After feasting on cookies, rich foods (chocolate, egg nog and the like ) and another round of cocktails, we and our gut need a break and January is a good time to think a lighter regime. That’s where prebiotics and probiotics step in. No special foods required. In this post we discuss prebiotics.

A regular shopping trip to Walmart or other grocer will do- for foods that prep your immune system for a healthy winter and more seasons to come. Prebiotics are fibers, which allow the GI tract to function better and improve intestinal flora. They are bananas, artichokes, onions, Jerusalem artichokes (sun chokes), garlic, asparagus, oatmeal  and apples.  Also they possess inulin (a non starch carbohydrate) which does not increase blood sugars like a starches do. The glycemic index for sun chokes is 50 based on 1 cup as opposed to 1 medium potato at 85.

Roasted Sun chokes, a non starchy vegetable are sweet and taste like sweet potato chips when roasted.  With tomatoes, lemon and honey  dressing, they  are another way to get prebiotics  in your diet . Called the “diabetic potato” sun chokes are little knobby tubers, containing  inulin a prebiotic fiber.  1 cup of these vegetables provide 6.2 grams of protein, and a low 20 grams of carbohydrate, a little more than a carbohydrate  serving for diabetics.

Roast them in olive oil and dress with lemon juice, a little lemon zest, a 1/2 teaspoon of honey, a sprig of thyme  and salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Thinly slice the sun chokes and cover with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes until golden brown and slightly crispy. Toss them with cherry tomatoes, honey, lemon juice and honey.

Low Carbohydrate?!! No sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes or bread stuffing you say?? Before you leave this site, just for a change how about we try an Acorn squash with cayenne and coriander with maple syrup- or Delicata squash pasta made with portobello mushrooms and sage parsley butter. Great alternatives for side dishes.

Delicata Squash is the pretty mottled gourd looking squash that we all walk by thinking it is inedible! But it is a edible winter squash similar to butternut squash. Here’s the facts: 1 cup is 40 kcals, no fat, with 9 grams of fiber and high in Vitamin A. Now that is low calorie and embellishing with some parmesan cheese and olive oil or butter will allow for additional fat grams in your daily diet.

Let’s start with Acorn Squash

This is a  wonder food, at 1/2 cup or 1/2 of  medium acorn squash baked, has approximately 58 kcals, 15 grams of carb and is an appropriate serving of carbohydrate for Diabetics. Also, has 170 mg of omega 3’s (so for fish haters this is a plus). Very low in sodium (4.5 mg). The squash is highest in carotenoids, Vitamin A.

• Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash
• 1 acorn squash cut in half
• 2 teaspoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place halved acorn squashes in a baking dish. Pour a 1/2 cup of water along the side of the dish for added moisture while baking. Sprinkle with coriander and cayenne and pout 1 tablespoon of maple syrup over the squashes with a pinch of salt. Dot with butter. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Delicata Squash with Portobello Mushrooms and Sage parsley butter:

• 1 delicata squash
• 2 portobello mushroom
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of minced parsley
• 2 sage leaves thinly sliced
• Parmesan cheese to shave or grated to taste

Peel the outer skin of the delicata squash and with a potato peeler, peel strips or ribbons of squash length wise until you have 2 cups of squash peeled. In a sauté pan melt butter and add the squash, sauté for 5-8 minutes until the squash is soft and add 1/4 cup of vegetable broth or chicken broth, salt and pepper, 2 sage leaves thinly sliced and 2 tablespoons of minced parsley. Mix together and serve immediately  with grated or shaved parmesan cheese.

We have 2 reasons to celebrate this month of October and November- Apples and Pears. Why? These fruits have the highest fiber around for fruits,  due to the insoluble fiber which is also great for Diabetics too.  They  are a  good addition to any meal as a piece of fresh fruit serving with it’s blood suger lowering ability. Pears are exceptional for the phytochemicals and fiber combined in the skin of the fruit! There are many varieties and my favorites are Boscs(below right), Anjou  and Bartletts(below left).

