Celebrate Memorial Day with Healthy Grilling Recipes!

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa

Happy Memorial Day!

The temperature is rising. Summer is almost here. It's a long weekend. So why not fire up the grill?

Not only is grilling a fast and easy way to prepare food, but it's also a great tool for creating healthy, mouth-watering meals. Here's a round-up of some of my favorite healthy grilling recipes, perfect for Memorial Day or any summer weekend. So fire up the grill and get cooking!

Healthy Grilling Recipes:

Grilled Figs with Honey & Thyme

• Grilled Chicken Sausage with Asparagus & Soft Polenta
• Grilled Figs with Honey and Thyme
• Grilled Lobster Tails with Tarragon, Lemon & Garlic
• Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa
• Grilled Salmon Steaks with Dill & Mustard
• Grilled Salmon Steaks with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
• Grilled Shrimp with Cucumber Yogurt Spinach Salad
• Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Peach-Jalapeño Salsa

Snap Pea Mushroom Quinoa Risotto

Quinoa risotto.

You read that right. It actually tastes quite splendid.

I studded this with snap peas and baby shiitake mushrooms. They provide great flavor and texture—pops of sweetness and umami. But feel free to play around with different combinations. Though this is a vegan dish, the quinoa provides plenty of protein to make it a complete meal.

I'm also still in love with this organic tri-color quinoa blend from Trader Joe's.

How can you resist?

Snap Pea Mushroom Quinoa Risotto

Serves 2 people
Cooking time: about twenty minutes
Vegan; gluten-free

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups snap peas
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
extra stock for consistency
salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Rinse the quinoa. Add the vegetable stock and the quinoa to a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes (or per package instructions). Remove from heat.

2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and reduce heat to medium. Saute for a few minutes, until softening. Add the snap peas and the mushrooms. Cook for about five minutes, or until the snap peas are tender.

3. Add the white wine to the vegetables. Bring to a simmer and reduce in half. Add the quinoa and stir to combine. More chicken stock may be added to the pan to adjust the consistency. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday Features My Recipe: Slow Cooker Corn Chili

Don't you love Meatless Monday?

It's a favorite in our household (I'm back in LA folks!). And adjusting and getting caught up and all that jazz. The weather could not be more beautiful—sunny, clear, and mid-70's to low-80's.

My visit to the East Coast was a success. I finished the draft of my new book and am now editing away. In fact, I'm meeting one of my readers today for lunch in Silverlake at a vegan eatery called Sage. Getting feedback can be tough, but very necessary.

This morning, I woke up to see that Meatless Monday is featuring my recipe for Slow Cooker Corn Chili. I love this recipe because it's easy to throw together (it calls for frozen corn, but if you have fresh you can use it), packed with great spices like cinnamon and cacao, and it's super healthy.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can serve this chili with Domestic Divas Honey Cornbread.

Click here to check out my recipe for Slow Cooker Corn Chili on Meatless Monday!

Pomegranate Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Only four days left.

Until I disembark for Los Angeles.

Virginia has been a whirlwind of a trip. Cliche I know, but it did go by too quickly. It was productive (I finished the draft of my new book—now I'm in editing land). The weather finally cooperated. I enjoyed seeing my parents and spending time with them, but I'm looking forward to returning west.

I love the west coast, and I love Los Angeles.

P.S. Check out my friend Jennifer Handford's novel DAUGHTERS FOR A TIME now available on Amazon (and if you're a Prime member, you can borrow it for FREE!).

I know why you came.

Here's a great way to use leftover chicken—Pomegranate Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches. I made these for lunch the other week, and they were delicious. In addition to pomegranates, I added sunflower seeds and tarragon.

Simple, healthy, lots of textures and flavors.

How can you resist?

Pomegranate Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Serves 4 people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Dairy-free

Ingredients

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
2 tablespoons mayonaise
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1 large celery rib, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 pieces of whole grain toast
2 cups mixed greens (for serving)

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, mayonaise, mustard, pomegranate seeds, tarragon, shallot, lemon juice, and celery. Mix well.

2. Season the mixture to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

3. Place some of the mixed greens on each piece of toast. Top with a generous portion of chicken salad. Serve the sandwiches open faced. Enjoy!

Variations

The bread may be omitted and the chicken salad served over the mixed greens for a lighter lunch.

Indian Tofu With Spinach

The draft of my second novel is finished!

I finally typed THE END last week.

Still much editing to do, but a major milestone nonetheless.

So now we can get back to the very important business of food. I'm still out in the Virginia countryside for another week and a half. My mother and I have been cooking up a storm.

Most impressive has been my mother's garden, and especially the vast quantities of spinach that it's churning out. She has a serious—and I mean serious—green thumb. There are few foods that I love more than spinach (does that make me strange I wonder?).

This recipe appeared in one of my favorite New York Times columns last week: Recipes for Health. It is written by the fantastic Martha Rose Shulman. It was my mother's idea to cook it. I loved how instead of cheese, Shulman substituted firm tofu. Not only was this recipe quick to make, but it was delicious, loaded with tons of spices, and super healthy, too.

I can't wait to cook it again. I made another Indian dish called Aloo Matar (potatoes and green peas traditionally, but I added cauliflower) to go with this one, and we served everything with brown basmati rice. It was the perfect Meatless Monday feast.

Indian Tofu With Spinach
Adapted from The New York Times
Serves 4 people (or 6 if used as a side dish)
Cooking time: about 30 minutes
Vegetarian; gluten-free

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped shallot
• 4 lengthwise slices peeled fresh ginger (2 inches long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick), coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 whole dried red chilies or 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach, stems trimmed at the end, or 12 ounces baby spinach
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon arrowroot powder
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Drain the tofu on paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or a large, heavy lidded skillet and add the tofu. Stir-fry until golden brown and remove from the heat.
2. Combine the shallot and the ginger in a food processor or mini-chop and blend until finely minced, almost a paste.
3. Heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat in a wok or skillet and add the whole chilies or chili flakes. Cook, stirring, for about 15 seconds. Add the onion and ginger and stir-fry until it is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne, and turmeric, stir for about 10 seconds and add the spinach in batches, adding the next batch after the first batch wilts and stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze.
4. Stir in the tofu, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spinach is uniformly wilted and the tofu is warmed through.
5. Whisk the arrowroot powder into the yogurt. Remove the pan from the heat, remove the whole chilies if used, and stir in the yogurt. Taste, adjust salt, and serve with rice or other grains.