Archive for HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES

@untie R’s Gluten-Free Blueberry Cheese Pancakes

I’m happy to feature my friend, Arlene Sablan Aguon’s healthy recipes.

This particular recipe is a healthy alternative to regular pancakes. It’s gluten-free, delicious, and packed with nutrients that not only taste good but are good for you too!

Give Arlene’s recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it! 🙂

Yield: 4 pancakes

@untie R’s Gluten-Free Blueberry Cheese Pancakes

Gluten Free Blueberry Cheese Pancakes

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups gluten-free flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (or 1 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum powder)
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons wheat germ or steel cut oats
  • 1 1/2 cups flax or soy milk
  • 1 cup small curd cottage cheese.
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten (see notes below)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

Gluten Free Blueberry Cheese Pancakes

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in sugar and wheat germ/oats; set aside.

Combine the milk, cottage cheese, and coconut oil.

Pour the flax or soy milk mixture all at once into the flour mixture; stir until moist. Add additional milk, a little at a time, if the batter is too thick (the batter should pour easily). Gently stir in the berries.

Pre-heat a skillet/grill over medium heat; lightly grease the skillet. Pour the mixture onto the skillet to the size you prefer. Cook until the tops are bubbly and appear dry; flip over to finish cooking.

Serve and enjoy!

NOTE from Arlene: I didn’t use the egg. The small curd cottage cheese acts as your binder with the coconut oil. Yummy too.

NOTE from Annie: You can use a “chia egg” in place of the regular egg. Mix 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water. Let the mixture sit until it forms a gel. Use the chia gel/egg in the recipe instead of the egg.

 

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Baklava Truffles

Baklava is one of my favorite desserts.  I’ve seen many variations of this rich, sweet dessert, from chocolate drizzled to baklava cheesecake, and believe me, they all taste incredible!

I’m usually pressed for time, and lately I’ve been creating healthier meals for my family. When it comes to healthy eating, I will admit that Baklava doesn’t immediately come to mind.  Why would it?  Traditional baklava is made with a syrup or honey, and lots and lots of butter.  This recipe, while not right up there in the health-food category, does cut back on a lot of the calories from butter, phyllo dough, and sugar.  It’s a good energy snack, and the thing I love best about it is that it’s a no-bake (aka quick and easy) recipe.

If you look at my list of ingredients below, you’ll notice an ingredient not common in traditional baklava recipes…almond butter.  I use almond butter partially to add another type of nut to this recipe, but it also serves as a way to bind everything together without using too much honey.

If you’re not familiar with almond butter, all it is are almonds ground until creamy, like peanut butter.  You can make your own almond butter — it’s really quite easy, if you have some patience and a good food processor, that is.  It’s more economical to make it yourself, as a small jar of almond butter sells for about $12.00!  I like adding pure maple syrup or honey to my almond butter to sweeten it up a bit.  To make your own almond butter, all you need are 3 cups of raw almonds and 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey (that’s if you want it sweet — the maple syrup and honey are completely optional).  Process only the almonds in your food processor — here’s where your patience comes into play as it takes a good 30 minutes of processing before the almonds turn into a creamy consistency.  Add the maple syrup or honey at the end, just so you can blend it with the almond butter.  Place in a resealable container (I use a mason jar or an empty peanut butter jar).

gheeSince you’ve just perused my list of ingredients, you’ll also notice I use ghee in my recipe.  Ghee is clarified butter — butter that’s been melted so that the milk solids separate from the butter fat, then cooked to boil out the moisture (butter has 15% to 20% moisture content while ghee has nearly 100% butter fat). Several traditional baklava recipes use ghee, lots and lots of it. You can find ghee in the international aisle of your grocery store, or you can make it yourself.

To make ghee, melt 1 pound (or 4 sticks) of butter in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat.  When the butter starts frothing, turn down the heat to low.  Keep cooking the butter until it starts to turn a dark golden color; the curds on the bottom of the pan will start to brown.  Use a clean, dry spoon to scoop away the frothy stuff on top.  When the melted butter looks clear, it’s done.  Remove it from the heat.  Strain the liquid through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer.  Place in a clean container.  You can store ghee at room temperature (no refrigeration needed).

