Summer.

A time for fresh food and fresh flavours.

On hot days like today, I think of fresh salads and side dishes and when this recipe sprang to mind this morning, I had to make it.

 

Chances are if you have been a client of mine, I have made this for you at some point, or if you know me, you know how much I love quinoa.

 

This recipe is full of two of summer’s most refreshing flavours: lemon and mint.  Add quinoa to the mix and you have a perfect summer salad or side dish that is high in protein, high in fibre and is gluten-free.

 

Try adding grilled chicken for a perfect light summer supper.

Enjoy!

 

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

juice of 1 lemon

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

fresh mint leaves, chopped

fresh parsley, chopped

green onion, chopped (green part only)

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

 

Place the quinoa and water in a pot. Bring to the boil, cover, then reduce the temperature to low and simmer for approx. 10mins. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Add the lemon juice, olive oil, mint, parsley, onion, cucumber and walnuts, stirring to combine.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was at a business dinner meeting the other night where someone approached me interested in learning some new chicken recipes. After a lengthy discussion over personal health and dietary issues (we both suffer medical conditions that require a special diet), I am sadly coming to the realization that the medical industry is failing so many of us that have special dietary needs.

 

I myself suffer from a corn allergy and was recently rushed to the emergency room suffering an allergic reaction to a new medication that uses cornstarch as a filler. After speaking to my doctor and hearing the simple statement 'so don't eat corn including cornstarch, corn syrup, or cornmeal' I realized I would have to become my own client and do some research. Corn can go by any of about 50 different names so grocery shopping has become somewhat of a nightmare and simply trying to avoid something with the word corn in it, is unrealistic. I am now faced with the realization that I will have to make my own bread, bagels, crackers, granola bars, sauces, and a whole pile of condiments among other things. Pre-packaged food of pretty much any type is now off limits for me - and that's just the food that has corn in the ingredient listing. This doesn't take into account the fact that a lot of food packaging is coated in a fine dusting of cornstarch or contains a corn protein of some sort, nor does it take into account the drug manufacturers that use corn in different forms in the manufacturing of their products. The scope of it all makes me want to cry.

 

The person that approached me at the meeting has different dietary issues and must follow a specific diet of a different sort but she can relate to the amount of research, time and energy that goes into maintaining a diet for medical reasons. Having a medical condition that requires a special diet is a full-time job and is both mentally and physically exhausting.

 

Unfortunately, a lot of physicians and other healthcare professionals either don't have or can't give you all the facts, or at least not in the format that we need. My doctor has no idea of the scope of a corn allergy and what it entails and certainly has no idea of where to find corn-free recipes or product listings. He didn't even offer to send me to an allergy specialist (I have since found one on my own). Others are limited by what they can tell you, able to quote only Canada's Food Guide, a guideline that may not be realistic for certain individuals with medical issues. Don't get me wrong, there are those in the medical field that have the answers or know where to direct you and I am grateful for those indivduals. Unfortunately, we sometimes have to do a lot of work to find them or to access them and that can take time.

 

I feel for anyone required to follow a special diet and in an effort to make things even the slightest bit easier, I am going to post a variety of recipes for different diets on both this blog and on the Chef at Heart Facebook page. So keep watching and checking in with both sites and hopefully I can make mealtime for some of you a little easier.

 

As for the chicken recipes, I will post one of my favourites today - Herbes de Provence chicken - on both sites.

 

 

Sound familiar? How many of us hit the drive-thru window on our way to work for our morning coffee? How many of us just get the coffee?

 

It's part of the morning routine for thousands of us - we leave our homes and climb in the car early in the morning, hit the drive-thru window for that hot coffee and whatever goes with it, and then head down the road to work oblivious of what we're about to put in our mouths. Hey, our lives are busy and hectic so it's easy and convenient this way right? Sure, I understand. I used to do it too.

 

If you're happy not knowing what you're eating, stop reading this blog now. For those of you brave enough to find out what you're eating during your morning commute (and hopefully willing to make some changes), read on. I'm about to give you all of the nasty details.

 

So let's start with the standard: a bacon 'n egg McMuffin -

320 calories, 15g fat and 740mg of sodium

Want a hashbrown with that?

Add another 160 calories, 10g fat, and 360mg of sodium

Morning commute total: 480 calories, 25g fat and 1100mg of sodium!!

 

Oh but wait!!! How about the NEW sandwich. Yum! Tried that one yet? After all, this one was free for a couple days to help entice you to try it...

