Recipe of the Week: Grandma’s Green Spaghettis

Grandma’s Green Spaghettis

My grandmother makes a dish my cousins, sister and I all love called “Tallarines Verdes” translated as “Green Spaghettis” which is originally a delicious Peruvian dish I have yet to see anyone NOT enjoy. I am sharing my version of this recipe aka the healthier, lower sodium and starch content version. Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

•Fresh Basil – 1 bunch

•Fresh Spinach –1/2 bunch

•Low fat Mozzarella – 1 cup chopped

•Garlic – 3/4 tbsp chopped

•Olive oil – 1 tbsp

•Himalayan Salt and pepper to taste

•Wheat pasta – 1 box of wheat spaghetti

•Chicken – 4 thin breast cutlets

•Garlic Powder

•Onion Powder

•Mrs. Dash table blend

Chicken (cooking time 20-25 minutes)

1. Season chicken with Mrs. Dash table blend, garlic powder, onion powder salt and pepper

2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

3. ¼ tbsp of olive oil on baking sheet. Place cutlets on the sheet and bake equal amount of time on each side

4. Once cooked slice chicken into thin strips

Wheat Spaghetti

1. Boil water with drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of Himalayan salt. Once water is boiling place wheat pasta for 9-10 minutes depending on your liking of al-dente. Remove pasta when ready, drain water, rinse pasta in cold water, drain again and leave in pot.

2. Thoroughly wash all leaves

3. Place spinach, basil and mozzarella, 1/4 tbsp of olive oil in blender. Blend thoroughly may need more olive oil.

4. Heat saucepan on low medium heat with ¾ tbsp of olive oil, 3/4 tbsp of chopped garlic for 2 minutes.  Once garlic is browned add what’s in the blender to sauce pan. Should be on low-medium heat. Cook this sauce for 10-12 minutes, adding Him. salt and pepper to taste while stirring occasionally.

5. Serve pasta with desired amount of sauce. Add Chicken slices

*I love to add a teeny bit of Pecorino Romano cheese on top. Entirely up to you. Enjoy!*

How To Juice

Let’s face it; most of you don’t have the time to load up on the recommended daily vegetable and fruit intake even though the benefits of doing so are beyond rewarding. It’s this very reason that I began my juicing journey last year and am living proof that it’s beneficial in numerous ways, which is why I share information about it with all of you. Your workload may not leave time for much meal planning and can handicap your choices IF you let it. Why not get your daily vitamin intake in one cup of juice? It’s easier than you think!  So here’s the big question: How to Juice? Before discussing How to juice let’s recap why it’s great for you.

• Fresh vegetable/ fruit juice alkalizes the body.
• Juicing detoxifies and helps clear skin
• Easy on the digestive tract because the nutrients and fibers are extracted therefore the important stuff is absorbed quickly heading straight into your bloodstream!
• One cup of juice allows you to consume a variety of fruits and vegetables in one serving!

Let’s answer your How To Juice question!

Step 1: Pick a Juicer

No silly not a high powdered blender! There is a difference (read my previous post). I mean a juicer, a power packed life-saving machine that will extract pulp from the actual juice so you can enjoy a nice refreshing drink not a smoothie! Some machines are pricy, I know, but you can find great deals on Macys.com, Amazon or EBay. I don’t suggest the more expensive $400 range machines for beginners. There are some great less expensive machines that will get the job done. Ask around and more importantly READ reviews.

Step 2: Pick Your Choice of Produce

Now remember two things when you are learning this how to juice step:

1. Since juicing extracts the actual juice from the pulp the entire makeup of the juice goes straight into your bloodstream and is absorbed rather quickly. Because of this let’s steer clear of fruits that are high in sugar! The point is healthier living so as yummy as a pure fruit juice is I suggest increasing the vegetable ingredients and stick to fruits like grapefruits and green apples or lemons and limes which are great alkalizes. Also, there are some great tasting vegetables (beets and carrots) that will compensate for the sweet taste. Honestly, my suggestion is the greener the juice the better. Not only will green juices kick start your energy for the day but it will definitely help on the cleansing/detoxifying front.
2. Now the second thing to remember when learning how to juice: produce goes bad quickly so plan accordingly. Don’t over-buy and then be left with having to throw away produce. I always suggest organic fruits and veggies because they are likely to contain less (not completely free of) pesticides and whatever other chemical the farmer decided to spray that day!

Step 3: Washing and Prepping

You have the two most important components: your juicer and your ingredients! Let’s take this time to wash and prep our produce ridding them of all the chemicals they may contain. Some farmers markets and stores sell organic fruit/veggie wash or you can fill a bowl with 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water to effectively clean your ingredients. The great thing about juicing is most fruits and vegetables don’t need to be peeled or de-stemmed! They can be chopped and thrown in the juicer as is once they are cleaned.  Fruits such as: oranges, lemons and limes however should be peeled beforehand unless you’d like a tall glass of juice that’s bitter and full of zest! Lastly, put a small baggie in the part of the juicer where the pulp and remains go. When you are done juicing you can simply remove the baggie and toss it in the trash! This will save you time in step 5.

Step 4: Juice the Goods

This one is easy. Throw in all your fruits/veggies and enjoy! A very important fact in our How to Juice lesson today is to drink your juice within 5 minutes of making it because the nutrients oxidize rather quickly.

Step 5: Clean Components

You can rinse the components off and throw them in a dishwasher or wash them by hand. I HIGHLY recommend cleaning up once you are done because some of the fruits/veggies can get sticky or even stain the components making it hard to clean later. Yea yea this is the sucky part about this whole deal BUT just as any lifestyle change once the habit is created believe me you will get this done in no time and it will be like second nature.

Final Step 6: Define Your Juicing Plan

The last step in our How to Juice lesson is this. When? Where? How? Pick the time of the day you are usually free so the chances of you actually committing to this plan can be actualized. Let’s not add this to the “What I say I’m going to do but never do” list. What I do suggest to most clients is this: Try drinking your juice when you first wakeup. Why? Your digestive tract is empty so you are allowing your juice to detox, cleanse, alkalize and kick start your metabolism and digestion effectively. Wait about 30-45 minutes and have breakfast! I don’t know about you but it takes more than a glass of juice to fill me up so I don’t normally suggest drinking a juice as a meal replacement but be my guest.

Now that you know how to juice I’m excited for you to overwhelm that kitchen counter of yours BUT if you are afraid of commitment I understand.  Try visiting a few local juice bars and try out a few different recipes. BUT choose a juice bar where they make the juice right then and there so it’s fresh. Make sure it has not been pre-made. Once you are ready put these how to juice steps into practice!