Dinner Salads with Chicken

You often see dinner salads on the menu at restaurants these days. These can be quite nutritious and can work for Zone.

Panera has a couple of salads that fit this pattern. These meals each be about 400 calories, within a reasonable Zone balance, and acceptable nutrition:

Panera Asian Sesame Chicken Salad - with bread or a piece of fruit
If you eat this with the bread, it will be Zone, but less nutritious than if you skip the bread and eat a piece or two of fruit - an orange, an apple, two plums, a bunch of grapes, a bowl of strawberries or a banana.

Panera Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad -
Ask for dressing on the side - use only 1/2 of the amount they give you. Do not eat the bread. Either eat the croutons or leave them and eat a piece of fruit for more nutrition.

One thing I do not like about these salads is that the dressings are not as healthy as one you can make at home. They contain soybean oil rather than healthier olive oil. Make your own from a recipe - or use the Good Seasons packets with good olive oil. Another alternative is to use an ounce of feta cheese and a tablespoon of lemon juice in place of dressing. This is an excellent alternative that is actually quite nutritious.

It's a good idea to try to achieve Zone-level fats with any salad you eat. Oil is necessary for absorbing the oil soluble vitamins from lettuce.

If you want to make a dinner salad at home, this is really easy. You can buy a roasted chicken from the grocery store or just cook your own chicken breast. Here's the recipe for a meal based on cooking the chicken yourself:

Homemade Chicken Dinner Salad

4 oz raw chicken breast
Season salt
teaspoon of olive oil
1 oz feta cheese
1 1/2 cups of romaine torn into small pieces
4 grape tomatoes
3 baby carrot sticks
1 tsp lemon juice
large bunch of grapes or 2 plums or orange

Trim chicken breast and cut in half across the thickest part (like butterflying) so it's 1/2 the thickness. Coat a skillet or grill pan with the olive oil. Saute chicken until cooked - 10 minutes or so - on medium heat. Cut carrot sticks into quarters. Combine all ingredients (except fruit) and toss.

This meal is around 400 calories and provides 47% of the RDA on average. P/C/F ratio is 33/32/35. This provides a good balance of nutrients.

If you make this with roasted chicken from the grocery store deli section - just use 3 oz of cooked chicken.

Healthy desserts

Not all sweet things are bad for you. Here I suggest two levels of dessert treats. The first level is actually good for you - you can eat these without any guilt at all. The second level have some reasonable nutritional value and would be okay to eat occasionally in small amounts, allowing you to join in the festivities at public and family events.

Eat any time!!

Berries and Mango
50 g of blackberries, raspberries and/or blueberries (raspberries are the prettiest!)
50g of diced fresh or thawed frozen mango

57 calories, lots of A, C, and folate, more than 10% of the RDA on average

Pumpkin custard
1 lb. can of cooked pumpkin (420g)
3 eggs
3 oz of soy, rice or oat milk
1 oz of maple syrup
15g of plain whey powder
spices and salt as directed on the pumpkin can (cinnamon, ginger, etc.)
2 T of ground flax seed

Combine all the ingredients except the flax seed and mix until smooth. Pour into 4 oz. individual custard cups. Sprinkle with the flax seed. Put filled custard cups into a large rectangular pan filled with water an inch deep (a water bath) and bake at 400 degrees for 60 minutes.

4 oz of this is 92 calories and provides 46% on average of the RDA! Lots of A, B vitamins and minerals AND it's almost zone - P/C/F is 25/45/30. This makes a great breakfast.

Strawberries and Chocolate Dip

120g of fresh strawberries (3-5 whole strawberries)
T of cocoa powder
package of Splenda or equivalent in sucralose
1 1/2 T of water

Mix cocoa, water and sucralose, stirring until it's a syrup. Dip the strawberries in the chocolate!
If this sauce is too weird for you, half an ounce of chocolate syrup is really not going to hurt you.

With regular chocolate syrup this is 92 calories and 10% of the RDA, with the homemade no-sugar version of the syrup, this is 70 calories and 14% of the RDA. This is high in C and minerals.

Eat Rarely in Small Amounts

Commercial Pumpkin Pie - Actually pretty good for you, but a little too caloric for everyday eating. A small 3 oz piece is 180 calories, 26% of the RDA, high in A, B vitamins and minerals. Too high in saturated fat to be really healthy.

Carrot Cake with Icing - Skip the icing and it will be much better. A 3 oz. piece is unfortunately 343 calories, and 17% of the RDA. Outside of pumpkin pie, this is actually the most nutritious dessert in the USDA database. This is too high in calories to eat more than rarely.