Bacon 'n Egg Biscuit Sandwich - 460 calories, 27g fat, and 960mg of sodium. That's 42% of the recommended daily value of fat, and 40% of your recommended daily value of sodium! If you get a hashbrown with it, I'll let you do the math there.

 

Think that other famous Canadian coffee stop offers anything better? Guess again! Your Timmies bacon 'n egg homestyle biscuit offers 430 calories, 24g fat, and 840mg sodium. Not much better.

 

Even a small breakfast burrito may surprise you at 300 calories, 16g fat, and 700mg of sodium. Got that - 16g of fat in that tiny little roll?! How many of you order the deal and get two of them??

 

So maybe now you're thinking 'but I only get the healthy food options'. Ok, let's take a look at the 'better' choices....

 

Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait - a respectable 180 calories, 2g fat and 100mg sodium (not bad), but 25g OF SUGAR! Suddenly, not so healthy.

 

How about a muffin?

Fruit 'n Fibre muffin (this used to be my downfall) - 380 calories, 14g fat (in that tiny muffin!), 470mg sodium and 28g of sugar. That's about 7 teaspoons of sugar in your 'healthy' muffin.

 

and lastly, the Oatmeal Apple muffin - 420 calories, 13g fat, 440mg sodium and a staggering 36g of sugar.

 

So now that you know just some of the details, I'm hoping you're willing to take a pass on the drive-thru window at least once in a while. I'm not going to even try to break you of your coffee habit. I can't ask you to do what I haven't been able to do myself.  ; )

 

Save yourself all that fat, sugar and sodium. Stop for just a few extra minutes in the morning and grab breakfast at home. Just a few suggestions...

Pour some oatmeal into a container and mix it with hot water when you get to work. Add some frozen fruit to the mix and even better!

Do the same with cold cereal and some milk.

Take an hour out of your week to make a batch or two of your own muffins at home and freeze them. Grab one from the freezer before you dash out the door.

 

There are lots of better options than the drive-thru. You just have to be willing to make the change.

 

All nutritional information from your favourite drive-thru's can be found on:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a diet fan by any means - I'd rather see someone change their lifestyle for the better (permanently) than jump on some diet bandwagon for a few weeks just to return to their old lifestyle later and whack the weight back on.

 

That being said, my struggle with high blood pressure left me no choice and almost a year ago I began to follow the DASH diet at my doctors urging.

 

If you haven't heard of it, the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) makes incredible claims to lower your blood pressure in just 14 days WITHOUT DRUGS and WITHOUT LOWERING YOUR SODIUM INTAKE.

 

I was skeptical. Surely this was going to be some horribly restrictive diet that was going to take away my yummy curries and have me eating bland, flavourless food (hey, I'm a chef and if there's one thing we learn it's SEASON, SEASON, SEASON and that means SALT!). I left my doctors office convinced food would never be the same but promised myself I'd do it just long enough to bring my blood pressure down and then hey, I'd go back to all my favourite foods and all would be right in my world again. I went home and did piles of research on the DASH diet, printed out recipes and even bought one of their cookbooks.

 

In a nutshell, the diet takes food in certain combinations that are eaten as part of a whole-food diet and voila, you've got lower blood pressure. The food groups include grains and grain products, vegetables, fruits, low-fat or non-fat dairy, meat/poultry/fish, nuts/seeds/legumes, fats and oils, and yes, sweets. So far, so good. Then you work out your daily caloric requirement, learn what a proper serving size is and you're off and running (or DASHing??).

 

Long story short, I'm happy to say I loved the diet (AND IT WORKED!) and I've now adopted it as a new lifestyle thus taking my own advice. I think the one important factor is that it didn't require buying foods I'd never heard of or making meals that were completely tasteless. While they do encourage you to cut back on sodium, this is an option and the diet works regardless of what you decide to do.

 

As with any diet though and because I don't think it's realistic to say you're going to follow a strict diet EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY, I follow the old 80/20 rule: eat well 80% of the time and only indulge (if you have to) the other 20% of the time.

 

So if you do choose to diet, choose one that works with your lifestyle and doesn't require a lot of time and effort or drastic changes, and as always, check with your doctor first.

 

For a look at some sample DASH diet recipes, go to www.mayoclinic.com and do a search on Dash Diet Recipes.

 

Under construction - stay tuned for recipes, dietary information, and more!