A balanced foodie

As the title of my blog suggests, I am a foodie.  I love food - eating it, cooking it, smelling it, looking at it in cookbooks, watching it on TV, reading about it, going out to get it, dreaming about it... you get the point.  But I can't spend my days chowing down on homemade ice creams, once in a life time pastries or hand-made pasta.  At some point, I need to balance it all out.  I have to make sure all those delicious pastries and pastas don't just end up hanging around my butt and thighs.

So...circa 2009, I had the grand idea to go back to school at the University of Maryland (go terps!).  And major in nutrition - better known as Dietetics in the medical field.  Why? you may ask, would somebody who enjoys cooking with butter or always has room for dessert, want to major in nutrition?  Well, because it has a lot to do with food!  I learned about it, cooked with it and most importantly learned how it nourishes our bodies, how it can heal us and how even in excess it can harm.

It's this nutrition-focused part of my mind that keeps me in check, it keeps me balanced.  A little indulgence here, a little healthy nutrition there.  A little butter one night and a little heart healthy olive oil the next. It's never an all or nothing game for me.  I truly love food and it makes me happy.  But I've realized that without my health, I couldn't enjoy life the way I do.  And plus, I'm a health professional (or soon to be) and I need to be a good role model for my future clients.

Here's what I do to keep myself balanced, healthy and loving life (and food!):

• Eat everything in moderation 
• Exercise 4-5 times a week for 45 mins-1 hr (check out Ellen Barrett's work out videos)
• Get at least 8 hrs of sleep every night
• Spend quality time with my family regularly
• And every now and again, read a non-cooking related publication 

In this world of wonderful indulgences, I do give in sometimes.  But when I make sure I'm working out often and feeding my soul along with my tummy, I know I can be a healthy AND balanced foodie.

Lentil and Potato Soup

Soups are great for the upcoming cooler months of Fall and Winter.  This soup is an easy, one-pot meal that will keep you full and feeling warm all night long!  Plus, its loaded with tons of vitamins and fiber - making your waistline happy too.

Lentil and Potato Soup:
2 cups pre-cooked lentils
3 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
2 Russet potatoes diced
1 medium onion diced
3 carrots diced

1 qt vegetable broth (I prefer Swanson's low sodium)

2 bay leaves

1 bag fresh spinach chopped coarsely

Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add carrots and onions and saute until starting to turn soft - about 7 minutes.  Add garlic and saute an addition minute or until fragrant.

Add lentils and potato to carrot and onion mixture.  Stir until combined.  Add vegetable broth to pot (this should cover all the vegetables.  If not add some water until covered). 

Toss in the bay leaf, salt, pepper and chopped spinach.  Stir until the spinach begins to wilt.  Bring to boil and then cover and reduce heat to medium for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. 

At this point, you can serve the soup piping hot!  But, if you like your soups a little thicker or as Rachel Ray says like a "stoup", remove lid and simmer for a few extra minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated.  This should give you a more stew-like texture.

Never A Boring Bean

Beans...what to do with that dried bag of beans or the endless cans sitting in your pantry?  Beans are a great side dish but can even star as creative meat-less main.  Not a widely chosen food for a main dish...but a food that can be transformed into something wonderfully delicious! 

Beans fall into the category of plants known as legumes - a plant that has pods (think peanuts or green beans or peas).  And they've been apart of the human diet for centuries! Most food scientists believe that beans are one of the first and longest cultivated plants in human history.  There is even evidence that beans were being used as a food source as early as 7000 BC in Mexico and Peru and 9750 BC in Thailand.

Although their history is fascinating, the myriad of benefits provided by beans is phenomenal.  Comparable to meat in calories with 20% protein, beans have two outstanding components that give them a step up;  fiber and water.  One cup of cooked beans provides about 12 g of fiber (half of the daily recommended amount for us women and 1/3 for men).  The water and fiber content of beans helps you fill up quick and stay full longer.  And phytochemicals (amazing health-promoting compounds found only in plants).  Beans (especially navy, red and black beans) topped the chart in high amounts of these phytochemicals making them a perfect meat exchange.

So what can you do with beans?  Try out the recipe pictured above from Cooking Light Magazine:  "Homemade Black Bean Burgers."  They were meaty and delicious!

Fun Bean Fact:  All varieties of beans grown in the US are not native plants.  Most varieties originated from Africa, Asia or the Middle East and were brought to the US by nomadic tribes coming from across the Bering Strait into Alaska. 

The Most Delicious Pasta!

Fresh Cherry Tomato Pasta

I swear, this is the BEST pasta recipe I've ever made.  Really...it is.  And its so simple and quick!  Part of the reason I love this recipe, is that I use fresh cherry tomatoes to make the sauce and thats basically it.  It tastes so "tomato-y" and fresh.  A little crushed red pepper and basil really make this dish pop.  I think everyone will love it!  Here's the recipe:

• 4 quarts cherry tomatoes (I used red, yellow or whatever is fresh)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar (sweetens up the acidic tomatoes)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less if desired)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil packed - shredded
• 1 lb pasta (shells or other curly pasta work well as they hold onto the sauce the best)

Boil and cook pasta according to directions.

In a heavy bottom and high sided saute pan, add oil and heat over medium high to high heat.  Once pan is hot (oil should shimmer) add all the cherry tomatoes.  Stand back because they'll spit a little bit!  Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.   Stir to coat the tomatoes with oil.  After about 5-7 minutes most of the tomatoes should have burst open and their juices bubbling up in the pan.

Use a potato masher or large flat wooden spoon to crush the rest of the tomatoes until it forms a thick and chunky sauce.  Cook for a another 2-3 minutes.  (If needed, add a little pasta water to thin the sauce out.  However, it should be OK.)  Once pasta is finished cooking, add directly to the sauce in the pan and toss to coat.  Toss in basil and serve immediately!