Category Archives: Recipes

Roasted (or Grilled) Summer Vegetables

I can’t say that a sweet potato is the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “summer vegetable,” but after the first bite you won’t care in which season those orange beauties belong, you’ll just be glad they’re on your plate! This dish would be every bit as good in a grill basket as it is in the oven so if it’s simply too hot to think about heating anything in your kitchen to 500 degrees, don’t say I didn’t give you an option! These vegetables can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them so they’re a great option for a busy weeknight (get them prepped the night before) paired with some grilled fish, or chicken, or even a steak. With this many veggies on your plate, you could even skip the salad if you were so inclined. Try this – let us know what you think!

 

Herb Roasted Summer Vegetables

 

Serves: 6

 

Ingredients:

2 pounds medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1″ wedges

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1″ wedges

1 red onion, cut into 1″ wedges

1/2 pound thick asparagus spears, cut into 1″ lengths

8 cloves garlic, coarsly chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/2″ slices.

3. In a large bowl combine potatoes, bell peppers, onion, and asparagus. Toss with garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oil.

4. Pour vegetables onto a rimmed baking sheet (use two if it is too crowded). Sprinkle with salt.

5. Bake vegetables for 10 minutes in the center of the oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender.

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Patriotic Berry Trifle

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have plans to be waving flags and grilling out and watching fireworks and attending a parade in your hometown this weekend – we certainly do. In fact, our neighborhood hosts a bike and wagon parade for the little ones that is the cutest thing ever. There are more red, white and blue t-shirts and hair bows and bike decorations than you can shake a sparkler at! We have a fire truck leading the parade and a cookies and lemonade party at the end complete with a rendition of God Bless America sung by a neighbor who just so happens to be a professional opera singer (really!). Then everyone heads off to various parties and backyard celebrations where it’s rumored this trifle just might make an appearance this year.

This dessert is a teensy bit indulgent but what dessert worth its calories isn’t?! It’s predominantly angel food cake and fruit which are about as virtuous as dessert gets. And if you compare it to last year’s Martha Stewart Flag Sheet Cake which I made to rave reviews, it’s practically health food!  Enjoy the long weekend, and celebrate your freedom with red, white and blue wild abandon.

Note: If you don’t already own a trifle bowl, they are easy to find for relatively little money at stores like Target or Bed Bath and Beyond. 

 

Patriotic Berry Trifle

Adapted from The Food Network


Serves: 8-10

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 store bought angel food cake, cut into 1″ slices

1 pound cream cheese (2 blocks), at room temperature

2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature

2 pints blueberries

2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced

 

Directions:

1. To make the syrup: heat 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract.

2. Brush both sides of each slice of the angel food cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1″ cubes and set aside.

3. Beat the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar and cream cheese with a hand mixer at medium speed until smooth and light. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

4. Arrange half of the angel food cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Gently spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries. Add another layer of blueberries and gently top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

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Packing for a Healthy Road Trip

I was happy to be invited back to FOX19 Cincinnati this morning to share some tips for Packing for a Healthy Road Trip. It’s a topic close to my heart since I am getting lots of practice loading up the car with two adults, our three kiddos, the contents of our dressers, and a cooler full of reasonably healthy foods! Our family is spread out across the Midwest and Northeast and we try to make the rounds to visit them as often as we can – that’s a lot of miles in the car and a lot of meals on the road!

I’m sure you’re planning your own road trips this summer. How often have you fueled yourself on these trips with fast food, chips and candy from convenience stores, and bottle after bottle of soda? By the time you arrive at your destination, you feel icky and your energy is drained. That’s no way to start a vacation, and it doesn’t have to be that way. With a little advance planning, road trips don’t have to be diet disasters. In fact, you can arrive at your destination feeling terrific. And as Sheila noted this morning,  packing a cooler can save you money, too!

Here is the clip from the FOX 19 Morning Show to inspire you, as well as the recipe for the Healthy Chicken Salad I shared.

Here’s to summer of happy, healthy travel!

 

Healthy Chicken Salad

serves 4

about 175 calories per serving

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, poached, broiled or grilled, then shredded with your fingers or a fork or cut into small cubes   OR 2 – 8 oz. cans of chunk white meat chicken, drained

3-4 Tbsp. lowfat mayonnaise

1 tsp. Dijon or spicy mustard

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional: Add any of the following –  1/4 cup chopped celery, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1 c. red grapes, halved, 2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and divide among 4 tortilla wraps. I like Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Tortillas (81 calories and 12 grams of fiber per wrap!).

 

 

 

 

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