Thyme-Lemon-Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Another variation on my favorite roasted Brussels sprouts: thyme, a sprinkling of lemon juice, garlic powder, and Parmesan. 

First thing we’re going to do is get the Brussels trimmed up: tough outer leaves removed, and halved. As you get them ready, toss them in a large bowl. 

PRO TIP, HERE: IF YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT, CUT <OUT> THE OLIVE OIL. 

I use olive oil pan spray for virtually EVERYTHING now except salad dressings! And I’m down over a hundred pounds: I’m telling you, it WORKS.

Olive-oil pan spray your Brussels sprouts, give them a toss, and repeat that a couple times. Give them a generous 2T thyme and toss again. Shake 1t garlic powder over them, toss, and repeat twice (3t garlic powder total). Toss with 4T lemon juice.

Pan spray your sheet pan, and lay out your halved Brussels sprouts, cut side DOWN.

Roast them in a preheated oven at 425 until nicely carmelized on the bottoms. You can see here. Usually 20-24 minutes. 

Top with Parmesan while hot, and serve!

THYME-LEMON-PARMESAN ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

4lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

Olive oil pan spray

2T thyme

3t garlic powder

4T lemon juice 

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss Brussels sprouts in large mixing bowl, coating with pan spray several times. Toss with thyme, garlic powder and lemon juice.

Coat a sheet pan with pan spray and lay Brussels sprouts in a single layer, cut side down.

Roast at 425 20-24 minutes, until browned and carmelized on the bottoms. Toss with Parmesan. Serve hot.

Instapot Potato Soup with Four Variations

I had planned to do this in the crockpot - hence why you are getting two recipes for the same thing! - but then didn’t get around to starting the potatoes until four o’clock! So I changed things a bit and created a recipe for the Instapot, too. 😊

INSTAPOT POTATO SOUP

3 lbs waxy potatoes (red or Yukon gold), cut into one or two inch chunks

3 leeks, cleaned and sliced 

4 garlic cloves, minced

6 C chicken broth, or equivalent broth base and water

2 T thyme 

Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste1 1/2 C plain nonfat Greek yogurt 

Place potato chunks, onion, garlic, broth, and thyme in the Instapot. Set to Pressure Cook - High for 10 minutes.
Blend soup with an immersion blender. Stir in yogurt Serve with desired toppings.

VARIATIONS

Alfredo:

Top with sun dried tomatoes, diced rotisserie chicken, cooked broccoli florets, and shredded Parmesan.

Mexican:

Top with pico de gallo, tortilla strips, sliced jalapeños, and shredded Mexican-blend cheese.

Pizza:

Top with diced pepperoni, marinara sauce, pesto, and shredded Mozzarella.

Loaded Baked Potato:

Top with diced ham, diced green onions, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Healthy Chicken Lo Mein

I’m giving Lo Mein a try this week - came across a treasure trove of healthy lo mein recipes, and of course had to make this one my own!

I’m using chicken here, and broccoli, spinach, and matchstick carrots for my vegetables. In stir fry’s like this, you really can use just about any vegetables. The more vegetables the better!

I buy my rice noodles at my local oriental market. If you don’t know where yours is, I highly recommend you find it and make the trip! You will not BELIEVE how much better the rice is, I swear, and rice noodles are to be found at regular-noodle price! (That is, not the specialty-noodle markup price you find in regular grocery stores.)

Rice noodles really only need soaked, not boiled. I’ve got water heating in my electric kettle, and a large mixing bowl set out to soak them in once the water boils. You want to make sure you STIR them several times while they are soaking, or you will have stuck-together noodles! If there aren’t package directions for soaking, or if they aren’t in English, set a timer for five minutes and keep testing until al dente from there.

Chicken: cut into stir-fry size pieces. You’ve all had Chinese take-out; you know what I mean!

Prep your veggies. I’ve got the broccoli cut into bite-sized, and I’m sticking the matchstick carrots in the microwave to steam for a few minutes. I buy jars of minced garlic, because I use so much of it, but if you have garlic cloves, go ahead and get them minced too.

I’m going ahead and whisking together the sauce, too: chicken broth (or broth base and water), fish sauce, sugar, and soy sauce. 

<IF YOU’RE GLUTEN FREE — WATCH OUT FOR THE SOY SAUCE.> Soy sauce, contrary to its name (I know, I know!), is usually made with WHEAT and not SOY. Tamari is a brand of gluten free soy sauce that comes in low sodium. That’s what I usually use.

The important thing when cooking in a wok is to have everything ready to go in before you start cooking! A wok cooks things quickly, not least because everything is cut to bite size usually, so you need everything ready before you start heating it. 

I started by coating the wok in pan spray and adding half the garlic and ginger while it heated. That's my usual trick there, with the garlic, to let me know when the wok is hot enough to start stir-frying. Wait until your garlic is sizzling and starting to brown.

Cook the meats first, is the general rule when you're stir-frying. Add the chicken to the wok and keep stirring until it's cooked through. Some people remove the chicken at this point while they cook the vegetables; I've never found it's a problem to leave chicken or beef in the wok while I do that, though I will remove shrimp. 

