Easy Peasy Chinesey

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Considering I don't have a wok, I've made two really fantastic stir fries this week. The following jumped out at me while I was recipe surfing because by this point in the month, I would have usually thrown in the towel and ordered Chinese takeout. Before giving into my craving, I thought I might as well try to make it myself and see how it tasted.

Unlike the Pad Thai which didn't quite match the flavors, this was a pretty decent replication. I have adjusted the recipe below to bump up the spiciness factor--feel free to check out the original if you want to soften the blow, but I found the original recipe slightly bland and very Americanized.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Cooking Light, March 2010
Serves 4: Calories 476, Fat 12.9g, Protein 32.1g, Carb 52g, Sodium 523mg
Note: Cooking Light said it only takes 25 minutes, but they don't account for the ingredient prep--add another 10 for cutting up the veggies.

• 2  (3 1/2-ounce) bags boil-in-bag long-grain white rice
• 2 T. dry sherry, divided
• 2 T. lower-sodium soy sauce, divided
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 lb. boneless sirloin steak, cut diagonally across grain into thin slices
• 1/2 cup lower-sodium beef broth
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1 T. hoisin sauce
• 1 T. Sriracha (hot chile sauce) (originally 1 teaspoon)
• 2 T. canola oil, divided
• 1 T. bottled ground fresh ginger
• 2 t. minced garlic
• 4  cups prechopped broccoli florets
• 1/4  cup water
• 1/3  cup sliced green onions

1. Cook rice according to directions.
2. While rice cooks, combine 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sugar, and add to beef.
3. Stir together 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, broth, cornstarch, hoisin, and Sriracha.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef mixture; sauté 3 minutes or until browned. Remove beef from pan. 
5. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add ginger and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. 
6. Add broccoli and 1/4 cup water; cook 1 minute. Add onions; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. 
7. Add broth mixture and beef mixture; cook 2 minutes or until beef is thoroughly heated and sauce is slightly thick. Serve beef mixture over rice.

Your Next Meal at Chipotle could be Healthy!

So on my good friend Megan's suggestion, I ate out at Chipotle today--but ordered a salad instead of burrito or burrito bowl. The key is to feel like your splurging without adding all those calories, so I ordered a salad with black beans, pico de gallo, corn, and a heaping amount of guacamole. Then I went back to the office and figured how much my guacamole splurg would cost me.

Turns out--not that much. According to the nutritional information on Chipotle's website, my salad was only 380 calories. That's practically a Lean Cuisine! I've always been told a full burrito can be your entire day's calorie intake, so I feel a LOT less guilty about eating there so much now.

Take a look at the calories of each ingredient:

Right off the bat, I notice that Guacamole isn't so much a splurge if you balance it out by removing something else (I didn't get cheese). Plus the guacamole was very creamy and flavorful, so I didn't need to use the vinaigrette sauce, which turns out to have nearly as many calories as my salad! Another random calorie bump I was not expecting: corn salsa, up at 80 calories. I don't like corn that much, especially when the green salsa is only 20!

Some other random notes. Chips are the most caloric thing on the menu--as much as I like them, I'm going to say no from here on out. Another best practice is to be more selective with your ingredients. You know it's too much food--so instead of getting MEAT and BEANS and GUAC and SOUR CREAM....change it up. I stopped ordering beans on my meat burritos awhile ago, and it really makes the meat flavors stand out a lot more. Or when I want guacamole, don't get cheese and sour cream--swapping it out will help balance your scales a lot more.

Mustard & Fruit-Braised Pork Chops

For those who love mustard, this is a must-make recipe. Another treat from America's Test Kitchen (I really need to get a subscription!), this magazine can seem to do no wrong. I swear, it took 15 minutes to prep, and then another 10 to braise on the stove. Super tasty--and fast!

