Category: monday recipe

Thanksgiving Salad – metabolic balance Monday Recipe

Cranberries!  I know you are used to eating them in bread or as a sweet side dish but have you tried putting fresh cranberries in a salad?  Here is your chance to try a European salad using fresh cranberries for your Thanksgiving spread.   We are putting amounts down today but we suggest you follow the amounts in your plan to stay on track.

Ingredients:

  • 100g Fresh Cranberries
  • 2 persimmon
  • 4 Tbsp Walnuts
  • 3 Tbsp Olive oil
  • 4 Tbsp Balsamico vinegar
  • 1 Tsp Sharp mustard
  • Salt, pepper, honey (Honey is optional and used to balance out the mustard)
  • 150g Salad (try using loose leaf or romaine)
  • 2 Shallots (can substitute a red onion)

 

Instructions:

  • Wash and dry your cranberries. Pick out any that are mushy.  Because fresh cranberries are very tart, cut the cranberries into quarters or blend them quickly with a hand blender to make the pieces smaller. By leaving the cranberry raw, you save many of the nutritional benefits lost during cooking/baking.
  • Dice up the shallots/onions and set aside.
  • Warm your walnuts in a dry pan (no oil) so that the flavor is enhanced.
  • Mix together the vinegar, olive oil and mustard to create your dressing.  Add honey if needed (optional ingredient.)
  • Let the shallots and cranberries soak in the dressing while you prepare the salad and persimmon.
  • Clean the salad and the persimmon.
  • Slice the persimmon into thin pieces.
  • Place the salad on a plate, add the persimmon pieces.
  • Add the soaked shallots and cranberries.
  • Drizzle dressing over the entire salad.
  • Add rye croutons if desired.

Note:

  •  Your protein for this meal is the walnuts.  If you would like a different type of protein, remove the nuts.
  • This meal contains two fruits.  If you are in the strict phase of metabolic balance, remove the persimmon or the cranberries.
  • We usually do not give you amounts but because the meal uses cranberries which are tart, I wanted to give you an idea of how many cranberries to use.
  • Honey. metabolic balance avoids sugar.  This is used only to balance out the ingredients in the dressing. You are welcome to leave out the mustard and honey and use just oil and vinegar.

 

How to cut a persimmon:

 

 

 

metabolic balance Monday Recipe

This recipe is considered a staple Korean recipe and is easy to make.  To stay on your metabolic balance plan, you may leave out the sesame oil and the soy sauce.  The recipe is very mild and asks for just water but if you want more seasoning, use vegetable broth instead of water.

Ingredients

  • Beef brisket cut into small pieces
  • Korean radish/ daikon
  • Green onions
  • Grated garlic
  • Soy Sauce (optional)
  • sesame oil (optional)
  • Salt and white pepper
  • water or vegetable broth

Instructions

  • Wash and peel the radish and cut into small pieces.
  • Boil water/vegetable broth and add radishes pieces.  Cook for 15 minutes.
  • Add garlic and beef.  Simmer for another 20 minutes.
  • Add seasoning and green onions.
  • Serve warm.

moo-2bguk

metabolic balance Monday Recipe – Cauliflower and Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:

  • Cauliflower, cut into small florets
  • Pomegranate, seeds removed and reserved
  • Dried cranberries
  • chopped walnuts, toasted
  • Large handfuls flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
  • Mint sprigs, leaves chopped
  • Olive oil
  •  Balsamic

Instructions:

Boil water in a pan and place the cauliflower in for one minute to blanche.  Remove from the water and refresh with water and then drain.

Toss cauliflower, pomegranate seeds, cranberries, walnuts, parsley and mint into a bowl.

Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over the salad and gently toss.

Note:  This salad uses two fruits.  To be completely on the metabolic balance plan, choose one of the two.  For the nuts, use a nut/seed that is on your plan. Because you have seeds/nuts, do not add another protein.

