Eating Healthy: Swiss Chard & Tilapia

Every Holiday season I gain about 5 lbs because I use the season as a "Holiday" off from my diet.  Now with Summer right round the corner I have gotten back into my healthy eating routine and started cooking at home rather than going out to eat all the time. I recently gave up meat; I think it's been about a month now and I haven't looked back. I still eat fish though so that would make me a Pescatarian. It was a pretty easy transition for me because my husband is a vegetarian. With that being said I have been looking online for interesting HEALTHY recipes and different foods to cook at home to keep meals interesting. I went off to Wholefoods and in the fresh produce section I found fresh Swiss Chard. I remember years ago while watching the Green Network on TV a chef was cooking with chard and it looked really interesting and super healthy, so I decided to give it a try.
To my surprise how I cooked the Chard was so easy and had the most amazing taste, I cannot wait to buy it again! So I wanted to share how I cooked this dish along with one of my favorite easy fish dishes.
*Just so you know, I do not add salt, pepper and rarely use any seasoning on my foods. I tend to stick with lemon, onions, cayenne pepper and my Liquid Amino spray from whole foods only. Simple clean and easy yet still super tasty!

I took pics of all the steps and listed them as best as I could.
I hope you enjoy~
xx
Jennfier

My Red Swiss Chard Recipe
- I bought 1 bundle of red swiss chard
- I Took it home and washed it really well in the sink as there can be some dirt caught in the leaves. (Whole Foods is pretty good at cleaning their fresh produce though)
-Place on a paper towel and pat dry
-On a cutting board with your knife cut out the stalks one at a time
-Wash stalks again and then chop into small pieces (shown in picture below)
-Cut up one red onion and put it in a bowl with the stalks
-Take the leaves , fold them in half and cut into 1" thick slices and then cut in half again creating a "cross"
-Put all the leaves in a bowl and set aside.
-Take a non stick pan and put a swirl of olive oil in.
-Throw in the stalks and onions and cook until the onions become soft
-Then throw in the chopped chard leaves and watch them shrink.
-Once the leaves begin to shrink take your Liquid Amino and spray about 10-15 squirts onto the leaves
-Mix and toss so the flavor gets spread evenly
-Once the leaves are soft and a deep green color they are done.

Place the liquid amino not he table when you serve the Chard so you or your guests can add for more flavor if needed :)




Fish Dish: Tilapia


Now that I don't eat meat anymore I have been eating Tilapia a lot and forgot how much I really love it. It so simple to make and super yummy; NOT fishy tasting. Heres how:

-I buy 6 pieces at a time from Wholefoods.
-Turn on your over to Broil. (Some are in the actual oven and some are on the bottom)
-Take fish out of the package and rinse the fish with water. ( I like to make sure its super clean)
- Line the broiler pan with tin foil and using a knife poke a few "holes" through the foil so the water from the fish can drain int the pan
-Place all of the fish on the foil
-Sprinkle Cayenne pepper on the fish
-Then sprinkle lemon on top and put it in the oven
-Cooking is about 15-20 minutes ( once the edges start to get crispy and brown and/or the fish begins to split )
-Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle more lemon juice on it and its DONE!!

I forgot to take a picture of what my fish looked like finished so I found a picture that looked close enough. Please note the crispy brown edges :)

Let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy some of my healthy eating ideas.

If you have an easy healthy recipe you would like to share, please email me at Jenniferstano@gmail.com and I will feature you and your recipe on my blog :)

Bikini by Have Faith Swimwear / Swimgerie coming summer 2012
photo taken backstage at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in 2011 <3

Cheers to Healthy Eating <3