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Clean?  What is clean food?

Eating clean simply means eating fresh, whole foods in their natural state.   The food is minimally processed and does not contain any additives or preservatives.   Fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, whole grains and legumes are all a part of eating clean.

I purchased an incredible cookbook: The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Dr. Lisa Hark, PhD, RD.  It is FILLED with wonderful clean versions of our favorite dishes.  If you’re looking for a way to eat without feeling deprived or famished, I suggest you look at this cookbook.  All of the meals are beautifully presented, flavorful, natural and filling.  Nothing frustrates me more than feeling starved after a meal.  This isn’t the case here!

Jay and I have a thing for ethnic food – African, Thai, Middle Eastern, you name it!  The only problem is that going out all the time gets expensive, and I would much rather make my own meals so I know what is in them.

Dr. Hark included a Pad Thai recipe that looked very light and figure-friendly.  We LOVE pad thai so I wanted to give this a try.  After making the sauce, I was initially put-off because it didn’t taste super delicious.  I felt the sauce had too much concentrated tomato flavor that overpowered it.   But I was determined to make it work since I had done all the legwork for it already.  And you know what?  It turned out pretty good!  I used about a 1/3 of the sauce that the recipe calls for, which I think was a smart move.  Personally, I have never tasted pad thai like this before, but I know what I have eaten in the past was very bad for me.

I enjoyed this meal.  I wouldn’t give myself a high-five or anything… I would give it a 3 out of 5, but next time I will use less tomato paste and I think that will do the trick!

Clean Pad Thai

Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, p. 266

Serves 8

Ingredients:

8 oz. rice noodles, flat
1 Tbs. canola oil
2 cloves garlic, passed through garlic press
2 cups shredded savoy cabbage
2 thick carrots, peeled and cut into thin slices
5 egg whites, lightly beaten
3 cups bean sprouts
1 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

Sauce:

3 Tbs. rice wine vinegar or rice vinegar
2-3 Tbs. tomato paste (original recipe calls for 1/4 cup)
2 Tbs. reserved noodle water
2 Tbs. unsulfured molasses
2 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce

Directions:

Cover rice noodles with boiling water in a ceramic bowl.  Read directions on container to determine length of time.

Drain, reserving 2 Tbs. of noodle water

In a small bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Stir in garlic, cabbage, and carrot.  Stir-fry for 5 minutes.

Make a well in the middle of the pan and scramble the egg whites.

Add noodles and sauce and cook for 5 minutes.

Add bean sprouts, zucchini and green onions and cook to heat through.

Remove from heat, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

I have officially found my absolute favorite spice.

For years I have favored the all-purpose spice due to its versatility and taste.  But that’s boring.  Of course it’s versatile – it’s ALL-PURPOSE.

My husband loves any food that is  “chipotle-esque” so I when I came across Chipotle Chile Pepper in the grocery store I figured it was a worth-while purchase.  Little did I know that it would become MY number one.  It’s not too spicy – in fact, I would go as far to say it’s not spicy at all.  If you have a very senstive palette then you may feel a little heat, but you can still consume it and taste your meal afterward ;o)   It has a nice smoky kick to it, which is why I enjoy it so much.  McCormick, one of the spice powerhouses in the baking aisle, makes it so it’s easy to find.

I tend to throw whatever I have in the fridge into my meals, and this dish was no different.  I am often inspired by recipes and then tweak them so I don’t have to travel alllll the way to the store to retrieve the ingredients.  (I live out in the country so the nearest grocery store is 20 minutes.)

I was quite pleased with the results.  One can never be too sure how dinner will taste when it’s an improvisation.  This one is a keeper!

Chipotle Chile and Bubbly Swiss Casserole
Source: 101 Cookbooks

(Serves

Ingredients:

Extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound short, whole wheat pasta
sea salt
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1/2 – 1 c. bell pepper (any color), chopped  (Yep, I’m still trying to use up my big bag of peppers!)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups well-chopped fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, lightly toasted
zest of 2 lemons
1-1/2 tsp. chipotle chile pepper
8 ounces swiss, shredded (more wouldn’t hurt if you are a cheese fanatic like me)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter/oil a large casserole dish or baking pan – something roughly equivalent to 13×9-inch pan.

Boil the pasta in salted water per package instructions. Drain pasta, toss with a glug of olive oil. Set aside.

