Taylor's Healthy Recipes

Over the summer, when Weavers Way Community Programs was running the youth summer internship at Henry Got Crops, each student completed a personal project. Taylor was inspired to put together a collection of healthy recipes. Here is a quick excerpt from her project, and a few of her recommended recipes. Enjoy! A Healthy Life Switching to a healthy diet can be challenging if you have a tendency to eat less-than-healthy foods. However, you don't need to avoid all your favorite unhealthy foods to stay healthy.  Some of these unhealthy foods can be made into more nutritious versions. You can increase the healthiness of foods low in vitamins, minerals and fiber or high in sugar and unhealthy fats by: Using Healthier Versions of Ingredients For example, whole grains, removing the skin from meat, low fat dairy products, reduced sodium and sugar. Decreasing Ingredient Amounts Gradually cut back on the amount of meat, cheese, sugar and salt you add, starting with about one-fourth less than called for in the recipe, and see how it affects the taste. Adding Healthy Ingredients Make your dish more nutrient-dense by adding healthy ingredients, such as fruits, beans or vegetables. Adding spices like cinnamon and nutmeg can intensify the sweet taste of dishes while allowing you to use less sugar. Replace Unhealthy Ingredients Replace up to half of the oil in baked goods with pureed prunes, mashed bananas or pureed beans to cut down on fat without adversely affecting the taste or texture. Choose marinara sauce instead of Alfredo sauce for your pasta. Reduce your salt consumption by replacing cold cuts with baked or grilled meats; and replace salt by flavoring foods with herbs and spices, such as garlic, oregano and cinnamon. Change the Cooking Method Steaming or microwaving your fruits and vegetables instead of boiling them helps maintain nutrient content, and baking foods instead of frying them. When you do fry foods, use a non-stick pan with just a tiny bit of oil so your food won't absorb much fat. Poaching, sautéing, braising, broiling and grilling are among the healthier cooking methods. Rinsing canned vegetables before you use them in recipes can get rid of some of the extra sodium they contain.

Spicy Chipotle Beef Burgers Ingredients: 1 lb 96% lean ground beef (or lean ground turkey) 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped pinch salt For the creamy chipotle spread: 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce Toppings/to put together the burger: Whole grain buns (whole wheat, brown rice, etc.) Sliced roma tomato Lettuce Extra sharp cheddar cheese Instructions: 1. Combine beef, chopped chipotle pepper and salt in a large bowl. 2. Create 4 evenly sized patties. Gently press each patty down in the center with your thumb to create an indent (this promotes even cooking). 3. Grill to desired doneness, about 4-5 minutes per side. 4. Blend yogurt and chipotle pepper in a food processor or blender until well combined. 5. To assemble burgers, spread sauce onto the top side of the bun. Yields 4 burgers