Staying healthy
These 4 recipes can help you keep those 2024 resolutions
GINGER PINEAPPLE SALMON BURGER
Everyone knows they should eat more fish on a weekly basis, and one of the healthiest choices is salmon. This fairly simple preparation involves turning fresh fillets into patties that work just as well on top of a salad as they do tucked into a bun or sandwich. Fresh ginger, Dijon mustard, peach jam and a splash of hot sauce add a slightly tangy-sweet flavor. I used packaged pre-cooked brown rice to speed things along.
Makes: 6 servings
⅓ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup roughly chopped green onions (light and green parts)
3 garlic cloves
1 -inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons peach jam
1 teaspoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon miso paste
1 pound skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1 -inch pieces
½ cup ground flax seeds
½ cup pineapple, diced small
½ cup cooked short-grain brown rice, cooled
Sea salt to taste
Vegetable cooking spray
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons miso paste
Juice and zest of 1 lime
¼ cup warm water
Handful of mixed greens, for serving 6 toasted buns, for serving
1 . Preheat oven to 4 2 5 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2 . In bowl of food processor, pulse cilantro, green onions, garlic, ginger, mustard, peach jam, hot sauce, chili powder and miso paste until finely chopped and almost like a paste.
3 . Add salmon and pulse until roughly chopped (be sure the fish isn’t too finely ground).
4 . Transfer salmon mixture to large bowl and gently fold in flaxseed, pineapple and brown rice. Season with salt. Form into six patties, place on prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 0 minutes.
5 . Remove the patties from fridge and spray tops with vegetable oil. Bake for 2 0 -2 5 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown, opaque and cooked through.
6 . Make sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the miso paste, sesame oil, lime juice and zest and warm water until smooth.
7 . Place a salmon patty on top of each bun, drizzle with sauce and serve immediately
— Recipe adapted from “Running on Veggies” by Lottie Bildirici
Many of us start a new year by promising ourselves we’ll do better — save more money, perhaps, or lose those extra pounds by starting an exercise program. During the holiday season, eating healthier is also high on the list of New Year’s resolutions. Giving up alcohol after the excesses of December — a popular trend known as Dry or Damp January — is often a simple first step since it’s easy to find other ways to hydrate. (Really!) It’s everything else you put on the table at mealtime that can be vexing.
We all know we should eat more vegetables, for example, but it often can be difficult to work the four
or five portions a day the USDA recommends for adults into a daily diet if you’re not a huge salad eater. Two to three servings of fish a week can also seem challenging if you don’t count frozen fish sticks, which when breaded and fried are high in both sodium and calories.
Occasionally eating more plantbased protein and fewer animal products is also better for both our and our planet’s health. And after all the sweets America as a whole consumes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, goodness knows a little less sugar wouldn’t hurt.
To give you a gentle push in the right direction, we’ve assembled a few good-for-you recipes to add to your weekly rotation. All are easy and inexpensive to prepare, and will appeal to kids as well as adults. They include a vegetable lasagna packed with pepper, zucchini and fresh spinach; a foolproof baked salmon burger that gets a bright and zesty punch of flavor from fresh ginger, miso and pineapple; and a crispy rice salad topped with lightly fried tofu, a versatile protein powerhouse that’s cholesterol free and rich in calcium.
When you need a sweet snack or bit of dessert to release endorphins, those chemicals that make us feel good, a low-sugar chocolate chip cookie sweetened with mashed banana should hit the spot.
This protein-rich salad combines lightly fried tofu with crispy rice and fresh spinach tossed in a zesty soy sauce-based marinade.
1 ½ cups cooked long-grain white rice 4 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Neutral oil, such as vegetable or grapeseed, for drizzling
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 green onions, sliced
3 tablespoons chopped peanuts
1 bunch fresh spinach, stems removed, torn into bite-sized pieces
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
Don’t know what to do with those overripe bananas? These guilt-free, low-sugar treats are a cookie version of banana bread.
Makes: About 1 5 cookies 1 cup white whole wheat flour ¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Lime wedges, for garnish
1 . Place cooked rice in a large bowl.
2 . Heat a large skillet (that has a lid) over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Add the peppers and shallots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 0 seconds. Transfer veggies to the bowl with the rice. Stir together. 3 . Cut block of tofu into thirds crosswise, then cut each piece crosswise again, and then into ½ -inch pieces. Pat dry with paper towels.
4 . Heat remaining 2 tablespoons coconut oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high. When oil is shimmering and slides across surface of pan, carefully add tofu in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown underneath, 4 -5 minutes. Flip each piece over and continue to cook until browned on second side, another 4 minutes. Transfer tofu to plate, leaving oil in pan.
5 . Place the skillet back over medium-high ¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup mashed ripe banana (about ½ small)
1 tablespoon milk
⅓ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped
1 . In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In separate bowl, stir together coconut oil or butter, vanilla, banana and milk. Stir in milk and chocolate chip bits. 2. Add flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. (It will be sticky.) Chill dough for 1 5 minutes.
