Best Work Lunch Ever!

I love making people jealous of my delicious food, don't you?
The last 2 days I've been especially mean with my lunch at work.
The drool my co-workers exhibited made me very very proud. Now you can cause an uprising at work too. Here's how:

Yeah, I know right? I made that at work... in 3 minutes....on a paper plate...with leftovers.
*insert evil laughter here*

Best Work Lunch Ever
1 ounce salmon
1 huge hand full Spinach
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup leftover whole wheat Couscous
McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
Combine salmon, couscous and mushrooms on a microwavable plate. Sprinkle some sort of seasoning on top. I'm addicted to McCormick's Steak Seasoning and put it on almost everything. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until the salmon flakes apart easily. Tear the spinach apart and toss it into the warmed mixture. As the spinach is warmed it will wilt, this is good... we like this. Now we eat it.

Now sure, you could pre-mix this together and heat it up at the office, but there is something fun about building a beautiful lunch in front of your peers.

I also broke the rules here. The allowed protein is 1 ounce, it's about the size of my thumb. A cooked piece of meat, the size of a deck of cards is equal to 3 ounces. I'm pretty sure in my hunger I tossed in about that entire deck. I also doubled the veggies.

I'm not too worried though because there were no fats added to this meal. None. Plus it was amazing.... completely amazing.

Ugh, that was tonight?! Couscous Salad

Last Minute Couscous Salad
2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Italian dressing
2 cucumbers
1 container grape tomatoes
1/4 cup green onion
1 cup crumbled feta
1 cup sunflower seeds, deshelled
Rush into the house, try not to forget the kid in the car or trip over the mountain of shoes by the door. Bring chicken stock to a boil in the microwave. Quickly chop cucumber into bite sized pieces. Add couscous to chicken stock, stir and let sit. Resume chopping cucumber, or begin chopping tomatoes and green onion if you are one of them over-achieving choppers. Contemplate how nice grape tomatoes are because if time is really short you can just toss the whole darn container in with bothering to slice them first.


The couscous usually needs about 5 minutes to set so from here there are a few choices:
1) You can keep the couscous and veggies separate until you get to your party where you mix it together in a way that looks effortless.

2) You can quickly spread the couscous out on a baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with olive oil. Toss it in your freezer for a few minutes to chill.  Then combine everything into a fantsy pantsy serving bowl before anyone knew that you were in a panic.

3) You can mix the veggies and couscous and dressing into one container and run while praying there are no couscous bits stuck to your bits.

Whatever tactic you choose, always keep the feta and sunflower seeds out until the couscous is cooled.

This is actually a great recipe to whip up when you have plenty of time to let it cool and there are many variations on it. Try adding red pepper, or use balsamic dressing instead of the Italian. Leftover shrimp and chicken would be great, as well as any leftover roasted veggies.

For those of us on the exchange diet, this is a perfect lunch idea. It's got the carb/protein/veggie ratio that can be easily adjusted with what is on hand. The sunflower seeds count as the fat in this meal, so limit it to about 1 tbsp if making individual portions. The dressing can be counted as a free exchange as long as it is fat free.

This is a great party salad, and a fantastic way to use leftovers. Let me know what variations you come up with.

Vegetable Mind Games - Spinach

To start I must admit that there are a few spinach dishes I like. However, most of them are delicious because they have smothered out all spinach flavor.

So why change that? Well I know there are a lot of nutritional benefits to spinach thanks to the teachings of Popeye the Sailor Man (I'm strong to the finich cause I eats me spinach.). I also know that spinach is a better source of iron than ground hamburger. And I recently learned that the list of vitamins it contains is so long my eyes glaze over while reading it. Don't believe me, try the link. It's also pretty cheap, so perhaps it is time to get over the cheesy gooey hurdle and learn to eat it plain.

So here it is, my first attempt to fully embrace the spinach flavor.
Truthfully I am still surprised at how easy and delicious it was.
Quick Spin Spinach
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, pre-sliced
1 tsp chopped garlic from the jar
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup fresh spinach
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Saute mushrooms and garlic in oil for about a minute. Toss in spinach continue stirring until wilted. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Done. Told ya it was easy.

For the record, I'm not abandoning hope of a cheesy healthy hypo meal with spinach...some dreams are too good to deny.
Hmmm... actually I think I'll try this with whole wheat pasta and alfredo sauce sometime soon.

Fake Fancy Fish

My husband and daughter haven't fully converted to my Hypo menu, and sometimes it's nice just make my own thing. One of my favorites is Fake Fancy Fish.  I buy frozen Tilapia fillets from Walmart, 6 fillets costs me about $4. While you could use almost any fresh or frozen fish that is available, frozen works the best for me because of the convenience and Tilapia goes well with many flavors.

Fake Fancy Fish

1 frozen tilapia fillet
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs capers
salt and pepper
1/2 tbs lemon juice

Grab tilapia out of freezer, unwrap it (duh). Toss in a small saute pan with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat before you turn, season the other side and cook another 3-5 minutes. Now I have to warn you that the garlic likes to pop and I would highly recommend a splatter screen to protect yourself from garlic missiles.
It will start to flake when it's done. I generally get impatient and break it into pieces as I check it's flakiness. However, when the minutes of torture have subsided and the fish is done, toss in the capers and lemon juice.  Serve over 1/2 cup whole wheat noodles with a side of steamed spinach for a nice fancy presentation.
Seems fancy, but it's super simple and very delicious.