Super Healthy Garlic-Herb Dip

Today's Super Healthy Super Bowl snack uses lots of fresh herbs in a dip that is a perfect compliment to cut-up veggies.  You can prepare it up to a day ahead, leaving lots of time for the day-off cooking you may want to do for your Super Bowl party!

Creamy Garlic-Herb Dip

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons minced fresh chives
• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
  

Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. 
2. Serve with cauliflower and broccoli florets, carrot and celery sticks, and bell pepper strips.

Yield: 3/4 cup (2 tablespoons/serving)

Recipe Courtesy of Cooking Light, via MyRecipes.com

  

Super Healthy Seven-Layer Dip

Here's another recipe to help keep your Super Bowl celebration super healthy! Serve this dip with baked pita chips or baked tortilla chips.

Seven-Layer Dip

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 avocados, mashed well
• 1 cup low-fat (plain) Greek yogurt
• 2/3 cup black beans
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Sliced black olives and scallions to garnish

Preparation

1. Spread chopped romaine lettuce at the bottom of a large bowl. 
2. Add avocado layer on top, and smooth out with a spoon to even height.
3. Spoon Green yogurt layer, and smooth if necessary.
4. Layer black beans, then diced tomatoes on top. 
5. Sprinkle cheese, and add olives and scallions.  

Serves 8.

Recipe Courtesy of FitSugar.com

Super Bowl becomes Super Healthy!

As the culmination of football season is upon us, here is the start of our Super Healthy Series to help you prepare for the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday!  Not sure where to find local ingredients this time of year?  Be sure to check out City Greens Produce on Friday, Clayton Farmers Market on Saturday morning, or Local Harvest Grocery any day of the week.

Here are some tips, courtesy of SparkPeople to help you have healthier party fare at your Super Bowl bash!
Check out the recipe at the end to apply some of the new tips to the dip!

Ditch the Chips

• When serving dips, try a more nutritious option instead of greasy, fried potato chips. Some ideas:
• Grilled chicken or tofu chunks (Try local St. Louis Chef Dan Brewer's tofu made with non-GMO, Missouri-grown soybeans!)
• Broccoli or cauliflower, steamed or raw
• Bite-sized chunks of crusty, whole-grain bread
• Small whole-wheat pretzels
• Pita chips
• Baby carrots
• Bell peppers, sliced into strips or cut into triangles
• Inner leaves of Romaine lettuce

Dip Tips: Substitute!

• Instead of using store-bought or traditional homemade chip dip, try some new substitutions that will help cut some of the bad stuff, without compromising flavor.   
• Use light mayo instead of regular, neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese, skim milk instead of whole milk, and plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
• Swap pureed white beans for half the mayo in creamy dips.
• Use regular or low-fat mayonnaise for half of the recipe, and replace the other half with reduced-fat sour cream (or Greek yogurt!).  One cup of lower-fat sour cream will provide all the flavor and texture of mayonnaise but cut 1,300 calories and 150 grams of fat from the whole batch.

Don't Leave Dip Pair-a-dice

Even if you have healthier dips available, keep in mind when you're perusing the snack table that one serving of dip is about 1 ounce (about 2 tablespoons) - about the size of a pair of dice.  Just remember with dips to stay in the pair-a-dice rule and you won't over indulge.

Creamy Spinach and Feta Dip 

Ingredients

• 6 ounces nonfat, plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 ounces neufchatel cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach
• 1 Tablespoon fresh dill
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. Place yogurt, feta cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and crushed garlic clove in a food processor; process until smooth.  Spoon yogurt mixture into a medium bowl; stir in spinach, fresh dill, and black pepper. Cover and chill.  

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light via MyRecipes.com

Mushroom "Alfredo"

Looking for a quick weeknight meal?  Here's a recipe featuring nutritional yeast as one of the ingredients that makes this dish lighter and healthier than its original form.

Mushroom "Alfredo"

Ingredients

• 8 ounces whole wheat penne or other medium pasta shape**
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, trimmed and sliced**
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, minced**
• 7 tablespoons sliced almonds, divided
• 2/3 cup plain unsweetened almond milk (or skim milk)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.  
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently until browned, about 8 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook 2 more minutes.  
3. Toast 3 tablespoons of almonds in a small skillet set over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently,  until just browned, 3 to 4 minutes.  Set aside.  In a blender, combine remaining 4 tablespoons untoasted almonds, almond milk (or skim milk), and nutritional yeast; blend until very smooth, about 1 minute.  
4. Drain pasta and add to the skillet along with the milk mixture, pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Toss until combined and serve sprinkled with parsley and toasted almonds.  

