Recipes & Cooking
With Team Purple in the Final Four (Hannah and Olivia were the first couple to make it together) on The Biggest Loser this week, what better time to address the power of purple food? A favorite around the Ranch, for many reasons, has long been eggplant.
Though they’re found in a myriad of colors and sizes, most of the eggplant we see in the market are deep purple in color and oblong in shape. The purplish skin is indicative of the presence of anthocyanins. These powerful antioxidants can help lower the risk of a number of different cancers as well as support memory function and can also be found in relatively high amounts in açaí, black currants, and raspberries and blueberries. (All that, and did you know "purple" even has its own website?)
But that’s not the only reason to savor eggplant. This versatile veggie is 95% water, which means it doesn’t have an awful lot of calories. For example, a 1 1/4 pound eggplant yields about 5 cups of uncooked eggplant with just over 100 calories.
As the saying goes, we eat with our eyes first. Our meal is more appetizing when the food looks pretty on the plate. Using bright vibrant colors helps with this, but here’s the best thing about cooking with color: it’s healthy for us!
Red bell peppers are one of my favorite reds to use in recipes. They can be stuffed and used as a main course, or sliced and thrown in a salad, grilled on the BBQ, roasted or used in sauces.
Bell peppers have a recessive gene for capsaicin, the plant chemical responsible for the heat in other peppers. This is the reason they aren’t hot like the others. One cup of sliced raw red bell pepper has 29 calories, 2 grams of fiber and it’s packed with nutrients including 58 percent of our daily value of vitamin A and 156 percent of our daily value of vitamin C.
When choosing your bell peppers at the grocery store, look for ones that feel heavy for their size. Make sure the skin doesn’t have any wrinkles and is firm. Skip over the peppers that have bruises, sunken areas, cracks and slashes or black spots. Store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and they should last for about a week.
As delicious and crispy as bell peppers are raw on their own or served as part of a crudité, roasting peppers intensifies them and adds a layer of smokiness. Roasting peppers, as you would red peppers for my Easy Sofrito Sauce in this recipe for Huevos Sofritos from Flavor First, is relatively simple.
Roast the whole bell pepper under a broiler or over a gas flame, turning occasionally, until you see the skin blister and notice the degree of char you want (5 to 10 minutes over an open flame). Place in a bowl and cover with a lid (or put the pepper in a paper bag), and allow the steam to loosen the skin. When it’s cooled enough to handle, carefully peel away the skin and remove the seeds.
Spring is here and, with it, warmer weather and longer days! One of my favorite things about this time of year is being able to cook -- and eat -- outside. Cooking on the grill not only cuts down on the mess in the kitchen, it cuts loads of calories and still imparts that smoky, mouth-watering barbecue flavor.
The next time you decide to grill red meat try a dry or wet rub instead of a high-calorie barbecue sauce or liquid marinade. The rub forms a flavorful crust and is fat-free and intensely flavorful. Even small amounts of herbs and spices deliver a powerful punch of flavor.
The great thing about rubs is that you can create your own easily and inexpensively -- you probably have everything you need in your spice cupboard right now to at least make a basic blend. Start with a little (very little) coarse salt -- sea or kosher are best -- and add fresh-ground pepper, onion powder and garlic (minced fresh or powder) and you’ve got the makings of a simple but tasty beef rub. Add a little cumin and coriander as well if you like.
There’s nothing I like more to fight the chill -- and the bugs -- of winter than a hot, healthy bowl of soup. One of my favorite go to meals when I’m feeling under the weather, soup can be a tasty appetizer or a one-dish meal on its own. Plus, there are many ways to make soup delicious and healthier without adding butter, cream or other high-fat, high-calorie ingredients.
Start with fat-free, low-sodium vegetable, chicken or beef broth and add fresh vegetables, herbs and spices in any combination that suits your taste. Even with just a few of these simple ingredients, there is no reason for any soup to lack a bounty of flavor.
To make a healthy and filling soup, try adding:
- Vegetables -- carrots, legumes, root veggies -- for their antioxidant power, nutrients and high fiber content.
- Whole grains, like hulled barley, to kick up the fullness factor.
- Fresh or dried herbs like oregano, chili powder, tarragon, thyme, basil or dill to provide complex layers of flavor to replace what salt and fat deliver.
- Lean protein like chicken breast, pork tenderloin and lean beef to increase the protein content and make it feel like a meal.
