Ko Lan Grilled Chicken

My life recently went from moderately busy to extremely crazy. I got a puppy. He’s 9 weeks old and pure energy.

Meet Huck

Meet Huck. Huck-a-boo. Huckleberry.

When I get home this wild little pooch wants 110% of my attention. Because of him I’m beginning to better understand why some parents say, “I just don’t have time to cook a healthy meal.” Huck is my “first” and he’s like a little warning of what it’s like to try to balance work with raising a child, while still finding time to cook a healthy and delicious dinner.

I’ll admit that during my husband’s and my first week with Huck there were a couple of nights that we relied on takeout after he finally went to bed at 10 p.m. I’m now determined to create recipes for you (and me) that are great for hectic nights. They’ll be quick and easy without compromising taste or nutrition.

The marinade in this Thai-inspired dish takes just five minutes to make and gives the chicken incredible flavor. The miso in it pairs deliciously with the ginger, garlic and lime, and a touch of agave helps the marinade to bind, which keeps the chicken extra moist. My marinade is also far healthier than store-bought ones, which are full of sugar, low-quality oils, artificial flavors and preservatives. Even the organic ones are high in sugar and salt and lack fresh flavor.

I love grilling on weeknights because it requires no cleanup and it’s fun to cook outdoors after a day spent behind the computer. I always make enough of this dish for two dinners. The first night I serve the chicken with grilled veggies and an easy tomato avocado salad. It also goes perfectly with my Kale Superhero Salad. The second night it’s delicious sliced and served cold on top of a salad full of seasonal greens.

For a vegetarian option this marinade pairs fantastically with tempeh. Simply slice the block of tempeh into four pieces and follow the same directions below.
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Photo by {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}

It’s no secret that my favorite foods rarely have labels. Whenever possible I recommend starting with raw ingredients from the produce aisle, fish counter and butcher, and building your meal from scratch. Seasonal ingredients from your local farmers market are better still, and tastier to boot.

But I’m also aware that we don’t live in a perfect world, and sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances that aren’t particularly conducive to healthy eating. Eventually most of us will end up staring blankly at the back of a plastic container or cardboard box, wondering what evils will descend upon us if we choose this packaged morsel over another.

Food labels have become stupidly complicated, not to mention misleading. Instant oatmeal mixes have “30% more protein” (huh?). Several brands of granola and crackers at my favorite health food store include “love” on their ingredient list (how is this legal?). Products without any animal-based ingredients proudly showcase that they’re “cholesterol free,” as if it were possible for plants to produce cholesterol (or dietary cholesterol even had a measurable impact on your health). And sometimes it seems like every processed food under the sun has the American Heart Association’s stamp of approval (Thanks guys, real helpful.).

Don’t kid yourself, these labels are not about health. They’re about selling more food at higher prices. The data consistently show that people (that includes you and me) are willing to pay more for a product if we think it has a special health benefit. Unless the system changes, expected to be bombarded with misleading food labels for the rest of time.

Fortunately, navigating the insanity is fairly simple.
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Nutty Sunrise Granola

Big news!

I’m thrilled to announce that Elyse Kopecky has officially joined the Summer Tomato team as our new recipe developer. Elyse is a whole foods chef and marketing consultant based in Portland, Oregon, who studied health-supportive culinary arts at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York.

Elyse Kopecky

Since the launch of Foodist I’ve been looking for new ways to grow and improve Summer Tomato, and thousands of you have made it clear that you want more Foodist Approved recipes. Elyse’s fabulous creations are the perfect mix of seasonal, nutritious and delicious, and are designed to be both simple enough to fit into your life and fun enough to keep you cooking.

You can expect new recipes from Elyse every other Wednesday, and your feedback is always welcome. Follow her adventures in the kitchen and on the trail at freshabits.com and on Twitter @freshabits.

Bon appétit! 

Darya

Foodist Approved: Nutty Sunrise Granola 

by Elyse Kopecky

The food industry knows that very few of us have time to cook a nutritious breakfast, that’s why the cereal aisle runs the length of the grocery store. But any breakfast that you rip out of a package or grab from the glass counter at your go-to coffee joint probably has few redeeming nutritious qualities.

Even those fancy bags of “high-fiber,” “high-protein,” “whole-grain” granola that cost as much as a bottle of wine are full of ingredients that lack true sustenance. Often they have lots of added sugar marketed as “organic cane sugar” or “evaporated cane juice,” which is just a fancy (and deceptive) way of saying white sugar––the last thing we should be feeding our bodies first thing in the morning.

Here’s some good news.

Homemade granola is seriously easy to make and is a fabulous healthy breakfast option. I’ve baked many batches (enough to last me the year) to perfect this recipe, which is packed full of protein, loaded in omega-3s and balanced with whole grains. Of course it’s also full of nutty, cinnamon-y flavor with just the right amount of sweetness.

For the sweetener, I use brown rice syrup because it’s minimally processed and has a low glycemic index. Its consistency makes the oats and quinoa extra crunchy, which allows us to use less oil.

For an awesome weekday breakfast I suggest my Nutty Sunrise Granola sprinkled atop whole milk organic yogurt and chopped fresh fruit. Or enjoy it with unsweetened almond or hemp milk. And on those days when you’re rushing out that door, grab a small bag of granola to munch on at your desk.

