Monthly Archives: June 2012

6 Tips for Surviving Summer BBQ Season

Posted on by
Reply

1. Contribute something that’s good for you.
If you bring a healthy potluck dish, you know that you’ll be able to get something nutritious in, no matter how decadent all the other offerings are.

2. Pay attention to portions.
Use these 3 memorable points of reference:  A tennis ball or baseball = about 1 cup (or use your clenched fist as a rough estimate). This measure is useful for scoopable sides (think: potato, pasta and bean salads). If you’re trying to keep a cap on calories, aim for 1 cup total of these starchy side dishes. Your cell phone (provided you’ve upgraded since 1999) = about 3 ounces meat. (The other oft-cited reference for 3 ounces of meat is a deck of cards.) This measure comes is useful for steak, chicken and fish.  Your thumb = about 1 tablespoon. This measure comes in handy when you’re trying to estimate dressing or a spread. Most full-fat salad dressings have 50 to 100 calories per tablespoon (creamy ones fall toward the higher end); mayo (at 100 calories per tablespoon) is another one to watch. Choose reduced-fat varieties, which usually have half the calories, whenever you can.

3. Fill up on vegetables first.
Eat loads of green salad—with a couple of tablespoons of dressing, preferably one that’s lower in fat. (Here are 13 great dressing recipes to try.) Crunch on the crudités—go easy on dips—instead of chips.

4. Have a little lean protein.
Studies show that, gram for gram, lean proteins help you to feel fuller than carbohydrates or fats, so enjoy a little bit of what’s grilling: a lean-beef burger, a piece of chicken (try these Sweet-&-Sour Chicken Drumsticks) or fish, some tofu. Aim for about 3 ounces, which is about the size of your cell phone—provided you’ve upgraded since 1999—or a deck of cards.

5. “Prioritize” your favorite food.
If you’re dying for a big cheeseburger, get in line at the grill. Stick with a green salad or grilled vegetables and fruit as sides. Not so big on buns? Go for grilled chicken, fish or tofu on top of greens and spend that starch serving on a scoop of the creamy potato salad you truly love. Does dessert look irresistible? Dig in. Just make room for it first. Have a piece of lean protein (chicken, fish), grilled vegetables and a healthy side (1/2 cup or so of baked beans or a bean salad) so you can indulge without feeling guilty.

6. When you’re finished, go play.   Start tossing a ball with the kids. Rally the adults to play horseshoes or some other outdoor game. No need to jump around like a fool to “burn off” dinner; the point is to pull yourself away from the chips and salsa.

Mediterranean Beef Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Posted on by
Reply

Mediterranean Beef Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Submitted by Lianne Adams, HR Assistant

With juicy strips of steak and rich feta cheese, it’s hard to believe that this main dish salad recipe has less than 200 calories per serving.

 

 

 

 

  • 1 pound boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cups torn romaine leaves
  • 1/2 of a small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
  • 1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)
  • 1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette

1. Trim fat from steak. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper. Place steak on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 3 to 4 inches from the heat until desired doneness, turning once halfway through broiling time. Allow 15 to 17 minutes for medium-rare doneness (145 degrees F) or 20 to 22 minutes for medium doneness (160 degrees F). Thinly slice steak.

2. Divide romaine among 4 dinner plates. Top with sliced meat, red onion, tomatoes, and feta cheese. Drizzle with Lemon Vinaigrette. Makes 4 servings.

Lemon Vinaigrette
YIELD: 1/2 cup

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon snipped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and black pepper

1. In a screw-top jar combine olive oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, oregano and garlic. Cover and shake well. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Makes about 1/2 cup.

MAKES: 4 servings

White Bean & Tuna Salad

Posted on by
Reply

White Bean and Tuna Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of chopped red onions or shallots
  • The zest and juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes (can sub a tablespoon or two of cider vinegar)
  • 2 five to six ounce cans of tuna packed in olive oil
  • 2 15-ounce cans of cannellini or Great Northern white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup of chopped mint, parsley, or arugula
  • A few splashes of Tabasco sauce, or 1 minced Serrano chile or 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt and olive oil to taste

Method

1 Sprinkle some of the lemon juice over the chopped onions while you prepare the other ingredients.  This will take some of the oniony edge off the onions.

2 Drain the oil from the tuna and put the tuna into a large bowl.  Add the beans to the tuna and gently stir to combine. Add the onions, herbs, black pepper, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix to combine. Add Tabasco or chile to taste. If the salad needs more acid, add a little more lemon juice. If the salad seems a little dry, add a little bit of olive oil.  Add salt to taste.

3 Chill before serving. This salad will last several days in the fridge, tightly covered.

Serves 4.

 

Tour de Cure

Posted on by
Reply

Team Dorschel,

Thank you for taking part in the 2012 Tour de Cure. Although a bit hot, the weather was close to perfect. By the comments I have received, it sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to participate in a great charity event. Without your efforts we would not have been successful.

The great news is that we have a year to prepare for next year’s event. Well, maybe we should take a few days off though to rest.

Enjoy your summer!

Jim Grabowski

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Posted on by
1

A three-minute dip into a pungent cilantro-lime marinade is all that’s needed to deliver big flavor to chicken breasts. Serve with saffron rice.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and about 1/4 cup salsa)
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil $
  • 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Cooking spray
  • Salsa:$
  • 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Preparation

  1. 1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.
  2. 2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

Cooking Light
APRIL 2009

Top 5 Reasons to Eat (at Least) an Apple a Day

Posted on by
1

Beyond its fabulous flavor and perfect portability, this fruit packs major health benefits. Here, the lowdown on why you should be getting a daily dose

  1. 1.   They’re Slow Food
    Firm and packed with fiber (5 grams, or 20 percent of your daily value), they demand a chewing commitment, giving your body time to register itself “full” before you scarf down too many calories. And the natural sweeteners in apples enter the bloodstream gradually, helping keep your blood sugar and insulin levels steady so you feel full longer — the opposite of many sugary snacks, which produce a quick rush followed by a hunger-inducing crash.
  2. 2.   They Help You Breathe Easy
    Kids of women who ate the most apples while pregnant were less likely to wheeze or develop asthma by age 5, researchers from the United Kingdom found recently. The fruit may also protect the lungs of adults, lowering the risk of asthma, lung cancer, and other diseases.
  3. 3.   They Zap Cholesterol
    Thanks to two key components, pectin (a type of fiber) and polyphenols (powerful antioxidants), apples can take a bite out of blood cholesterol levels and prevent the oxidation of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol — the chemical process that turns it into artery-clogging plaque. The trick to maximizing the benefit: Don’t toss the peel; apple skin has two to six times the antioxidant compounds as the flesh.
  4. 4.   They Fight Cancer
    Lab studies have shown that several compounds in this juicy fruit curb the growth of cancer cells — but they’re most potent when the apple is eaten whole (minus the stem and seeds, of course). People who munch more than one a day lower their risk for several cancers (oral, esophageal, colon, breast, ovarian, prostate, and others) by 9 to 42 percent, Italian researchers found.
  5. 5.   They Make You Smarter
    Possibly because they boost the production of acetylcholine, a chemical that transmits messages between nerve cells, apples are now thought to keep your brain sharp as you age, enhance memory, and potentially lessen the odds of getting Alzheimer’s disease, suggests one recent animal study from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. With this sort of nutritious nosh at your disposal, it might be time to rethink the idea of a “smart cookie.”