My shelf in the fridge is kind of a disaster right now. There’s leftover tamarind and palm sugar from three batches of Pad Thai, dark mushroom soy sauce and Chinese broccoli from Gong Bao Chicken, tahini from Roasted Carrot and Tahini soup, failed grapefruit and ginger bars (a precursor to these cookies) that I don’t want to eat but can’t bring myself to throw out… it’s crowded in there. I love having all these fun condiments available, but when you’re sharing a fridge with four people (read: four bottles of milk, four cartons of eggs, four bottles of soy sauce, etc.) it can feel like they’re taking up room for real food. You know, like vegetables, and chicken. The fridge situation is complicated by the fact that tonight, I’m getting my first delivery from Blue Apron, with ingredients for 3 delicious meals that will also need to make their way into the fridge. Conundrum.

So when I was thinking about what to make for Greatist this week, I knew it couldn’t require anything that wasn’t already in my fridge/freezer/pantry. As I thought about it, I realized that this is a way I should try to eat more often – using up what I have instead of always running out to get something new in order to make something just so. It’s less wasteful. So I mixed up a delicious tahini, soy sauce, and honey sauce, marinated some chicken I had waiting in the freezer in it, added some blanched Chinese broccoli, and cooked it all up in a frying pan with rice. It came out amazing – sweet and salty and satisfying – and just goes to show you that a good sauce can go a long way! Head on over to Greatist for the recipe – and feel free to use it as a blueprint for using up whatever you have languishing in your fridge.

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As I try to keep up with the healthy habits I was starting to establish during my cleanse (no thanks to the likes of these chocolate-hazelnut mousse cakes I made for Lake Champlain Chocolates!), I’ve come to realize that if I don’t get started on the right foot in the morning, my whole day is thrown off. Making sure that I have a healthy breakfast doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick to the plan through dinner, but starting the day off with something bad usually means I can’t recover and end up indulging all day. This is good knowledge to be armed with, but it’s still something I struggle to execute on. I like mornings, so that’s not the problem – it’s more that I’m the sort of person who’s perpetually five minutes late to everything because I try to cram too many things into one time slot. So when 8:05 rolls around and I’m still in bed writing emails and catching up on my reader, and I suddenly realize I have exactly 7 minutes to get dressed, make breakfast, clean up from breakfast, brush my teeth, make my lunch, do my hair, and leave, breakfast frequently falls by the wayside. And I’m still 10 minutes late to work.

Enter pre-made breakfasts: I’ve found that having something already made in the fridge makes it about 90% more likely that I’ll eat something nutritious before leaving for work. If it’s something I’m excited about eating, I’ll even go grab a plateful at 7:30 and then return to bed with it. Last week I did really well with a batch of whole wheat fruit and nut pancakes that I made on Sunday and ate throughout the week. This week, I whipped up this breakfast quinoa bake and have really been enjoying it. A quinoa bake was kind of a logical next step when breakfast quinoa is already a staple meal of mine, and overnight oats have inundated the internet. So I threw some ingredients together that I thought might work, and it turned out even better than I hoped – it’s sweet, mild, and fruity, with a consistency similar to rice pudding. Definitely worth getting out of bed for. You can find the recipe over at Greatist – if you try it, let me know what variations you make!

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On Monday, I posted the richest, most decadent dessert in my repertoire – Bailey’s Chocolate-Chip Cheesecake. It’s one of my all-time favorites, which shouldn’t be a surprise, coming from a girl who has been known to order a blue cheese salad, followed by pasta carbonara, followed by creme brulee when out to dinner. (Read: I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I were lactose intolerant). But even I have limits, and as I was making that cheesecake and actually seeing what 2 pounds of cream cheese looks like in a bowl, I knew I’d have to exercise some self-control. And then atone for my gluttony.

Enter these baked apples. Stuffed with dates and pecans and drizzled with just a touch of maple-flavored mascarpone cream (yes, there’s still dairy…), they are significantly lighter than most of the desserts of this season, yet still delicious, festive, and elegant enough to serve to company. And, dare I say it, these might even be healthy enough to have for breakfast. At least on a special occasion. Like a Tuesday.

Head on over to Greatist for the recipe, and check back here on Friday for more Christmas-time treats!