In the meantime, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the onions and peppers with a couple pinches of salt for a few minutes (or if you want a bit more depth of flavor until caramelized).  Stir in garlic. Stir in spinach. Cook for just about 20 seconds, until the spinach collapses a bit.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the almonds and 1/2 of the zest. Add to pasta, add the chile pepper and stir and stir – mixing extremely well, a minute or so.

Now sprinkle the bottom of baking dish with the rest of the zest. Add a layer of the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan, now sprinkle with some of the cheese, add more pasta, then more cheese. Finish with a layer of cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and melty. Serve sprinkled with the remaining almonds.

This was a nice, light dish that can be served hot or cold.

It is especially great on those days that you really crave a nice meal but really don’t feel like putting any energy into cooking.  It was ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta!

I’m a huge fan of garlic.  Huge fan.  If a recipe calls for 2 cloves of garlic, I tend to double it.  The recipe that I found from Chocolate Shavings called for 4 garlic cloves, and yet I didn’t think it was enough.  I don’t know if it was because I didn’t let the garlic cook in the oil long enough or because it was sliced into chips, but the garlic was barely noticeable.  Don’t get me wrong, this meal was fabulous, the lemon juice and zest were nice compliments to the garlic (that I could taste) and shrimp.  I would just mince the garlic instead of slicing it so it is more evenly distributed throughout the pasta.

True Italian dishes don’t add cheese to garlicky pasta .  But I say, “yes, please” to the Parmesan cheese!  I’m not Italian anyway…

Farfalle with Shrimp, Spinach, and Garlic Chips

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

6 oz. farfalle
10 shrimp, cooked
4 garlic cloves
3 Tbs. olive oil
A good handful of fresh baby spinach
Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
(1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, if you dare!)

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

In the meantime peel and mince the garlic.

Add a good drizzle of olive oil to a pan on medium low heat and add the garlic. Allow the garlic to flavor the oil and turn a light shade of golden brown.

Add the peeled shrimp to the pan and season with salt and pepper. As soon as the shrimp is warm (or cooked if it was raw), add the spinach and drizzle with a little more olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Toss with lemon juice and zest.

Mmmm…comfort food…

Three words that ring in my ears… Macaroni and Cheese.  Ever since I was a little girl, I have looked forward to the ooey, gooey, cheesy taste on my palate.  There is something about this meal that makes everything seem a-okay.

Until the guilt sets in…

Well, once again I have resolved the issue of guilt after consuming a carb and cheese filled meal.  This recipe mildly adapted from a RealSimple magazine (February 2009) is comfort food made healthy.  More ringing to my ears!

I always substitute white pasta with whole wheat.  It saves on the calories, and for those of you that are familiar with Weight Watchers, you know that the more fiber in a food, the less you have to worry about the calories.  Luckily, Real Simple got it right by using multigrain pasta.  Check the back of the box to see how much fiber is in your pasta.  I look for at least 5g per serving.

Instead of macaroni, I used chiocciole. They almost look like little sea shells…

For spice lovers: I added a punch of cayenne pepper to this dish because I have a spice-lovin’ hubby at home )

My recommendation is that you don’t skimp on the sour cream.  I’m always one to use “fat-free” when I can, but I was really glad that I stuck with the reduced fat.  The sour cream taste was subtle but distinguishable.   I did, however, use skim milk, and I was happy with the results.  I also used a nice Grey Poupon dijon mustard made with white wine.  Call me crazy, but I feel that this helped make the meal so tasty.  There was a certain element in the mustard that added tremendous flavor.

Extra Sharp Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower

Ingredients:

12 oz whole wheat macaroni or other short pasta
1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
4 slices multigrain bread, torn
1/2 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 Tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups (6oz.)  grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup 1% or skim milk
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon with white wine…so good!)
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the cauliflower during the last 3 minutes of cooking time; drain.

Meanwhile, pulse the bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form.  Add the parsley, 2 Tbs of olive oil, and 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper and pulse to combine; set aside.

Return the pasta pot to medium heat and add the remaining Tbs. of oil.  Add the onion, 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, just until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.  Mix in the pasta, cauliflower, cheese, sour cream, milk, mustard, and cayenne pepper.  (If you really want it spicy, add a Tbs. of hot sauce now.)

Transfer to a shallow 3-quart baking dish, sprinkle with the bread crumbs, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Yum!!!!