Meals for the Week of November 14, 2011

Sweet Potato Pie with Italian Meringue (recipe is below!)

I know I'm starting right off the bat with a photo of a sinful (but delicious!) pie, it happens to be made with sweet potato, so let's take a minute to talk about the foods that are in season in the fall.

Sweet Potato- Super rich in Vitamin A, good source of Vitamin C and Beta-Carotene.  And apparently with the inclusion of a bit of fat, like a few teaspoons of olive oil, helps increase the intake of the beta-carotene in the sweet potato.  Just oven bake or steam some, mash with the olive oil and season with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Simple and delicious!

Butternut Squash-  As with all winter squash, butternut squash is also rich in Vitamin A and beta-carotene and it's got a good amount of Vitamin C and potassium.  Another interesting thing to note is that there are some good anti-oxidants in winter squash as well as omega-3's.  It's not as high in omega-3's like nuts or fish, but it's a good low-fat source of omega-3's.

Kale- I actually see Kale year round, but I'm in California.  However, my CSA box delivers kale to me right now, so I consider that to be the more accurate season for it.  Kale is like the mother of all green vegetables.  It scores 1000 on the ANDI which is the highest score and means it's the most nutrient dense food.  It has antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients and anti-cancer nutrients.  In other words; Good Stuff.  Other greens like collard also score 1000, so eating these 4 to 5 times a week is ideal to get a healthy serving of all the great nutrients.

I've had a lot of recipes for all of these lately, so I wanted to just give a little nutritional information so you can have an idea of what these yummy foods can do for your health.

This week I included some more recipes you may want to consider for your holiday table.  I also tried to find some more kid-friendly and meatless recipes.

Meals for the Week of November 14, 2011

Burger Sliders- Fun for kids and inexpensive to make.  Use ground turkey instead of beef if you prefer.  Serve with sweet potato fries and a salad.

Baked Southwestern Tilapia- Simple and flavorful, ready in under 15 minutes.

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti- A simple and delicious meatless meal. 

Glazed Pork Chops- Pork can be very lean and the center cut pork chops are especially lean.  This recipe uses a method where you cook the chops hot and fast, remove them, make a sauce in the pan and then add the chops back in for a few more minutes.  It’s a cooking method you can apply in so many ways.  Fancy, but so easy! 

Quick Chicken Tacos- This comes together really quickly which makes it perfect for a weeknight.  You can either keep some cooked chicken on hand in the freezer (which I often do) or use this recipe next time you have a leftover roasted chicken.

Chicken Tortilla Soup- Very easy to make and also a good meal for making in advance.  If you’d prefer the soup to remain more like a broth and not thickened by tortillas, then don’t add the tortillas in the first step.  Just have tortilla chips to garnish it with.

Curried Cous Cous with Broccoli and Feta- A filling meatless entrée that is packed with fiber and good vitamins.  It can also be a side dish in a smaller portion and perfect to pack for lunch.  I suggest sautéing the onions in a little olive oil to sweeten them if you want to cut down on the strong raw onion flavor.

Butternut Macaroni Casserole- It’s mac and cheese with a fall twist.  But it’s actually a great meatless dish, and it’s not loaded with cream and cheese, it uses coconut milk instead.  Just add a side of green veggies or a salad.  I just shared this recipe in October, but it’s worth sharing again. 

A-Plus Alphabet Soup- A kid-friendly, inexpensive and healthy meal. 

Curried Squash & Chicken Soup- You can control the heat with adding a little of the red curry paste at a time, a little goes a long way.  I found a jar of paste made by Thai Kitchen in the Asian food section of the supermarket.   The recipe is written to serve 2, but you can easily just double it to serve more or to have leftovers for lunch.

Sauteed Kale with Tahini Sauce- Another delicious way to enjoy nutrient rich kale.  She even suggests this as a green veggie side dish for the holidays. 

Butternut Squash Gratin- Delicious for the holiday or any fall meal.  It comes together very easily. 

Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt- This is my own creation, a variation on a recipe I found and decided to try using higher-protein Greek Yogurt.  If you are a fan of All Things Pumpkin, you will enjoy this!

Sweet Potato Pie with Italian Meringue- This is from my sister’s blog.  If you make this for the holidays you will be a rock star.  It’s really good.  It’s different from sweet potato pie recipes that have pumpkin pie spice.  This is pure sweet potato with a hint of orange and topped with fancy marshmallow fluff.