Archive for the ‘Healthy Eating’ Category
Fat Free Ginger Turkey Curry with Brown Rice
August 5th, 2009 | 
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This is a delicious curry recipe that is relatively easy to make. You will need some turkey stew meat (turkey breast with all the fat and skin removed), fresh ginger root, Anaheim chili pepper, onion, garlic, fat-free plain yogurt, fresh coriander (cilantro), chicken broth and some curry powder. We buy our curry powder by the pound because it is more economical than what is available in grocery stores.
This recipe makes about 4 servings. It can be served by itself, but is best when served over brown rice. This isn’t exactly a core food because it is made with a dairy product (yogurt) but it is still good for keeping your weight down. It is made with good, whole, natural foods.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sliced onions
- 1 chopped green chili pepper (Anaheim chili)
- 1 tbsp. fresh ginger root, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 lb. turkey stew meat, bite sized pieces
- 1 tbsp. curry powder
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 5 tbsp. plain fat-free yogurt
- cooked brown rice
Start by cooking the brown rice. Use a rice cooker or tightly covered pot. While the rice is cooking, slice the onions into thin slices. For large onions, you can quarter them first. Chop the chili pepper, then finely chop the ginger and garlic (peel the ginger root before chopping). Add the sliced onions, chopped chili pepper, garlic and ginger to a large skillet along with about 1/2 cup of water, then cook over a medium flame until the onions are soft and slightly translucent (about 10 minutes). Add water if needed to keep from burning.
Cut the turkey into bite size pieces and add them to the skillet along with the curry powder. Mix thoroughly and cook for about 2 minutes until the curry is distributed evenly and the meat is slightly seared.
Add the chicken broth to the skillet, bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Do not overcook the turkey.
When the chicken broth and curry are a smooth consistency, turn off the flame add the yogurt and coriander (cilantro), then stir to thoroughly mix everything.
Serve in bowls over brown rice.
Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients: starting in back and going left to right – chicken broth, fat free plain yogurt, cliantro (coriander), curry powder, turkey meat, onion, garlic clove, ginger root and Anaheim chili pepper. Start by cooking the brown rice. I like to use a rice cooker.
Next, cut up all the vegetables. Start by slicing the onion. This is a large onion so I am going to cut into quarters first.
Slice the onion into thin slices. This recipe works better with sliced onions rather than chopped onions. It makes for a better texture.
Now all the onions are sliced up…
Next, prepare the chili pepper by removing all the seeds and ribs.
Start by cutting off the end, then by slicing the pepper down the middle.
Scrape out all the seeds and ribs by hand.
Slice each of the pepper halves into long thin slices.
Arrange the slices into a bunch, then chop the pepper into small chunks.
Now the pepper is all chopped up …
Measure out the curry powder into a dish.
Measure out a cup of chicken broth …
Chop up the fresh coriander (cilantro). Fresh coriander goes bad real fast even when kept in the refrigerator, so only buy as much as you need.
Measure out the chopped coriander into a dish and set aside for now …
… Same thing for the yogurt … measure it out into a dish and set it aside for now …
Next, chop up the garlic clove and fresh ginger root. Here I am using a chopper, but you can do it just as easily with a good chef’s knife. Peel the ginger first.
Now the garlic and ginger is all chopped up ….
Cut the turkey meat into small bit sized chunks.
Now the meat is all chopped up and ready to go …
Now that the vegetables and meat have all been sliced and chopped and all the ingredients have been set aside in dishes, it’s time to cook. Start by adding the onions, chili pepper, garlic and ginger to a skillet. Add about 1/2 cup of water to the skillet. This is the fat-free way to cook it.
Cook over a medium flame stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 10 minutes or so until the onions are soft and translucent.
Next, add the turkey meat …
… followed immediately by the curry powder. Keep cooking over a medium flame.
Stir everything together until the curry is evenly distributed and the meat is slighty seared. This should take about 2 minutes. Don’t overcook or burn the turkey.
Then add the chicken broth …
Cook for another 5 minutes or so. Again, don’t overcook the turkey. Cook until the sauce is of a smooth consistency.
