Cholay II (Spiced Chickpeas)

What You'll Need:

1 lb Dried chickpeas
3 tsp Cumin powder (slightly heaping)
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Salt (for water to cook chickpeas)
1/2 tsp Black salt
1/2 tsp red pepper (or less for mild heat)
1/2 Green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 Medium sized white onion, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
3/4 c. Cilantro, chopped
1 Tbs Lemon juice
3/4 c. Imlee (Tamarind Chutney)

What to do:

Cook dried chickpeas (without pre-soaking) in pressure cooker with 8 cups water and 1/4 tsp salt. Pressure cook (med-high pressure) for 45 mins; remove from heat and allow pressure cooker to cook and release pressure on its own. Once pressure has been released, drain chickpeas and rinse with cool water; place in large bowl.

Mix in all spices, vegetables and imlee. Garnish with fresh cilantro; serve chilled or warm.

 

Tips:
* If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can follow the directions on the package to cook the beans
*Imlee can be found at most Indian grocery stores; I'll be posting a recipe soon!

Almond Berry Smoothie

What You'll Need:
10 strawberries
1 handful (approximately 1/2 c.) blueberries
1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp honey (optional)

What To Do:
Place all ingredients in blender; blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Covered Coconut Date Balls

What You'll Need:
1 box dates, pitted
1 c. dark chocolate chips
1/2 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
almonds (optional)


What To Do:
Mash dates and shredded coconut together (by hand or using a food processor). Roll in to balls (should make about 35 balls; I used a weight scale and measured each one to be about 15g). Place dark chocolate chips in a glass bowl, microwave for about a minute (or until almost melted); mix with fork until smooth.  Dip each ball in the chocolate and place on cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Place in fridge until chocolate is set, about one hour. Store in air tight container in the fridge.

Tips: 

*Coated hands with a bit of organic coconut butter before rolling the balls 

*Optional: place an almond inside of each ball before dipping in chocolate 

*Optional:sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top for added flavor

Chicken Tikka on Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Burger

Yield: 2 burgers 

What You'll Need:
For the Chicken:
(there will be left over chicken; there will be enough for at least 6-8 burgers):
2lb boneless chicken thigh meat
1 roma tomato, chopped
1/4 c. yellow or white onion, chopped
1/8c. white vinegar
2 capfuls Liquid smoke
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs. garlic powder
2 tsp. coriander powder
2 tsp. ginger powder
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/4 tsp red chili powder (use less for mild heat)
1 1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp (heaping) dried parsley flakes
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala (can be found in most Indian stores)
1/2 tsp ajwain (carom) seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon

For the Stuffed Mushrooms:
2 portobello mushroom caps (flatter caps are better)
1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. cilantro, minced
1 Tbs red wine vinegar (optional)
1/8 tsp lemon pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper


What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chicken:
In a large bowl, combine all spices, vinegar, liquid smoke and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Make sure the chicken is well coated with the spices; set aside and allow it to marinate at least 30 minutes (longer is better).

In a sauce pan, heat approximately 1 tsp olive oil over high heat. Add chopped onions and saute for about 2-3 minutes, or until they begin to turn slightly transparent. Reduce heat to medium-high (closer to medium) add in marinated chicken; cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan as necessary to prevent the spices from burning. Add chopped tomatoes; stir well. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes,  add 1 Tbs. tomato paste and cook the chicken uncovered for an additional 5-7 minutes to evaporate most of the liquid. Turn the heat off, garnish chicken with fresh cilantro and set aside. Note: instead of cooking on the stove top, you can also grill the chicken; leave out the roma tomato and tomato paste. (grill approximately 6 minutes each side).

                                

Mushrooms:
In a bowl, combine the bell pepper, cilantro, vinegar, spices and minced garlic.  Place mushroom caps, gill side up, on a foil-lined tray. Divide veggie/spice mixture in to two portions and spoon on to the mushrooms (including the juice). Bake for 20 minutes in the oven.

