Healthful Bites

My sisters and I all had our contributions for our Easter dinner this year…making my Mom very excited that all she had to prepare was dessert! For my two dishes, I went with a fresh and colorful theme. Very spring-like! 

The new experiment I tried out came courtesy of the new “Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious and Guilt Free Recipes on the Planet” cookbook.

What makes this book slightly different than HG’s (AKA Lisa Lillien) previous two cookbooks, among other things, is its inclusion of more recipes made with whole, natural foods. One immediately caught my eye: The Rat(atouille) Pack!

You’ll have to grab a copy of the book to get the complete recipe, but I’ll give you a sneak peek of my stab at the foil packed fun.

First, we (well, my Mom helped with the prep work too, besides the pie) chopped the vegetables and herbs into chunks and dumped them into a large bowl.

Next, add a couple tomato-based items and seasonings to spice things up a bit!

Mix ingredients well so that all of the vegetables are coated in tomato mixture. Pull out a large piece of foil and dumb the veggie mixture right in the middle.

Wrap the contents burrito-style so that the juices and steam will be held inside while cooking.

Pop the packet on a baking sheet (just in case the foil package isn’t foolproof) and bake for about 30 minutes in the oven. Open up for a savory and extremely tasty vegetable dish. The packets really hold in the flavor!

My other contribution cam from the produce section as well—a springy fruit salad. Yum!

I packed my plate with good portions of both, as well as a bit of ciabatta, and enjoyed a fiber-filled, wholesome meal. In the future, I’d like to try adding beans (such as chickpeas or black beans) or lean meat (such as grilled chicken or turkey) to the ratatouille for a protein punch! 

When you have a dinner party or family holiday meal, do you have a go-to dish? If so, what is it?

If you’ve read any article or books by the “Eat This, Not That” team, you’ve seen the damage that a salad can do to your diet—whether it is served in a fried taco salad shell or not. Salads can be a waist-watchers dream, but they can slip into calorie and saturated fat bombs if you’re not careful.

With that in mind, here’s a quick and easy recipe that should soothe a Mexican craving while fitting in some nutrition.

Taco Salad Twist (adapted from Hungry Girl’s recipe)

• 1 La Tortilla Factory, or other brand, whole wheat tortilla (I like these because they are high fiber, low calorie and tasty!)
• 1/2 package of prewashed salad mix of choice (romaine, carrots and purple cabbage is my choice)
• 1/3 cup meat substitute crumbles
• 1/2 tsp. taco seasoning mix
• Salsa (if you’re like me, you’ll want a lot!)
• Optional: Spoonful of sour cream, sprinkle of cheddar cheese, diced red onion

Preheat oven to 425* and spray heat-safe bowl or round dish with nonstick spray. Push the tortilla down in the dish to create a taco shell bowl for your salad. Bake the shell in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until it reaches your desired crispiness.

Put meat crumbles in a microwave-safe bowl, add taco seasoning. Microwave mixture for 30 seconds and give it a quick stir. Zap it for another 20 seconds or so.

Fill tortilla taco shell with lettuce mix and top with crumbles and optional toppings. I like to use the salsa as a dressing stand-in, but that may be just me being strange. It you would prefer another dressing, I’m a fan of Salad Spritzers (fun!)

I recently tried my Taco Salad Swap with a serving of Sea Salt Multigrain PopChips, which, in my opinion, taste fairly similar to tortilla chips. Delicious!

Are there any recipes that you wish you had a nutritious swap for?