the sexy flexitarian

Eat flexy, feel sexy!

Category: Flexitarian

April 23, 2013

Dinner Tonight: Chicken Soft Tacos with Fresh Pico de Gallo

I have two prerequisites when it comes to cooking now: tasty (duh) and simple.

I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty damn popular, so I don’t have much time to prepare meals.

Alright, scratch that–truth is, I eat so damn much that I spend most of my free time exercising. So that I can consume more delicious calories. Does anyone else do this?

20130425-212207.jpg

On the spectrum of delicious and easy, this one was a 10 out of 10. Wait, does a spectrum have a 10? Or is it just continuous? Is it infinite?

Focus, Amy.

Mexican food is, like, the best. For a long time I thought Taco Bell was Mexican food, and while I could go for a Gordita literally anytime, I understand that real Mexican food relies on fresh, simple ingredients. Not baha sauce (again, which is incredible and totally acceptable on road trips across the border).

20130425-213359.jpg

See those corn tortillas? They’re the size of coasters. They’re like little baby tortillas. You know, for babies. Or carnies. They were leftover from a food shoot at work, so best of all, they were free!

Top with some pre-cooked chicken, avocado, and fresh pico de gallo and there ya have it. My dinner.

FYI, I’ve never made good salsa before–I really don’t understand how, because it’s literally six ingredients, but for some reason it always turns out so damn onion-y. Not this time! Check it out. I’m putting this shit on everything.

Pico de Gallo
4 plum tomatoes, cut into eighths
1/2 small sweet white onion, diced
1/2 jalapeño, minced
Handful cilantro, roughly chopped
Squeeze lime juice
Dash sea salt

Combine all ingredients and set in fridge for at least an hour to let flavours meld.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

3 comments
April 18, 2013

Dinner Tonight: Overstuffed Sweet Potatoes with Kale and Navy Beans

Oh. My. God. I have created something truly amazing. Like, I think I now know what it must feel like to have a child.

No?

Whatever.

20130426-074805.jpg

Full disclosure: I ate dinner in bed today. It’s a first for me, I swear. I’d like to think it’s not going to happen again, but then why would I deny myself two of the greatest things in life: dinner and down comforters?

I have a valid reason though. By the time I got home from circuit training, showered, dilly-dallied like a pro, remembered that I needed to put the sweet potatoes in the oven, got distracted by shiny things, and then actually put the sweet potatoes in to bake, it was, like, 8 pm. Duh, I’m eating in bed.

Oh yah, so circuit training. It sucks. I mean, I’m definitely feeling stronger and looking svelter (whoa, svelter is actually a word?) since I started several months ago, but 50 minutes of legs? No effing thank you. Mind you, I am going to Vegas in two weeks for a friend’s bachelorette party, so I bet I’ll be happy for all this torture when I have to endure even more torture by, you know, putting on a two-piece for the first time this season. Yah, sorry to remind you, folks, but bathing suit season is just around the corner

But you know what helps to ease bathing suit-induced anxiety? Healthy eating. You know what makes it worse? Eating five Girl Guide cookies, one donut, and two chocolate-covered Digestive cookies, all in one day. I learned that last week.

But that was last week, and this is this week, and after eating dinner tonight (in bed), I’m starting to believe I can actually do this … Until those damn Girl Guides come around in a few months with those mint-chocolate cookies–they are pure cookie cocaine. Like I would literally crush them up and snort them.

But I digress.

Once again, tonight’s dinner proves that one does not need truffle oil or saffron or other costly ingredients to create something amazing. Nor does one need to use a laundry list of ingredients–simply a few well-combined ingredients will do.

It was, like, amazing. And don’t just take my word on it. Make it. And then eat it in bed.

Overstuffed Sweet Potatoes with Kale and Navy Beans

2 sweet potatoes scrubbed
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can navy beans, drained and rinsed
Generous sprinkling red chili flakes (or to your preferred spice level)
1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped
Salt to taste
Goat cheese

Set oven to 400 F.

Poke holes in sweet potatoes and place in oven-proof dish in oven and bake until tender (about 45 minutes).

Meanwhile, heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until it begins to brown–don’t let it burn. Add beans and heat through.

Turn heat down to medium and add chili flakes. Add kale and cook, stirring often until kale wilts. Season with salt. If needed, add a few tablespoons of water to create steam to help kale wilt. Set filling aside.

