Lighter Bites

kale chips

by Patricia on August 16, 2010 · 11 comments

For any of you who read lots of food blogs like I do, kale chips are old news. I first saw crispy kale on Steamy Kitchen in 2009. That’s like so last year.

I wasn’t into the whole kale thing back then. No, I was still making and eating dozens upon dozens of cookies. Ah, yes… those were the days.

Anyway, I do eat kale now. In fact, during the detox I did last month, I ate about a metric ton of kale. Well, maybe it was a little less than that, but still I ate lots of kale and other green things.

Kale is the new chocolate. Okay, that’s a lie. But I do like it. Especially in soups… and now as chips.

Let’s face it, sometimes you just want to munch on something while you’re parked in front of the television. And while potato chips (with a side of M&Ms) might be my first choice in that department, kale chips are a tasty substitute that are easy to make at home (meaning you know what’s in them) and they’re pretty healthy to boot.

What do they taste like? Have you had toasted, salted seaweed? To me, it is a neighbor of that flavor which I love. But even if you don’t like seaweed, don’t be afraid. Dan is not a big seaweed fan but loved these chips (stuffed-them-into-his-face-by-the-handfuls kind of love). He and our friend Tom said the flavor reminds them of pumpkin seeds. I’m not sure where they get that, but whatever they taste like, kale chips are addictive. You have been warned.

Let’s make some…
[Continue reading...]

Tagged as: chips, eat your veggies, kale, olive oil, sea salt, snack, veggies

{ 11 comments }

breakfast smoothie

by Patricia on August 4, 2010 · 9 comments

Back in May I had turned over a new leaf. I was walking with a pedometer and eating more veggies and felt pretty good about it. I had even lost 1.5 pounds. Soon after, I swapped running for walking and ditched the pedometer (only partly because I felt like a dork wearing a white pod on my pants every time I left the house). I thought the more intense workouts would quickly show results, but I was wrong.

On the one hand, I was getting stronger. I could run farther and faster. And under the layers of cushion, I could feel my muscles getting firmer. But the cushiony layer was not shrinking. The scale was not budging. And my jeans were tight as ever. Frustration set in, and I may or may not have tried to soothe myself with ice cream and a couple of chick flicks (which I realize does not help the weight loss cause but sometimes that’s just what happens when you’re frustrated).

So one day last month, I was talking to a personal trainer about how I could tell I was getting stronger but my weight was not changing at all, despite progressively healthier eating and increasingly intense workouts since January. He said I should consider a detox diet to give my metabolism a boost and recommended The UltraSimple Diet by Dr. Mark Hyman, saying that the first time he tried this detox a few years ago he lost 10 pounds in a week.

I don’t know about you, but when someone starts talking about losing 10 pounds in a week warning bells go off in my brain. But I was frustrated enough to consider it. I decided to read the book to see what sort of crazy techniques and concoctions the good doctor was trying to sell. Turns out, it’s not all that crazy.
[Continue reading...]

Tagged as: breakfast, detox diet, fruit smoothie, protein, smoothie, tofu, ultrasimple diet, weight loss

{ 9 comments }

homemade hummus

by Patricia on July 25, 2010 · 6 comments

[I don't want to read all this mumbo jumbo, take me to the recipe]

Can you believe it is almost August? Eep. Where has the summer gone? Even without all the E’s, the last few months have been pretty busy around here. At least it feels like it has been really busy, but I can’t really say what I’ve been doing. Okay, fine… I’ve been spending way too much time at Ikea. There I said it. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, lots of great stuff for organizing for not too much money. On the other hand, I worry that my house will start looking too Ikea, you know? Ah well. The damage is done.
[Continue reading...]

Tagged as: chickpeas, dips, easy, garbanzo beans, hummus, lemon, tahini

{ 6 comments }

easy pad thai

by Patricia on May 11, 2010 · 21 comments

I have had a love-hate relationship with Pad Thai for a while now. I loved it when I had it in Thailand and I hated it anytime I ordered it at a restaurant stateside. You see, the so-called Pad Thai I’ve had in restaurants has always been coated in this weird orange-colored sauce that scares me. It tastes funny too. But when I visited Thailand 7 years ago, I learned that real Pad Thai is not orange or scary. Not even a little bit.

I also learned that the peppers in the panang curry in Thailand are not bell peppers like they are over here. I learned this as the locals in the restaurant all laughed at me when I burst into flames. Well, maybe I didn’t burst into flames and maybe they didn’t laugh at me, but it was a lesson I will never forget. Peppers in Thailand are hot… even the ones that look like bell peppers.

Anyway, enough about spontaneous combustion. I was telling you about my love-hate relationship with Pad Thai. I still sometimes order it, holding out hope that I’ll find the same light, fresh noodles sans freaky orange sauce that I loved in Thailand only to be disappointed once again.

But no more. Not since I found an easy and tasty Pad Thai recipe in the latest issue of Everyday Food (which by the way is quickly becoming my favorite food magazine).

Granted, the recipe is not 100% authentic — it doesn’t use fish sauce and tamarind and the 100 other ingredients the authentic version calls for — but it is light and fresh and easy with a capital E. You can seriously have this ready in 30 minutes flat (and most of that time is just soaking the noodles). I’ve made it 4 times in 2 weeks and unless I am on a beach in Thailand, I am never ordering Pad Thai in a restaurant again.