diet

Mexican flavors galore

food

I don’t know about you but I am one of those people obsessed with Mexican food! I think we eat a full Mexican feast in our home at least once a week! Usually a Mexican feast consisting of tacos, enchiladas, fajitas…..can really throw away your new clean and healthy eating habits! I know it did for me when I moved here and I was probably consuming a 2000 calorie meal filled with zero nutrition and not even realizing it!

After a month long holiday of going crazy and not sticking to my new lifestyle, I woke up this week with a new agenda to healthy-fy all my favorite foods so I don’t derail again.

Firstly, I made batches of this Mexican seasoning that you can use however you want! Just a tablespoon of this as a dry rub and you can grill or stir fry any protein you like. 

Mexican flavors galore

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp chilli powder 

1 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix together in a bowl, this should yield about 2 tablespoons but I made like a cup full and stored it in an airtight jar. 

Having made this, I wanted to try and see if I could create Fajitas at home and boy did it work! yay! 

Fabulous Fajitas 



With any fajitas there are a couple of components; chicken strips (or any other protein of your choice), guacamole, tortilla, pepper/onion stir fry, grated cheese and salsa. 

For the chicken strips:

3 chicken breasts cut in thin strips 

2 tbsp seasoning mix (from above)

Handful of chopped cilantro

1 Lime

Salt to taste

Mix together the strips, seasoning and cilantro and set aside for 15 minutes. 



In a non stick pan or grill cook the trips about a minute to minute and a half on each side giving a squeeze of lime all over each time. Set aside covered with foil. 



For the guacamole:

1 avocado; mashed 

1 tsp chopped onions

1 tbsp lime 

1/2 tsp of cumin (add more to your liking)

1/2 tsp of salt 

1 tbsp of chopped cilantro 

Mix together and serve. You can of course adjust the above to your liking! 

For the tortilla: 

You can buy flour tortillas from the store but I just used regular durum wheat ‘atta roti.’ Its a lighter and much healthier option. 

Salsa:

Since I made this dinner completely unplanned, I used a store bought salsa but you can definitely make your own!

12 small-medium tomatoes chopped

1/2 large white onion chopped

1 clove of garlic 

1-2 green chillies chopped and deseeded 

1 handful cilantro

1 tbsp lime juice

dash of sweetener either stevia or brown sugar

salt to taste

In a food processor, pulse all the above together to desired smoothness. I kept mine chunky and of course you can adjust each ingredient to your liking. Adding some roasted red chili is also delicious!

Lastly, I cut some onions and yellow pepper lengthwise and grilled till soft and fragrant! I also served some grated cheddar cheese on the side!

Serve each item separately and allow everyone to make their own fajitas or have some hard shell tacos if you are treating yourself! Another great way to enjoy this is to create a fajita on a bed of lettuce! That’s what I’m taking for lunch tomorrow with the leftovers!

Enjoy!

Simply simple: Roasted tomato and garlic soup in many ways!

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I used to think I had to make every meal on the day until I discovered the art of freezing! Especially with soups and sauces, you can use them interchangeably and voila! you have a fresh and healthy meal too!

I made a huge batch of roasted tomato soup and had it as a soup the first evening with shredded chicken! Protein overload! Next afternoon, I used that same ‘soup’ and turned it into a pasta sauce with whole wheat pasta!

You can do countless meals with this versatile sauce, I am even thinking of baking chicken with it as a healthier version of chicken parm…hmmmm!

Not only is this recipe useful, tomatoes are packed with nutrients! They are known to support heart health, bone health and has anti-cancer benefits while being backed with anti-oxidants! Tomato-containing diets have also been linked in a few studies with reduced risk of obesity. Convinced?

So, this recipe should yield about 4 cups of soup but honestly it depends on how soupy you want it!

Roasted tomato and garlic soup with poached/stir fried chicken!

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Here we go:

Ingredients: 6 tomatoes, 12 plum tomatoes, 12 vine tomatoes
1/2 cup of celery
1/2 cup of white onions
1 whole garlic to roast and 2/3 cloves chopped
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp brown sugar
2 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place half the tomatoes and whole garlic cut through the middle in a roasting pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and salt. Roast till blackened and roasted. Depending in size of tomatoes.

2. Steam the remaining tomatoes and place into blender to purée.

3. Take roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic and purée them together and mix with purée from step 2. Set aside.

4. Take the juices from the roasting tray and blend together with basil leaves. Mix this to the tomato purée.

5. Sauté chopped celery, onions and garlic with olive oil until softened. Add salt and pepper to taste and chili flakes for heat (optional).

6. Add in the tomato and basil mixture into the sautéed mixture. Add in the water and let this simmer under low heat.

7. Add the cinnamon, sugar and kidney beans and stir occasionally until desired consistency is reached.

8. I didn’t do this as I like a hearty soup, you can choose to mash the veggies and put the soup through a sieve for a smooth consistency.

9. To make the chicken: Poach chicken breast in water and salt. Shred the chicken and stir fry in a non stick pan with cilantro for flavor.

So this afternoon, I turned this soup into a delicious pasta dish. I wish I had some mushrooms in hand; there’s next time!

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1. Sauté any protein/veg of your choice. I would use mushrooms!

2. Add in a cup and half of leftover tomato soup to the sauté.

3. Add in 3 tbsp of starchy water from the pasta.

4. Simmer till warm and add in the pasta!

Its simple, low calorie and you know every single ingredient in your meal! No excuses to buy store bought pasta sauce anymore!!

Enjoy!

Stoup (stew + soup) : Red lentils with squash and spinach

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We often overlook the simpler ingredients when devising a healthier food plan, we think we need the fancier stuff and equipped with the usual excuse of, ‘its so expensive to eat healthy!.’ Its not. 

Lentils are one of the best food source of slow-digesting carbohydrates! Perfect for lunch! It is an excellent source of fiber, folate, manganese and iron. It’s especially great because it is not like the usual carbohydrates like white rice or bread where your sugar levels spike immediately after consumption instead it takes its times to convert to glucose. Along with these, it has been proven that it aids colon health, diabetics and absorption of essential minerals like calcium. 

Available everywhere and you can make it so delicious by simply boiling it and adding your favorite vegetables, even if you cant boil an egg you can boil lentils! 

So this is what I made for lunch today, again it is extremely versatile to carry out and you can make it for 2/3 days at a time. 

What do you need?

1 cup of red lentils

2 cups of butternut squash

2 cups of spinach

1/2 cup of cilantro

3 tsp of turmeric powder 

1 cup of cooked brown rice

Sea salt to taste 

This should yield 4 to 5 servings ( each serving is 1.5 cups)

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Clean the red lentils under water until it runs clear

Cover the lentils with water making sure it is completely submerged. Add the turmeric powder and salt.

On medium heat, boil the lentils for about 10 minutes 

Add in the butternut squash and cover the pot and let it simmer until the squash and lentils have completely softened. 

Using a masher, mash the squash and lentils as it simmers 

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Add in the spinach 

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Mix together until the spinach wilts and take a taste. Beware it’s super hot! I say this from experience! Ouch!

Add in the cilantro 

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Allow it to simmer for an additional 5 minutes under very low heat. It’s ready! 

Spoon the stoup (stew + soup) into a bowl and add a tablespoon of brown rice. The combination is perfect! 

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Enjoy! No fats, good carbs and lots of vegetables!

You can add any vegetables you want, pumpkin, beans, jalapeños, tomatoes, the list goes on and on! You can even skip on the rice but the texture really adds a little something. 

It was a perfect meal on this cold London afternoon especially on a day I was feeling extremely homesick .