Italian-Indian Fusion Breakfast Burrito

I love the idea of breakfast for dinner.  Nick and I eat eggs for dinner probably twice a week.  That being said, the concept of a breakfast burrito is sort of like eating dinner for breakfast.  I mean, yes, there are eggs, which are typically found in breakfast foods, but burritos are typically eaten at lunch or dinner.  Typically.

Imagine eating a Chipotle burrito for breakfast.  Ok, that might be pushing it a bit.  As I've mentioned in the recent past, breakfast is important (you knew this) but it may also be important to make sure you aren't just "Breaking your fast" but instead that you are eating a substantial amount of calories while doing so.  Research is showing that not only is breakfast important but that it might be best to make it the largest meal of the day ( that is, instead of lunch or dinner, which is when most people have as their largest meals).  There was a recent study that showed women with metabolic syndrome lost more weight over a three month period when they consumed 50% of their calories at breakfast, vs. those who consumed 50% at lunch (all calorie consumption was the same for both groups; 1400/day).  Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about the importance of including at least 30 grams of protein at breakfast? Many of you were floored with this high amount of protein because it's not possible to reach that amount without eating a large amount of calories. But the reason why it seems like a lot is because most Americans are used to eating very small breakfasts, with very little protein, and then consuming the majority of their calories in the late afternoon and evening hours (I won't lie, I'm still working on reversing this habit myself).

It's time for all of us to reverse that trend.  Let's start with a breakfast burrito.

Italian-Indian Fusion Breakfast Burrito

Source: Substitute Yourself Skinny

Serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fennel
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup chopped broccoli **
1/8 tsp. salt
2 eggs and 1 egg white, beaten
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp. fresh chives
1/2 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
2 medium whole wheat tortillas (9-inches) **

** NOTE: If you are following a low FODMAPs diet, the broccoli and the whole wheat tortillas might be an issue.  For most people the amount of broccoli in this dish shouldn't cause problems (typically 1/2-cup or less is tolerated well).  As for the tortilla, you can use a gluten-free variety instead.

Directions

1.  In a medium saute pan over medium heat, heat the oil.  Add the fennel and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli and salt.  Saute until tender, about 5 minutes more.

2.  Transfer the veggies to a bowl, and set aside.  Scramble the eggs until just cooked, adding the turmeric about halfway into the cooking process (and incorporating well).  Equally divide all the ingredients, including the eggs, veggies, basil, chives and cheese, among two tortillas.

3.  Fold and enjoy!

Just a side note, the original recipe called for onions, but I used fennel.  I don't eat onions so fennel seemed like a good (but slightly odd) substitute.  In my opinion, it worked.  If you haven't tried fennel, you must.  It might sound like strange ingredient for a breakfast burrito (because, it is) but sometimes it pays to take food risks!

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1 burrito

Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  Good source of iron, excellent source of fiber, protein, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

The turmeric did a nice job of turning the eggs orange.  Pretty, no?

QUESTION:  Have you tried fennel? Have you ever made an Italian-Indian fusion dish??

I hope you had a nice weekend and have an even nicer week.  Happy Monday, and thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Zucchini Polenta Pie (Meatless Monday)

Surprise!  Another zucchini recipe.  You're not sick of zucchini yet, right? Good, because I've got more where this comes from.  But don't worry, soon enough you'll be getting some butternut squash recipes, since that's the next big harvest from our garden.  The good news is that if you don't like zucchini (you're crazy) you can use eggplant in this recipe or yellow squash.  In all reality, the plethora of tastes and flavor combinations in this dish really made it unique, and almost impossible to even taste the zucchini.  I might even add more the next time I make it, because, I love the stuff (even after having been chowing down on it for a month now).

Zucchini Polenta Pie
Gluten Free

Source

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced **

2 medium zucchinis, chopped

2 cups crushed tomatoes (I used to cups chopped roma tomatoes)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. garlic powder **

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 cup black olives, sliced

1-14 oz. can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup cornmeal

3 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried basil (or fresh)

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

** NOTE: If you are following a low FODMAPs diet, omit the onion and the garlic powder, and use a garlic or Tuscan-infused olive oil to add those flavors back.

Directions

1.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and saute onions for 5 minutes.

2.  Add zucchini and saute, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until slightly softened.

3.  Add crushed tomatoes, water, garlic powder, salt and red peppers flakes to the onion and zucchini mixture and stir until mixed.  Then add in the olives and beans, and stir until thoroughly mixed.

