Healthy Cooking for Twelve

My family has a great tradition of getting together every year in North Carolina between Christmas and New Year’s. We catch up on the year’s activities, go for walks, read books that we were given for Christmas, and swim in my grandparents’ pool. But mostly, we eat.

We talk about what we’ll be eating next, we shop for the next meal, we plan for when the next meal will take place, we clean up from the last meal. In the past we would pile into cars and descend upon local restaurants but with mobility becoming more of an issue, these days we mostly take turns cooking. This is made especially challenging by a variety of food allergies, tastes, preferences, and dietary restrictions. There’s a shellfish allergy so severe that it rules out all seafood, several people who don’t eat beef, even more who don’t eat pork, a strong aversion to onions, a person with type 1 diabetes, a low-salt restriction, and a most-of-the-time vegan.

Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms, and Greens

This year I decided to make an exclusively vegetarian meal and used my roommate’s inspiration to go all red and green for the holiday. I started out with this Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms, and Greens recipe from Epicurious (kale! whole grains!), which I doubled, then served stuffed peppers with a side of whole-wheat bread. I love making these peppers because they’re easy to make for a crowd, they’re healthy, and they make a good presentation.

Red and Green Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Whole Grains

Serves 12

Ingredients:

1/2 package whole-wheat orzo (they sell this at Whole Foods but I haven’t seen it anywhere else)

6 large bell peppers, a variety of red and green

2 cucumbers, chopped into tiny cubes

2 containers of grape tomatoes sliced in half

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained

1 container feta cheese

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Salt and pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Boil water and cook the entire package of whole-wheat orzo according to package directions (you can use the rest for leftovers).

Cut peppers in half vertically and remove seeds and white parts. Fill a large dish with a thin layer of water and put peppers facedown in the water. Cover and microwave for 3-4 minutes. You may have to do this in batches depending on how big your microwave is. The peppers should still be firm but soft to the touch. Place steamed peppers face up in a large baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl combine 1/2 of the cooked orzo, all of the chopped tomatoes, the chopped cucumbers, garbanzo beans, and feta. Douse with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper (if your guests will tolerate it) and mix. Fill peppers with the stuffing mixture and bake for 15 minutes. There will be a bowl of the orzo mixture left; place either in the oven or microwave to heat, then place on table so that people can add more orzo mixture to their plate.

Red and Green Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Whole Grains

This recipe is easily customizable; you can add or remove vegetables depending on guests’ preferences, you can change the type of cheese or the grain. How about Southwestern Stuffed Peppers? Just replace the garbanzo beans with black beans, replace the orzo with brown rice, replace the feta with shredded cheddar, and mix some taco seasoning in with the stuffing. Or Greek Stuffed Peppers with feta, Kalamata olives, and couscous? The sky is the limit for this healthy main course.

Airport Eating: Just Plane Healthy

At this time of year I often find myself in airport after airport. I fly home for Thanksgiving (2 flights each way). I fly back home for Christmas (2 flights), then on to visit relatives (2 flights), then back to Boston (only 1 flight!). This year as an added bonus I'm taking a trip a few days after I get back. So as you can imagine that's a lot of mealtimes spent in airports. Sometimes even if you've planned ahead and packed healthy snacks, when you're in an airport you might need to buy a meal or two.

Often the thought of airport (or bus station, or train station) eating brings to mind fast food chains; there may be regional differences, but what it boils (or fries) down to is that it's not hard to get a burger and something fried. It doesn't help that traveling can be a stressful experience and airport providers know that people want comfort food when they're stressed out. Luckily, according to this article in USA Today, airports are slowly beginning to offer healthier choices. In fact, in the Detroit airport, they claim that every single one of their 58 restaurants has at least one low-fat vegetarian option. According to the article, a survey of 15 major U.S. airports found that 83% of restaurants have at least one vegetarian item on the menu — low in fat, high in fiber and good for your heart which is up from 57% a little more than a decade ago.

Last week I was lucky enough to find a low-fat vegetarian meal - with whole grains no less - in two different airports, Boston Logan and Chicago O'Hare. Of course just because airports are allegedly offering healthier options does not mean that they are advertising them out in the open. Sometimes it takes two important skills: sleuthing and imagination. In Boston I asked for a side of brown rice and a side of black beans - add some hot sauce and you're good to go! In Chicago I was delayed so had time to wander around until I found the Argo Tea Cafe which had not one but several whole grain bowls (I had the garden lentil salad with bulgur which was surprisingly filling).