Mustard & Fruit-Braised Pork Chops

Mustard & Fruit-Braised Pork Chops
America's Test Kitchen, 2011 Light & Healthy
Serves 4: calories 410, fat 11g, carbs 34g, protein 38g, sodium 510mg

• 1 cup water
• 1 unripe pear, peeled and cut into .75" pieces
• 1/3 c. dried apricots (quartered)
• 1/4 c. dried cherries
• 3 T. white wine vinegar
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 T. whole-grain mustard
• 2 T. Dijon mustard
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 (6-oz) bone-in pork rib chops, .5" thick, trimmed of all fat
• salt and pepper
• 1 T. minced fresh parsley

1. Combined water, fruit, vinegar, sugar, bay leaves, whole-grain mustard, and 1 T. Dijon mustard in a bowl.
2. Pat pork chops dry with paper towel and lightly season with salt & pepper. Heat 2-3 T. oil in a 12" skillet on medium high. When oil is just smoking, arrange pork chops in the skillet (pinwheel, tip-end out) and brown 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate.
   
3. Add fruit mixture to the pan, scraping up browned bits. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and return chops to sauce. Cook until meat is tender, around 30 minutes.
   
4. Transfer chops to a platter and tent loosely with foil. Increase the hat to medium and continue to simmer the sauce until thick (5-7 minutes). Remove and discard bay leaves, stir in the remaining 1 T. Dijon mustard and minced parsley. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over pork chops and serve.
   

Guest Blog: Leaving it to the Experts

Both Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are based around cutting calories, and while that's my general goal in week three, I didn't want to copy either plan all-out. If you are interested in learning about either, I did find a nice article comparing the two.

My mother was on Jenny Craig for a few years (we'll see if I can convince her to guest blog!) but for now, I asked my friend Megan to write something up about her experiences with Weight Watchers. She has an amazing blog that details her exploits in the running world (she's about to run her second half-marathon this spring!)

Megan and I hanging out before her half-marathon in November

If you have any questions about WW, feel free to comment here or contact Megan directly through her blog.

I joined Weight Watchers last January. January 1, actually. I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that means my thyroid will eventually die, a year prior (for more on this, see this post at my blog) and had started exercising. Working out alone, I knew, wasn't enough to drop the pounds. I had to get my diet under control. I had previous experience (and success!) with Weight Watchers, so I decided to sign back up with them.

I weighed 190 pounds at that time. I'm 5'8", so that gave me a BMI of 28.9. That's not obese, but it's close, according to BMI standards. More worryingly, I clocked in at 36% body fat, which is obese. I was uncomfortable and unhappy, and my clothes didn't fit right anymore, which made it even worse.

Weight Watchers immediately set me at ease. There are lots of different sizes of people (mostly women, but a few men). The leader at my first meeting was funny and smart, and I liked him a lot. I signed up for the meetings and online e-tools, knowing from my prior experience that the online tracker was key, but also knowing that it alone wouldn't be sufficient to keep me on track. I had to go to the meetings.

At first, I had a pretty easy time with it. Everyone is assigned a number of points for the day, with a certain number of additional weekly points for indulgences. Exercise can be traded for points,

which is good when you're running long distances! All food is assigned a points value based on macro nutrients - formerly fat, calories and fiber. Under the new plan, it's carbohydrates, fat, fiber, and protein that are computed to find a PointsPlus value.

The points allowances (note: this is before they switched over to the PointsPlus formula, which is something I'll address later in the post) were generous enough that I never felt deprived. The goal is to lose weight, yes, but to keep it off. Not to eat weird food until you hit goal weight, not to leave out whole food groups. Just eating real food and increasing my exercise.

Things I like about the plan:

• I never felt hungry, but it did take a fair amount of planning to make sure that what I was eating was filling, nutritious and sustainable.
• The focus on exercise, which is much greater now than it was when I used Weight Watchers before.
• The emphasis on discussing WW as a tool, not as an end-all-be-all system. There was no discussion of failure if we weren't on WW, just pointing out that it's been helpful to others and works for many.
• The emphasis on learning portions. I often just ate without thinking about HOW MUCH I'm eating, but now I always try to think about sizes and what's appropriate for my hunger and nutrition levels. I'm not perfect, but I'm working on it.
• Nothing is off-limits. Nothing. Cupcakes? Sure. Just factor it in.
• If you eat too much one day, tomorrow the numbers reset. It's a pretty amazing mind-set in the diet world, really.