When sweet potatoes are done, remove from oven and cut a deep slit down the middle of each. Fill with kale and bean mixture (don’t worry if it overflows) and top with crumbled goat cheese.

Makes 2 servings.

3 comments
October 14, 2011

Dinner Tonight: Sesame Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna Salad

Wow, that title is a mouthful hey?! I’m not going to say too much about this dish, except that I was terrified to eat it. Though I know that ahi tuna is typically served VERY rare, I was still nervous eating it. I’ve ordered it several times at restaurants, but for SOME reason I expect that those trained in proper food safety are less likely to poison me (weird, I know).

Anyway, it’s been over an hour since I ate, and I’m not upchucking yet, so I give this dish four stars (out of five, if you’re wondering). For the recipe, check out the Enchanted Cook here.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

2 comments
October 13, 2011

Dinner Tonight: Tomato and Basil Frittata

It’s been a while since I last posted, yes. But this isn’t my only blogging venture now! Recently, alive magazine (where I work as an editor) launched its new website. To keep up with the times, we added blogs to our health, lifestyle, and food sections. And guess who’s been contributing to the food blog daily? Moi, of course!

For those of you who don’t know, alive magazine has been around for over 35 years and is Canada’s trusted source for natural health and wellness (no, I don’t work in marketing. HA!). It really is a great magazine though–so pick one up at your local natural health food store for–wait for it–free! Yes, free! (You’re jumping up and down with excitement, aren’t you?)

Anyway, back to dinner–my favourite part of the day. I don’t know why I haven’t already added this recipe–I’ve made it so many times (or some variation of it, since I never refer to a recipe). All instances have elicited moans of enjoyment, so I recommend you try it out yourself. Plus, it’s like ridiculously easy, and requires only one pan. AND it’s packed with veggies, and eggs, obviously–so it’s a great meal to have post-workout.

Tomato and Basil Frittata

1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
2 medium-sized waxy potatoes, cut into a small dice
1/2 small red onion, cut into a small dice
1/2 green pepper, cut into a small dice
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
7 free-range eggs, beaten
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
3/4 cup cubed feta cheese
1 tsp dried oregano
6 basil leaves, chopped

  1. Preheat oven broiler.
  2. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced potatoes and cook, stirring often, until slightly browned. Add onion and green pepper and continue to cook until mixture is browned and cooked all the way through. Add garlic, salt, and pepper. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of skillet.
  3. Meanwhile, beat eggs in medium-sized mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and gently mix together.
  4. Pour egg mixture over potato mixture in skillet. Cook until eggs are relatively set, about 10 minutes.
  5. Place skillet into oven on bottom rack. Once eggs are completely set, transfer to top rack and cook until browned on top.
  6. Cut into wedges and serve.
Serves 4
Leave a comment
August 2, 2011

Dinner Tonight: Egg Curry

Hello long-lost friends! I know it’s been far too long since my last post, but it’s been a long time since I was this excited about dinner!

I received Bal Arneson’s Quick & Healthy Indian for my birthday from my boyfriend’s sister, and tonight was my first time cracking it open! As most of you know I’m not huge into eating meat, so when I came across a curry dish with eggs as the main protein I knew it was the first think I had to make.

In a few words, it was AMAZING! However, I did modify it slightly according to what I had in my kitchen. I also added a can of chickpeas and some baby spinach to the mix to pump up the fibre and other nutrients.

Egg Curry
adapted from Bal Arneson’s Quick & Healthy Indian

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2  tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
pinch of ground cloves
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (although the recipe called for chickpea, which would be much better)
3 handfuls baby spinach
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 eggs

  1. Heat oil in skillet on medium-high. Once oil is hot, add minced ginger, stirring for 15 seconds.
  2. Add all the spices to skillet and cook for 10 seconds.
  3. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.
  4. Add broth to skillet and turn heat down to low.
  5. In a small bowl, combine flour and yogurt and whisk until smooth. Add yogurt mixture slowly to skillet, stirring constantly. Once incorporated, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once mixture reaches boiling point, add chickpeas and spinach and turn down to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, place eggs in pot of boiling water and cook until eggs until hard-boiled (about 8 minutes for large eggs).
  7. Peel eggs and cut into quarters. Place carefully in sauce.
  8. Serve eggs and curry over a bed of basmati rice.

Serves 4 

Leave a comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 27 other followers

%d bloggers like this: