Recipe Roundup: 12 Things to Do With Avocado

Just rounding up a few avocado recipes. Because they're so good for you!

Here are a few of my own, followed by others by trusted sources.

Salmon with Fresh Avocado Salsa

BLT's without the bread

Ancho-crusted Salmon with Avocado Crema

Ina Garten's Guacamole Salad, with my variations. 

(Note: it's not the texture of guacamole; just the ingredients.)

Turkey-Bacon-Avocado Sandwich. The photo is from Pioneer Woman, and her recipe includes some fancyin'-up, like pesto, but really, I think a simple sandwich of turkey, bacon, avocado, Swiss or provolone cheese, tomato if you like, and a bit of mayo on some crusty whole-wheat toast doesn't need a recipe -- and is just the best sandwich ever! 

Hint: When eating at Jason's Deli, order the California Club on whole wheat toast (instead of the standard croissant). Order it with steamed veggies on the side, and that is one guilt-free lunch!

And here are some others I've found around the web...

Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Chopped Salad (Can you tell I love avocado with bacon?) This looks so amazing! And inspired by a dish from a Salina, KS restaurant -- Go, Kansas!

Avocado-Tomato-Mango Salsa, from AllRecipes: 5 stars and almost 700 reviews! This sounds like it would be great on fish, pork -- or chips!

Kiwi Salsa from Simply Recipes

The top-rated Avocado Smoothie from AllRecipes.

Avocado Ranch Dressing, also via AllRecipes. (I like that site because you're getting the opinion of not just one person, but hundreds.)

Avocado Egg Salad, from Pioneer Woman. (I've been meaning to try this forever. Gotta make it happen soon.)

And to finish off our avocado buffet: Chocolate (Avocado) Pudding, anyone? from HowSweetEats.

Far fewer farmers in the late 20th century

I've been thinking about how healthy my farming grandparents and their families were, and the changes in our every-day diet since then. Ran across this chart, which shows the change in the number of farming communities in 1950 vs. 2000. Interesting...

Source: USDA Report

12 Mediterranean Diet Recipes to Try

With more and more evidence pointing to the Mediterranean Diet as both good for you and easy to live with, I'll be exploring more of these recipes. Here are a few I've got my sights on...

Chopped Greek Salad with Chicken, from Eating Well.

Grilled Rosemary Salmon, also from Eating Well

Insalata Caprese II, via AllRecipes

Greek Island Chicken Shish Kebabs, via AllRecipes

Spinach and Feta Pita Bake -- sort of a 15-minute pizza; via AllRecipes (400+ reviews; 4.5 stars)

Mediterranean Chicken, made entirely stove-top; via AllRecipes

Fattoush Salad is ubiquitous in Wichita, and with good reason: Lebanese is our strongest ethnic influence here -- plus, it's delicious. Here's Kalyn's Fattoush recipe.

Greek Feta Yogurt Dip, from Jeanette's Healthy Living

Chicken Breast with Prosciuto, from Tobias Cooks

Zaatar and Lemon Grilled Chicken, from Sunset

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And a couple bean salads to try (no good pics):

Mediterranean Inspired Kidney Bean Salad, from Delectably Healthy

Bean Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, from the Mayo Clinic

Diet duel: the Mediterranean diet vs. the low-fat diet

The Harvard School of Public Health recently conducted a study pitting the Mediterranean diet against a low fat diet. The results?

Weight change over 18 months:

• Mediterranean dieters lost an average of 9 pounds.
• Low-fat dieters gained (yes, gained) an average of 6 pounds.

Those who stuck with the diet:

• Mediterranean dieters: 54% stuck with it the whole 18 months.
• Low-fat dieters: 20% stuck with it.

Dr. Walter Willet, Chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health says:

"The real issue is not losing weight—people can cut back on calories and lose weight on almost any diet—but keeping weight off over the long run. Thus it is more important to find a way of eating that you can stay with for the rest of your life. For this reason, any eating plan you choose should be satisfying and allow variety, and should also be nutritionally sound."

Here's 12 Mediterranean recipes I want to try.

Quote source: Harvard School of Public Health website

Additional study: A small new study shows that following a Mediterranean Diet helped men at high risk for heart disease reduce their bad cholesterol, regardless of whether they lost weight.

Image source: The Boston Globe, "Mediterranean diet vs. low-fat Ornish plan," April 15, 2013

Crazy for quinoa? 14 quinoa dishes to try.

If you're into healthy eating at all -- or Pinterest -- you're probably seeing quinoa everywhere. If you've tried it once before and been unimpressed, try it again. The first dish I had was leftovers from a homemade dish, and was mushy and bland. The second was at a great bistro: the texture was like perfectly-done, nutty brown rice, and the flavor was amped up with some other great ingredients such as sweet potato and balsamic vinaigrette.

And why is it so hot? A dietition on FitDay says that, compared to rice, quinoa "has many more nutrients: it is a complete protein (contains an essential amino acid lysine, which is good for tissue repair and growth), high in iron and fiber, and contains Vitamin E, zinc, and selenium." She also says that quinoa is related to spinach. Huh! I didn't know that. Texture-wise, it makes a great, higher-protein substitute for not only rice, but also orzo pasta and couscous.