The post Greatist Collaboration: Baked Stuffed Apples with Maple Cream appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Trevor gets mad when I post this sort of recipe.  “Haven’t you already posted a variation of that, like, 20 times?” he asks.  And he would be right on that front.  But I never get tired of eating my favorite green things blended up with cheese in various combinations, and it’s my blog, so I’m sharing another non-traditional pesto dish.  Because it’s easy, healthy, and I love it. Also, I was really needing to get some green in me.

As some of you may know, I ran my second-ever half-marathon this past Sunday.  I was kind of dreading it.  In September, I ran my first half-marathon with Trevor in Chicago.  I had only trained for 6 weeks, and I showed up at the start line excited and pumped full of adrenaline, with no idea what to expect.  The first seven miles passed in a blur, with the two of us keeping a lively pace of 9:15.  Then Trevor pulled ahead and the last 6 miles felt like I was slowly dying.  You know that feeling of pure exhaustion, when you’re just barely holding off defeat, but not out of any rational part of your brain?  That feeling as you push yourself through the last 1/2 mile of a really competitive 5k, lungs burning, brain protesting with every stride?  That’s what the last 6 miles of that first race felt like.  I started crying tears of relief when I crossed the finish line.

This time around, with the memory of that last, painful finish burned into my mind, I was not looking forward to running.  Despite my increased training, and the fact that I now knew I was capable of finishing, I didn’t want to do it again.  I sometimes fantasized about tripping during my long runs, and I was mildly excited when I felt feverish the day before the race.  But I woke up Sunday morning feeling refreshed, focused, and energetic.  I called my mom (my running-mate this time around) and told her I wasn’t wimping out after all.

My goal in training between the two races was to find a way to feel strong for the last few miles.  I put myself into situations where I felt shitty and still had to run 2-3 miles before calling it quits, and I upped my distance runs to 11+ miles.  And I’m happy to say… it worked!  It was a beautiful fall afternoon in Newburyport, the air was crisp and the views of rolling farmland, frolicking horses, and sparkling lakes were peaceful.  The course had just enough small hills to keep me awake, and although I kept prepping myself for feeling bad and allowing myself to take a break at mile 8, mile 9, mile 10, I entered mile 12 feeling about as good as I had at mile 5!  I finished in 2:05, 2 minutes slower than in Chicago (and 3 minutes slower than my mom – you go momma! I hope I’m as fast and awesome as you are when I’m 50), but feeling infinitely better and stronger than I had at the finish in Chicago.  So maybe I won’t be giving up on half marathons like I thought…

Still, running that kind of race takes it’s toll on you.  Sunday night I popped a few ibuprofen to appease my complaining muscles and fell asleep at 9.  Monday, I was still totally exhausted, and I came home craving something green and filling and easy – which is where this recipe came into play.  With only a few minutes of prep, this meal managed to satisfy all my cravings at once – rich avocado, starchy quinoa, salty cheese, and nutritious broccoli.  I think I must have really needed all those nutrients!  If you’re inspired, head on over to Greatist for the full recipe.

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Just a quick hello to share this cake that I made for Greatist with you.  When I saw this cake in Home Made Winter (p.s., you still have until midnight tonight to win a copy!), I was immediately intrigued.  Cooked whole quinoa to replace some of the flour?  Sounded like a good idea for a nutritious cake, and I didn’t need any fancy flours to make it.  Add to this the fact that I had a bunch of apples leftover from apple-picking slowly softening on the counter, and that it was full of fall spices, and I was sold on trying it.

Still, I’m always a little bit skeptical of “healthy” cakes, and this one was no exception.  Granted, it’s not über-healthy – it still has butter and sugar in it – but it’s no chocolate-peanut butter health monster.  So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I genuinely liked the flavor of this cake – enough to immediately crave (but resist!) another slice.  It’s very moist, very apple-y, and just cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg-y enough.  It’s a little bit loose in its texture and so falls apart pretty easily, but I think this could be combatted by adding an egg.  I’m planning on making this cake again next week to have as a snack before my half-marathon, so I’ll try the egg thing then and report back!  Speaking of half-marathons… I’m so tired of training for them.  But I did my last long run on Saturday, and I’m almost ready to taper.  Then I’m taking two weeks off – and I can’t wait!  I take my hat off to those of you who run them regularly, and those of you who go for twice (or three, or four times!) as long.  Training for these two halfs this fall has made me realize that I will never be running a full marathon, but I will make this cake for everyone I know who does.  The rest of you lazy-like-me people should make it for yourselves – head on over to Greatist for the recipe!

