Busy? Jan says eat more foods that are good for you!
What can I say; I love to eat, cook, entertain, take photos and, lately, exercise. A wonderful way to work-off some of the calories and keep out of the doctor’s office is to eat more foods that are good for you. Below is a meal to get you started when you have guests coming over …
LEMON MARINATED VEGETABLES
Prep time: 15 minutes. Cooking time: 15 minutes. Serves: 8 – 10
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, snipped (about 2 Tbsp)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard
¼ tsp each of fresh ground sea salt and black pepper
½ pound fresh green beans, trimmed
12 oz baby carrots with tops, washed and trimmed
1 red and 1 yellow sweet bell peppers, sliced
½ lb small mushrooms
1 cup cherry tomatoes
For vinaigrette: Combine oil, lemon juice, basil, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper in a screw-top jar. Cover and shake well. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, with a small amount of boiling water, cook carrots, covered for 4 minutes. Add green beans and cook, covered for 8 minutes more or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain and rinse with ice cold water.
Place the green beans, carrots, sweet peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes in a large bowl, not plastic. Pour vinaigrette over vegetables.
Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours stir occasionally to distribute vinaigrette.
To serve: bring vegetables to room temperature. Drain and arrange decoratively on a platter.
PAN SEARED SWORDFISH WITH PEACHES
Prep time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 6 minutes. Serves: 2 or 4
2 (8 oz) swordfish steaks, about 1 inch thick
Fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large peaches, stones removed and cut into slices
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
Pinch of kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 green onion, chopped
¼ cup chopped parsley
Rub ground pepper into swordfish and let sit 5 minutes.
In a bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, salt, pepper and ginger; mix well. Add peaches, stirring to coat. Heat frying pan or saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in peaches. Sauté until peaches are heated through.
Heat heavy skillet over medium high heat and add oil. Add swordfish steaks and cook 3 minutes, turn over, cook another 3 minutes.
Remove from pan, place on heated serving plate, spoon peaches over fish. Sprinkle with green onion and parsley. Serve with a nice salad.
COTTAGE CHEESE FLUFF
Prep time: 10 minutes. Serves: 6
3 cups low fat cottage cheese
2 (3 oz) pkgs sugar-free lemon flavored Jell-O mix
1 (8 oz) container lite frozen whipped topping, thawed
Place the cottage cheese in a food processor and blend until creamy. Whisk in the flavored gelatin powder then fold in the thawed whipped topping. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.
Note: You can use any flavor Jell-O.
