It’s a new year with a new outlook, new ideas and new attitude.
Good old January always gets us thinking of change and improvements, unfortunately that includes change to our eating habits.
All the holiday goodies are replaced with fruit and vegetables and while that’s not all bad, we’re lucky that a lot of variety is available.
There must be a dozen different kinds of apples and oranges right now, pretty good for winter. We tried a blood orange very sweet and juicy.
The cooking has changed too, out comes the low-fat, low-cal recipes.
Actually not a bad idea, before we know it, we’ll have longer days, sunny afternoons and warm weather.
Outside we’ll head for a walk or bike ride, out will come the T-shirts and shorts. It’ll be nice to have less layers of clothing but we’ll panic about short pants and pale skin. So a healthy meal or two now won’t hurt.
Sometimes, just taking our favorite recipe and cutting down on the extras eases us into lighter meals. Fish and chips is always a favorite but all the batter and deep frying is definitely not good for us.
Try a lighter version and serve the fish with yam fries. You can buy them prepared from the produce department. Shake in a bag with olive oil, lime juice and seasonings and bake. Or make your own. Don’t need ketchup with these fries.
Sweet and white potato spears
-1-1/2 lb sweet potatoes cut into spears -1-/1/2 lb russet potatoes-cut into spears -½ cup Zesty Italian dressing-¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese -2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Preheat oven to 375. Toss potatoes with dressing. Place on lightly greased or sprayed baking sheet. Cook 30 minutes, turn potatoes. Cook additional 30 minutes sprinkling with cheese during the last five minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.
Easy crusty cod
-1-lb cod (or halibut) cut into 4 pieces,-½ cup chopped parsley, -2 green onions-finely chopped, -2 tablespoons flour, -2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, -2 teaspoons olive oil (extra-virgin if available), -¼ teas salt, -¼ teas pepper
Preheat oven to 500. Spray 6x10 baking dish with cooking spray. Place fish in baking dish. Combine parsley, onion, flour, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper small bowl. Spoon mixture directly on top of the fish. Bake uncovered until fish is cooked in the centre and lightly browned and crisp on top about 10 minutes.