Make up a batch of these delicious truffles to take along with you for road trip snacks, snacks at work, or when you’re planning an outdoor trek and need some snacks for a quick energy boost.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂

No-Bake Baklava Truffles

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Ingredients:

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  • 1 cup pistachios
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup almond butter
  • 1/4 cup good quality honey
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

1.  Place the pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon and salt into a food processor.  Pulse it on high speed until the nuts are chopped into small pieces.

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2.  In a separate microwave-safe mixing bowl, place the honey and ghee (you can use regular butter instead of ghee).  Heat for about 30-60 seconds or until the ghee melts.  Add the almond butter and vanilla extract to the bowl.  Stir to combine.

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3.  Add the chopped nut mixture to the almond butter mixture.  Use a spatula to mix it all together.

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4.  Use a small cookie scoop to form small balls.  Place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the truffles to set.

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Optional:  Roll the truffles in chopped nuts before refrigerating.

ENJOY!

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Escabeche

Escabeche is a dish made with fried fish and vegetables with a ginger-vinegar sauce. It’s usually prepared for special occasions, but since we’re in the middle of the Lenten season, this is a great dish to prepare for meatless Friday meals.

The traditional Chamorro version uses tuba vinegar and orange ginger (mango’, in Chamorro). I prefer using fresh ginger for this dish, but I rarely find it in the Asian stores where I live. Ground tumeric makes a great substitute for fresh ginger.

I remember how my mom would go to the back yard and pull up some orange ginger roots. She’d clean and peel the ginger, place the pieces in heavy duty aluminum foil, then she’d pound the heck out of the ginger with a hammer. 😉

I love fried fish, and this dish is usually made with fried fish. I’m trying to eat healthier these days, so I opted to bake instead of fry my fish. Use any good white fish like tilapia, parrot fish, or one of my favorites–orange roughy.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Escabeche

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Ingredients:

  • 1 large broccoli head, cut into little “trees” about 3 inches long
  • 1 medium cabbage, cut into large pieces (I like using Chinese cabbage for this dish)
  • 1 large eggplant or 4 medium long (Japanese or Chinese) eggplants, sliced lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick
  • 3 to 4 cups water
  • 1 to 1 1/3 cups white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (plus more for seasoning the fish)
  • 6 to 8 teaspoons tumeric (plus more for seasoning the fish)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 3 pounds white fish (tilapia and orange roughy are good for this dish)
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • Black pepper, about a teaspoon
  • Optional: Other vegetables of your choosing, like sliced onions or leafy greens

Directions:

Place a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. I have a 14″ skillet that I love to use for making fried rice, stir-fried dishes, or making dishes like escabeche. You want a fairly large pot that is wide across the top so that you can somewhat steam the vegetables, not boil them.

Pour 1 cup of water into the pan and bring it to a boil.
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Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the boiling water.
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Add the broccoli to the pan.
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Pour 1/3 cup of vinegar into the pan.
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Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of tumeric over the broccoli.
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Use a pair of tongs to gently stir the mixture around in the pan, just until the tumeric is mixed into the liquid.
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Cook the broccoli just until it is slightly wilted, or cooked to your liking. Place the broccoli into a medium sized mixing bowl, leaving the tumeric sauce in the pan.
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If you don’t have much liquid in the pan, add another cup of water and 1/3 cup of vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 more teaspoons of tumeric. Bring the liquid back up to a boil then add the cabbage leaves.
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Use the tongs to turn the cabbage, evenly coating each leaf in tumeric sauce. Cook until the leaves begin to wilt.
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Place the cooked cabbage into the bowl of broccoli, leaving the liquid in the pan once again.
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As with the step before, if you don’t have much liquid in the pan, add another cup of water, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 more teaspoons tumeric.