Also, I have to give a shout out to my little brother, who turns 22 today!  Happy Birthday, Rynie, I love you :-).  Last year I made him these Dark and Stormy Brownies, and they quickly became my most popular post of all time by a long shot (like, 6 times more popular than the 2nd most popular post on this site).  So Ryan, maybe you’re my lucky charm!  Have a great day, bro.

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Last Tuesday, when it was rainy and gray and I wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in bed with a bowl of soup, well, that’s what I did.  Mushroom and farro soup, to be specific.  And as I was making the soup, which only dragged me away from Up All Night for 10 minutes, including dish-washing, I thought “Why haven’t I done more soups for Greatist?”  Seriously, soup is the perfect quick, healthy food.  It can taste amazing with only a handful of ingredients, and after making a few batches while following a recipe, you’ll likely have it figured out to the point where you can take whatever you have in the fridge and throw together a comforting, veggie-centric dinner.

Speaking of veggies, mushrooms are one of the vegetables I find myself wanting all of a sudden once the cool weather hits.  I have a feeling this soup – which, by the way, is maybe one of the best-smelling soups I’ve made in years (it also tastes great, but the smell really got to me) – is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the mushroom recipes I’ll be making this season.  Since mushrooms are a pretty healthy choice, what with their immune system benefits, cardiovascular protection, and low-calorie-but-fill-you-up benefits (come on, you know what I mean…), this is good news for my taste buds and my skinny jeans.  While it’s on my mind, I thought I’d do a quick round-up of mushroom recipes – both those I’ve featured here in the past, and those from elsewhere that I hope to be making in the near future!

Check out the recipe for this soup over at Greatist, and get inspired for more mushroomy meals below!

More mushroom recipes from here…

• Mushroom and Olive Veggie Burgers
• Ricotta Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Corn, and Sage Butter
• Mushroom and Lentil Pot Pies
• Hungarian Mushroom Soup
• Chicken and Mushroom Fettucine in Mustard-Cream Sauce

…and around the blogosphere:

• Crusty Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce – from Ezra Pound Cake
• Lemony Mushroom and Pine Nut Stuffing Muffins – from Bon Appetit
• Mushroom Lasagna – from Picture Perfect Meals
• Mushroom Biryani – from Ami’s Vegetarian Delicacies
• Creamy Prosciutto and Porcini Penne – from Every Day with Rachel Ray
• Mushroom Pierogi – from Sabrina: A Food Blog

The post Greatist Collaboration: Mushroom and Farro Soup appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

When the folks over at Greatist asked if I’d be interested in coming up with a healthified version of a chocolate milkshake to celebrate National Chocolate Milkshake Day, this recipe immediately popped into my head.  From Lucid Food, which I reviewed earlier this year, this “surprisingly refreshing” (to quote the bf) drink manages to mimic a chocolate milkshake without the primary ingredient – chocolate ice cream.  Instead, it uses cocoa powder and skim milk for a super chocolaty milk base, made frothy and cold by the addition of frozen blueberries.  Chocolate and blueberries may not be a classic combination, but I’m a fan, as evidenced by this chocolate and blueberry galette I made a few years ago.  Finished off with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and a touch of maple syrup, this smoothie makes a perfect healthy dessert or post-workout treat.

In other healthy, Greatist-worthy news, I finished my first half-marathon this past weekend!  Given that I only had 6 weeks to train, I’m quite proud of myself (and Trevor too).  Point of pride number one – I finished, and I only walked for about a minute, less than on any of my (much shorter) training runs.  Point of pride number two – my time, 2:03:51, was way faster than expected, and not too shabby at all.  It helped that I ran the first 7 miles with Trevor, and also that it was a beautiful, slightly breezy morning running up Lakeshore Drive with stunning views of Chicago just after sunrise.  I won’t lie, the last few miles felt like they took a year, my brain buzzing with that singular focus that exhaustion brings and my lower shins and knees twinging with every step, but I did it!  The next challenge?  Keeping up my mileage base and staying injury-free so I can do even better at the Newburyport half I’m running with my mom in 2 months.  Also losing 10 pounds so that I can be just that much faster.  You’d think that it would be super easy to lose weight when you more than double the amount of running you’re doing every week – it’s not.  Maybe the trick is swapping out the post long-run Sunday brunch for something lighter – perhaps a chocolate blueberry smoothie?  I’ll keep you posted.

