Cooking for One: Double Duty Black Bean Chicken

Some of my fitness team do a lot of cooking for one person for various reasons. We were talking about how hard it is to find tasty, easy, inexpensive recipes that work for one person, and I told them I’d share some of mine!

The first one is a double-duty recipe, so you get two easy meals with little work. Bonus: it’s a slow cooker recipe! The base recipe is modified from my friend Bethany.

Double Duty Black Bean Chicken

Base Recipe Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can whole kernel corn, drained -OR- 1 cup frozen corn

1 cup salsa (whatever heat preference you like

1.5 cup low-sodium chicken broth (tip: use a larger container, and reserve the rest for meal #2)

Directions: Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add chicken then just dump everything else in on top. Cook on low for 8-12 hours (I do this overnight).  Notes: You can double this recipe easily, and it makes a great topping for nachos. Or, stir in sour cream and cheddar cheese to make a great dip for a party.

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MEAL 1: ENCHILADAS

Additional Ingredients

2 flour tortillas

Cheddar or mexican cheese blend, if desired. -OR- 1/2 avocado, sliced

1 can green enchilada sauce

Directions: Preheat oven to 375.  Spoon chicken mixture into flour tortillas (about a half cup per tortilla, depending on what size tortilla). Add cheese or avocado. Roll into burritos and place in baking dish, then cover with enchilada sauce. Bake 15-20 minutes until tops are a bit crispy.  Notes: This freezes beautifully, as well as holds in the refrigerator as a lunch.

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Meal 2: Tortilla Soup

Additional ingredients

2 cans chicken broth (low-sodium preferred), or remainder of broth from above

1 small can fire roasted green chilis

1/4 cup brown rice

sliced jalapenos (if desired)

1 bunch cilantro (if desired)

Directions: Combine remaining chicken mixture with all chicken broth, chilis, brown rice, and jalapenos (if using).  Allow to simmer until rice is cooked. Alternatively, you can just dump all this right into the crock pot with the remaining chicken mixture, set it on low, and let it cook for about 4 hours. Top with cilantro and serve.

Monday Healthy Eating, Oct. 25, 2010

Today’s healthy eating tip:  Make convenience foods yourself ahead of time, so there’s no excuses!

Right now, I have apple-pomegranate-nut granola bars whipping themselves up in my dehydrator.  They took me a grand total of about 2 minutes to mix up, another 30 seconds to spread on the dehydrator sheet, and now I do nothing with them for the next 4 or so hours when I turn them off to cool down.  They’ve got very little sugar, tons of fiber, protein, and omega fatty acids, and no additional fat or preservatives. And they cost pennies each. Which makes them pretty much the antithesis of store-bought granola bars, which are loaded with empty calories from sugar, unhealthy fats, and things you can’t pronounce.

What’s this got to do with anything? Well, we’re all busy. Most people these days work at least one job (those lucky enough to have jobs in this economy), usually all adults in the house need to work, kids have school and a bazillion activities, and things sometimes get out of hand. This is when you’re likely to stop by McDonalds to get the kids (or yourself) a quick snack, or grab some mac-and-cheese out of a box. If that’s rare treat, then that’s totally okay. If it happens a few times a week, it’s a problem. So, this has to do with avoiding that problem.

One way I stay on track is to take a few minutes to set up conveniences foods when I have the time. The granola bars happened today both because I need them for my clients and because I had 5 minutes to spare. I keep a list of recipes on-hand, and some basic ingredients, and whip up some easy, healthy food for the pantry of freezer whenever I can squeeze it in, and it means I don’t have to resort to fast or processed foods.

You do have the time. Watching TV for an hour tonight? Take 5 minutes before your show or on a commercial to pop up some stove-top popcorn (don’t use microwave–it’s expensive, and it’s awful for you, even the “low-fat” stuff), toss it with some spritzed olive oil and your choice of spices (favorite combo of our are garlic, salt, and smoked paprika) and let it cook while you watch your show (eat some if you like, of course). Toss it into individual serving bags, and you’ve got a crunchy, low-cal, high-fiber snack for the week.  Sitting at the computer playing on Facebook? While you’re waiting for your updates, mix up a healthy meatloaf (black beans, lean ground beef, oats, an egg, spices, red & green pepper, onion, and whatever chopped veggies you want to toss in) and toss it in the oven. If you want, you can divide it up into individual serving sizes in small pyrex dishes to make lunches easier. Some of my favorite conveniences foods to whip up in a jiffy:

-Mini meatloafs

-Mini healthy muffins (there are even some decent mixes out there, and I add fruit and nuts if I use them)

-Mini frittatas

-Seasoned popcorn, pumpkin seeds, or nuts in individual packages

-Boiled eggs

-Dehydrator granola bars

-Cheese cubes (way cheaper to make these yourself than buy the pre-cuts)

-Homemade hot pockets (I use leftovers for filling), with a fat-free, whole wheat dough. You can even buy fairly healthy whole wheat pizza dough at some stores, and use that.

