Eat Green, Stay Lean

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Easy barbequed dishes served over healthy salads.

Ah! Summer! What a delightful time of year. Nature offers its best produce with lush verdant greens to tantalize our taste buds. What better idea than combining these vegetables available to us now to prepare easy barbequed dishes served over salads while staying cool as we use minimal time over hot ovens and stoves?

These recipes are sure to become family favorites as they can be savored all year as well.

Teriyaki Chicken Salad

Teriyaki sauce is a wonderful condiment to have in the kitchen as it spices up just about any dish. Fish, beef, chicken, mixed vegetables; all are enhanced with a touch of teriyaki.

  • 4 cups heart of romaine, sliced
  • 2 – 4 slices chicken breast
  • 2 Tbs Teriyaki sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp cracked black pepper (optional)
  • 1Tbs olive oil
  • 1 stalk celery, cut into strips
  • 1 red pepper cut into strips
  1. Wash chicken breasts and pat dry. Arrange chicken slices in a pan sprayed with oil.
  2. Smear lightly with ½ Teriyaki sauce and ½ garlic powder
  3. Grill in the oven or barbeque – ten minutes per side or until juices run clear.
  4. Cut celery and red pepper to desired size.
  5. Combine dressing ingredients oil, lemon juice and other ½ teriyaki sauce
  6. Arrange romaine lettuce on four plates or in a bowl. Top with cut vegetables.
  7. Cut grilled chicken into strips and spread over lettuce. Drizzle with salad dressing.

Preparation 20 minutes
Serves 4

Mediterranean Beef Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Mediterranean Beef Salad with Lemon VinaigretteWith juicy strips of steak and other delicious ingredients, this salad is a full meal in one plate for a hot summer day. Beef lovers will enjoy this tasty combo.

  • 1pound boneless beef steak, cut 1 inch thick
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 4 cups torn romaine leaves
  • ½ small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
  • 1 cup halved baby tomatoes
  • 1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette
  • Trim fat from steak. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper. Place steak on rack of a broiler pan. Broil 3 to 4 inches from the heat until desired doneness, turning once halfway through broiling time. Allow 15 to 17 minutes for medium – rare doneness or 20 to 22 minutes for medium doneness. Thinly slice steak.
  • Divide Romaine among 4 dinner plates. Top with sliced meat, red onion, tomatoes, and drizzle with lemon vinaigrette.

Lemon Vinaigrette

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ½ tsp finely shredded lemon peel (optional)
  • 3 Tbs lemon juice
  • 1 Tbs snipped fresh parsley crushed or 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

In a screw – top jar combine olive oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, parsley and garlic, salt and black pepper to taste. Cover and shake well. Set aside.

Makes about 1/2 cup. Feel free to double the recipe and use on other recipes that call for a vinaigrette.

Preparation 40 minutes
Makes 2 servings

Maple Fish Fillet Salad

Maple Fish Fillet Salad

Fish is always a good addition to any salad. With all these ingredients this recipe is a perfect complete meal in one dish that is as filling as it is refreshing on a hot summer day.

Finish with cool slices of watermelon can make the meal complete.

  • ½ cup frozen edamame beans
  • 8 ounces fresh or frozen fish fillets, such as sole, tilapia or cod.
  • 2 Tbs pure maple syrup
  • Tbs balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1Tbs finely chopped onion
  • 1Tbs honey mustard
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Napa cabbageSalt and pepper to taste
  • 4 cups coarsely shredded Napa cabbage
  • ½ cup fresh snow peas
  • 2 Tbs dried cranberries
  • 2 Tbs sliced almonds, toasted

Cook edamame according to package directions; drain. Set aside to cool.

Preheat broiler. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Cut fish into two portions; set aside.

Dressing:

In a small bowl whisk together maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, onion, honey mustard, oil, salt, and pepper.

Remove 2 tablespoons of the dressing; brush on all sides of the fish pieces.

Place fish on the greased rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 inches from heat until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Allow 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2 – inch thickness of fish, being careful not to burn.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine Napa cabbage cut in strips, snow peas, and cooked and cooled edamame beans. Pour the remaining dressing over Napa mixture; toss to coat. Divide cabbage mixture between two plates. Sprinkle with cranberries and almonds. Top with fish.