Bring the liquid to a boil then add the sliced eggplant to the pan. Turn the heat down to medium low (the eggplant takes longer to cook and your liquid may dry up completely as the eggplant cooks). Cook the eggplant for about 4 minutes then flip the slices over and cook the other side for another 4 minutes (or cook until the eggplant softens).
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When the eggplant is done, remove it from the pan and place it into the bowl with the other cooked vegetables.
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Repeat this process (of cooking the vegetables) for any remaining vegetables you are adding to the dish (like onions or kangkun leaves).

If your liquid dries up, add another cup of water, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons tumeric. Add the garlic to the pan. Turn the heat back up to medium high. Cook the garlic sauce for a couple of minutes.
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Pour the sauce over the cooked vegetables. Set aside until the fish is done.
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Prepare the fish.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the fish filets on a large rimmed baking sheet.
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Sprinkle salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and tumeric on both sides of the fish. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Use a fork to check for doneness (the fish should flake easily with a fork).
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When the fish is done, it’s time to layer the escabeche.

In the bottom of a 9×13 pan, place a even layer of eggplant, half of the cabbage leaves and broccoli.
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Carefully place each of the baked fish filets on top of the bottom layer of vegetables.
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I don’t have a photo of these next steps (I don’t know how I forgot to take photos!), but layer the remaining vegetables on top of the layer of fish.

Pour any remaining sauce over the vegetables.

While you can eat this immediately, this dish is best if made the day before and allowed to “marinate” overnight. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil then place in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to meld.

The next day, after all the sauce soaked into the fish and vegetables, the escabeche is now perfect and ready to enjoy. Reheat individual portions, or bake the entire pan (covered with foil) at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Serve with hot steamed rice and fina’denne’. ENJOY!
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Quinoa Salad

Are you looking for a different side dish to serve with your meals? Try making Quinoa Salad. It is a delicious side dish that is healthy as well as tasty.

You can get creative with this dish by adding your favorite vegetables. I used tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, cilantro and garbanzo beans in my recipe. You can also add diced avocados, olives or red onions. For a totally different take on this dish, try sprinkling some feta cheese on top too!

TMH NOTE: This is an E recipe without the optional olive oil, olives or avocados.  Adding olive oil, olives and avocados will make it a crossover.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked white quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded (plus about 1 tablespoon salt)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, optional
  • The juice of one lemon
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Place the uncooked quinoa into a strainer. Rinse the quinoa under running water. Place the rinsed quinoa, water, garlic powder and sea salt into a medium-sized sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat until the water begins to boil. Turn the heat to low then place a lid on the pot; cook for 15 minutes then turn off the heat. Let the quinoa sit in the covered pot for 5 more minutes (do not remove the lid). After the 5 minutes, remove the lid then fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set aside.

2. Peel and seed the cucumber. Dice the cucumber then place into a plastic strainer or colander. Sprinkle the tablespoon of salt over the cucumber; stir to ensure the cucumber pieces are evenly salted. Place the strainer over a bowl to catch the cucumber liquid that will drain. Let the salted cucumbers drain for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, rinse the salt off the cucumbers then drain out any excess water. Set aside.

3. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters. Place into a small mixing bowl.

4. Add the onions and cilantro to the bowl.

5. Add the drained garbanzo beans to the bowl.

6. Add the cucumbers to the bowl.

7. Add the quinoa to the bowl.

8. Add the olive oil (omit the oil to keep this recipe low fat) and lemon juice to the bowl. Stir to combine the ingredients, taste and adjust the seasonings (salt and pepper) to your liking. I wanted a bit more garlic flavor, so I added more garlic powder.

9. Stir once more, then serve and ENJOY!

 

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Mango Salsa

This is a delicious and nutritious snack that is perfect with chips or crackers.  I actually made this salsa to go with my delicious fish tacos (find my recipe here). 😉

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 2 ripe mangoes
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • the juice of 1 lime
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • Optional: 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped

 Directions:

Cut the skin off the mango. Dice the mango into 1/4-inch cubes. Place into a small mixing bowl.

Add the red onions and the optional jalapeño to the bowl.

Add the cilantro.

Stir to combine the ingredients. Serve with your favorite chips, crackers, or as a condiment for fish, chicken or steak tacos.  ENJOY!

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