Mediterranean Diet...and some Hummus!

So, anyone looking to eat healthier will in some form or fashion come across reading about the "Mediterranean Diet."  I'd say I've adopted this without even really realizing it.  But it's a whole foods lover's dream.  The basic points of this Mediterranean way of eating include the following:

• Sticking mostly to plant-based foods.  This would include lots of fruits and veggies, legumes, whole grains, and nuts.  
• Replacing butter with the healthy fats....you know what this means...olive oil!
• Using herbs and spices to season food, as opposed to loading up on the salt.
• Limiting red meat intake to maybe a couple times per month.
• Sticking mostly to chicken and fish when consuming meat...but still limited to only a couple times per week.
• And my favorite!  Drinking red wine!  Okay, okay...in moderation ;)

Research has shown that this diet can actually reduce a person's risk for heart disease.  Do you know what the number one killer in America is?  Yep...heart disease.  And this comes straight from the CDC, so you know I'm not making it up!

Okay, I hear ya...enough with the healthy spiel...get on with the recipe!  Well, going along with my Mediterranean diet theme....here's a recipe for hummus!  (Okay, I know we think hummus, we think Middle Eastern instead of I guess Mediterranean...but as far as I'm concerned the countries still touch the Mediterranean so I'm gonna go with it!  Plus, it follows the guidelines laid out above!)  

Oh, and also...this is the best hummus I've ever had.  Ever.

Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Hummus

Ingredients:

• Red bell pepper
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained (but reserve the liquid)
• 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (depending on the level of heat you like.  One is great for added flavor...I like 2 to add some kick to it as well.)
• 2 Tbsp tahini sauce (this is a sesame paste you can find in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store)
• Juice from one lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• A couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach.  I love adding spinach to recipes just for the additional nutritional benefits.

First, we wanna roast that red pepper.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place whole pepper on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, rotating about halfway after about 15 minutes.

Chop up your pepper and add to food processor along with chickpeas, chipotle peppers, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and spinach.  Pulse until just a little chunky, then add in olive oil while pulsing a couple more times.  Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.  If it needs to be a little creamier, pulse in some extra "chickpea juice" until you reach the desired consistency.

Store in the refrigerator when done!  I love this recipe because it's delicious, makes a ton of hummus, and is quite cost effective ;)  Great for snacks or replacing mayonnaise as a spread (veggie wrap with hummus anyone?).

A Healthier Take on Potato Salad

Oh, summertime.  Reasons why I love summer:

1. No snow!
2. Summer dresses.
3. Increased vacation potential.
4. Festivals!!  (my foodie self loves this especially!)
5. Cookouts :)

Because my dad was out of town on business last weekend for Father's Day, we decided to postpone for a week and have a cookout today instead.  Now, I love my dad...but he isn't always the best at giving me a heads up when it comes to family events.  I can't tell you how many times I've missed out on something because I had to work or didn't have time to change my schedule. (You know it's true Dad!)  So, when I was informed yesterday that I needed to bring a side dish or dessert, I knew there would be no time for grocery shopping. (Okay, maybe I should have assumed I was supposed to bring something, but I admit...sometimes things just need to be spelled out for me!) However, I remembered I had some new potatoes in the fridge that had looked too good to pass up at my last trip to the market.  Potato salad makes for an excellent summer cookout side dish!  Side dish it is.

Now, staying true to my desire to cook healthier, I knew mayonnaise was out for my potatoes.  After searching through my kitchen, I settled on a mustard vinaigrette instead.  (On a side note, can I also mention how excited I get when I already possess everything I need to make a dish?!  Woot!)

Potato Salad with a Mustard Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• About 2 pounds of new potatoes, washed and quartered
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 2 green onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. fresh, chopped rosemary
• 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the potatoes in a medium sized pot and cover with cold water.  Season with salt.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the vinaigrette.  In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, both mustards, vinegar, green onion, rosemary, salt and pepper.