Cheesecake - Though high in fat, the eggs and cheese in cheesecake have more nutritional value than other cookies, cakes and pies. A 3 oz piece is 266 calories and 8% of the RDA. Its 7.5 g of protein makes it a relatively high protein dessert.

Baked Apples -
Peel and cut raw apples into slices. Put them in a microwave-proof bowl. Add a tablespoon of maple syrup per apple. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and add a dash of salt. Stir. Microwave for five minutes or more until apples are soft. You may like this cooked a little less so that apples have a little bite to them. Top with 10g of chopped walnuts per apple. 5 oz has 175 calories and 6% of the RDA. This is pretty delicious and reasonably low calories, but it does not provide enough nutrition to make it a healthy dessert.

Breakfast Hors d'Oeuvres

Breakfast can get boring. Pretend it's a party! Here's some menu ideas:

Smoked Salmon Breakfast Hors d'Oeuvres
Take a 9g rye crisp cracker and top with 1/2 an ounce of goat gouda (or regular gouda if you can't find goat gouda). Melt in the toaster and top with an ounce of chopped smoked salmon. Sprinkle with fresh or dried dill. Eat with a grapefuit half, sweetened if you need to with Splenda (sucralose). If you just can't afford the saturated fat in the cheese (e.g. your cholesterol is high) use hummus instead and skip the toasting.

With cheese:
173 calories, P/C/F of 30/34/36, very balanced nutrients with lots of A, C, and B-12. Provides on average 29% of the RDA.

Pate Breakfast Hors d'Oeuvres
Top a 9g rye crisp cracker with an ounce of pate. I love Les Trois Cochhons brand - Mousse Truffee. Put 10g of chopped red bell pepper or olives on top if you like. With this, drink 8 ounces of vegetable juice (like V-8 or organic equivalents).

With bell pepper:
160 calories, P/C/F of 18/40/42, balanced nutrients with lots of A,C, and B-12. Provides on average 35% of the RDA.

Now for something slightly more mundane:
Ham and Hummus Breakfast Hors D'Oeuvres
Top a 9g rye crisp cracker with 15g of hummus and one ounce of lean ham (uncured if possible). With this, drink 8 ounces of vegetable juice.

160 calories, P/C/F of 29/42/29, balanced nutrients with good B-6, folate and thiamin.

Top Ten Lean Cuisine Meals

I haven't really done the detailed nutritional analysis on these meals, but the Lean Cuisine site has pretty decent basic information, including A,C, iron, potassium, and calcium. All their selections are close to 200 calories, so they would make a good lunch or a light dinner. If you added a green salad and a serving of fruit for dessert to any of them, it would be a very nutritious meal. Here are 10 Lean Cuisine meals that are good to eat and reasonable Zone-balanced:

Cafe Classics Garlic Beef and Broccoli - 170 calories, perfect Zone, with lots of A and C - you could even eat 2 of these for dinner!

Cafe Classics Baked Chicken Florentine - 200 calories - high protein, low carb, lots of A and good calcium

Cafe Classics Grilled Chicken - 160 calories, close to Zone, lots of C - again 2 of these for dinner would not be unreasonable

Spa Cuisine Salmon with Basil - 260 calories - lots of A

Cafe Classics Roasted Garlic Chicken - 200 calories, high protein, high A

Cafe Classics Honey Roasted Pork - 230 calories, close to Zone, high A, source of thiamin

Cafe Classics Steak Tips Portobello - 180 calories, close to Zone, low carbs, good C, 2 of these would make a good dinner

Spa Cuisine Lemongrass Chicken - 240 calories, high A

Cafe Classics Baked Lemon Pepper Fish - 220 calories, close to Zone, high protein

Skillets Chicken Oriental - 170 calories, a little high in carbs, high in A

Although 5 of the 10 dishes are chicken, it is nice to see 2 fish meals, 2 beef meals and a pork dish. I am a big believer in rotating protein sources. You just won't get the full complement of B vitamins unless you eat more than chicken breast!

Flounder for Dinner

Even people with minimal cooking skills can quickly make simple meals like this one.

