Smokey Braised Chicken over Pumpkin

I made this for dinner. Everyone loved it and had it again the next day for lunch. I adapted the recipe in the following ways: The recipe called for sauteing everything in oil. I used water when creating the salsa. I did not saute my garlic, I put it in the blender raw. I left out the salt, it called for one teaspoon to be added at the end. I used the fresh roma tomatoes and can chipotle (2 tablespoons).

What Ya Need:
1 Smoky Chipotle Salsa
2 medium round, or 4 to 5 plum, ripe tomatoes, or one 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 pound lean, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium sweet onion, thinly chopped/diced
2 cups sliced Swiss chard
4 cups roasted mashed pumpkin.

What Ya Do:

If using fresh tomatoes, place tomatoes on a baking sheet and place baking sheet 4 inches below the preheated broiler. Roast until blackened on one side, about 6 minutes. Turn tomatoes over and roast on the other side, an additional 6 minutes. Let cool, then peel and roughly chop. Transfer tomatoes and any juices to a small bowl; set aside.

In a large heavy skillet, heat water over medium-high heat. Add onions and chicken; cook, stirring, until chicken is nicely braised, about 10-15 minutes minutes.

Add reserved salsa, tomatoes, and 3 to 4 tablespoons water; stir to combine. Add Swiss chard. Simmer til chard is wilted and all the flavors meld.

Serve over warmed mashed pumpkin.

Smoky Chipotle Salsa

A recipe from Rick Bayless that needs no adapting. It's wonderful as it is. I am going to be experimenting with this one quite a bit in my cooking.

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, peeled
4 medium (about 8 ounces total) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half
2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo (or more if you like really spicy salsa)


Set a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once warmed, lay in the garlic and tomatillos, cut side down.

When the tomatillos are well browned, 3 or 4 minutes, turn everything over and brown the other side. The tomatillos should be completely soft.

Scoop the garlic and tomatillos into a blender jar or food processor, along with the chiles and 1/4 cup water. Process to a coarse purée. Pour into a salsa dish and cool.

Thin the salsa with a little additional water, if necessary, to give it an easily spoonable consistency.


Mr. Bayless says that you can replace the tomatillos in this chipotle salsa recipe with roasted tomatoes (two 4-ounce plum tomatoes, roasted like the tomatillos, or half a drained 15-ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes), but keep in mind that the tomato will tip the flavor toward sweet rather than tangy.

A little cilantro, fresh thyme, or parsley would be welcomed as well as green or white onion. A splash of mescal (or the less-smoky tequila) makes a borracha (drunken) salsa that’s dynamite.

Preserving Basil Trimings

With the help of blogs A Pinch Of... and Kalyn's Kitchen I got a little refresher course on how to freeze Basil today and managed to process and store all my basil trimmings for later use.

I couldn't find my little ice cub tray so I ended up using a styrofoam egg carton we recycled. I am hoping once they are freezing they will be easy to get out.

Guess I'll see how it goes!

Crustless Curried Spinach Tart

This is a lovely dish I had a luncheon today. In fact it was really yummy! They made it rather healthy to start with, but in a quest to log my calories for the day, I discovered that I can make it even healthier with just a few changes! So, I replaced the eggs with egg substitute, the milk with unsweetened almond milk, the part skim ricotta with low fat ricotta cheese, the white flour with whole wheat flour, and the olive oil with water.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Water
1 Cup chopped Onions, fresh
3/4 Cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Milk
2 Tablespoons Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 Cup Ricotta, Low Fat (Precious)
1 Cup Egg substitute, liquid
4 Egg whites, raw, fresh
1 Teaspoon Curry Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 10oz package chopped Spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat the water in a non-stick skillet, add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.

Mix almond milk and flour until smooth. Add egg and egg white substituted, curry powder and garlic powder. Beat until smooth. Add cooled onion, cheese and spinach.

Pour into 9" pie pan prayed with no stick cooking spray. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes. (Until the top is golden brown and the center is set). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 Servings.

Assorted Fruit Sorbets

Well, as most of my friends and family know I have started to eat a lot more healthy while striving to lose weight in the process. And as summer kicks in in Texas, we usually stock our freezer filled with different types of ice creams. I got to checking the labels and realized that one serving of some of our favorite flavors was like eating a WHOLE meal for me. I need something with more nutrition and less sugar and calories for us to snack on.

With that I started check out homemade ice cream and sorbet recipes... almost every single one of them had 3 egg yolks, whole milk and at least a half a cup of sugar in them.

