The Myth of Bland Healthy Food

Most of us have the stereotype that healthy food has to be “rabbit food” or be bland and have no flavor at all.  Mostly healthy cooking has us omit butter, cream, etc.  But, you don’t necessarily need butter, or cream to have flavorful food.  In the summer of 2010 my family and I decided to go on a “no processed food” diet; we were cutting out anything that had high fructose corn syrup in it, or looked like it was definitely factory made.  We used Jillian Michael’s cookbook “Boost Your Metabolism” to try this new diet.  What we found were flavorful, new recipes that weren’t time consuming, with most of the recipes taking about 30 minutes to make.  We would eat a wide variety of foods from Mexican to Asian cuisine.  I even made a low-fat, healthy cookbook based on ideas I had from making her recipes.  At the time my mother was part of Jillian Michael’s website which had a lot of recipes on there too.  If you want to lose weight, live a healthier lifestyle, or just even eat healthy in general you can!  There are many options out there to achieve those goals.  You don’t need processed foods to make a quick meal, and there are many websites out there to help [Editor's note: Like this one!].  These recipes I’m going to share will not only taste good, but aren’t time consuming and are suitable for all lifestyles.

Healthy Oven Fried Chicken with Orange Mustard Sauce

Healthy Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients:
1 large nuts, almonds, blanched, toasted and ground
1/2 cup(s) cheese, grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dill weed, dried
1/4 teaspoon pepper, black
2 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine almonds, cheese, garlic salt, poultry seasoning, paprika, dill weed and pepper.  (Note: Coating may be stored in airtight container in dry, cool location.)  Dip chicken in some lemon juice and coat with almond coating.  Place on baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Serve with Orange Mustard Sauce.

Orange Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except cornstarch.  Place 1 teaspoon cornstarch in small saucepan.  Blend in sauce mixture; bring to boil.  Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens.  Serve warm or cool.  Makes about 1/2 cup.

Simple Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil, olive
4 cup(s) carrot(s)
1/8 teaspoon salt, Kosher

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Drizzle carrots with olive oil and roast until tender, about 30 minutes.

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon

Ingredients:
4 cup(s) broccoli florets
1 tablespoon oil, olive, extra virgin
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 dash(es) pepper, black ground
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Toss broccoli with oil, salt and pepper.  Place on a large baking sheet (not air-insulated) and roast until the broccoli is tender and blackened on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes.  Serve immediately, with lemon wedges.

Roasted Russet Fries

Ingredients:
4 medium-large russet potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Have ready two rimmed baking sheets.  Cut 1 potato lengthwise into quarters.  Cut each quarter lengthwise into 2-3 wedges.  Repeat with the remaining potatoes.  Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Add olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Toss gently to thoroughly coat the potatoes.  Arrange the wedges in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Bake until the potatoes are crispy and brown 35-40 minutes.  Serve warm.

Editor’s Note:  This article was submitted to us by my wonderful sister Julie.  She has just graduated from high school this week and is already very knowledgeable about healthy living and how to cook flavorful dishes while still maintaining a focus on fitness and health.  If you’d like to see more articles by Julie about healthy cooking please comment here or on our Facebook page, or send us an email!  We’d love to hear from you.