Add the broccoli, remaining garlic, and carrots; cook until tender-crisp. You really want to have it a little more on the 'crisp' side! 

Once the broccoli is done, add noodles and spinach (and chicken if you removed it) back to the wok. If your noodles have stuck together (rice noodles will stick!), run hot water over them in the colander. Pour sauce over all. Stir until everything is well-mixed and the sauce is mostly absorbed. 

HEALTHY CHICKEN LO MEIN

4C broccoli florets

1.5C matchstick carrots

16 oz spinach

(Other vegetables may be added or substituted)

14oz rice noodles 

1lb chicken breasts, diced to bite-size pieces

1C Gluten Free chicken broth 

3T Gluten Free soy sauce (I use Tamari)

2T Gluten Free fish sauce (I use Thai Kitchen)

2T sugar

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 t ginger paste

Start water boiling to soak the rice noodles. When the water boils, pour over noodles in a large mixing bowl. Soak, stirring occasionally, until tender (usually 5-7 minutes). Drain in a colander.

While the water is heating, trim broccoli into florets. Microwave matchstick carrots for 3 minutes. Wilt the spinach in the microwave, tighly covered (usually 3-4 minutes). Mince garlic

Trim chicken and cut into bite-size pieces.

Whisk sauce together: chicken broth (or broth base/boullion and water), gluten free soy sauce, gluten free fish sauce, and sugar. 

Coat a wok with pan spray. Add half the garlic and the ginger; heat until the garlic is sizzling and starting to brown. Add chicken; keep stirring until cooked through. Add remaining garlic, broccoli, and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently, until broccoli is tender cristp. Add spinach and rice noodles. Pour sauce over all, stirring until the sauce is mostly absorbed. Serve hot.

Servings: 8

Calories per serving: 250

Roasted Leek, Smoked Gouda, and Quinoa Salad

This tastes positively GOURMET, I’m telling you. I make it ahead and package it up for lunches - at least, that’s what I’m doing today.

If you want it for dinner - which I do sometimes - I serve it hot, with a poached egg or two on top.

Also works well, hot or chilled, as a side for rotisserie chicken!

Roasting the leeks is probably the most time consuming bit, so I’m starting with that. Preheat your oven to 400.

There are a lot of methods for getting grit out of leeks, but I’m going to share mine —

Cut a slice out of the bottom of the leeks, to get rid of the roots. 

Cut off the upper, tough green leaves off.

Cut the leeks in half LENGTH-WISE.

And then run them under a running faucet (cold water), fanning them out with your fingers, until you can’t feel or see any more grit. This takes a while, longer than you’d think! 

Then slice them, cross-wide, and toss them on a baking sheet covered with olive oil pan spray.

Roast leeks at 400 for 21-30 minutes, turning every 7-8 minutes, until golden and starting to brown.

Start your quinoa as soon as the leeks go into the oven. You can make it on the stove top. Basic Quinoa, or in the Instapot, InstaPot Quinoa.

Halve your tomatoes and wilt your spinach while the quinoa and leeks are cooking. Shred your cheese, if you need to. (I bought pre-shredded.)

Toss quinoa, leeks, spinach, tomatoes, and cheese together. Whisk up your dressing: the olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard. Pour over and toss well.

ROASTED LEEK, SMOKED GOUDA, AND QUINOA SALAD

3 leeks

2C quinoa

8oz smoked Gouda, shredded (Gruyere, a mild Swiss, also works well in this)

32oz fresh spinach, wilted

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

Dressing: 4T olive oil

                4T lemon juice

                2T Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400. Clean leeks (see above), slice, and place on a baking sheet coated with olive oil pan spray. Roast 21-30 minutes, turning every 7-8 minutes, until golden and starting to brown.

Cook 2C quinoa, either on the stove, Basic Quinoa, on in an Instapot, InstaPot Quinoa. 

Halve the grape tomatoes. Toss quinoa, leeks, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and wilted spinach together in large mixing bowl. 

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Toss well. Serve hot or chilled.

Cauliflower with Greek yogurt and Chives

Who would’ve thought cauliflower was good with sour cream and chives?!

I use nonfat Greek yogurt for sour cream, you see; it’s healthier, and this Greek yogurt is easier to find gluten-free, too. You have to watch out for oat gum in sour cream, especially the low fat varieties! 

Oîkos Plain Greek Yogurt: 

“Ingredients: CULTURED GRADE A NONFAT MILK.” 

Period. Nice and simple, like I prefer my ingredients lists.

I had roasted this cauliflower [trimmed into florets and baked at 375 for 15 minutes or until starting to brown, turning at least once], but steamed or microwaved or however you prefer works too.

I tossed probably 3 tablespoons of yogurt with a cup of roasted cauliflower, and topped with a generous shaking of chives. 

That was it!

(Don’t tell my doctor I’m eating it as a stand-alone lunch bowl, though; he wouldn’t approve. Whole grain carbs should accompany lunch to fight the afternoon fatigue and all that!)