Monday Meal Idea

Sesame Roasted Cabbage Steaks

This recipe provides 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1)    4 slices ( 1-inch thick) green cabbage, cut from the center (10 ounces inch)

2)    4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

3)    1 teaspoon black and white sesame seeds

4)    1 teaspoon sea salt

5)    Cooking spray

Instructions:

1)    Adjust an oven rack in the bottom third and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

2)    Place the cabbage on prepared baking sheet and drizzle it with the sesame oil. Season with ½ teaspoon sea salt.

3)    Roast on the bottom rack until the bottoms are slightly charred, approximately 15 minutes. Carefully flip the cabbage, season with the remaining ½ teaspoon sea salt, and roast until tender and browned on the bottom, approximately 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Rice with Almonds and Peas

This recipe provides 4 servings

Ingredients:

1)    1 cup unsalted chicken stock

2)    ¾ cup uncooked white basmati rice

3)    ½  teaspoon sea salt

4)    1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

5)    ½  teaspoon black pepper

6)    ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Instructions:

1)    Bring chicken stock, rice, and sea salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork. Stir in peas and pepper. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds.

Enjoy!

Good to Know Info…

One of the key ingredients of eating right and being ready for sports and various physical training activities is the increased intake of carbohydrates. Typically, the best carbohydrates to choose for exercise are the complex, unrefined varieties, which take longer for the body to break down, therefore releasing their energy more slowly.

Great carbohydrate choices include oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat or brown rice pasta, brown rice, noodles, whole-wheat couscous, beans, and potatoes.

Eat the food that best fuels your body for the task-at-hand, thus putting yourself in a much better position to accomplish your goals and realize your dreams! 

Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

This recipe provides 4 servings

Ingredients:

1)    1 head cauliflower (approximately 1 ½ pounds)

2)    2 tablespoons reduced- sodium soy sauce

3)    1 tablespoon olive oil

4)    1 teaspoon sea salt

5)    2 tablespoon mirin

6)    1 ½ tablespoon honey

7)    1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

8)    4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (approximately 4 ounces each), trimmed of fat.

9)    Cooking spray

10) 2 scallions, chopped, for garnish

11) 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions:

1)    Cut out and discard the core of the cauliflower, then break the cauliflower into florets. Pulse the florets in a food processor until you have rice-size pieces. (Another option, grate the florets on the large holes of a box grater.)

2)    Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the cauliflower and sea salt. Cook, stirring, until the “rice” is crisp-tender, approximately 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

3)    In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger and mirin.

4)    Heat a nonstick 10-inch skillet over medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add the chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 4 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to low and pour the sauce over the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly, turning the chicken halfway, about another minute. Remove the pan from the heat to prevent the sauce from drying out.

5)    To serve, place 1 cup cauliflower “rice” in each of 4 serving bowls. Slice each chicken thigh on an angle and place over the cauliflower rice. Top each with sauce from the pan and sprinkle with the scallions and sesame seeds.

Recipe Insight: Serving this recipe over cauliflower “rice” is a great way to incorporate more vegetables into your meal.

Enjoy!

Healthy Snack Idea

Crunchy Chickpeas

This recipe provides 4 servings

Ingredients:

1)    2 (15- ounce) cans chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried well

2)    2 tablespoons olive oil

3)    2 teaspoons ground cumin

4)    Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1)    Preheat oven to 350 F.

2)    Make sure the chickpeas are completely dry, then spread them over 2 baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the cumin, then season with sea salt and pepper

3)    Put the sheets into the oven and roast for approximately 15 minutes, until the chickpeas are completely crisp. Check them after 10 minutes and give the sheet a shake to move the chickpeas around.

4)    Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the chickpeas to cool before serving. You can store any leftover that you may have in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

*Tip: The key to getting the chickpeas really crisp is to make sure they are as dry as possible before you put them in the oven.

Enjoy!

Oat and Berry Smoothie

This recipe provides 1 serving

Ingredients:

1)    1/3 cup rolled oats

2)    2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk

3)    2 teaspoons honey

4)    ¾ cup blackberries

5)    ¾ cup blueberries

6)    2 teaspoons ground flax seeds

Instructions:

1)    Put oats into a blender and pour the milk over the oats, then let sit for approximately 5 minutes.

2)    Add honey, blackberries, blueberries, and ground flax seeds, then blend until smooth.

By adding oats and flax seeds to your fruit smoothie will not only help you feel fuller longer but will also slow down the rate at which the natural sugars from the fruit hit your system, helping you to avoid peaks and lows in blood sugar levels throughout the day.

You can also add other fruits, for example, bananas, mango, strawberries, and raspberries. This smoothie is great before workouts and the start of a work day.

Enjoy!

Positive Thinking Insight

Self-awareness is an essential precondition for positive change; therefore, the topic to explore is what’s working and what’s not working in the area of desired change.