FitSugar

Healthy Recipe: Potato Salad With Cornichons and Capers

FitSugar — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:30:00 -0700

It is Labor Day weekend, and that means barbecues to celebrate the end of Summer. Potato salad is a barbecue staple, but this dish doesn't need to be laden with high-fat mayo.

This potato salad features a red wine vinegar and mustard vinaigrette, with salty capers and cornichons (the French version of gherkins) for added flavor. Capers may be tiny, but nutritionally speaking, they pack quite a punch for their size. These little green olive-like nuggets of flavor are not only high in antioxidants, but they also inhibit the formation of by-products created in the digestion of meat that have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease. Remember, to reap all the nutritional benefit of your potatoes, don't peel your spuds, and boil them whole.

To see the recipe, just read more.

Potato Salad With Cornichon and Capers
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients

2 pounds small red potatoes, uniform size as much as possible
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots chopped fine (about 1/3 cup)
10 cornichons (small French pickles like gherkins), rinsed and sliced into thin rounds (about 1/4 cup)
4 tablespoons capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Cover potatoes with water in a medium saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until tender, 11 to 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, reserving 1 tablespoon cooking water. Halve the potatoes; quarter them if they're large.
Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together vinegar, mustard, and reserved cooking water in a small bowl. Gradually add oil, whisking until emulsified. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl, and drizzle with vinaigrette. Add shallots, cornichons, capers, parsley, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Using a large spatula, gently stir to combine.

Serves 6

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Do you have a healthy snack or recipe to share? Then share it in the Lite'n it Up - Healthy Recipe Group and I might just post it on FitSugar.

Lite'n It Up Feature: Chicken Breasts With Mustard-Caper Sauce

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:30:00 -0700

I love browsing through the blogs in the Lite'n it Up Group when I need a new healthy recipe idea. User rlveronica recently posted this yummy recipe she found (and tried) in one my favorite magazines, Fitness.

To get the recipe yourself, and to see what she (and her parents) thought about it, just read more

Chicken Breasts with Mustard-Caper Sauce from rlveronica:

My parents didn't like it because:
1. I used cous cous instead of regular rice that they always eat
2. I didn't put any salt or olive oil in the cous cous so it would be that much healthier
3. It didn't make them "full" - see they think full is food coma or the -itis status

Whatever... me and my sister thought it was good!

Chicken Breasts with Mustard-Caper Sauce
Start to finish: 22 minutes
Makes: 6 servings

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves (about 2 pounds total)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth
• 1/4 cup drained capers
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 1/2 cups cooked hot couscous

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Place over medium-high heat. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Add to skillet; cook each side about 5 to 6 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove and keep warm.

Add broth, capers, rosemary, and thyme to skillet; cook over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of skillet, for 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in the mustard and honey. Pour sauce over chicken and serve with couscous.

Nutrition facts per serving: 314 calories, 40g protein, 31g carbohydrate, 2g fat (1g saturated), 2g fiber

Source

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Yum, I can't wait to give this a try. Thanks for posting!

Do you have any healthy recipe ideas? Share them in the Lite'n it Up Group. You can also browse all the yummy recipes that other users have already shared-I'm eager to try the southwestern stuffed acorn squash that was posted recently.

Analyze This: Nutrition Data Recipe Feature

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0700

If you have a recipe that you've followed for years, but are not quite sure how it stacks up nutritionally or calorically, then I have an answer to your query - or at least a website for you to check out. One of my favorite healthy eating sites, Nutrition Data just created a new feature for analyzing recipes. After entering your ingredients by pulling them from the website's database of food, Nutrition Data creates a very complete analysis of the recipe, from fat content to sodium content and everything in between.

I just analyzed my recipe for Potato Salad with Cornichon and Capers. While the recipe is high in vitamin C, it is also very high in sodium. Darn those salty capers and pickles! If you have the time, because looking up all the ingredients for a recipe can be a bit time consuming, this is a fun and useful tool. After analyzing my potato salad, I am going to decrease the salt and double rinse the capers and cornichons.

Snack Attack: Cucumber Boat with Lox Spread

FitSugar — Tue, 22 May 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Since bagels are so dang high in calories, I have been searching for a new way to satisfy my craving for lox spread sprinkled with capers. The substitute is a seeded cucumber boat!!! It is not only satisfying and delish, but talk about increasing your veggie intake!!!

Here's what you need:

Half an English cucumber
Light Lox Spread
Capers
Diced tomato

Here's what you do:

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds.
Fill cucumber "boat" with lox spread.
Sprinkle with capers and tomatoes.
Eat and enjoy!!!

Fit's Tip: Smoked salmon is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids even though it is smoke cured salmon. Also, you can make your own schmear with canned salmon and light or non-fat cream cheese.

Salty Series: "Healthy" Foods

FitSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:00:00 -0700

As we all know, premade foods can contain huge amounts of hidden sodium, but weren't you surprised by the disgustingly high amounts in the entrées and smaller dishes I told you about? Well here is a list of foods, published in Men's Health, that should also be ashamed of itself. These foods are posing as healthy, but they have insane amounts of salt. Just a reminder that the upper limit of daily sodium is 2,300 mg a day, which is equal to about one teaspoon. If you're concerned about high blood pressure, you may want to skip these "healthy" foods the next time you go out.

