even your kids will like it

My husband loves coleslaw. LOVES it. I have never liked it. The only exception I make is when you can get it on your barbecue sandwich - a real southern treat. We don't live in the south, so this has happened once in my life. Anyway, I digress.

This salad is where we meet in the middle. It is kinda, sorta like coleslaw, but so much fresher, crunchier, and better for you. Not sure if you've noticed my love of carrots, but I try to put them in everything. My kid says he doesn't like them, but he is going on looks alone because I don't think he has ever knowingly put a carrot in his mouth.

This is a quick, simple side dish and goes especially well with barbecue - which is what we're having tonight. This Zesty Chicken is awesome and amazing - another thing worth trying. 

OHM's Carrot Salad

6 large carrots, peeled

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 apples (I prefer honeycrisp or pink lady), peeled and chopped

1/4 reduced fat mayo

1/4 cup light sour cream

1 tablespoon (or a little more) honey

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

salt to taste

Using your peeler, or a grater, shred carrots into a bowl. Add raisins and apples. In a separate container, whisk the remaining ingredients and combine with salad. You can eat this right away, or put it in the fridge for up to three days.  Mmmmm, good good good.

When I told the little dude what I was making, he informed me he would just like the apples and raisins, thankyouverymuch. But with a little coercion, even he had to admit it was pretty darn good.

my life now

Thanks, Thamesarino, for asking how things are!  I have often thought I need to get back to posting, especially as fall rolls in and my desire to cook takes over.

Life has been busy!  As you all know, we found out we are having a baby next month.  The other news is that we adopted a beautiful baby boy in June, so days have been full as we adjust to having a newborn in the house again.  We are going to be old pros come November!  He is a wonderful, easy baby and we feel truly blessed.  And before too long I am going to be back to pureeing baby food and filling my ice cube trays, so stayed tuned for such excitement.

On the topic of being a healthy mama (though my pregnancy instincts have led me to eat more chocolate and butter than I can really justify), I pulled out my Sneaky Chef cookbook yesterday, as my toddler as developed a very specific palate that needs some expansion.  Stay tuned for that, too!

In the mean time, want to try something that just exudes fall and is absolutely delicious?  It's decadent, I warn you, but since the main ingredient is a vegetable, don't feel bad about the butter - it is soooooo worth it.  Leave it to The Pioneer Woman to do squash right:  Butternut Squash Puree.

I hope you all are staying well this fall season - and I promise to whip up something tasty soon!

simple summer vegetables

I love simplicity.  It usually provides the most pleasing results. Last night I was whipping up a pretty easy dinner - grilled chicken and flat bread, and decided I wanted vegetables instead of salad (we've been eating that a lot lately). This is a great recipe for you gardeners with an abundance of squash! Eat it as is, toss it with some pasta and parm, load up a baguette and broil it with some havarti or provolone - these roasted vegetables are so delicious and so easy, you're gonna love them as much as I do.  

All you need:

3 medium zucchini, thickly sliced

8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Toss everything together in a pie plate.  Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes.  Toss gently, and return to the oven for about 10-15 minutes.  

Make it even simpler and do it in your toaster oven, like me. 

**For older babies, you can just do zucchini, blend it in the food processor, and mix it up with avocado and even a little wheat germ for a super nutritious meal!

my favorite... couscous

I love this dish.  I found it on allrecipes.com and adjusted it to our taste. I've made it several times over the last year or so - it is so refreshing and light and good for you... I think you're gonna like it.  This time I stuffed roasted red peppers with it, just for a little flair.  Pretty darn good.

1 cup of uncooked couscous (I used whole wheat and you can't tell the difference)

1 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

3 T olive oil

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 t red wine vinegar

1/2 t ground cumin

4-5 sliced green onions

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro or fresh parsley 

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup reduced fat crumbled feta (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Pour hot chicken broth over couscous and stir well.  Cover and let stand for five minutes.

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and cumin.

Add onions, tomatoes, parsley, black beans and bell pepper to the dressing.

Combine couscous, vegetables, and feta.  Stir well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you are stuffing peppers, slice in half and fill with couscous.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

This tastes even better the next day - it's sorta hard for me not to eat the whole batch.

roasted cauliflower

Mmmmmmm.... This is one of the simplest, best tasting side dishes I have eaten in recent history. I have never been a huge fan of cauliflower - not that I had a distaste for it, but it just seemed so boring.

Until I tried it like this.  I wanted to eat the entire pan (I practically did).   It is so delicious and so easy and, of course, SO good for you.  One serving supplies almost all the vitamin C you need for the day, plus a bunch of other good stuff (vitamin K, folate, fiber, etc.) and it has cancer-fighting properties.  So go grab some and let's get started!

I had a 12 oz bag of fresh cauliflower, already washed and chopped from TJ's.  If you are buying it whole, just aim for about 1 pound of it.

Wash it and cut it into bite size pieces.  Blot dry and throw it on a cookie sheet.  

Drizzle it with about a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.  

Toss to coat and spread evenly on the pan.

Roast for 15-20 minutes at 425, until golden and tender.

Try not to eat it all straight from the pan.  Try to share it.

