Zesty Cook » carrots

Mango Sweet Potato Salad with Honey!

zesty — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:00:03 +0000

Happy Friday! I know you are going to have a hard time believing this but… Here is another healthy salad. I am on a new lifestyle kick and loving it. This week has marked one of my best eating weeks in my life. I have been really concentrating on eating real foods and watching the types of snacks and foods I am eating throughout the day. And guess what? I have not had take out at all in the past 7 days!

For this salad I went a little on the wild side with some of the ingredients but the results were astounding. I noticed that I had one sweet potato left in the fridge and I was craving it – but I was unsure how to incorporate it in the salad.

I had often slow roasted them in the oven in thin slices so I thought… hmmm that would be a great idea. Then I was browsing around the blogosphere and noticed Carrots N’ Cake had a similar idea. Hers looked great so I thought I would give it a try.

Here are the results.

Ingredients

Red leaf lettuce
Sliced mango
Carrots
Cucumbers
Roasted sweet potatoes
Cinnamon
Olive oil
Honey

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper
Slice sweet potatoes thinly and toss with olive oil and cinnamon and bake for 20 minutes. Then turn sweet potatoes over and reduce heat to 200 degrees and continue baking until crispness is reached.
Assemble lettuce, cucumber, carrot and mango.
Top with sweet potato slices and drizzle with honey.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Initially baking the sweet potatoes at 400 degrees to brown them and begin to crisp them up is a great technique but be really careful they do not burn. By lowering the temperature to 200 it removes some moisture and allows them to crisp without burning.

I hope you really like the salad as I was tickled pink with the flavor as I devoured the whole bowl full.

Can you ever eat too much salad? This is what I sometimes wonder. Next week I think I am going to venture into adding some beans into my salad. I am trying to eat more greens on a daily basis and cut down on my bread in take. If I ever told you how much bread I consume on a daily basis ( all be it whole grain) you may go into cardiac arrest.

Alright – I better head out and get some work done. Have an amazing Friday and if you like the salad drop me a note. I am always open for suggestions. I will be back Monday with some writings, tips, and recipes on juicing.

Take care

zesty

A Little Salad and I Love Balsamic Vinegar!

zesty — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:00:32 +0000

Happy Friday and welcome to the closest day to the weekend you can get! Whooo Hooo. So as of late I have been trying to eat more salads in the middle of the day instead of sandwiches and other things for lunch. Whether it is working on the waist line or not – we shall see! Let’s just say I really do love salads but sometimes I get tired of the same ole dressings you see inside the fridge door so most of the time I just whip up my own.

It is nothing extravagant by any stretch just a simple vinaigrette. Lately I have been obsessed with Balsamic Vinegar! I love it. The tartness and the flavor in such a small amount is incredible. Here is a simple salad I whipped up.

During the excitement of building the salad, I forgot to add the walnuts before snapping the pic…. my apologies

Ingredients

Few handfuls of Leaf lettuce
Grape Tomatoes
Carrots
Feta cheese
Red peppers
Cucumbers
Toasted walnuts
1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 Tsp. Garlic ( crushed)
3/4 Cup Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper

Method

Chop and toss all ingredients in a bowl.
Over a medium dry saute pan, slowly roast the walnuts until toasted.
In liquid measure or small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. I also like to use a mason jar to add it all in and throw the lid on and shake it up.
Dress the salad
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Dress your salads just before serving to avoid wilting of the greens and causing the salad to be soggy. Also if you are adding nuts to the salad it is a nice idea to toast them before adding them to the salad for enhanced flavor.

So that is my salad! No of course if you are interested in salads then the world is endless. The varieties and possible ingredients go beyond what the mind can imagine. If you want to participate in a Salad Challenge – go check this out. RhodeyGirlTests is hosting a “I LOVE SALAD” Challenge. I think I should check it out.

Question of the day: Favorite Dressing

What is your favorite dressing? Does it depend on the greens, vegetables, or do you have a staple that you go to every time?

I am off for now but back again on Monday. Zesty will be performing super dad duties all weekend as Mrs. Zesty is off for a girls weekend of running and shopping. Have a great weekend.

Take care

zesty

Everybody Needs A Little Chicken Noodle!

zesty — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:00:49 +0000

Welcome to Mid Week Wednesday! I have nothing exciting in my life to report except… work work work and some upcoming travel to the DC area. So I thought I would get right to the point and chit chat about some homemade whole wheat chicken noodle soup that very well might loosen your socks. I don’t want to come right out and say that it will knock your socks off but I am pretty sure they will be loosened.

A simple concept for sure – packed with flavor and missing all the sodium! What a treat. I can honestly say that the results were spectacular as I was only able to get one bowl of soup from the huge pot. Let’s just say Mrs. Zesty and family enjoyed this one.

Ingredients

3-4 lb Whole chicken ( roasted and separated)
1 Tbsp Butter
2 Cups carrot ( chopped)
1 Cup Celery ( chopped)
1 Cup Onion ( chopped)
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 Tbsp. Ginger
1 Tsp. Dried Thyme ( optional )
2 Cloves garlic
4 Cups chicken stock ( I used Organic Chicken stock )
3 Cups water
1 Tbsp. Salt
2 Bay Leafs
1 500g Bag Egg noodles

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare the chicken to be roasted. Clean the cavity, salt the inside, add a bay leaf to the cavity and splash a dollop of butter on top.

Roast until cooked through and browned nicely 9 about 20-25 mins/lb. Remove from roaster and let cool

In a large saucepan preheated to medium heat, add the olive oil, onion, garlic and ginger

Let the onion cook down for a few minutes until becoming translucent

Toss in the carrots and celery and continue to cook for 7 minutes.

Pull all the chicken off the bird and chop into small pieces and set aside.

In the sauce pan, start adding your flavor – dried thyme and remaining bay leaf.
Toss in the chicken
Add the chicken stock and water and let simmer for 45 minutes.

Stirring occasionally and testing the seasoning adjust prior to adding the noodles
Drop in the noodles and stir to mix.

Let the noodles cook through another 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I think the best thing about this dish is that is freezes well and will last the whole week for lunches and or suppers. Drop it off to your friends or just eat it all yourself. This is true comfort food that doesn’t take long to make and is super easy.

The Mandolin Slicer Winner

Let’s put our hands together and rise off the chairs for Georgeann from Hurst, TX. Also, the coupons have a few extra days before they expire so make sure you pick up your own mandolin for the kitchen. Thanks for everyone who entered the contest. I believe the turn out was successful. Georgeann – your mandolin is on it’s way. Make sure you tell me what you think.

I hope you enjoy the chicken noodle soup. This was my first time using the whole wheat egg noodles. I did enjoy them and would likely do it again. In hindsight I would reduce the number of noodles next time for the amount of broth.

I hope you have a great Wednesday.

Take care

zesty