Head on over to Greatist for the smoothie recipe.  And while you’re over there, let me know if you find any half-marathon training inspiration!

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The raspberries at my parents house are out of control.  It’s an unruly patch out way behind the house, that’s difficult to get into but so worthwhile.  Picking from that patch is my ideal berry picking experience – fingers stained red, jammy berries just barely this side of overripe, some already with a hint of yeasty fermentation, easily picking quarts of berries at a time, taking home just enough to last a week, until the next time I’m there.  A precious treat the rest of the year, raspberries now adorn most breakfasts and desserts – cereal, oatmeal, smoothies, ice cream, cake – and this breakfast polenta.

A steaming bowl of creamy polenta, a handful of fresh raspberries, a cup of hot coffee… as we get into the cooler mornings of fall, a hot breakfast while wrapped up in your favorite sweatshirt becomes infinitely appealing.  In fact, I can’t get enough of the weather right now: fresh, chilly mornings followed by warm, dry days… there’s a reason fall is my favorite season!

Although I’ve always thought of it as a dinner food, polenta is a filling and satisfying way to start off your day.  During the week, 1/2 a cup of instant polenta, some skim milk, and a few minutes of stirring gets you a hot breakfast that still gets you to work on time.  On the weekend, use traditional polenta and whole milk for a creamier, more luxurious version.  Inspired by Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, I topped this batch with greek yogurt, honey, and raspberries; the next day, I took the leftovers in a savory direction, adding some shredded cheddar, chopped basil, and a fried egg.  Both were delicious and kept me full until lunch – which can be a challenge!  Head on over to Greatist for the recipe, and give it a try.

The post Greatist Collaboration: Breakfast Polenta with Honeyed-Yogurt appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

How great is July?  Coming back to a garden that has doubled in size in a week, walking through the Copley Square farmer’s market that’s just bursting with produce, eating meals composed entirely of vegetables because they’re just that good – it’s definitely a season of plenty.  In fact it’s so plentiful that I’m torn between the natural inclination to eat smaller, lighter meals in this hot weather and the desire to eat as many eggplants, tomatoes, beans, cherries, peaches, plums, and berries as I can during their short season.

In particular, I can’t get enough of stone fruit.  Sweet cherries eaten ice cold from the fridge, plums so perfect that the juice dribbles down your chin with every bite, peaches baked until hot and bubbly under a buttery crumble – these fruits of summer are so fleeting that in my opinion, it’s worth eating as many of them as you can while they’re around.  There are many great single fruit recipes for each type of fruit, but they also marry well with one another, whether in a luscious cobbler or a simple but addictive fruit salad like this one.

I don’t know about you, but for me, the words “fruit salad” conjure up an image of a sad, not quite cold enough bowl of mushy bananas and unwanted cantaloupe, with a straggling strawberry or two that the pickers left behind.  You know, the kind of fruit salad you used to find at every picnic, bbq, and pool party; the one that played second fiddle to the hamburgers and dirt cake.  This salad is an entirely different story.  Elegant, colorful, and slightly floral, with no filler fruits that get left behind, everyone in my family had at least 3 servings at dinner, even after eating these turkey cobb sandwiches, which were easily the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever made.  Inspired by the just-blossoming lavender plants in my mom’s Maine garden, I decided to drizzle the fruit with a lemon lavender syrup, which truly tied the whole dish together.  You can use whatever stone fruits you have lying around – just make sure the salad is served cold, and give it an hour or two to soak in the lavender flavor.

Head on over to Greatist for the full recipe!

Other stone fruit recipes to celebrate July:

Spiced plum butter

Cafe Sperl plum squares

Boozy cherry brownies

Cherry cream cheese danishes

Cherry chocolate ice cream

Spiced apricot couscous

The post Greatist Collaboration: Stone Fruit Salad with Lemon-Lavender Syrup appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Recently, a good friend of mine sent me an email asking for a few recipes she could use for a dinner party she was hosting with friends.  She wanted two to three recipes, preferably with a theme, and easy enough to prepare with friends on the spot.  She and her friends wanted to use the party partially as a way to learn to cook better, as well as just a chance to catch up and eat good food.  A simple enough plan.

