Thread: Healthy recipes?

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Some of you may know, I am a dietetian by profession. My passions in life are food and Halloween (& crafts, gardening, etc).

I am not against the treats & goodies, but I like to take all of my parties as an opportunity to introduce friends and family to some healthier dishes or new ingredients.

Does anyone have any ideas for healthier dishes that still go with the Halloween flavors or theme? I am thinking of possibly doing a soup this year...

I have made this soup a few times for guests. ONce on Halloween and Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it and it is really easy to make. You could probably get it healthier by using fresh pumpkin.



Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-Apple Relish
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Ingredients
•1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
•2 tablespoons butter
•1 fresh bay leaf
•2 ribs celery with greens, finely chopped (save time and purchase celery already washed, trimmed and cut into sticks, this makes chopping fast work)
•1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
•Salt and pepper
•3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•2 teaspoons poultry seasoning or 2 teaspoons ground thyme
•2 teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste
•6 cups chicken stock
•1 (28-ounce) can cooked pumpkin puree
•2 cups heavy cream
•1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Relish:
•1 crisp apple, such as McIntosh or Granny Smith, finely chopped
•1/4 red onion, finely chopped
•2 tablespoons lemon juice
•1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries, chopped
•1 teaspoon chili powder
•2 teaspoons honey
•1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
Heat a medium soup pot over medium to medium high heat. Add the oil and melt the butter. Add bay, celery, and onion. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 6 or 7 minutes, until tender. Add flour, poultry seasoning and hot sauce, to taste, then cook flour a minute. Whisk in chicken stock and bring liquid to a bubble. Whisk in pumpkin in large spoonfuls to incorporate it into the broth. Simmer soup 10 minutes to thicken a bit then add in cream and nutmeg. Reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.

While soup cooks, assemble the relish: combine apple, onion, lemon juice, cranberries, chili powder, honey and cinnamon.

Adjust seasonings in soup and relish and serve soup in shallow bowls with a few spoonfuls of relish

I make vegetarian lentil loaf at all times of the year, but for Halloween it gets shaped into a hand or leg with almond or onion nails & bones sticking out of it. Serving on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes or garlic flavored baby reds mashed with the skin on looks & tastes great (for less starchy meal, try mashed steamed zucchini or yellow squash). Here's a link to Not Martha's version using meat to give you the general idea of how it can look: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/h...ot-martha.html

Halloween Lentil Loaf
(double recipe if you are making a leg shape)

1 small onion
1 clove garlic
2 stalks celery
2 teaspoons sage (fresh is better, dried is fine though)
3 cups cooked lentils
3 cups cooked wild rice (you can use a wild rice/brown rice mix)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dry whole wheat breadcrumbs (reg. breadcrumbs ok- cornbread crumbs also work well)
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons whole wheat (or reg.) flour
fresh ground black pepper
sea salt
Bag of shredded jack/cheddar cheese blend.
Slivered sauteed almonds and/or baked whole onion to make bone/nails
Platter of mashed sweet or other potatoes, or mashed zucchini/yellow squash

Preheat oven to 350.
Chop onion and celery finely & crush the garlic clove.
Spray a frying pan with Pam & saute the onion, garlic, & celery until onion is translucent. Add the sage.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix well.
Spray a cookie sheet with Pam & shape loaf on the sheet into gnarled hand or leg.

Bake 20 minutes (30 for leg shape) covered with foil. Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes with shredded jack/cheddar blend heavily sprinkled on top for that wrinkled, scabby skin look (want really crispy "skin"? Just pop it close under the broiler a couple minutes more for even more leathery looking skin). Press almonds or onion chunks into warm loaf for nails and bones.
Let stand for 5-10 minutes, then move onto platter of mashed sweet, regular potatoes, or squash for table presentation.

I have a vegan friend who attends our parties. Here are a few I found for her:

http://www.bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hairball.htm

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/gravel-salad/detail.aspx

And a bloody fruit salad, which was just a run of the mill fruit salad with red food coloring.

I've done a veggie platter Halloween style (not my original idea, but here's a pic):



I am thinking that hummus in a brain or other mold would be awesome and tasty.


I'm not sure how healthy it is, but I also did mini pumpkin pies from scratch so at least it wasn't full of preservatives and stuff.

I am thinking of doing pumpkin/squash soup at some point and also gazpacho soup (that would look awesome if you could find small skull bowls or something but it's served cold, so it wouldn't be good if it was chilly outside - but I LOVE gazpacho!!)

This is the recipe that I want to try but add in a bit of pumpkin as well:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttern...up/Detail.aspx

Not my turn this year to do the "haunters thank you" dinner, but SleepyHollowPumpkins, that soup/relish recipe of yours is definitely on this fall's family menu somewhere!

Since Halloween Princess is thinking to serve soup- here's an autumn bisque I love to make when the weather turns chilly around here & the leaves begin to fall:

Apple & Squash Soup
(serves 12, great leftover!)