When potatoes are finished cooking, rinse with cold water to cool them a bit.  In a larger bowl, combine potatoes, red onion, and vinaigrette; toss until covered.  Season with salt and pepper.

And there ya have it!  A fresh, healthier version of potato salad that literally took me less than 20 minutes to whip up.  Hope you can enjoy it at a cookout of your own this summer! 

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

So, after receiving multiple requests for my homemade bread recipe...here it is!

First, a little background.  When making the move away from processed foods, the first step is to read the label.  Every label.  Makes sense.  And if I find something I don't understand, I look it up!  The problem I was finding with bread was, well, the label included about 25+ ingredients.  What the heck.  It only takes 5 basic ingredients to make dang bread!  So, as I like to do, when I can't find the convenient, easy option I'm looking for in the store....I make it myself!  This is the best way for me to control what I'm eating.

So what's the difference between 100% whole wheat bread and white bread?  And why does this matter to me?  Wheat bread is made from all three parts of the wheat berry: the germ, the bran, and the endosperm.  And this is why all the nutrition is packed in...nothing is removed.  White bread on the other hand has been greatly processed in order to remove much of the wheat berry, leaving only the endosperm.  This leaves bread depleted of nutrients and high in calories.  Oh wait, then they just "enrich" the bread, right?  So options...super-processed, artificially enriched white bread?  Or healthy (and in my opinion, quite delicious) whole-wheat bread?  Well, for me the choice was pretty easy.  Check out this great little website I found that made a lot of sense to me when choosing what grains to buy:  http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/understanding-grains-corn-wheat-multi-grain-etc/


Now, onto the recipe!

100% Whole Wheat Bread


Ingredients:

• About 1 2/3 c. hot water
• 1/6 c. olive oil
• 1/6 c. local honey
• 1 tbsp unsulphured molasses
• 1/2 tbsp sea salt
• 3 1/2 c. 100% whole wheat flour, divided
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed (optional) <----For added health benefits!

In a large bowl, mix together the first five ingredients, until the honey seems to have dissolved. (You can use a stand mixer if you like, but I find just using a wooden spoon for mixin' works just fine for me!)   Mix in 1 cup of the flour and the flax seed, if using.  Then mix in your yeast.

Add 2 more cups of flour and mix until consistency seems pretty even in the bowl.  The goal here is to add just enough flour to keep the sides of the dough from sticking to the bowl.  Here's where I'll add about 1/2 cup more of flour, and that usually seems to do it.  The dough will still feel tacky to the touch.  Just make sure not to over mix your dough or your bread will be tough.

Now, cover the bowl with a towel and let sit in a warm spot for about 30-45 minutes.

Once your dough has been allowed to rise, roll into a ball with your hands and place onto a flat, floured surface.  Knead the dough for a couple minutes and flip over a few times while working it out into a square shape.  Pull one side about halfway in, and bring the other side in on the other half.  Basically, you're creating a dough "log", with the seam on the bottom.

Drop your dough into an oiled and floured bread pan and press the corners down into the pan.  Allow to rise for another 45-60 minutes.

It should look about like this when it's ready for the oven:

Place your bread into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 36 minutes.  You'll know it's done when gently tapping on the loaf produces a hollow sound.  Turn it out of the pan and allow to completely cool on a wire rack.  Once it's cooled, wrap in either plastic or foil and store on the counter.

My favorite step is this, however.  As soon as it comes out of the oven, cut off a slice, add a pat of real butter and drizzle some honey over it.  I mean, we need to taste test everything first, right?? :)  Boy, healthy should NOT taste this good!!

Welcome...and a pizza!

Hello, and welcome to my very first post!  I've never done the blog thing before, but I decided to give it a whirl...mostly to use as my own creative outlet.

