Asparagus & Chicken Stir-Fried

A wonderful addition to your Healthy Lifestyle Way of Eating, the asparagus and chicken combination in this recipe is It not only tastes great but you will be helping to fulfill Daily Values for health-promoting nutrients such as vitamin K (140%), niacin (88%), and protein (78%). Enjoy!

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
•1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced medium thick
•3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
•1 TBS chicken broth
•1 TBS minced fresh ginger
•1 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
•1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups when cut)
•2 TBS soy sauce
•1 TBS rice vinegar
•pinch red chili flakes
•salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:
1.Cut onion and mince garlic
2.Heat 1 TBS broth in a stainless steel wok or 12-inch skillet. Add onion to broth cook for about 2 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
3.Add ginger, garlic, chicken, and continue to stir-fry for another 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
4.Add asparagus, soy sauce, vinegar, and red chili flakes. Stir together and cover. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. This may have to cook for an extra couple minutes if the asparagus is thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
You may have to vary the cooking time of the asparagus according to its thickness. Discard the bottom fourth of the asparagus spears as they are woody and fibrous.

Enjoy over brown rice, soba noodles or seaweed salad.

Raw Kale Avocado Salad

•1/2 avocado*
•1 head kale, shredded
•1 cup tomato, chopped
•Juice from 1/2 lemon
•1-2 tablespoons olive oil
•Sea salt, to taste (1/4 – 1/2 t)
•1-2 sheets untoasted nori (snip up with scissors into little bits)
•Optional toppings/garnish: raisins, pine nuts, hemp seed nuts, sesame seeds

*1/2 avocado in this recipe serves as a dressing, additional sliced or cubed avocado can be added.

Preparation
In mixing bowl, toss all ingredients with only half the cup of tomato, mash all ingredients together (with hands)garnish with remaining half cup of tomato and garnish of your choice. Enjoy!

Garlic Shrimp Salad
Enjoy this delicious shrimp salad as part of your healthy life styles way of eating. It makes a great light meal on its own, or you can serve it as a side salad to a larger meal. Rich in health-promoting nutrients you will receive 60% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C, 56% DV for protein, 53% DV for vitamin K, and 44% DV for folate and much more. Enjoy! Bon Appetit! Buen Provecho!

Prep and Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
•3 TBS vegetable broth
•4 medium cloves garlic, pressed
•small head of romaine lettuce, chopped
•1 fresh tomato, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
•salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
•1 lb medium-sized cooked shrimp, best bought still frozen
•1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces, discarding bottom fourth
•3 TBS chopped fresh parsley (or 3 tsp dried parsley if fresh not available)

Dressing
•1 tsp honey
•1 TBS Dijon mustard
•3 TBS fresh lemon juice
•2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
•salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:
Press or thinly slice garlic. Make sure shrimp is completely thawed and patted dry with a paper towel, or it will dilute the flavor of the salad. Add broth to medium skillet and after it has heated up, add asparagus and sauté for 5 minutes.
Whisk together lemon, oil, mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss shrimp, asparagus, parsley, and tomato with dressing and herbs. Allow shrimp salad to marinate for at least 15 minutes. Discard outer leaves of lettuce head, rinse, dry, and chop. Serve shrimp mixture on bed of lettuce. Enjoy! Bon Appetit! Buen Provecho!

Healthy Cooking Tips:
Buying shrimp that is still frozen will ensure that it will be as fresh as possible. Because all shrimp comes frozen in stores once they have thawed they lose their freshness very quickly. This recipe was created to be very quick and easy, so we added already cooked shrimp to the ingredient list. If you have the time, obviously it would have better flavor if the shrimp was raw and you cooked it yourself. It is very important either way to make sure the shrimp is patted dry. Otherwise it will dilute the flavor of your salad. Also, if you plan ahead, this salad will taste even better if it marinates for a couple of hours. It's easiest to cut the bunch of asparagus at the same time. Just line up ends, cut off the bottom fourth (which is fibrous) and cut rest into 1-inch pieces.

Turkey Chef Salad
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
•4 oz Kalamata olives
•½ cup shredded carrots
•¾ lb cubed turkey breast
•1½ lb mixed salad greens
•4 oz {your favorite} cheese
•1 medium avocado, cut into cubes
•½ red onion or shallot sliced thinly
•1½ basket cherry tomatoes, cut in half
•1/2 cup fresh basil leaves torn into pieces
•1 small jar of prepared roasted peppers (about 7 oz)
•Dressing
•2 TBS balsamic vinegar
•2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
•Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:
Rinse and dry all salad greens. Drying is best done in a salad spinner. Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper and drizzle on top of salad.

Enjoy! Bon Appetit! Buen Provecho!

Poached Huevos Rancheros

Prep and Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
•prepared salsa
•about 4 cups water
•2 tsp ground cumin
•1 large avocado, cubed
•1 medium onion, minced
•1-1/2 TBS red chili powder
•2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
•salt and black pepper to taste
2 cans of black beans, drained
•2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
•4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
•4 chicken eggs, preferably organic
•3 + 1 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
•1 tsp apple cider vinegar, or any other light vinegar


Directions:
1.Mince onion and chop garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting benefits.
2.Bring water and vinegar to a light boil in a shallow pan. Make sure there is enough water to cover eggs.
3.In a separate stainless steel skillet, heat 1 TBS broth. Healthy Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 3 minutes stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic, beans, red chili powder, cumin, and rest of broth while egg water is coming to a boil. Cook beans for about 10 minutes on medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Add cilantro, salt, and pepper.
4.To poach eggs, crack into water and cook about 5 minutes, just until the white is set and the yolk have filmed over. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place eggs over beans. Serve with salsa, shredded romaine lettuce, and avocado.

Enjoy! Bon Appétit! Buen provecho!

Barley
Barley is a wonderfully versatile cereal grain with a rich nutlike flavor and an appealing chewy, pasta-like consistency. Its appearance resembles wheat berries, although it is slightly lighter in color. Barleyis a very good source of fiber and selenium, and a good source of phosphorus, copper and manganese.

Barley is an excellent food choice for those concerned about type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes because the grain contains essential vitamins and minerals and is an excellent source of dietary fiber, particularly beta-glucan soluble fiber.

Basic Baked Barley
Servings 4-6 {seem like too much? Half the recipe or freeze extra barley, thawing/cooking frozen barley as you would frozen vegetables
Cooking time:1 hour

Ingredients
•1 cup hulled barley
•2 cups boiling water
•1 teaspoon kosher salt
•1 tablespoon canola oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the barley into a 1 1/2-quart ceramic or pyrex baking dish (with a lid) and add the oil, salt and boiling water. Stir to combine. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and place the lid on top of the foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the cover, fluff with a fork and serve immediately.

Barley Salad
Servings 6
Prep: 10-15 minutes {if you cooked barley ahead of time}

Ingredients
•Basic Baked Barley recipe
•1 small red onion, thinly sliced
•1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
•2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
•1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
•1 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
•1 sweet red, orange or yellow pepper, chopped small
•½ cup cooked shelled edemame, lima beans or sweet peas
•1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted {add in just before serving}

DRESSING:
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon pepper
•1 tablespoon lemon juice
•1 tablespoon grain mustard
•2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
•3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the barley, vegetables and dressing, toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, stir in almonds. Yields: 6 servings.