Hot Winter Salad with Kale (Deliciously G-Free)
2 T olive oil
1 lb kale greens
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 15-ounce can red light kidney beans
1 avocado, diced or 1 C pureed cooked acorn squash
Nutritional Information:
4 servings
Cal: 413
Fat: 14 g
Protein: 18 g
CHO: 58 g
Fiber: 18 g
This my “re-make” of my mom’s interchangeable pumpkin/zucchini bread recipe. I split the fat between butter and applesauce, decreased the amount of sugar and combined regular and whole-wheat flours. You can sub in 3 cups shredded zucchini for the pumpkin if you’re making this in the summer. Despite the healthful additions, the bread is still very flavorful and moist. In fact, I think the pumpkin flavor comes through more with less sugar!
Holly’s Healthy Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries and Walnuts
1/3 C butter
1/3 C applesauce (no sugar added)
2 C sugar
4 eggs
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
2/3 C water
1.5 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1.75 C white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 C dried cranberries
1/3 C toasted walnuts, chopped
pumpkin seeds (optional)
Cream butter and sugar together in bowl of electric mixer. Add applesauce, eggs, pumpkin, water and mix until blender. Meanwhile, sift together the flours, baking soda and powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Add to wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Top with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Loaves are finished when a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
Nutritional information: 1/12th of a loaf
150 cal, 4.58g fat (1.92g sat), 42g chol., 173mg sodium, 15.66g carb., 2g fiber, 3.42g sugars, 5.55g protein
You can’t go wrong with figs and blue cheese! For the longest time I stayed as far away as I could from blue cheese, because I didn’t like the smell. I’m not even sure how I came around to it, but I’ve come to like it in small quantities and with the right flavor pairings. Things like honey, balsamic reductions and other sweet things complement blue cheese or gorgonzola quite nicely.
Fig, Pecan & Blue Cheese Salad
Serves 2
4 figs, quartered
1 oz. pecans, toasted
2 oz. blue cheese
4 cups arugula and spinach mix
dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp best-quality balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp honey
salt & pepper
Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and honey until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle dressing over bowls filled with salad ingredients.
*Variation: Candy or spice the toasted pecans: While warming on the stovetop in a skillet, add either sugar or chili powder to season.
thehealthypineapple 