Why cook plain rice when you can cook rice that makes a difference? Kale is called the “Queen of Greens” because it’s one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. Even spinach doesn’t compare. Kale contains a lot of beneficial minerals and some powerful antioxidants with huge amounts of vitamins A, C, and K. It can help protect you against cancer, heart disease, and inflammation. It’s good for your eyes, your skin and hair, I mean really! Eat some kale!
I prefer Dino kale (also called Lacinto kale) because it’s easier to clean and cut and it’s not so curly. But any kale is a super food so use whatever you can find.
Lately, I never cook plain rice any more. Rice is the perfect vehicle for transporting health-building veggies into your body, but of all the other veggies I have added to rice, kale and broccoli are the most beneficial. As for the rice, I often use brown rice in this recipe but honestly, brown rice is not pretty to photograph and I didn’t want to post an unflattering photo that might not motivate you to make this healthy recipe. So I made it with Uncle Ben’s converted rice for this photo. It is quicker to make the white rice but it’s definitely healthier with brown rice, which has more fiber but it also takes longer to cook. So if time permits, use brown rice but either way, this is a delicious and healthy side dish. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
These are the only chocolate chip cookies I make because they use less butter, less sugar, have more fiber and heart-healthy fats, and they are delicious! Most recipes call for a 1/2 cup of butter but mine… 3 tablespoons! Most recipes use all-purpose flour but mine… include whole wheat pastry flour. And guess what else? Olive oil! You don’t have to give up chocolate chip cookies when you can make them this much healthier. I’m using extra light olive oil in most of my baking these days. These cookies have lots of toasted nuts for extra protein and the darkest chocolate chips I can find.
At any given time there are cookies in my kitchen (and the freezer) and it’s what we mostly have for dessert. I love sweets but I also want to eat as healthy as I can so I am constantly looking for ways to make desserts healthier and this dark chocolate chip cookie is the perfect example. You don’t even have to mention that these are healthier, just serve them and watch everyone ask for more. To try my healthier less butter, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies,click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Any time I can cook dinner all in one pan – in 30 minutes – it’s a good day. And it leaves me more time to make dessert! This is one of my go-to healthy meals because it’s quick and uses just a few ingredients. Nutritionally, it’s a superstar with all these colored peppers. Brightly colored vegetables each have their own set of antioxidants. For instance, a red pepper has more vitamin C than an orange. Yellow and orange peppers support lung and eye health while green ones fight asthma. But all peppers help protect against many degenerative diseases so I try to include all the colors in my cooking.
This recipe was in my cookbook but I’ve simplified it (like I’m doing most of the recipes there) because my goal is to motivate more people to cook at home, so if I can make a recipe easier, faster, and healthier, my work is done. I wish I liked brown rice better but it’s still a struggle for me so I use Uncle Ben’s converted rice here. But you can use brown rice if you like and just cook it an additional 25 minutes.
Does anybody think this would also work with shrimp? Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
What can I say? This is the most amazing, dramatic, show-stopping dessert ever! And if you think it looks good, wait until you taste it! Having a barbeque? Going to potluck? They’ll remember you forever if you bring this to the table. Fruit pizza is basically a giant sugar cookie (of course, my version is a little healthier than most because I use less butter). You bake and cool the cookie and while it’s cooling, you get all the fruit and glaze ready. Then you build your creation.
It’s perfect for summer parties but I make fruit pizza all year round. In the summer I use peaches, raspberries, blueberries, nectarines, strawberries, and cherries when they’re more affordable (this one has Queen Ann cherries and yellow grapes on the border). In the winter I use bananas, kiwi, papaya, grapes, mango, and whatever else I can find that’s soft and colorful. If you use bananas, make sure to coat them with lemon juice as soon as they’re sliced to prevent them from turning brown.
Creating the design is so much fun and I’ve never decorated two the same way. Always start with the border first as you create your own masterpiece. And trust me – it tastes just as good as it looks. To make your own fruit pizza, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Here is my summer gift to all the bakers. My lemon meringue pie will spoil you forever because there is nothing that compares to homemade lemon meringue pie. And when it’s healthier and easier than all the other pies, it’s a true gem. This lemon meringue pie is healthier because the crust is made with extra light olive oil, no butter or shortening, and it’s easier because you can make the whole thing, from scratch, in an hour. That includes the easiest crust ever, from scratch, and a foolproof luscious lemon curd that will never fail you.
I make all my pies with an oil crust to avoid saturated fat and they are so much easier (and healthier) than the butter or shortening kind. Oil crusts can be patted into a pie pan or rolled between wax paper and simply placed into the pan. The beauty is that if there’s a crack or opening in the crust, you can just grab some dough from somewhere else and patch it. I love that. I make mine with extra light olive oil but you can use canola or any vegetable oil of your choice.
As for the lemons, it helps to have a juicer but you do have to make fresh lemon juice. And don’t even talk to me about bottled juice! So now you have a healthier, easier way to make one of the great American classic summer desserts, lemon meringue pie. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I could live on egg salad! And that’s easy because it takes me five minutes to make my low fat, easy egg salad. I prefer it simple with just yellow mustard and light mayo but I know a lot of people like to add extras like pickle relish, onion, celery, olives, etc. So go ahead. Use my simple, healthy recipe as a starter and then make it your own. But for me, plain old egg salad on some whole grain bread with lots of lettuce and tomato – it’s the perfect breakfast, and a perfect lunch.
