Recipes | Be Nutritious

Vietnamese Sweet Potato Soup

We are very lucky to live just around the corner of a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant called Hy Vong in Coral Gables, FL. Here it was when I first tasted Vietnamese cuisine and I absolutely fell in love with the flavors. I always thought of Vietnamese cuisine to be pretty much the same as Thai but surprisingly it is quite different. Much milder first of all and although I am not a big fan of Thai cuisine I really like Vietnamese one. The soup I’m presenting is one of the many soups served in a restaurant and it is my attempt to copy the flavors In my version I used regular cooking cream and coconut oil but if you wish you can use regular cooking oil and a bit of coconut milk instead. The reason why I used coconut oil in place of coconut milk is that it adds just a hint of coconut flavor and even my boyfriend who is not very fond of coconut milk and won’t eat anything with it, absolutely doesn’t mind coconut oil.

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Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce

This recipe, although not exactly the same is eaten quite often in my home country, Poland. Basically every family has their own recipe for pork with mushroom sauce and my grandma always serves this dish during family gatherings. We eat a lot of pork and a lot of mushrooms in Poland, hence combining both together in one dish is pretty obvious. Pork tenderloin is a great cut of meat because it is low fat yet very tender and cooks quickly. I prefer it to other cuts of pork because of its diversity, it can be eaten in so many ways and can taste so different each time.

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Lemon Bundt Cake

Ever since I remember I was crazy about lemon cakes. I never cared much for the chocolate ones but those flavored with lemon caused me to drool all over. This cake is exceptionally easy to make. It took me only 1 hour to finish since the moment I started mixing the ingredients to the moment I had a nice piece of warm cake in my mouth. The cake has strong lemon flavor, is just about right sweet and is incredibly soft and moist. When I took it out of the oven I was really scared that it came out to dry because it was browned more than I expected, however the inside is very delicate, fluffy and flavorful.

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Shrimp Tacos

Today we had a taco night, shrimp taco specifically. I do not like plenty of ingredients in my kitchen and love to keep things simple hence all I needed for my tacos were shrimp, guacamole, cilantro and eventually hot sauce. Their lightness and fresh taste perfectly matched first day of summer which apparently was today. These types of dishes definitely will be much more popular in my kitchen this season, because they’re quick, easy, healthy and tasty, that is what I value the most in my cooking.
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Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes are one of those foods you have to try to satisfy curiosity. They are Southern specialty and if you happen to be in any of the Southern states you must give them a try, you won’t be disappointed. Crunchy on the outside with soft, almost melt in your mouth middle. Just make sure to buy really green, unripe tomatoes since they are firmer and won’t get mushy while frying.

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Fish Sandwich with Red Cabbage Slaw

Ever since I remember one of my favorite fast foods was fish sandwich. Even as a little kid I never wanted to eat burger at McDonalds, but I always loved their fish mac. So when I saw in my freezer small 4 oz square pieces of cod, right away I thought of frying them and placing between sandwich slices. I only did slight modification, to make the meal healthier and with higher higher content I prepared the sandwich with homemade coleslaw instead of tatar sauce. Homemade coleslaw is so much taster than in fast food restaurants and you control what you add into it so it is never overpowered with sugar.

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Tilapia with Mango Salsa

This simple dish is absolutely perfect for a warm, sunny afternoon. It uses only few ingredients but provides full range of flavors. Fruit salsa is a fabulous accompaniment for any fish but tilapia with its mild and neutral taste is especially terrific with sweet and tangy mango salsa. The dish is highly refreshing and energizing. Pair it with mojito or margarita for a relaxing Friday evening dinner.

Ingredients (2 servings):

2 x 6 oz tilapia fillets
1/2 ripe mango
2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Peel and chop mango into small cubes. Mix with cilantro, onion and lime juice. Season with salt, pepper and if you want to you can mash it with fork a little bit. If you prefer chunky salsa omit that step.
Let it stand in the fridge for at least 1 hour for the flavors to combine and onion to soften.
Season tilapia fillets with salt and pepper and saute on a skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil about 2-3 min per side.
Serve tilapia with a salsa on a top.

Honey Pecan Pie

How was your Thanksgiving? I spent mine in Poland where obviously we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so no days off, no turkey, no pumpkin pie for us. However since I love all kinds of holidays I had to at least prepare some kind of traditional Thanksgiving treat for my family. I brought with me from US few packages of pecans, which by the way turned out to be extremely similar in taste and appearance to walnuts, and I prepared a pecan pie. My version is slightly different because instead of corn syrup I used honey and I added a bit of a liquor to my filling. I also used less sugar because in my opinion traditional pecan pie is way too sweet. What can I say, everyone loved it, it was very unusual kind of cake for Polish standards because we don’t usually make pies like this. That was definitely something new for my family.

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Low Fat Croquettes with Sauerkraut and Mushrooms

It’s been quite a while since my last post. No i didn’t forget about my blog or cooking. I mentioned before that I was about to visit my family in Poland so here I am in my home with my parents constantly eating Polish specialties. I would probably cook something before but my parents didn’t let me touch the stove. All the time they’ve been making yummy treats for me so I had to wait for my turn in the kitchen.

The meal I’m presenting today is one of my favorite Polish specialties. We eat tons of sauerkraut or cabbage and you can encounter them in many different forms such as the one here, wrapped in crepe and breaded. It is usually eaten as a side dish with borscht but I like to eat it alone as a main course. These croquettes are very filling and just 1 piece contains some protein from eggs, carbohydrates from flour and whole serving of vegetables. Furthermore my croquettes are much healthier and leaner than traditional ones because instead of frying them in deep oil, I baked them in the oven. I used only 3 tablespoons of fat for the whole dish (10 croquettes). It comes to be about 1/3 Tbsp per piece. Thanks to that simple trick I can eat much more of my delicious croquettes without feeling guilty that I consume too much fat.

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Carrot-Pumpkin Cake

Halloween wouldn’t be a Halloween if there was no pumpkin cake. My version is a combination of both pumpkin and carrot cake. I didn’t want to make a traditional pumpkin cake because certain person in this household is not very fond of all those pumpkin spices so I did not want to take a risk and be left with a huge cake to be eaten just by myself. My figure would never forgive me that. However carrot-pumpkin cake is much more mellow and universal so everyone will like it. It’s still rich in flavor but not overpowered with spices. Thanks to using cake flour, the texture is very light and combination of carrot and pumpkin makes it very moist. It’s funny because people that never tasted carrot or pumpkin cake think that it’s going to taste like veggies which is not a case at all. When I told my dad what kind of cake I am making he just made a grimace. Surprisingly even my boyfriend loved it and it was also his first time eating ‘veggie’ cake. He even took almost half of it to share at his workplace. Wow it made me so happy, I love sharing my dishes with people and since we don’t have family around it doesn’t happen to often.

The recipe I used comes from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I modified it though. The recipe called only for carrots and all purpose flour. I cut the amount of carrots in half and used pumpkin pure instead plus I substituted A.P. flour for cake flour. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties I wasn’t able to add step by step photos as I usually do. I have to admit (shame) that they didn’t come out exactly as I thought they would. I used orange bowl for mixing and the mixture was also orange so all the colors just fused and it simply looked gross. Really gross. Nevertheless the final result came out looking and tasting fabulous.

By the way, next week I am leaving my love and Miami for over a month. I’m going home to visit my family in Poland and that’s where I’ll be doing doing my cooking meanwhile so prepare for some of the regional dishes such as pierogi and borscht.