Lamb Kebab with Tahini Sauce

Roasted and grilled meats are plentiful throughout the Middle East. This marinade, infused with allspice and cinnamon, would be excellent on lamb or chicken as well. Tuck the grilled chunks of meat and onion into warm whole-wheat pitas.

Total Time: 2 1/2 hours  

Ingredients (8 servings )

• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds lamb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 large red onions, cut into 8 wedges each
• Tahini Sauce (recipe is linked)

Preparation

1. Combine garlic, lemon juice, 1/4 cup oil, salt, allspice, cinnamon and pepper in a medium bowl. Place lamb in a large sealable plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
2. Preheat grill to high.
3. Remove the lamb from the bag. (Discard the marinade.) 
4.  Brush onions with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. 
5. Divide the lamb among 6 skewers and the onions among the remaining 3 skewers. 
6. Grill the onions until charred and tender, 10 to 12 minutes per side. 
7. Grill the lamb, turning once or twice, until slightly charred but still pink in the middle, about 6 minutes. Serve with Tahini Sauce.

Nutrition

Per serving: 314 calories; 19 g fat ( 4 g sat , 8 g mono ); 55 mg cholesterol; 9 g carbohydrates; 28 g protein; 2 g fiber; 235 mg sodium; 473 mg potassium.

Tahini Sauce

This garlicky tahini sauce is traditionally served with chicken kebabs, but we loved it with the beef or lamb kebabs as well. Tahini is a thick paste made from ground sesame seeds and can be found in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean markets.

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (About 1 cup)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 7 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons water

Preparation

1. Mash garlic and salt in a medium bowl using the back of a spoon until a paste forms. Whisk in tahini, lemon juice and water.

*Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Per 2-tablespoon serving: 93 calories; 8 g fat ( 1 g sat , 3 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 5 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 1 g fiber; 111 mg sodium; 88 mg potassium.

Orange, Watercress & Tuna Salad

In this delicately elegant salad, delicious tuna steak is matched with crisp, peppery watercress and the floral sweetness of oranges and aniseed. The orange makes the dish especially pretty!

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients (4 servings)

• 3 medium oranges
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced crystallized ginger or fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon aniseed, chopped or crushed, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1-1 1/4 pounds tuna steaks (about 1 inch thick), cut into 4 portions (see Tip)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup loosely packed tiny watercress sprigs or leaves (3/4-1 inch long)

Preparation

1. Peel oranges with a sharp knife, removing all peel and white pith. Working over a medium bowl, cut the segments from the surrounding membranes and let them drop into the bowl. Squeeze the peels and membranes over the bowl to extract all the juice before discarding them. Gently stir in oil, vinegar, ginger, coriander, 1/4 teaspoon aniseed, 1/4 teaspoon salt and cayenne. Set aside.
2. Position oven rack 5 to 6 inches from the broiler; preheat to high. Cover a broiler pan with foil.
3. Season tuna with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon each aniseed, salt and pepper. Place on the prepared pan. Broil for about 2 minutes per side for medium-rare, 4 minutes per side for medium or to desired doneness.
4. Stir watercress into the orange mixture. Slice the tuna, divide among 4 plates and top with equal portions of the salad. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving: 208 calories; 4 g fat ( 0 g sat , 2 g mono ); 44 mg cholesterol; 13 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 29 g protein; 3 g fiber; 195 mg sodium; 712 mg potassium.

Coleslaw with Apple and Yogurt Dressing

I love coleslaw and I know a lot of people do...but the mayo will stop them from enjoying this great salad. Here is a lighter, healthier version. The apple adds a natural sweetness without having to add sugar to the dressing, and the Greek yogurt creates a somewhat tangy and creamy dressing without the dreaded mayo.

Ingredients

• 8 cups mixed shredded red and green cabbage
• 1 12-ounce bag broccoli slaw mix
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 4)
• 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup Heart Smart Vegannaise
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated garlic
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 1 green apple, cored

Preparation

Combine red and green cabbages, broccoli slaw, carrots, and scallions in a large bowl. Toss to mix well.

Whisk yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic in a medium bowl until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Slaw mixture and dressing can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover separately and chill.

No more than 20 minutes before serving, cut core from apple and cut apple into matchstick-size pieces. Add apple to slaw mixture and toss to evenly incorporate. Add dressing (adding earlier will result in a soggy slaw) and toss to evenly coat.

6 Ingredients You May Not Want In Your Food – Soylent Green anyone?

This article is really disgusting, but needs to be written. Garden burgers. Power bars. Protein brownies. Bottled water that makes you thin, young andsmart. And we used to wonder what they put in Pop Rocks...

These days it's hard for even die-hard foodies to know what they're eating or drinking. That's because food has changed from something that didn't need a modifier -- if it walked, swam, flew or grew out of the ground, it was food -- to something that stopped off at Mr. Burns' nuclear plant on the way to your plate.