Now turn off the flame and add the yogurt and coriander.
Stir everything together until all is thoroughly mixed. Now it is ready to serve.
Place some cooked brown rice into a bowl.
Cover with a serving of the cooked ginger turkey curry.
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Portobello Mushrooms with White Wine
Portobello mushrooms are very popular and readily available in most local grocery stores and supermarkets. They are high in niacin, potassium and selenium. This is a delicious recipe that you can make very quickly and easily. It is cooked with white wine. You can make a non-alcoholic version simply by substituting the juice from 1/2 lime plus about 1 tablespoon of water instead of the white wine. The wine I used in this particular recipe was very inexpensive (Charles Shaw – also known as "Two Buck Chuck").
This is a good side dish and goes well with fish or meat as the main dish. They will make an excellent meal when served with steak, lamb or fish along with a tossed green salad or sliced tomatoes.
Ingredients:
- 4 Portobello mushrooms
- 1 lg onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt
Cut Portobello mushrooms into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch cubes. Chop the onion. Chop garlic cloves and place in frying pan. Sauté over a medium heat until garlic begins to look toasty. Add olive oil and turn heat down. Continue to sauté until garlic is soft and light brown in color, then add chopped vegetables to the pan. Salt to taste, then add white wine. Vegetables will be done when soft and brown.
Alternately: Use juice from 1/2 lime plus about 1 tbsp of water in place of the white wine.
Shown below is a photo of the ingredients: One large yellow onion, four portobello mushrooms and six cloves of garlic.
First, chop the garlic … not too fine and definitely not minced.
Slice each mushroom into 3/4 inch slices.
Cutting crosswise, make additional 3/4 inch slices to make 3/4 inch cubes.
Then chop the onions.
Add the chopped garlic to the pan and sauté the garlic over a medium flame.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil and continue to sauté the garlic until it is soft and light brown in color.
Next, add the cubed mushrooms.
Then add the chopped onions, followed by the white wine.
Continue cooking for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Continue cooking until all the vegetables are soft and brown.
Serve immediately.
Fat Free Refried Beans
This is my recipe for fat free refried beans. There are numerous recipes for refried beans. Most of them use ham and lard or other variations containing a lot of fat. Refried beans are excellent for healthy eating or for losing weight – providing they are prepared without adding fat or fatty meats.
First you will need to cook the pinto beans. You should soak the beans in water overnight, then on the following day it takes about 3 hours to cook them. This recipe uses some chili powder, cayenne pepper and other seasonings to add spice. You will sauté some chopped onions in water (that’s the fat-free way to cook them), then add crushed or minced garlic, then add seasonings to gradually infuse more and more flavor. At the end of the cooking you will add some fresh squeezed lime juice. You add it at the end to keep from cooking away the flavor.
Fat Free Refried Beans
Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked beans
- 1 cup chopped onions (about 1/2 large onion)
- 1 tbsp minced or crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice (about 1/4 lime)
Mash the beans in a bowl with a masher and set aside for now. Add chopped onions to a heavy skillet and cook until soft and beginning to brown a little. Add 1 tbsp of water at a time to keep skillet moist and to keep from burning the onions. Then add garlic and continue cooking until the onions are a light brown color. Add mashed beans to skillet and mix thoroughly, then stir in the chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt. Continue to cook the beans in the skillet and stir with a spatula until it is a thick paste. At that time, add the lime juice and thoroughly mix it into the cooked beans. Turn off the heat once the lime juice is mixed in to avoid cooking away the lime flavor.
Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients. Starting in the upper right corner and moving counter-clockwise: crushed garlic, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, onion, lime and dried pinto beans.
Start by cooking the pinto beans. Please see this post for complete instructions. After cooking the beans, use a masher to mash them while in the pot.
Chop the onions …
Place the chopped onions in a large skillet.
Measure out portions of the other ingredients and set them aside in dishes. Shown below (left to right): all the dry ingredients in the dish on the left (ground cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder and salt), then crushed garlic in the middle dish followed by fresh squeezed lime juice in the last dish.