To Assemble the Burger: 
Stack the chicken pieces on top of the mushroom cap (gill side up) on a burger bun. Add condiments and/or other toppings (I like sauteed onions with reduced fat provolone cheese and low-fat mayo).

Tips:
* You will have more than enough chicken left over for lunch or dinner the next day! You can enjoy with brown rice or naan (will be posting recipe soon).
* To reduce the sodium content further, you can reduce the amount of salt in the chicken and squeeze the juice of one lemon over the chicken while cooking.
*To mix things up a bit you can make the burgers with just the mushroom caps or chicken; Or even serve as chicken tikka burgers with stuffed mushrooms as the side

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Oat Bran Muffins

Yield: 17 Muffins

What You'll Need:
1/4 c. egg whites (or egg substitute equivalent to one egg)
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
3/4 c. turbinado sugar
1/2 c. non-fat milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbs. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. dark chocolate chips
1 Haas avocado (about 1/2c avocado meat), mashed
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. toasted oat bran


What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together: egg whites, applesauce, sugar, milk, coconut and avocado in med/large sized bowl. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to egg/applesauce/etc. mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake in foil or foil-lined cupcake liners for 20 minutes.

Foil-Grilled Balsamic Glazed Potatoes

What You'll Need:
2 golden potatoes, cubed (1" to 1.5" cubes; you can leave the skin on)
1 large yam, peeled and cubed (1" to 1.5")
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
5-6 white mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
1/4 white onion, diced
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs dried parsley flakes
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp hickory flavored liquid smoke
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (optional)


What To Do:

Preheat grill (medium-high, if using gas)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well so that spices, vinegar and oil evenly coat all vegetables and mushrooms.  Place potato mixture on a large piece of heavy duty foil. Fold foil to create a packet; fold edges upwards and seal (note: best results when the packet is made as pictured; you can make two if needed).  Place on grill with the seam side up so the dressing doesn't leak out of the foil pack.  Grill for 15 minutes, flip the foil packet and grill for an additional 15 minutes (take care not to accidentally poke a hole in the foil packet when flipping).

Pineapple-Cranberry Oat Bran Muffins

Yield: 18 muffins

What You'll Need:
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. toasted oat bran
1/2 c. dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 c. fresh pineapple, chopped
1/2 c. sucanat (I got this from Whole Foods)
1/2 c avocado, mashed (about 1 Haas avocado)
3/4 c non-fat milk
1/4 c. date sugar (I got this from Whole Foods)
1/4 c. liquid egg substitute (such as egg beaters)
1/8 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/8 c. white chocolate chips (optional)
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
12 foil-lined cupcake liners (muffins will stick to paper liners)


What To Do:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl combine: flour, oat bran, sucanat, date sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Add chopped cranberries and pineapple; mix well until fruit is coated. In a separate bowl, whisk together: milk, avocado, egg substitute, applesauce and vanilla until well blended. Mix flour mixture and avocado/milk mixture until well blended. Bake 22-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when touched.

Estimation of calories based
off of online tool

Sweet n' Spicy Pineapple Salsa

What You'll Need:
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
2 Tbs white onion, finely chopped
1/2 c ripe sweet pineapple, finely chopped
1/4c red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 Tbs fresh cilantro, finely chopped
pinch chipotle chili
pinch of cayenne pepper
dash of black pepper
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

What To Do:
Mix all ingredients together. Place in refrigerator for for at least an hour, to allow all flavors and juices to blend. Tastes great on grilled chicken or fish (try either one, grilled with Jamaican Jerk seasoning and topped with the salsa- yum!).

Green Smoothie

Yield: 1 serving

What You'll Need:
1 c baby spinach leaves
1/4 c fresh sweet pineapple
1/2 c. orange juice
1 small clementine
1 1/2" banana, frozen

What To Do:
Place all ingredients in blender; blend until smooth.

Nutrition Information is an estimate
 based off of an online tool