4.  Cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally (~10 minutes)

5.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

6.  In a small saucepan, bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a coil then slowly whisk in cornmeal and salt, constantly stirring until polenta thickens (~10-12 minutes).

7.  Lightly oil 2 1/2 quart baking dish with olive oil and pour in zucchini mixture.  Spoon polenta over mixture and spread evenly.  

8.  Top with mozzarella cheese and basil and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until cheese has lightly browned.

9.  Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1/4th of dish
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  Good source of vitamin A and calcium, excellent source of fiber, iron and vitamin C

You know those moments when you just want to dive into something, even though you know it's piping hot?!  I had one of those moments when I took this out of the oven.  I restrained myself, barely.

After about ten minutes I cut myself a piece and went to town.  There were three ingredients in this pie that were homegrown; zucchini, tomato and basil.  Wonderful!  One of these days the cheese will be from our cows and the corn meal will be from our corn.  No.  Not true.  We live in Ohio, but no farms around here.

QUESTION:  Which food can't you get enough of this summer?  Will you miss it when summer ends, or will you continue to buy it "out of season"?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Nick and I started watching Breaking Bad last week and between hanging out with friends this weekend, walking in the Central Ohio Heart Walk, and doing a ton of yard work, managed to watch a few more episodes on Netflix.  I'm obsessed. We're only just now finishing season one and I can't believe we have four more seasons to go.  I have never "binge watched" a show like this before (other than Fringe, and Seinfeld, I suppose) and it's so addicting.  Do you have any favorite shows you've been into lately??

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Clean Eating's No-Bake Zucchini Lasagna (Gluten Free and Vegan)

When I first saw this recipe for zucchini lasagna in the March 2013 issue of Clean Eating Magazine, I thought it was....well.... cooked. After all, why would it be raw? That just didn't make sense to me.  I quickly scanned the recipe and noticed there was zero heat involved.....and indeed it was a raw lasagna (well, not all the ingredients are technically "raw", I suppose, ex: the nutritional yeast).  I showed Nick the recipe and he cringed.  That's fine, he's pretty great at trying most of the things I make, but this recipe just wasn't calling his name (plus anything with nutritional yeast in it is an automatic "no, no" for him).  I'm typically a fan of eating things really hot so to be honest I was hesitant about this recipe for a while myself, but let me tell you, I am so glad I ended up making it.  It was amazing!

No-Bake Zucchini Lasagna 

Vegan, Gluten-Free

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup salted cashews **

1 clove garlic, chopped **

1/8 cup fresh lemon juice

1.5 cups cherry or grape tomatoes

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Medjool date, pitted **

1/2 tsp ground oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. dried rosemary

3 to 4 zucchini, trimmed, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise

2 to 3 beefsteak tomatoes, thinly sliced widthwise

1/4 cup pitted black olives

2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

Directions

1.  Prepare the "cheese" first.  In a small food processor or powerful blender combine the cashews, garlic and salt; process into a fine powder.  Add the lemon juice and 1/8 cup water to process until thick and creamy (**Note, if you use peanuts this may not blend quite as well.  My "cheese" was a bit chunky, but still very tasty when eaten together with the rest of the ingredients in this recipe!)

2.  Prepare the sauce in a blender by combining all the sauce ingredients; tomatoes, EVOO, date, oregano, salt and rosemary.

3.  Just before serving, arrange the lasagna on individual serving plates: Spread half of the zucchini over bottom, followed by half the tomatoes, "cheese", sauce and olives.  Repeat with remaining half ingredients, dividing evenly.  Sprinkle nutritional yeast over each serving. Enjoy!

**NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPS use peanuts instead of cashews, and use garlic or tuscan-infused olive oil instead of plain olive oil (and omit the garlic).  Also, keep in mind that dates contain FODMAPs, but the one date in this recipe shouldn't cause any problems.

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1-serving
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  Good source of fiber, protein, and vitamin A, excellent source of vitamin C and iron.

I'm sure you're wondering how the heck I cut into this bad boy.

With a sharp knife, and fork, of course.

And yes, it was messy. Juices flowing everywhere.

But the flavor?  It was worth every messy bite.

Maybe this whole raw thing isn't so bad after all.

QUESTION:  Have you ever had an uncooked lasagna (or any other food that is typically eaten cooked/hot)?

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Clean Eating's Egg 'n' Baked Potatoes (Almost Meatless Monday)

I'm cheating today, "Meatless Monday", I used bacon.  But hey, if you want to go meatless, omit the bacon (although I'll tell you what, the bacon really added something special to the flavor of these potatoes!  Perhaps you could use the tofu bacon....yeah?).  I did use turkey bacon, so technically these were "meatless", just not...animal free.  You know.




