New twists on a snack staple: 3 healthy popcorn recipes

By Well+Good NYC

Nutritionist and personal chef Natalia Hancock knows that snacking is part of the human condition. “We’re programmed to seek out food; the trick is to munch on snacks that are healthy and easy.”

When creating Rouge Tomate’s bar menu (Hancock is the culinary nutritionist for this healthy Michelin-starred, Upper East Side restaurant), she rejected calorically dense bar nuts in favor of humble popcorn, a whole grain with a generous dose of fiber. But Hancock purified, and glamorized, this movie snack staple by replacing butter with olive oil and adding unusual seasonings.

Replace your $300 Kitchen-Aid with a $30 air popper

 

Why to sneak your homemade popcorn into the movies: According to Hancock, movie theater popcorn is usually popped in refined coconut oil, so it absorbs lots of saturated fat.  A medium-sized movie popcorn is well over 1,000 calories and can have more than 50g of saturated fat.  In comparison, one cup of air-popped plain popcorn is just 31 calories, and it doesn’t taste like styrofoam packing like the AMC variety. Two cups is a serving, says Hancock, but if you feel the need to pig out, popcorn is a safe food to overdo it on.

Keep reading…

Why you should eat more eggplant while it’s in season

By Keri Glassman, MS, RD for Q.Equinox.com

Mad Apples. That’s the name this oversized crop was given hundreds of years ago when they were thought to make those who ate them go crazy.

Today, they’re known as eggplants, or aubergines—a tomato-relative with a deep purple skin and a surplus of nutrients beneath. Despite their status as a fruit, eggplants are tough enough to be cooked like a vegetable and have a signature taste and texture: slightly bitter, bland and spongy (ideal for absorbing the distinct flavors of all the ingredients you cook them with.)

Eggplants are also earning a reputation as the new brain food. Among their many phytonutrients, one called nasunin protects our brain cells from oxidation. Nasunin won’t just keep your brain sharp, it also acts as an iron chelator, meaning it binds to iron, eliminating it from the body. Though iron is good for you, too much can increase free radical production, which in turn increases your risk for heart disease, cancer and aging.

Keep reading for more health benefits of eggplant, and a simple summer recipe…

Peaches and Cream and Reishi Smoothie

By Well+GoodNYC

Unless you read nutritional supplement reports, hang on every word of integrative medicine guru Dr. Andrew Weil, or slather his moisturizers for Origins all over your face, you might not have been formally introduced to reishi mushrooms. Let us make your acquaintance with this powerful little fungi—and explain why it’s going in this month’s smoothie.

We swear we haven’t gone off the deep end: Reishi mushrooms have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries and now have more healthy New Yorkers buzzing about its list of benefits.

What are they? Reishi can help with fatigue, high cholesterol, and allergies. But it’s best is known for boosting your overall picture of health by revving up your immunity and calming inflammation, the root of most diseases, which is why it’s featured in Dr. Weil’s 8 Weeks to Optimal Health.

Keep reading…

Food 52′s Healthiest: Sweet Pea Hummus

By Well+GoodNYC

This week, we’re featuring an easy summer twist on protein-packed hummus, with green peas thrown in for a plethora of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Sweet Pea Hummus
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 cups garbanzo beans, cooked
1 1/2 cup green peas, lightly steamed (frozen is fine, but do steam before using)
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh herbs (like dill, parsley, or basil)–this is optional!

Directions:
1. If you’re cooking beans from scratch: submerge 1 cup dry garbanzos in about 3-4 cups water and let soak overnight. The next day, rinse beans and submerge in a few inches cold water. Bring water to a boil, and simmer beans for 45-75 minutes, or until beans are tender. Salt the water at this point if you wish to, and let beans sit and absorb salt. When ready to use, drain beans, which will be ready to use. Ask a question about this step

2. Place beans, peas, tahini, lemon juice, sea salt, and garlic into a food processor or high speed blender. Pulse to combine a few times, and blend at a regular speed. With the motor running, drizzle in 1 tbsp olive oil and keep blending until ingredients are creamy and smooth. You can add a little extra olive oil or water if the mixture is too thick.

3. Taste the hummus and adjust seasonings to taste. Pulse in lemon zest and herbs, if using. Serve, enjoy, and look forward to more seasonal hummus recipes to come!

The perfect picnic that’s also easy and inexpensive

By Well+GoodNYC

What makes a summer picnic perfect?

A healthy feast—ideally sans utensils—that doesn’t break the bank. (We’re talking to you “bespoke” grab-and-go hampers that cost upwards of $100 for two diners, and contain mostly packaged foods.)

Our DIY menu of easy-to-prepare summer fare is cost conscious, and the dishes are easy to transport.

So whether you’re biking over to the park or beaching it with friends, this healthy picnic menu will satisfy the demands of your wallet, your hunger in the great outdoors, and your nutritionist, all in one delicious spread. —Jennifer Kass

DIY Perfect Picnic Menu

Appetizer: Spicy Edamame Hummus and Crudité

This non-dairy, high-protein dip is rich, creamy, and will give you extra energy for surfing or frisbee. Chef’s choice on the selection of veggies served alongside for dipping.

Entree: Collard Wraps

Forget tortillas, which can become soggy. Instead, fill these fresh greens with your favorite sandwich fixings and roll them up. Check out the versatile list of ingredients in this Food52 recipe.

Side: Kale Chips

A serious upgrade to a bag of potato chips, these are just as addictive and crunchy, minus the cheapo fried carbs.