**these ingredients are available at City Greens Market this Friday from 10-5!

Recipe courtesy of Whole Foods Market

Nutritional Yeast: Your New Best Friend

Don't be thrown off by the name "nutritional yeast."  This tasty product has been used for ages - particularly among the vegan and vegetarian community - but is becoming increasingly popular among omnivores.

Nutritional yeast is essentially yeast - the kind that helps bread rise.  However, it does not taste like yeast.  The strong, beer-like flavor is substituted for a nutty, cheesy one once the active yeast has been deactivated. This deactivation process kills the yeast with heat, then it is crumbled into flake or powdered form.

 

Its name is very appropriate - nutritional yeast is a great source of protein, containing essential amino acids; it's full of vitamins, especially B-complex vitamins (and is often times fortified with vitamin B-12), and it's low in fat and sodium.

Not sure how to use nutritional yeast?  No problem.  You can start out using it as a cheese-flavor substitute - think of swapping out your grated parmesan cheese for some nutritional yeast flakes to sprinkle on pasta and pizza.  It can be used as a flavored thickening agent when making gravies, sauces, and macaroni and cheese dishes.  Use it with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and tahini (sesame seed paste) to make a homemade salad dressing.  The possibilities are endless!

If you're in the market for some nutritional yeast, Bob's Red Mill sells it, which may be available in your grocery store.  Otherwise,  local health food stores tend to carry it in bulk.  St. Louis residents frequent Local Harvest for their nutritional yeast fix.

Go forth and discover your favorite use for nutritional yeast!

Sources: BulkFoods.com and Huffington Post 

Happy New Year!

As we welcome a new year into our lives, many of us resolve to make positive changes to better ourselves and those around us.  Here are a few ideas for those who are still working on the perfect new year's resolution for 2013:

Support local businesses - Whether you have a baby shower, birthday, anniversary, or a special Tuesday to buy a gift for throughout the year, try shopping at a local business rather than a big chain store.  Places like the Delmar Loop and  South Grand are perfect places to find unique treasures.  For everyday household supplies, explore stores like Home Eco and Local Harvest.  

Shop at a farmers market at least once a month - This ties back to supporting local businesses.  Of course, support your local farmers too!  There are so many farmers markets in the greater St. Louis area, and some of them are even open in the winter.  Summer farmers markets will start up in April and May, but until then, some foodies' winter wonderlands are:  

• Clayton Farmers Market (8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. the first Saturday of the month, Dec. - April) 
• St. Louis Community Farmers Market (9 a.m. - 1 p.m. the second Saturday of the month, November - April)
• Ferguson Farmers Market at St. Stephen's (9-11:30 a.m. the third Saturday of the month, November - April)
• Maplewood Farmers Market (9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Nov. 17, Dec. 22, Jan. 26, Feb. 23, Mar. 30)
• City Greens Produce Market (10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fridays through April)

Try one new recipe a week - Use those fresh in-season foods to create your latest culinary masterpiece.  Finding a new-to-you recipe is as simple as doing a search online for "recipe using _____."  Lots of times the recipes on websites will have level of difficulty as well as reviews from other cooks.  Or you can visit your local library and check out a cookbook you've never thumbed through before.  (If you don't have a library card, consider adding that as a resolution!)  If you're feeling brave, try experimenting with different cuisines.  The sky is the limit with new recipes!   

Dine out at local ethnic restaurants - Cure those monthly (or in others' cases, weekly!) I-Need-A-Vacation Blues with an exotic meal.  St. Louis has loads of ethnic restaurants bringing food from all over the world to the Gateway City.  Use the website Urbanspoon to search for restaurants by location, cuisines,  and special restaurant features.  Never had Ethiopian food before?  Branch outside of your comfort zone to discover what could become your new favorite food, and don't be afraid to ask the waitstaff for suggestions.  

Happy New Year!  Have a peaceful, happy, healthy, and delicious 2013!