| What if you just want to cook, not follow a recipe per | | | | kicking up flavor in homemade salad dressings without |
| se? Here are some tips to help make your meals | | | | adding a lot of fat, and is great mixed with tuna. (I |
| flavorful, healthful, and keep them gluten free. | | | | promise-give it a try!) Straight up yellow can be useful |
| 1-Get the best ingredients possible. If you have the | | | | in making a BBQ sauce of sorts, and is really good |
| ability to obtain locally grown food in season-use it! It | | | | when mixed with pork rub seasoning and rubbed onto |
| will be fresher and hold more natural flavor than a | | | | a pork tenderloin. A lot a flavor for the calorie buck. |
| food that has had to travel, or is being produced out of | | | | 5-Fresh herbs are always a great bet. I wish I could |
| season. Generally it will be less expensive as well. If | | | | grow my own herbs. I have a black thumb. My fiance |
| that's not an option, frozen veggies are generally more | | | | is a wonderful gardener, and all of our plants owe their |
| flavorful than canned. Exceptions would be canned | | | | lives to him. I couldn't even grow the Chia Herb Garden |
| beans-which are way more convienent than dried | | | | No lie. I am firtunate though, that the food market I |
| beans, and personally I like canned artichokes. | | | | frequent has a fairly large selection of reasonably |
| 2-Don't be afraid to use spices. How many of the | | | | proced fresh herbs. I get cilantro for fresh salsa, |
| spices in your rack have you actually used? Give them | | | | rosemary and thyme for chicken and pork, basil for |
| a shot! Take a look in the spice aisle at the grocery | | | | tomato, and mint for mojitos. Make sure to add your |
| store-there are so many options out there. If you | | | | fresh herbs toward the end of cooking, or use a |
| choose a spice blend, make sure to check the label for | | | | quicker cooking method with them. In other words-they |
| hidden gluten. I tend to use these quite a bit: | | | | don't hold up too well in a crockpot, and their great |
| -Lemon Pepper -Garlic powder -Grill Seasoning -Lime | | | | fresh flavor is lost. |
| Pepper -Cayenne pepper -Herbs de Provence -Jane's | | | | 6-Explore the world of vinegars. There are way more |
| Crazy Mixed Up Salt -Sea Salt -Creole Seasoning | | | | varieties of vinegar than I was aware of a few years |
| 3-Citrus is your friend. Lime and lemon juices and zests | | | | ago. Now, I always have on hand a balsamic vinegar (I |
| can add a ton of flavor with little to no caloric impact. | | | | use the most), a red wine vinegar, an apple cider |
| You can use them in a marinade, a rub, a garnish, in a | | | | vinegar, and a white wine vinegar. Usually rice vinegar. |
| sauce-however you'd like. My favorite marinade for | | | | You can make an awesome salad dressing very |
| flank steak is fresh squeezed lime juice, grill seasoning, | | | | easily with dijon mustard, balsamic or red wine vinegar, |
| chopped garlic, and a bit of olive oil. Easy and very | | | | a little EVOO/Enova oil and spice you like. Shake and |
| good. I made chicken breasts the other night-the go to | | | | serve. If you have fresh herbs, add in some basil and |
| food in my house. Some fresh lemon zest, some | | | | you can;t get any fresher, you know? Apple cider |
| chopped garlic, sea salt, and some fresh rosemary | | | | vinegar mixed with Dijonnaise, nonfat greek yogurt and |
| went into the Magic Bullet. Process until reasonably | | | | celery salt makes a great lower fat coleslaw. Heidi |
| chopped up. Press mixture into chicken breasts, add to | | | | over at Gluten Free Mom is going to do a balsamic |
| preheated skillet or grill pan, and cook. Add in the juice | | | | reduction (which gets very sweet and awesome) |
| from the lemons you zested. Viola. Very flavorful, | | | | over her brussel sprouts. They also make great |
| lemon herbed chicken. Easy. (This is why I don't post a | | | | marinades, and great sauces. Experiment-I find that no |
| lot of specific recipes-I cook fairly simply like this all the | | | | sugar added preserves with a vinegar and some Dijon |
| time.) | | | | mustard make a lovely sauce, especially if you have a |
| 4-Mustards are fabulous! There are so many different | | | | pan that needs deglazing. For example-I sear a pork |
| varieties of mustard out there, and mustards are | | | | tenderloin in a cast iron skillet, which then goes into the |
| naturally very low in calories and sugar, and fat free. | | | | oven to finish cooking. When it's done, I remove the |
| Some of the fancy mustards may have added | | | | pork and let it rest, then add the no sugar added |
| ingredients, so always check labels for hidden gluten or | | | | preserves (my favorites are cherry and apricot), |
| sugars. There is a mustard called Vivi's Carnival | | | | deglaze the pan with vinegar (balsamic+cherry, apple |
| Mustard that I love to straight up dip veggies in. It's a bit | | | | cider+apricot), add dijon, let come to a bubble and keep |
| spicy, but it's very good. They also provide a bunch of | | | | stirring. |
| recipes for the mustard and different uses. Don;t give | | | | Enjoy! |
| up on the grocery though-dijon mustard is great for | | | | |