Healthy Twists

Good evening! Monday’s are pretty rough, but at least it’s behind us now, right?

You may have noticed (or not?) that I haven’t been posting recipes on the ole blog lately, or as often as I used to. This is because I was getting into a bit of a cooking rut, and I wasn’t about to post the same stir-fry photo every week. Also, as I said before, I’m having trouble getting up early, so I’ve been coming home at 7 or 7:30 most nights, after working out, when all I want to do is scarf down some dinner and I don’t feel like getting overly creative in the kitchen.

Luckily…school’s out for summer! (Well, there’s summer school, but you know what I mean) And that means my handsome fella has more time to take over the dinner duties (umm…and just about every other household chore. Have I mentioned I’m spoiled?). Once the fall starts and we’re both in school, we might start living off cereal and peanut butter. Not that I’d totally mind that, of course.

But, we may have created a monster, friends. An online recipe-searching, kitchen-experimenting monster, and not me.

It started last week when I casually mentioned I was craving red meat (which only happens…ahem…about once a month, maybe) and I also wanted vegetables incorporated with dinner. Mitch didn’t tell me what he was making, but I came home to grilled steak (and he made the marinade from scratch) along with grilled asparagus and bell peppers. I didn’t take a photo, but you can take your imagination. I usually don’t really care for steak but it was SO good. And grilled vegetables are always fantastic.

The next day, Mitch gets creative again and, after scouring the internet for a stuffed chicken breast recipe that contained only “Hallie-approved” cheeses (ricotta and Parmesan), found a recipe that included fresh herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, and yes, some cheese. He didn’t save the recipe so I can’t link to it, but basically he pounded the chicken (uh, using a hammer), put a small amount of the cheese/herb mixture in the middle and rolled it up. The he breaded the breasts in a panko/breadcrumb combo, pan-fried them in some oil for a few minutes, and baked them in the oven until cooked through.

Well, fancy fancy. And…yum. The chicken wasn’t overcooked, as it tends to be when I bake it due to my intense fear of undercooked chicken. I tasted the herbs (basil, thyme, and rosemary, I think) and not the cheese, which made it a winner in my book. Without even knowing what a spirilazer is, he sautéed some shredded some zucchini and carrots to have with the chicken. I really liked the veggies cooked that way, so I’m going to have to tell him to make that again make it myself one day.

Two days later, he was at it again (in between, he made fajitas using carne asada from Trader Joe’s, but nothing special there, except it was another night of me eating darn well). And again with the ricotta. I had requested turkey burgers (we have frozen ones from Costco on hand) and baked French fries, but he took it to another level. I admit, Mitch’s “all or nothing” personality type sure works in my favor at times.

The idea was to make sliders, but they ended up being too big to be real sliders. He used this recipe as a guide, but used ricotta instead of goat cheese.

After forming the burgers, Mitch cooked them in a pan with some oil (noticing a theme here?) and some white wine. I hardly ever cook with wine, partly since we rarely drink it, but I may have had a “it’s Friday” party of one the night before, so we actually had an open bottle in the fridge. Mitch also made a “basil-Serrano cream sauce” using this recipe as a guide. When I showed Mitch how many calories are in a cup of heavy cream, we decided to just use low-fat sour cream for the cream/mayo mixture, so it was more of a “creamy pesto” dip than a sauce. Still delicious.

It’s a little hard to tell the scale, but these were pretty small. I found mini-hamburger buns at the store that were partly whole-grain (not 100%, but the best option). Oh and of course, you don’t see the gallon of ketchup I used for my fries. I’m not a huge ketchup person, unless potatoes are involved in some form. Then I’m a fiend.

You know, I think I can learn a lot from Mitch’s cooking style. He doesn’t seem to get stressed out or frustrated when cooking like I can sometimes. And, while he does try to lighten recipes a tad (partly to appease his girlfriend’s wacky “anti-cheese” thing and her healthy habits), he isn’t afraid to pan-fry something or use the amount of oil called for in a recipe. I’m not fearful of fat in the form of, say, peanut butter or avocado, but I do try to get away with the bare minimum when cooking. But fat is good for you! Especially in things like olive oil. And these meals have been much more satisfying, I have to admit, than some of the other stuff I make.

I actually did cook tonight, and my goodness, I used oil (although not that much; I’m still Hallie of Healthy Twists after all). I was pretty proud of the end product, so you’ll have to check back here to see what I made!

Who is the best cook you know (and you can say yourself!)? I love cooking but I freely admit I’m not always that good at it (hmm…kinda like my running). But I think Mitch and his parents are really good cooks, and some people I work with have some pretty rocking culinary skillz too.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.