Chinese No Chicken Salad

First I want to thank everyone who commented on my green smoothie post in the last two days. As any blogger will tell ya, it's the comments that make it all worthwhile! That, and getting shout outs on other people's blogs, which is why I was so excited when I woke up today to find out that Roni over at http://www.ronisweigh.com/ and http://www.greenlitebites.com/ had given Healthy Girl's Kitchen a major shout out! CHECK IT OUT HERE. Thanks Roni!

Roni's been blogging about weight loss and Weight Watchers for a long, long time, but she had never tried a green smoothie, not once. It's my major concern about Weight Watchers, that they are not impressing upon their members the importance of nutritional excellence when striving to attain a healthy weight. So I was really jazzed up that Roni, a very popular and public Weight Watcher, decided to try her first green smoothie, and blog about it to a very large audience, as a result of my encouragement. Go Roni!

I leave you with something near and dear to my heart. The Asian No Chicken Salad. As a longtime fan of Chinese Chicken Salads (having lived in Los Angeles for 9 years), I long for the yumminess (for lack of a better word) of them. So I frequently make a no chicken version and I don't miss the chicken at all!

Healthy Girl's Asian No Chicken Salad
serves a crowd

1 package of 3 hearts of romaine, sliced thin and washed and dried
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 5 oz. can water chestnuts, chopped
1 15 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup raw sliced almonds
1/8 cup raw sesame seeds
2-3 peeled and shredded carrots
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Place all ingredients in large bowl and toss with dressing.
Healthy Girl's Asian Low Oil Dressing
adapted from a recipe from http://www.drfuhrman.com/

1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil, toasted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard



Lastly, here's a fun article about how veganism is becoming mainstream. How awesome is that?

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Vacation Kale and Bean Saute

Just a reminder, don't forget to participate in my first ever blog contest and enter to win a copy of the newly revised Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman! Winner will be picked at random on January 1st.

Are any of you wondering why I've been so quiet lately? Probably not, but I'll tell you anyway. I'm travelling with my family, escaping the cold of frigid Cleveland, if only for a short time. We're lucky enough to stay in a condo on the beach in Southwest Florida, where I have my very own kitchen. And that makes this healthy girl a very happy girl! I've been cooking up this amazing recipe for greens from the Dr. Fuhrman Member Site.  Here's my variation on this winner:

Kale and Bean Saute
Inspired by a recipe on http://www.drfuhrman.com/
Serves: 4

2 bunches kale, tough stems and center ribs removed, chopped or 1 large bag of prewashed/cut kale
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, drained and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
vegetable broth, as needed
1 15 ounce can beans, any type, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tablespoons fruity vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
red pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds or any type nuts (chopped if the nuts are large)
dash of salt

In a large skillet over medium heat, add vegetable broth to just cover the bottom of the pan. Broth sauté the onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Do not let onions burn. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add kale and re hydrated tomatoes and cook, tossing with the onion and mushrooms, over medium heat , adding broth only as needed, until kale is soft.

Add the beans, vinegar, mustard and red pepper flakes (be careful!), then cook for 3 more minutes. Taste and season with only a dash of salt.

I know from a lot of people that the holidays are an easting disaster.They resolve themselves to eating food that they don't feel good about mentally or physically and commit to eating healthy again as soon as January 1st rolls around. Why don't I just do the same? I'm here on vacation, why not go on a healthy eating vacation? Because something in me has changed. Maybe it was the reading and rereading of Eat to Live. Maybe it's the way that a green smoothie makes me feel. The "old" food just holds no appeal for me now. Brainwashed for the better I guess.

What have you been cooking up this holiday week? Are you sticking to your plans or falling prey to the holiday offerings?

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Finding More Inspiration, a Healthy Vegan Dinner Party and a Contest!

Sometimes it's easy for me to lose sight of the things that made my weight loss possible. Hard to believe given the fact that I write this blog and all, but it's really true. Even sticking to a "high vegan" diet with almost no added fat or processed food, the opportunities to "fall off the wagon" come fast and furious. And the result of this loss of focus is, for me, weight gain. And that, my friends, has started to reverse itself (phew!).

How did I reverse myself? First, I signed up for and am participating in The Point of No Return program from http://www.peertrainer.com/. What I quickly realized when I started listening to the program was that I was losing site of just how low calorie and nutrient dense I need to eat to be at my ideal weight. I woke up to the fact that I was losing site of what brought me so much weight loss success and energy to begin with: Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live principles. I also began logging my food again every day using the free Peer Trainer log--what an eye opening experience! It's easy to think you are eating really well until you see it on "paper."

Catching myself at this point inspired me to reread Eat to Live and Eat for Health by Dr. Fuhrman. Dr. Fuhrman has actually published a revised addition of Eat to Live and it's even better than the original. The only way to get the revised addition right now is by ordering it here. I've been browsing it as a vook, but I'm old school and I really just prefer the real thing, so I ordered myself a copy.

