and delicious way to sweeten up any dish!
Guess what? One piece of sun-dried tomato (in oil, drained) contains a mere 6 calories! Sun-dried tomatoes are just like what you might suspect… ripe tomatoes that have lost most of their water content after spending a majority of their drying time in the sun. The good news is that after this procedure, the dried tomatoes are still overflowing with nutrition—they remain packed with disease-fighting antioxidants such as lycopene and vitamin C plus are virtually fat free. Just be sure that if you buy the oil-packed variety, look for tomatoes packed in extra virgin olive oil—the heart healthiest kind.
Allow time to refrigerate the dip before serving for the best flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
One 15-ounce can cannellini or great Northern beans, drained
7 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
In blender or food processor mix beans, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate for one hour and served chilled.