Pears contain hydroxycinnamic acid,  which is found in the pear skin.  Studies have shown that this polyphenol might lower risk of stomach cancer. Pears have no sodium, and higher pectin levels than apples- ladies good for the skin! Glycemic index rating 38. (as in 100 being the highest for raising blood sugar)  Insoluble fiber helps healthy bacteria stifle the production of bad bacteria and carries it out of the gut. We have two recipes including my favorite fruits. Remember: you can always cut back on the sugar by half and use gluten free pie dough as substitutes.

Fresh Pear Tart

A quick way to use pears is in a puff pastry found in your freezer case. here’s the recipe:

• 1 sheet of puff pastry defrosted
• 3-4 bosc pears cored and sliced thinly
• 3 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Defrost one sheet of puff pastry and use a rolling pin to jut flatten the sheet out a little and lay flat on a cookie sheet. Score which means take a sharp knife and create a 2 inch border around the sheet not cutting all the way down. prick the bottom with a fork in 4 places.  Slice and core pears and lay out in 2 rows. Brush melted butter over the pears and sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until golden and puffed around the edges.

There is a revolution going on in the produce aisle with apples! You don’t have to slice apples for yourself or the kids before you go to work or school. We have prepackaged apples with no added sugars.

Apples carry their weight in healthy benefits. High in quercitrin for the heart,  apples also possess flavonoids which can slow down the  breakdown of complex carbohydrate into simple sugars (good for weight loss!)  -So your blood sugar has less simple sugars to deal with. Apples have polyphenols, which stimulate the beta cells in the pancreas to rid sugar from the blood.

Ben Franklin could have been the first founding foodie, for he thought apples were the perfect food back in the 1770’s. On his journeys to Europe, as the story goes, Ben asked his wife to send Pippin apples overseas,  when he lived  in France.

There are many delicious apple bar recipes.  For a quick apple bar baked up in half the time, use commercial pastry crusts.  Try ready made dough defrosted. They come in rolls and when defrosted lay them flat. Press 2 pie disks of dough into a cookie sheet and also into the corners of the pan and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Apple Bars

• 2 commercial pie crusts defrosted
• 6 apples peeled and cored and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• 1 cup of oatmeal
• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts or almonds
• 1  1/2  cups of brown sugar
• 1  1/2 stick partially softened butter, (12 tablespoons)  sliced and cut up into pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the defrosted dough and press the dough into the baking sheet pan 9x 12, and let rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Cut up the apples, add the 1/2 sugar, spices, lemon juice, extract and zest and mix together. Set aside. In a food processor add the oatmeal, flour nuts, baking powder and the remaining 1 cup sugar. Pulse a few times and add the butter. Pulse until butter is incorporated  into the mixture and looks like peas. Set aside. Take the baking pan out of the refrigerator, bake in the oven for 15  minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes . Cover the baked dough with the apples and  sprinkle with the oatmeal nut topping.

Cover the bars with foil and bake for the first 30 minutes covered. Take off the foil and continue baking until bubbly and the crust is crunchy for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Summer is fading but the produce still sticks around and better than ever. A dip with poblano chilis, tomatillos and garlic roasted in the oven and pureed in the food processor is a great non fat low calorie and high in Vitamin C dip for pitas, chips or crudité.

We feature the above ingredients for the dip. The tomatillos are a Mexican vegetable, look like mini green tomatoes, high in vitamin C, has a corn husk like cover and is peeled off  before cooking.  Roasted with the Poblano  Chilis,  a spicy but low on heat chili  with seeds removed. Love this dip as a sauce for hamburgers, chicken, pork and roast beef. Serve with chips as a dip – it is a versatile recipe!

