This morning while kickboxing, my girlfriends and I were discussing foods that our bodies instantly give a big thumbs down to and that make us feel slow, bloated, beyond full and that we pay dearly for the next day when we don’t feel like “ourselves.” Dully noted were bagels with too much cream cheese, foods that have too much spice in them, fried foods in general, big helpings of pasta and drumroll please…… Mexican food! We were all laughing because obviously we were still hurting from celebrating Cinco de Mayo last night! What is it about eating a ton of chips and guac while sucking down margaritas?!!!!
I too have a hard time digesting tacos and burritos that I didn’t actually make myself. Sour cream, cheese, tortillas and I don’t have the best relationship when combined so I prefer to make my tacos the Yummy Yogini way, Cinco de Skinny if you will. The recipe I’m sharing today is one of my favorites because I love stuffed peppers. You can literally stuff a pepper with anything and it can easily take the place of bread or say a tortilla. I love bread with all my heart and soul but when I eat too much of it, I immediately feel thicker, so this is an easy fix. This recipe is healthy, low in calories and fat and will take you 10 minutes to prepare and then scarf down.
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Mini Bell Pepper Tacos- serves two
Ingredients:
-5 mini bell peppers (get colorful!)
-1 and 1/2 cup Mexican Chorizo- (substitute ground turkey or beef or don’t use any meat!)
-8 oz. canned black beans, rinsed
-4 oz. canned green chilies
-1 red onion, chopped finely
-1/2 zucchini, chopped finely
-1/2 tomato, chopped finely
-1/2 avocado
-1 tsp. taco seasoning
-arugula
-olive oil
-salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450. On a small baking sheet, place the peppers (stems and all) and some olive oil, salt and pepper, and let bake until they start to blacken. This should take at least 10 minutes.
2. While you are baking those, slice up your vegetables. In a large sauté pan, add the onions first and let them cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the zucchini, tomato, taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Let cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add in the chorizo or not, if you’re vegetarian. Cover this and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes. My chorizo was frozen so I had to do a quick de-thawing. That’s why it still looks like a brick!
4. When all the meat is cooked through and everything is brown, add the beans and chilies. Drain them first if they are canned. Stir everything together and take off the heat.
5. Take out the peppers and let cool. Pull off the stems, slice them in half and take the seeds out.
6. On a large plate, place a bed of arugula and then the peppers on top. Stuff the peppers with the chorizo mixture and place some extra on the side with the sliced avocado. Beautiful, Colorful and Delish! Like the look of these? Check out another stuffed pepper recipe here!
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As I said in my last blog post, if you fail to plan, then plan to fail. I gave myself (and Andy) a break this week and ordered from Hello Fresh. I had never heard of the company before but one of the clients I housesit for gets a delivery every Saturday and I was curious to see what it was all about. I did some research and found out that Jamie Oliver is the chef that the company works with to provide clean, fresh and fast meals that you make yourself using the simple recipe book that comes in your box. You can choose from vegetarian boxes, meat dishes and even family boxes for those of you with more mouths to feed.
There are many options but basically I chose to get my delivery every other week (you can also do once a week or once a month) and it comes with three meals to feed two people. The portion size is perfect, and I could tell as soon as I opened my box up that I was going to enjoy the meals immensely. The first box continued Vegetarian Bibimbap, Salsa Spaghetti with black olives and fresh basil and a Sweet Potato Bake! I mean talk about giving me some great ideas for this here blog! The boxes are about $70 a piece but come with EVERYTHING you need. From small bottles of Colavita olive oil to soy sauce and FRESH produce it doesn’t get any better than this.
Salsa Spaghetti.
Andy gave me hell for getting this box by the way. He doesn’t think it’s appropriate for a chef to be getting a food delivery but I look at it this way; it’s one less trip to the grocery store, (or if you’re like me, three trips since I usually shop for meals individually) it’s convenient because it’s delivered to my door and on the day I choose, and we get a little break from racking our brains as to what to make for dinner that we haven’t had before. Hello Fresh allows you to choose from their recipes or you can be surprised and let them choose. I like the element of surprise since there are so few surprises left in life, ya know? So we came to a compromise that I would only get the box every other week instead of each week, and that on the other days when I don’t feel like being creative, I can go to the store and buy whatever ingredients that I want and Andy will surprise me with his creation! It’s a win win situation for me… not sure about him…! OH! Use code CKUCXU to receive your first Hello Fresh box for just $20!
Veggie Bibimbap.
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Before I sign off, let’s hit the books! I just finished reading A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold who was responsible for the Columbine school shootings. This book is intense, for she wrote it amid all the hateful things people have said and done to her in the aftermath of Columbine. I felt really sorry for Sue who clearly loved her son and raised him to be a loving son in return, not a hateful and depressed teen who would later kill others and then ultimately, himself. I applaud Sue for her bravery in writing this book and I cannot believe she continues to be blamed for her son’s actions, which were not her own.
And… I’m currently listening to the new edition of Marcia Cross’ Without a Doubt, a memoir of her time spend as the lead prosecutor on the O.J. Simpson case. In Clark’s opinion, the prosecution’s mountain of evidence should have convicted Simpson 20 times over; that it did not, she says, attests to a judicial system wracked by race and overly impressed by celebrity. It is so fascinating and she is super spunky and uses very colorful language when describing O.J., which I LOVE!
Happy Mother’s Day to all you mamas out there! And don’t forget to call your Ma on Sunday because you’ll surely hear about it for ages if you don’t!
Me and my Ma.