Two catches – one, she’s one of the least kitchen-savvy people I know – cooking is just not really in her interest set.  (Illustration: she once asked me if sauteeing onions in olive oil was one of those fussy things that only I did while we were making soup.)  Two, she’s a health nut.  Like, super fit, eats primarily superfoods, drinks only green tea and water, will only eat one bite of dessert ever kind of healthy.  Actually, I’m a little bit jealous of her self-control and love for vegetables – if I loved leafy greens like she does, I’d probably be 3 times as energetic as I am now.  Anyway, knowing that nothing could be too fancy and that I couldn’t sneak any cheese or butter or cream or bacon (all my favorite ingredients, noooooo!)  into the meal made it a bit more challenging to come up with recipes for her.

As I thought about it, I realized that this was the perfect situation for a Greatist post.  Greatist is all about trying to make making healthy choices easier and more fun, and dinner parties are pretty fun, right?  I imagine there are plenty of people out there looking for simple, healthy recipes to use when entertaining that will still impress their friends.  So, as I was sending recipes back to my friend, Greatist Dinner Party was born.

For this first dinner party, I chose Middle Eastern recipes as the theme, partly because many Middle Eastern recipes manage to pack tons of flavor into a dish with very little fat – that’s the beauty of herbs and spices!  Also, the recipes I chose – baked chickpea burgers with tzatziki, traditional tabbouleh, and strawberry-rosewater-buttermilk lassis – are all dishes that are easy to make ahead and stash in the fridge until go-time.  In terms of health, it’s a super balanced meal – tons of herbs and veggies, protein from the chickpeas and the Greek yogurt, a manageable amount of carbs from the tabbouleh and pita/burger bun, and fruit and cultured dairy from the lassis.  Even though I wasn’t having friends over, I prepared everything as if I was and sat down to a very delicious lunch Sunday afternoon, so I can attest to the fact that this menu is easy and relatively quick to prepare and super, super delicious.  My favorites were the chickpea burgers (so flavorful, and baked to boot!) and the tzatziki (the garlic really kicks it up a notch).  Got leftovers?  Crumble a chickpea burger into a tupperware with leftover tabbouleh and drizzle with tzatziki and you’ll have a filling to-go lunch that will give you something to look forward to all morning.

Head on over to Greatist for the chickpea burger recipe, and see below for all the yummy accompaniments, as well as a little schedule I put together if you need help planning out your prep time!

P.S. My friend reported back that the dinner party was a success – they made and enjoyed all of the recipes.  So maybe she’s not as kitchen-impaired as I thought :-)  Next time, you’re getting a challenge, girl.  xo.

Greatist Dinner Party – Middle Eastern

Dinner party plan of attack (I think I’ve been fairly generous with the time you will need as a single person preparing the meal – with friends, you could easily divide and conquer and take less than an hour overall.  As far as cooking implements, you will need – 1 cutting board, 1 knife, blender, food processor, 1 saute pan, 2 large bowls, fine-mesh colander, 2 medium bowls, utensils/measuring implements):

• 5:00 – peel, chop and salt cucumbers, leave to drain in colander.
• 5:05 – prepare tabbouleh ingredients: slice/chop/mince tomatoes, scallions, parsley, mint, mix together with spices, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Set aside in a large bowl.
• 5:20 – make smoothies: wash, hull, and quarter strawberries, blend with other ingredients, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• 5:30 – remove cucumbers from colander, pat dry, and add to food processor with dill, garlic, and lemon juice.  Process until smooth, mix with yogurt, season to taste, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• 5:40 – rinse bulghur in colander, let drain 5 minutes, fluff with fork, then add to other tabbouleh ingredients.  Mix together, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• 5:45 – preheat oven.
• 5:50 – clean up break: wash blender, colander, and various utensils/measuring items.  Rinse out food processor.  Rinse off cutting board and knife.
• 6:00 – peel and chop onion.  Saute in pan with olive oil for 5 minutes, then place in large bowl.
• 6:10 – prepare chickpea burgers: peel and chop carrot, peel garlic, pulse remaining ingredients in food processor.  Mix with breadcrumbs and spices.  Prepare baking sheet, form into patties, brush with olive oil.
• 6:30 – cook chickpea burgers.  While waiting, clean up remaining dishes, wipe down counters.
• 6:45 – remove other items from fridge.  Toast hamburger buns.
• 6:50 – dinner is ready!

