Tag Archives: healthy

Get your healthy on – Cherry tomato and cottage cheese tartines

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cherrycottage1

This isn’t an actual recipe..I think. At least I don’t think something as easy to make as this can be called a recipe…it’s more of a putting together of ingredients. But since it’s something I eat almost twice a week, every week, and it’s beyond delicious, I thought I might as well share it with the rest of the world (I’ve shared it with my friends and they’ve also gotten on the twice a week wagon). The reasons for its greatness are as follows:
1) It’s incredibly healthy: cottage cheese, tons of proteins for when you don’t really want to have egg whites for breakfast again. Low in fat and high in calcium.
2) It’s delicious: sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, strong olive oil, pepper and crusty bread. Feeling mediterranean yet?
3) Couldn’t be easier or quicker to make: Just pile everything on top of each other.
See?
And if you happen to have a cherry tomato plant in full production (as I do…yay! ) then you’ll want to make this even more. Especially when basil at the supermarket costs about 40 cents (or 6 pesos) for a huge, fresh, aromatic, bunch. So go on and get your delicious healthy on!

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Secret ingredient – Sour cream 100% whole wheat bread

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Sour cream whole wheat piloncillo bread

From the title of this post you might think that I’m talking about sour cream as the super star here… but you’d be wrong. I’m actually talking about piloncillo. That awesome, very mexican unrefined sugar which you’ll find in cafe de olla, atole, capirotada (mexican bread pudding), calabaza en tacha…. or in most barns. (Because I’ll let you in on a little secret: mexican horses don’t eat sugar cubes, they eat tiny piloncillos).  Piloncillo is great because it’s unrefined…but unlike sugar, it has a lot more flavor. It’s sweet and smokey and caramel-y. And it comes in little cone shapes. The only downside to it is that it has to be dissolved before you can use it in most recipes, but that’s not really a problem since all it takes is a little bit of hot water. So I went ahead and used it in a delicious and easy recipe for 100% whole wheat bread, with a dollop of sour cream, which resulted in a moist, rich, slightly sweet loaf. The perfect breakfast bread, with a couple slices of smoked ham and a little bit of butter, or as toast to accompany a creamy soup. (And on the plus side, if you don’t have, can’t or won’t find piloncillo, you could always use maple syrup, molasses or agave nectar!) But I won’t bore you anymore with the details about little cones of sugar, instead why don’t you go and read more the recipe?

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Full of surprises – High protein peanut butter “granola”

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proteing peanut butter granola

From reading this blog, you might not think I like to eat healthy stuff and work out. But you’d be wrong. While I might be the first one to get on the nutella wagon and have absolutely no remorse in eating pasta with rustic bread, I also love healthy foods. Fresh ingredients, raw veggies with delicious dressings and lean fishes rock my boat as easily as any cookie recipe. Which are all the things I like to eat on regular days. (By regular days, I mean those days in which I don’t eat out, cook for friends, or make cakes, three days a week? Guilty.) And my absolute favorite meal along those lines, is breakfast. Because there’s nothing more satisfying or rewarding than eating a delicious, healthy and filling bowl of greek yogurt with just ripe bananas and peanut butter and oats topping after an exhausting work out. So that’s why I’m sharing with you this delicious recipe…because even if you’re not a health-lets-eat-gazillions-of-proteins freak, you’ll still love it and want to use it as a topping for any meal, or a snack, anytime of the day. Because who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate and oats all together?. I know, no one. And the even greater thing about this recipe, it’s the easiest thing in the world! Just mix everything in one bowl. That’s why its not an actual granola, there’s no baking or syrup making involved! Got you hooked yet? Read more for the recipe. Continue reading →

Do it your way – Spearmint and lime gravlax on labneh and chives

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Gravlac on labneh and chives

You know how people are always telling you how you’ve gotta do things your way and live your own life and be your own man (woman!!) and then down the road you’ll be horribly succesful and get absolutely all that you desire and the world will bow at your feet? Well I’ve been trying to do that all my life and I have yet to see even my very spoiled dog do any bowing. Not even a curtsy, seriously. But I have been doing all the things that I enjoy and bring me peace and satisfaction, and even if its hard at times in the end it’s always rewarding. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it twice; DO WHAT YOU LOVE. I don’t mean to be preachy, but seriously, I think it’s the most important thing in the world! I can only imagine being 70 and looking back…I wonder what I’ll want to tell myself? I’m glad I have all this money in the bank or…I’m glad I ate gravlax and spent my bucks in riding and cooking and gardening and buying oil paints every time I felt like it? Ok I’ll be frank, I’ll probably want to tell myself both. But I’m sure I’ll get there! Everyone says so right? And we all know that if everyone says so then it must be true. And plus, even Frank Sinatra sang about it. So that’s what I tell myself every time I go to the market and I see a huge salmon fillet, just waiting to be played with. And I did play my way; I put a little twist on the classic Nordic dish. I made my gravlax with loads and loads of spearmint (’cause its so much milder than dill) and lime rinds, because those three together even when non-gravlaxed make a great combo, imho. And when you put it over pumpernickel and a deliciously creamy labneh sauce, (also called jocoque, aka strained yoghurt) rich in chives and a drop of lime on top…..well you’ll certainly be glad you’re doing it your way. Don’t lie, you want to read more for the recipe, right?

(Note: you could also substitute the labneh for homemade cheese!)

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Rustic is love – Oatmeal and rye bread

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Oatmeal rye bread

Some flavors are incredibly easy and almost everyone likes them. Think vanilla ice cream, ham and cheese, croissants. They’re the superstars of every kitchen/store because we’ll never tire of them and because we’re used to them. The same goes to people, design, fashion, decor, and pretty much everything else. But then there’s the other side of flavors, the unpopular, frowned upon by some and grossly overlooked ones. Like strong mustards, fennel and stinky cheeses. While they may go very high on our foodie-enjoy-almost-anything lists, the majority of people will pick a croissant over a whole wheat bagel any day. Oftentimes I do as well. But when you think about it, it’s really those things that you enjoy because of their strong characteristic flavors that really stick in your mind. And when they’re combined in your plate in such a way that their strengths don’t fight but compliment each other, then you’ve got what I think is a real ingredient experience. Such is often the case with rye breads or pumpernickel, for instance. It might not be ideal for a way-out-there sandwich or for any other recipe involving a lot of actual cooking….but if you’ve got some fresh bitter arugula and a good slice of cured ham lying around…..heaven. This bread turned out to be one of those things…a strong, earthy, moist, compact affair which in the company of some roasted sausages and maple syrup might make you squeal in delight (or you can just smile, if you’re the strong silent type). I tweaked the recipe I found at food.com to include wheat oats and maple syrup…and then I made dinner rolls which turned out suprisingly well for rye; a good hard crust and incredibly soft inside, the ideal roll for scooping up some mushroomy sauce or a jus left from your dinner steak. (Not that I ever scoop up sauce with my bread. ever. Yeah right) Read more for the recipe.

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