Posts Tagged ‘Healthy Cooking’
Mung Bean Soup
Mung bean soup is a thick, heavy bodied soup that you can serve as a meal in itself. Mung beans are sold in health food stores. They are used for sprouting (bean sprouts) and cooking in soups. Mung beans are popular with Indian cuisine and it makes a thick soup called "Dal". It goes great with curry dishes or all by itself
This recipe is very easy to make. It cooks pretty fast for a soup. A lot of soups take hours to cook but not this one. It has a mildly spicy flavor – not too hot. It uses Anaheim chili peppers, which are very mild – not very hot at all, so don’t be afraid to cook with them. It uses fresh ginger and cilantro which adds a lot of zing to the soup.
Quickest Vegetable Soup Recipe
This is the quickest vegetable soup recipe that I know. It is delicious and low in fat, yet very fast and easy to make. Most soups take a lot of time to make and usually you wind up making enough to feed a small army. You can make a half-batch of this recipe if you like (all the photos I shot were a half-batch).
So with this recipe you can make it fast plus you can make it in small batches. Those are two big plus points … and another plus is that it is healthy! We try to use all organic ingredients – organic broth, organic basil and oregano, organic carrots, green beans and cabbage.
The secret to this recipe is that you start with vegetable broth and beef broth. They come in handy 32-oz containers. That’s what saves the time. We only use organic broths because we want to make sure they are healthy to begin with. You simply add in fresh vegetables. It only takes a few minutes to chop them. Using fresh vegetables always ensures you’re getting good food. That’s important. ... Read More
Homemade Chili Con Carne (Killer Chili)
There’s nothing like homemade chili! It seems like everyone has his or her own special recipe so this is my version. You can cook it up on the stove in a couple of hours. You first need to have some cooked pinto beans. You can cook them the day before and keep them in the refrigerator or soak them the night before and cook the beans and the chili all in one day. They take about 3 hours to cook after soaking all night.
Everything in this recipe is healthy. I use grass-fed ground beef. It’s the best quality beef you can obtain. Some chili recipes call for kidney beans, but this one uses pinto beans.
This recipe uses 3 different kinds of chili peppers – Anaheim, serrano and sweet mini-peppers. The Anaheim peppers are very mild and the serrano peppers provide all the hotness. You can substitute jalapeño peppers for the serrano peppers if you want. Jalapeño peppers are not quite as hot, but will work. The nice thing about cooking with peppers is that it seems no matter how you combine them, you can taste all the individual flavors. ... Read More
Mediterranean Salad Dressing
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. ... Read More
Ginger Turkey Curry with Brown Rice
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, 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. 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 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 a tbsp or two of coconut oil or butter, 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.