Roasted Tomatillo, Chilis and Garlic Dip

• 5 tomatillos
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 poblano chilis
• olive oil
• 1 onion sliced
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Revove corn husks from tomatillos and slice in half. Slice the poblano chil in ahalf and remove the seeds. Peel three cloves of garlic and leave whole. Mix all the inredients together in a bowl and add a teaspoon of oil to coat. Place on a cookie sheet and roast for 1/2 hour until all vegetables are fork tender and still holding their shape and slightly golden. Remove form the oven, and cool for 15 minutes. Place in a food processor and puree for 1 minute or until the vegetables are dip like consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita, chips and vegetables.

Heirloom Tomato Zuchini Quiche

What is an heirloom tomato? We walk by the produce counter and see these irregular shaped and sometimes pricey tomato “types”  and ask: “Do they taste good?” Yes, like an old fashioned beefsteak tomato (remember those?). Heirloom means the tomatoes descended from a long line of  family seeds planted, like an antique -but delicious with each planting.  Not acidic, perfect for a quiche, casserole or plain slices in a sandwich. I personnaly love the Cherokee purple tomato, sweet and non acidic and does have a purplish red hue.

Don’t be Afraid- it is easy to make a tagine and impress your friends that you just came from Marrakesh or from this blog!

So if you can boil water you can make couscous and if you can pour water or broth over sautéed chicken thighs you can do a tagine!

Ethnic cuisine is way up on the list for low calorie and good carbohydrate recipes. With lots of vegetables and fruit, Moroccan cuisine incorporates meats like beef and chicken, with apricots, dates and plums. The side dishes of vegetables, including eggplant, zucchini and red peppers. There is a grand dish called bastilla, which is a main dish meets dessert.  Made with phyllo, cinnamon and chicken, the article showcases this Moroccan dish written by food critic, Dominic Armato for the AZRepublic.

As a dietitian, I am always looking for innovative dishes that don’t break the bank on calories and high carbs, and this cuisine is worth trying.

The spices are easy pantry items like cinnamon , cumin and turmeric alongside fresh red peppers, carrots and cilantro , all obtainable from your supermarket. The expert on Moroccan food is Paula Wolfert, a professional chef and writer who inspired me to try this cuisine years ago when I wanted a new twist on chicken and her tagine recipes were delicious.

I’m back from Montreal and I like to tell you about,a restaurant we ate at, La Khaima. I visited that cool city a couple of weeks ago and the restaurants are fabulous there. Had a wonderful Moroccan meal. The owner is a native Moroccan chef, Malik , who creates all the dishes, and illustrates what I find so great about the cuisine-freshness, low fat and  great combinations of flavors, sweet and savory. They have it right.

I took a picture of La Khaima beef tagine with plums and dates alongside another dish- chicken and olives with couscous!

We are featuring 2 products of couscous today. Each of these is available in your supermarket and is the easiest dish to prepare. Couscous is tiny pasta (Moroccan pasta) which is rehydrated with boiling water.

Here’s the recipe:

COUSCOUS

• 1 cup of couscous
• 1 /2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup boiling water

Boil water in a medium saucepan, and pour the cousous into the water. Take off the heat and let stand 10 minutes covered. Uncover, and fluff with a fork. Serve with steamed vegetables or the chicken tagine which follows.

Gary made this dish for a Saturday dinner,  an apricot tagine adapted from Gourmet Magazine Field Notes  May 2006. 

                           

CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS

• 6 chicken thighs with skin on
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 cup of dried apricots or 6 fresh apricots pitted and quartered
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 sprigs of cilantro
• 2 cups of water or broth
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Mix together the spices in a bowl and coat the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper and  spices.  Heat the olive oil in a medium size skillet and add the chicken thighs, cooking until golden brown on each side for 10 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a dish,  drain partially the fat from  the pan and add onions, garlic, cilantro and chicken and 1 1/2 cups of water and cook for 30-40 minutes covered until the meat falls from the bone. In a separate pan add the apricots, honey and 1/2 cup of water and cook until apricots are soft.