Here's the menu:

Rye crisp crackers with goat gouda (9g cracker and 15g cheese)
Broiled flounder with lemon and dill (90g)
Sweet potato (100g)
Wilted spinach and chard salad (80g)
Fresh strawberries (110g)

* Weights are for a small serving (1200 calories per day)

Here's your shopping list:
Fresh or frozen flounder fillets - 4 -5 oz raw fish per person
Raw sweet potato - 1/2 large or 1 small per person (120-150g per serving)
Rye crisp crackers
Gouda cheese (goat cheese or cow's cheese)
Fresh spinach and/or swiss chard (3 oz per person)
Fresh strawberries (in season in the spring - 4 oz per person)
1 lemon
clove of garlic or 1 tsp crushed or chopped garlic
olive oil
Dried dill

Cooking directions - 30 minutes or less preparation time:

Heat the broiler or toaster oven.

Cut off the stems and tops of and cut into halves, place 4 oz into small bowls for each person.

Clean the sweet potatoes by washing them under running water.

Place flounder fillets in a shallow baking pan. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze over the salmon. Sprinkle with dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Put under the broiler or in a toaster oven. You are going to cook these for about 12-15 minutes. So, move on to make the rest of the ingredients.

Chop the spinach and chard loosely and put in a pan or skillet - like a 12" frying pan or "wok" pan. Add the garlic. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and toss. Let it sit while you make the other ingredients.

Make yourself an appetizer - a rye cracker topped with 1/2 an ounce of gouda. Put this in the microwave for 15 seconds until the cheese melts. Eat this while you cook!

Put sweet potatoes in the microwave. Cook for several minutes (as many as needed) until they are very soft.

Now, cook the spinach and chard on high heat on the stove, stirring constantly until wilted and soft - just 2 or 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and squeeze the other lemon half over them. Season with pepper and salt if desired. White pepper is a good choice.

Cook the flounder only until just done - no need to let it brown.

Flounder is hard to beat for fresh, mild flavor. This fish is not a mercury risk. If you've never eaten plain sweet potatoes, give them a try. Microwaved sweet potatoes - cooked well - are delicious all by themselves.

Nutritional Analysis:

380 calories, 31g of protein, P/C/F ratio of 32/42/26, over 20% of all essential nutrients, provides the RDA of A, C, and B-12, over 40% of the RDA of B-6, folate, riboflavin, copper, iron, manganese and fiber.

Soup For Lunch

Many soups make great calorie-restricted meals. Although canned soups are usually high in sodium, if you are not watching your blood pressure, they are fine for a quick, inexpensive meal.

Stay away from most cream soups. Forget cheese soups as well. These are too high in calories and low in nutrients. Most bean soups are surprisingly low in nutrients for the calories they provide. If you're low in folate though, a cup of bean soup with a salad and some chicken breast makes a fine balanced meal.

Some good canned soup choices, all by themselves -

Manhattan style clam chowder - 16 oz. is only 237 calories, and provides lots of Vitamin A and B-12. A little high in carbs with a P/C/F ratio of 22/56/22. A good balance of nutrients.

Chunky Beef Vegetable Soup - 16 oz is 300 calories, with a P/C/F of 28/45/27 - close to Zone. Even better balance of nutrients, with lots of B vitamins and minerals, and good A.

Some soups make a good lunch if you add some lean meat to them. Think of a couple of ounces of chicken breast, turkey breast, a chicken sausage, Canadian bacon or lean ham.

Minestrone - 16 oz is a low, low 145 calories, so you're going to want to eat this with something else. This would actually make a perfectly good breakfast for a light eater. The P/C/F is a little high in carbs at 20/53/27. Not so balanced, the vitamins are mostly A and folate. If you ate this with some lean meat, it would make a very balanced meal.

Tomato Soup - prepared with water, 16 oz is also 145 calories. Needs some lean meat added to balance out its P/C/F of 11/78/21. A nice balance of nutrients otherwise, with lots of C, a nice mix of B vitamins and minerals.

And if you have even the most minimal of cooking skills you can make great homemade soups in 30 minutes. Start with a couple of cups of chicken broth. Throw in your best vegetables. Cook for 20 minutes. Run it through the blender if you like it French style and creamy. Add chopped chicken breast or lean ham or even a tin of smoked oysters, leftover salmon. Be creative. You can make soups yourself that far surpass the nutrient value of canned soups.

Here's two of my favorite homemade versions:

CRON Oyster stew: Start with 2 cups of chicken broth, add 1 cup of chopped kale, 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 3 or 4 chopped mushrooms, and a drained tin of smoked oysters. Simmer for 20 minutes. If you like oyster stew, you will be surprised how fabulous this tastes. It's very nutritious. 16 oz is 300 calories, with a P/C/F ratio of 40/40/20. This is a major source of all B vitamins, high in A and C, and also high in all the minerals except for calcium. This is a superfood that will put you in good shape for the rest of the day. You might eat this when you know your other meals will not be that nutritious. This has huge amounts of zinc and B-12.

Greek asparagus soup: Start with 2 cups of chicken broth, 12 oz of trimmed fresh or frozen asparagus spears (throw the woody ends away), 1/2 a cup of chopped onions, garlic, 1/2 cup of spinach or chard. Simmer 20 minutes and run through the blender with 2 oz of feta cheese added. Throw in a couple of ounces of cubed lean ham. Season with pepper and lots of dill. This is only 200 calories for 16 oz. and very filling. P/C/F is low in carbs at 28/31/48 (kind of Atkins). This is high in all nutrients - very balanced. You could make this soup with broccoli as well.

Sushi for Lunch

I've taken sushi rolls home and deconstructed them several times - weighing all the components and putting the recipe in my tool. I'm happy to share the results with you.

All sushi is fairly low in fat. It can provide reasonable protein. The main drawback to sushi is a lack of vitamin A and C. So, to create a balanced meal you need to add a green salad, maybe some carrots or a fruit like watermelon, mangos, cantaloupe, or citrus. A great choice would be the cold spinach salad, Go-ma-ae, sold in some Japanese restaurants.

I have analyzed 4 kinds of sushi rolls. Here they are in order of increasing nutritional value:

California roll - these are made of rice, seaweed, fake crab, avocado and cucumber. Fake crab is not the most nutritious food. It's made from white fish, potatoes and crab stock. Cucumber does not add much in the tiny quanitities used. Of course, the rice is mostly calories. The seaweed and avocado are the biggest nutrtional contributors. 8 oz of California roll - a typical serving - is about 225 calories and has 13 g of protein. P/C/F is 22/62/16. B vitamins are good, but there is no calcium, and minimal antioxidant value.

Spicy tuna or salmon - depending on the chef, these can have a tiny amount of mayonnaise - or lots of it. An 8 oz serving typically has 252 calories, 12g of protein, and a P/C/F ratio of 20/60/20. It has slightly better B vitamins and minerals that the California roll, and some Omega 3. Of course, the tuna has a potential mercury problem, so you wouldn't want to eat it often.

Shrimp roll with avocado and roe - this is like the California roll, but with real shrimp, and orange roe on the outside. Roe is a "superfood". This tiny amount adds lots of E, minerals, and B-vitamins. The shrimp is also better protein than the fake crab. An 8 oz. serving has 225 calories, 17g of protein, and a P/C/F ratio of 30/50/20. It has more E, more B vitamins and minerals that the California roll, some Omega 3, and very high B-12.

Eel roll with asparagus and roe - Once again, the roe adds a lot, and eel has meaningful amounts of E and A. The asparagus is also helpful. This roll has twice the vitamins and minerals as the California roll. Eel is also pretty high fat, so the P/C/F ratio is 23/40/38, better for counteracting the rice's high glycemic index. Total calories is 287, with 16g of protein, high in B-12 and providing 1/2 the RDA for A and E. Perhaps a salad or fruit is not needed with this sushi choice.

Try eating sushi without the soy sauce. The spicier varieties really don't need it, for my taste buds. Soy sauce is incredibly high in sodium. You're not going to find a low sodium version at a restaurant. The wasabi has negligible nutritional content, due to the tiny amount most people consume. But, then, it has almost no calories, either. If you eat large quantities of it, it is a source of C. 10g of wasabi (a large rounded teaspoon) has 6% of the RDA. Soy sauce has about 12 calories an ounce.

My pick for a meal - the eel roll with asparagus and roe, 1/2 an ounce of soy sauce with a little wasabi, and an orange. This provides high levels of A,C,E and all the B vitamins, good amounts of Omega 3. It's lacking in calcium and potassium, and is generally a little low in minerals.

If such an exotic composition is not available, plain old eel roll or the spicy salmon roll is another good choice. Balance this roll out with some cantaloupe or a green salad.

Either of these meals should be around 300-350 calories.

Stocking the pantry

Someone asked the very good question: what would I suggest for stocking the pantry for CRON?

First of all, I would throw a lot of things out - not easy to do if you live with other non-CRON people. Throw out anything with high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated vegetable oil. Throw out all your oils except olive oil, nut oils and maybe cold pressed canola. Throw out cake and cookie mixes. Really - you should throw out sugar. Just get rid of all those crunchy snacks - chips, pretzels, crackers, cookies - all of it. We only keep a small package of plain rice or rye crackers on hand. Throw out the ice cream.

CRON should involve buying a lot of fresh vegetables, fruit and meats. My pantry is pretty empty actually - but my refrigerator is full.

Here's what I would stock up on besides fresh food that is bought a few days before eating it:

Warren Taylor's sucralose powder - or Splenda
High quality olive oil - my favorite is actually Whole Foods store brand in the big metal container
Bulk flax seed and a little coffee grinder to make it fresh - keep it in the refrigerator
Frozen berries - for dessert!
Almonds and any other nuts you like - walnuts are another nut we use a lot
Whole grain slow cooking oatmeal (a totally different experience from instant!)
Frozen vegetables, if you are watching your pennies - especially frozen bell peppers, asparagus and spinach - and brussel sprouts and green beans and lima beans
Organic cocoa - to make hot cocoa
You can also try guar gum - to make puddings - I don't really care for it myself
Red wine
Green tea and other teas
Mineral water - my favorite is Gerolsteiner which has very high mineral content
Canned tomato products - paste, diced tomatoes, tomato puree
Spices of all kinds - I grow lots of my own herbs
Garlic
We buy one kind of cold cereal - Flax Plus granola. Any unsweetened whole grain cereal would also be a good choice.
Brown basmati rice and/or whole wheat spaghetti - if you just must have carbs
Eggs - please buy the cage free ones
I keep frozen shrimp and frozen mussels in the freezer
Canned tuna (but don't eat it more than once a week - due to the mercury!)
Canned oysters (lots of zinc and B-12 - make these into a soup with kale)
Canned beans - we always have pinto beans
Chicken stock - make your own vegetable soup any time

Staple vegetables at our house include onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes
We almost always have spinach, kale, romaine, and chard
Fruit - lots of what is in season

My family has also experimented and enjoyed alternative whole grain and bean flours - which we buy at an Indian market: chickpea, lentil, millet, and sorghum flours. We especially like oat flour - bought from Whole Foods.

Chicken Out for Dinner

I am really doubting the accuracy of the nutrition info on the Chicken Out website. How do they make chicken salad with 4.5 g of fat? Even plain chicken breast has more than that? But, perhaps their cooking methods are better at draining off fat than the ones they used for the USDA data base. The carb counts are clearly "net carbs" without the fiber - they are all much lower than the USDA numbers.

I really like the philosophy of Chicken Out. It is one of the healthiest chain restaurants. Check out this web pasge:
http://www.chickenout.com/eathealthy.asp?pg=0

Here's a good dinner plan:

Order a dinner with 2 sides. Tell them you don't want the baguette. (Really, you don't want it. You are going to be stuffed anyway.) Notice that you actually need a pat of butter with the mashed sweet potatoes to be Zone. Chicken Out food is really, really low fat.

For the entree, choose one of the following:
Quarter white rotisserie chicken OR signature chicken salad OR skinless chicken breast

For one of the vegetables choose:
Creamed spinach with artichokes OR mashed sweet potatoes with pat of butter

For the other vegetable choose:
steamed broccoli and carrots OR oriental green beans OR coleslaw

Any of these combinations are really good. Total calories is around 400-420. This will provide you with 40g of protein, and lots of C, A, niacin, and B-6. The healthiest combo is the rotisserie chicken, sweetpotatoes, and steamed broccoli and carrots. P/C/F for this combo is 37/37/26.

This meal is fine for paleo eaters and "no red meat" eaters.

I love all these vegetable dishes. If you've never tried the green beans, you should check them out. They are cold and slightly crisp. The mashed sweet potatoes are very tasty and really don't need the butter. I never put it on them myself. If you are not fanatical about Zone and would rather clock in at 360 calories, skip the butter.

If you eat this for dinner, you need to eat some pork, lamb, beef, or seafood at one of the other meals to balance out the B vitamins. If you eat the steamed broccoli and carrots, you won't really be needing any more C or A for the day!

Here's some suggested combinations for more or less 400 calories:

Signature chicken salad, sweet potatoes with pat of butter, green beans
Rotisserie chicken breast, spinach and artichokes, broccoli and carrots
Skinless chicken breast, sweet potatoes with pat of butter, coleslaw

These all provide around 40g of protein, and around 10g of fat. All have considerably more than the RDA of vitamin A in the form of carotenes.