Traditional Tabbouleh

I’ve shared a tabbouleh recipe before (actually, it was another Greatist post…), but it was a souped-up all-in-one version with lentils and feta cheese to make it a complete meal on it’s own.  This version is a more traditional version, heavy on the herbs with just a bit of bulghur wheat – although I chose to use a bit more than David recommends to make it a more substantial salad.

Adapted from David Leibowitz.  Serves 4 as a side.

• 1/4 c. bulghur wheat
• 20 grape tomatoes, finely diced
• 4 scallions, roots and dark green tips removed, thinly sliced
• large bunch parsley – about 3 c. packed leaves
• 20 large stalks of mint – about 3/4 c. packed leaves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• kosher salt, to taste

1. Wash herbs, shake or spin dry, and remove leaves from stalks, leaving as little stalk as possible attached to leave.  Discard stalks.  Gather herbs in a bunch and finely slice into thin slivers, working with a handful at a time.  Add to a large bowl, along with diced tomatoes and sliced scallions.
2. Place bulghur wheat in a fine-mesh colander and rinse under cold water for about 1 minutes.  Let drain over a bowl for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.  Sprinkle bulghur wheat over salad.  Stir in cinnamon, allspice, lemon juice, and olive oil and check for seasoning.  Salt to taste.  Refrigerate until serving.

Tzatziki

This is hands-down the best tzatziki I’ve ever tried.  Usually, I go the lazy route and just toss some cucumbers and a bit of dill into a bowl of yogurt, but the slight extra effort required for this recipe is 100% worth it – the finely blended garlic, lemon juice, dill, cucumber, and salt makes this a totally addictive and healthy dip.

Recipe adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen.  Makes about 1 cup.

• 1/2 small cucumber, peeled, and seeds scooped out of center with a spoon
• kosher salt, to taste
• 1/4 c. dill fronds, thick part of stems removed
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• black pepper, to taste

1. Finely chop cucumber, and place in colander over bowl.  Sprinkle with a small amount of salt, and let sit for half an hour.  After half an hour, pat cucumber dry with a paper towel, and add to food processor with dill, garlic, lemon juice, and a bit of black pepper.  Process until smooth, then stir into yogurt.  Season to taste with salt, and additional pepper if needed.  Refrigerate until serving.  Will keep in fridge for a few days.

Strawberry and Rosewater Lassis

Adapted from Pairs Well With Food.  Serves 4.

• 1 1/2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 1/2 c. cold buttermilk
• 3-4 TBS honey, depending on sweetness of berries
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 tsp rosewater
• 1/2 c. ice
• chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)

1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.  Taste for sweetness and add more honey if necessary.  Serve cold, with chopped pistachios if desired.

The post Greatist Dinner Party: Chickpea Burgers, Tabbouleh, and Strawberry Lassis appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Time for another easy, healthy dinner over on Greatist!  I really enjoy doing these posts, since it forces me to work within parameters that I would ideally apply to myself for most dinnertimes – light and nutritious meals that take 30 minutes or less to put together, but that don’t skimp on flavor.  I don’t always accomplish all of those things – like on the nights I resort to eating ice cream with granola and just call it a day (don’t worry, Mom, that’s not that frequently) – but when I do, it makes me feel pretty good.  Especially when there’s leftovers, like is always the case with this meal, and I can feel good about what I’m eating again the next day at lunch.  Planning ahead – it pays off.

I found this recipe via my friend Ranjani’s blog Four Seasons of Food.  Shakshuka – a traditional Middle Eastern breakfast dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce – is a dish I’ve seen quite a bit around the blogosphere in the past year, and one that I’ve always found intriguing.  But when I saw that the version Ranjani shared included sausage and potatoes, I was more than intrigued – I made it within 3 days of seeing the recipe.  Since then I’ve made it a handful of times (which is saying a lot, given that the only recipes I repeat are my absolute favorites), but I only just realized that it would be a perfect fit for Greatist.  It’s definitely comfort food – warm, spicy, sausage-y tomato sauce, tender potatoes, and barely poached eggs – but without the guilt that usually accompanies comfort food.  I mean, it’s comfort food without cheese – it has to be good for you!  In fact, the sausage is the only questionable ingredient in terms of health, and there’s only a little in the dish – just enough to give it a slightly smoky, meaty flavor.  It might be a little challenging to find the ras el hanout spice mix (or alternatively to round up all the spices and make it yourself, which is what I do), but this dish is 100% worth it.  Plus, once you have all the spices you can enjoy this whenever you’re needing a little comfort food but don’t want to go all out on a plate of spaghetti or a pizza.