So, a little bit about me.  As the name suggests, I've acquired a bit of the travel bug.  I suppose once you see something you can't see "back home", it makes one hungry to see more.  Speaking of hungry, I am a total foodie.  Because I have been fortunate enough to experience different cultures, I have grown to absolutely adore a good meal.  I definitely have the "try everything once" mentality, and truthfully there's not much I wouldn't try again.

So, one might think with all this traveling and eating, I must be one rich lady!  Alas, this is not the case.  Which is one of the reasons why I do a lot of my own cooking.  Thankfully for my stomach (and wallet!), I'm actually pretty good at it!  I refuse to miss out on all the good stuff, so I'll just save myself some dollars and make it myself!

Another thing you'll notice is I cook with a lot of fresh ingredients.  I make my own bread, my own pesto, my own hummus, etc.  After getting really into health and fitness, and losing about 20 pounds (woohoo!!), I decided processed foods were just not for me.  I've also realized farmer's markets are amazing!    Plus, fresh food tastes soooooo much better!  As I hope to help you find out :)

So, onto our first meal!


Shrimp, pesto, cheese and veggie pizza on a whole wheat crust


As I mentioned previously, I do make my own bread.  And always use 100% whole wheat flour.  Don't feel like you have to make your own crust for this pizza....because I admit, it is time consuming.  However, it does taste delicious!  And it's healthier ;)


Whole Wheat Crust

• 1 3/4 c. 100% whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp honey (I've recently discovered local honey is the best honey!)
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
• 3/4 c. warm water
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed

Just a note on flax seed....this stuff is amazing.  Not only do I add it to all my breads, but I add it to my morning fruit smoothies as well.  Just ONE serving of the stuff (2 tablespoons) delivers 4 grams of fiber, 2400 mg of omega-3s, and is an excellent source for lignans.  And what the heck are lignans?  Apparently they're natural antioxidants.  One serving of ground flax seed delivers the same amount of lignans you'd find in 30 CUPS of broccoli.  Sweet.

To make the bread, first dissolve the honey in the water in a medium bowl, then add the yeast.  Let the bowl sit for about 10 minutes, in which you'll see the yeast get all foamy.  This means your yeast is good!  

Next, stir in the salt and olive oil.  Then add your flour and flax seed.  When all your ingredients are combined and the dough is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl, dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a couple minutes.  If the dough is a little too sticky, add just a little more flour.  Roll the dough into a ball, oil your bowl with a little bit of olive oil, and toss the dough back into the bowl.  Roll it around a little bit to coat it with the oil.  Place a towel over the bowl and set it in a warm spot for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Dough rising in the bowl.

After your dough has been allowed to rise, place it back onto a flat, floured surface.  Press it into a flat circle shape with your fingers, then using your rolling pin roll it out to the desired size of your crust.  Because I like crispy crust, I rolled mine out pretty thin.  Drape over an oiled pizza pan and cut off any excess.  Make sure to take a fork and place holes throughout to keep air bubbles from forming.  Pop in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes then remove...now we're ready for toppings!

Ready for the oven!

The toppings I chose for this pizza were

• lightly sauteed peeled and deveined shrimp seasoned with a garlic and Italian herb blend 
• a whole, fresh tomato, sliced
• half a small onion, sliced
• homemade pesto
• mozzarella cheese
• goat cheese

Don't have a recipe for pesto?  I used about 2 cups of fresh, packed basil leaves (Oh, how I love summertime!!), 1/8 cup of pine nuts, a couple cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, and enough olive oil to reach the right consistency (I guess about a little less than 1/2 a cup).  Put it all in a food processer and pulse until smooth!  So dang good!

Start with your pesto as your "sauce" and add the rest of the ingredients on top!  Pop the whole pizza back into the oven for about 15 minutes....maybe a little longer if you like a crispy crust!

And dinner is served!  One that's not too bad for you either ;)

Thank you so much for stopping in...hope to see you here again soon!  And please, feel free to leave me your thoughts, or any other pizza combinations you can think up.  Keep in mind...I love fresh mushrooms!