Warm soup for a cold day

Who doesn't love warm soup on a cold and chilly day? Now that summer is coming to a close and a slight chill in the air is approaching, it's a good idea to get some soup recipes ready. Lentil soup is hearty and nutritious. Lentils are a great source of protein as well as soluble fiber. Lentil soup is also extremely simple to put together and always a crowd pleaser. Pair this soup with brown rice and a salad and you have a yummy dinner to keep you warm on a cold night. Make extra and you can keep the soup going through lunch also!

Lentil Soup

Serves 2-3

3/4 cup green lentils

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth 

1 carrot, chopped

1 small sweet or yellow onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 4-5 fresh sprigs

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Pour the olive oil into a pot and increase the heat to medium on the stove. Add the celery, onions and carrots. Stir to coat the vegetables with the olive oil. Add the garlic, thyme and about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper (you can add more later if necessary). Sauté for 6 minutes. Add the lentils and chicken broth. Raise the heat so that the mixture reaches a boil, then reduce the heat to a summer and cover the pot. Let the soup cook for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Serve over some brown rice with a side salad!

Note:this meal can be made in advance and in bulk. The leftovers can be frozen and thawed for later use! This recipe is healthy and convenient for those who don't always have time to cook.

Enjoy!

Grains Galore

Whole grains, eaten in their natural and unrefined form, are great additions to a healthy diet. Not only do they provide a wealth of health benefits (provided that you aren’t a gluten sensitive or a celiac disease individual), they also give your diet variety and bulk. The soluble and insoluble fibers in whole grains allow you to feel full and satisfied after eating a meal. Whole grains contain many beneficial nutrients and phytochemicals such  as B vitamins, Phytosterols (a cholesterol lowering, cancer preventing phytochemical), Flavonoids, Saponins (helps keep cancer cells from multiplying as well as other benefits), and Resveratrol (fungicide) (Cloutier and Adamson, 2004). 

When it comes to grains it is very important to consider quality rather than quantity. Eating refined grains provides zero of the listed benefits. Plus, refined grains are linked to higher visceral and abdominal fat (McKeown, Troy, Jacques, Hoffman, O’Donnell, and Fox, 2010). When choosing a grain, always choose the whole source. For example, eat: brown rice, not white; 100% whole wheat pasta; quinoa; amaranth; cous cous; bulgur; and cracked/sprouted wheat. 

Variety is also another important aspect. For example, if I were to tell you to eat more vegetables, you wouldn’t have broccoli for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No, you would eat salads and bell peppers and carrots. The same goes for grains. Just because wheat is more accessible, by no means should you load up on it. Experiment with new recipes that require different types of grains. You can always just do a google search like “recipes with amaranth” or “cooking with bulgur” to find some recipes. 

You can create many healthy and delicious meals with grains, just remember to use the whole source and always maintain variety. 

Taco Tuesdays

Tacos are a fun and easy way to fit more vegetables into your dinner. The great thing about tacos is that you can essentially put whatever you want in them. Just sauté or bake any vegetable (or fruit!) that is in season in a little olive oil, wrap it in a corn tortilla, drizzle some salsa and guacamole and you've got yourself a delicious and healthy meal! Veggie tacos take about twenty minutes total to prepare and are friendly on your wallet. This is a perfect, light and satisfying meal for any season.

Veggie Tacos

serves 2

1/2 diced red onion

1 diced bell pepper

1 chopped zucchini

1/4 cup frozen corn kernels

1/4 cup frozen peas

1/2 avocado

A handful of chopped cilantro

A good salsa

6 mini corn tortillas

2 tablespoons olive oil

Red chili flakes

1 clove chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

Turn the oven to 200 degrees. Wrap the tortillas in tin foil and place them inside the oven.

Add the olive oil to a pan set to medium heat. And the onions and sauté for 7 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the zucchini, peas, corn and bell pepper sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for another 3-5 minutes, coating all the vegetables with the olive oil.

Take the tortillas out of the oven. Put three tortillas on each plate and spoon the vegetable mixture evenly into the tortillas. Cut the avocado and put one small slice on each taco. Top with cilantro and your favorite salsa and you have tacos for your Tuesday night dinner!

*you don't need to use this mixture of vegetables. Experiment with other veggies that you enjoy!

KEEN-wa (aka, quinoa)

Quinoa is a type of seed that is cooked, prepared and eaten similarly to rice or any other type of grain. It is also a complete protein which is impressive considering it's a plant product. Quinoa is extremely versatile and can be prepared in a variety of ways: savory side dishes, grain salads, sweet morning breakfasts, etc.

Quinoa, like pasta, is a vehicle to add any type of flavor that you want to it. One of my favorites is tabbouleh. This grain salad is great with chicken, grilled veggies and tzatziki. Tabbouleh is also very simple to make. Here's a basic tabbouleh recipe to get you started.

Tabbouleh 

1 cup cooked quinoa

2 teaspoons garlic

Juice from 1/2 lemon

3/4 cup chopped curly leaf parsley

1/4 cup chopped mint

Toss all the above ingredients together and serve!

*Here, I made a mini Greek style meat loaf with tzatziki and my tabbouleh.

Enjoying a Meal

How many meals a day do you eat by yourself? Including snacking? If you’re like the average American, then it’s probably close to all of your meals. When you do enjoy a meal in the company of friends, family or loved ones, the experience is generally more enjoyable than cramming food when you get the chance throughout your hectic day. The benefits of sitting down to a home cooked meal with company range from social to physiological. There was some point in our history when Americans decided to make eating a chore rather than an experience.

When we sit down for a meal and “break bread” with our friends and family, we engage in conversation, laugh, drink wine, and eat at a slow and pleasurable pace. This is one aspect of the popular Mediterranean Diet: social eating. Eating is supposed to be enjoyable, not a constant competition of counting calories and fat. I’m not saying that everyone should eat whatever they want and simply enjoy the experience. What I’m saying, is that we have to be reminded of the importance of sharing a meal.

When we share a meal, we engage in conversation which helps us build social skills from a young age. Recently, I saw a little boy at a dinner table playing with his Gameboy through out the entire meal. He was missing out on learning experiences such as what is acceptable to discuss at dinner, how to joke around or what his culture is. Another plus about eating in groups is slower eating. When we eat meals with others, we are chatting which gives us the opportunity to put down the fork between bites and let our metabolism do some work. This helps combat overeating because it takes a while after you are full for your stomach to let your brain know to stop eating.

Recently, I have been making an effort to eat more meals with my family at a table. During our dinners, my family debates over nutrition and politics, discuss our futures and reminisce our childhood. Overall, the experience has been more than enjoyable and I strongly recommend everyone try taking some time out of your day to share a meal with the ones you love. 

                                                                 *Preparing the table for a dinner with my parents*

Challenge: Try having a sit down dinner three times a week with the ones you love and attempt to eat and converse for an hour.