Prevention RD | an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Healthy Crunchy Onion Rings

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Nicole, RD

Mr. Prevention put a CostCo membership on his Christmas list. Since he’s so hard to buy for, this is what I got him for Christmas (so romantic, I know). For a household of 2, I’m not sure that there’s too many deals to be had. Truth be told, I enjoy CostCo for all the samples.

Mr. Prevention enjoys CostCo for the plethora of frozen food options. His most recent selection was Alexia’s sweet potato fries (which I approve of). He quickly threw 3-pound bag in our cart along with the one other item (maple syrup) stating, “When you make gross onion rings tonight, I’ll make these for me.”

It’s hard to believe that anyone would pass up onion rings…for frozen anything. I love, love, love onion rings! But still, I was surprised at all with his selection or substitution.

P.S. Of course, he really liked the onion rings. Wrong again…

With Super Bowl Sunday this weekend, lightened up onion rings would be the perfect compliment to any game day spread.

Finger food without the grease! Or guilt.

When I first planned to make homemade onion rings, I had planned to use a recipe that involved heating oil on a baking sheet and baking the onion rings in the oil. That recipe is Cook’s Illustrated and has PHENOMENAL reviews. I knew they would be great, but I dug a little deeper into my stockpiles of old recipes and decided to omit the oil all together and bake to a crispy perfection on wire racks.

I ended up combining the two recipes and used aspects from each that I felt would yield the best results. While these were my first attempt at a onion rings, I don’t see any reason to try any other way!

Healthy Crunchy Onion Rings adapted from How Sweet It Is and Pink Parsley, as seen in Cook’s Illustrated

2 large onions
4 cups (4 oz) reduced fat kettle chips
2 cups panko bread crumbs
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 eggs
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Slice onions into 1/2-inch thick rings. Season the onion rings with salt and pepper.

In a food processor, pulse together the panko and kettle chips and transfer to a shallow dish. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Place the flour in a second shallow dish. In a third shallow dish, whisk together the egg and buttermilk.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the wire rack with non-stick spray.

Dip each onion ring in flour, then the egg/buttermilk mixture, and lastly in the chips/panko to coat. Continue this process with each of the rings. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.

Yield: 8 servings (about 12 rings each).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 178 calories; 4.1 g. fat; 28 mg. cholesterol; 245 mg. sodium; 31 g. carbohydrate; 2 g. fiber; 5.9 g. protein

Result: Crunchy is right! I won’t pretend these are the quickest things to make – be sure to commit to these when you’re not strapped for time. Nothing difficult, it just takes some patience These are absolutely wonderful – onion ring lovers rejoice! Oil-free faux fried food! Enjoy!

It’s the last day of January – crazy! But, come back tomorrow for a fun announcement and a great, heart-healthy recipe!

Workout then off to work and to teach!

Be well,

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Posted in 200 calories or less, appetizer, entertaining, exercise, football, fried food, fruits and vegetables, guilt-free, healthy cooking, recipe, reduced-calorie, snack, Uncategorized | 24 Comments

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Thai Quinoa Chili

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Nicole, RD

Come Monday mornings, it’s a bit unclear to me what I did all weekend long. The little stuff adds up, I guess.

There’s always grading and lesson planning to get done. This weekend, the lesson planning got done, but the grading…err…not so much. There was some workouts — Friday I ran 3+ miles, Saturday I did a 4 mile elliptical workout, and last night, as always, I had a hockey game. At least I was productive with my sweat sessions.

I made some killer waffles yesterday morning and luckily, I have some leftovers to enjoy this morning. On Monday mornings, it’s the little things…

Friday night, Mr. Prevention and I hung low at the house. It was a long week for both of us. Beer, leftovers, and the couch was just what we needed. Saturday night, we had some friends over to watching the Illini…lose. Again. Sometimes, more often than not, it is painful to be a fan of University of Illinois sports.

Yesterday was typical. Laundry (and too much of it), grocery shopping, getting ready for the week, making a nice meal, and playing hockey.

But always, without fail, Sundays are a bit…depressing. Even if you LOVE your job, you LOVE weekends more. Mr. Prevention loves (and I do mean LOVES) to sleep. Sometimes I check on him just to be sure he’s still breathing, because sleeping 12 hours straight is simply unimaginable for me.

For Mr. Prevention, Mondays bring far too early of wake-up calls. If you’ve ever seen the 5-Hour Energy commercials of the guy walking down the stairs saying, “I don’t wanna get up…I don’t want to go to work…” you’ve seen Mr. Prevention in the mornings.

On those mornings (i.e. every morning, but especially Mondays), I encourage Mr. Prevention to take leftovers to work for lunch. Sometimes, I think he’s under the impression I pack everything in single serving Tupperware containers for fun. He usually tells me leftovers are “too heavy” to eat for lunch. Whatever that means.

This meal was one of them — “too heavy”. But I actually “get” what he means with this meal. It’s super healthy, but it’s also really filling…in a good way. This Vegetarian Thai Quinoa Chili is PACKED with fiber (nearly 12 grams per serving) making it a very filling meal that’s sure to keep you satisfied for hours to come. Plus, it tastes great. I’m officially a convert when it comes to quinoa in chilis and soups – so good!