6 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 small serrano chiles, seeded & diced
6 pounds butternut squash
4 apples, peeled, cored & diced (I use granny smiths, but any firm reds are ok too)
6 cups chicken broth (make your own- it's easy & less sodium!)
1 teaspoon thyme (dried ok, fresh better)
2 cups light cream
Sea salt & cracked pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large soup kettle. Saute onions until soft. Stir in curry. Peel squash, discard seeds & chop coarsely. Add squash, apples, serranos, chicken broth, & thyme to kettle. Bring your concoction to a boil. Your kitchen now smells really great! Reduce heat, cover & simmer 20-30 minutes or until squash is fork tender. Puree in blender (or push through sieve) in batches until very smooth. Sometimes I just leave it non-bisque chunky, too. Return to kettle & stir in cream & salt and pepper to taste. Reheat just to boiling. A good garnish is sprigs of thyme; link here shows it with sage leaves/apple peel/ goat cheese garnish http://www.styleathome.com/img/photo...h-Soup-med.jpg

This isn’t Halloween related really, but I found a soup recipe the other day that I am anxious to try!

Tuscan Veggie Soup
(Or Blood and Guts Soup???)
1 1/4 cup cubed and peeled eggplant
1 c water
1 can (14.5oz) no-salt-added whole tomatoes drained (juice reserved) and chopped
1/2 c sliced fresh mushrooms
1 clove garlic crushed with press
3/4 coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
1/4 c fresh grated parmesan cheese

In 2 quart saucepan place eggplant, water, tomatoes with their juices, mushrooms, garlic, zucchini, Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper; stir to combine. Heat to boiling on high. Cover; reduce heat to low. Simmer 25 minutes or until veggies are tender.

To serve, place in bowl and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese.


I hope yall enjoy!

I thought I'd revive this thread now that there's more people visiting the forum. I had planned to have guests help with food this year to save money, but I am currently trying out being vegan, so I'm sure most I my guests would bring things I couldn't eat

Anyone else with healthy, possibly vegan recipes. I can modify most baked goods recipes to omit the animal products, but probably not a cheese ball recipe, haha.

Have you checked out the blog A Very Vegan Holiday? http://veryveganholiday.wordpress.com/ I'm vegetarian, and trying to focus my halloween menu this year more on fresh food than a ton of sweets. She details some past halloween menus that I pulled some ideas from.

One of the things I'm doing is a set of dips and crackers; the dips being avocado hummus (bright green!), maple pumpkin butter (sweet, but fresh pumpkin and not processed sugar), and a cheese spread (obviously, not vegan).

We had several vegans training with us a few years ago so I made sure to have a few vegan-friendly dishes at the party. I only made the first two (both delicious, by the way) but I had considered these others as well.

Vegan Caviar

This turns out jet black!

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 minced cloves garlic
• 1 cup finely chopped eggplant
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 cups pitted black olives
• 3 tablespoons chopped pine nuts
• 2 teaspoons chopped capers
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• pinch salt

Heat a small heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, and eggplant and saute for three minutes. Add the water and saute for an additional three minutes, or until the eggplant is tender. Place the eggplant mixture with the remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Serve warm or chilled.
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Satan’s Own Humdinger Hummus

• 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh garlic
• ¼ tsp. ground red pepper
• ½ cup chopped pre-roasted red peppers in a jar, well drained on paper towels

In a food processor, place all ingredients except red peppers. Cover and process until smooth (1 minute). Add peppers; continue processing until peppers are finely chopped (30 seconds). Cover; refrigerate 1 – 24 hours to blend flavors. Serve with Creature Pitas for dipping

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Creature Pitas

Cut tortillas and/or soft pitas into Halloween cookie cutter shapes and toast at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Serve with Humdinger Hummus.

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Pumpkin Dandies

• 1 cup Libbys solid pack pumpkin
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flaked coconut, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Granola
• Red or green candied cherries, optional

Mix 1st 5 ingred. well in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over medium high, stirring constantly, 15-20 min. It is done when it is very thick and leaves side of pan, forming a ball in the center as you stir. Turn onto a buttered baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil or plastic wrap. Let cool completely. Lightly butter hands. Shape candy into balls. Roll in granola. Top with cherry half if desired. Cover, store in refrigerator. Yield 2 1/2 dozen. Vary by stirring 1 c. crushed granola into cooked candy before cooling and shaping.

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Pumpkin Cider Bread

• 2 cups of canned pumpkin
• 2 cups of flour, and then enough to keep the consistency just right
• 2 tbls dry yeast in 1/2 cup of 110 degree water
• 1 tbls salt
• 2 tbls vegetable oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 cups of fresh cider

Start with two cups of flour, then slowly sift in more after wet ingredients are added. After the flour and salt are combined, mix in the rest of the ingredients from wettest to most solid (cider, then yeast mix, and so on). Once mixed, pour the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a cloth or plastic wrap, and let it rise until it has doubled in size in a warm place. (Generally, this takes from half an hour to an hour). Punch down the doubled dough. Roll the dough out into a long, thin, relatively narrow strip and roll from one end. Place in a greased pan (probably circular in this case), and let rise until doubled again. Baking bread is not for the impatient! Finally, put it in a preheated oven at about 400 degrees F for about 50-60 minutes. If it looks like it’s browning too quickly turn the temp down a notch or two. You’ll know it’s done when you can poke it with a fork and then fork comes out clean. If the fork has some dough on it, let it bake a little longer.