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Roasted Chickpeas w/ Indian Spices (Video)

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If you haven’t discovered Roasted Chickpeas yet this is the perfect time of year to give them a try. They’re little, tasty, crunchy, salty, balls of goodness that are packed with protein and fiber AND they make the perfect snack for any party or gathering you might be headed to in the next couple of weeks!

I’m still in Jersey for the rest of the month but wanted to be sure to share this video with you  before the holidays pass!

I’m really looking forward to the New Year so I can get back in my kitchen and experiment with some new Clean & Delicious ideas!

Happy Holidays!!

Print Recipe

Roasted Chickpeas w/ Indian Spices

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans organic garbanzo beans
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Drain and rinse the beans under some cold water.  Place beans on a kitchen towel and roll them and pat them until they are completely dry.

In a small bowl, toss together curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt.

Place dry garbanzo beans in a large bowl and toss with olive oil.  Sprinkle spice mixture over the beans and toss until all the garbanzo beans are evenly coated with the spices.

Toss onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about forty five minutes or until the garbanzo beans are nice and crunchy.

Toss into a serving bowl and enjoy!

1/6th of recipe: Calories: 153g; Total Fat: 3.4g; Saturated Fat: 0.3g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 30mg; Carbohydrate: 23.6g; Dietary Fiber: 5.2g; Sugars: 0.5g; Protein: 7.1g

Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges w/ A Creamy Garlic Yogurt Dip (Video)

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As many of you already know, I have a bit of a love affair with fries.

I just LOVE french fries.

As you also know, I am also an “everything in moderation” kind-of-girl.

But truth be told, if left to my indulge in fries as I wish, it would end up being a bit too often to honestly call “moderate”.

So baking potatoes and sweet potatoes has become my favorite way to enjoy a home made french fry (or wedge) that I can feel good about eating!

I’ve shared my recipe for Baked Sweet Potato Fries in the past and more recently shared my Garlic and Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries (both faves of mine) SO I thought it was due time to make a video highlighting yet another version of my “favorite ways to eat fries!”.

WARNING:  Please do not blame me if you find yourself struggling not to eat all four servings by yourself!  More times than not my hubby and I share this recipe making it a serving for two rather than four:).

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Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges w/ A Creamy Garlic Yogurt Dip

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1 tbsp of olive oil

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp kosher salt

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ cup of plain, nonfat Greek yogurt

½ tsp of white wine vinegar

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

A pinch of salt

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 400

Combine sweet potatoes, olive oil, spices and salt in a large bowl. Toss until the sweet potatoes are evenly coated in the spice mixture.

Place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and give the potatoes a flip.  Pop them back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown on the outside.

While the potatoes are cooking combine the garlic, garlic powder, yogurt, vinegar, parsley, and salt in a small bowl.  Set it aside until your potatoes are ready to go!

Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve with the garlic yogurt dipping sauce.  Enjoy!!

Calories: 101; Total Fat: 3.8g; Saturated Fat: 0.5; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 162mg; Carbohydrate: 13.9g; Dietary Fiber: 2.5g; Sugars: 3.8g; Protein: 3.9g

 

Curried Turkey Skillet W/ Pomegranate Seeds

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Curried Turkey Skillet
Curried Turkey Skillet – Clean & Delicious®

It all started with my Curried Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet.

So fast, so simple and so “on the fly” that it started a small ‘skillet-meal’ addiction for me.  I decided I needed to share the skillet inspired meal in a video; that’s when I posted my  Turkey and Zucchini Skillet.

I really wanted to demonstrate just how fast and easy the skillet meal was; not to mention delicious, nutritious, AND versatile.  In the spirit of Rachael Ray, I wanted to show you the basic concept, so that you could take the idea and run.  Because truthfully speaking, the skillet meal, is a meal of endless options.  Just ask me – I make them ALL the time.

So I figured it was due time to share another skillet idea.

I love adding curry powder to butternut squash (and sweet potatoes), it just works.  When I noticed some ground turkey in the fridge, coconut milk in the pantry, and a butternut squash on the counter, I knew right away what I was going to do… make a skillet meal!!

I can be a rather calculated, planned ahead, kind of girl (both in and out of the kitchen), but when it comes to the skillet meal, it’s always a meal done on the fly!

No rules.

No boundaries.

No plans.

Just a skillet and whatever random ingredients I have hanging around the kitchen.  I think that’s why I love the skillet meals so much,  they bring out the Jackson Pollock in me.

I gotta say, although I loved the look of the pomegranate seeds, I think I would have preferred some dried cherries in this dish.  The pomegranate seeds brought a tart kind of crunchy edge, but what I was looking for was tart and SWEET (which is why I ended up throwing in some raisins as well) but hey, ya live and ya learn, right?

Have you guys come up with any good Skillet Meal combos?  If so, I’d love to hear about them!!

Print Recipe

Curried Turkey Skillet W/ Pomegranate Seeds

Yield: serves 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

 

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into bite size pieces (about 4 heaping cups)
  • ½ red onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 lb extra lean ground turkey
  • 1 can of light coconut milk
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tbsp curry
  • ½ cup frozen peas, defrosted
  • 2 tbsp raisins, chopped up
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds
  • Big handful of cilantro

Directions:

Heat oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over medium heat.  Add onion and sauté for about five minutes or until onions are beginning to look translucent.

Stir in squash and garlic along with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Sauté for another five to seven minutes and then push the squash and onions to one side of the pan and add the ground turkey to the other side.  Cook for about five minutes, using a wooden spatula to break the turkey apart.

Add coconut milk, curry, ginger and cayenne pepper and stir all the ingredients together.  Bring everything up to a simmer and then pop a lid on for about ten minutes or so, or until the turkey is cooked through and the squash is tender.

