In the Kitchen with Jacob: Great Taste, Good For You

We've recently learned that Sady has a metabolic disorder that has required us to alter our eating habits.  I'll let Sady explain to you what the issue is if she so chooses.  But for the purposes of this post, it'll suffice to say that we are now on a low glycemic diet, which basically consists of balancing proteins with healthy sugars, like fruits, and good carbohydrates.

The word "diet" normally sounds like you're going to have to sacrifice flavor for health.  Not so.  We've been getting recipes from online sources like allrecipes.com (one of my favorites), cooks.com, and other culinary blogs.  Below are recipes for guacamole and roasted tilapia from Sady's favorite cooking blog, Kalyn's Kitchen.

As usual, these healthy choices require a fair amount of prep work.  I would suggest making use of a vegetable chopper if you've got one, otherwise you'll be chopping vegetables for a while.  But then again, if you're like me, you might prefer the time in the kitchen to the other things you should be doing.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we have...

Cilantro-Lover's Guacamole with Red Onion, Lime, and Chiles

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups guacamole, recipe created by Kalyn.)

Ingredients:
2 medium avocados (must be perfectly ripe for good guacamole; the flesh of the avocado should barely give when pressed with your thumb.)
1 T freshly squeezed lime juice
3 T very finely minced red onion
1/4 cup very finely minced fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp. Ancho chile powder (I used Penzeys.)
1/2 tsp. Vege-Sal (or use 1/4 tsp. regular salt)
1/2 tsp. Green Tabasco sauce (more or less to taste, or use any hot sauce that you like the flavor of)

Instructions:

Peel avocados and dice into pieces. (I use this method from Simply Recipes for How to Peel and Cut up an avocado.) Put avocado into a glass or plastic bowl and toss with the lime juice.

Finely chop red onion and cilantro and add to the avocado. (I used the mini-chopper bowl of my immersion blender to chop these, but you can definitely chop with a chef's knife.) Add chile powder, Vege-Sal, and Green Tabasco Sauce to the bowl.

Using a fork, mash and stir the avocado until other ingredients are mixed in and avocado is mostly mashed, with some small chunks remaining. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, chile powder, or hot sauce if desired.

Roasted Tilapia with Black Bean, Mango, Lime, and Cilantro Salsa

(Makes about 2 cups salsa; salsa recipe created by Kalyn.)

Ingredients:

4 pieces Tilapia

Salsa Ingredients:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained well
1 mango, peeled and diced
1/4 cup green onion, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (about half a bunch of cilantro)
2-3 T fresh lime juice
2-3 T olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. hot sauce (I used Sriracha sauce)

Instructions:

Follow instructions for World's Easiest Roasted Tilapia to cook the Tilapia.

Before you start to roast tilapia, pour canned black beans into a colander placed in the sink, and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears. Let beans drain, then blot dry with paper towel if they still look wet.

Cut mango flesh away from the pit, cutting along both sides of the flat oblong shaped pit. (Here are excellent instructions for How to Cut a Mango from Simply Recipes.) Cut mango into 1/2 inch dice and place in plastic bowl. Add drained black beans, thinly sliced green onion and chopped cilantro.

Combine 2 T lime juice, 2 T olive oil, cumin and hot sauce in small bowl, and whisk together. Mix into black bean mixture. Check to see if the mixture seems too dry, and add a bit more lime juice and olive oil if needed.

Serve black bean and mango salsa spooned over hot roasted Tilapia.