Like 99.9% of all other Americans entering the New Year, I am on a health kick! But my resolution is not to start eating healthy but to NOT STOP eating healthy once the month of March comes along and the thrill of the New Year’s promise has worn off. Maybe this approach will help . . . I certainly have one thing that everyone needs to succeed – FRIENDS!
I am convinced that great things occur for all of us when friends are by our side. My friend Nicole asked me to begin a regimen of clean eating and serious weight lifting for the New Year and I said “YES” and then I asked my friend Audrey to work out with me at the gym early in the morning in the New Year and she said “YES.”
I would not be able to stick with “Clean Eating” alone and I certainly would not brave the cold at 5:00 AM if my friend wasn’t there waiting. It helps me to be responsible to others; I am a mess on my own. We are blessed to have them – our friends, for fun times, for hard times, and for the help we all need in life to try to be better than we were in the past.
There is so much promise in a new year;1 I love that. I hope you see it too. I promise I will still put delicious recipes out there, even in the midst of all this “Clean Living.” Join me and try out this way of eating! It is rather simple and easy and very fresh and delicious – clean is a good word for it. This recipe comes from “Clean Eating Magazine Online.”
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion, diced, divided
2 cups diced zucchini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lb Arborio rice
2-3 cups fat-free chicken broth
18 sea scallops
1 bunch parsley, chopped (optional)
Roasted tomatoes – Toss tomatoes in 2 teaspoons oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place on non-stick baking sheet and bake 1 hour at 250ºF.
Zucchini purée – In a medium pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat. Add garlic and half the onion and cook until translucent. Add zucchini and cook 5 minutes. Place all these ingredients in a blender. Add lemon juice and 1 tablespoon oil and purée. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Risotto – Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium pot on medium heat and sauté remaining onion until translucent. Add rice and stir to coat. Add broth 1 cup at a time until absorbed, stirring continually for 20 minutes or until rice is tender (add more broth if necessary). Once rice is cooked, stir in zucchini purée. Set aside.
Scallops – Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan. Season scallops with salt and pepper and cook both sides until lightly browned. Add roasted tomatoes and sauté 5 minutes. Place risotto on a plate and top with scallop and tomato mixture and parsley.
By Leigh Sackett [email protected]