Jambalaya

Trying to get back on a healthy track, I recently pulled out one of my healthy eating cookbooks.  Rocco DiSpirito's "Now Eat This!" tauts "150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories."  Now I usually find some way to make a healthy recipe unhealthy, but this book at least helps me get a good start. 

I have always been a shrimp lover. The family joke goes that on Christmas Day each year they used to buy two shrimp trays -- one for the family, and one for me.  This recipe for Jambalaya, adapted from Rocco's book, pairs my love for shrimp with my desire to make a healthy meal.

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon paprika
3/4 cup long-grain brown rice
Salt
2 sweet Italian sausage links, cut up (Rocco's recipe obviously calls for andouille, but I had Italian and it worked just fine!)
14.5 oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp

Here's how to make it:

Chop onion, green pepper and garlic.  Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Spray with cooking spray.  Add onion, green pepper and garlic.  Sauté about 5 minutes or until tender.

Add chicken broth, paprika and rice.  Season with a few shakes of salt.  Cover and heat on medium heat for a few minutes, then switch to low.  Cook on low for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the sausage.  You don't have to cook it all the way through, since it will be cooking in the pot for awhile in the next step.

Stir in sausage and tomatoes.  Continue to cook on low about 30 minutes more.  This really lets the rice and meat soak up the flavor.

Bring small pot of water to a boil.  Add shrimp and boil until they are a light pink color.

Season shrimp with salt and stir into rice mixture.  Cook covered 10 more minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Spinach Smoothie with Fruit

Going in a bit of a different direction … as I’ve been looking for new recipes to try, I’m coming across a lot more than just delicious dinner recipes!  There is so much out there.  And Greg and I recently decided to start trying to eat a little healthier than we have been.  I’m going to be looking for and cooking healthy dinners, but we’re also looking to change our breakfast, lunch and snack habits.  

Instead of that Saturday morning Dunkin’ Donuts run, why not start your day with a nutritious and delicious smoothie?  I’ll admit – when I first came across the pictures of these green smoothies, I thought, ‘Ew. Who would want to drink that? Looks gross…’  But after making and drinking it, there is only a slight veggie/green-ness undertone to it.  The mango, grapes, and lime juice really mask the fact that you are drinking a spinach smoothie.  And this smoothie is so good for you – spinach is packed with protein and lots of other vitamins and minerals. 

The original recipe, found in Real Simple magazine, calls for collard greens, but spinach was presented as a substitute, and I went with it.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 tablespoons lime juice

½ water

2 cups chopped spinach

1 ½ cups frozen mango chunks

1 cup green grapes
 

Here’s how to make it: 

Pour lime juice and water into blender first. Then follow with chopped spinach, mango and grapes.  Puree for at least a minute until smooth.  (I noticed a few tiny bits of spinach while I was drinking it, so next time I’ll probably blend for 90 seconds or so.)  Add more water if you like your smoothies with a little thinner consistency.    

This was a super quick and easy recipe to make.  Now that I know how easy and healthy smoothies can be, I think I’ll be using my blender a lot more often!