  Add the apricots to the chicken cook for an additional 15 minutes, remove from heat and serve over couscous and sprinkle almonds over the top for garnish.

Hi!- Happy 4th of July.  As a dietitian and cook, I thought I would showcase an interesting way to get fruit into the diet while grillin’ the burgers and the corn.

In the grocery store you see these brown mahogany colored fruits usually bruised from so much handling  and walk right by. Don’t be afraid of figs!  It’s a great little package of fiber and vitamins and minerals. High in potassium, manganese, vitamin B-6 and pantothenic acid, low in calories at 30 kcals per fig, this is another fruit which is great with lettuces. On a hot day, try grilling them.

Slice in half  brush with olive oil and sprinkle just a pinch of sugar, place cut side down on the grill.   Figs have a  fragrant sugary aroma. You may have seen these in the produce section and don’t know what to do with them. Now you know! Coupled with greens and a splash of balsamic vinegar or one of the Briannas’ salad dressings featured today polishes it off. Try celery or fennel which are good with fruits.  Radicchio is that bitter red and white colored  pricey lettuce, but with grilled fruits, a little goes a long way-a good combo.

Add some feta, walnuts and spinach to your grilled fig platter.

Try: Apricots and figs with your greens for a sweet dose of good nutrients. And of course we cant forget the salad dressings! Today we feature the Briannas Salad Dressing . Why this dressing? low in added sugar. They have honey as the 2nd or  3rd ingredient. 2 tablespoon serving is around 150 kcals.

Eating grilled fruit  allows all the flavors and heightened sweetness to come through.  Its great for picky eaters too! Anything grilled tastes better!

Grill plums, apricots and add some radicchio and a  few raspberries to the salad with chopped fennel and red onion.

A spring time commitment to losing some winter pounds can be done by limiting your starchy vegetables.   We have many carbohydrates which increase our blood sugar and some of these are potatoes, corn, peas.  Portion control is important when it comes to the starchy potatoes and corn which we all love. Limit to a 1/2 an ear of corn, 1/2 cup of potato  salad and eat non starchy vegetables as 1/2 plate serving.  There is a secret in the nutrition world- there are a lot of vegetables out there that are low in calorie and low in Glycemic Index. They are the greens, radishes, butternut squash, eggplant and zucchini to name a few.   High in Vitamin A and low in calories with less starch chain molecules! And yes mushrooms-

Here is a Portobello Mushroom stuffed with provolone cheese, basil, quinoa and a light bread crumb topping. Great for a side dish or appetizer.

• 2 Portobello mushrooms
• 2 slices of provolone cheese
• 3 leaves of basil torn
• 1/2 cup quinoa cooked according to directions
• 2 teaspoons of breadcrumbs
• olive oil
• chopped shallot
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and loosen the stem and remove. Chop the stem and sauté with a chopped shallot, mix with cooked quinoa,  julienned provolone cheese and torn basil and stuff the mushrooms. Cover with bread crumbs and lightly splash olive oil over the prepared mushrooms. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Supermarkets are catching up to the organic movement with great greens and vegetables.  Arugala  as featured, is a springtime green now found in Walmart  in the organic section.

You must be thinking what is this dietitian up to? A sugary sweet dessert featured on her blog? Here is a Registered Dietitian who talks about low sugar everything and watching your calories and says it’s ok to have a decadent dessert like this meringue? Well yes: I need a break from preaching the nutrition sermon for a month and indulge my culinary background, whose roots are very deep. I baked this goodie today and had to share it with you.

So here goes; a slice of Pavlova as it is called is 272 calories, low sodium, non fat and gluten free. Except for the whipped cream to spoon on the Pavlova slice -about a tablespoon! 4-5 berries are minimal in carbohydrate too!.  Those are the positives. The negative ,well there aren’t any due to the fact we are talking portion control which is my mantra. So forgo the pasta and potatoes at dinner for the this dessert and I give you the nutritionist blessing!