Saltiest Dessert: Atlanta Bread Company Raspberry Scone - 1,500 mg. Who new dessert could be so salty? That's as much sodium as 12 strips of bacon.
Saltiest Soup: Baja Fresh Chicken Tortilla Soup - 2,760 mg. That's more than a day's worth in just one serving.
Saltiest "Health" Food: Chili's Guiltless Grill Chicken Platter - 2,780 mg. Be a smart consumer. When food is advertised as lowfat or low in calories, what they've taken away they make up for with added sugar and salt. What's funny (or disgusting) is that Chili's Chicken Fried Steak has less sodium: 2,750 mg.
Saltiest Chinese Food Entrée: P.F. Chang's Beef with Broccoli - 3,752 mg. Sounds healthy, right? Well the special brown sauce is made mostly with soy sauce.
Saltiest Seafood Entrée: Romano's Macaroni Grill Grilled Teriyaki Salmon – 6,590 mg. Fish seems like a healthy option, but the sauce is what'll get you. Order plain grilled fish instead.
Saltiest Salad: Romano's Macaroni Grill Chicken Florentine - 5,460 mg. Those poor veggies are encrusted in salty toppings (olives, capers, Parmesan, and salad dressing). Plus the portion size is humongous.

Source

Pimp Your Greens: Three Salad Ideas

FitSugar — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:30:00 -0800

Taking basic salad greens and loading them with extra veggies is a great way to increase your intake of nutrient rich fruits and veggies. The only problem with this plan is that we can easily end up in a salad rut. I asked you all to pimp my salad and the combinations you came up with sound amazing. It was nice to get some interesting salad dressing ideas too. I can also tell you that FitSugar readers do not shy away from dried cranberries or gorgonzola – two of my favorite salad toppings.

There were many tasty combinations listed, but I found three very different creations that I thought I would highlight.

Pizza Salad: This one I can’t wait to try. DearMissPriss eats this when she’s being good on pizza night - this salad doesn't even need dressing!

Red leaf lettuce
Turkey pepperoni
Marinated artichoke hearts
Hearts of palm
Capers
Crumbled feta
Oregano
Red pepper flakes

There are two more really tasty salads, so to see what they include just read more.

Full of Fruit Salad: I love how rumpel2 adds fruit to her salad. Veggies and fruits do mix!

Mixed greens
Mandarin oranges
Strawberries (optional)
Apple (optional)
Chick peas
Avocado
Feta cheese
Pine nuts
Grilled shrimp/hard boiled egg (optional)
Dried cranberries
Strawberry vinaigrette or any other sweet dressing

Veggie Galore Salad: This salad from superfoxml has so many veggies in it that it sounds like a harvest party - I can't wait to try the vegan salad dressing from Whole Foods.

Romaine
Mixed fancy schmancy greens of your choice
Green and red peppers
Peas
Corn
Celery
Tomatoes, your choice of type
Mushrooms
Onions
Jicama
Herbs of your choice
Tofu marinated in sweet chili sauce and grilled
Vegan Caesar dressing from Whole Foods
Fresh ground pepper

There were many other great salad ideas, so if you greens are hurting and none of the above salads appeal to you, check out the other options listed in the comments section.

Source

The Glycemic Index and Your Blood Sugar

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 07:30:00 -0800

We've all been programmed to think of carbs as the bad guy but not all carbs are bad. However, carbs that spike blood sugar can possibly raise your risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, not to mention possibly cancer, acne and Alzheimer's and can cause weight gain. Carbs low on the Glycemic Index (GI) are the good carbs that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels. These carbs are often considered the secret to health (you reduce your risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes) and promote weight loss. Jean Caper, a nutrition researcher from the University of Sydney, gives the low down on controlling your blood sugar spikes with these foods:

Chocolate. Despite its high sugar, chocolate has a low glycemic index and doesn't cause blood glucose to surge. Even diabetics need not eat reduced-sugar chocolate. But note that high-calorie chocolate is a weight gain risk.
Bread. Beware: Some whole-grain breads spike blood sugar as much as white bread. Smart choices: coarse, dense bread with visible grainy bits; and sourdough, pumpernickel, soy or fruit breads.
Juice. Unsweetened fruit juices have a low glycemic index but are hazardous when overdone. Restrict a serving to 3/4 cup, dilute with water, or mix high-sugar fruit juices with low-sugar vegetable juices. Better yet, eat the whole fiber-packed fruit.

For the scoop on veggies, salad dressing and to learn which carbs most/least apt to spike your blood sugar read more

Vegetables. Despite the claims of many diet books, carrots (raw, cooked or juiced) do not increase blood sugar. All fruits and veggies, except potatoes, have a low glycemic index.
Salad Dressing. All types of vinegar and lemon juice in salad dressings suppress blood sugar rises.

Carbs least apt to spike blood sugar: Legumes, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, milk, yogurt, ice cream

Carbs most apt to spike blood sugar: Most bread, bakery products, rice, breakfast cereals (your best bet: oatmeal that's not instant)

This is great information and are you as happy as I am that chocolate is still not off limits?! Woo hoo! To read more great nutritional tidbits, visit Jean's website at JeanCarper.com.