healthy cooking
Earlier this year I lost 30 pounds and reduced my bad cholesterol level significantly. This allowed me to come off cholesterol meds. Well I have gotten away from some of those habits and put some of the wt back on and I'm sure my Cholesterol levels are up also. Additionally, one of my friends on FB posted that her husband wanted to start eating healthy and she did not want to eat cardboard, so he was on his own. Healthy does not need to be boring, it can be really good.
So… I’ve decided I need to get back with it. What worked for me in the past was a semi-vegan diet, low fat, using as many fresh items as possible. Of course exercise has to be part of the equation
I am not a doctor or dietitian. I have worked in and around foodservice about 30 years. I also love to cook. I work fulltime and have way too many hobbies. As a result I cook ahead when I can. I use an online free site to help me track what I’m doing. A couple are www.fitday.com and for IPad Sparkpeople app works well. There are bunches out there, these are the two I have tried, both let me enter my own food for the food diary.
For my first weekend “back-at-it” I made a Polenta Zucchini bake. I’ve added my hints and comments into the recipe below.
Polenta Bake
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
· 2 tsp olive oil
· 1 cup finely chopped onion
· 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
· 8 ounce pack sliced cremini mushrooms (or baby portabella)
· 1 cup chopped red pepper
· 1 cup cubed zucchini
· 1 26 ounce jar low fat, low sodium marinara sauce (such as Amy's)
· 1 cup small broccoli florets
· 1 18 ounce tube polenta, sliced into 18 slices
· 3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheese of your choice
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place polenta in freezer (do not do this early, you do not want freeze)
Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet.
Add onions and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms, pepper and zucchini and cook until mushrooms are softened. Stir in broccoli and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add marinara sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Take polenta from freezer and slice. (I use a very sharp knife and slice off an end then make slices as I squeeze the remainder out. This help to keep it from falling apart.)
Spoon about a half cup of the sauce into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Then add a layer of nine polenta slices. Cover polenta slices with half the vegetable mixture. Top with remaining nine polenta slices and add rest of vegetables.
Sprinkle with reduced-fat cheese. Cover (spray foil with Pam or oil to keep cheese from sticking) and bake for 20 minutes.
Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.
Serves 6
Per Serving: Calories 189, Calories from Fat 50, Total Fat 5.8g (sat 2g), Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 465mg, Carbohydrate 26.7g, Fiber 4g, Protein 8g
Variations: I just do not like broccoli with tomato, so I leave it out and increase the zucchini.
I have also added fresh spinach when I layer. You can build this in individual dishes and add a slice of fresh mozzarella in the layers or on top. You can also try different polenta flavors. This recipe is very forgiving, try whatever appeals to you.
I triple the recipe and freeze in 2 cup servings, using glass microwave-safe containers.
I got the original recipe off the internet, my computer crashed and I lost the source and haven’t been able to find the same sight again. There are many variations out there, so have fun.
Posted by Kare
at 3:17 PM MST
don't ask
and a little South of Salt Lake City