Mango-Jalapeno Sauce

This is a sauce I learned from Kim C. back when we used to cook meals together all the time. (In loving memory of Summer 2003!!) Whenever I make salmon this is always the sauce I use! And it's always a hit when I make it for others. I love it because it is made completely from fresh ingredients and it is super easy to make and impress. A few months ago I had some leftover sauce and had run out of fish. I made a small bowl of fresh blueberries and cut up strawberries and put some of the sauce on top...delicious! The fruity flavor with the spice was a nice taste combination. I tried freezing some extra sauce but it just didn't taste as fresh when I thawed it out so I recommend making it fresh when you want to use it.

Mango-Jalapeno Sauce

1 ripe mango, cut into chunks

1 jalapeno, diced

chopped cilantro

Blend in food processor. Best when refrigerated for a bit because the flavor of the jalapeno gets into all the mango. Of course feel free to adjust the ingredients to taste depending on level of spiciness you like or amount of sauce you want to make. I'm not a huge cilantro fan so often I leave the cilantro out and it tastes equally good.

Carrie's Beef Fajitas - Posted by Kim S.

Well, I seriously can not think of one single recipe that I make regularly that is considered "healthy" by most peoples' standards. For me it is all about portion control, and as a runner, making sure I get plenty of protein and healthy fat in my diet. I never look at fat content or calories in food. The only thing I monitor is the amount of sugar and starch in the food I eat. For example, I never buy "light" mayonnaise, because I would rather have the fat than the added sugar they put in "light" products. I also try to watch my intake of simple carbs by substituting with whole-grain varieties whenever possible. I found this recipe in Runners World Magazine this month (October 2008). It looks pretty good, and this is precisely the type of food I like to eat-lots of protein and healthy fats. If I were to make this recipe, I would load up on the "filling" and not eat a lot of the tortillas. Here's the recipe. It was submitted to Runner's World by world-class runner Carrie Tollefson.

Carrie's Beef Fajitas:

Carne Asada:
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 limes, juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
2 cloves garlic
2 lbs flank steak, cleaned

Fajita Fixings:
1 onion, grilled and sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 avocados, diced
2 green or red peppers, cut into strips and sauteed
16 small corn tortillas, warmed

Place all the carne asada ingredients into a zipper bag, making sure to turn the bag regularly so the marinade penetrates both sides evenly. Marinate 20 minutes per side. Place meat on heated broiler or grill and cook to medium rare. Thinly slice and serve with fajita fixings.

Serves four. Calories per serving: 710 Carbs: 62 grams Protein: 56 grams Fat: 27 grams.

Vegetable Confetti

Recipes don't need to be hard or complicated. This is something I made one day because I had a bunch of veggies I didn't want to go bad. What I absolutely love about it is that it can go on a salad, on top of salmon, as a side dish, or even a snack by itself. It actually becomes more flavorful as it sits so you can make a batch and keep it in the fridge to use whenever. You can use whatever vegetables you like (or have handy) and whatever dressing you choose. I put no measurements because everything is based on your taste and how much you want to make! The mix I made was a beautiful range of colors, which was another thing I like about this. *Remember...every different color fruit and vegetable has a different benefit! Here's to eating our rainbow every day!


Vegetable Confetti

-diced yellow squash
-diced green bell pepper
-diced tomatoes or halved grape tomatoes
-sliced green onion
-dressing of choice (I use the spray dressing in Caesar...yum!)
-salt/pepper (optional...remember don't use salt if there is plenty in your dressing!)

Mix together! It's as easy as that! Sorry I don't have a picture available at this time...I don't have any made right now.

The start of The Healthy Bite

So this is something I've wanted to do for awhile now but have been worried that I wouldn't have the support for it to get off the ground. Sommer and I were talking about how much fun it would be to do a recipe club where we all made different recipes and got together to try them and talk about them. Well unfortunately all my friends are scattered allll over so I decided to start one online...

My vision is to start a place to discuss and share healthy recipes and ways of life. Now when I say healthy that can mean many things...whether it be a healthy recipe or a recipe that has a beneficial ingredient or even thoughts about making substitutions to improve the health content of a recipe. As a dietitian I believe healthy is moderation in all things. So by all means we can still have desserts and "normal" recipes too!

It is easy to find recipes online. Its also easy to find ones where someone says "this is good!" Lets do a little bit more...lets talk about why its good...flavor, cost, easy, family friendly, quick, etc! Lets add our tips about what works and what doesn't. In the long run I'd love to see this grow into tips for an all over healthy life, not just food.

I'm also excited because not only am I a dietitian but I also have many dietitian friends and friends/family who enjoy cooking and eating/living healthy. I know so many people with a wide range of opinions and eating styles, so this really has the potential to be such a well rounded site. And for those with questions what a great resource of people (I hope!) to get those questions answered or discussed!

PLEASE PLEASE consider helping me out in this project! It is only with your support that this can get off the ground and turn into something useful and fun for all of us! If you have any recipes, comments, hints, tips, questions, anything that you want me to post please email it to me at davis119@yahoo.com or feel free to comment on any of the posts. Also, if you know any friends that would be interested please pass this along!! I know we're all very busy but even a couple a recipes a month would help a ton! Thank you so much for all your love and support! Here's to happy eating and a healthy life!