Patricia Chuey

Food and Nutrition Expert | Recipe Developer

Fresh Fruit Salad Afterschool Snack That Wows

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Do your kids bring home half-eaten apples, bananas, oranges or other fruit from their school lunch? Instead of being frustrated, capture those fruits soon after the lunch arrives home. Rinse them and trim off any brownish parts, then dice or chop into bite-sized pieces. Toss with one or two new fruits like a few frozen blueberries, chopped kiwi or canned peaches. Voila! A fruit salad snack they’ll love!

Cheers!

Salad In The Pink

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In our family, food is a big focus year round and especially at Christmas. My parents, 3 sisters and all of our husbands cook and help in the kitchen. The kids are right in there with us too! On Christmas Eve we celebrate with a traditional Scandinavian or Ukrainian meal. On Christmas Day, it’s turkey with all the trimmings. We always include a salad that’s dressed in its holiday finest. The salads are so good they’ve become as vital to the meal as the turkey. Here I reveal a secret family salad dressing we’ve been making for years thanks to Mom first discovering it.

Roasted Beet, Pomegrante and Greens in the Pink – Serves 4-6

  • ½ cup plus 2 tsp canola or olive oil
  • 3 medium beets, peeled, quartered and sliced thinly
  • sea salt, to taste
  • 2 Tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup red onion, chopped
  • ½ tsp each dry mustard powder and salt
  • 4-6 cups chopped Romaine or green leaf lettuce
  • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds
  1. Roast beets: Toss beets with 2 tsp oil and a little sea salt. Place on a parchment or foil lined baking pan and roast at 350⁰F for about 35 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare dressing: In blender or food processor, mix together ½ cup oil, vinegar, sugar, red onion, mustard powder and salt.
  3. Assemble salad: Toss together lettuce, parsley, green onion and pomegranate seeds. Arrange beets on top and drizzle with dressing.

Cheers!

Seven No-Recipe Ways to Eat More Lentils

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Lentil Salad

Vegetarian or not, eat legumes (beans, peas and lentils from dried or canned) at least twice every week. Lentils are a sustainable, very affordable food supplying both protein and carbohydrate energy. At lentils.ca you can find ideas for everything from appys to desserts. I even entered my Ladies and Lentilmen gingerbread cookies in a recipe contest there once.

Even faster, without recipes:

(Note: Lentils cook like rice: One part lentils to 2 parts water, in about 15 minutes.)

  1. While starting a tomato sauce for pasta, on another burner, boil a cup of lentils. Stir the cooked lentils into the sauce.
  2. Make a Greek-style salad. Tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta and…lentils! They marinate well absorbing the flavour of the vinaigrette dressing.
  3. Make instant hummus: Puree a can of rinsed, drained lentils with 2 cloves garlic, juice of 1 lemon and ¼ cup tahini or nut butter. (For classic hummus, use chickpeas in place of lentils.) Stir in a little plain Greek yogurt if you like for a smoother texture. A perfect dip for crudités.
  4. Add to quesadilla. If you make the kind for kids that is simply melted cheese between 2 tortillas, ramp this up substantially by pureeing lentils and spreading on tortillas before sprinkling in the cheese. Veggies in there would be terrific too!
  5. Keep a bag of cooked lentils in the freezer. Sprinkle a few in the blender when making smoothies for an affordable protein boost.
  6. Introduce them to babies and toddlers. Cooked lentils are the perfect size for tiny fingers to pick up off their plate.
  7. Throw them into just about any homemade soup while it simmers.

Cheers!

Homemade is Best

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Have you ever made from-scratch doughnuts, fresh pressed apple juice, french fries sliced from whole potatoes, your own custom seasoned sausage or home-smoked back bacon? Most commercial versions of these foods are loaded with salt, sugar or the wrong fats. They’re blamed as contributors to obesity, cancer and diabetes. Everyone I know (our family included) who might occasionally make foods like these at home isn’t dealing with ill health. They avoid most commercial versions. Because the time and effort involved is SERIOUS, they’re not made very often. When they are, it’s with quality ingredients and in small batches that aren’t eternally shelf stable. If making your own back bacon sounds a bit much, the point is that homemade versions of anything are almost always better. No matter the size or age, make your kitchen a place you want to be. The more time spent there, the healthier you’ll eat. Keep a smartly stocked fridge and pantry. Clear out clutter and useless gadgets. The kitchen is the gas station that supplies the fuel for your life. #ChueyOnThis #HomemadeIsBest

Themed Veggie Platter Extraordinaire

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Looking for a healthy snack for the kids’ sports season wind-up party or a birthday gathering? Think fruit and vegetables. But, not in the ordinary way. The cheezies, chips or candy will be far more tempting to the kids until you pull this trick out of your pocket and wow the crowd! Google ideas for inspiration whether in the shape of a soccer ball, Mickey Mouse head, hockey stick or a princess dress. Here, I washed a string-less head from a real lacrosse stick and arranged the vegetables around it. The boys devoured it!

Cheers!

Meet Patricia

Eating well is just one spoke in the wheel of health. An active life...

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