When I made these last week I realized it had really been a while since I had enjoyed a good potato. I really think the last time I actually ate a potato (other than french fries, every so often) was last year on a road trip when we stopped at Wendy's (I always get the potato and chili).  No, no, I'm wrong, the last time I had a potato was when Nick made me a delicious fish dinner on my 30th birthday.  Yes, he made petite potatoes with olive oil and rosemary.  How could I forget?!  Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I always forget about potatoes. They get such a bad rap, but they can really be a great addition to, or main part of a meal (and they are cheap).  We tend to forget that while they may have a lot of carbs (oh no, carbs!) they also have a good source of vitamin C, iron, fiber and calcium.

Clean Eating's Egg 'n' Baked Potatoes

Serves 4

Modified slightly from a June 2013 Clean Eating Magazine recipe

Ingredients

Olive Oil cooking spray

4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed

4 slices all-natural turkey bacon (no nitrates or nitrates added)

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion **

2 cloves garlic **

6 lightly packed cups baby spinach

1/4 tsp each sea salt and ground pepper

4 large eggs

1/4 cup grated reduced-fat cheddar cheese **

1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt **

2 Tbsp. chopped chives

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and mist with cooking spray.  Prick potatoes with a form and transfer to tray.  Bake for 50 minutes, turning once, until tender.  Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

2.  Meanwhile, mist a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-low.  Add bacon and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until crisp.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.  When cool enough to handle, chop into small pieces.

3.  To skillet on medium-low, add onion and garlic (if using) and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened.  Add spinach and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until wilted.  Remove from heat.

4.  If needed, cut a thin slice from long side of each potato so they sit flat on sheet.  Cut an oval into the top of each potato and scoop out flesh using a spoon or a melon baller, leaving a ~1/4-inch thick shell.  Reserve potato flesh for future use (see my recipe on Thursday!)

5.  Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper.  Divide spinach mixture and bacon evenly among potatoes. Carefully crack 1 egg into each potato and top with cheese, dividing evenly.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, to desired doneness of egg (I kept mine a bit runny).  In a small bowl mix the yogurt and chives and serve with potatoes.

**NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPs diet omit the garlic and onion (I made mine without these ingredients and they were still spectacular.  The chives added a slight oniony flavor, which was nice).

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1 potato
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  Under 350 calories, excellent source of protein, iron, vitamin C and vitamin A.  Good source of calcium.  And of course, not listed, potatoes are a good source of blood pressure-lowering potassium.

As you can see my eggs almost escaped the potato.  But alas, they stayed in!

And I kept my egg nice and runny.  With the chives and yogurt sauce, this was absolutely perfect.  Oh yeah, and the bacon.  I loved that part too, of course.

So, what do you do with the leftover potato filling?  You'll have to wait until Thursday to find out.  I may have made something sweet.....

QUESTION:  When was the last time you ate a potato??

And I'll leave you with this to drool over......homemade graham crackers served with a chocolate mouse and toasted marshmallows.  This was our dessert when we went out to dinner this weekend with my uncle and his friend Larry.  To die for.

I hope everyone has a great Monday!  

The Candid Rd

Clean Eating's Chicken Pizza with Mushrooms and Arugula

I'm reading a book called Taste What You're Missing; The Passionate Eater's Guide to Why Food Tastes So Good.  The book is long, and I'm probably only 1/4th of the way into it, but I've already learned so much.  I'll dedicate an entire post on it one of these days, because it's that good, and fascinating.  I've come to the conclusion that I am slightly addicted to one taste; umami, or "savory" (if you love mushrooms and nutritional yeast, you may be too).  Here I thought it might be sweet or even bitter tastes I loved most (I enjoy bitter pale ales, very much, and I could literally eat buttercream frosting all day long) but no, it's umami.  This pizza recipe called for two sources umami; parmesan and crimini mushrooms.  I sometimes find Clean Eating Magazine's recipes to be too "clean" for my liking, so I jazz them up a bit (yes, it's true, sometimes they are too bland for me, what can I say?!). In this case I added more umami taste to enhance the flavor, in the form of extra mushrooms (that's clean....right?) and parmesan (ok, more cheese probably isn't the most healthy idea, but to be fair this recipe called for 1 Tablespoon, ONE TBSP!!! Yes, you read that right. That's absurd. Who wouldn't add more?!)

