Healthy Meals that Taste Good: Fresh Spinach Quiche with a Sweet Potato Crust and a Kale Salad
- 4 Minutes Read
Looking for a healthy meal that tastes good? Try these two dishes that combine sweet and salty in one for a lunch or dinner meal.
It's January and you will find an abundance of "how to lose weight fast" advertisements as well as cleanses for quick fixes. However, weight loss that lasts a lifetime actually starts in the grocery store and proceeds to your kitchen. Creating a healthy meal that tastes good by making two dishes, one that is sweet and and one that is salty, may be a new way for you to plan meals. In addition, you may start spending more time in the kitchen because the taste and price keep you coming back for more.
When our family of four goes out for a meal, we generally order two salty meals and one sweet meal and share them. For example, for breakfast we order three meals consisting of a breakfast burrito, eggs Hollandaise and French toast. Perhaps, it's our daughters European upbringing however, combining salty and sweet foods in one meal. It provides a melding of flavors in one's mouth that is very fulfilling.
Share meals when you go out to eat. It's not only better on the pocket book, it's better on the waistline.
Have you ever wondered why these foods taste so good together?
Chocolate covered pretzels
Salty peanuts on honey yogurt
Watermelon and feta cheese
Sweet caramel seasoned with fancy salt
Pineapple on pizza
Prosciutto (thinly sliced Italian ham) and cantaloupe
Fries dipped in a chocolate milkshake (yes, my girls have tried that!)
Popcorn and an apple
Pretzels and peanut butter
Toast spread with strawberry jam topped with a piece of Gruyere cheese
Fresh spinach quiche with a sweet potato crust and kale salad
Spoiler alert: You will find these two recipes at the end of the blog!
Perhaps, you remember when you were in elementary school coloring a picture of a tongue with four separate taste zones of sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Actually, current research has demonstrated that there are actually five tastes (the fifth one being savory, also known as umami). Studies have also demonstrated that all tastes can actually be sensed by every part of the tongue, though in different intensities.
Everyone knows that a soup that is too salty can taste inedible, while eating too many sweets, such as Halloween treats, can make one feel sick. However, eating foods with a flavorful counterpart, such as sweet and salty together, can enhance the tasting experience. Our mouths contain 2000 to 4000 taste buds and each taste bud consists of 10 to 50 sensory cells. The full sensory experience of eating occurs when the taste sensations and intensities of the different parts of the tongue are combined.
Enjoy these two recipes below when made as part of one meal. With a focus on sweet and salty, I think you will be satisfied with the combination.
Nutrition facts per serving (1 serving = 164 grams)
Calories: 147. 7.8 g fat, 10 g carbohydrate, 9.2 g protein, 1.9 g dietary fiber, 237 mg sodium
One serving provides 101% of the recommended daily needs of vitamin A
Ingredients:
Procedure:
Cook's note: Compared to other types of lettuce, kale does not become limp in the refrigerator even with a dressing; thus, I often make large quantities of kale salad and eat it throughout the week. This recipe makes 8 servings. 1 serving = 1 cup.
Nutrition facts per serving (1 serving = 125 grams)
Calories: 180. 12 g fat, 18 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g protein, 4.1 g dietary fiber, 54 mg sodium
Ingredients:
Procedure:
This recipe is already inputted in the recipe database. To add to your meal log, type in "Martha's Kale Salad with Apples and Dried Cranberries."
Please share your favorite sweet and salty healthy meal combinations.
This recipe is entered and analyzed in MyNetDiary so you don't need to enter the above recipe from scratch. Instead, you can copy and edit the recipe easily by logging into MyNetDiary via the web program. Next, go to Community, and then search "Dietician" with "People" chosen in the drop down box. Click on "Dietician" link. Scroll down Dietician Personal Page and find Custom Catalog. Find "Martha's Kale Salad with Apples and Dried Cranberries" and "Kale Salad with Apples and Dried Cranberries". Copy recipe by clicking "copy" link on the right side of the screen. Once you do that, you can use that recipe in your own food log without having to enter it yourself. This recipe is also found in Dietitian account - so you can copy from either account.
Note: If you have Premium membership, you can copy and customize recipes or foods. In web program, go to Food tab, tap "Log" in any meal row, then tap MyFoods, find the food or recipe and then choose "copy & customize" option. You can modify any field to customize the recipe (ingredients, yield, name, etc.)
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