Keep reading for 2 more here…

4 great green juice recipes from CoolerCleanse

By Well+GoodNYC

Eric Helms, founder of CoolerCleanse and Juice Generation, and his team joined The View last week.

Their mission? To prove to its lively hosts that “kale is the new bacon”—only better for you, while he poured samples of his popular green juices.

(Watch Elisabeth Hasselbeck basically place an order for a juicer before the commercial break!)

For those who need no introduction to the benefits of green juice—Helms provided the recipes!

We’ve got four of his favorite green juice recipes, and they vary in seriousness and sweetness from Essential Green to Garden Green Coco, which has serious summer wow-factor if you serve it in a young Thai coconut shell. (You can buy the coconuts at Juice Generation.)

Consider this your summer crash course in green juices! Get the recipes now…

Essential Green

The classic all-greens blend with just a hint of pear.

Ingredients:
Handful of spinach
3 stalks of celery
Small handful of parsley
1 small bunch of dandelion greens
1 small bunch of watercress leaves
3 leaves of green kale
2 Bartlett pears, seeded
¼ lemon, peeled
½ cucumber, peeled

Instructions:
Bunch up spinach, parsley, dandelion, watercress and kale and push through juicer with celery and pear. Follow with cucumber and lemon. Scrape off the foam and serve over ice.

Hail To Kale

Another way to get your kale fix! Sip this kale drink, sweetened with watermelon, which is a best-seller on the Juice Generation menu.

Ingredients:
3 leaves of green kale
2 apples, seeded
2 slices of Watermelon
¼ lemon, peeled

Instructions:
Bunch up kale, and push through juicer with the apple. Follow with watermelon and lemon. Scrape off the foam and serve over ice.

For 2 more click here…

Food 52′s Healthiest: Raw Kale Salad with Lentils and Sweet Apricot Vinaigrette

Every Tuesday, we scan Food52′s delectable menu of recipes for the healthiest picks they’ve got—bringing you seasonal, scrumptious fare that’s really good for you.

We never get sick of great kale salads, and this one tosses the leafy superfood with fiber and mineral-rich lentils. And who doesn’t love a sweet (yet light) apricot dressing?

Raw Kale Salad with Lentils and Sweet Apricot Vinaigrette

Serves 4-6

2 bunches Curly kale, center ribs and stems removed, washed, dried, and chopped finely
1/4 cup Olive oil
1/4 cup Apricot preserves
1 1/2 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1 pinch Black pepper
1 cup Puy or beluga lentils, (substitute brown lentils if they’re what you have), rinsed and picked over
1 cup Red cabbage, shredded

1. Whisk together olive oil, apricot preserves, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper.

2. Turn kale into a large mixing bowl, and massage 6 T of the dressing into the salad. You’ll need enough dressing for the salad to be well coated and start taking on a “wilted” texture. Set aside.

3. Place lentils in a small saucepan with enough water to cover them by 3-4 inches (approximately 2 1/2 cups). Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat, add a pinch of salt, and let the lentils simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but not mushy.

4. Allow lentils to cool slightly and add them, along with the cabbage, to the kale, and add another 2 T vinaigrette. Use hands to combine. Add extra dressing as needed, and season to taste.

5 summer grilling tips (for veggies, fish, and tofu!) from Emeril Lagasse

By Mandy Oaklander for Prevention.com

At last, it’s open-flame season, and who better to celebrate with than renowned chef Emeril Lagasse? We went to the cookout king’s New York City kitchen for a feast of his grilled classics—including his brick-grilled organic chicken—and got the scoop on what it takes to grill like Emeril. Check it out:

1. What’s a healthy—but still delicious—grilling recipe?
Start with snapper, redfish, or grouper. Leave the skin on and brush and season it. Put it skin side down and don’t touch it. Add sliced lemon and herbs, and use a fish spatula so it doesn’t fall apart. It’s so simple, but it’s so delicious.

2. What’s a big mistake people make when it comes to grilling fish?
They set their grill too hot, and they don’t let their protein warm up. Take your protein out of the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Brushing it with oil on both sides and seasoning it is the key.

Keep reading for 3 more tips…

Recipe: The Plant Power Breakfast Smoothie

By Well+GoodNYC

If you didn’t think you could create a balanced meal in a blender, that’s about to change.

This green, protein-packed breakfast smoothie will add minutes to your morning—and energy to your day (and workout).

How? Blueberries and kale provide antioxidant-rich complex carbohydrates.

Trendy but essential chia seeds provide a trifecta of power, delivering protein, omega-3s, and soluble fiber, which keeps you feeling full longer.

And a tablespoon of peanut butter, a healthy fat, makes this a balanced meal. So does the avocado, which is loaded with omegas and potassium (without the sugar found in bananas). It also gives this smoothie a super silky texture.

Get ready for clear-thinking through the morning chaos, and the possibility of making it to lunchtime without the ravenous I’ll-eat-anything urges. —Jennifer Kass

Keep reading for the recipe…

3 healthy homemade summer popsicle recipes

By Briana Rognlin for Blisstree.com

People’s Pops started as a group of friends selling a delicious alternative to chemical-and preservative-laced frozen treats in New York City’s markets.

But their pops became so popular that now, owners Joel Horowitz, David Carrell, and Nathali Jordi sell their pops in multiple shops and locations in the city, and are publishing their first book, People’s Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn’s Coolest Pop Shop, on June 5.

They were generous enough to share three pop recipes from their new book, so you can make your own watermelon-parsley, raspberries-and-cream, or cantaloupe-and-campari pops for Memorial Day–and beyond. Check out the recipes, then go get their book for more!