Healthy Eating in 2018: Four Friendly Recipes

We’ve known for years upon years that eating well is like putting the right motor oil into your car. If you use the good stuff that you’re supposed to, your engine will run fast and clean. If you continually fill your body with junk, there’s a pretty good chance that your engine will eventually clog up and slow you down. Let’s face it, healthy food fuels us and keeps us moving in the right direction.

On a recent episode of “theZoomer,” host Libby Znaimer was joined by the likes of Chef Sean Izumi, Chef Doug McNish, as well as Lucy Waverman and Abby Langer, to show us how to cook healthy and nutritious meals.

All four have been generous enough to provide us with detailed recipes and preparation tips for the respective dishes they prepared on “theZoomer.” You can find all of those below.

Seared Salmon with Cauliflower Mash, Healthy Heart Salad & Lemon Caper Sauce – by Chef Sean Izumi, Urban Fare

theZoomer - Healthy Eating Recipes

Salmon:
Sear one side of salmon for 1.5 minutes. Place seared side up on parchment paper and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes – Set aside (Salmon is cooked at an internal temp of 70-75 degrees)

Cauliflower:
-Cut 1 small cauliflower into 1.5-inch florets. Steam cauliflower for 8 minutes, or until Al Dante.

-Strain and reserve 1 cup of cauliflower steaming water

-Purees cauliflower in food processor with 1 cup of reserved steamed cauliflower water.

-Put pureed cauliflower into a bowl and hand whip with spatula, and add ¼ tea spoon salt 1/8 tea spoon pepper, I tablespoon fresh thyme, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, 1 stable spoon olive oil – set aside.

Healthy Heart:

-1.5 cups of sliced red cabbage

-¾ cup sliced green cabbage

-½ cup of Julien cut carrots

-1 cup of broccoli florets

Toss and dress with…

-2 tablespoons chopped garlic

-4 table spoons olive oil

-6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

-3 table spoons sunflower seeds

-Salt and pepper to taste

theZoomer - Healthy Eating

Lemon Caper Sauce:

-1 cup white wine

-1 cup low sodium chicken or fish stock

-2 tablespoons capers or caper berries

-4 tablespoons minced shallots

-2 table spoons butter or olive oil

-2 tablespoons corn starch stirred into 4 table spoons of cold water

-3 table spoons lemon juice

-Salt & pepper to taste

-1 table spoon white sugar or honey

-Melt butter in pan

-Sautee shallots for 3-5 minutes

-Add all ingredients except corn starch – bring to a boil

-Simmer for 10 minutes

-Add corn-starch and water solution to thicken

-Salt and pepper to taste

Tempeh Mushroom Millet Burgers – by Doug McNish, Executive Vegan Chef and Author

theZoomer - Healthy Eating Recipes

Getting Started:

-Preheat oven to 425°F

-Baking sheet(s) lined with parchment paper

-Food processor

-Makes about 8 burgers

Ingredients:

-100mL dry millet

-2-1/4 cups water

-3/4 tsp fine sea salt, divided

-2 tbsp grape seed oil

-1 medium onion, thinly sliced

-2 cups diced mushrooms (see Tips, below)

-2 tbsp nutritional yeast

-1/4 cup wheat free tamari

-1/4 cup ketchup

-2 tsp Dijon mustard

-100mL sunflower seeds

-1 block steamed tempeh, finely diced (see Tips, below)

-1/2 cup ground flax seeds (see tips, below)

-2/3 cup brown rice flour

theZoomer - Healthy Eating

Steps:

1. In a medium pot, combine millet, water and 1/2 tsp salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until millet is soft and slightly mushy, about 25 minutes. Once all of the liquid has been absorbed, place lid on pot and set aside for 15 minutes so the millet can swell and absorb remaining liquid

2. In a large sauté pan, heat oil on medium high heat. Add onions, mushrooms and remaining salt, cook, stirring frequently until onions are lightly brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low; continue to cook onions and mushrooms till golden and there is very little liquid left, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add nutritional yeast, tamari, ketchup and Dijon mustard. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes

3. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process cooked millet and sunflower seeds with 1/2 of the mushroom onion mixture until smooth, transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining onion mushroom mixture, diced tempeh, ground flax seeds and brown rice flour. Mix all ingredients until well combined, cover and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes so flax can swell and absorb some of the liquid.

4. On prepared baking sheet, using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, divide mixture into 8 equal portions. Lightly dampen your palm and flatten each portion into a burger shape. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the burgers are firm to the touch and golden brown on the bottom. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before handling, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks 

Tips:

– Use either white button or cremini mushrooms for this recipe

– To steam the tempeh for this recipe, place in a pot with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil with a tight fitting lid. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pot and allow to cool completely before handling, about 10 to 15 minutes

– To grind the flax seeds for this recipe, place about 6 tbsp (or more, up to 1 cup) of whole flax seeds in a blender or spice grinder. Blend till flour like in consistency. You can also use pre-ground flax seeds, just make sure they are finely ground

Mediterranean Tuna Salad – by Lucy Waverman, Food Columnist for The Globe and Mail; Food Editor for Food and Drink Magazine

theZoomer - Healthy Eating Recipes

My most frequent standby, I call this my instant salad because everything needed to make it is in the store cupboard or refrigerator. Make this ahead of time and serve mounded on a platter over mixed peppery greens such as arugula, frisee, radicchio and curly endive, if desired.

Ingredients:

-1 can solid white tuna, drained

-1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

-1 grilled red pepper, chopped

-1 cup chopped pitted olives

-3/4 cup chopped red onion

-Tarragon Mayonnaise

-½ cup  mayonnaise

theZoomer - Healthy Eating

-2 tablespoons low fat sour cream

-1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

-2 tablespoons lemon juice

-3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or 2 tsp dried

-2 anchovy fillets, chopped

-Stir together tuna, beans, peppers, olives and onion.

-Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, Worcestershire, lemon juice, tarragon and anchovies in a separate bowl. Combine half of dressing with tuna mixture.

-Place salad greens on platter and mound tuna salad on top. Serve remaining dressing separately. Serves 4.

Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes – by Abby Langer, Registered Dietician and Nutritionist

theZoomer - Healthy Eating Recipes

-Preheat oven to 450F.

-Cut slit down centre of sweet potatoes (or white) (don’t cut all the way through.

-Place sweet potatoes on cookie sheet in oven for about 25-30 minutes or until fork tender.

-Stuff with mixed greens, black beans, kale, italian sausage or whatever else you have in your fridge or pantry.

theZoomer - Healthy Eating