You can find the recipe over at Greatist – enjoy!

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Even though my roommates make some variation of roast chicken breasts probably 80% of the nights that they cook, I almost never think to do the same.  I’m more of the one-pot-soup or pretend-healthy-pasta type.  However, after seeing this recipe in Melissa Clark’s In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite and realizing that it was perfect for Greatist (easy, quick, and healthy), I decided to join my roommates in their nightly chicken-baking routine.

Only partly through, I got distracted.  See, the reason I don’t usually make roast chicken is that, well, I don’t really like it.  To be 100% honest, chicken freaks me out a little bit, even though I think it tastes good.  But something I do like is fried chicken, especially when it’s in the form of super kid-friendly chicken fingers, which my 13 year old brother basically subsists on.  Whenever he makes them, all of my other family members, including me, sneak them from the baking tray when he isn’t looking, which causes him much angsty 13-year-old wrath. So as I was laying the lovely chipotle and honey marinated chicken strips in the roasting pan, I couldn’t get the image of hot, crispy, crunchy fried chicken tenders out of my mind, even though fried chicken is a decidedly un-Greatist-friendly recipe.  So I compromised, and made both – the first half of the chicken got baked with the sweet potatoes, the second half of the tenders got dipped in flour mixed with panko, then shallow-fried in canola oil, because I  believe in satisfying cravings.

I had some of both versions – baked and fried – for dinner that night.  And I can say with honesty that both were very, very good – the spicy-sweetness of the marinade gave the chicken a surprising and interesting flavor.  So I feel comfortable recommending the healthy baked version, for which you can find the full recipe over at Greatist.  However, if you’ve got ‘dem fried chicken cravings, go ahead and indulge.  You won’t regret it.

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For all of my Greatist posts thus far, I’ve made healthy, easy, quick dinner-time food, because when I think about eating healthy, I think about mealtimes.  But truth be told, I’m pretty good about eating healthy meals – I rarely eat meat, I’m good about incorporating vegetables into everything I eat, and I frequently choose whole grains as my starch just because they’re tastier.  The areas where I really struggle are sweets, and snacking.  I tend to think that I deserve a little treat wayyy more often than I really do.  And don’t worry, I know I deserve treats sometimes – just not 10 times a day.  Having a desk job doesn’t make it any easier, especially when you sit next to the department chocolate bowl, and the snack drawer is full of additive-heavy granola bars and peanut butter-filled pretzels.  I tend to get the munchies twice during the work day – the first bout at around 11, which I have recently realized is easy to satiate with some milky coffee, and the second at around 3:30, when I get tired and lose a good portion of my self control.

One solution?  Bringing my own snack, one that I can feel good about, but that will still satisfy my cravings.  Since I usually crave cookies or brownies or other baked treats when I want a snack, sneaking filling and health ingredients into baked goods is an essential skill.  These fruit and nut bars from Joy of Baking are a perfect example.  They have just a teensy amount of sugar and flour, no butter, and are primarily composed of dried fruit and nuts, but are still super delicious and satisfying.  The effect of that small amount of sugar and flour is great – it’s almost like a sweet tempura, in that the fruit gets a very light coating of a slightly sweet, crispy coating.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be avoiding the snack drawer today – and my coworkers will probably thank me too, if I decide that I can bear to share these.  Head on over to Greatist for the recipe.

Other healthy snacks on my “to try” list:

• Savory Moroccan Date BonBons
• Quinoa Granola Bars
• Popcorn with Truffle Butter, Thyme, and Parmesan
• Sesame and Almond Brittle – OK, so it’s not that healthy but you could do worse!