Sauté the chopped onions in water, gradually adding more water as necessary – about a tablespoon at a time – to keep the onions from sticking to the skillet or burning. After cooking for about 8 minutes, add the crushed garlic.
Continue to cook the vegetables for about 2 minutes more. Just infuse the flavors into the vegetables.
When the onions and garlic are cooked, add the mashed beans.
Use the masher or wooden spoon and continue to cook the vegetables and mashed beans together. After a minute or two, add the dry seasonings (ground cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder and salt).
Continue to cook and stir the mashed beans with a masher or wooden spoon for another minute or two, then add the fresh squeezed lime juice.
Using the masher, thoroughly mix the fresh squeezed lime juice throughout the mashed beans. When everything is all mixed together, the refried beans will be done.
Milled Flaxseed
Milled flaxseed is a good natural food product that is high in Omega 3, Alpha linolenic acid and fiber. I prefer to buy Northern Edge brand because it comes in a vacuum-packed, air-tight re-sealable bag. Once the flaxseed has been flaked, it can become rancid very quickly. This particular brand is carefully milled at a cool temperature to preserve the nutrients.
For example, when making oatmeal, I will add the milled flaxseed after cooking. I will never add it to the boiling oatmeal during cooking.
Bananas
Bananas are a great food you can eat either as a snack or with cereal or even in cooked dishes. They are very high in potassium. They always make me feel feel relaxed. Plus they are a good, high energy food. Bananas are perfect for a healthy eating plan.
Brown Rice
Brown rice is one of the staple foods for a healthy eating plan. Many cultures throughout history have recognized its nourishment value and you will easily find many delicious recipes that use brown rice. We decided to buy a rice cooker (see photo to left) because making rice with a rice cooker is very easy. You simply add measured amounts of rice and water, turn it on and it will cook perfect rice every time – automatically. This is an older model made by the Zojirushi company (a Japanese manufacturer). This model was about $80 several years ago. It has a built in "keep warm" cycle and has push button controls for brown rice and white rice.
Most rice cookers nowadays are fully automatic with a built-in warmer and timer with cooking options for brown rice and white rice. We recently purchased one at Costco as a gift for someone for about $30. That was a pretty good deal, but we don’t have any actual experience with it. Just reading some of the online reviews, Zojirushi models seem to be the best.
If you don’t want to buy a rice cooker, then you will have to use a regular stainless steel cooking pot with a good sealing lid. You add measured amounts of rice and water (approx 1.5 cups of water per cup of rice), then you set the flame high to boil the water and rice. Then you will turn down the flame and partially cover the rice (allow a gap in the lid) to allow steam to escape. After the rice has been cooking for a few minutes, open the lid and look for gaps or holes ("craters"). At this point, put the lid on tight and turn the flame way down low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Do not open the lid during this time. Keep it on tight. When the rice is done, open the lid and fluff the rice.
Here’s how to cook brown rice in a rice cooker. Start by measuring out the amount of rice you want to cook. I will be making 3 cups in this example.
Rinse the rice thoroughly – several times – until the rinse water is clear.
Strain the rice after each rinse … I will usually rinse about 5 or 6 times.
After rinsing, add water. The cooker has marks on the sides of the cooking pot. I will add water up to the 3-cup mark.
Place the cooking pot in the cooker. Here it is just before closing the lid.
Set the cooker for cooking brown rice and push the button to start cooking. This model has a red LED indicating that the rice is cooking and a yellow LED for the rice to "keep warm". Just before the rice is done, the yellow LED will flash, indicating that it is almost finished cooking.
When the rice has finished cooking, this model will beep out loud to alert you. Open the lid and fluff the rice as soon as it is done to allow excess steam to escape. Close the lid back down to keep warm.
Fluff the rice and serve.
Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen on Staying Young
I found a good video of Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen on YouTube about staying young. They explain that genes are not as important as what you do personally to slow down the aging process. Emphasis is placed on stress and why it is important to keep stress out of your life. They also tell about some recent discoveries about how the organs of the body regenerate themselves. Due to structures called telomeres on the chromosomes, keeping stress out of your life actually keeps the telomeres healthy which helps regenerate the organs.