Vegetable Spotlight: Beets!

Beets are a cool season vegetable crop. This root veggie grows quickly and has many different varieties which showcase deep red, yellow or white bulbs of different shapes. They can survive frost and almost freezing temperatures, which makes them a good choice for northern gardeners and an excellent long-season crop.  Don't throw away those green parts of the beet! You can use them in salads or cook them too.  Here are two great recipes I found from Bon Appetit:

Marinated Beets with Pistachios and Taragon - Serves 6

  • 1 pound baby yellow or red beets, trimmed, scrubbed
  • ½ cup Sherry or red wine vinegar, divided
  • 2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • ¼ cup raw pistachios, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh tarragon

Preheat oven to 425°. Combine beets, ¼ cup vinegar, 2 Tbsp. oil, and ¼ cup water in a baking dish; season with salt. Cover with foil and steam until beets are tender, 40–50 minutes. Let cool slightly. Rub off skins with paper towels; cut beets into quarters (or ½” wedges if larger).

Toss beets with shallot, thyme, remaining ¼ cup vinegar, and remaining ¼ cup oil in a large bowl; season with salt. Let sit at least 2 hours.  Toss with pistachios and tarragon just before serving.

Do Ahead: Beets can be marinated 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

 

Big Batch Oven Steamed Beets - Serves 4

  • 4 pounds red beets, scrubbed, halved if large
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Handful of thyme, 1 sprig rosemary, and/or 2 bay leaves

 

Preheat oven to 425°. Toss beets with oil in a 13x9” baking dish; season with salt and pepper. Add whatever herb you're using and ¼ cup water. Cover pan tightly with foil (you want steam to build up in there) and roast beets until a paring knife slips easily through flesh, 60–75 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in covered pan, which will help loosen the skins. Rub off skins with paper towels. 

Do Ahead: Beets can be steamed 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.

What Should I Eat? Coach Michelle Herman Shares Great Dinner Ideas!

Last week we dove head first into some delicious and healthy breakfast and lunch options! So you’ve made it through your entire day eating the best you can and now it’s time for dinner! Don’t make the age old mistake of eating well in the daylight and blowing your entire day when the sun sets!

The key to a healthy dinner is to make sure you PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE! Make sure to take into account your weekly dinner meals when you do your weekend grocery trip. For those of you who are like me and don’t see your kitchen between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm, dinner can be a tricky task to tackle. I have rediscovered my love of crock potting lately and with the weather finally feeling like fall, it’s a great time to jump on the crock pot bandwagon! Hot, healthy, delicious smelling food is ready to eat whenever you are! There are MILLIONS of recipes out there.  Here are some of my favorite links:

Low-calorie slow cooker meals that make mealtime quick, easy, and guilt-free. Check these beauties out at www.skinnyms.com, or click on the picture above. 

Low-calorie slow cooker meals that make mealtime quick, easy, and guilt-free. Check these beauties out at www.skinnyms.com, or click on the picture above. 

 
46 great slow cooker recipes under 300 calories!  With 300 calories or less, these light entrees deliver the kind of deep, rich flavors that come from cooking low and slow.  Check them out at www.myrecipes.com, or click on the picture abov…

46 great slow cooker recipes under 300 calories!  With 300 calories or less, these light entrees deliver the kind of deep, rich flavors that come from cooking low and slow.  Check them out at www.myrecipes.com, or click on the picture above.

 
Cooking Light's escape on a chilly evening? The slow cooker. Come home to your favorite main dishes, sides, appetizers, and drinks that are sure to soothe your family with the simple joys of comfort food. More info at www.cookinglight.com, or click …

Cooking Light's escape on a chilly evening? The slow cooker. Come home to your favorite main dishes, sides, appetizers, and drinks that are sure to soothe your family with the simple joys of comfort food. More info at www.cookinglight.com, or click on the picture above.

 
Slender Kitchen has this great Chorizo Spiced Pulled Pork recipe.  Yum!  Check it out at www.slenderkitchen.com, or click on the picture above.

Slender Kitchen has this great Chorizo Spiced Pulled Pork recipe.  Yum!  Check it out at www.slenderkitchen.com, or click on the picture above.

When we have more time in the kitchen, we normally stick to a lean protein, an oven roasted or grilled veggie and some sort of grain like couscous or quinoa. Salmon is one of my favorite dinner items, it is SO easy to cook in the oven. You can wrap it in foil with some lemon and have a delicious super healthy main dish quickly. Broccoli, brussel sprouts (try the prepacked shaved brussel’s!) and asparagus are all staple veggie sides in my house. You can prepare them all the same way, with a bit of lemon juice, some parmesan cheese and an additional seasoning of your choice sprinkled on top (lemon pepper, creole season, McCormick veggie seasoning, etc). Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes on about 425. Our other go-to side, butternut squash. Shake it up in a bag with some cinnamon and brown sugar and olive oil, heat in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes.  It’s perfection. Not even sure how it’s considered a veggie, it’s so good and sweet! We also love to do BBQ dinners with some chicken and corn on the grill or my favorite grilled veggie combo, mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash with lemon!