I also decided to join the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center online and to give up my Weight Watchers online membership. For me, the $44.95 for the first 6 weeks and $14.95 for every month after that is worth it. The site is far more useful and personal than the Weight Watchers site and ALL of the recipes are friendly to me (instead of a small fraction on WW). I also happen to love listening to the podcasts on whatever topic I have questions about. For example, I listened to the podcast on "Is it Possible to Overeat Healthy Food?" and found out that, yes, it is possible. The information contained in that podcast was vital to me and I made some immediate changes in my diet from that moment forward (can anyone say avocado? duh!). There's a lot more to the member portion of the website that I haven't even had time to explore, but from what I have already seen, it's probably incredible.

And what have I discovered so far? That I am simply just not eating enough of the right foods. The foods that are really low in calories and dense in nutrients--raw vegetables--ideally one pound per day. Cooked vegetables--also one pound per day. And that I am eating too many whole grains and starchy vegetables. In my zealousness to try all sorts of fun, no-added-fat vegan recipes, I forgot how vital it is to just fill up on the basics--salads, low calorie soups, low calorie smoothies and water sauteed greens. Even otherwise healthy foods can have a lot of calories, enough for me to gain weight fairly rapidly. So I've got to really get myself in check, and I'm pretty sure that these two resources are just the right way to do it.

A nice visual of Dr. Fuhrman's Nutritarian food pyramid.

Bluevado Pie. Just one of the almost 900 recipes available on the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center. What I love about finding recipes there is that each one is rated by the members (one to five stars) and comments are left with suggestions about changes or variations, so I don't have to waste money and time on recipes that just aren't that great. And of course, you know I love to add my two cents in after I have prepared each recipe!

So, to sum it up, I'm totally re inspired. Thanks for being on this journey with me!

Preping for the vegan feast.

Dijon Pistachio Dressing /Dip
A no-oil salad dressing from http://www.drfuhrman.com/ Thank you to the kind people over at Dr. Fuhrman for letting me publish this recipe!

1 1/3 cups water
1 cup raw pistachio nuts, unsalted
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
4 teaspoons Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest or Mrs. Dash seasoning
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 deglet noor dates or 2 or 3 medjool dates

Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.

Roasted Acorn Squash

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Crispy Kale Casserole from http://www.drfuhrman.com/

This is what the Crispy Kale Casserole looks like under the topping. It was very yummy and the leftovers were even better than the first time we ate it!

Ahhhhh, happiness . . .  a healthy vegan dinner.

THE FIRST EVER HEALTHY GIRL'S KITCHEN CONTEST

What program or programs are you working that are working for you? Have you lost weight or gained energy? Leave a comment describing your recent experiences and get entered in a random drawing to win a free copy of the revised edition of Eat to Live. Winner will be announced on January 1, 2011.

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Weight Watchers Potato and Green Bean Salad, E2 Approved

About a year ago I was given a recipe at a Weight Watchers' meeting that was an instant classic in my kitchen. I made it many times last summer as a substitute for the traditional fat laden potato salad, and I have to say, this one tastes much better. Of course, you have to like tarragon, and I learned that I really like tarragon.

So this summer I had my first opportunity to make it and I noticed that the original Weight Watchers recipe called for a decent amount of olive oil (3 Tbsp per recipe).  That's a lot of added fat and calories. So this year, having found my Engine 2 mojo, I decided to try it without any olive oil AT ALL, adding 3 extra Tbsp of veggie broth instead. And do you know what? It was just as delicious as I remembered! I will never put in the oil again.

So it got me wondering, just why do we think that all food must contain OIL? Is oil like salt, something that our taste buds have become accustomed to but that with a little effort we can cut way back on? I was watching an episode of Foodology last night on The Cooking Channel and witnessed someone saute an onion in 6 Tbsp of olive oil. What? 6 tablespoons for one onion? That's a lot of oil! And a ton of wasted calories. What do you think? How are you cooking these days?

Weight Watchers Potato and Green Bean Salad, Revamped Healthy Girl Style

24 ounces fingerling potatoes, scrubbed, sliced into 1/4" rounds

8 ounces (or more!) green beans, stem ends trimmed, cut or broken into bite sized pieces

9 Tbsp vegetable broth

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

3 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

3 Tbsp chopped fresh chives

Put potatoes into a large pot. Fill pot halfway up with water; bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until almost tender, about 8 minutes. Add green beans and cook until potatoes are tender and green beans are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes more. Drain; rinse under cold water and drain again.

Meanwhile, to make dressing, in the bottom of a large serving bowl, whisk together broth, shallots, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Stir  in tarragon, dill and chives.  Add potatoes and green beans to bowl; toss gently, taking care not to break up potatoes, until mixed and coated with dressing.

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