Chicken Pizza with Mushrooms and Arugula

Source: Clean Eating Magazine

Servings: 4

Ingredients

Olive oil cooking spray

2 bone-in skinless chicken breasts

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

2 tsp. olive oil

8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced **

2 cloves garlic, chopped **

12 oz. frozen (or fresh) whole wheat pizza dough, thawed **

2 cups arugula

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. dried oregano

Fresh ground black pepper

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mist a large baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place chicken on sheet and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Bake until cooked through, 25-30 minutes; set aside to cool.

2.  Keep oven at 400 degrees.  In a large skillet heat olive oil on medium high heat.  Add mushrooms, and garlic cloves and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are softened and start releasing liquid; set aside.

3.  With a rolling pin, pizza dough into 1/2-inch thick circle or rectangle.  Coat a separate large baking sheet with cooking spray and transfer dough to sheet. With a fork, shred shicken meat from bone into 2-inch pieces.  Top dough with 2 cups arugula, chicken, mushroom-garlic mixture and parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle with oregano and season with fresh ground pepper, to taste.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until edges are golden brown.

**NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPs diet you may want to omit the mushrooms and replace them with another lower FODMAPs vegetable, such as green or red pepper.  Also, use a gluten free pizza crust (although some people may be able to tolerate 1 small piece of whole wheat crust).

Still not very cheesy, but yet this pizza was fantastic.

Full of umami, savory, goodness.

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1/4th of pizza
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  Under 350 calories, good source of calcium and fiber, excellent source of protein.

QUESTION:  Tell me, what's your favorite pizza topping?  Other than mushrooms (which I can't eat in endless amounts, sadly) I would say green and black olives are my favorite pizza toppings. Oh, and tomatoes. Is that weird?


What are your plans for the Fourth of July?  My parents are having a party, of sorts, so of course Nick and I are going to be crashing it.  Why not, right?  They live really close to the local fireworks so we'll get to walk down the road and watch the beauty in the sky.  I just hope it doesn't rain all day. That would be a serious bummmmmmmmer.  Happy Birthday America!

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Clean Eating's Turkey Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes are one of my favorite things in the world.  I rarely talk about my love for sloppy joes, because let's face it.....they are not necessarily very healthy, and not something a typical "foodie" would admit to craving (and I do....often).  Last summer Clean Eating Magazine had a recipe for Chicken Sloppy Joes, which I actually made for the family for whom I was cooking on a weekly basis.  They loved them.  So did Nick and I.  This year I made them again when we had friends over for a Sunday dinner and once again they were a hit.  Of course, as a dietitian and someone who follows a low FODMAPs diet, I made my own modifications so this would be suitable for my sensitive ....well....gut, but nothing too drastic.  And if you are mad because you secretly crave sloppy joes too, but you don't eat meat, have no fear, I have the perfect tempeh sloppy joe recipe for you.  You're welcome ;)

Clean Eating's Turkey Sloppy Joes

Modified from a Clean Eating Magazine Recipe (June 2012)

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tsp. olive oil

1 green bell pepper, chopped and diced

1 lb. extra lean ground turkey

1 Tbsp. chile powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp. sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

2 cups jarred low-sodium tomato sauce **

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 cup frozen yellow corn **

4 whole grain hamburger buns **

Optional: Sliced Avocado **

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tsp. olive oil on medium-high.  Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes, until soft.  Add the extra lean ground turkey and cook, stirring and breaking up with wooden spoon, for 3 minutes, until cooked through.  Add chile powder, cumin, dried oregano, salt and pepper and stir to coat.  Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute, until fragrant.  Add tomato sauce and Dijon mustard and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until sauce reduces and thickens (you may need to cover half-way with a lid so it doesn't splatter all over the place!).  Stir in frozen corn and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.  Spoon mixture between 4 buns, dividing evenly.  Top with sliced avocado if you want.

**NOTE:  If you follow a low FODMAPs diet look for a tomato sauce that contains zero garlic or onion (there may not be a low-sodium version of this, but that's ok).  Also use a garlic-infused olive oil to make up for the lack of garlic and onion, if you'd like. In addition, use white corn instead of yellow corn (it may be tolerated better) and use a gluten-free bun.  Lastly, omit the avocado (although some people can handle 1-2 small slices, or ~1-2 Tbsp.)

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1-sandwich
Includes 2 Tbsp. fresh avocado
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  Good source of iron and vitamin A, excellent source of vitamin C, protein and fiber.