 I've created a quinoa salad inspired by that yummy restaurant dish, and also made a simple pilaf by adding sauteed onion and mushrooms. Loved them both; now I want more!

So I'm on the lookout for great quinoa recipes. Because I'm compiling this list for myself, I thought I'd share it here. But to make this a quick post, I'm not including pics of each one. (The photo above is of "super berry quinoa salad," by Angela Simpson, via Eat Spin Run Repeat.)

But trust me: they're all lovely and colorful!

I started this list with 12, but I keep finding more. So far I'm up to 14...

Super berry quinoa salad  (pictured above)

Quinoa with toasted pine nuts

Quinoa pilaf

Colorful quick quinoa Greek salad

Black bean quinoa with basil-lemon dressing

Warm and nutty cinnamon quinoa

Avocado quinoa salad

BLT quinoa salad

Cilantro-lime quinoa

And some orzo dishes to try with quinoa...

Spinach and orzo salad

Sun-dried tomato orzo

Mexican orzo salad

I'd like to try making this wheat-based salad with quinoa...

Strawberry Wheatberry Salad

And a rice dish from Kalyn's Kitchen...

Christmas Rice with Bell Peppers, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts

Have you tried quinoa yet? If not, here's a primer on how to cook it.

Quick pork tenderloin with seasoned rub

Pork tenderloin is one of my go-to meals when I want something simple to prepare. It's also one of my go-to meals for special occasions, because it's delicious and elegant.

Originally, I was just going to salt and pepper it and rub it with a little olive oil, but I always have to remind myself approximately how long it takes to cook a tenderloin, and when I googled for that I ran across this recipe from Ellie Krieger on Food Network for Pork Tenderloin with Seasoned Rub.

Now, doing a lot of thinking (i.e., measuring and multiple steps) is what I was trying to avoid, but since this recipe uses one teaspoon of all the spices, that speeds things up a little bit. Also, I like that there's no sugar in the rub. Yay for low carb! (And Paleo, and Whole30!)

I also nixed the fresh garlic, because this would have added time to peel, chop, and fry. And with all those flavors in the spice mix, I really didn't miss it one bit.

Also, I don't trust any meat recipe that calls for a specific number of minutes. The secret to perfectly done meat of any kind is knowing what temperature it needs and hitting that. (I highly recommend using a digital meat thermometer like this one.)

And lastly, she didn't specifiy how much salt to use. I took a guess and missed the mark, so I've remedied that here.

So here is my simplified version of Ellie's recipe...

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QUICK PORK TENDERLOIN WITH SEASONED RUB 

1 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground coriander (you could omit if you don't have this)
1 t. dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/8 t. table salt (Use up to twice as much if you like things salty.)
1 to 1.25 pounds pork tenderloin
olive oil for coating pans

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In separate bowl mix the seasonings: garlic powder through salt. Stir until all the ingredients are well combined. Sprinkle the rub over the tenderloin with a dry hand; cover the entire tenderloin. If you have some  seasonings left, continue to sprinkle it until it's all gone. Then pat the pork all over so the seasoning adheres well to the tenderloin. (If you have other dinner prep to do, you could also let this sit at room temp for up to 15 minutes. That will add to the flavor and tenderness.)

Note: If you want to cut the prep time down further, you could skip the searing step, cooking it in the oven for the entire time.

Heat a nonstick skillet, over medium-plus-one-notch heat. Generously dribble olive oil in the pan and give it a minute to heat up. Then place the tenderloin in the pan; let it sit for three minutes and check the color on the underside. If it's nicely brown, rotate and do the next side the same. If not, let it sit for another minute and check again.

Repeat until all sides are nicely browned. We're just looking to sear the outside; not cook it through. (That happens in the oven.) This may be two or three sides, depending on the shape of your cut.

Grease the bottom of a 9x13" (or so) baking pan with olive oil and place the tenderloin in it. Insert the probe of your meat thermometer so it's in the center of the loin, embeded at least 2". Place the pan in the oven.

Approximate oven time will be 15 - 25 minutes. But don't go by the clock; watch your thermometer.

When the thermometer reads about 143-145 F, pull the pork from the oven. Please note: Most sources will tell you it's not safe to eat at this temp, but the temp will continue to rise as the meat sits. If you wait till the recommended 160 F to pull it, you will have dry, chewy pork. (Note the photo above is not of this recipe, and is probably pinker than it will be at 160 F.)

Once removed from the oven, let the pork rest in the pan -- thermometer still inserted -- until the temp reaches 160 F. This will be approximately five minutes.

Cut in slices 1/2 to 1/4" thick. Do not slice until just before serving. This is best served right when it hits that 159-164 F mark, so if possible, time the rest of your meal around this.

Here is Food Network's nutrition info:
Per Serving:
Calories: 209;
Total Fat: 9 grams;
Saturated Fat: 2 grams;
Protein: 30 grams;
Total carbohydrates: 2 grams;
    Sugar: 0 grams
    Fiber: 1 grams;
Cholesterol: 92 milligrams;
Sodium: 221 milligrams

The number one problem with the American diet

Okay, so this group obviously has something to sell you (just like the diet industry they're calling out), but they do an excellent job of summarizing what's wrong with the way we eat:

(I'm neither paid by nor promoting this group. I don't know anything about their program. I'm just impressed with how well they've boiled the problem down to a very succinct message.)