I remember, as a kid, always looking forward to our family's "fast food" Friday nights...one night a week, Heather and I got to pick take-out. Most of the time, we'd end up ordering pizza. My favorite? Taco Bell!
Of course, after all the research I've done on nutrition, I can never recommend fast food as a healthy food. Personally, I haven't been to a Taco Bell in...well, years. So what do I do to reconcile my childhood favorites with nutritional health? I "healthify" my favorite fast foods by subbing in good-for-you ingredients. Tonight, I pinned down a delicious recipe for Mexican Pizza (I would post a photo, but I was far too hungry to take pictures before diving in!).
Fabulous Veggie Mexican Pizza
Nutrition Stats:
Calories: 250
Fat: 4 g
Carbohydrate: 38 g
Fiber: 16 g
Protein: 30 g
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Mirepoix veggie mix (or equal parts diced carrot, onion and celery)
- 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Fat Free Pizza Sauce (in the jar, NOT the deli-fresh one)
- 1/2 cup Kraft Free Cheddar, shredded (or any shredded fat free cheese)
- 2 "Smart and Delicious Low Carb" tortillas, small (not burrito sized)
- 3 tbs pico de gallo salsa
- 1 tsp chili powder
- pinch of hot pepper flakes, if desired
- PAM cooking spray
***SERVES ONE PERSON
***Note: if you want a meat version, try using 1/4 cup black beans and 1/4 cup lean ground meat or meat substitute. This will, however, add about 100 calories to the recipe, depending on exactly what you use.
Prep:
1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with a very small amount of PAM (1 second spray). Put the two tortillas on the baking sheet; bake for 5-8 minutes, until just crisp, not burnt. While baking, mix the Mirepoix veggies with half of the pizza sauce (about 2 tbs). Mix in the chili powder and hot pepper flakes.
2.) Remove the tortillas from oven (but leave the oven on); flip with a spatula. Spread veggie mixture onto one of the tortillas. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese onto veggies. Sandwich second tortilla on top; spread remaining sauce on top-most tortilla, then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Top with pico de gallo. Place pizza back onto baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and edges are crisp.
3.) Let cool for 3 minutes...cut into quarters and enjoy!
To make it a meal:
-Microwave a serving of canned black beans; I love Trader Joe's re-fried black beans.
-Try a small green salad with your favorite salsa and 1-2 crushed tortilla chips instead of traditional salad dressing.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
A Few Excellent Resources
Hi everyone!
I've been remarkably busy with my schoolwork and training schedule. Hence, no recent recipe posts. I'm currently working on a home-cooked adaptation of the most amazing curried lentil soup from a local Indian restaurant, and my last obstacle with its health-proofing is reducing the sodium content while bolstering the savory factor.
Instead of a recipe, today I want to post links to a few invaluable resources I use to analyze food and to find great ideas for recipes.
1.) Nutrition Data/ Calorie King
Sites:
www.nutritiondata.com
www.calorieking.com
What makes them invaluable?
These websites provide numerous meal and recipe tracking tools alongside extensive archives of nutrition labels for nearly every commodity food imaginable. My fave is Nutrition Data; it allows me to generate the labels for recipes you see linked up in this blog. Also, it's a fantastic way to find out what's in many of the unlabeled produce you buy from the store. Example? Try searching for "strawberries". This helps me stay on track with exactly how much I'm eating when I reach for my favorite fruits and veggies as in-between meal snacks. Additionally, it helps me figure out which fruits and veggies will deliver the most volume (read: more fiber, less sugar = more filling) per calorie. Calories are precious when your metabolism is slow (like mine), and this site helps you make food choices that get you the best nutritive/satiety bang for your caloric buck.
