Monday, November 1, 2010

Vegetables For Breakfast!

The new USDA Guidelines are suggesting up to 9 servings of fruit and veggies a day for adults--that is a lot! A "serving" is 4 ounces so we need to plan for about 36 ounces of produce. Once we get our salad at lunch and dinner and eat our baked potato--how do we sneak in another 5 or 6 servings? The earlier in the day we start munching through our allotment, the better our chances of making our quota!

Start off with Veggies for Breakfast!

Prepare ahead of time: Slice & dice a pound or two of bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms and saute them until the onions are translucent. Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Hash: Chop leftover meat and potatoes and fry in a little oil until they start to get crispy. Add 1/2 cup of your cooked veggies and heat through. Sprinkle a little salsa and shredded cheese on top and serve! (3/4 cup potato with skin, 1/2 cup pre-cooked veggies, 1/4 cup salsa= 3 servings of veggies!)

Omelette: Beat 2 eggs or 3 egg whites and start cooking in an egg pan(on medium heat) with a little olive oil. Add 1/2 cup cooked veggies and a sprinkle of cheese to one side of the eggs. Fold over and cook until heated through. (1 serving of veggies)

More Veggies for Breakfast--

Carrot yogurt: 1 cup of yogurt, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana. In the food processor until smooth. Top with granola, if desired. (1 serving of veggies + 1 serving of fruit!)

Breakfast Wrap: Turkey slices on a whole grain tortilla with a slice of reduced fat cheese and sliced avocado and a little salsa. (1 serving of veggies)

Roasted Veggie Wraps: prepare roasted veggies ahead or use dinner leftovers. Wrap 1/2-1cup of veggies up in a tortilla with a little cheese or sour cream, if desired.

Green smoothies: Combining 1/2 cup fruit, 1 cup yogurt or kifer, and 1/2 cup greens such as spinach. Blend until smooth. (1 serving of veggies + 1 serving of fruit)



Sweet-Potato Latkes

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Stir together potatoes, scallions, flour, eggs, salt, and pepper.

Heat oil in a deep 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4, spoon 1/8 cup potato mixture per latke into oil and flatten to 3-inch diameter with a slotted spatula. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until golden, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer latkes with spatula to paper towels to drain. (2 Servings with 2 servings of veggies each)


Garden Frittata
Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

* 6-oz. low-fat, low-salt ham, diced
* 1 cup chopped asparagus spears (or spinach)
* 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
* 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
* 6 egg whites
* 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
* 2-oz. reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
* 2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
* Chopped fresh basil (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat oven-proof skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add ham; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Add asparagus, broccoli, and onion; and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. If using spinach, add it last and cook until wilted.
2. In small bowl whisk together egg whites and pepper, pour over vegetables in skillet. Cover; cook until edges are set and bottom is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Top with tomatoes and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Transfer skillet to oven and bake 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into wedges. Serve sprinkled with fresh basil, if desired. (2 Servings with 4 servings of veggies each)

Classic Egg Foo Yong recipe (egg foo young)

1 cup bean sprouts
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped cooked ham (or any other cooked meat; such as chopped sausages or shredded roast chicken)

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper, white

4 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons oil, vegetable (canola or any other light-tasting oil)

Sauce Ingredients

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Hua Tiao Chinese wine (or dry sherry)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

(Part A) Stir Fry the main ingredients
1. Rinse bean sprouts in cold water.
2. Heat oil in a pan (or a wok if you have one) and add scallions, onion & sprouts. Stir fry using medium-high heat for about 45 seconds, or until vegetables are tender.
3. Add garlic and stir fry for another 15 seconds (don't burn the garlic).
4. Add cornstarch, soy sauce, cooked ham, salt & pepper. Mix well.
5. Remove to a dish & allow to cool.

(Part B) Cook the eggs in batches to get a layering effect
6. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp oil & ladle in 1/3 of the eggs.
7. Add 1/3 of the stir-fried ingredients (from step 5)
8. Fry til golden on both sides.
9. Add another 1/3 of the eggs and 1/3 ot the stir fried ingredients (from step 5)
10. Fry til golden on both sides.
11. Add the last remaining 1/3 of the eggs and 1/3 ot the stir fried ingredients (from step 5)
12. Fry til golden on both sides.

(Part C) Make the Sauce
13. To make the sauce: combine sauce ingredients in small pan, bring to boil.
14. Simmer gently til thickened.

(2 servings with 2 servings of veggies each)

1 comment:

cripplewing said...

great recipes Keepum comin'
dorothymcleod