Garlic Green Beans

Max and I have been loving garlic green beans. They are pretty low maintenance and very yummy.   I like using the thinner and more delicate French green beans (haricot verts). I've been working on my technique for a while - I hope you enjoy it!
First, I chop the green beans roughly into thirds.

Then, heat a pan to medium (too high and they will burn before they get tender) and coat the bottom with extra virgin olive oil.  Add the green beans and cook, stirring occasionally,  for about 10 minutes until they are just tender and beginning to brown. If you are using larger green beans, it may take longer.

Add sliced garlic and a little salt to the pan.  Cook, stirring more frequently, until the garlic is golden.  About another five minutes.  Don't burn your garlic - it gets bitter.

There really is no recipe for this.  You should use amounts to your liking.  I used the whole bag of TJ's haricot verts, but you could use less or more depending on how hungry you are or how many people you're feeding.  I like my green beans a bit oily - it makes me think its a treat like french fries.  But you don't have to add much oil if you prefer.  You can omit the garlic all together or go crazy with it.  Same goes for the salt - add as much or as little as you'd like.  You might like to try adding a little soy sauce and/or toasted sesame oil at the end for a bit of an asian flare. Whatever your variation, I think you are going to like having this veggie side dish in your arsenal.  

Play With Your Food

Notice the Chook Shed Shiraz in the background.  My girlfriend the thrifty crafter introduced me to this wine and it is my new favorite under $10 bottle.  You'll find it at your local Trader Joe's.

Okay, so I’m not actually advocating that you surprise your roommate or significant other with a handful of roasted broccoli to the face.  I’m merely suggesting that being a little playful and experimenting with food can be a good thing.  With a little creativity and sense of adventure, you can take one recipe or cooking technique and come up with a number of variations to spice up your repertoire and keep it interesting in the dining room.
 

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with my soup recipes.  We had some leftover cilantro in the frige after Max made that delicious steak taco salad.  I thought that cilantro might work in my sugar snap pea soup recipe in place of basil.  I also omitted the edamame (I’m trying to stay away from soy) and was too lazy to put together the onion, pepper and bacon saute.  It was an altogether different flavor. 

On another evening, I was in the mood for cauliflower soup, but didn’t want to take the time to roast it for my roasted cauliflower soup recipe.  So, I decided I’d make the soup with the same technique as my broccoli soup recipe.  It was much quicker and quite delicious.  I've made it every week since.  I preferred the color of the soup this way as well.  Using chicken or vegetable stock lends a yellowish color as opposed to the cream/tan color of the roasted cauliflower soup.

I've been using the Cuisinart Smart Stick hand blender that my lovely mother gave me for Christmas to puree my soups.  The hand blender does not do as good of a job of creating a super smooth soup as a regular blender.  Max seems to like the chunky consistency better, so it works out well.  And, its nice to be able to skip the transferring step and puree the soup in the pot. 

Breakfast for Dinner - Why Not?

Sometimes traditional breakfast food is perfect for dinner.  Tonight, I met Max out after work to run some pre-wedding errands.  I didn't want to have to eat out, so I brought a broccolini frittata along and we ate it together in the car.  Frittatas can be cut and eaten like a slice of pizza. Totally yummy and easily transported.

Check out my breakfast recipes and try one for dinner:
Curried Zucchini Frittata
Smoked Salmon Frittata with Goat Cheese, Capers and Red Onion
Spinach and Artichoke Frittata
Spinach and Pepper Scramble with "Chorizo"

Have Y'all Tried the Baked Indian Chicken Yet?

If you haven't tried the Baked Indian Chicken yet, you should.  I made this for the fourth or fifth time last night and again, found it to be easy to prepare and satisfying to eat.  This is another recipe that looks like you've put in a lot of effort, when you haven't. 

Do beware that some marinating is involved.  (I hate when I get excited about making a recipe only to find out several hours of marinating or chilling are involved.)  I usually start marinating the chicken before work and then just have a few simple steps (chop onions, transfer chicken to baking dish and put in the oven) to do when I get home.

This go'round I coupled the chicken with some roasted cauliflower with a bit of curry powder.   And of course, no meal of mine would be complete without a glass of red wine!

Size Matters!!! Get Your Big Salad On.

