Spicy Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted cauliflower? Been there, done that. But roasting a whole head of a cauliflower? Now we’ve got your attention. This cauliflower recipe in a spicy yogurt marinade and roasting it at a high temperature is sure to please, even the non veggie eaters will be speechless. The result is an amazingly delicious dish that’s as dramatic in presentation as it is easy in preparation. Serve it with a big green salad (we suggest fresh squeezed lemon and olive oil for the dressing) for an easy weeknight supper or your next “the vegetarians are coming to dinner” party.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1½ cups plain Greek yogurt (Fage, Chobani)
• 1 lemon, zest and juiced
• 2 tablespoons chile powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400° and lightly grease a small baking sheet with oil. Set aside.
2. Trim the base of the cauliflower to remove any green leaves and the stem.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt with the lemon zest and juice, chile powder, cumin, garlic powder, curry powder, salt and pepper.
4. Dunk the cauliflower into the bowl and use a brush or your hands to smear the marinade evenly over its surface. (Excess marinade can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days and used with meat, fish or other veggies.)
5. Place the cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the surface is dry and lightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes. The marinade will make a crust on the surface of the cauliflower.
6. Let the cauliflower cool for 10 minutes before cutting it into wedges and serving alongside a big green salad.
7. ENJOY!!

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to the Fitness Fixes Blog. This week I wanted to share with everyone a wonderful recipe many countries have learned to adopt called, Shakshuka. A low calorie, delicious, nutritious meal that can be prepared by all types of cooking levels. So strap on your aprons kids. We're going in!!!

Shakshuka

Shakshuka

SHAKSHUKA: A middle eastern treat. Can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. For breakfast, serve with warm crusty bread or pita that can be dipped into the sauce (gluten- free breads optional). For dinner, serve with a green side salad for a light, easy and nutritious meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium brown or white onion, peeled and diced
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• 4 cups ripe diced tomatoes, or 2 cans (14 oz. each low sodium) diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (low sodium)
• 1 tsp chili powder (mild)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste– spicy!)
• 1 tsp raw cane sugar (optional, to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4-6 eggs
• 2-3 leaves of  fresh chopped basil (optional, for garnish)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a deep, large skillet or sauté pan on medium heat, slowly warm olive oil in the pan.
2. Add chopped onion, sauté for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften and become transparent. Add garlic and continue to sauté till mixture is fragrant. About 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the bell pepper, sauté for 5-7 minutes over medium until softened.
4. Add tomatoes and tomato paste to pan, stir till blended.
5. Add spices and sugar, stir well, and allow mixture to simmer over medium heat for 5-7 minutes till it starts to reduce. At this point, you can taste the mixture and spice it according to your flavor profile. Add salt and pepper to taste, more sugar for a sweeter sauce, or more cayenne pepper for a spicier shakshuka (careful with the cayenne…it is spicy!).
6. I prefer to crack the eggs, one at a time, in a seperate bowl to minimize broken egg shells in the food. Then individually pouring them directly over the tomato mixture, making sure to space them evenly over the sauce. Properly place 4-5 eggs around the outer edge and 1 in the center. The eggs will cook “over easy” style on top of the tomato sauce. Some people prefer their shakshuka eggs more runny. If this is your preference, let the sauce reduce for a few minutes before adding the eggs on top– then, cover the pan and cook the eggs to taste.
7. Cover the pan. Allow mixture to simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the eggs are fully cooked or slightly runny (depending on preference) and the sauce has slightly reduced. Keep an eye on the skillet to make sure that the sauce doesn’t reduce too much, which will stick to the pan and can lead to burning and impact the taste.
8. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.
9. ENJOY!!!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 30 Minutes

Servings: 4-6 Adults

An Oldie but Goodie

This was Time Magazine’s Cover Photo from a 2009 article written by John Cloud. One of my favorite, most controversial fitness covers I’ve seen in years. Brought to me by one of  my clients, man what a good article. It’s a message that has gotten louder over the last few years: exercise doesn't work for weight loss. There was The Myth about Exercise featuring a photo of a woman pounding a treadmill, her eyes focused on a yummy looking cupcake. It symbolized the story’s thrust: research suggesting exercise won’t help weight loss because it makes us eat more to make up for the calories we burn. It’s a message repeated recently in the new book Big Fat Lies in which author David Gillespie – a lawyer – describes exercise for weight loss as ‘pointless’. But is it really true? No, says David Driscoll – not a lawyer, but an exercise physiologist and sports dietitian – who thinks that exercise deniers, like climate change deniers, don’t tell the whole story – they cherry-pick the evidence that suits their message instead. It’s not hard to find research showing exercise does shift weight, especially when it’s combined with a leaner diet, says Driscoll, a member of Sports Dietitians Australia. But when studies do find little or no weight loss benefit from exercise, this may have more to do with behavior than biology. 

 “Can Exercise make us eat more? – YES – what’s not clear is whether this is because our bodies are demanding the extra fuel or because we think we deserve it,” he says. “In studies where people do consume more calories after exercise no one’s asked them if it’s because of real hunger or because they feel they need a reward for working out. We need to establish this – it’s well-known that eating isn’t always related to hunger. When research finds little weight loss from exercise, Driscoll believes it’s also important to look at how much fat is shed, not just weight. In some studies people may not lose much weight but they may lose fat and gain muscle.

As for a shining example that diet and exercise do work, there’s the U.S. , a project tracking the progress of 10,000 people who’ve lost an average of 65 lbs and kept it off for over five years – and guess what? Ninety eight per cent of these successful weight loss losers report that they changed their diet in some way to lose weight – and 94 per cent increased their physical activity.

So is the exercise-is-useless message a dangerous one?

It’s irresponsible, but it’s also a message that some people want to hear and it appeals to people who don’t like exercise. But I don’t think it will make people who are already exercising stop. Driscoll says – “And in the unlikely event that exercise turned out not to work and actually caused weight gain, the health benefits of physical activity are so great they’d offset the problem of a little extra weight gain.”