-Soup in the crockpot. There’s nothing faster: just throw in some beans, some broth, and a some veggies. If you want fancy soup, throw in some spices and canned tomatoes. Let it cook for a few hours, and you’ve got something easy for the week, or to throw in individual portions in the freezer for those lunches or dinners you just don’t have time to cook.

There’s more, I’m sure, but these are what I can think of off the top of my head. None of them takes more than a few minutes, and those few minutes save me hundreds of calories (and preservatives) every day.

To get started, just get a piece of paper and write down out what you tend to need convenience foods for: breakfasts, snacks, lunches, etc., and what kinds of things you’d like to have on-hand. Make a list and stick it up somewhere you can see it, and next time you have a couple of minutes, use those to help you make good food choices when it would otherwise be inconvenient.  There are tons of recipes on the internet for fast convenience foods, including some great whole-grain cookies (these are my current obsession)!

Planning is everything in making healthful choices, but you have to start in small steps. You’ve already started meal planning (right?), and this is just an extension of that, really. We’re all busy, and we all want those few extra minutes to do something else; but, it’s about priorities. “Convenience foods,” many of which aren’t food at all, are one of the biggest culprits behind obesity in this country, especially childhood obesity. You’ll feel better eating better food, and it only take a few times making healthy items for later before you have a nice little stash to choose from. Once that happens, you have to take those few minutes less often to replenish it.

 

Related Articles

• Make healthy lunches kids will want to eat (canada.com)
• Healthy back to school snacking (thismamacooks.com)
• The Minimalist: Granola Bars, Unwrapped (nytimes.com)
• Quick Healthy Meals for Busy Families (webmd.com)
• How Food Affects Your Brain 10 Facts We Now Know (losethattyre.co.uk)

Macaroni & Cheese..with Wine?

Absolutely. I was shocked, too, but when some friends and I hit Hickory Hill winery on a recent wine tour that is exactly what their Country Red screamed out: “Drink me with some really good mac & cheese!” So, we bought a bottle, and at the very first ripe opportunity I busted out a mac & cheese recipe recommended by both the owner of the winery and the friends who’d accompanied us on the tour.

It all starts out simple enough, with some cheese and noodles.

It ends up all goey and yummy like this:

I had to make some changes from Jaime Olliver’s recipe. I couldn’t find any decent fontina, let alone marscapone, and I needed to add some protein to it for The Boys.

• 1lb 2oz good-quality macaroni
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a knob of butter
• a small bunch of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked (I used dried oregano, because I had it on hand)

• 3½oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for grating
• 3½oz grated sharp cheddar

• 3½oz Muenster
• 3½oz cream cheese
• ¼ of a nutmeg

• 1/2 lb. smoked sausage, diced small

•  1/2 med. red pepper, small
An additional bit grated cheddar (or fresh mozzarella) and Parmesan cheeses reserved.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On stove top, cook the macaroni, and drain, reserving 1/2 c. of cooking water. In pan, heat butter and herbs until herbs are crispy. Add macaroni and all cheeses except the reserved grated cheddar, and several tablespoons of the starch water. Stir until creamy. Stir in sausage and pepper. Pour macaroni into a lightly greased casserole, and sprinkle grated cheddar over top, then Parmesan. Put in oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes until cheese on top is bubbly. Serve warm, with a red wine, and enjoy!

Related Articles

• Who invented macaroni and cheese? (holykaw.alltop.com)

It’s Personal!

I love these personal frittatas. Farm fresh eggs, local greens and tomatoes,  fresh milk, and grated Parmesan. They’re also incredibly impressive coming out of the oven, and don’t take much to prepare to perfection. Did I mention they freeze well? What’s not to love?

There’s no set recipe, and I change them up a lot depending on the ingredients I have to hand and the seasons; but, the basics are:

-A small, personal tart pan

-Baking spray

-2 farm fresh eggs

-2-3 tbs. fresh milk, cream, or sour cream.

