Healthy Recipes 360 » Herbs and Seasonings

Mediterranean Salad Dressing

admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:17:13 +0000

You can make your own homemade salad dressing very easily in about 5-10 minutes with this healthy recipe. The main advantage is that you can control the ingredients – you know what’s going into it.

The main ingredients of this salad dressing are olive oil and red wine vinegar. These are typical ingredients found in Mediterranean foods so I call it “Mediterranean Salad Dressing.” It also has a spicy flavor because it has curry powder, pepper and Dijon mustard. Place it in the refrigerator after mixing and shake it up real good before using it.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 juice from one lime
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a mixing jar, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, juice from one fresh lime, honey, Dijon mustard, curry powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Close lid and shake vigorously for several minutes to thoroughly mix ingredients. Keep refrigerated.

Shown below is a shot of the ingedients and a jar to put it in. I saved a jar from some other product that we bought and re-used it for the salad dressing.

Add all the ingredients to the jar, shake it up real good and store in the refrigerator.

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Herb Roasted Chicken

admin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:38:14 +0000

Ahhh, tasty herb roasted chicken with crisp skin! You can cook this yourself with some basic ingredients in about an hour and a half. Buy a whole chicken – preferably pasture raised (as organic as possible … not corn fed and not fattened up with hormones and antibiotics). I try to buy chicken that doesn’t contain any hormones or antibiotics, but it can be tricky getting the correct information.

Currently, there are some chickens being peddled as “Free Range” which are pretty much meaningless. The term, “Free Range”, does not mean it was not fed with corn laced with chemicals, and the terms “no added hormones or antibiotics” doesn’t mean that the growers didn’t add the chemicals into the food, so caveat emptor, “Let the buyer beware.”

Hormones and antibiotics make chickens grow much larger than they do naturally. Good, healthy chickens that weigh around 3 lbs. or just over that is about as big as they should be. I am suspicious of gigantic chicken breasts being sold as “Free Range.” If the chicken looks too big, it was probably given hormones and antibiotics. I like the chickens from Mary’s Pasture Raised Chickens. They are available locally at Whole Foods Markets.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, about 3 lbs or so
thyme
basil
oregano
rosemary
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 425°. Leave the skin on the chicken and place it in a baking pan breast side up. Liberally season the outside and inside with thyme and basil and sparingly with oregano. Liberally season the inside only with rosemary. Then sprinkle outside with salt and pepper. Place in preheated oven on the top rack and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

This will make a tender and juicy bird with a crispy skin.

Note: Adjust cooking time depending on the weight of the chicken – for example 1 hour and 10 minutes for a 3 lb chicken.

Shown below is a shot of the whole chicken in a baking pan with all the seasonings – thyme, basil and oregano, rosemary along with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 425°. Liberally season the outside and inside with thyme and basil and a little bit with oregano. Season the inside only with rosemary, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to your preference.

Place in the oven and bake for about an hour and 10 minutes. Adjust cooking time according to the weight of the chicken.

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Baked Chicken Breast

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:29:41 +0000

This is a relatively quick and easy recipe that you can make in about 20 minutes. Chicken breast is a staple food for people who wish to lose weight, but it can get really boring. If cooked carelessly, it can turn out very dry and tasteless. This recipe will make a very tender and juicy baked chicken breast that is seasoned well and is very tasty.

I prefer range-free chicken that doesn’t contain any hormones or antibiotics. These additives make chickens grow large, and, unfortunately, I believe that they can make people grow large as well. We are able to get range-free chicken at a reasonable price from Trader Joe’s here in Southern California.

Baked chicken breast can be served as a main dish or you can cut it into pieces that you can toss into a green salad.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 2 breasts)
Thyme
Basil
Oregano
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425°. Place chicken breasts in a baking pan and season liberally with thyme and basil and sparingly with oregano. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in preheated oven and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Adjust cooking time according to the weight of the chicken, more or less time for more or less weight. Serve hot, tender and juicy.

Shown below is a shot of the chicken breast in a baking pan with all the seasonings – thyme, basil and oregano, along with salt and pepper. We prefer range-free chicken because it is healthier than chicken raised conventionally. Preheat oven to 425°.

Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Adjust cooking time according to the weight of the chicken.

Serve hot with sliced vegetables. Below it is shown with sliced radish, cucumber and tomato.

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Best Deal on Curry Powder

admin — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:07:33 +0000

I’m on an Indian food kick so I have been using a lot of curry powder for cooking. Curry powder is readily available in most supermarkets, but, wow! Is it ever expensive! A small 2 oz. bottle of curry powder (Spice Islands brand) costs a whopping $7.50 at Gelson’s here in Southern California! Whole Foods Market actually had a better deal for about $5.50 (Spicely brand), but it is not always in stock.

I thought maybe I could find a better deal online. My wife found the best deal. Starwest Botanicals has organic curry powder in a 1 lb. resealable bag which we were able to get from Vitacost.com for about 9 bucks!

We buy a lot of vitamins and other botanicals from Vitacost.com so it was a no-brainer. It tastes good in the dishes we prepare, so we are very happy with it.

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