Let's call it "foodiness." Like Stephen Colbert's truthiness, which wasn't about truth, we're not consuming food as much as we're consuming an edible manufactured doppelganger designed to look and taste like food, but isn't actually food: like veggie puffs with no vegetables; fruit bars with no fruit; like goldfish crackers with no goldfish.

And now, below, a look at some typical foodiness ingredients that are packaged, flavored and presented as food.

1. Butane

Turns out butane isn't just for lighters anymore - it's also an artificial antioxidant that they put it in chicken nuggets to keep them "fresh" tasting. Woohoo! So instead of your chicken nuggets being fresh, butane keeps them "fresh." Eating butane probably wasn't what you had in mind last time you got the munchies and ordered those nuggets, which would be bad enough without the lighter fluid in 'em! Try some homemade chicken wings instead, for fuel-free food.

Found in: Frozen, packaged or pre-made processed foods with long shelf lives such as frozen meals, crackers, chips, cereal bars and fast food.

 

2. Estrogen

Regular milk is full of hormones used by the milk industry to keep the cows knocked up and lactating all year round. Sound gross? It is. So when you drink regular milk you take a shot of hormones with it. And all you wanted was a bowl of cereal!

Found in: Almost ALL non-organic dairy, so organic is recommended. 

3. Spinach Dust

 

Think that green sheen on your veggie snacks is giving you your daily serving of vegetables? Think again. That's just powdered spinach dust, which is spinach that has been dehydrated and sucked dry of its nutritional value. So the upshot is that green sheen is about as nutritious as actual dust...in fact, soylent green is healthier!

Found in: "Healthier" vegetable flavored snack foods.

4. Propylene Glycol – Commonly called ANTIFREEZE!

Believe it or not, antifreeze isn’t just used in cars any more. It is found in pills, cosmetics, deodorant, moisturizer... and food! It keeps your car from freezing over, your moisturizer moist, and your fat-free cookie dough ice cream creamy, smooth and juicy. If it's good enough for your SUV it's good enough to eat, right? Right?? WRONG!

Found in: Cake mix, salad dressings, low-fat ice creams and dog food.

5. Wood Pulp: Vanillin 

Vanillin, which is a byproduct of the pulp industry, is used as an artificial vanilla flavor. Ester of wood resin, which comes from pine stumps, is in citrus-flavored sodas to keep the citrus flavor evenly distributed through the can. “Honey, can I have some EXtra wood pulp in mine?”

Found in: Artificially flavored yogurt, baked goods, candy and sodas

6. Castoreum

Here’s one you’ll definitely want to remember…Castoreum. Castoreum comes out of a beaver's ummm, well…butt! It is extracted from their anal glands and is used to make artificial raspberry flavoring. What? Try not to think about that next time you order the diet raspberry tea…butt tea anyone?

Found in: Artificially raspberry flavored products such as cheap ice cream, Jell-O, candy, fruit-flavored drinks, teas and yogurts.


As food shortages become globally more and more real we will see more and more weird stuff in our ‘food’. My answer? Start your own home garden…in the back yard, a window sill…anywhere you can fit a pot! And the next time you see a beaver, just wink at him…you’ve already been fairly intimate with his brother…yuck!

Eat healthy people!

Pasta Primavera

Pasta primavera is a dish that consists of pasta and fresh vegetables with the focus on the vegetables themselves. This classic dish actually originates from America and can include almost any kind of vegetable, but cooks tend to stick to firm, crisp vegetables like broccoli, peas, zucchini, squash, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 16 oz. of whole-grain pasta (Your choice)
• 1 1/2 carrots, julienned or shredded
• 1/2 cup celery, diagonally sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small zucchini, sliced thin
• ½ pound cherry tomatoes
• 1 red pepper, sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. Meanwhile, cook carrots, celery and red pepper in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a covered pan over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add garlic and zucchini and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until carrots are tender.
4. When pasta is almost done to al dente, add to the veggies and finish cooking in the sauce.
5. Mix the vegetables & herbs with the sauce mixture and serve.

Eggplant Braciola

Braciola is an Italian dish simply made with thin slices of beef, roulade (or rollatini) with cheese and bread crumbs, pan-fried in their own juice, or in a small amount of light olive oil. In this vegan version I have substituted eggplant for the meat and veggies for the cheese for a delicious entrée.

Ingredients (6 Servings)

• 2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick lengthwise
• 2 medium red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 ounces spinach
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
• 2 cups pasta sauce, no or low salt
• 6 ounces low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a paper towel moistened with olive oil, lightly oil a non-stick baking pan. Arrange eggplant in a single layer.
2. Bake about 20 minutes or until the eggplant is flexible enough to easily roll. Set aside.
3. In 1/8 cup water, sauté the bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until just tender, adding more water if needed. Add spinach and Mrs. Dash. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Mix in 2 to 3 tablespoons of pasta sauce and shredded soy cheese.
4. In a baking pan, spread about 1/4 cup tomato sauce. Place some of the vegetable mixture on each eggplant slice, roll and place in baking pan on top of sauce.
5. Pour remaining tomato sauce over eggplant rolls. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through.