Tip #3: Make it Look Good

I am little behind on blogging my tips from IG. Tip #3 was making food look good. We taste first with our eyes, then our nose, then our mouth. So it just makes sense to use lots of fun colours and decorate our plate to make our food look as appetizing as possible while super nutritious!!!

See below for some suggestions of colourful salads and soups to make your plate irresistible and your body super healthy.

Roasted Sweet Potato Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 pounds peeled Sweet Potatoes, cubed

1/2 Tbsp olive oil or Becel margarine (optional)

4 cup Soymilk (or other milk)

1-2 tsp Balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp each brown sugar and maple syrup (or less depending on how sweet you want it)

1 tsp pureed garlic (Optional)

1 540mL can of no salt added White beans (rinsed very well in a strainer)

Instructions:

1. Roast sweet potato cubes in the over at 375 for about 45 minutes.
2. Once done, puree roasted sweet potatoes with soymilk and add remaining ingredients to desired thickness and taste.
3. Add White beans and enjoy! You can also puree the while beans in if you prefer a smooth soup.

You can also add in other roasted or steamed veggies if you wish to!

Coconut Curry Soup

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots (or you can use sweet onions)

2 tsp. red curry paste

1 1/2 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 can light coconut milk

2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (bake chicken breasts at 375 for 35-45 minutes (until done and juices run clear) then shred into pieces before adding into the soup)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

Fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and crushed red pepper (all optional)

Instructions

1. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots, red curry paste, curry powder, tumeric, coriander, and garlic to the pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken, onions, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

You may wish to pour the soup over rice noodles and/or add more veggies.

 

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

¾ cup uncooked Quinoa (follow package instructions for cooking)

1 Tbsp. grape seed oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 red onion, diced

1 cup diced orange pepper

1 large handful of baby spinach

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 cup diced cucumber

½ cup black olives, diced

1/3-1/2 cup pesto sauce

1 cup diced tofu or white beans

1 cup diced feta

 Instructions

• Rinse and cook quinoa according to package directions.
• Sauté onion and pepper in grape seed oil until softened. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and then turn stove off and let vegetables cool.
• Take 1 handful of baby spinach and slice into smaller pieces. Toss this will peppers and red onion, balsamic sauce, cucumber, and tomatoes.
• Toss vegetable mixture with pesto, then black olives, then tofu (or white beans), then quinoa.
• Once all ingredients are mixed, add crumbled feta to that top of the salad and serve.

Variations to this Recipe:

Additional vegetables will only increase the nutrition of this salad.  For example:

• You may also wish to sauté zucchini and eggplant with the peppers and onions.
• You may wish to add cooked or fresh mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, or snap peas.
• You may wish to add fresh basil in addition to or instead of the spinach.

 Caesar’s Heart Tomato Salad

Ingredients: (per 1-2 people)

 1 cup baby tomatoes sliced in half

½ cup chopped hearts of palm

1/4 red onion sliced

1 Tbsp Low fat Caesar dressing

Mix ingredients together and serve

 

Tomato and Feta Salad

Ingredients: (per 1-2 people)

1 cup baby tomatoes sliced in half

30 grams Feta Cheese (15% M.F.)

1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

1-2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and garnish with parsley.

Fun and Healthy Salad Combos to add to a bed a spinach or mixed greens…

 Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, feta, black olives, and diced chicken with Greek dressing.

Sliced strawberries or pears, walnuts or almonds, and feta or goat cheese with Balsamic Vinegar dressing.

Tuna and salsa mixed together with a few green olives and diced avocado.

Chickpeas, diced tomatoes, crumbled feta, diced avocado and balsamic vinegar mixed together.

Snow peas, baby carrots, tomatoes, and cottage cheese.

Cucumber, red peppers, diced ham, and pineapple with Honey Mustard dressing.

Steamed broccoli, pineapple, and almonds, with Calorie Wise Creamy Poppy seed.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, goat cheese, and smoked salmon with Lemon Poppy seed dressing.

Hope this give you lots of fun and healthy inspiration.

Until next time….stay healthy!!!