And enjoy!

power salad

© One Healthy Mama 2008

This salad is packed with nutrients and major flavor.  Talk about starting the year off right! One serving of this delivers a healthy dose of iron, protein, fiber, calcium, vitamins A, B6, C, E, and K, plus potassium, maganese, folate and tons of antioxidants.  Plus, it can lower cholesterol.  

Oh yeah, and it is deeeeeelicious.   It's based on yet another recipe discovered on allrecipes.com, with some additions and subtractions, and my own dressing, of course. 

Here's whatchya need:

2 cups shelled edamame (soybeans)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 10oz bag frozen sweet corn

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon cumin

kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

Combine edamame, carrots, tomatoes, corn, beans and onions.

Whisk lime juice, oil, honey and cumin.  Toss with salad.

Sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper.

Cover and refrigerate for about an hour to let flavors meld.  

Eat up!

You could fill up on this as is, throw it in a tortilla, or serve it with grilled chicken or shrimp for dinner.  It is filling and fresh, and you really ought to try it.

Happy new year!

green bean casserole minus the soup

I love green bean casserole.  We didn't have it for Thanksgiving this year as we had about a million other things, so I am holding out for Christmas.  I made some this week, and the recipe was inspired by my friend, Sample Lady, at Trader Joe's.  I love that place.  

This dish has fewer calories and less sodium and no weird ingredients from canned soup (not that I can really bag on the stuff, because the original is so darn tasty).  But this is a very, very good alternative.  Really, you should try it.  Really.

OHM's Green Beans

© One Healthy Mama 2008

1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and rinsed  (you can use frozen if you'd like)

salt and pepper to taste

2/3 cup grated gruyere cheese

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2/3 cup canned fried onions (I used TJ's and they don't have any weird chemicals either, but use what you can)

Put your beans in a pan and cover with water.  Add a dash of salt. 

Simmer for 5-7 minutes, 'til tender-crisp; drain.

In a baking dish (I used my pie plate), toss with cheese, almonds and onions.

Cover and bake for about 15 minutes at 350.

Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and voila!

I promise this is good.  All those textures and flavors together give you a nice fresh alternative to the ol' standby.  Give 'er a go!

want some fries with that?

My kid's newest culinary discovery is french fries.  Since a recent trip to California where we made two stops at In-N-Out, he makes regular requests for fries.  I considered picking some up in the frozen food aisle the other day and then thought to myself, "Why?"  I mean, it takes about 3 minutes to prep your own, so that's what I did.

Here is what you need:

2 russet potatoes, scrubbed

1 tablespoon olive or canola oil 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch strips.

Put them on a cookie sheet and toss with oil, sprinkle with salt

Lay them out all nice and neat, give them their personal space so they can crisp up.

Cook for 12-15 minutes and then flip each of them over with a spatula, and make sure they stay nice and spaced out.  

Put 'em back in for about 10-15 minutes.

Mmmmm....fries.  Or as the kid likes to call them: fwies.

Russet potatoes are high in vitamins C and B6, and are even better for you if you keep the skin on.  Sweet Potatoes can also be prepped this way, and they are definitely a superfood, full of vitamin A and beta carotene.

Either way, you can feel pretty good about this side dish, and they are a snap to prepare!

the best dip ever

 Some people call it Cowboy Caviar, some people call it salsa, some people call it dip.  I just call it amazingly good. Not just because it is really good for you, but because it tastes so good, so fresh, so tasty.  It tastes so tasty?  Anyway, you really should try this as soon as possible.  It's so good you'll probably want to have some on hand all the time.   

Here are your ingredients:

(actually this photo shows how much you need to double it, so just pay attention to the recipe)

1 lb. bag of frozen white corn

1 15.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed

2-3 roma tomatoes diced (or 1 15.5 oz. can diced tomatoes)

1 bell pepper, diced (I used orange because it was on sale and it completed my rainbow, but any color will work)

1 large, semi-ripe (still kinda firm, no mush) avocado, diced (optional)

1 4 oz. can jalapenos (optional.  you can also use fresh or pickled)

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 red onion, diced  *this was missing from my photo - oopsie.

1/4 cup italian dressing (I like the light balsamic vinaigrette myself)

juice from 1/2 lime

salt to taste (I don't use it because the chips are usually salty enough)

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least an hour to let the flavors kind of meld and marry and get prepared for delighting your palette to no end.

I serve mine with the blue chips because they are better for you than regular old corn chips.  You choose what works for you and yours.  This is so good, you could just use a spoon if the situation was right.  

What makes it so beneficial?  Corn has vitamins B1, B5, folate, and vitamin C.  Black beans have antioxidants and are full of fiber, plus they maintain blood sugar levels.  Tomatoes contain iron, vitamins A and C, potassium, and can seriously reduce the risk of cancer.  Peppers contain more vitamins, plus thiamin, beta carotene and folic acid.  Onions can also reduce your risk for cancer. Even cilantro is known to help control blood sugar and lower cholesterol.  And I've already told you about the avocados. 

So don't just make it because it's so delicious, do it because your body needs you to.

And let me know whatchya think.