-Salt, pepper, ground mustard, cayenne. Other spices, like thyme, basil, oregano, etc. can also be added to compliment your fillings.

- Fillings of your choice. Meats should be cooked.

-2 tbs. hard cheese, finely grated (I like Parmesan or Sharp Cheddar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan liberally with baking spray and place pan on cookie sheet,  then spoon in about 4 tbs. filling ingredients. In separate bowl, beat together eggs, cream, and a pinch of each spice with a whisk. Stir in all but 1 tsp. of your cheese, and pour into tart pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of egg mixture, and place tart pan (still on the cookie tray) into oven. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center. Allow to cool completely in tart pan, then gently run a butter knife around the edge of the frittata and remove from pan.

You’re likely to be seeing more “individual” foods here, as Thadd’s back in school and needs things he can toss into a cooler and I have clients that need something they can carry to work easily. If you’ve got favorite “individual” foods, share with us! Or, if there’s something you’d like to see, just ask and I’ll see what I can do!

How Do You Know Shawn’s Happy?

Easy: I’m cooking or otherwise puttering in the kitchen!  I’ve been dehydrating cantaloupe, freezing bananas and melon (this is a great way to save seasonal produce for smoothies!), preparing to ferment sour pickles, and I forget what else. Fortunately, I did remember to take pictures of some of the putterings to remind me:

Above: Hummus. If you’ve never made it, you should. It’s easy, inexpensive, tasty, and healthy. It takes few ingredients (chickpeas, garlic, tahini, EVOO, and lemon juice) to start, then you can add anything you want to flavor it, from paprika to sundried tomatoes. It’s the perfect dip for all those summer veggies, or a great spread for sandwiches. Below: I don’t have a glass pitcher that won’t crack if I dump boiling water into it, so I make a strong quart of  tea, then dilute it into a larger pitcher for iced tea. We’re from the North, so we don’t quite get the whole “Sweet tea” thing. We drink it with little or no sugar and some lemon.

Above: Okay, let’s face it. There’s almost no way to make certain things look good on film, no matter how good they taste in real life: pot roast, curry, and this dish–Thai Peanut Sauce with Shrimp–are great examples. Drab photo aside, it was delicious. A bit spicy, a lot depth (umami!) from fish and soy sauces, with a bright bite from sarachi and lime.  I served it over noodles, and sided it with a cucumber-tomato salad. Thadd made himself sick on it, which is always an indicator that it was a great dinner.  Below: summer is a time for salads. We toss all kinds of stuff into our salads, including the mango and pecans you see below. They complimented the fresh, local goat cheese and spinach perfectly. A good salad needs little in the way of dressing, so I just drizzled some EVOO and balsamic over it, and sprinkled it with a bit of sea salt.

Below: Two recipes that have been featured here. First, the Mojo Pork Loin from my last post. Second, the three-potato salad that was my most popular recipe at the Growing Power seminar at Lynchburg Grows in March. These dishes work well together, and make a great barbecue menu!

This week, more puttering! I hope to get up some photos of the pickling process, as well as some of the dehydrating I am currently doing. Are you puttering?

Food Photos!

I’d like to think you come here for my wit and food politics, but we all know you’re here for the food. Since I’ve been a bit light on food porn these last weeks, I’m going to throw a bunch at you today to catch up!

Above: You all know we eat from local sources as much as possible, and I just found a new source for amazing chicken: Davis Creek Farms. Their 100% pastured, free-range, better-than-organic chickens are slaughtered on the farm by the family, and they’re delicious. The bird above came trussed just as you see it–ready for roasting. His prices, which was about $3.40/lb for whole birds, are totally worth it for the flavor and the good farming practices. The carcass will, of course, go into stock later this week.  Below: These freshly-dug potatoes and carrots were roasted with Herbs de Provence for a wonderful side dish. Fresh potatoes have a richness that store-bought just can’t match, because store-bought potatoes are stored in warehouses just above freezing. These temperatures change the starches in the potatoes, rendering them less creamy and muting the flavor. The baby carrots tasted like carrots, not like sugar. Yum! The leftovers will be mixed with beets and beet greens in a homemade chicken stock base for a wonderful soup. The carrot tops will be used in pesto (thanks to the farm for this idea!).