3 . Heat oven to 3 5 0 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.
4 . Drop cookie dough by the teaspoons onto the prepared sheet, and flatten with your fingers or a spatula. (The batter will not melt.) 5 . Bake in hot oven for 1 0 -1 2 minutes. (The centers should still feel a little soft and underdone.) Let rest on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
TOFFEE
Makes: About 3 pounds
1 cup raw whole almonds or pecans 1 pound unsalted butter
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 2 ounces)
1 . Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 3 5 0 degrees.
2 . Arrange 1 cup whole almonds or pecans in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and finely chop when cool.
3. Use wrappers from 1 pound unsalted butter to grease edges and rim of same rimmed baking sheet and sides of a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Line bottom of the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and place on a heatproof surface.
4 . Place the butter, 2 ½ cups granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon kosher salt in the saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is almost melted completely, stir gently with a wooden spoon, being careful not to splash the edges with the sugar.
5 . Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer to the pan and cook until the mixture darkens to a light caramel color or the color of peanut butter, and reaches 2 9 5 to 3 0 0 degrees, 1 7 to 2 1 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally to break up any hot spots and to emulsify the butter and sugar. After every stir, rinse the wooden spoon well to remove all sugar crystals so the candy mixture doesn’t seed. If you notice sugar crystals around the edge of the pan above the syrup, brush those areas with a damp pastry brush.
6 . Immediately pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Let cool until the bubbles subside and the toffee begins to set, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (careful, the baking sheet will still be very hot). Let sit until softened and melted, about 5 minutes. Use an offset metal spatula or a silicone spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer. Sprinkle with the nuts, pressing gently into the chocolate.
7 . Let cool completely at room temperature, at least 3 hours. If the chocolate does not harden at room temperature, refrigerate for 2 0 minutes once the toffee is completely cool. Use your hands or a chef’s knife to break the toffee into large pieces.
Gifting a batch of homemade toffee is the ultimate way to impress your friends and family. The best part: No one has to know how easy it really is. If you can melt butter and read a thermometer, you can make toffee. In this recipe, you’ll learn how to make buttery toffee from scratch, complete with a layer of rich chocolate and finely chopped nuts that’s better than anything you can buy.
Toffee is a candy made by cooking butter and sugar to the upper limit of the soft crack stage (295 to 300 degrees), then cooled in a thin layer until crunchy. Toffee has rich, buttery caramel flavors and is often topped with chocolate and chopped nuts. Ingredients in homemade toffee include the following.
Granulated sugar: Heating sugar develops caramel-like flavors and aromas (thanks to the Maillard reaction). The candy’s texture is directly related to the temperature to which the sugar is cooked.
Unsalted butter: Butter adds richness and dairy flavor to toffee and keeps the candy from sticking to the teeth.
Kosher salt: Even candy needs a bit of salt for balance and to bring out the nuance of caramel flavors.
Chocolate: Sprinkle semisweet chocolate chips evenly over the toffee and let the residual heat from the candy melt the chocolate. A mini offset spatula is one of my favorite kitchen tools, and it works like a dream to spread the chocolate into an even layer.
Nuts: Almonds and pecans provide a nutty crunchy to the top of homemade toffee. Start with raw, whole nuts and toast them in the oven until fragrant.
WHAT IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CARAMEL AND TOFFEE?
The biggest difference is texture. The texture of caramel can range from a thick caramel sauce to chewy candy, but toffee is always hard and crunchy.
Caramel candies: Melt sugar into a syrup either with a bit of water (wet caramel) or without (dry caramel) and flavor with cream, butter and vanilla extract. Soft and chewy caramel candies are cooked to the firm ball stage (245 to 250 degrees).
Toffee: Cook butter and sugar together to the upper limit of the soft crack stage (between 295 and 300 degrees), then pour it into a pan to quickly cool into a crunchy candy.
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY SUGAR SYRUP IS READY?
The easiest way to know when sugar syrup is ready is to use a candy or deep-fry thermometer. For toffee, heat sugar and butter until the sugar is caramelized and reaches the upper end of the soft crack stage (295 to 300 degrees).
If you don’t have a candy or deep-fry thermometer, you can use the cold-water test to determine if the syrup is ready. Once the candy approaches the desired hue — light caramel, or the color of peanut butter — drizzle a small amount of the syrup into a cup of ice water.
Let the syrup cool for 10 seconds in the water, then check the texture. If the candy snaps rather than bends, it’s ready to take off the heat.
WHY DOES TOFFEE SEPARATE?
Toffee fails when the candy seizes and the butter separates from the cooked sugar. Here are some common trouble spots and how to fix them.
Heat too high: Cook the candy over medium heat and do not try to speed up the process by raising the heat. It may take it longer to reach the desired temperature, but there’s less risk of separation.
Uneven heating: Using a heavy-bottomed pan (my favorite saucepan for candy-making) helps distribute more heat evenly than thinner pots. Stirring the mixture periodically helps to break up hot spots.