Next time you're in an airport and grabbing food on the go, challenge yourself to see just how healthy you can make it. From Bistro Boxes at Starbucks to sushi or a burrito made with brown rice and vegetables, you might be surprised what you can find if you put your mind to it.

Healthy, Cheap, Easy Last-Minute Gift Idea!

Tis the season for finding last minute presents that are fast, cheap, and leave a lasting impression. I’m sure that the Internet is rife with homemade gift ideas, and here’s another one that fits the above criteria – plus it’s healthy! I got this idea after I made muffins for a brunch on Sunday that called for cornmeal. I got to thinking that I don’t have much use for cornmeal and worried that it might sit unused, like my large bag of white whole-wheat flour has been for a few months. Growing up, we used to sell cookie mixes in my parent’s gift shop that had all of the dry ingredients – just add a few specific things and voila! Cookies. They were sort of like cake mix in really nice packaging.

Homemade Muffin Mix

So this year I decided to make my own muffin mixes to give out as last-minute presents. At a locally-owned hardware store I bought a package of 12 wide-mouth quart-sized Ball canning jars for $9.99. I used the cornmeal and other dry goods I had on hand, and bought some extra cranberries at the grocery store. Here is what to do if you want to make your own:

Mix 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Mix well with a whisk. Pour into a clean quart-sized canning jar. Put 1 1/2 cups of cranberries into a zip-lock bag and place on top of flour mixture in the jar. Close the lid and decorate as desired! Make sure to attach this label so that the recipient knows what to do when they get the gift:

Cranberry Lemon Muffins

Adapted from a recipe from Eating Well.

Ingredients not provided are in bold.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt, 1/3 cup canola oil, 1 egg, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a medium bowl.

3. Add yogurt mixture to the provided dry ingredients and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in chopped up cranberries.

4. Divide the batter among 24 mini muffin cups. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon zest in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the tops of the muffins.

5. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Let cool then serve.

Per mini muffin: 93 calories, 3.5g fat, 2g protein, 1.5g fiber.

Healthy Holiday Habits

Now that you've gotten all of your holiday shopping taken care of, it's time to think about holiday parties. Is it possible to eat healthy at a holiday party? Opinions differ, but I've come up with a few tips that I personally plan to follow this holiday season. Have some of your own? Leave them in the comments section, I'd love to hear them!

A little disclaimer about these tips. A lot of them have to do with self-control and willingness on the part of the participant. The tips are for those that want a reminder that it is possible to survive the holidays in a healthy way. If you look forward to cookie and egg-nog fueled parties all year and don't make a habit of overindulging, then enjoy! Just realize that you'll feel better if you practice: (you guessed it!) moderation.

Eat a healthy dinner before you go. Just like with grocery shopping, arriving at a holiday party really hungry can make it difficult to exert self-control. This is one I struggle with personally because I really dislike being hungry - so if I arrive at an event hungry and there aren't healthy options, I'm likely to eat unhealthy food. Make sure your dinner has plenty of veggies to fill you up as well as some healthy fats to keep you full. Which leads me to my next tip...

Bring something healthy. You may remember over the summer when I suggested bringing gazpacho to a barbeque so that you'd have something besides charred meat to enjoy. The same goes for holiday parties. Veggies and hummus are a good option, or if it's more of a dessert and drinks event, try some seasonal fruit like baked apples or spiced pears.

Limit yourself. This is a big self-control tip. If you really want to try all of the delicious goodies, try picking a few that you think you'll enjoy the most and then eating only one of each. It can be helpful to visualize all of the cookies that you plan on eating (or have eaten) either on a plate. As you reach for that sixth cookie, think about whether on a normal day you would really sit down and eat six cookies. Is it worth it? The same goes for alcoholic drinks. Alcohol in it's pure form is 7 calories per gram. I'll let you look up the calories of your favorite beer or cocktail on your own, but it's safe to say that you could easily rack up over 500 calories just by having a couple of drinks (and those calories are not going to fill you up, are likely to become fat once in your body, and may cause you to make unhealthy eating choices later in the night).

These snowmen know how to keep active during the holidays!

Know when you're going to exercise. If you've already scheduled a run for the next morning or you put in an hour at the gym earlier that day, you're more likely to make healthy choices (in my opinion). It's not much fun running with a hangover or having sore abs plus a stomach ache from overeating. I realize it can be hard to carve out time when you're busy planning for parties, so try to challenge yourself. For example, see how many crunches you can do while the cranberry nut bread is baking in the oven. And chances are you'll want to shower before attending the party anyway, so why not get sweaty with a quick workout video before hoping in?