 

 

 

 

metabolic balance Monday Recipe -Roasted Autumn Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • Ground Cumin
  • Garlic
  • Fennel
  • Red Onions
  • Tomatoes
  • (Pumpkin optional)
  • Rocket
  • Goats Cheese
  • Salt, pepper and your favourite seasoning

Dressing

  • Sweet Bell pepper (blended)
  • Garlic
  • Olive Oil

Instructions

Preheat Oven.  Place vegetables in large bowl and add olive oil.  Season and then place on an oven tray and roast (approximately 25 minutes.)

Take the vegetables and take them off the tray and place them in a bowl with goat’s cheese, the tomatoes, rocket.  Toss gently and add salad dressing ingredients.

Serve with rye croutons or rye crisps.

Chickpea and Winter Vegetable Stew – metabolic balance Monday Recipe

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • Chopped onions
  • Leeks – washed and peeled
  • Seasoning – Coriander, caraway seeds, cumin, ground red pepper, salt, parsley
  • Garlic
  • Vegetable stock
  • Carrots
  • Butternut Squash – peeled and cubed
  • Tomato paste
  • Turnips – peeled and cubed
  • Chickpeas (your protein)

 

 

Instructions:

Place leeks and onions in large pot.  Sauté for five minutes. Add seasoning and garlic.  Add vegetable stock and the rest of the vegetables.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.    Place a cup of the mixture into a bowl and hand blend.  Add the blended mixture back into the main pot and stir.

Serve warm with rye croutons.

 

Note:  If you want, you can split the chickpea serving and eat chickpea chips.

Grilled kohlrabi – metabolic balance Monday Recipe

On Facebook, it was suggested that we try using Kohlrabi as a bread.  I liked this idea so over the weekend, I took a few kohlrabis and experimented with them to see if they would work as a bread substitute.

Below is what raw kohlrabi looks like as a whole vegetable and as raw slices.

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Kohlrabi without leaves
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Kohlrabi peeled – raw

The kohlrabi has a very mild taste and is crispy like a radish.  I really liked  eating the slices raw but could not see that working to replace bread so I decided to season and grill the pieces.

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seasoned kohlrabi on the grill
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grilled kohlrabi

The grilled kohlrabi tasted wonderful. I prepared a hummus to add on top but you could also try using two pieces of kohlrabi to make a small sandwich.

While I had the grill on, I grilled cauliflower slices but was not happy with the slices as a bread substitute.  The cauliflower tasted great but the florets fell off when I tried to move them around on the plate.

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grilled cauliflower

 

Tuna in an Avocado Boat – metabolic balance Monday

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Ingredients:

  • Canned Tuna
  • Avocado
  • Green onions
  • Garlic Clove
  • Olive oil
  • Seas salt and other desired seasoning

Instructions

  • In a bowl combine tuna, garlic, a touch of olive oil and seasoning.
  • Take an avocado and cut it in half.  Remove the pit and place the two sides on a dish.
  • Fill each cavity of the avocado with tuna mixture.
  • Sprinkle sweet paprika powder on top of each half and serve.

Note:  If you are past the strict phase,  you can combine your rye bread allotment with your apple to make an apple crisp dessert.

 

Grilled Avocado Recipe with Salsa Filling – metabolic balance Monday Recipe

Avocado Ingredients:

  • Avocado
  • olive oil
  • salt for seasoning

Salsa Ingredients:

  • diced tomatoes(seeds removed)
  • diced red onion
  • cilantro
  • salt
  • pepper
  • shredded carrots

Instructions for  grilled avocado slices:

  • Cut avocado in half and remove the seed and peel.
  • Slice each half into slices.
  • Brush with olive oil.
  • Place for two minutes on each side
  • Season to taste.
  • Serve on Rye bread or rye crisps with salsa on top.

Instructions for grilled Avocado halves:

  • Cut avocado in half and remove seed. Keep the peel on.
  • Lightly brush olive oil on each open side of the avocado.
  • place the avocado on the grill with the meat side down.
  • Grill for about 2 minutes.
  • Season to taste.
  • Fill the avocado with Salsa and serve using the avocado as a small bowl.

