97 Days of Clean Eating Day 79

Ingredients

• 8 ounces turkey breakfast sausage, removed from casing and crumbled into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• ¼ cup sliced scallions
• ¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 5 eggs
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup 1% milk

  
  

Preparation

1. Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 325°F. Coat a nonstick muffin tin generously with cooking spray (see Tip).
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Add oil to the pan. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to the bowl with the sausage. Let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in scallions, cheese and pepper.
3. Whisk eggs, egg whites and milk in a medium bowl. Divide the egg mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of the sausage mixture into each cup.
4. Bake until the tops are just beginning to brown, 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Place a rack on top of the pan, flip it over and turn the quiches out onto the rack. Turn upright and let cool completely.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons flaxseeds
• 1 medium banana (6 ounces)
• 1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 1 to 2 teaspoons honey
• 2/3 cup ice cubes

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the flaxseeds in a blender and puree for 30 seconds until they are coarsely ground.

2. Add the banana, yogurt, honey, and ice cubes and puree until smooth and thick. Serve immediately.

Ingredients

• 12 oz whole-grain farfalle
• 14 oz large shrimp, peeled,  deveined, tails removed
• 1/4 tsp each sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 tsp lemon zest + juice of 1/2 lemon, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Preparation

1. Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water, drain pasta.
2. Meanwhile, season shrimp with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet on medium-high, heat oil. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp and sauté, stirring frequently, until shrimp just begins to turn pink, about 2 minutes. Add peas and sauté until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add cream cheese, lemon juice and reserved pasta water and cook, stirring, until cream cheese is melted and smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in lemon zest. Toss in the pasta and top with basil.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 large yellow onions, chopped, (3 cups)
• 2 Tbps unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 pound walnut halves (about 2 cups)
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts, trimmed of excess fat, cut into medium size pieces, patted dry and salted
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Salt
• 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)

Method

1 Toast and grind the walnuts: You can toast the walnuts in one of two ways. You can either spread them out in a single layer in a large skillet, and toast them on medium high heat, stirring frequently until lightly toasted, OR you can spread them out in a single layer in a baking rimmed baking sheet, and toast at 350°F in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

In either case, once toasted, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, pulse in a food processor or blender until finely ground.

2 Brown the chicken pieces on all sides: In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.

When the butter has melted, pat the chicken pieces dry again and place the chicken pieces in the pan, working in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan, and cook until golden brown on all sides. Sprinkle the chicken with salt while they are cooking.

3 Sauté the onions: Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken from the pan, set aside. Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Lower the heat to medium low. Add chopped onions to the pan and sauté until translucent, stirring on occasion to release the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

4 Add chicken and stock: Return the chicken pieces to the pan with the onions. Pour 2 cups of chicken stock over the chicken and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

5 Add ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, spices, cover and cook: Stir in the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, and spices. Cover and cook on very low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so to prevent the walnuts from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Remove from heat and adjust sugar/salt to taste. At this point the chicken should be fall apart tender.

Garnish with pomegranate seeds. Serve over parsi pulao or other favorite rice.