Archive for ‘Lunch’

November 13, 2011

Tuna Salad: Refocusing on Me and on This

Ok, it’s November and inevitably, I let myself get so carried away with other things that I’ve neglected this, my blog.  Work has taken over my life and turned me into a blob.

I don’t feel like going out.

I don’t feel like shopping (omg, if you know me, you know I love shopping).

I don’t feel like cooking (om-double-g, if you know me, you know that this is my all-time passion).

I don’t feel like blogging.

I don’t feel like working out.

I don’t feel like… anything.

I feel tired. 

I feel like a vegetable, let alone wanting to be one.

 

Luckily, my brain seems to still function somewhat when I’m vegetating.  And, an idea came one day while I was being a lazy bum.  It was time to change this blog.  Time to refocus and turn it into the thing I wanted from the start.  I really want to tell you what kind of food I love to make (which I have been) and how it has really played an important part of my daily workouts (which I have not been).  Given that I’m getting my body ready for a vacation, this is perfect timing.  I rushed home today in the afternoon from a coffee social to make lunch for Chris and I… something lean, clean, but still tasty.

 

Tuna Salad

Serves 2

2 cans of light, water packed tuna

2 tbsp liquid from tuna

¼ red onion, finely diced

¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped

1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly pounded in with a mortar and pestle

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Spinach leaves to taste

2 whole wheat pitas

 

Toss the onion, dill, caraway seeds together in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Drain the tuna and reserve the required amount of liquid.

Add the tuna, liquid and oil to the bowl.  Flake up the tuna and then mix everything gently until coated.  Taste and season again if needed.

Set each pita on a plate and layer with spinach leaves.  Divide the tuna evenly between the two pitas and serve.

“Did you drain this?” My husband inquired.  I think sometimes he might still prefer the standard mayo-laced blend.

“Yup, but I left some in.”  I replied, because what I love most about my tuna salads (because this isn’t the only one I make) is that I don’t use mayonnaise.  I prefer not to. 

Ironically, I have a vat of the fat-free stuff in my fridge that I rarely use unless if we’re having burgers.   There it sits though whilst I pilfer my stock of good oils and drizzle them with gladness over my food. 

This thought makes me smile.

Warning though, oils are still fats so watch your measurements.  This recipe could probably use 1 less measurement of oil, but I love my tuna salads moist enough to go down easy; the third measurement is sort of a bonus for flavour.  There’s nothing worse than having it taste like sawdust, which canned tuna usually does.  With some help though, canned tuna can be transformed into something bright and glistening.

 

So, I’m back.  I’m even back into the full swing of working out.  Work is getting under control and I’m returning to normal.  The unfortunate part is that I hurt myself recently.  I felt good exercising the last couple of days, overdid it and strained my back.  It’s sore and not cooperating.  I brazenly started my morning with the 10 Minute Trainer yoga workout.  It was a grunt workout (meaning, lots of grunting from back spasms between vinyasas).   By noon though, I decided that I wasn’t going to leave today with just a yoga workout. 

Yeah, I was still feeling good.

I threw in the 10 Minute Trainer 2 upper body workout and ended the day off feeling accomplished, biceps popping, face grinning. 

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April 18, 2011

Sunny Lemon Pea & Parmesan Risotto

Monday is such an insolent day.  If each day of the week was a child Monday would be the runty rebellious one bent on proving a point in control.  I suppose that I let it get to me too easily sometimes, but my defense is that when a series of events occur out of my favour it will undoubtedly lead to some upturned lip.

To stop stewing about Monday I went for my second run of the year and knocked out some yoga afterwards.  I felt good.  It’s “Spring” in Calgary after all.  The crisp air is fresh with copious amounts of snow everywhere.  You can tell everyone, including me, has cabin fever because people have been trickling out of their homes more frequently to walk the dogs they rarely walked during the winter, cart the babies they rarely carted in the snow, stroll with their spouses that they rarely strolled with in the freezing weather.  Two weeks ago when I went for my first run of the year, I came home and not even 1 hour later, I spotted four other people jogging along the street next to my house.  Like minds.  I was pretty sure they were sick of being inside too.  Even the winter can give people cause for better health because of being cooped up for 4 months.   I know in the back of my mind, and yours, that good habits like that die hard and quick, but at least it gets people out.  I dedicate this one to the ever faithful sun, joyous to me in colour and beam, for motivating me ever more every day.

Sunny Lemon Pea & Parmesan Risotto
Yields 1 serving

1 large egg
½ cup of Arborio rice, uncooked
½ cup of frozen green peas
1 cup of rapini, washed and trimmed
1 tbsp of lemon zest
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 – 3 cups of chicken broth or water
Salt
Pepper
Parmigiano reggiano

NOTE:  Normally, hot broth or any kind of liquid is the key to making a fast risotto but don’t worry, we’re only cooking ½ cup of risotto for one.  It’s pretty quick, you just need to babysit it.

Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Sprinkle salt into the butter and oil.  Stir in the rice and cook until the butter and oil is absorbed and the rice appears to be lightly browned.  Add ½ cup of broth and stir until the liquid is absorbed.  Keep adding more broth by ½ a cup each time it gets absorbed.  Continue to do this until the rice is cooked through and tender.  Turn the heat to medium low. Taste and add salt as needed. 

Add the peas and lemon zest to the risotto. Stir until the peas are cooked through.  Remove from heat and drizzle a bit more liquid into the risotto to keep it from settling and congealing.

Heat the last tablespoon of sunflower oil in a skillet over high heat.  Add the rapini.  Sprinkle salt over them to taste.  Sauté them until they are bright green and tender (about 2 – 3 minutes). Remove from heat.

Poach the egg.  Transfer the risotto to a deep soup bowl. Arrange the rapini over top and grate fresh parmigiano reggiano over the rapini and top with the poached egg.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the egg.  Break open the egg and enjoy the sun.

April 18, 2011

Smoked Salmon Linguini

 

Going out for pasta can be over-rated.  Think about it.  Why would you pay $19 for a plate of pasta that you could make easily at home? 

If you’re like me, I am drawn to non-creamy pastas. They are better for your health and waistline.  Besides, you don’t need that Alfredo sauce and pasta has got to be the easiest dish ever.  All you need is the pasta and the stuff you want to toss it in.  Easier said than done?  Maybe, if you hate cooking, but if you love it and have a knack for it then this is an easy 15 minute deal that leads to a good lunch on a Sunday or a sophisticated dinner on date night.

Smoked Salmon Linguini
Yields 4 servings

1 fistful of dried linguini
½ cup of capers, roughly chopped
½ cup of dill, finely chopped
4 cups of spinach leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Parmigiano reggiano (optional)
12 oz of sliced smoked salmon lox 

Boil the pasta in salt water in a large pot until al dente.  Blanch the spinach with the pasta until they just wilt and are bright green.  Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta and spinach in a colander.

Using the same pot, warm the olive oil over medium low heat.  Working quickly, add the capers, lemon juice and pasta (including the spinach).  Toss the pasta thoroughly.  Add 2 tablespoons of the pasta water to thicken the slight sauce that is forming.  Add the dill and toss thoroughly.  If the pasta is drying out, add another 2 more tablespoons of the pasta water.  Add the zest to the pasta and toss again.   

Taste the pasta. Add salt and pepper as needed.

Arrange the smoke salmon around the edge of each plate.  Serve the pasta in the center of each plate topped with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.

March 27, 2011

West Coast Salad

Sometimes an item on a restaurant’s menu can suddenly disappear because somehow, not enough people order that dish.  I can see why though because sometimes the ingredients just sound odd together… blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and feta?   In a salad?  With a citrus vinaigrette?  And shrimp?  The first inkling would be, ew, what a weird combination.

Oh, but it was so delicious, this salad that I had at Earls last summer.  Sadly, they removed it and it is not to be.

That won’t stop me though.  I made my own version of it and I just love the savoury, briny, shrimpy and peppery citrus taste.  In the spirit of March, and given that it’s still snowing where I live, here’s to Spring, a rare occasion, and to trying something new and adapting to new fresh and healthy flavours.

West Coast Salad
Yields 2 servings (or 4 small servings)

20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cups of mixed baby greens
½ cup of walnuts
½ cup of light feta, crumbled
¼ cup of blueberries, washed
¼ cup of raspberries, washed
¼ cup of strawberries, trimmed and sliced (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil (or any light cooking oil)

Grapefruit Vinaigrette

2 tbsp fresh grapefruit juice
1 tsp grapefruit zest
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

In a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette until emulsified.  Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired.  Careful with adding salt since the feta will be salty as well.  Set aside.

Pat the shrimp dry with paper towel.  Heat a non-stick skillet with the sunflower
oil until the oil just starts to smoke.  Add the shrimp to the pan and spread them out without overcrowding.  Sprinkly salt and pepper over the shrimp and sear them until lightly browned on both sides.  Transfer the shrimp to a bowl to let cool.


Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel.  Heat the pan until hot.  Break up the walnuts into halves and add them to the pan.  Toast the walnuts until they start to brown.  Pour the walnuts into the vinaigrette.

Add the shrimp, greens, fruit and feta to the bowl.  Toss when ready to serve.

In my version I cheated and used a grapefruit infused olive oil instead of the homemade grapefruit vinaigrette.  Both methods yield a very tasty and robust salad that is both light and pleasing in all ways sweet and salty.   I learned a lot though through this one lovely salad and that while trying to stay healthy and in tip top shape, don’t knock new flavours that don’t seem all that normal at first.  For me, flavour has become an obsession after embarking on my lifestyle change.  This was a favourite for me while I was leaning up for the summer last year for my beach vacation.  I hope you enjoy it!

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