Instructions for Salsa:

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand blender.  Pulse a few times to add a juice to the salsa but avoid over mixing and making a sauce.  Salsa is chunky so avoid over blending.

After you have mixed the ingredients, add seasoning to taste and then let it sit for a few hours so the flavours can combine.

NOTE:  You can decide to add an egg or other protein to your avocado meal.  We talked before about eggs in an avocado which makes  a filling meal.  This recipe would also work really well with Chickpea chips.

 

photo of avocado by Makia Minich

The Official Rye Bread Recipe – metabolic balance Monday Recipe

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3‐stage natural sourdough wholemeal bread

Ingredients for 1 loaf of bread 1 kg or 2 x 500 g:

  • 400 g (14 oz) wholemeal rye grain, divided use
  • About 2 tablespoons inoculated sourdough (you can get this in a health food
  • store; you can also make it yourself, though it would take about 5 days)
  • 15 g (0.5 oz) sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon agave syrup (optional)
  • 500 ml (17 fl oz) lukewarm water, divided use
  • Pinch coriander
  • Pinch cumin
  • 400 g (14 oz) rye flour, divided use

Preparation:

Step 1

Mix 300 g (10.5 oz) whole rye grain with 2 tablespoons inoculated sourdough,

some salt, 1 teaspoon agave syrup, and 300 ml (10 fl oz) lukewarm water. Leave to

rest for about 5 hours.

Step 2

Add the remaining 100 g (3.5 oz) wholemeal rye grain, and then add about 150 ml

(5.1 fl oz) lukewarm water and salt. Season to taste with the coriander and cumin.

Stir well. Leave to rest for about 15 hours, preferably overnight.

Step 3

Remove 2 tablespoons of sourdough and place in a large screw‐top jar (like a

pickle jar). Put jar in the fridge (lasts about 12 days).

Step 4

Add 300 g (10.5 oz) rye flour. If necessary, add 50 to 100 ml (1.7 to 3.4 fl oz)

lukewarm water and some salt. Leave to rest for about 5 hours.

Step 5

Place flour for kneading in advance because you won´t be able to touch anything

once your fingers are sticky. You may need to use a knife repeatedly to scrape

the sticky dough off your fingers. Now form the bread: Use the remaining 100 g

(3.5 oz) rye flour (maybe a bit more) and gradually knead the bread so that it can

form into a nice loaf. This takes a long time, since the dough is very sticky on the

fingers. Then put the finished loaf in a well‐floured dough‐rising basket or bowl,

and once more leave it to rest for at least 2 hours.

Afterwards, put the loaf on a baking paper. Brush with water. Preheat oven

to 485º F (250º C) and at the same time put in the baking tray, placing a container

filled with water at the bottom. Firmly slide the loaf on the baking paper onto the

baking pan. Reduce heat to about 390º F (200º C) and let the bread bake for about

75 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if the bread is done. Leave in the oven for

another 15 minutes. Both baking temperature and time depend on the oven and

therefore take some experience.

Note:  Thank you Myra Nissen for providing us with photographs of Rye Bread.  If you don’t feel like baking, you can order rye bread from The Fair Bakery in Indiana, 574-223-8957, thefairbakery@gmail.com.

Spinach and Chickpea Dish – Metabolic Balance Monday Recipe

Spinach and Beans are considered anti-stroke foods so why not combine them together into a weekly meal? This week we are serving the two foods together warmed up with some spices, onion and garlic.

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil
  • Garlic
  • Onion
  • Spinach (you can cook it or use frozen spinach drained.)
  • Chickpeas (protein)
  • Pepper and Salt
  • Cumin

Instructions:

Heat a pan with some olive oil over medium heat.  Cook the garlic and onion for about five minutes and then stir in the spinach, chickpeas and seasoning. Lightly mash the peas while stirring.  Once thoroughly heated, serve warm.

NOTE: You many want to make rye bread croutons to throw into the dish.

photo credit: Isriya Paireepairit