2.) Hungry Girl
Site: www.hungry-girl.com
I've recently discovered this site, but the recipes look amazing. They utilize many no-fat, no-sugar, and no-meat products available in most major grocery chains. Personally, I absolutely love reduced-calorie substitutes like no-fat cheeses and yogurts; yet, I think it is equally important to stress healthy substitutes that are not so pricey. I find that, if I don't want to break the bank on my grocery bill, it's wise to make only 3-4 recipes that hinge on substitutes each week. The majority of healthy meals can be made with lower-cost, raw vegetables and fruits, as well as dried grains, beans and spices. Yet, in today's toxic environment of high-fructose and fat laden fast foods, these substitutes can be well worth a little extra investment from time to time. Also, advertising for "healthier" versions of foods can be misleading...make sure you scan the nutrition label to make sure that it's actually good for you. Sometimes no-fat means increased sugar and vice-versa.
I can't wait to try their recipe for the lower-calorie personal pizza!
The take-home message on recipes relying on more costly specialty/reduced calorie foods? If you can afford it (and the label proves it's actually healthy), go nuts...if not, use but use sparingly.
*A Note on Canned Products and Salt:
I think it is always worth the extra money to invest in low or no sodium canned products. Look for low or no sodium versions of canned tomato and soup products in health stores and stock up---adding too much salt to your otherwise healthy diet can create stress on the liver, the gall bladder and kidneys. Although the debate on just how much salt you need continues (and whether heart disease and hypertension/high blood pressure are related to salt intake) the golden rule of nutrition always applies: far too little or far too much of any one nutrient could (and probably will) do serious damage to your body and health.
I've been remarkably busy with my schoolwork and training schedule. Hence, no recent recipe posts. I'm currently working on a home-cooked adaptation of the most amazing curried lentil soup from a local Indian restaurant, and my last obstacle with its health-proofing is reducing the sodium content while bolstering the savory factor.
Instead of a recipe, today I want to post links to a few invaluable resources I use to analyze food and to find great ideas for recipes.
1.) Nutrition Data/ Calorie King
Sites:
www.nutritiondata.com
www.calorieking.com
What makes them invaluable?
These websites provide numerous meal and recipe tracking tools alongside extensive archives of nutrition labels for nearly every commodity food imaginable. My fave is Nutrition Data; it allows me to generate the labels for recipes you see linked up in this blog. Also, it's a fantastic way to find out what's in many of the unlabeled produce you buy from the store. Example? Try searching for "strawberries". This helps me stay on track with exactly how much I'm eating when I reach for my favorite fruits and veggies as in-between meal snacks. Additionally, it helps me figure out which fruits and veggies will deliver the most volume (read: more fiber, less sugar = more filling) per calorie. Calories are precious when your metabolism is slow (like mine), and this site helps you make food choices that get you the best nutritive/satiety bang for your caloric buck.
2.) Hungry Girl
Site: www.hungry-girl.com
I've recently discovered this site, but the recipes look amazing. They utilize many no-fat, no-sugar, and no-meat products available in most major grocery chains. Personally, I absolutely love reduced-calorie substitutes like no-fat cheeses and yogurts; yet, I think it is equally important to stress healthy substitutes that are not so pricey. I find that, if I don't want to break the bank on my grocery bill, it's wise to make only 3-4 recipes that hinge on substitutes each week. The majority of healthy meals can be made with lower-cost, raw vegetables and fruits, as well as dried grains, beans and spices. Yet, in today's toxic environment of high-fructose and fat laden fast foods, these substitutes can be well worth a little extra investment from time to time. Also, advertising for "healthier" versions of foods can be misleading...make sure you scan the nutrition label to make sure that it's actually good for you. Sometimes no-fat means increased sugar and vice-versa.
I can't wait to try their recipe for the lower-calorie personal pizza!
The take-home message on recipes relying on more costly specialty/reduced calorie foods? If you can afford it (and the label proves it's actually healthy), go nuts...if not, use but use sparingly.
*A Note on Canned Products and Salt:
I think it is always worth the extra money to invest in low or no sodium canned products. Look for low or no sodium versions of canned tomato and soup products in health stores and stock up---adding too much salt to your otherwise healthy diet can create stress on the liver, the gall bladder and kidneys. Although the debate on just how much salt you need continues (and whether heart disease and hypertension/high blood pressure are related to salt intake) the golden rule of nutrition always applies: far too little or far too much of any one nutrient could (and probably will) do serious damage to your body and health.
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