As I was preparing my ginormous salad for lunch today, I thought - I wonder if any of my readers are making the mistake of not eating enough salad.  As I've mentioned, many of my friends and family are on the Gundry journey.  Early on, a few of us made the mistake of not putting enough greens in our salads.  In order to feel satisfied, you're going to need a lot of roughage.  It's not atypical for me to go through at least a half a bag of salad for one serving (depending on the size of the bag).  I'm talking eating your lunch out of a mixing bowl size salads.  So, if you've been torturing yourself with a lunch that fits on a salad plate - suffer no longer.  Also, you don't need to skimp on the dressing.   You should be mindful of the condiments you use, but you don't need to deprive yourself of a well-dressed salad.  And lastly, make you salads interesting - load them up with your favorite veggies.  They're "free" after all.  

Eating at my desk at work - this huge salad has bell pepper, broccoli, roasted Brussels sprouts, green beans and pepperoncinis with a few halved boccacini (small, fresh, mozzarella balls) and pecans for protein.

Some of our favorite salad mixings include:

Lightly steamed and chopped french green beans (haricot vert)
Lightly steamed broccoli

Sliced radishes

Chopped or julienned bell pepper

Thinly sliced fennel

Thinly sliced red onion

Hearts of palm

Artichoke hearts

Mushrooms

Pepperoncinis
Leftover roasted veggies (like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts)

Getting my lunch packed for work - I've got a little more than half a bag of salad and a large tupperware of  mixings.

I work with my dad, so I get to see his salads everyday too.  His bowl is even bigger than mine.  He loves adding capers and pickles to his salads.  

Here are some protein ideas too:

Chopped hard-boiled egg

Sliced deli meat such as turkey or ham

Chopped chicken

Smoked Salmon

Feta cheese 

Nuts (toasted pecans are my mom's favorite)
Leftovers from the night before (roasted chicken, sausage, steak)

I often chop and prep at the beginning of the week and store salad fixings in tupperware in the frige.  Everyday before work, I throw greens in one container (or just bring the bag), fixings in another and bring a small container (recycled spice jar) of homemade dressing. 

Speaking of homemade dressing, I usually just mix together extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large glass jar and use it throughout the week for salad dressing.  You can try the recipe here or experiment with making your own dressing.  Max likes a lot of mustard in his dressing, I prefer less.  Sometimes I use apple cider vinegar, sometimes red wine.  But maybe you prefer balsamic.  If I'm feeling especially lazy, I simply drizzle my salad with a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Every once in a while I make homemade Caesar (there's a recipe for a Gundry-friendly version at the bottom of this post.) There is no magic formula, but it's worth it to find one that works for you.  Making dressing at home saves you from hidden sugar and preservatives found in store bought dressings.  

Taco Salad with Steak

After a wine-soaked bachelorette weekend in Paso Robles, California, I was in no shape to make dinner.  Luckily, my charming and thoughtful husband-to-be expected that I would be in such a state and had planned to make dinner for us.  He prepared a yummy steak taco salad with pre-marinated carne asada, avocado, mixed greens, tomato, red bell pepper, pickled jalapeno peppers and a lime vinaigrette.

He grilled the crane asada for three to four minutes a side and then sliced thinly. Next, he filled plates with mixed greens, drizzled with vinaigrette, sprinkled with chopped onion, cilantro and jalapeno and then he topped the greens with tomato, red bell pepper, avocado and steak.  Yummy!  He also made us "fun-garitas" with tequila, fresh squeezed lime and sparkling water.

Here's a picture of the tasty wines I brought home with me.  Paso Robles is a wonderfully unique wine county.  I highly recommend it.  And, to my girlfriends, if you're reading, thank you so much for the perfect bach'ette weekend!

Because of the tomatoes and avocado, you'll want to avoid this meal in the first two weeks of Phase 1 or while trying to loose weight.  In Phase 3, you can substitute the steak for more avocado or a bit of manchego cheese.

Rosemary Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Make an elegant but easy meal with pork tenderloin.  I bought this one from Trader Joe's and made a simple and delicious meal. Here's what I did... 

I stuffed it with garlic.   

 And then I rubbed it with salt, pepper and chopped, fresh rosemary.   

Next I slathered it with dijon mustard.  

 Then, I popped it in a 350 degree preheated oven and cooked it until the internal temperature reached 160 degrees (about 40 minutes).  

 Let the pork sit for 10 minutes before cutting.  I served it with roasted kale and cauliflower.  Simply toss vegetables in extra-virgin olive oil and then bake until tender.  Kale roasts quickly in about 10 minutes (if you leave it in too long the leaves get too brittle).  The cauliflower will take about 45 minutes.  I put the cauliflower in a few minutes before the pork and roasted the kale while the pork was sitting.