Below: Falafel is hard to come by in this area, and we’ve been craving it. I finally had time to whip up a batch a few days ago:

Below: Summer brings cold fare to the table, in part because I tend to lose my appetite in the heat. For lunches, I’ve really gotten into savory smoothies, which are essentially gazpacho every day! They’re healthy, full of vitamins and fiber, and fill me up while cooling me down. I side them with some protein (usually an egg, cheese, and/or nuts), and it’s a light, filling lunch that is also full of what I need to keep up my active lifestyle.

Now that market season is here and our CSA has started, we’re looking forward to a lot of produce and a lot of new recipes. We’ll also be doing, as usual, a lot of preservation via canning, freezing, and drying. All this means lots of new pics, so if you’re just here for the food porn, you’ve got something to look forward to. If you’re here for the politics, don’t worry, that’s coming, too!

Keeping It Up

I’ve been training a lot lately. There’s a few reasons for this: 1) I am teaching more classes at both gyms, including spin, weights, and P90X, and I have to train up for them, 2) there’s the All-Women’s 4-Days-4-States hike I’ll be doing (and kind of leading) in June, and 3) the warrior dash in September could possibly kick my bum if I’m not ready for it.

This only matters here because it means I have to work harder to keep my energy and nutrition up, including my electrolytes and antioxidants (being sick isn’t really an option right now). So, I’ve added smoothies to my daily diet. I’m trying for 2 a day, and they’re not all your average smoothies. Only rarely will there be any yogurt in them, because I am instead of focusing on variety and “superfoods,” like matcha, pomegranate, acai,  wheat grass, flax meal, etc. This morning’s matcha-melon was awesome, but I didn’t get pictures. I did, however, get last night’s pomegranate smoothie:

Above: the raw ingredients. Melon, mango, lime (which I zested), strawberries, and flax. Not shown are pomegranate juice and ice. To make things faster, I pre-prep fruits like melon and mango in batches, then store until I am ready to use. Below: ready to add the liquid and the ice.

Below: The Magic Bullet Blender. Yep, I laughed at it, too. My roommate has one, so I thought I’d give it a whirl, and as much fun as I made of it, it’s awesome for smoothies. It is fast, compact, blends really well, and cleans up in a flash, making it far preferable to a large blender if you’re doing one smoothie at a time like I am.

And finally, the finished product:

I’m always trying new combos, so you’ll probably see more here. I am hoping to pick up some almond butter soon, to do almond vanilla smoothies for the protein. Any favorite recipes out there?

Healthy Alternatives

We all love comfort food, especially when it’s cold outside. Mashed potatoes, fried chicken, hearty soups…they’re good for the soul, so to speak. They’re not so good for the waistline, cholesterol count, or antioxidants, though. The answer isn’t to give up your favorites, it’s to change how they fit into your life.

Fried chicken is time-consuming and fatty. This version, made with Panko bread crumbs, is much healthier and a snap to make. Marinade boneless, skinless thighs or breasts in your favorite marinade overnight in a covered bowl or bag. A fun one is a southern sweet-tea brine, but you can do Italian dressing, honey mustard…whatever. Dry chicken, then coat with flour (seasoned if you like, and I use whole wheat), an egg wash (whites or egg beaters will do just fine), and press into panko crumbs to coat. Bake at 400 until done (it’ll depend on the cut of chicke, but about 25-35 minutes). Voila!

Chili, the ultimate winter soup. Anyone from MI knows that deer season, and winter in general, means lots of the spicy stuff.  The good news is that there’s already a lot to love about chili. It’s often got beans for fiber, and protein and tomatoes for lycopene. But, all that meat can put a strain on the fat meter if you’re using 80/20 ground beef. Since it’s deer season, replace it with venison. If you don’t have a hunter in the family, look up a local farm and get some grass-fed ground beef. It’s got about half the calories of store-bought. Or, turn it into a chicken chili, as I did above. This is my “Black and White Chicken Chili,” so named for the black and canellini beans I use.  A homemade veggie stock gives a warm, rich base for the zesty peppers (I use green, red, and chilis in adobo sauce!), spicy onions, creamy beans, and tender chicken.

Meatloaf is a childhood memory. For some of us, it’s even a good one. It reminds me of home and big family meals. It also is often just plain unhealthy. Fortunately, it’s an easy leap from unhealthy to tasty and good for the body. The big step is to make sure you use lean meat, like grassfed beef, 90/10 from the store, or venison. Use egg whites instead of whole eggs as a binder, toss in oats and TVP for the bulking agents, then add tomatoes, zucchini, and other fun veggies. You want the tomatoes and zucchini to keep it moist. I usually toss in black beans, spinach, and some other goodies! Cover with fresh or canned crushed tomatoes and bake, then serve with smashed golden or sweet potatoes and it’s a good-for-the-hips meal that is better than the old stand-by.

