25+ Scrumptious Dishes to Jump Start Your Healthy January

Basil Sole on Greens with Parmesan-Tomato Salad                        {print recipe}

Every year on January 2, many people around the world wake up knowing they’re just one cookie away from a bigger pants size.  Gyms memberships rise, WW (Weight Watchers) Workshop chairs fill up, and dog walkers double their pet’s exercise along with their own. I began WW for the 4th (5th?) time just before the start of December, so while I didn’t wait until after the Christmas fudge tin was empty, I did move into this arena right upon finishing the last piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

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Veggie Frittata or What to Do with that Last Leftover Serving of Vegetables from Dinner the Other Night

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A scant cupful of sautéed or grilled vegetables from last night’s dinner-or even the night before’s.  Eggs. Fresh tomatoes and basil. Or not.  Maybe a little grating of cheese or a little chopped cheese that’s about to mold. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner is then served in under 5 minutes if you make your very own little vegetable frittata, which is just an Italian word for open-faced omelet. Have a little meat, too? Throw it in.  Freshly cooked vegetables are good 3-5 days in the refrigerator.  Cooked chicken, by the way, is ok for 3-4 days, too–as is cooked bacon.  Using up your leftovers will make you feel better about living a green life and will make your wallet happy, as well. Continue reading

Garlic-Green Bean Egg White Frittata with Mushrooms and Tomatoes

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This is for mornings when you know the evening is bringing way too many calories  and you’re hungry NOW.  Or for nights when you have some green beans left that aren’t enough for a real meal or to share for dinner. Maybe it’ll do for that special time when your dogs are clamoring for egg yolks, as do mine on a regular basis. Especially when they’ve worked up a big appetite barking at the awesome buck in the front yard. Yes, this fellow was in our yard the other day. We have a herd of does that spends a lot of time in our neighborhood, but a huge buck isn’t quite such a regular visitor. I wish I’d gotten a better photo. You can imagine I couldn’t open the door to take the picture or the dogs would have been out in a flash. And bucks don’t always like dogs.  (This was a much more pleasant animal experience than the encounter with the stinky dead mouse hiding between two blouses in my laundry room yesterday.  True story.) Continue reading

Ricotta, Chive, and Prosciutto Omelette-Donna Hay-50 Women Game-Changers in Food-#31

 

 Lydia Walshin (The Perfect Pantry) often has great recipe links on fb.  One day, she linked to a recipe for Stir-Fried Rice with Mushrooms from Jeanette’s Healthy Living.  Jeanette’s recipe came from the famous Chinese cook and cookbook author, Barbara Tropp, of whom I’m very fond.  The post title indicated the recipe was part of the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food blogging effort.  Each week, bloggers from all over the country feature the recipes of one of the 50 Women Game-Changers from the Gourmet Live List published last May.  I had to get in on this thing and here I am the very next week, blogging down-under Donna Hay’s recipe for Ricotta, Chive, and Prosciutto Omelettes.  Thanks, fellow food bloggers, for the warm welcome.  I’m thrilled to be participating!
 

Donna Hay is Australia’s premier food editor and cookbook writer who began at the young age of 19 as a writer and food stylist.   By 25, she was the food editor for marie claire.  Since then, she’s published 18 award-winning cookbooks and now is the editor of the bi-monthly donna hay magazine with a circulation of nearly 400,000.  Donna also has a popular weekly food column in the Sunday editions of News Limited newspapers around Australia and The New Zealand Herald, reaching over seven million people each week. She is a regular contributor to UK’s leading lifestyle magazine, Living etc.  Click here for a list of Donna’s recipes and menus and here for the magazine’s ipad app.

Before I began this blogging adventure, I had downloaded the magazine app for my ipad, which I keep in the kitchen unless I’m traveling.  The easy-to-use format of this beautiful app sold me as much as did the pictures that told such clear stories.  While looking at food photos, the reader can click and choose between reading the recipe (including photo, ingredients list, and story/directions) and cook mode, which with just a push of the finger takes you from the first bit of instructions to the last, page by page.  Right now, from what I can see, there are just a couple of issues available free.  Keep an eye out for more.

My ipad with the donna hay mag at center. Screensaver: Colorado kitchen!
While not a great photo, you get the idea of how fun this is to use.

Let’s cook… 

In the pan with the egg ring.  Watch carefully to avoid burning.

This very quick, light meal consists of a souffle omelet (one in which the eggs are separated and the whites are whipped to peaks before the yolks are gently folded back in) with a tiny taste of salad –the spinach–and a bit of salty Italian ham for garnish and kick.  Two eggs truly make two servings here. If you’re on South Beach, this will cook with just a bit of adjustment.

 ricotta, chive, and prosciutto omelettes by donna hay

Just add Chardonnay.

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Next up: #32  Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian

The gorgeous, intelligent locavores of the magazine world, Ryder and Topalian’s Edible series now numbers 60 editions, from Allegheny to WOW (southeast Michigan). And, despite the handicap of being free print mags, they actually make money!  (courtesy Gourmet Live)

Check out how the other bloggers are honoring the 50 Women Game-Changers:


Sue – The View from Great Island   
Taryn – Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan –
The Spice Garden              
Heather – girlichef
Miranda of
Mangoes and Chutney 
 Mary – One Perfect Bite
Barbara –
Movable Feasts              
Jeanette – Healthy Living
Linda –
Ciao Chow Linda              
Linda A – There and Back Again
Martha –
Lines from Linderhof       
Mireya – My Healthy Eating Habits,
Veronica –
My Catholic Kitchen     
Annie Lovely Things
Nancy –
Picadillo                        
Claudia – Journey of an Italian Cook

Val – More Than Burnt Toast       
Joanne – Eats Well With Others

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

Herb-Spinach Egg White Omelet on the Dinner Place blog

 

How to make an omelet

Sing a new song, cook a new recipe….

Alyce  
All photos  by Alyce Morgan, copyright 2012-unless otherwise noted or obvious.
Donna Hay photo courtesy donna hay magazine.