With the New Year comes the usual resolutions to eat better and lose weight. The editors of Martha Stewart Living want to get you on the right path with Clean Slate, a cookbook and guide to an improved diet focusing on freshly prepared foods. Here are recipes that encourage year-round healthy habits, starting right now.
At the beginning of every year, a glut of diet books flood the market, promising to help you lose weight and “keep it off!” But when the emphasis is placed on purifying your body from the start and eating more wholesome foods, the get-slim-now mentality is less important than changing what and how you eat for good. That is the message at the heart of Clean Slate, which offers up carefully developed three-day and 21-day “action plans” as well as strategies to transform the way you think about food — so you can really look and feel better.
Roasted Sweet Peppers & Carrots with Orange & Hazelnuts
Getting your fill of beta-carotene is easy with this vibrant salad: Carrots and orange bell peppers are packed with it, and oranges and clementines are loaded with vitamin C — all are powerful antioxidants.
Serves 4
2 orange bell peppers, halved, ribs and seeds removed
5 small carrots, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 navel orange, peel and pith removed, sliced into rounds
1 clementine, peel and pith removed, sliced into rounds
¼ cup fresh goat cheese, crumbled (1 ounce)
¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spread peppers and carrots on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown and tender, tossing halfway through, about 20 minutes.
2. Arrange roasted carrots and peppers with orange and clementine on a platter. Top with goat cheese and hazelnuts.
3. In a bowl, whisk together vinegar and 2 tablespoons oil until emulsified; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over vegetables and serve.
Per Serving: 233 Calories, 16g Fat (4g Saturated Fat) 11mg Cholesterol, 19g Carbohydrates, 6g Protein, 4g Fiber, Gluten-Free
Wild Salmon, Asparagus & Shiitakes in Parchment
Take a cue from professional chefs and cook fish en papillote. This type of steaming yields moist and tender fish that takes on the flavors of the other ingredients. A bit of extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper are mainstays, as is some type of acid — here lemon, elsewhere sliced tomatoes.
Serves 4
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
8 ounces medium asparagus (about ½ bunch), trimmed and halved lengthwise
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Grated zest of 1 lemon, plus wedges for serving
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 skinless wild salmon fillets (about 5 ounces each)
¼ cup water
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut four 12-by-17-inch pieces of parchment. Fold each in half crosswise to make a crease, then unfold and lay flat.
2. Toss mushrooms, asparagus and scallions with oil in a bowl. Sprinkle with lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. Remove asparagus from mixture; divide evenly among parchment pieces, creating a bed of spears on one side of crease. Top each with 1 piece of fish, then with mushroom mixture. Drizzle each serving with 1 tablespoon water. Fold parchment over ingredients, creating a half-moon shape. Make small, overlapping pleats to seal the open sides.
3. Bake on 2 rimmed baking sheets until packets are puffed, 9 minutes (fish should be partially opaque in the middle). Open packets, squeeze with lemon, and serve immediately.
Per Serving: 378 Calories, 23g Fat (3g Saturated Fat), 78mg Cholesterol, 12g Carbohydrates, 31g Protein, 3g Fiber, Dairy-Free, Nut-Free, Gluten-Free
Crostini with Fresh Ricotta, Cherries and Lemon Zest
Here’s a novel and tasty topping for toast, instead of jam and butter: fresh ricotta and chopped cherries —among the best sources of antioxidants. The cherries are macerated with a bit of brown sugar for added sweetness and to extract juices, but you could omit this step.
Serves 4
6 ounces sweet cherries, pitted and chopped (1¼ cups)
1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
4 slices rustic bread
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup fresh ricotta
Grated zest of 1 lemon, plus more for garnish (peeled in long strips)
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine cherries and brown sugar in a bowl; let macerate 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, brush bread with olive oil, and toast until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Mix together ricotta and lemon zest in a bowl.
3. Dividing evenly, spread ricotta on bread and top with cherries. Garnish with zest and serve immediately.
Per Serving: 261 Calories, 12g Fat (4g Saturated Fat), 16mg Cholesterol, 31g Carbohydrates, 8g Protein, 3g Fiber, Nut-Free