Preparation 30 minutes
Makes 2 servings

Traditional Salade Nicoise

Looking for a meal in one dish this got to be the salad to try. Traditionally made with local olives, eggs, salad greens, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, oil – cured tuna or your choice of fish and anchovies, this protein – rich salad from Nice has become a staple all over France and other European countries.

Traditional Salade NicoiseFull of refreshing greens, laden with proteins where a hefty portion is low in calories, and a tasty one dish meal. This recipe is very versatile in allowing you to add or subtract ingredients add your preferred steamed vegetables for different flavors such as frozen broccoli, cauliflower or any other favorite veggie.

Traditional Salade Nicoise

FOR THE DRESSING:

  • 1 clove garlic
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • â…“ cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE SALAD:

  • 1 lb small new potatoes, boiled until tender
  • 6 oz. yellow baby beets, boiled until tender, peeled (optional)
  • 6 oz. red baby beets, boiled until tender, peeled (optional)
  • 8 oz. green beans, blanched
  • 12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
  • ½ cup black Niçoise olives
  • 8 small radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • 8 salt – packed anchovies, rinsed and drained
  • 4 hard – boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
  • 3 (4 – oz.) cans high – quality oil – packed tuna, drained
  • 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup loosely packed basil leaves, to garnish
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions, to garnish

Make the dressing: Mince garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle heavily with salt; using a knife, scrape garlic and salt together to form a smooth paste. Alternatively, use two frozen garlic cubes defrosted and follow the same procedure. Transfer paste to a bowl and whisk in oil, juice, mustard, shallot, and salt and pepper; set aside.

To assemble Arrange all ingredients in separate rows on a large serving platter; drizzle dressing over all ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with basil and scallions just before serving.

Preparation 20 minutes
Serves 4 – 6

Healthy Collard Greens

Healthy Collard GreensThis recipe is written for those that would like to increase the nutritional value of their meal manifold; collard greens are enjoyed by those who originate from Asia, or South America, where greens are more abundant and familiar. The nutritional benefits of all green leafy vegetables are well known. The natural markets are now full of collard greens, a very hardy flat green leafy vegetable that is delicious when prepared in many tasty ways. It does require developing a taste for it, but is well worth trying. The leaves are flat thus very easy to check for infestation.

I enjoy them steamed and then sautéed in oil with some onions and spices.

Wonderfully nutritious collard leaves are very low in calories (provide only 30 calories per 100 g) and contain no cholesterol. However, its green leaves contain a very good amount of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber that helps control LDL cholesterol levels and offer protection against hemorrhoids, constipation as well as various cancers diseases.

Collard greens need to be washed very thoroughly to clean it from the debris and sediments that come with it.

Soak in a salt solution for 30 minutes to remove any bugs, or germs that might have accumulated.

Incidentally one can also use other greens as well that have tremendous health benefits such as mustard greens, kohlrabi greens, beet greens, daikon leaves, all of them have properties that are hard to compete. A little goes a long way nutritionally. Just incidentally, most people ask the grocer to discard the kohlrabi greens which I then collect free of charge and enjoy often.

Sautéed Collard Green Mix

Sautéed Collard Green MixThis simple and tasty rendition of collard greens is chockfull of nutrients including iron from the sesame seeds.

  • 1 package collard greens
  • 1 red pepper
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 red/white onion chopped
  • 1 Tbs oil
  • 1 Tbs sesame seeds toasted
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Wash collard greens in running water and wash well, discard the water and soak greens in salt water for 30 minutes to get rid of any bugs, microbes or other unseen matter.
  2. Shake off the water and then cut out the stems. Slice leaves in thin strips.
  3. Fill a large pot with water and cook the greens for ten minutes or so, until limp. Remove from water allowing to cool. Slice collards into 1 inch strips.
  4. In a large frying pan, toast sesame seeds for 10 minutes until fragrant. Remove from the pan and reserve for garnish.
  5. Pour oil into the frying pan add chopped onion and allow to sauté until translucent approximately 10 minutes.
  6. Add collards, cut carrots. Allow to sauté for twenty minutes, add peppers cut in strips.
  7. Garnish with toasted sesame.

Preparation 30 minutes
Serves 4 – 6

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