Here is one of my favorite soup recipes:
Italian Vegetable Soup
Loaded with fiber, this recipe makes a large batch of soup, which freezes well, too. For more protein, add shredded roast chicken or turkey or one cup cooked and crumbled Old-Fashioned Breakfast Sausage. (Makes 12 large servings)
White, green, purple or orange, this antioxidant-packed flowering plant is far from boring. It is a healthy and versatile vegetable! Cauliflower is high in vitamin C, folate (a form of vitamin B) and fiber, but low in calories -- one cup of raw cauliflower contains only 25 calories!
Along with broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, cauliflower belongs to the brassica family and is known as a cruciferous vegetable. Cauliflower is an excellent source of fiber, which helps maintain blood glucose levels so we feel full longer. Fiber also acts as a clearing agent, removing bacteria and other buildup from our intestines, reducing our risk of colon cancer.
In addition to its fiber and vitamin content, cauliflower contains several cancer-fighting antioxidants including sulforaphane and indole-3-carbonal. Clinical studies increasingly indicate that dietary indole-3-carbinol (I3C) prevents the development of estrogen-enhanced cancers including breast, endometrial and cervical cancers.
On Super Bowl Sunday -- chicken wings, nachos, chili -- the calories can add up quickly. This year, you can still enjoy tasty snacks while watching the game -- without breaking the bank on your calorie budget (but, there’s no self-denial here).
My favorite choice for such occasions is a scrumptious spread of dips -- creamy, chunky, spicy, tangy – the stuff everyone loves. Hot or cold, spooned or dipped -- the possibilities are endless. As a cook, it's a slam dunk because there's nothing easier to prepare for impromptu get-togethers. But my favorite part is that they can be made well ahead of time so I can enjoy my parties with my guests.
No, you won't find me stirring up a zippy sour-cream based French onion dip or melting handfuls of gooey cheddar over crispy fried chips -- not in my kitchen. I am still a nutritionist, afterall. There's no doubt that high fat ingredients add flavor and texture to just about anything. But as a chef, I've learned how to make recipes sing without a boatload of fat grams.
Instead of loading on goop, let nature do all the work. Instead of focusing on a rich sour cream or cheese base for a dip, I use vegetables or beans as my primary ingredient. A rich, unctuous puree of eggplant or garbanzo beans is a scrumptious place to start. A spoonful of healthy fat such as olive oil or tahini is all that’s needed to add layers of texture and flavor to just the right mélange of spices and seasonings.
The other thing I love about dipping is that it’s a great way to kick up your daily vegetable intake. A colorful array of crisp dippers can include crunchy sticks of bell pepper, fennel, jicama or celery and baby carrots. Asparagus spears work well too but should be blanched first to soften them slightly.
And then you have the “other” dippers known as chips. When I first started cooking, there were no products such as fat free chips on the market. I made my own by cutting corn tortillas or whole grain pita bread into eights by triangles. I gave them a mist of olive oil and baked them slowly until they were crisp and lightly browned.
This Super Bowl Sunday, try one or both of these Super Swaps. The next day, let me know how you did and we can Monday Morning Quarterback the results.
Looking for healthier options for the Thanksgiving table?
The staple ingredients of this holiday's comfort food hold plenty of health promise. After all, most of the time the Thanksgiving spread features plenty of nutritious vegetables as side dishes, while turkey is low in both calories and fat and contains plenty of iron.
With a little culinary know-how, your Thanksgiving can be a guilt-free, healthful feast. Check out these new recipes I developed - they're both flavorful and nutritious.
Squash are categorized as winter squash and summer squash, based on their time of harvesting. Summer squash are harvested when the rind is tender and edible, so they are high in water content and very low in calories. A cup of cooked summer squash has only 35 calories. Winter squash, on the other hand, are fully mature vegetables with hard rinds and seeds. Winter squash varieties include acorn, butternut, pumpkin and spaghetti squash.
Now that summer's here, I'm putting my grill to good use. I love the smoky flavor cooking over a live fire adds to any dish – and because grilling doesn't require added fat, it's healthy as well as quick.
That's why when I fire up the grill, I don't just use it for main course poultry and meats. I love experimenting with veggies and fruit – yes, fruit! – on the fire. To try new grilling flavor sensations, follow these simple tips:
Mother’s Day is right around the corner – and what better way to celebrate than by sharing a meal that’s both nutritious and delicious? With the menu below, not only do you pamper Mom with a home-cooked meal, but you give her the priceless gift of health.
The lineup includes:
- Old-Fashioned Breakfast Sausage
- Cheesy Vegetable Frittata
- Banana Berry Muffins
- Carla’s No-Cal Citrus Cooler
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Cheryl Forberg, RD, is a James Beard award-winning chef, a bestselling author and the former nutritionist for NBC's "The Biggest Loser." 