There had to be a healthier solution!

So, I got in my kitchen and started playing around and I came up with these egg free, sugar free, low calorie and very healthy solutions that are not only great tasting but super easy to make as I always keep my food processor on the counter anyway!

We've made peach and mixed berry so far. Right now I have blackberries that were on sale this week for 77 cents a pint flash freezing for us to make tonight. And with the summer fruit sales and this recipe, we could have sorbet every night for dessert without any guilt what so ever!

Blackberry Sorbet
*1 fluid ounce Lemon Juice (Squeeze of Half a Lemon)
*12 ounce Blackberries, Frozen
*16 ounce Almond Breeze Non-Dairy Beverage, Unsweetened

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes 4 - 3/4 cups servings.

Calories 58, Total Fat 1.9 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 91 mg, Total Carbohydrate 10 g, Dietary Fiber 5 g, Sugars 4 g, Protein 2 g, Vitamin A 84 µg (12%), Vitamin C 21 mg , (28%), Calcium 125 mg (13%),
Iron 1 mg (4%)


Peach Sorbet
*1 fluid ounce Lemon Juice
*16 ounce Peaches, Frozen
*16 ounce Almond Breeze Non-Dairy Beverage, Unsweetened

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes 5 servings, each a little more then 1/2 a cup.

Calories 53, Total Fat 1.2 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 72 mg, Total Carbohydrate 10 g, Dietary Fiber 2 g, Sugars 6 g, Protein 1 g, Vitamin A 144 g (21%), Vitamin C 83 mg (111%), Calcium 80 mg (8%)

Mixed Berry Sherbet

*1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, vanilla
*1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
*1.5 cup Almond Beverage, Organic - Low Fat Original Almond Milk
*12 ounce Mixed Berry, Frozen Grade A Fancy (Sprouts)

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes 4 servings.

Calories 69, Total Fat 1.2 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 53 mg, Total Carbohydrate 14 g, Dietary Fiber 4 g, Sugars 9 g, Protein 0 g, Vitamin A 56 µg (8%), Vitamin C 11 mg (14%)


Bing Cherry Sorbet
*12 oz Bing Cherries
*16 oz Almond Breeze Non-Dairy Beverage, Unsweetened
* 1/4 tsp Almond Extract

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes five 1/2 cup servings.

Calories 61, Total Fat 1.2 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 72 mg, Total Carbohydrate 12 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g, Sugars 8 g, Protein 5 g, Vitamin A 75 µg (11%), Vitamin C 4 mg (6%), Calcium 90 mg, (9%), Iron 0 mg

Recipe for Life

Recipe for Instinctive Eating

Ingredients:
1 or 2 servings of food you love
2 tbls of intention
1 heaping tsp of attention
Sprinkle of trust
Optional: pleasure, enjoyment, celebration, tradition

Directions:
1. Care for yourself physically by getting adequate sleep, exercise and nutrition.
2. Create a self-care buffer zone by regularly nurturing your body, mind, heart, and spirit.
3. When you're hungry, consider what you want, what you need, and what you have to eat before choosing food.
4. Decide how you want to feel when you're finished eating; serve yourself accordingly (or adjust the portion if someone else served you).
5. When the food you crave isn't particularly healthful, omit all guilt and shame. Remind yourself that all foods fit when you practice balance, variety, and moderation.
6. Sit down to eat and minimize distractions.
7. Savor the appearance, aromas, textures, and flavors as you eat.
8. Eat slowly and mindfully for maximal enjoyment from every bite.
9. Stop when you feel content and energetic.
10. Repeat steps 1-9 for the remainder of your life.

(Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle)

New Recipe: Jicama & Orange Salad w/Citrus-Cumin Vinaigrette

Jicama and Orange Salad with Citrus-Cumin Vinaigrette

A spinach, orange, and jicama salad with an additional antioxidant boost from a citrus vinaigrette spiked with cumin seeds. Oranges are an excellent source of vitamin C. For maximum health benefits, cut or juice them just before serving. Vitamins A and C and iron are also provided by baby spinach.

NOTE: I was in a hurry and didn't want to toast and grind cumin seeds. I used already preground cumin from my spice cabinet and it was still wonderful to me!

Nutrition Info:
Serving Size 1: Calories 130, Total Fat 3.1 g , Saturated Fat 0.4 g, Sodium 21 mg, Total Carbohydrate 25 g, Dietary Fiber 8 g , Sugars 13 g , Protein 2 g , Vitamin A 98%, Vitamin 6%, Calcium 10%