You know those meals that you can't stop eating as you're cleaning up the remains, and putting them back in the fridge?  Yes, this was one of those.  It was as if I'd made a wedding cake...I kept licking the bowl and the spoon.  Just so fantastic!   And, because I couldn't find a low FODMAPs tomato sauce that was low-sodium, I omitted the sea salt.  The taste was still out of this world (the nutrition facts use sea salt and a low-sodium tomato sauce, as described in the recipe).

Question:  I admitted it, I crave sloppy joes (and extra meaty lasagna too, did I mention that?!).  What do you CRAVE?!

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Open-Faced Cheesesteak Sandwiches on Portobello "Buns"

You've read the latest news about meat and eggs, I'm sure.  If you're wondering if you should give up meat and eggs, well, my answer is no. I'm one dietitian who is certainly not going to give up meat and eggs just because of one study.  Not to say that I don't think the study is important to consider.  I mean, eat less, sure, but give up?  No way!  Instead, I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing; 1) telling people not to take unncessary supplements, such as lecithin, which, while we know has some positive effects on our health, isn't typically neccessary to take as a dietary supplement, 2) telling people not to follow a diet such as Adkins, because it's absurdly high in eggs and beef, and low in fruits and vegetables, and most importantly 3) consuming eggs and meat in moderation, which to me means 1-2 times a week (and small portions each time).  Nick and I typically eat beef once every other week, and eggs once a week, maybe twice (and I typically just eat the whites.  Keep in mind it's the yolks that have the choline and cholesterol).  And you know what?  That's what we're going to continue to do.  That being said, please enjoy today's recipe, which provides you with a very reasonable and non-Western-Diet-Like portion of red meat (ie: not 10 ounce, but 4.  Perfect) as well as an abundance of fresh vegetables.

Open Faced Cheesesteak Sandwiches

Source: Clean Eating Magazine

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 portobello mushrooms, stemmed**

1/2 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt, divided

1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and slices

1 small yellow onion, sliced**

1 lb. boneless top sirloin steak, 1.5 to 2 inches thick, trimmed

1 tsp. unsalted garlic and herb seasoning **

Olive oil cooking spray

2 ounces reduced fat Swiss or cheddar cheese

Directions

1.  Position oven rack to 6 to 8 inches from heat and preheat broiler to high.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.  Arrange portobellos on foil upside down and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.  Broil for 7-10 minutes, turning halfway, until tender when pierced with a form.  Transfer to a paper towel and drain any liquid released.  Line sheet with a new pieces of foil and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Meanwhile, in a large ovenproof skillet on medium-high, heat oil.  Add bell peppers, onion, 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.  Cook for about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender.  Transfer to a medium bowl.

3.  Pat steak dry and rub garlic seasoning, remaining 1/4th tsp. salt and remaining 1/2 tsp. black pepper all over steak.  Mist same ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high.  Add steak and sear until browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute each, using tongs to hold steak in position if necessary. Transfer to oven and roast, 5 to 8 minutes for rare to medium-rare or 7 to 10 minutes for medium.  Transfer to a cutting board and rest for 5 minutes.  Switch oven back to broiler setting on high.

4.  Arrange portobello upside down on prepared baking sheet.  Thinly slice steak against the grain and divide evenly among portobellos.  Top evenly with pepper-onion mixture and a piece of cheese.  Broil just until cheese is melted, about 1 minute.

** NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPs diet keep in mind mushrooms contain polyols.  I was able to handle one portobello cap, but you may be more sensitive.  Also, omit the garlic and herb seasoning, as garlic contains oligosaccharides (the "O" in FODMAPs).  I made these without the seasoning and they were still delicious with simply the salt and pepper.  Lastly, omit the onions, as they contains FODMAPs too.   Use extra peppers if you want!

Source: CalorieCount.com
Estimated Nutrition Facts for 2 open-faced sandwiches (1-serving)

Nutrition Highlights:  Good source of fiber and calcium, excellent source of protein, vitamins A and C, and iron.


So, this is how I respond to the latest news about red meat.  Basically, it's a reasonable portion (~3-4 ounces), topped with and surrounded by lots of vegetables (and a beer....yeah, one drink a day for women is good for their hearts, come on now!).

 Is it strange that I actually prefer vegetables as my "grain"?  I mean, offer me portobellos for a bun and I'll say "heck yeah!", offer me spaghetti squash for noodles and I'll dive right in.  It's two great things in one (great flavor and nutrition) so it's a double win.

Will you be changing your intake of meat and/or eggs since the release of the latest research?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  And meanwhile, have a great Tuesday.  I'm off to teach a group of preschoolers about how to create a healthy plate.  Then tonight I'll teach my last diabetes class of the season (so sad, I've been really enjoying this class).

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd