Tempeh (tem-pay) originated in Indonesia, where it has for hundreds of years served as a high protein food staple. At its most basic, tempeh is fermented soybean cake; doesn’t sound too appealing if you’ve never tried it and have no idea what to envision, right?

I adore it. The same way that some people crave a good steak, I crave tempeh - go figure. Its taste profile is based in umami (more about that in another blog entry, but suffice it to say it’s the opposite of a sweet tooth).

If you eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, tempeh is your “go to” meat substitute; it’s whole soy, with 10 grams of protein, 4.5 grams of fiber, and significant amounts of calcium and iron per 4 ounce serving.

I like to slice a cake of tempeh horizontally into 1/2 inch pieces, pop them into a hot cast iron skillet with a bit of olive oil and black pepper, and cook until both sides are brown and crispy. I find that 1/2 cup of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce poured into the pan just as it begins to dry out (tempeh tends to absorb the oil) lends just the right level of flavor. Let the tempeh sit and bubble away in the water/soy sauce bath until all of the liquid evaporates; then let the tempeh cook a few minutes longer until it’s deliciously browned; if you can wait.

Serve on toasted whole grain bread (homemade if you can swing it), smothered in a mix of sauteed onions, mushrooms, and cabbage. Melt low-fat cheddar on the bread as you toast it, then smear on Dijon mustard and a touch of horseradish before piling on the veggies and tempeh (thanks to Deborah Madison for the inspiration).

On December 31st I had a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate three healthy smoothies on WGN Chicago’s Channel 9. These recipes attack the top New Year resolutions: losing weight, eating healthy, and getting fit. As a bonus they contain super healthy, easy to find ingredients that are kind to your budget. For those of you who missed the segment (it was on early in the a.m.) here it is http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=cb9bf275-1461-4eab-b993-2f5807d0ee30&src=front and here are the recipes.

I don’t make New Year resolutions, but my GOAL for 2010 is to blog on a regular basis; no less than twice per month. There. I’ve said it out loud, so it will definitely happen, right? Enjoy my 2010 kickoff blog, and a happy, healthy, delicious 2010 to all!

MUSCLE UP SMOOTHIE:

1 cup reduced-fat chocolate milk (can use soy milk)

1 banana, sliced (freeze it for an extra-creamy drink)

1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

In a blender, puree all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately. Calories 330, Protein 13 g, Carbohydrate 52 g, Fat 8 g.

SOYLICIOUS FRUIT SMOOTHIE

2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate (yep, scoop it right out of the container)

1/2 cup frozen strawberries, unsweetened

1 cup vanilla soy milk

In a blender, puree all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately.

Calories 182, Protein 6 g, Carbohydrate 31 g, Fat 3.5 g

IMMUNITY BOOSTER SMOOTHIE

1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1/2 cup ice

In a blender, puree all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately.

Calories 221, Protein 10 g, Carbohydrates 42 g, Fat 1.4 g

This Sunday, October 11th, marks the 32nd Chicago marathon. 45,000 registered runners will pound the pavement throughout our fair city for 26.2 miles. I’m a runner, but I’m not a marathoner. The longest distance I’ve ever logged was 11 miles - and I paid for it. I’m more than happy to stick with a few miles a couple of times each week. This is especially smart since several years ago I suffered an overuse injury that literally side-lined me from any and all activity for months - I’d rather do a little than none at all.

A recent Wall Street Journal article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704252004574455331050172834.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond caught my attention because of this; “marathons are increasingly the exercise equivalent of crash diets”. That makes perfect sense to me. How many people do you know that have jumped into an exercise program rigorously and religiously in pursuit of a race (or not), maintained that activity for a short period of time, then completely fizzled out, never to don a running, walking or sport shoe again?

Exercise must be sustainable. It must be enjoyable. It must feel good, on some level. To confer optimal benefits, it must be consistent - week in and week out. If you go after exercise with an all or nothing approach, pouring your heart and soul into training and working out only to come to a screeching halt once you’ve crossed the finish line (or run into a scheduling conflict), please do your body a favor and find that happy medium. It may be a challenge at first, but over time you’ll find that doing a little bit each and every week is more beneficial than going on an exercise “crash diet” guaranteed not to last.

Sometimes you want just a little bite of something sweet, dense, and rich - but you still want to keep it healthy. These gems are just the ticket.

This is a quick, absolutely “no cooking required” (unless you consider microwaving cooking) cookie recipe.  I got lucky; I totally guessed on the measurements, but they turned out really well. Hope you enjoy them!

Cocoa Peanut Butter No-Bakes

1/2 cup oatmeal (quick cooking or old-fashioned)

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup shredded coconut

2 tablespoons cocoa

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Put all of the ingredients into a medium glass bowl.

2. Microwave on high for 15 seconds. Remove the bowl and stir the contents. If the peanut butter is still sticky, not melted, put it back into the microwave for 5-10 seconds more.

3. Mix well, until all of the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Let the mixture cool briefly until you can handle it comfortably, but don’t let it cool completely. Use a teaspoon to scoop out the “dough”. Press, squeeze, and mold the dough back and forth between your palms to form 1 inch balls.

4. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cookies on the baking sheet and stash it in the freezer for 30 minutes (or several hours if you can wait that long).

5. Store the cookies in the freezer in a zip lock plastic bag. Makes 10 - 12 cookies, but you can double the recipe and make a larger batch.

I’m probably one of the few people on the planet that doesn’t watch The Biggest Loser. In fact, I’ve never seen the program; except that one night when I watched for about 10 minutes, but that doesn’t count.

There are a couple of reasons why I haven’t seen it. First, I really don’t watch much television. If I decide to watch something, the Food Network always wins. Second, I’m a nutrition therapist/dietitian and a personal trainer. Especially after a long day counseling eating disorder, weight management, and emotional eating clients, I need to flip that switch off. Watching The Biggest Loser at the end of a counseling day is like a judge coming home and tuning in Court TV (or trutv as it’s now known).

But I don’t live under a rock, and I do pride myself on my grasp and unique mental filing system of the pop culture-related information I have stored away (some of which is completely useless but stays firmly entrenched in my brain, regardless).

So, I get what the show is about. I know that there is a very serious personal trainer named Jillian Michaels in charge of the participants’ physical condition. I know (from the commercial snippets I occasionally catch) that people cry on the show. A lot. I know (from reading People magazine at the hair salon) that previous contestants have a strong tendency to regain some (or all) of the weight they’ve lost (People magazine occasionally profiles them). I know the food they’re fed, the exercises they perform, and the entire process of the show is contained, controlled, and managed while the contestant’s real life is put on hold.

I consider myself extremely well-versed in the area of weight loss - I don’t like to use the word “expert” because that means I know everything, and clearly, I don’t. I served as a reviewer for the American Dietetic Association’s position paper on weight management. I attend regular workshops and seminars on weight management and obesity. I read the research. I talk to other weight management experts. I can connect the dots surrounding the emotional component of excess weight or an emotional eating issue - my graduate work in health psychology consistently focused on those topics. I also know that a large majority of people who lose weight DO regain it. While it’s not inevitable, maintaining the loss requires focus, discipline, and yes, work.

All of that being said, I’d like to share what one of my weight loss clients repeatedly tells me. First, a little background. She set out to create her own personal Biggest Loser environment, without putting her life on hold. She juggles an extremely stressful, full-time job and realized that she would need a team. She found me, as well as her personal trainer through a referral from a friend. With her “team” in place, she jumped right in.

She and I are  working through the reasons behind her overeating, how the “junk” that she carries from childhood and early adolescent experiences prompts her to use food as a band-aid, soother, or reward instead of fuel, and she’s learning how to manage uncomfortable feelings while regaining the power of choice and intention. She’s lost 10 pounds, and on a regular basis says, “This is what you won’t learn on The Biggest Loser, but THIS is what we need.” She’s well on her way to becoming a biggest loser, and she’s making it happen in real life.

Many of my clients tell me that they love fish, but only order it when at a restaurant because they’re unsure about how to cook it. Cooking fish can be intimidating; no one likes raw fish, unless it’s supposed to be that way (sushi lovers) or overdone, dried out fish. Then there’s the concern that the entire house will reek of fish for days afterward. This recipe alleviates all of those concerns, I promise.

I can take zero credit for this recipe. All of the kudos go to Mr. Lagasse (aka “Emeril”). Trapped inside one cold evening this past winter, I flipped on the only television program that I watch with any regularity, the Food Network (of course, right?).

I caught the very last recipe that Mr. Lagasse was demonstrating in this particular episode of “bam cooking”, as I like to call it. The finished product looked delicious and the ingredients are staples in my pantry. I hurriedly scribbled down the instructions, ingredients, and measurements on a scrap of paper, then promptly threw it into a drawer and forgot about it.

Last week, faced with a pound of salmon my husband had purchased, I wanted to do something different from my standard sea salt/fresh black pepper/olive oil. Suddenly I remembered the recipe and dug it out of the drawer. I quickly threw together the ingredients, slathered the mixture onto the fish, and pulled together a couple of vegetable sides while the sugar/salt/lemon concoction worked its magic.  

And magic it was. A 45-minute resting period allowed the sugar to melt into the fish, rendering each bite ever-so-slightly sweet yet perfectly balanced with the salt and citrus. Thanks to its high fat content it can be difficult (although certainly not impossible) to cook salmon until it’s too dry - but this fish was especially moist.

Due to conflicting schedules that evening, I ate dinner before my husband got home. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that I ate when I did. After his very first bite he pronounced it the best salmon recipe ever; and devoured the leftovers over the course of the next two days. I didn’t get one more, single morsel. I’ll have to make it again soon, and disguise the leftovers.

You know that fish (especially fatty fish) offers some serious healthy heart benefits. It’s the omega-3’s that are so supportive of heart health. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish twice a week; it’s a good protein source without all of the saturated fat found in fatty red meats.

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper (I used about 6 grinds of the mill)

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until well combined.

Spread on fish and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Broil 6-8 minutes or until internal temperature reads 180 degrees. Alternately, bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then broil on high for 3-4 minutes.