Category: Food

Easy Sauté Spinach

Easy Sauteed Spinach

I’m staying with the common theme of this week, and that theme is adding more leafy greens to your diet. The recipe below calls for spinach, but don’t feel like you must use this recipe for only spinach. I regularly sauté Swiss chard, as well as mustard greens and arugula. Sautéing is fast, minimum of prep work, and you can season to taste. Bottom-line, this is an easy way to add greens as a side dish to your next meal.

Ingredients
• 2 Tblsp of olive oil
• 4 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 20 oz of spinach (that sounds like a lot, but it cooks down)
• 1 Tblsp of lemon juice
• ¼ tsp of salt
• ¼ crushed red pepper

Serves Six
Serving size: about ½ cup
Per serving: 65 calories; 5 g fat(1 g sat); 2 g fiber; 4 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 184 mcg folate; 0 mg cholesterol; 0 g sugars; 0 g added sugars; 8,892 IU vitamin A; 28 mg vitamin C; 94 mg calcium; 3 mg iron; 172 mg sodium; 531 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (178% daily value), Vitamin C (47% dv), Folate (46% dv)
Carbohydrate Servings: ½
Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat

For details on how to sauté this meal, check out the simple instructions at Eating Well.

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Beef Vegetable Soup

photo by Graham Brown

I know, last week I posted a soup recipe and I’m doing it again today. What can I say, I like soup! And here is another soup that for me is hitting all the right notes: 1) Healthy, 2) Easy to make, 3) will warm you up on a cold day. Note that this recipe utilizes the slow cooker, just like last week’s recipe. So, get your prep down, drop the ingredients in the crock pot, and go take care of your busy life.

One thing I will change on this recipe is that I will drop the potatoes and add greens. I grow Swiss chard and it had become a favorite vegetable of mine to add to salads, soups, or to sauté. It is such an easy and versatile vegetable, packed with fiber and minerals, and yet has a mild flavor. By dropping the potatoes and adding the Swiss chard, I will increase the fiber count and decrease the simple carbohydrate count. Simple carbohydrates (starch, i.e. sugar) is the bane of my diet, and consequently, the bane of my health. I’m sure than many of you also face many of the same challenges health that I do because starch likes to take up residency around our midsections. I’m putting my foot down on starch!

Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients:

  • 1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
  • 3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
  • 2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 14-1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup loose-pack frozen peas
  • Fresh parsley sprigs (optional)

Nutrition facts per serving: 269 calories, 28g protein, 29g carbohydrate, 4g fat (1g saturated), 4g fiber

For directions on how to put these ingredients together for a delicious soup, please click here and see the rest of the details. https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/dinner/seven-easy-slow-cooker-recipes/?page=4

Savory Bean and Spinach Soup

SELRES_561b0dd2-23b1-48bd-8390-e4e4d58f2d1fphoto by Mike DeiterSELRES_561b0dd2-23b1-48bd-8390-e4e4d58f2d1f

It is winter, and the weather forecast for this weekend looks like it will be cold everywhere in United States. When I’m cold, I like a warm hearty soup. And what I like about this recipe is that it is 1) healthy for you, i.e. not filled with extra sugar, salt, or fat, and 2) you can put this in a slow cooker (crock pot) and not worry with it. While the soup cooks, you can go to the store, run your errands, hit the gym, or other wise enjoy your day. I also like that you can add other ingredients such as Swiss chard or other greens to replace the kale, or some crushed red pepper flakes to spice up the soup which would add a healthy level capsaicin to your diet and help decrease inflammation throughout your body.

Let us know your results and share other healthy food ideas with us on this blog.

Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients:

  • 3 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
  • 1 15-ounce can tomato puree
  • 1 15-ounce can small white beans or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 8 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach or kale leaves
  • Finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Nutrition facts per serving: 150 calories, 9g protein, 31g carbohydrate, 3g fat (1g saturated), 8g fiber

To see the directions on how to put this delicious soup together, please click here for the rest of the details. https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/dinner/seven-easy-slow-cooker-recipes/?page=2