For a while people were avoiding eggs because they contain cholesterol but all the latest research indicates that they may contain cholesterol but they do not raise serum cholesterol. This is good news because eggs have so many nutrients including complete protein; lutein for your eyes; and choline (in the yolk) for your brain and to reduce inflammation. They also contain sulphur to give you beautiful hair & skin, and strong nails. Here’s a link to some of the latest research on eggs: http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/latest-research-health-benefits-eggs
Now that eggs are back, you can enjoy this easy and healthy egg salad. But even my delicious egg salad is no fun if it takes ten minutes to peel a boiled egg. So to make things even easier, I can show you how to make perfect, easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs.
Wow! If you ever want to up your game when baking brownies, you have to try these awesome, fudgy, moist, delicious Black Forest Brownies. It’s a simple, one-bowl recipe and by lining the pan with foil, there’s almost no cleanup. Using canned dark sweet pitted cherries makes this is an easy recipe and it’s the main reason these brownies are so moist and yummy. Oh right… then there’s the chocolate chips. What an awesome combination.
Using Dutch-processed cocoa powder, like Droste brand, is what will give you a beautiful, rich dark color but that’s not the only reason to use Dutch processed cocoa. Cocoa processed this way is less bitter than the other kind like Hershey’s natural cocoa. But… you can make these brownies with Hershey’s with just a minor change, switching from baking powder to baking soda.
My recipe uses no butter, only two tablespoons of olive oil, and Greek yogurt. I like Fage 2% yogurt (never fat-free!). I use all-purpose flour in this recipe but I’ve also made them with half all-purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour. Either way, they are not too sweet, with a delicious combination of rich chocolate and dark, sweet cherries. To try may amazing Black Forest Brownies, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I’ve reinvented by barbeque chicken pizza! It used to take almost 2 hours but now… 50 minutes! That’s right. Less than an hour from start to pie hole! I make homemade pizza so often that I’ve learned how to make it faster and better. I no longer let my pizza dough rise for an hour. A ten minute rest is enough to make a fantastic crispy crust and healthier pizza than most. I always use reduced fat mozzarella and with this pizza, it’s lean chicken breast so it’s a healthier, low fat pizza and that means I can eat it more often.
I made this one on a pizza stone, which is a great way to get a crispy crust but if you don’t have a pizza stone and wooden peel, I also make this recipe using a regular pizza pan. The best kind of pan is the perforated one with the holes to help make it crispy (like the one in my pepperoni pizza video). My kind of pizza is crispy. I never use a fork… I just pick up a slice and eat. Oh wait… I do use a fork… for my salad. I always have salad with pizza.
If you ever have some leftover chicken, especially barbeque chicken, use it to make pizza. When I don’t have leftovers, I just cook a chicken breast and shred it with two forks. And a note on cheese: I know they sell pre-shredded pizza cheese and I have one way to handle pre-shredded cheese: with a ten foot pole! They put something in that stuff that makes it dry and it will never melt like real cheese, so take a minute and shred your own like I do. I makes a big difference.
You don’t have to make this pizza the quick way. You can always take longer and let the dough rise for an hour but I just don’t do it any more. Who wants to wait for pizza?! Not me! To try my barbeque chicken pizza, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Chinese food is easy to make at home. And it’s quick. You put the sauce together first, then stir fry your food in a hot pan, add your sauce and it’s chow time! Or is it chow mein time? I love this dish so much, especially because with lo mein, there’s no rice to serve separately. It’s noodles mixed in with the vegetables. Quick and easy one-dish meals are the best – everything in one pan. I use chow mein noodles but if you can’t find them, you can use spaghetti (but it won’t look as pretty and wavy). They always have these noodles at my grocery store:
Lo mein is great to make when you have some leftover pieces of chicken or shrimp, which you can stir into this dish. Edamame is another way to up the protein a little but I usually serve this just this way — with lots of antioxidant-rich vegetables. I’ve been to lots of Chinese restaurants but I have never had lo mein this good. For my easy Vegetable Lo Mein recipe, click here. – Jenny Jones
Not a fan of sardines? My sardine cakes may just change your mind. These delicious mashed potato patties are filled with bits of green onions, parsley, and fish, and they can be ready to eat in 30 minutes (make that 10 minutes if you have leftover mashed potatoes). This healthy recipe starts with a big russet potato, which you boil and mash, and then you mix in a few ingredients, shape the patties, pat them into bread crumbs and brown in olive oil. I make my own plain whole wheat crumbs but you can use store-bought either plain or seasoned. I don’t season the crumbs because there is so much flavor in the patties, it’s almost too much.
Let’s talk about why they call them “health food in a can.” Sardines are full of omega-3 fatty acids to protect the heart and are one of the few foods that contain coenzyme-Q10, which also helps prevent heart disease. Besides being a good source of protein, sardines also support bone health by providing calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D. But wait… there’s more. They also have iron, selenium, potassium, zinc, all the B vitamins.
Clearly, sardines are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. And when made into delicious fish cakes like this, one of the tastiest. For my sardine cakes recipe, click here. – Jenny Jones
Why cook plain rice when you can cook rice that makes a difference? Kale is called the “Queen of Greens” because it’s one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. Even spinach doesn’t compare. Kale contains a lot of beneficial minerals and some powerful antioxidants with huge amounts of vitamins A, C, and K. It can help protect you against cancer, heart disease, and inflammation. It’s good for your eyes, your skin and hair, I mean really! Eat some kale!
