Worknight Dinners – In Good Taste

Minestrone Soup from Healthier Traditions: Italian Cookbook

Maris Callahan — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 22:22:21 +0000

When people think of Italian food, nutrition is not often the first thing that comes to mind. When I think of Italian food, I think of Romeo’s, a pizzeria and restaurant in my hometown that serves everything from pizza by the slice and fresh subs to baked ziti and rigatoni ala vodka. I think of Giada De Laurentiis’ classic Italian lasagna made with homemade tomato sauce, homemade bechamel sauce, beef, spinach and three different kinds of cheese. I also think of Italian friends whose Sunday dinners and holiday meals can best be described as “carbs on carbs on carbs.” That’s why it’s truly a gift to all of us that there is a new Italian cookbook to help us satisfy our Italian food cravings with more nutrition and just the right amount of carbs. The Transamerica Center for Health Studies is a nonprofit dedicated to helping employers and consumers achieve the best value and protection from their health coverage. Healthier Traditions: Italian Cookbook is the fourth edition of the Healthier Traditions Cookbook series with 18 recipes created and reviewed by registered dietitians. I love that each book in the series focuses on a different type of cuisine: Italian, Mexican, American […]

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Sheet Pan Salmon Teriyaki with Sweet Peppers

Maris Callahan — Sun, 03 Feb 2019 06:00:47 +0000

Dear All of the Salmon Everywhere, I apologize to you. I apologize to you because I have a terrible habit of overcooking you. As Brad likes to tell me, “if there’s a flaw in your cooking, it’s a refusal to adhere to a timer.” And you know what? He’s right. I overcook things. But I’m trying to quit. Even though this salmon was just a tad well-done, the marinade, which I initially saw on Skinnytaste, tasted amazing and the roasted peppers were the perfect sweet complement to a savory dish with a little bit of kick. About halfway through last month, I saw a photo of myself that truly horrified me and even though we all take horrible photos sometimes, in this particular photo I was wearing a blouse that I thought was one of my more flattering choices. I signed up for Weight Watchers Online the next Monday (so cliché) and even though the Weight Watchers dialogue can be a little cult-like (“you’re not on a diet, this is a LIFESTYLE”) I like the structure that the program provides and it has inspired me to make healthier food choices. The thing with Weight Watchers is that yes, it’s always about counting points assigned to different […]

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Orecchiette with Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale

Maris Callahan — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 18:00:46 +0000

Orecchiette with Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale is a hearty, vegetarian dish that comes together quickly – perfect for weeknights – and is packed with healthy ingredients and nutrition. Brad and I have been together for a little over three years and living together for about two. We rarely fight, our values are very similar and we have a lot of the same aspirations and goals for our futures. Sounds perfect, right? This is where I’m going to tell you that my boyfriend is a picky eater. Although he is very good about trying new things or eating around the offending ingredient, there are certain things that are straight up off-limits: avocado, mushrooms, beans, quinoa, and — you know where I’m going with this — roasted butternut squash and kale. In contrast, I will eat just about anything except for the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. There are a lot of things I’m not especially fond of (ham, oranges, popcorn are all foods I could live without) but there are few ingredients that I’ll refuse to eat when they appear in a composed dish full of other things that I like. Even though Brad refused to touch this dish […]

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Asian-Style Capellini with Ginger and Vegetables

Maris Callahan — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 22:34:43 +0000

I miss summer. I miss summer for all of the reasons I like summer, but I also feel like a saner person during the summer. From June through September this year, I did a great job at eating healthy, working out almost every day and doing all of the things you’re supposed to do when you have about 60 pounds to lose. Then, like clockwork, October rolled around and I completely lost my momentum. I’ve maintained a 20 pound weight loss (only 44 more to go!) but for whatever reason, the changing seasons completely zaps any motivation that I have to get to the gym regularly, cook more at home instead of resorting to ordering food delivery every other night and eating foods that make me feel good instead of foods that make me say “why did I eat that?” That is why the world needs more healthy, hearty pasta dishes. This capellini pasta recipe is an adaptation of a recipe from a Weight Watchers cookbook and is one of three that I shared this morning on a CBS Chicago segment about healthy swaps to make in your favorite pasta dishes. There are a lot of ingredients I love in the […]

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10 Slow Cooker Recipes to Make on Sunday for the Week

Maris Callahan — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 13:00:32 +0000

In years past, I’ve been just as excited for fall as every other white girl who likes to wear leggings as pants and sip the annual pumpkin spice latte. Summer is hot and sticky and you sweat just standing outside, and there was a time in my life that I looked forward to sweaters. At some point in the past few years I’ve grown to appreciate, well — maybe cult-like worship is a better term — summer: weekend days by the pool, after-work happy hours on rooftop terrace restaurants, and the sunlight that takes the sting out of the miserable winter and spring we have in the Midwest. The one thing that I am really looking forward to though is using my slow cooker more often. It seems unnatural to be making soup, stew and chili when it’s 90 degrees outside and we have access to a grill, but the idea of “set-it-and-forget-it” meals is growing increasingly attractive the busier I get. As long as we’re on the subject, I want to talk about my slow-cooker for a few minutes. I have the KitchenAid Multi-Cooker, which comes with a 2-in-1 reversible steam basket and roasting rack. It has 10 cooking settings […]

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