Nutty mornings now won’t seem quite so bad!
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Photo Credit: Leo Gong

Today I’m thrilled to share a recipe from The Longevity Kitchen, the fabulous new cookbook by Rebecca Katz, MS. Rebecca is a Marin-based nationally recognized cookbook author, nutrition expert and chef. She is the founder and director of the Healing Kitchens Institute at Commonweal, which is dedicated to transforming lives through nutritional science and culinary alchemy. Her previous book, The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, is a two-time IACP award-winner.

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Kale and Farro Superhero Salad

Elyse Kopecky is a social media consultant and whole foods chef based in Portland, OR. After 10 years working for NIKE and EA SPORTS she left her desk job for the chance to study culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. Follow her adventures in the kitchen and on the trail at www.freshabits.com and @freshabits.

Foodist Approved: Kale + Radicchio Superhero Salad with Farro

by Elyse Kopecky

The flavors of this salad combined with the al dente texture of the farro make for a salad reminiscent of a bowl of fresh pasta tossed in olive oil, garlic and lemon.

Do you find yourself making the same salad night after night? Let me guess (and I speak to you now from my own past habits), does it include baby spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and maybe a few sugar-loaded dried cranberries, plus a drizzle of store-bought dressing (also sugar-loaded)? No wonder you aren’t excited to eat it.

Enter kale salads. If you’ve dined out recently you’ve probably noticed that kale salads are making appearances everywhere, from pizza joints to upscale farm-to-table restaurants. Thanks to some top chefs kale has recently gained celebrity status, and for good reason. Kale works great in a variety of dishes and is especially delicious in salads. I don’t feel the least bit sorry for spinach losing some of the limelight.

Ready to up your salad repertoire? You won’t be disappointed by my recipe for Kale + Radicchio Superhero Salad with farro, walnuts and Parmesan all tossed in a lemon garlic dressing. I aptly named this dish Superhero Salad because it incorporates a range of my favorite nutrient-dense ingredients for strength and energy. And don’t frown at the parmesan cheese. Yes, hard cheeses are healthy.

If Popeye ate spinach, then Batman and Wonder Woman ate bowls and bowls of kale salad.

Enjoy!
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Elyse Kopecky is a social media consultant and whole foods chef based in Portland, OR. After 10 years working for NIKE and EA SPORTS she left her desk job for the chance to study culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. Follow her adventures in the kitchen and on the trail at www.freshabits.com and @freshabits.

Foodist Approved: Fabulous Fish Tacos with Fiery Peach Avocado Salsa

by Elyse Kopecky

If you’ve just finished reading Foodist you’re probably inspired to cook more at home, but are wondering where to begin. Fret not. I’ve got you covered. As a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts, I know how to make healthy food taste amazing. And amazing food that satisfies and keeps us energized is the key to giving up all that barcoded junk once and for all.

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Shiso Pesto With Shrimp

The first time I had shiso I was at a sushi bar in San Francisco. At the time it was the best sushi I’d ever had, but it wasn’t just about the fish. Every now and then a new flavor, one I had never tasted before, would fill my mouth with happiness. It was a fresh flavor, almost like mint, but richer, more earthy and, at the same time, ethereal.

I asked the chef what I was tasting and he explained it was a Japanese herb called shiso (also called green perilla). Ever since that day I had been on a mission to find a place to buy it so I could use it at home. Occasionally I’d find shiso at a Japanese market, but always in small quantities and often at steep prices. Not an ideal situation for a shiso fiend.

I’d always wanted to have a more regular supply of shiso, and this year I finally had the opportunity when I started my first garden. To my delight our shiso plant thrived. Or more accurately: exploded.

Shiso Leaves

For the last few weeks I’ve had shiso coming out my ears and have been using it in salads, stir fries and everything else I could think of. It’s been awesome, but I still had barely dented the towering shiso bush that was taking over my garden. I needed to figure out a way to use a huge bunch of it so it wouldn’t go bad. And fast.

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I get asked a lot of strange questions here at Summer Tomato, but last week the folks over at Fact or Fictional took the healthy eating questions to a whole new level by asking me to help them stay nourished in a post-apocalyptic world.

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Ramps

Paloma is a Miami-born foodist with an insatiable curiosity to understand cultures through their food. Half her soul is in Spain, the other in the States. She blogs at Slim Pickings to inspire and inform how you can cook your way to health with 5 ingredients or less. She’s also a brand marketer in New York City. Follow Paloma on Twitter @pmvazquez
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Photo by me and the sysop

For myself and people of my generation, cooking represents the worst kind of irony. Feeding ourselves is our most basic human need, but for some reason no one bothered to tell us how to do it (or even that it was important to learn).

So we grew up, left the house and became dependent on restaurants and instant meals, only to find out 10 years later that this “food” has been killing us slowly.

Now what are we supposed to do?

Learning to cook is important, but can be intimidating if you’ve never done more than boil water, open cans and zap frozen entrees. Navigating the kitchen is much easier if you know a few simple tricks that seasoned chefs take for granted.
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