BY CARLYE WAXMAN RD | Is the cold weather starting to get you down? After long and busy days, it’s so easy to pick up comfort food on the way home. Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, hot Mexican food, fried chicken and pizza hit the spot — but what happens the next day? All of our resolutions seem to have gone out the window, and now we’re too tired to go to the gym after eating all these comfort foods. Lets face it. The “comfort” part lasts as long as you eat it.
These are my favorite winter foods. They’re easy to find, they’ll help you beat the flu and will give you energy. These recipes are a great way to keep your New Year’s resolutions to slim down and eat healthy foods. All calories listed below are approximations, depending on the size of the fruit or vegetable.
OATMEAL
The most important meal of the day needs to be acknowledged. Make a large batch of it, keep it in Tupperware and bring it to the office to quickly nuke. It contains 13-16 percent of your daily fiber needs. Your body burns 30 percent more calories digesting fiber than other nutrients because the roughage takes a long time to break down.
Nutrition: 1 cup = 150 calories.
APPLES
High in vitamin C and dietary fiber, they are an easy way to get full with few calories. The vitamin C helps to keep us from getting sick.
Nutrition: 1 apple (the size of your fist) = 72 calories
RECIPE: APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL
1 batch serves 5 days of the week
Prepare 2 ½ cups of oatmeal (directions on quick cooking oats package) with 2 ½ cups of skim milk, 2 ½ cups of water, 2 tbsp cinnamon and 2 chopped apples. Once cooled, serve into 5 Tupperware containers and add 1 tbsp chopped walnuts at the end to each container.
Tip: When nuking at work, keep some skim milk on hand, add a drop to make it extra creamy when microwaving.
Calories = 210
PUMPKIN
My favorite vegetable. It’s not only high in cold-fighting vitamin C, but also packed with the feel good mineral potassium. It’s a high source of iron, magnesium, niacin and vitamin A. Pumpkins get a reputation for being a powerhouse vegetable. Try to incorporate it into a dish this winter.
Nutrition: 1 cup raw = 30 calories
CARROTS
Besides vitamin C and potassium, they provide 428 percent of your daily value of vitamin A in just one cup. Vitamin A helps to protect the surface lining of your eyes and skin.
Nutrition: 1 cup chopped = 52 calories
RECIPE: SPICY PUMPKIN CARROT SOUP
Makes 4 servings / Calories: 110
Ingredients:
2 medium onions chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
(Tip: Both can be found at many supermarkets, pre-chopped.)
2 tsp ginger
2 garlic cloves chopped (garlic powder works as well)
½ tsp allspice
(No allspice? Try cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice to bring out the flavor.)
1 tbsp butter
1 can of chicken or vegetable broth
1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
1 cup 2 % milk
Coat a large saucepan with butter, on medium high heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, ginger, garlic and allspice. Wait about 10 minutes until the veggies look tender. Stir once or twice.
Let it cool, then blend with ½ cup of broth. Don’t have a blender? Skip this part (your soup may be a little chunky). Add the broth to the soup.
Add the pumpkin, milk and the rest of the broth to a pot (if you had your food blended). Transfer the vegetable mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Heat for one minute on low heat and serve.
Though a great soup, it’s not going to be filling enough and serves best as a side (accompanying a salad, or half of a BLT sandwich on whole grain bread).
CAULIFLOWER
Though not as pretty as its brother broccoli, cauliflower has a more versatile flavor. It’s high in fiber, just two cups of this is 20 percent of your whole day’s worth. It’s also lower in calories and can be a great snack for those who are dieting.
Nutrition: 1 cup = 25 calories
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Its deep orange tone gives away that its rich in vitamin A. Along with this, its also high in C. Just two cups of this will be 25 percent of your day’s worth of fiber.
Nutrition: 1 cup raw = 63 calories
RECIPE: ROASTED CAULIFLOWER & BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Servings 4 / Calories: 135
Ingredients:
4 cups of raw cauliflower
4 cups of butternut squash
(Buy these items pre-cut at the supermarket.)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
½ lemon
In a casserole dish, combine all ingredients except lemon. Toss in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on 400 degrees, for about 30 minutes. Squeeze lemon when finished for added flavor.
WINTER CITRUS FRUIT
The citrus fruits in season for winter are mandarin oranges, tangerines, blood oranges and clementines. It’s natural for us to choose clementines — they’re easy to tote for a snack. These fruits are very high in cold-fighting vitamin C. Try a different citrus fruit this winter, like a blood orange. When they are in season, they taste the best!
Nutrition: 1 clementine = 30 calories; blood orange = 60-80 calories
POMEGRANATE
These fruits are a real pain to cut and seed. Buy them already seeded if you can (not the juice which may contain sugar). There are antioxidants in pomegranates, and vitamin C. There is thought that pomegranate can protect against heart disease.
Nutrition: ½ cup of seeds = 80 calories
SWEET POTATOES
Rich in potassium and bursting with vitamin A. This potato is clearly healthy. It regulates your heart, and just might help you see better! This potato can be used in both sweet and savory recipes. Consider this a starch more than a vegetable.
Nutrition: 1 medium sweet potato = 100 calories
RECIPE: ROASTED SWEET POTATO, BLOOD ORANGE, POMEGRANATE SALAD
Servings: 3 / Calories: 225
Ingredients (Salad):
1 package of baby spinach
2 blood oranges, sliced without white parts
1 red onion sliced
1 cup pomegranate seeds
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp rosemary
Directions:
Combine sweet potato, garlic, oil and rosemary in a baking dish. Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes
Ingredients (dressing):
3 tbsp orange juice
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste
While potatoes are roasting in a large bowl add onion, spinach, pomegranate seeds and whisk together dressing. Once potatoes are cooled, add them and toss all together. Serve as a side dish with a roasted pork chop or throw on steamed or cocktail shrimp for a complete meal.
RECIPE: COLORFUL TASTY TREES
This versatile, hearty and delicious winter dish can be combined with shrimp or grilled chicken — and makes an excellent low calorie optioned dinner (it tastes best if you throw it in a wok!).
Servings: 2 / Calories: 95
2 cups raw broccoli
2 cups raw cauliflower
1 package of whole white button mushrooms, cut in half
½ sweet onion, sliced
1 tbsp of tumeric
In a wok on medium heat, throw the sliced onion in first (with a tiny bit of water). After the onion turns translucent, add the other ingredients. Incorporate ¼ cup of water, turmeric, salt and black pepper. Keep on medium high heat for about 10 minutes. Serve hot!
