Recipe: Grilled Grouper with Fruit Salsa

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: one grouper filet with ~ 1 cup salsa)

·         2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced

·         2 cups of red seedless grapes, halved

·         ½ cup red onion, chopped

·         1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

·         Juice from ½ a fresh lime

·         ½ a medium sized jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

·         ¼  teaspoon salt

·         20 ounces of fresh grouper or a similar white-fleshed mild tasting fish

·         2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         ½ teaspoon pepper

·         Fresh lemon wedges, for garnish

Directions

For the salsa: In a large mixing bowl, combine the mangoes, grapes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno pepper and salt and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until serving fish.

For the grouper: Preheat grill to high heat. Rinse grouper and pat dry. Pour a small amount of olive oil on both sides of the fillets and coat lightly. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Grill grouper approximately 5 minutes per side until fish is no longer pink on the inside and flakes easily with a fork.
Serve grouper immediately, topped with salsa over each filet. Garnish with fresh lemon slices.

Nutritional Information per Serving (1 grouper filet with ¼ of salsa recipe or ~ 1 cup salsa):
Food weight: 3.5, Calories: 329, Fat: 9 g, Cholesterol: 52 mg, Sodium: 514 mg,
Carbohydrate: 34 g, Dietary Fiber: 3 g, Sugars: 15 g, Protein: 29 g

Gaining Weight...Healthfully

Gaining weight healthfully is actually trickier than you might think. The object is to make the weight gain mostly lean body mass (muscle) and not much body fat. You can accomplish this by taking in more calories than you burn, in addition to partaking in a regular aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening exercise program. (Note that people in your age category benefit highly from a regular program of strength training.)

You will also want to gradually increase your consumption of healthy, energy-dense foods. Keep in mind that you can boost caloric intake healthfully without having to purchase expensive supplements—it just takes a little planning. What’s more, your age group tends to have a problem getting in enough protein, so you will need to be especially attuned to increasing your intake of higher-calorie (but still healthy) protein sources. To learn more about which foods are highest in “nutrient density,” you can access the USDA MyPlate site.
Here are some other suggestions for getting in extra calories:
 

• Choose larger portions of healthy protein sources: peanut butter or other types of nut butters (a great higher-calorie source of protein and nutrients), low-fat dairy such as yogurt and cottage cheese, nuts and lean cuts of chicken, turkey and fish, such as salmon and tuna.
• Choose higher-calorie juices more often, such as cranberry and pomegranate juice, as opposed to drinking calorie-free beverages like tea and coffee.
• Choose a higher-calorie whole-grain cereal such as Post Grape-Nuts (208 calories in 1/2 cup serving) versus a low-calorie refined-grain cereal such as Kellogg's Special K (only 117 calories in an entire cup).
• Add generous amounts of healthy fats like olive and canola oil into your day
• Add in a few high calorie snacks throughout the day such as a nutritious shakes or smoothie made with real fruit, fat-free milk, sugar and some added non fat dry milk and even peanut butter to boost calories and nutrient density
• Make sure to eat three meals a day, plus get in those higher-calorie snacks and you should be on your way to putting on some extra weight the healthy way!

Recipe: Apple and Nut Sweet Treat

For a delicious after dinner snack, try this apple and nut spread on whole wheat crackers. This dish is actually a version of a traditional Jewish food called Charoseth, a symbolic dish served during the week of Passover.
Food weight: 1.5

Ingredients

Yield:  12 servings (serving size: 1/12^thof recipe, 57 grams or ~ 2 tablespoons)

• 2 Red Delicious apples, cored and cut into chunks
• 1 ½ cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
• 1 tablespoon lemon rind, grated
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons red table wine 

Directions

In a food processor, pulse apples until chopped into small bits. In a mixing bowl, add apples, walnuts, lemon rind, cinnamon, sugar and wine and blend by hand until all ingredients are well combined. Chill until serving.

Nutritional Information per Serving (1/12^thof recipe or ~ 2 tablespoons):
Food weight: 1.5, Calories: 128, Fat: 10 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 1 mg,
Carbohydrate: 9 g, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 6 g, Protein: 2 g