A few weeks ago, I said elsewhere that OH had lost 98 lbs since the start of the year. Well, the weight loss has now topped the 100 lbs level, and as I said at the time, all without any faddy diets, just healthy eating and a lot of exercise. So I thought I'd start a thread about some of the healthy recipes he's enjoyed, please feel free to chime in with any of your own. I'll start with one of his and daughter's favourites: tuna and chilli pasta. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan. Add sliced cloves of garlic to taste - I usually use eight or nine, but daughter and OH both love garlic, feel free to reduce if you wish. Add one chopped chilli for every two people - I use bird's eye chillis, again, feel free to use hotter or milder depending on your taste. Add one tin of chopped tomatoes per person, season with salt and pepper, add chopped basil, then dip a teaspoon into a jar of runny honey, let most of it drip off, stir the rest into the sauce. Allow to reduce - if you're in a hurry, you can keep the heat up high and do it in 20 minutes, but it's better if you keep the heat low and let it take about 40 minutes. Cook your pasta so that it's ready when the sauce will be finished. A couple of minutes before serving, open one tin of tuna for every two people, drain, and stir into the sauce. Serve. Soup, fish and stew recipes to follow.
That's a good start for making just about anything taste good. A little olive oil, a heap of garlic, something to add some zip, a dash of salt, and some lemon juice can turn any vegetable, pasta, poultry, or combination thereof into yummy goodness. I think that a lot of people skimp too much on salt when they're trying for healthy. If you're particularly sensitive to salt and have blood pressure issues that's one thing, but for most people a little bit of salt does no real harm and it makes food taste a whole lot better.
OK, another that's very popular... Wipe as many pieces of foil as you have people very thinly with butter. While this is happening, slice carrots and celery as necessary and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Transfer veggies to the foil, add a piece of solid white fish - I usually use cod, but usk and various others are just as good - add a sprig of fennel, seal the parcel and return to the oven. Bake for another 20 minutes. Serve with a baked potato. Every diet needs fat. There's nothing wrong with a little butter, the mantra is moderation in all things. Enjoy.
Buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If frozen, soak in a bowl of hot water for 15 minutes. Grind fresh salt and pepper on chicken, then cook on the foreman grill for four minutes on one side and three on the other. Steam some broccoli and carrots with that and you've got an awesome meal.
Stuffed peppers are nice and healthy (usually, sometime I'll stick a slab on cheese on top and grill...) Fry some lean lamb (or quorn), with some chillis, onions and spring onions and any spices that take your fancy. Slice a large pepper in half, cut out the nasty bits and seeds and give it a wash. Bake for a few moments of you wish. Get some greek yoghurt and some fresh mint, chop the mint up and stir into the yoghurt to taste. Put the spicy mince in the pepper halves, pour over the mint yoghurt and serve.
Healthy shepherd's pie: these quantities do two main meals and leave some leftovers. Peel, boil and mash 5 or 6 very large spuds. In the meantime, dry-fry 2 lbs of lean lamb mince till brown. Chop one large onion, slice two large carrots. Add to the browned mince. Season with salt and pepper, add a handful of chopped rosemary and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Cook for 10 minutes or so. Transfer to an oven-proof dish, cover with the mashed spud and bake at 180C for 20 minutes. Best served with green beans, but whatever veg you like is fine. Substitute beef mince for lamb, and thyme for rosemary, and you have cottage pie. Equally yummy, the carnivores assure me.
I don't know how healthy these are but we go through piles of them here. Home-made Granola Bars 4 1/2 c oatmeal 1 c flour 1 t baking soda 2 c mixed assorted goodies (chocolate chips, coconut, raisins, nuts, whatever you like) 1/3 c. brown sugar (I usually cut the sugar because it does call for honey too) 2/3 c margarine 1/2 c honey 1 t vanilla Mix everything together in a 13x9 ban and bake at 325F until golden brown. Let set 10 minutes, cut into bars and cool completely. Its a pretty flexible recipe. Don't tell my DH but I also add wheat germ and other good things to it I usually add a bit extra honey because we like our granola bars to be a little chewy (I started making these for my husband's cholesterol and usually have to make a pan twice a week. If you cut it right each pan makes almost 24 bars)
Here's the soup I made up this morning: Brown 1/2 lb ground meat (bison is best; emu and ostrich are OK, lamb or pork not so much, beef OK if you drain it afterwords) - you can skip this if you don't want meat; it still makes a good soup Add: a chopped medium-sized yellow onion, 2-3 stalks chopped celery, 3-4 chopped carrots (there's a lot of wiggle room in the amounts here) pepper 28-oz can of diced tomatoes (juice and all) 3 cups beef stock (is that OK for vegetarians? I suppose you could also just add water and some salt) 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce 1 can drained red kidney beans also some dried oregano, basil, and parsley if you want Let it simmer until the carrots and celery are soft to your liking, an hour or so. You can also add ditalini pasta or other soup pasta, but cook the pasta separately and don't add it until you're about to eat the soup.
^That's very similar to a soup daughter makes, except she leaves out the meat, uses vegetable stock instead of beef, and adds shredded cabbage about 10 minutes before serving.
Basque Chicken: brown four skinless chicken breasts in a dry frying pan. Reserve to one side. Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil, one large chopped onion, two or three cloves of garlic and two chopped chillis. When the onions go transparent, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and return the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook on a low temp, turning the chicken breasts occasionally, for 90 minutes to two hours. Serve on a bed of rice. yeah, most of my recipes involve tomatoes, chilli and garlic. They're all good for you.