The dinner possibilities are endless. These protein packed, high fiber dinner options will leave your feeling full and satisfied without packing on the calories!

Happy eating! 

What Should I Eat? Coach Michelle Herman Shares Her Favorites.

You work out SO hard at Bootcamp. You are taking all of the right steps to create a healthier you! How you fuel your body is just as important as how you exercise it! We talk about eating our whole foods often...those are our daily snacks. Our "Grab and Go's" with hummus, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, fruit, peanut butter, nuts, quinoa, lean meats, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc., etc., but what do you eat for your meals? Here are a few of my favorite recipes that keep me satisfied and offer a big nutritional bang, without adding too many calories. We will do breakfast and lunch today and dinner next week! 

Breakfast ideas:

Oatmeal: you can do A LOT with oatmeal. Take ½ cup of oats, add water (or milk if you want more protein and calcium) and add your favorite fruit. Banana (with a pinch of brown sugar), blueberry or apricots are my personal favorites to add to oatmeal. You can also add in some nuts like walnuts or almonds and some seeds like chia or pumpkin seeds. The ½ of cup of oatmeal will cook up to make a BIG filling bowl of oatmeal for not a whole lot of calories!

 
     Coach Michelle Herman

     Coach Michelle Herman

Another great go-to breakfast is the green smoothie! Safeway now sells Juicing Greens- for $5.  It’s a huge box of baby kale and spinach. Throw a huge handful into your blender with some water and ice and fruit of your choice. Banana’s make smoothies extra creamy. You can also add Greek yogurt for a different consistency. You can add your favorite protein powder or flaxseeds- the skies the limit with your green smoothie!

Lunch ideas:

I am a BIG fan of BIG salads for lunch. This is how I get the bulk of my veggies for the day and I always add some protein, like chicken or turkey or tofu to get me extra full. While it’s always healthiest to make your own salad dressings, time doesn’t always permit. I have found some of my favorite healthier salad dressings at Trader Joes. Here are a few of my favorite salads:

Spinach, apple, dried cranberries, chicken, gorgonzola crumbles, lowfat Cranberry Walnut Gorgonzola dressing.  Also add to your liking: walnuts, broccoli, beets, slivered almonds, mushrooms and cucumber.

Spinach, apple, dried cranberries, chicken, gorgonzola crumbles, lowfat Cranberry Walnut Gorgonzola dressing.  Also add to your liking: walnuts, broccoli, beets, slivered almonds, mushrooms and cucumber.

Two more favorites:
Buffalo Chicken Salad:  shredded cabbage, mandarins, broccoli, black beans, low fat blue cheese crumbles, chicken, buffalo sauce.

Spinach, cucumber, tomatoes.  Add cheddar or parmesan cheese and mandarins, broccoli, chicken, slivered almonds, mushrooms and Reduced Fat Parm Ranch dressing.

Spinach, cucumber, tomatoes.  Add cheddar or parmesan cheese and mandarins, broccoli, chicken, slivered almonds, mushrooms and Reduced Fat Parm Ranch dressing.

 

Butter lettuce, avocado, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled egg, celery, crumbled bacon bits, cucumber, dried cranberries, mushrooms, croutons, low fat blue cheese dressing.

My other favorite lunch is a sandwich! I make them all different ways. I love to do Panini’s with Dijon mustard, peppered turkey, a slice of low fat cheese and thinly sliced apples. I also love cold sandwiches with lots of sprouts piled on. I withhold the cheese on my cold sandwiches and pile on the veggies instead. I find all of the above options really easy and quick to make the night before work.

Quinoa Salad with black beans, mango, cherry tomatoes.

Quinoa Salad with black beans, mango, cherry tomatoes.

Another great option is a quinoa salad, and you can make a large enough portion over the weekend to last you several meals into the week. My favorite things to toss with quinoa are: black beans, mango, bell peppers, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and avocado. You can do a quick google search of ‘quinoa salad recipes’ and find your own favorite mix!

Don’t forget to pick up the freshest and best veggies and fruit during your weekly grocery trip! Here is what is in season in October:  Apples, broccoli, cranberries, grapes, lettuce, pomegranate, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potatoes, winter squash.

Happy shopping and happy eating!