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Sitting at my desk on Monday, thinking deeply about insurance and strategy and research like I’m paid to do, I had an epiphany: “Tomato-quinoa arancini! With olives!”  Some of you might point out that this has nothing to do with insurance, and you would be correct, but I’ll take inspiration anytime, anyplace.

Now, I’ll be up front with you: I didn’t actually end up making quinoa arancini.  But it was a jumping off point for what just might be the most successful and flavorful recipe I’ve ever come up with myself – quinoa puttanesca.  Obviously, I didn’t come up with puttanesca sauce, nor am I the first person to have replaced spaghetti with the healthier quinoa in a classic Italian dish, but the proportions, timing, etc.?  My doing.  And I’m pretty proud.

The thought process that took me to this moment of triumph was as follows: “I need a recipe for my Greatist post this week.  Hmmmm.  I have a lot of cooked quinoa in the fridge because I’m vaguely following the Self Drop 10 plan this week and practically all the recipes call for quinoa.  Like these quinoa-banana pancakes.   And this quinoa edamame salad with carrot-ginger dressing.   So I should definitely use quinoa for Greatist.  Mmm, I haven’t had spaghetti sauce in ages.  Tomato-quinoa arancini!  With olives! [See above.]  Yeah, I should definitely use up those olives.  But tomatoes plus olives makes me think of anchovies, why is that?  Oh, puttanesca!  That could work.  But it can only have 8 ingredients to fit within Greatist requirements…”

And so on, and so forth.  I’m obviously no James Joyce, so I’ll spare you the rest of my stream of consciousness, at least for now.  In the end, with only seven ingredients – quinoa, tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, anchovies, red pepper flakes, and spinach – this recipe totally rocked.  It’s packed full of flavor and richness, while still being healthy.  I mean, it has two superfoods in it (although, let’s be honest, almost everything seems to be a “superfood” these days), no dairy, and no gluten, and the only real source of fat is the olives, so it’s healthy fat.  Plus, it’s easy and satisfying and just the right amount of spicy.  Head on over to Greatist to check out the recipe!

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March is a funny month.  It can be fickle, and torture you with day after day of cold gray rain.  Or it can be lovely, full of surprisingly warm days and sunshine that feels like a blessing on bare skin after so many months bundled up.  Daylight savings brings an extra hour of light to the evenings, tempting us outside after work, but the tradeoff of returning to dark mornings can making getting out of bed a struggle.

March is mainly a month of waiting, and of preparation.  We sense the arrival of spring on the horizon, and begin to shed our winter dust – sweaters get put in trunks, windows get opened, closets are cleaned out.  Spring cleaning is not just a saying, it’s something we feel the urge to do – to get our affairs in order and be ready to start fresh in the new season.  Even in religions, March is typically a time of preparation – the season of Lent, when Catholics prepare for the resurrection, almost always occurs in March.  Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also falls in March, and celebrates the coming of spring and the departure of winter.

Waiting, preparation, cleaning – to me this all calls for simplicity, including in our food.  Of course, I think there’s something to be said for simple food at pretty much anytime of the year, but the first batches of tender, green, spring produce (peas! asparagus! fava beans!) are worth showcasing on their own, simply prepared, just because they are such a radical and welcome departure from the heavy, starchy, foods that carry us through winter.  As I was sorting through my cookbooks this week, it seemed to me particularly appropriate to focus my March cooking on recipes from Rozanne Gold’s Radically Simple, a book packed with stunningly photographed recipes, most of which have fewer than 10 ingredients.  It truly lives up to it’s title.  I’ll be sharing a few more recipes from this book later this month, but I thought the book was very much in line with what the people over at Greatist are trying to accomplish – simple, healthful recipes that are still packed with flavor – so I wanted to choose this week’s collaboration recipe from it.  I settled on this pea and wasabi soup because, well, because I love pea soup, but also because peas are one of the first spring vegetables to arrive, and a sure sign that spring is actually here.  Plus, the wasabi and buttermilk in this recipe really dress it up.  I know it’s still a bit early for fresh peas in New England – I used frozen ones this time around – but they’ll be here soon enough!

Head on over to Greatist for the full recipe!

Other Greatist posts (healthy, easy recipes with fewer than 8 ingredients and under 30 minutes active time):

• Feta and Lentil Tabbouleh – Recipe, and Post
• Kalamata, Lentil, and Mushroom Veggie Burgers – Recipe, and Post

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