Eating to Run: Chlodnik (Polish Cold Beet Soup)

This recipe is posted on my local & organic food blog, which may be of interest to those of you pursuing health & fitness. Our locavore food blog is Our Year of Eating Locally. Enjoy!

Chlodnik (hwod-neek) is the ultimate Polish summer soup. It is beautiful, healthful and splendid. David demonstrated this recipe several years back in his appearance on WTTW-TV's Your Chicago Kitchen. It is a cold soup that tastes MUCH better if left in the fridge overnight for the flavors to meld and intensify. It is incredibly simply to make and the only heat needed in the kitchen is baking the beets.

Ingredients:
4 cups buttermilk
1 medium cucumber, quartered and diced
1 bunch radishes, sliced
4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
3 -4 red beets, roasted, peeled & diced
salt for roasting beets
sour cream or plain yogurt for garnish

Roast beets in foil (Wrap each individually drizzled with olive oil and salt) at 450 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool, peel and dice beets. Mix all ingredients in a crock or large bowl. Refrigerate over night. As a meal, its great with a side of boiled, dilled potatoes and an added hard-boiled egg for protein. For serving, add a last-minute dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt.

Graphics Notes:
Photo & Design (c) 2008 Ann Hetzel Gunkel.
Digital Supplies by Thao Cosgrove courtesy of Scrap Girls.

Local food Notes:
BEETS from Genesis Growers, St. Anne, Illinois
CUCUMBER from Angelic Organics Farm, Caledonia, Illinois
Local RADISHES from Happy Foods
DILL from the Gunkel garden, Chicago

Eating to Run: Tropical Chicken Sandwich

Lots of folks I meet ask for recipes and tips to my WW success. Since I continue to maintain my goal weight a year and a half later, mixing it up with healthy new recipes helps a lot. My newest super healthy, go-to sandwich was adapted from a recipe in Prevention magazine. It has all the good stuff: whole grain, fruit, veggies, protein and MUFAs (Monounsaturated Fats AKA ""good fats.")
Enjoy!

Ann's Tropical Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients:

1 lg slice of whole grain bread, cut in half (or whole grain roll)
2 oz. chicken white meat (leftovers from the grill, canned in water or lunch meat)
1 small-medium, ripe avocado, mashed
1/2 lime (for juice)
1 mango, sliced
Tabasco sauce

Mash the avocado, fresh lime juice and Tabasco into a mixture. Spread about 1/3 a cup of the mixture on both slices of the sandwich. Add chicken on one side. Add about 1/2 cup mango slices on the other. Stack up for a filling, delicious, healthy sandwich!

Note: Using 1 slice of whole grain bread, 2 oz of chicken, 1/3 cup avocado mixture and 1/2 cup mango, this sandwich clocks in at 6.5 WW points (TM). For me, that's a tad high, but it is extremely nutritious and very filling.