Fitness Food and You

This is my new favorite summer salad! A friend of mine sent me a gift of California avocados and the cucumbers came from my garden. Utterly spectacular and super simple!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SESAME DRESSING

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1½ teaspoons soy sauce or tamari

½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SALAD

2 ripe avocados

1 pound cucumbers (such as Persian or English), trimmed and thinly sliced

2 green, red or purple scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper

Toasted sesame seeds, for topping

DIRECTIONS

Make the dressing: Place the sesame oil, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, sugar, soy sauce and red-pepper flakes into a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of water and whisk until emulsified. Taste, and adjust seasonings. (Dressing should taste acidic, a little sweet and salty.)

When you’re ready to eat, prepare the salad: Halve the avocados and discard the pits. Using a small paring knife, carefully score the avocado flesh into ½-inch cubes, avoiding cutting through the skin. Use a large spoon to scoop out the avocado flesh (in one spoonful, if possible), as close to the skin as possible. Transfer avocado cubes to a large bowl and add the dressing; toss gently.

Add the cucumbers and scallions and toss everything together. Season with salt and black pepper, top with more sesame seeds, and serve immediately.

(Recipe found on https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023249-sesame-cucumber-and-avocado-salad)

A friend of mine went to Portugal and brought me back a tin of sardines. Not knowing what to do, I looked up some recipes and stumbled upon this one. I hit the jackpot! Absolutely scrumptious… I really loved it and highly recommend you giving it a try!!

ingredients (serves 2)

2 tbs Olive Oil

½ red pepper finely sliced

1 medium red onion, finely sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ cup of olives, sliced

1 cup (18 small) cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

2 tbs tomato paste

½ red chilli pepper without excessive seeds, sliced

1 tin of sardines

Basil leaves, to taste

7-8 oz dried Spaghetti

Black Pepper

Lemon Zest

½ cup of white wine/lemon juice

directions

Place a big frying pan over a medium heat, add the olive oil and a drizzle of the sardine oil. When hot, add the bell pepper and cook until slightly soft.

Add the red onion and garlic and sauté for a further 2-3 minutes.

Add the olives and let everything slowly fry until it reaches a softer texture.

Move your ingredients to one side of the frying pan and if necessary add another splash of olive oil and lightly fry your cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.

Once the skin of the tomatoes start wrinkling, combine it with the rest of the pan, and add our chilli pepper and the sardines, breaking it into smaller pieces.

Add zests of one lemon and a splash of white wine or lemon juice to deglaze the pan and bring all those flavors together. Let it sizzle for another couple of minutes.

While you wait, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. The recommended proportion is around 1lt of water per 100 grams of pasta.

Once the pasta water is boiling, begin cooking your spaghetti. Following the recommended instructions. For “al dente” pasta, remove from the water a minute early to taste. There’s nothing worse than overcooked pasta!

Add the tomato paste and half of a cup of the pasta water into your sauce. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes. The starch from the pasta water will help our sauce to bond with the spaghetti. Try the sauce and check if you need to adjust the salt or add another splash of pasta water. As some of the ingredients already contain salt, we didn’t think any extra salt is needed.

Drain the pasta and add it immediately into the saucepan and gently combine everything.

Serve the finished sardine pasta into two pasta bowls and add some freshly grated black pepper and parmesan cheese on top (we know that this goes against the rules but as cheese lovers we think that cheese goes well with everything. Who invented this silly rule anyway?).

(recipe found on https://wetravelportugal.com/sardine-pasta/)

There is nothing like a good stir fry, and this is the perfect example. I love this recipe! You could swap out the shrimp for any protein of your choice! Simple and delicious!

ingredients

1 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

5 cloves garlic, crushed, divided

1 tablespoon butter or oil

1 teaspoon canola, olive, or coconut oil

4 ounces sliced mushrooms

2 cups broccoli florets

4 carrots peeled and sliced thinly on the diagonal

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

hot cooked brown or white rice for serving

sauce

2/3 cup chicken broth or water

1/3 cup good quality soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

2 tablespoons rice vinegar or white vinegar

2 tablespoons corn starch

directions

In a large skillet or wok, heat butter and half of the garlic over medium heat until the butter melts.

Add the shrimp and cook until no longer translucent, stirring occasionally (3-5 minutes).

Remove shrimp from the pan and set aside. In the same pan that you took the shrimp out of, add the olive oil and turn the heat up to medium high. Add all of your veggies.

Put the lid on the pot so that the veggies can cook in their steam, stirring occasionally.

While the vegetables cook, in a small bowl add the broth, soy sauce, honey, and vinegar. Gradually whisk in the corn starch so that it doesn’t get clumpy.  Add the other half of the garlic to the sauce.

After the veggies have cooked for about 5 minutes, add the sauce and allow it to simmer with the lid on until the veggies are just tender crisp and the sauce thickens, stirring often. Don’t overcook the vegetables.

When the veggies are ready, throw in the shrimp and heat through.

Serve over hot cooked rice.

(Recipe found on https://www.blessthismessplease.com/shrimp-stir-fry/)