Top 100 Foods

Top 100 Foods to Improve Your Productivity

Spicy Thai Crunch Salad

So Ryan and I had this great salad the other night at California Pizza Kitchen and we decided to replicate it at home, while spicy-ing it up some. The main ingredient is cabbage and yeah I know, doesn't seem that interesting and it smells a little, but did you know that cabbage is included in the top 100 foods? It falls under the category of Cancer & Long-term Illness Prevention. So eat up!

Here are the ingredients:

Cabbage- green and red, shredded
Cucumber (cubed)
Carrots (shredded)
Edamame
Green Onions (chopped white and green pieces)
Avocado
Wontons and/or Crispy Rice Noodles
Peanuts

Dressing:
Cilantro, about 1/2 cup
Olive Oil (use your eye)
1 Lime
1/2 clove of garlic
Green Pepper (we get ours from our garden)
1 teaspoon of rice vinegar
black pepper

Thai Spicy Peanut Sauce (bought from the store) with a little smidge of sesame oil.

Ryan made the dressing in our mini food processor so that pepper and cilantro were finely minced. Basically we just combined all the ingredients, tossed with the dressing, then to add some spice we added the Thai Spicy Peanut Sauce. I think it would also be good to top with some Salmon, or other fish. Basically it's a very simply and easy salad with a lot of flavor.

Breakfast Tostada

So I titled this recipe as Breakfast Tostada, but really it can be eaten whenever. I had it tonight as a late snack since I ate an early dinner. I have to say it was quite amazing in taste and simple to make.

So I saw Tyler Florence, a famous chef, on Oprah teaching a mom how to make healthy & simple breakfast for her kids. He made scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and I believe some cheese, wrapped into a tortilla. Then I watched 60 minutes and saw a clip on Alice Waters, this amazing chef in Berkeley that started the slow-cooking/organic/local movement. She made breakfast and what she did was toast some fresh wheat bread, cut up some heirloom tomatoes and fried an egg by cracking it in a metal spoon and holding it in her wood-fire store. She assembled the egg and tomato on top of the bread and it looked mouth-watering. The interviewer even claimed it was the best breakfast she has ever had. So I decided to combine the two and first wanted to do a wrap, but I ended up cooking the tortilla too much and it became a tostada, but I think that's what made it even better. Here it is:

ingredients:

• egg
• a couple slices of soy bacon (meat free-I get it at Trader Joes)
• whole wheat tortilla
• arugula
• baby heirloom tomatoes (or whatever tomatoes you have, that is just what I had)
• a little bit of shredded cheese

directions:

I used a flat, long frying pan that had enough space to cook everything, you can probably use a large frying pan and just move things around as you need space.

First I cooked the "bacon" for a couple minutes on each side. When those were looking almost done I moved them away form the direct heat, then I cracked an egg and started to fry it. At this point I put my tortilla down on the frying pan (I told you it was a big one). Once I flipped the tortilla on the other side I sprinkled some cheese on it to melt. As I flipped the egg, I put the chopped tomatoes in the pan to heat them up some. As the egg was finishing I assembled the tortilla (while still in the frying pan) by placing the bacon on top, then tomatoes, and some arugula. Once the egg was done I topped off the tostada with that. Then a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and I little more cheese, cause I love cheese, and waa-laa- a breakfast tostada good for any time of day!

Hearty Vegetable Soup

I found this recipe in the November 2008 issue of Natural Health. It was very good and I loved the spice to it. Also it was quite simple to make, as a lot of items are from a can. I made it with cornbread. Definitely a recipe I'll make again.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 1 rib of celery, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 cup of fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup of corn kernels, fresh or frozen
• 3/4 cup of kidney beans
• 3/4 cup of white beans (cannelloni beans)
• 1 15 oz. can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes (I only used 3/4 of the can)

directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions, celery, carrots and garlic, stirring often for about 10 minutes, until vegetables start to soften.
2. Add salt, paprika, cayenne, and thyme. Stir to combine, then pour broth over everything. Raise the heat and bring to a boil
3. Add beans, corn and tomatoes. Return to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

For the cornbread, I just used a mixture then added the remainder of the corn from the can (as I only used 1 cup of it for the soup) and then added 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a little bit of honey.

Warm Thai Coleslaw

So I found this recipe in a book called "new vegeterian." The recipe calls for it to be cold with tge green beans being the only thing cooked. I like my dinners warm (except when it's scorching outside), so I decided to change things up a bit and cook all of the veggies. Not only was it quite delicious, but it's also packed with vitamins.

ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 oz. green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 2 cups of finely shredded red cabbage
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 tomatoes seeded and chopped
• 1-2 green onions chopped (white and some of the green part)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1 green chile (I'll leave the kind and amount up to you depending on how spicy you like your food).
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts coarsely ground

for the dressing:

• a handful of fresh cilantro chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (I used a little less than what is called for)

directions: Mix all the ingredients together for the dressing and put aside. Cook the green beans in boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and set aside. In a wok (or large frying pan) heat the olive oil and add the garlic, onions, and chiles. Saute for 1-2 minutes then add the bell pepper and continue to saute for another 2 minutes or so. Next add the cabbage and continue to saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked greenbeans and tomatoes and peanuts and continue to saute for another 1-2 minutes. During the last minute pour the dressing over everything. Make sure everything is heated throughly, but don't cook for too long as it will get mushy. Salt and pepper as needed.
If you prefer to have it cold, cook only the green beans then rinse them throughly with cold water. Next combine all the salad ingredients (skip the olive oil) and pour the dressing over everything.

Mel's Warm 'n Chunky Gazpacho

I always see all these recipes for Gazpacho and they always look so good, except for one factor, they're cold. So I decided to make a Gazpacho-like soup that was warm. Also I'm not a fan of puree'd soup, so I kept it chunky. It turned out quite good. This recipe is for 2, so double if you want more.

ingredients:

• 3 Tomatos, chopped and seeded
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 golden potatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp dill, diced
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 zucchini (diced)- I used the mini zucchini's from Trader Joes and just had them as little round slices
• 1/4 of a sweet onion, diced
• 1 green chile pepper diced (select the kind and amount depending on the heat you want, I used one from our garden and they are very mild)
• 1.5 cups of tomato juice
• 3/4 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

directions:

In a pot saute onions and and celery in oil for about 4 minutes then add the garlic and potatoes for another minute or so. Next add the broth, dill, salt and sugar. Bring it to a boil then lower the heat down to a simmer and partially cover for 10 minutes. Then add the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine vinegar, continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the zucchini and bell pepper for another 5 minutes. Lastly add the tomatos for an additional 5 minutes. Salt and pepper as need. You can also add hot sauce if you like some heat. Serve with toasted bread.

Green Bean Salad

This is a simple, yet tasty side dish.

ingredients:

• 1 pound of green beans, cut the ends off and then cut into 2-inch lengths.
• 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons salt/pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley

directions:

Boil green beans uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Drain green beans and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. In a small bowl combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, vegetable broth, and salt/pepper. Whisk the ingredients together and then add the dill and parsley. Drain the green beans from the ice bath and lay out on a paper towel and throughly dry. Next place the green beans in a bowl and pour the dressing over them. Toss and enjoy!