The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth (36 page)

Yield
: 4 servings
Per Serving
: 200 Calories; 16g Fat (66.1% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 17mg Cholesterol; 623mg Sodium

Robust Red Lentil Curry-in-a-Hurry

From Dr. Jonny
: About every month or so a magazine or website asks me to compose a list of top “superfoods”; I usually mix and match from the foods in my book
The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth
, but I almost always include beans. Technically, the term
legumes
includes beans, lentils, and peas, but from a health perspective, beans and lentils are almost the same. Lentils are a dieter’s dream, and eating lentils on a regular basis is associated with significantly lower rates of cancer and heart disease. I especially like red lentils and I love curry and its nice dose of the anti-inflammatory superspice turmeric. This is a mellow (for curry!) and satisfying dish—once you try it, you’ll wind up eating it often!

3 cups (710 ml) low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth

1 tablespoon (15 g) Thai green curry paste (e.g., Thai Kitchen)

1 can (14.5 ounces or 413 g) diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups (288 g) dried red lentils, rinsed and drained

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 cup (130 g) frozen peas

1 cup (235 ml) low-fat coconut milk

1/3 cup (13 g) chopped fresh cilantro or slivered fresh basil, optional

Heat the broth in a large soup pot over high heat. Whisk in the curry paste to dissolve, add the tomatoes, lentils, and potato, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are tender—watch the liquid level. Stir in the salt, peas, and coconut milk until smooth and cook for 2 minutes or until heated through. Adjust the seasonings to taste and stir in the cilantro just before serving, if using.

Yield
: 4 to 6 servings
Per Serving
: 285 Calories; 5g Fat (14.4% calories from fat); 19g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 18g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 313mg Sodium

From Dr. Jonny
: Probably the most traditional food pairing in the world is beans and rice, and for good reason. The amino acids in the two foods complement each other perfectly, making a complete protein. Let’s not forget the high amount of fiber in the beans. Chef Jeannette has upped the ante even further by adding collard greens, a staple of my “soul food” youth. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating, as I grew up Jewish, but collard greens were among my favorite dishes that my Southern friends served, and I love them to this day. You’ll love them too in this tasty, filling entrée.

2 1/4 cups (535 ml) low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper (or red pepper flakes), or to taste

1 cup (195 g) quick-cooking (parboiled) brown rice

2 packed cups (110 g) stemmed, shredded collard greens
*

2 tablespoons (32 g) tomato paste

3 drops liquid smoke, optional

2 to 3 sprays Bragg Liquid Aminos, optional, to taste

1 can (15 ounces or 425 g) red beans, drained and rinsed

Bring the broth to a boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Add the oil, salt, pepper, and brown rice, stirring lightly to mix. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in the shredded collards and cook for 10 more minutes. Add the tomato paste, liquid smoke, and liquid aminos, if using, stirring well to combine. Gently fold in the beans, remove from the heat, and rest it for 5 minutes. Season to taste with additional liquid aminos or chipotle pepper, if necessary. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Yield
: 4 servings
Per Serving
: 462 Calories; 2g Fat (4.4% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 80g Carbohydrate; 28g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 655mg Sodium

*
To shred the collards, stack them neatly on top of each other on your cutting board, run your knife down either side of the tough stem sections in a V, and pull the stems out. Or save these to dice and cook later; they actually have a higher mineral concentration than the leaves themselves. Fold the leaves over and roll them up like a cigar. Run the cigar through the grating attachment on your food processor, or to shred by hand, slice the “cigar” in half the long way. Holding the two rolled halves together, thinly slice the leaves along the width, and chop the slices roughly.

Fantastic Feta-Chickpea Casserole

From Dr. Jonny
: Chickpeas are one of the great utilitarian foods that deliver an awful lot of nutritional bang for the proverbial buck. Not only are they a great source of vegetarian protein (about 12 grams per cup!) but they are also a magnificent source of fiber (almost 11 grams for the same cup, more than 20 grams for a 15-ounce [425 g] can!) And let’s be honest—almost none of us gets enough fiber. Virtually every health organization on the planet recommends between 25 and 38 grams a day, but the average American gets between 4 and 11 grams. Higher-fiber diets are associated with lower rates of heart disease and diabetes, and fiber helps you feel full longer, making it less likely that you’ll overeat. A half cup of feta cheese adds an additional 11 grams of protein to the protein you’ve got in the eggs and beans, not to mention a whopping 370 mg of calcium. And I’m biased—put feta cheese on almost anything and I’ll eat it—but when you taste the combo of garbanzo beans and feta, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

2 tablespoons (28 ml) coconut oil (or olive)

1 large yellow onion, diced (or 2 cups [320 g] diced prepared)

1 can (15 ounces or 425 g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 1/2 teaspoons prepared)

1 tablespoon (2.4 g) minced fresh thyme (or 3/4 teaspoon dried)

1/2 cup (75 g) crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC, gas mark 4).

Lightly spray a 7 × 11-inch (18 × 28 cm) baking dish with cooking oil.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.

While the onion is cooking, mash the chickpeas coarsely in a large bowl with a potato masher or a large fork until they form a chunky paste (or you can do this in about 10 seconds in the food processor).

Add the garlic and thyme to the sautéing onions and sauté for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the prepared chickpeas. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and spoon into a large bowl. Stir in the feta cheese, lemon juice, eggs, salt, and pepper. Spoon into the prepared baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Yield
: 4 servings
Per Serving
: 368 Calories; 17g Fat (40.8% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 176mg Cholesterol; 538mg Sodium

From Dr. Jonny
: Ah, pasta. The first food to go on a low-carb diet, yet one of the most beloved comfort foods on the planet. (As a kid, I loved plain old white spaghetti with ketchup, butter, and grated cheese.) But that blue-box white pasta I enjoyed as a kid—the basic pasta everyone eats, minus, of course, the ketchup—is really not what we’d call a “good carb.” It’s high on the glycemic scale, meaning it raises your blood sugar high and fast, which is bad news for people trying to control their weight and people with blood sugar issues in general. It is high in calories in conventional-size portions. And the heavily sugared sauces don’t help matters much. But we do love our pasta, so we’ve come up with a way to enjoy it guilt free. Barilla Plus pasta is high in fiber, higher in protein, and our version adds lentils for fiber, antioxidants, and a lower blood sugar response. Added bonus: the powerful antioxidant
lycopene
(from the vegetable juice). The recipe is vegan and cholesterol-free (for those who are concerned about those things). Want more calcium? Just sprinkle with a little crumbled feta or freshly grated Parmesan cheese.