Things I didn't care for on the plan:

• Portionsizes are rather too small for building muscle, particularly protein.
• Processed foods that were low-calorie are treated as equal value with whole foods. This is different with the new PointsPlus plan, to some extent: Fruit is now zero, so it's easier to make a more nutritious choice: An apple over say, a piece of candy. Both could have had the same points value, but obviously didn't have similar nutritional value.
• Tracking is a pain, though SimplyFilling/PowerFoods/whatever they're calling it now is a good alternative. That's a more restrictive diet where you don't have to track, because everything you're 'allowed' to eat is nutritious, filling food. Points apply to things you eat that don't fit with that plan.

I lost 20 pounds fairly quickly - by March, I was down to 170 pounds. That's when I started training for a half-marathon (a post on that coming soon!) and my eating has changed again. I'm maintaining, though, and still keeping track of what I eat, though not as religiously as I was when I started. The PointsPlus program has thrown me for a bit of a loop, and I'm debating switching over to SimplyFilling to see if that works any better for me.

I know Megan has been a true inspiration for me this month--and not just because she's done so well losing weight without letting dieting take over her life! When the two of us decided last spring to run a half-marathon (which I chickened out of half way through training) she not only completed it, but managed to qualify for the National Half-marathon in DC this March. Go Megan--I hope the training is going well (and I promise to run with you at least once before the month is over!)

Shrimp Pad not-quite-Thai

Continuing my week of healthy recipes, I moved on to Cooking Light. It's a great magazine, but I feel they are a little ridiculous in their ingredients some times. Whereas ATK kept the spices easy (red pepper flakes, garlic, and salt in all recipes), Cooking Light might have you searching the grocery store for the random ethnic spice you've never heard of before.

I couldn't pass up this recipe, though, because I've sworn off ethnic take out because of the sodium and my tendency to eat three or four times a normal portion. But Pad Thai sounded perfect. PLUS it only takes 25 minutes.

The results were tasty--although I'm not sure how authentic it was to great Thai takeout. I'm guessing half of it was the fact I couldn't find FLAT rice noodles (damn you crazy ingredients Safeway doesn't has!) and the other half of it was that the sauce was probably lightened.

from MyRecipes.com

Shrimp Pad Thai
Cooking Light, March 2011
Calories 462, Fat 16.1g, protein 15.8g, carb 64.3g, sodium 779 mg

• 8 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (pad Thai noodles)
• 2 T. dark brown sugar
• 2 T.  lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1.5 T. fish sauce
• 1.5 T.  fresh lime juice
• 1 T.  Sriracha or chili garlic sauce
• 3 T.  canola oil
• 1 cup (2-inch) green onion pieces
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• 3 T.  thinly sliced fresh basil

1. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
2. While water comes to a boil, combine sugar and next 4 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a small bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion pieces, shrimp, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until shrimp is almost done. Add cooked noodles; toss to combine. Stir in sauce; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to combine. Arrange about 1 cup noodle mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup bean sprouts, 1 tablespoon peanuts, and 2 teaspoons basil

Brabo Tasting Room:A small—but deserved—reprieve

Tonight my most awesome boyfriend took me out for a fun dinner (diet month be damned! I had to celebrate not drinking coffee for a week.) Not wanting to change out of our work casual clothing of jeans and Josh Ritter shirts, I took at look at my 2011 Restaurant Goals and decided to mark something off the list.

An easy choice. Brabo Tasting Room is a place I've tried to go to twice already. Contrary to the name, it's not the fancier side-restaurant, but a casual, walk-in seating that serves flatbread pizza, mussels, salads, and sandwiches.

Indian Tomato Curry, Toasted Almonds & Coconut

Clearly this is a place to go if you like mussels.  They were everything I love--fresh mussels, a rich, delicious sauce, and great atmosphere. I'd been on the lookout for a new mussel place closer than H street, and Brabo met the challenge nicely.

The atmosphere is casual upscale. We felt fine in jeans, but more people were dressed up nicer (after work or on dates?). There is a wood burning oven right when you walk in, and the tiny dining room gives off the feel like you just snuck into Martha Stewart's kitchen.