Finish by stirring in the peas and cilantro.  Top each serving with a tablespoon of pomegranate seeds and enjoy.

Nutrients per Serving: Calories: 336; Total Fat: 7.3g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Cholesterol: 70mg; Sodium: 566mg; Carbohydrate: 37.8g; Dietary Fiber: 1.9g; Sugars: 13.4g; Protein: 31.5g

Simply Steamed Broccoli & Sweet Potato Bowl

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spb1_photo

As much as I love to cook, I’d be lying if I said that I am always in the mood to cook.  On the other hand, I could count on one hand the seldom times in my life when I have not been in the mood to eat!  So what’s a girl to do when she is in the mood to eat, but not necessarily in the mood to cook?

Steam up a quick meal, of course!

I’ve talked about steaming before and even made a video to show you guys how easily you can make a meal when you use a steamer.  I feel like a lot of people think of steaming as a really boring way to make a meal but the truth is that as long as you season your food when you are done steaming, you can come up with a hundred and one ways to make delicious and healthy food FAST!  This is where your pantry comes in good use, so be sure you’re stocked up with at least the very basics when it comes to dried herbs and spices.

And while steaming is technically a cooking technique, it takes very little effort.  I mean other than a peanut butter and banana sandwich, it’s not gonna get much easier than this!

Sometimes I make this for breakfast and top it with scrambled egg whites and a couple of tbsps of part-skim cheese (it’s really good).  Today, I made this after I came back from my morning workout and man, did it hit the spot!  It’s really hearty and very satisfying.

Can you believe that I’m already twenty weeks preggo (half way there)?  I can’t.  It’s all starting to become a little more real now.  The only question is this, “Do we wait for the big surprise ,or do we crumble in and find out the sex of the baby at the ultra sound?”  I’m still not sure, but I think I might crumble:).

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Simply Steamed Broccoli & Sweet Potato Bowl

Yield: Serves 10

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 small sweet potato (about 5 ounces)
  • 1 cup of broccoli florets
  • 1/3 cup of black beans
  • A few dashes of curry powder
  • A dash of garlic powder
  • 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
  • A good pinch of kosher salt and little black pepper

Directions:

Peel and chop your sweet potato.  Place in a steamer basket for about four minutes.

Add the broccoli and black beans to the steamer basket and allow to steam for another two minutes or until your potatoes are fork tender and your broccoli is crisp and tender.

Remove beans and veggies and toss with olive oil, curry powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.  Enjoy!!

 

Nutrients per serving:  Calories: 232; Total Fat: 5.2g; Saturated Fat: 0.9g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 171 mg; Carbohydrate: 40.1g; Dietary Fiber: 8.8g; Sugars: 5.1g; Protein: 9.1g

Curried Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet

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sweet_potato_skillet_photo

Although it is still 75 degrees and sunny here in So.Cal, you can still begin to sense that fall is right around the corner.  The nights are a little cooler, the days are a little shorter, and the only place I want to be is in the kitchen whipping up some of my warm and comforting fall favorites like this Curried Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet!

This dish is gonna make you wanna put on your feel good shoes and dance because it is made up of one power house ingredient after the next… we’ve got Swiss chard, black beans, quinoa, sweet potatoes, onions and garlic!  This is definietely a “power-house-fall-favorite” and I promise that when you are done eating it, you are going to just feel good;).

I have been really addicted to “skillet cooking” lately.  I’ve kind of been in this mode where I dig through the veggie drawer and peek through the cupboards, grab whatever I find and cook it all up into a quick skillet meal.  I find this is one of the easiest way to get a great meal on the table fast, especially when I don’t have a plan or a lot of time.  The one thing that I do have in my corner is that I ALWAYS have a pretty stocked pantry, freezer, and fridge, so I usually have a good base to build off off (ie. beans, broth, garlic, onions, veggies, etc.).

If you want to add one more layer to the dish, try topping it with an over easy egg… to die for!!

On another note, I am trying to decide which videos to shoot for Thanksgiving.  There are so many I want to do but can only pick two or three.  I would love to hear what you guys would most like to see demonstrated in a video so I’m going to tell you which recipes I’ve been thinking about and you tell me what you think.  Here are the options: How-to Roast a Turkey, Ezekiel Mushroom Stuffing, Cauliflower Mash, Lightened-up-Pumpkin Pie, Roasted Root Veggies.  Okay, I think that was it.  Anything there that you would like to see in a video?? I could really use your input!

Print Recipe

Curried Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of sweet potatoes, chopped up
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • ½ a jalapeno, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped up
  • 2 bell peppers (any color will do)
  • 1-15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 bunch of Swiss chard, stemmed and chopped
  • 1 cup of cooked quinoa
  • ½ cup low sodium veggie broth
  • 2 tsp of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp of curry powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick sauté pan.  Stir in your onions, garlic, and jalapeños and allow to cook for about five minutes.  Stir in the sweet potatoes, curry powder, a pinch of salt and half of the veggie broth.  Once everything is well combined, pop a lid on and cook for about six to eight minutes or until your sweet potatoes are just about fork tender.

Add the beans, quinoa, Swiss chard, and peppers and season with salt and pepper.  Pour the remaining broth into the pan before popping the lid on and allowing to cook for another five minutes or so, or until the greens are wilted and the beans are heated through.

Eat and enjoy!!

Calories per serving: 331; Total Fat: 3.9g; Saturated Fat: 0.4g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 319mg; Carbohydrate: 65.9g; Dietary Fiber: 11.5g; Sugars: 10.8g; Protein: 10.6g