Healthy Cooking Recipes: Clean Eating Edition: Quinoa Recipes, Superfoods and Smoothies
tsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
crushed red pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Cook the onion in a large, heavy saucepan with 1 tbsp of the vegetable broth over medium heat until it starts to soften and turn pink, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, a little crushed red pepper and 1 more tbsp of broth and cook for one more minute, stirring regularly. Add the other 2 tbsp of broth and the mustard greens and continue to cook for 3 – 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the greens are wilted. Remove the greens and onions with a slotted spoon and transfer to a serving plate, but leave any remaining cooking liquid in the saucepan.
Add the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar to the pan; if there’s no broth left in the pan, add 2 more tbsp of broth. Add the chickpeas and cook over medium heat until the chickpeas are warmed through and the liquid is reduced by half. Remove the chickpeas from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on top of the greens and then pour the balsamic glaze over the greens and chickpeas. Serve hot with balsamic vinegar on the side.
Rigatoni with Walnuts, Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
Number of servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb rigatoni or penne pasta, preferably whole grain
4 Italian sausages (sweet or hot), with the casings removed
1 bunch broccoli rabe (rapini), trimmed and chopped coarsely
2 cups basil leaves, packed loosely
¾ cup olive oil (use extra virgin olive oil)
½ cup walnuts
½ cup ricotta cheese
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and trimmed
½ tsp salt
salt and black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Start by preheating your oven to 300 F. Spread out the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast until they’re slightly browned, about 7 minutes. Remove the toasted walnuts from the oven and allow them to cool completely before using.
Once the walnuts have cooled to room temperature, measure out ¼ cup of walnuts and place in a food processor. Add the basil leaves, garlic cloves and ¼ tsp salt. Process the ingredients, adding ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil to the mixture as it processes. Mix until the ingredients reach the right consistency for pesto (smooth, but not a puree).
Chop the rest of the toasted walnuts finely and set aside. In a large saucepan or stockpot, bring lightly salted water to a boil and add a splash of olive oil (this is to prevent the pot from boiling over as well as keeping the pasta from sticking together during cooking). Add the rigatoni and cook until it’s slightly more tender than al dente. Drain the pasta and set aside.
While the water is boiling, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet. Once the olive oil is hot, add the Italian sausage to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly to break up the meat. Saute until the sausage is browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the sausage from the skillet and place in a small bowl, leaving the fat behind in the skillet.
Add the rest of the olive oil to the skillet and the broccoli rabe. Saute, stirring regularly, until the broccoli rabe is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add a little water, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes until tender. Add ¼ tsp salt and a little black pepper, stir and return the Italian sausage to the pan; cook for another 1 – 2 minutes, until the sausage is heated through.
Toss the cooked rigatoni with the walnut pesto and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Divide the pasta among four individual plates and top with the broccoli rabe and sausage mixture, a little ricotta cheese and a sprinkling of chopped walnuts. Serve immediately.
Cabbage Rolls
Number of servings: 6
Ingredients:
6 large red cabbage leaves
1 cup chopped mixed mushrooms – straw mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, crimini, etc.
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and patted dry
½ of a small carrot, slivered
½ tsp rice vinegar
a pinch of salt
a little bit of sesame oil, for sautéing
For the sauce:
2 ½ tbsp water or vegetable broth
½ tbsp hoisin sauce
a dash of toasted sesame oil
a pinch of sugar
black pepper and crushed red pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Blanch the cabbage leaves in boiling water for 2 minutes, then place in cold water. Drain well, pat dry and set aside. Mix together the mushrooms, sprouts, carrot, rice vinegar and salt in a medium sized bowl. Heat a little sesame oil in a skillet or wok; once it’s hot, add the mushroom mix and cook for 2 – 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Divide the filling among the 6 blanched cabbage leaves and roll up tightly to seal.
Place the cabbage rolls in a steamer basket over about 1” of boiling water and steam, covered for about 5 minutes. While the cabbage rolls are steaming, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Remove the cabbage rolls from the steamer and serve, hot, topped with the sauce.
Steak with Roast Vegetables
Number of servings: 4
Ingredients:
4 small sirloin steaks, 4 – 6 ounces each
4 small beets, sliced into wedges
4 small sweet potatoes, cut into 1” chunks
1 medium yellow or white onion, peeled and quartered
1 bulb of garlic, peeled and cloves separated
4 tbsp olive oil (use extra virgin olive oil)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
A few sprigs of rosemary
1 tightly packed cup of baby spinach leaves
1 tbsp ground horseradish
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place the vegetables except for the garlic in a large baking dish and drizzle with half of the olive oil and the balsamic or red wine vinegar. Bake for 15 minutes and then add the garlic cloves and rosemary. Bake for another 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and beginning to caramelize. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a large bowl and stir together with the baby spinach leaves.
Season the steaks with salt and black pepper and sear in a hot skillet with a little oil, cooking about 2 minutes per side; set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Mix the other 2 tbsp of olive oil with the horseradish and the lemon juice, along with a pinch each of salt and black pepper.
Divide the roasted vegetables among four individual plates and place the steaks on top. Drizzle the sauce over each plate and serve at once.
Spicy Beef Soup
Number of servings: 6 - 8
Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef
4 cups chopped kale
4 cups shredded Savoy cabbage
3 large tomatoes, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
2 jalapeno peppers, diced (remove seeds