Thursday, December 30, 2010

Your New Years Eve Menu: Simple, Healthy, and Delicious

It's nearly 2011 and time to set our best intentions for the new year. Here are a couple of recipes that will help you get off to a fine start. You'll create a meal that will impress your friends and loved ones, tickle your taste buds, fill your heart with healthy goodness, and leave you with minimal mess to clean up afterwards.

My Sister Cathy's Super Easy Cinnamon Sugar Salmon
Start with one 6 oz salmon fillet per person. Place skin down in a foil-lined pyrex dish or pan. Drizzle with olive oil and a little low-sodium soy sauce. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (seriously!) and top with garlic (use the bottled stuff to keep things neat and easy). Pop in the oven and bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes, or until done. 

Amazingly Good Spiced Sweet Potatoes
(Like so many of my favorite recipes, this one was adapted from the late, great Gourmet magazine).

1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 tsp kosher salt
2 lb sweet potatoes
3 tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all the spices together in a small bowl. Cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized chunks or wedges. Toss the sweet potatoes with the oil and spices in a large pan, and roast for 20 minutes. Stir them around to turn the pieces over and roast another 15-20 minutes.

These are so good that I make a big batch of spice mix and keep it on hand in the pantry so I can make them any time I want, with minimal effort.

Mixed-Up Salad
Chop up lettuce, radishes, pecans, carrots, celery, a little feta cheese, and anything else that sounds good to you, and serve it up with a healthy olive-oil or light tomato based dressing

Add a glass of champagne and some sexy mixed berries with a little dark chocolate for dessert, and you're good to go. Happy New Year!

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