Swai Did You Say?

While shopping for whitefish for a client’s menu this week, I noticed a new fish on ice at the local fish market. It was called “Swai,” and the little sign they stuck into it said it was sustainable and eco-friendly, and tasted a lot like catfish. And, it was only $3.99/lb. Since I had to buy a LOT of it for this large family, the price was a bonus, but I was worried about the “sustainable,” thing. That means different things to different people (read: Monsanto considers GMO, Round-Up-Ready to be sustainable. I don’t).

So, I checked out a site I trust, the Monteray Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch site. If you’ve never been there, it’s a great resource, and they have a little pocket guide you can print out to help you select fish that are eco-friendly. I was pleasantly surprised that they list Swai as a “Good Alternative” fish.

I got a filet for myself to try, too, and it’s delicious! We’re having it tonight, and I suspect once a week from now on until Thadd gets tired of it.

Crazy Schedules and Crazy Meals

My schedule is a bit crazy right now, as I juggle clients, writing, volunteering, and a home life. My fiance’s schedule has also picked up, and now we’re officially in the “We have to find a hood for your car, NOW!” phase. (For those of you who didn’t know, a deer ran into my car a while ago. Since it’s an older model, finding a hood in good condition less than several hours away has been a challenge; but, it’s looking like we might make the trip to grab one at this point). The car’s not drivable as it is, because the deer broke the hood latch and did some other other damage that means it cannot be safely closed.  With the way things are settling out, it’s gone from inconvenient to undoable; so, this week is focused on finding and replacing the hood.

This is all leading into the crazy food. We meal plan pretty rigorously, and it’s gotten even more important as things get more and more hectic. We need to stay healthy, we don’t like eating out, we want to keep our grocery budget under control. This can get difficult, but we realize that it’s times like these when you have to plan more time to cook, not less. You just have to plan it differently! To that end, here’s our meal plan for the next while:

This week

Groceries for 7 days: $50.00

Tonight: Chickpea saag. Made with local greens, saag is a wonderful Indian dish eaten over rice. The chickpeas (which were cooked up from dried) cominbed with brown rice and yogurt provide excellent protein, while the spinach and rice provide lots of fiber. This was made yesterday, because it’s always better when it has time to sit in the refrigerator overnight!

Friday: Beer-roasted chicken, with EVOO glazed potatoes and vegetable. This whole chicken will provide meals for us one night, and lunches/sandwiches for a few days. We’ve got lots of yummy local potatoes in our bin, and we’ll pull out some frozen veggies. To round things off, we’ll have a big green salad with balsamic vinegar and oil.

Saturday: Banana & Black Bean Empanadas. This is a dry-run test for the crust recipe I’ll be using for one of my clients later this week. Healthy, full of protein, fiber, and potassium (which we both need more of with our current levels of activity), these will be served with a spicy yogurt sauce and green salad. A few will go in the freezer for lunches later.

Sunday: Clay pot miso chicken, served with vegetables. I’ve wanted to try this recipe for a while, and becaues it’s largely hands-off, this is a great time. It’s got over a pound of mushrooms in it! I even have a clay pot! This will give us some more leftovers for the coming week.

Monday: Indian Chicken. Yes, it’s a lot of chicken in the menu, but it’s the easiest thing we’ve got right now. Healthy options we can deal with are outweight variety in meats at the moment. And, we love this dish’s spice and freshness. Lots of green peppers and onions!

Tuesday: Sweet potato and black bean burritos. This is a revamp of a favorite from a great restaurant in Ann Arbor called Seva. They do a squash and black bean version; but, since we have more sweet potatoes than we have any idea what to do with, we’re using those.

Wednesday: Leftovers. Neither of us is really home this day at the same time, so we’ve planned things to give us leftovers for lunches and dinners.

Thursday: Shape-It-Up Meatloaf, served with whipped sweet potatoes and veggie. This is a super-healthy meatloaf, with spinach, black beans, oats, and TVP.  We love whipped sweet potaotes, and we’ll see what’s fresh at the market for a vegetable

Friday: chili. I’m going to be cooking all day, and need something that can just be tossed into a crock pot.

The reality of this meal plan remains to be seen. There are several things going on that could easily change some or all of it, but we’ve hopefully arranged it so that we’ll have enough leftovers in the ‘fridge of freezer that it won’t end in us eating out.