Sick of eating cereal and ramen for lunch and dinner? Want to spend less money eating out and finally start cooking for yourself? Put down that frozen pizza, because HC’s Health Editor, Sammie Levin, is here to share her daily eats so you can get ideas for healthy, satisfying meals that are easy enough for any time-strapped collegiette to make. After you read Collegiette Eats, your taste buds, wallet and waistline will thank you.
Breakfast
No, you didn't read the title of this post wrong. Yes, there really is such a thing as healthy cookie dough. And yes, I ate it for breakfast. Mind blown? I know mine is; I never thought I'd be able to live out my fantasy of eating an entire bowl of cookie dough (at 11 a.m.) without any damage to my diet. This is life-changing stuff.
I found the recipe for healthy cookie dough on the blog Chocolate-Covered Katie, the best source for healthy desserts that don't taste like they could possibly be healthy. The secret ingredient of this recipe is... drumroll please... chickpeas! When I saw that this dough was made from the same base that hummus is made from, I was a little skeptical that it would taste anything like the real deal. But rest assured, the texture is pretty much spot on and the other ingredients in the mix add a sweetness that totally masks the taste of the beans.
Alright, I've hyped it up enough; now it's time for you to make it and see for yourself! I've reposted the recipe below. For the nut butter, I used The Nutty Vermonter's Maple & Ginger Triple Nut Butter, which I highly recommend ordering online because it is some of the best nut butter I've had. It's made from a mix of almonds, cashews and pecans. Any nut butter will do, though. For sweetner, I used three tablespoons of maple syrup for the batch. In regards to Katie's note on the last ingredient, I used two tablespoons of oats and one of ground flax, and I thought that worked well. For my breakfast, I had half of the batch straight from the bowl, and I saved the rest for dessert later. I absolutely suggest having it plain, but it would also taste great as a dip or a spread on fruit or maybe even on top of banana ice cream.
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained and rinsed very well)
- 1/8 teaspoon plus 1/16 tsp salt
- Tiny bit over 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup nut butter of choice
- Up to 1/4 cup milk of choice, only if needed
- Sweetener of choice
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oats (ground flax will also work)
Directions
- Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a good food processor (not blender) and blend until very smooth.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Dig in.
Lunch
Yesterday's lunch was a chopped salad taken to go and packed with goodness. In the mix: spinach, arugula, avocado, butternut squash, garbanzo beans, edamame, Granny Smith apple and cherry tomatoes, all topped with herb vinaigrette. Whenever you have a salad as a meal, aim to incorporate protein and healthy fats into it so that it has staying power. I got my protein from the beans and edamame. Other good toppers that have protein include grilled chicken or fish, egg (hard- or soft-boiled is delicious in salads) or tofu. The avocado and olive oil in the vinaigrette were my sources of healthy fats. Some other options include salmon, flaxseed oil, coconut oil or nuts. If you're going nuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds and pine nuts are all great picks. Stick to a two-to-four tablespoon serving.
Dinner
For dinner last night, I went to my family friend's house to eat some of their Passover leftovers. The host, one of my mom's closest friends from childhood, is an amazing cook, so I feasted like a queen. I had chicken marbella, roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus and a cheesy spinach-and-artichoke casserole. What is chicken marbella, you ask? It's your new favorite way to prepare chicken.
Chicken marbella is an old dish with Spanish origins, but it was made popular in the 1980s by The Silver Palate Cookbook. It combines olives, prunes, wine and tons of delicious seasoning. Combining olives with prunes sounds gross, and I would never think to do it, but somehow it works out perfectly. The chicken gets extremely juicy from marinating overnight and is both sweet and savory, which makes for a rich flavor that eliminates the need for any sort of dipping sauce. I'm not exactly sure why (aside from its deliciousness), but it turns out that chicken marbella is actually a popular Passover dish. I'm hoping I don't have to wait until next Passover to eat it again, though. Luckily, the famous Silver Palate recipe is online, so I could take matters into my own hands.
What's your favorite chicken dish? Share in the comments below!