Vegetarian Thai Quinoa Chili slightly adapted from Back to Her Roots

1 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp red curry paste
1 Tbsp cumin
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 small onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup dry quinoa, rinsed (I used red quinoa)
1 cup light coconut milk
1-28 oz can no salt added crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 green onions, sliced, for serving
8 Tbsp plain, nonfat Greek yogurt, for serving

Directions:

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, whisk together the chili powder, curry paste, cumin and a few tablespoons of broth over medium-low heat until smooth.

Add in onion, green pepper, garlic, sweet potato, and olive oil and saute for 5-7 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Add in remaining broth, beans, quinoa, coconut milk, tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for about 45 minutes, or until flavors are melded and quinoa is cooked.

Serve topped with sliced green onions and plain Greek yogurt. Yield: 8 servings (1 1/2 cups each).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 322 calories; 5.9 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 573 mg. sodium; 47.4 g. carbohydrate; 11.9 g. fiber; 18.5 g. protein

Result: This is hearty and has great flavor. You can easily add some heat with a chile pepper or red pepper flakes. The beans make this seem more chili-like than soup-like, but either way it is warm and comforting. This is a great one-pot meal that requires very little hands-on time. Enjoy!

Now for my Monday morning coffee fix…mmm!

Have a great week,

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Posted in 350 calories or less, carbohydrates, dinner, fiber, fruits and vegetables, garlic, gluten-free, healthy cooking, hockey, lunch, one-pot meal, physical activity, protein, recipe, running, sleep, soup, Uncategorized, vegetarian | 15 Comments

Chocolate Dutch Baby + Weekly Menu

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Nicole, RD

I think I may need a schedule change. With two nights a week spent away from home teaching, and another 1-2 nights for “date night” dinners, I feel as though my dinner-making is suffering. However, my kitchen time is not.

With all the fun winter citrus in season (namely Meyer lemons and blood oranges), baking has taken the place of dinner-making because I can do it at any time.

(It is no mystery as to why the scale fails to tread downward!)

Unlike some recent creations, this one comes with a much kinder calorie count. Worst case scenario, you eat the WHOLE Chocolate Dutch Baby. Worst case scenario, that’s under 950 calories. Glass half-full, folks…glass half-full.

Best case scenario, a generous slice runs a mere 118 calories…and you feel no guilt over eating chocolate or dessert. You’ll think you just hit the “diet dessert” lottery. Added bonus for any low-carbers or diabetics — this recipes comes in at 14.4 grams of carbohydrate per serving!

You heard it here first, mkay?

Before giving any thought to actually Googling, “What is a Dutch baby?” I perused the ingredient list only to find out that I had every ingredient on hand. Chances are, you do, too.

It wasn’t until after tasting the Chocolate Dutch Baby that I 1) fell in love, and 2) Googled to find out what the heck a Dutch Baby actually is.

As it ends up, it’s more than just a cute, random name. Who knew?

Traditionally, a Dutch baby is a breakfast item and is described as being very similar to a pancake (I would say “crepe” is more accurate, but I’m on the right path). The Dutch baby has German roots and is generally baked in a metal pan, such as a cast iron skillet.

Seeing as this Dutch baby contains chocolate and is mildly sweet, I consider it a dessert…that’s on the lighter side. They come together in less than 5 minutes and are likely to only stick around that long once being removed from the oven. I have to say, Dutch babies have me as a fan club member — delicious!

Chocolate Dutch Baby slightly adapted from Shutterbean and Fooddoodles

3/4 cup 2% milk
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 425 F (or prepare a pie dish by buttering with the 2 tablespoons of butter).

To prepare the batter, whisk everything together, being sure to sift the cocoa powder so that there are no lumps.

Once well mixed and the oven is hot add the butter to the hot cast iron skillet and swirl around to melt and coat the pan. Once melted, pour the batter in and place into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until the dutch baby is puffed up around the edges and completely set in the middle. When done, remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar.

Yield: 8 slices (1/8th of a 10-inch “pie”).

Nutrition Information (per slice): 118 calories; 5.4 g. fat; 83 mg. cholesterol; 108 mg. sodium; 14.4 g. carbohydrate; 1.8 g. fiber; 3.4 g. protein

Result: This is like a giant chocolate crepe in thin-cake form. Having never had a Dutch Baby before, I had no idea what to expect. What drew me to the recipe was the low sugar content for a dessert…and the fact that it was chocolate. For 118 calories, you’ll feel like you’re getting a HUGE portion of delicious dessert…it’s almost too good to be true!

It is complete coincidence that this week’s menu is all fish and seafood and I can’t say I mind at all, whatsoever!

Weekly Menu: January 29th – February 2nd

Sunday: Fancy Fish Sticks with Oven-Fried Onion Rings
Monday: Blackened Salmon with asparagus and potatoes
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Rockin’ Red Curry Shrimp Soup
Thursday: leftovers

I’ve got some serious lesson planning and grading to get done today. I’d also love to learn everything there is to know about Lightroom ASAP. With Picnik gone as of April, I need a solid back-up plan for photo editing! But of course, Lightroom isn’t what I would call “user friendly” by any stretch of the imagination.

Lots to do before dinner and hockey.

Be well,