This dessert can be featured with any berries and flavorings like the Watkin’s extracts as I featured before, like vanilla, cherry or almond. Never made a meringue? well lets get started- it is very easy.

• 4 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream whipped or canned whipped cream unsweetened.
• 1 /2 cup mashed berries
• 10 whole berries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trace a 8 inch round dish on the back of the paper and reverse and line a cookie sheet. Beat the egg whites with the salt for 5 minutes at medium to high speed and by the tablespoon sprinkle the sugar over the egg whites and continue beating until glossy and stiff peaks form.

Add the corn starch which is sprinkled over the egg whites and blend the flavoring and lemon juice into the meringue. Mound the meringue in the center of the traced round and spread out to the sides. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1/2 hour. Turn heat down to 180 degrees and continue baking for another 1/2 hour. turn heat off and let cool with the door slightly open until cool. Add berries, whipped cream and sauce over the meringue “cake” and crack the meringue with the back of the spoon.

You are a star!

You know how I love to shop the supermarket and I have some great products to feature this month and one of them did surprise me too! The products we are featuring are the Watkins extracts. They make all your dessert dishes special!

As a Registered Dietitian I am always looking to help all of you discover great foods which are low in calorie but are really satisfying. The squashes do that for me. Butternut squash has a glycemic index of 57, based on 1/3 cup, which is a scale from 1-100 rating the foods with the lowest impact on your blood sugar. The foods which raise blood sugar highest are closer to 100. The squashes  have vitamin A and fiber and fill you up but not out. In the following recipe, the natural sugars from the fruit add sweetness to the squash when roasting. You can add  little brown sugar or you may use maple syrup or stevia if preferred.

Butternut Squash, Apple and Pears Roasted

• 4 cups of butternut squash peeled and cubed
• 2 Bosc pears cored and sliced with skin on
• 2 apple cored sliced with skin on
• a1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.   Pour contents onto a baking sheet, spread out and bake for 30 minutes or until the squash and fruit are fork tender. Cool slightly and serve or make 2 days in  advance and store in a plastic container until the big dinner. reheat in a pan on the stove.

Tofu? again? We featured a pumpkin pudding in my last blog, and my boyfriend thought it was impressive so I thought I would try a recipe that has  been in my culinary family for many, many  years. My ex-husband even liked it!   We are trying a walnut (can use hazelnuts)  graham crusted crust tofu cheesecake pie with the wonderful flavors of maple, walnut and vanilla.

Maple Walnut Tofu Cheesecake

• 8 ounces firm tofu
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Watkins vanilla extract 
• 1 packet of graham crackers
• 2 drops of Watkins Hazelnut extract
• 2/3 cup of walnuts or hazlenuts
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons of oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup soymilk or milk
• 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the Cuisinart chop walnuts or hazelnuts and crackers until bread crumb consistency and place in a bowl, adding the cinnamon, a drop of hazelnut extract and the melted butter or oil and mix together. In a 9 inch pie plate or springform pan, press the crust into the pan and up the sides 2 inches. In the Cuisinart, or food processor add the tofu, cream cheese, maple syrup, eggs extracts, coffee and brown sugar, mix until smooth. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. cool on a rack.

This was the surprise; with only 60 mg of salt in 2 tablespoons of fried onions, their flavor in a casserole or sprinkled on steamed vegetables is a great addition with low salt and calories.

Broccolini Gratin with Onions and Gruyure

• 1 lb of broccolini steamed
• 1 – 1/2 cup shredded Gruyure, Swiss or non dairy soy cheese
• 3 tablespoons French’s Fried Onions
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• 2/3  cup breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese and onions together. Pour cream and broth over the vegetables, sprinkle the topping over the entire dish and drizzle olive oil on top of the breadcrumb topping. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes, uncover and continue baking for 10 more minutes until topping is crunchy and golden.