I was a little concerned because Chris had never tried traditional mussels, so we ordered a safe mix of the Curried Mussels, a Pork Belly Flatbread that was AMAZING (the crust..yum. this place knows how to make delicious bread), and a Slow Roasted Angus Beef Sandwich. The good news was that Chris like mussels, and couldn't stop eating the bread and sauce mixture. The bad news was that the sandwich, when compared to the flatbread and mussels, just did not live up to the hype of the rest of the menu. It was nice---but just no where near the quality the other items we had.

Chris's sandwich...I think he was already jealous of the mussels in front of me. THEY CAME IN A SKILLET!

Go Here If: you like mussels, fancy beers, or a fun drinks and snacks dinner with friends.
Avoid: sandwiches---stick to charcuterie, mussels, and the flatbreads.
Perfect For: date night or girls night. Unless you want the mussels, there aren't many 'big dinner' type items on the menu.

Adventures in Garlic

Garlic Pork Roast up close

Tonight I made the meal I was planning to make yesterday (before I realized you needed to marinate the meat for a day...READ THE RECIPE FIRST!) I had a 2 lb. pork tenderloin left over from another meal, so I decided to try out another America's Test Kitchen recipe.

One great thing I did here was plan a main dish AND a side. Look at me acting like a grown up. I served the pork with some spinach, and the two worked nicely together. The combination of garlic and red pepper gave the pork a great bite to it, and the spinach was a nice milder flavor.

Note: My recipe here was enough for 2-3 people.  You'd want to buy more spinach if you're serving more--it reduces quite a bit.

Garlic Pork Roast
America's Test Kitchen
Serves 8: Calories 330, Fat 19g, Protein 36g, Carb 2g, Sodium 240g
1 2 lb boneless, center-cup pork loin roast, trimmed
22 garlic cloves (10 peeled and crushed for marinate, 12 unpeeled)
4 t. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
3/4 t. pepper
1.5 t. minced fresh thyme
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 T. unsalted butter
1/4 t. sugar
Kitchen Twine

Sauteed Spinach
1 bag baby spinach
1.5 T. water
1 t. olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 t. fresh lemon juice
pepper

The Day/Morning Before:

1. Butterfly the pork roast. Whisk the crushed garlic, 1. t. oil, salt, and 1/4 t. pepper together in a bowl and transfer it and the pork to a ziplock bag. Seal and leave for 1 hr, up to 24.

Day Of (20 minutes prep/1.5 hrs total)

2. Preheat the oven to 325. Toast unpeeled garlic cloves in a skillet until fragrant (8 min). Reserve two cloves for garlic butter, then peel and mash together the rest with 1 t. oil, thyme, red pepper, and 1/4 t. pepper.
3. Remove the roast from the marinade and pat dry, removing marinate items. Spread the inside of hte roast with the garlic paste. Roll tightly into a cylinder and tie the roast in 1-inch intervals with kitchen twine. Season the outside with pepper.
   

   

   My first attempt tying meat..not to shabby

4. Heat 2 t. oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Carefully lay the roast on the skillet and cook until well-browned on all sides (1-2 minutes each). Transfer to a wire rack, held over a baking sheet lined with foil. Place in oven and roast 50-60 minutes.
   

   

   Well-browned, and ready to roast

When 15 minutes remain on the pork, prep the spinach:

5. Place spinach and water in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and heat on high until spinach has decreased in size by half. (1-1.5 minutes)
6. Drain the spinach in a colander, removing excess liquid with a spatula. Transfer to a cutting board and roughly chop. Return to colander and press a second time.
7. Cook oil, garlic, and pepper in a skillet. Once garlic begins to brown, add in spinach, 1/4 t. salt, and toss. Cook additional 2 minutes.
8. Off the heat, stir in lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper (keeping in mind the main flavor is coming from the pork, so you should add sparingly).

Finishing up the Pork

9. Take your final two garlic cloves set aside earlier, and mince. Add to butter and sugar and microwave for 1-2 minutes until garlic browns and butter is melted.
10. When pork is done, remove from oven and transfer to cutting board. Baste the sides with the garlic butter, then let rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove twine and serve in 1/2-inch discs.

The final plate next to the flowers Chris bought me earlier this week!