Lee Hersh

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad sandwich

November 25, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

2 more days and Blake and I (and Linley) will be on our way to MISSOULA! I am so excited I can hardly sleep at night. Today’s recipe was inspired by a recipe I did about a year ago for Anytime Fitness: Healthified Chicken Salad Sandwiches. I used the same base of Greek yogurt and honey, but changed some flavors around and threw it in the middle of a whole wheat ciabatta bun.

Update on my gluten sensitivity: I have slowly been adding more and more gluten back into my diet and things seem fine stomach-wise and skin wise. For now, I still try and avoid it when I can, but do not restrict it from my diet completely- like these wonder ciabatta buns!

I love that grapes are back in season. None of this > $5.00/pound nonsense! I got a really good batch of purple grapes for $1.79/pound at my new favorite grocery store: Jerry’s Foods. If you live in the Twin Cities, I highly suggest hunting down a Jerry’s Foods. They have an amazing selection of produce, baked good, and meat (I can’t stress meat enough!). Jerry’s is also where I got the chicken for this post.

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

Ingredients (Note: to make this recipe gluten free, lose the bun!)

2 large chicken breasts
1T olive oil
1t salt
1t pepper
8 oz plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4C honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1C grapes, halved
1/3C slivered almonds
handful of organice spring lettuce
8 whole wheat ciabatta buns

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheight. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper and place in a pan with 1T olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked.
Dice chicken into bite size pieces and let cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, honey, and lemon juice and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together grapes, chicken breast, and almonds. Then pour on dressing and toss.
Serve in between a whole wheat ciabatta bun with organic spring lettuce.

In my original recipe on Anytime Health, I used 1/4 cup poppy seed dressing. I did miss that in this recipe, so feel free to add it back in! I just didn’t have any on hand at the time.

See- look at those perfect grapes…nice job Jerry!

And now for the real Throwback Thursday. The sister and I back in high school during Varsity Soccer. I was a sophomore (#4) and she was a Junior

Oh do I miss my soccer days. I played competitive soccer all year round, but my favorite experience was definitely high school soccer. I am a lefty, so outside-left mid was my homebase. I wish I knew how to train properly and eat a proper diet to increase my strength and insurance during this time in my life! No regrets, right?

What high school sports/activities did you play?

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Beet and Tomato Quinoa Salad

November 24, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Beet and Tomato Quinoa Salad

Ooooh quinoa. I remember the days when you were $1.99/pound. Now I can’t find you for less than $5.99/pound. I knew you were too good to be true when I fell in love with you back in 2010. Just because you are expensive now and everyone wants you, doesn’t mean I will stop loving you.

#nerdalert

It’s been a while since I posted a new quinoa salad recipe! I used to post so many back in the day. I was at Whole Foods after teaching yoga last week and found some tri-colored quinoa in the bulk section! Why yes, I’ll take a pound. I’ll also take some roasted beets and tri-colored tomatoes. So colorful and so much flavor!

I got this Organic Ginger Soy Vinaigrette dressing from Whole Foods a few weeks ago not know exactly what I was going to use it for, maybe salad? It was THE perfect flavor to mix into this quinoa salad.

I love this little bowl. I got it on mega sale at Anthropologie a couple weeks ago.

Ingredients for Beet and Tomato Quinoa Salad

quinoa, uncooked
water
cherry tomatoes
green onions, chopped
beets, steamed and cubed
Ginger Soy Vinaigrette

I had this quinoa salad for lunch yesterday and I paired it with some fruity bubbly water. I just mixed a La Croix with some fresh fruit. Yum!!

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Beet and Tomato Quinoa Salad

Author: Lee Hersh

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Ingredients

Scale

1 cup tri-color quinoa, uncooked
2 cups water
1 carton cherry tomatoes
¼ cup green onions, chopped
4 beets, steamed and cubed
¼ cup Ginger Soy Vinaigrette

Instructions

Begin by cooking your 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups of water. I used a rice cooker and cook the quinoa on the brown rice setting. If you don’t have a rice cooker, in a medium size pot, bring quinoa and water to a boil. Then, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed. Transfer quinoa into a tupperware container, and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least an hour.
In the mean time, prepare your veggies. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, chop green onion, and slice (skinless) steamed beats into cubes.
Then, mix quinoa and vegetables together in a large bowl and pour in ¼ cup of Ginger Soy Vinaigrette (you can substitute for a balsamic vinaigrette). Toss.
Serve chilled.

Healthy Quinoa Nachos

November 24, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Healthy Quinoa Nachos

What makes a nacho a nacho? Is it because there is a giant bed of chips with tons of stuff on top? Or because of the cheese?

Either way, normal nachos are usully not-cho healthy. This is how I do nachos. With homemade baked corn tortilla chips, a big grass scoop of Quinoa Salsa, and some Goat cheese to top it off!

I was working on my light bouncing during this shoot. The sun was high and very strong at the time I wanted to photograph, so I had to bring the party inside. Definitely a different style of photography…something I am going to have to get used to again once winter comes

Oh, the thought of winter makes me want to cry.

But then I look at these nachos and I’m happy again

Ingredients for Healthy Quinoa Nachos

cooked quinoa
tomatoes, diced
red onion, finely diced
sweet yellow corn
fresh cilantro, chopped
salt
lime (juice)

On today’s agenda

Get a Minnesota Drivers License (should have done this about a year ago…better late than never!)
Make a dessert for tonight’s happy hour with work buds!
Pack for Kansas (Blake and I are going to Kansas tomorrow for a wedding shower and to see family

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Healthy Quinoa Nachos

Author: Lee Hersh
Total Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients

Scale

1 cup cooked quinoa (~1/2 cup dry quinoa + 1 cup water )
3 large tomatoes, diced
⅓ red onion, finely diced
1 can sweet yellow corn
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1t salt
½ lime (juice)
optional: 2-3 tablespoons finely diced jalapeño
optional: 1 can black beans

Instructions

Begin by cooking quinoa. In a medium size pot, bring 1 cup water and ½ cup quinoa to a rolling boil. Then, turn down to simmer and cover for about 15 minutes or until all of the water is evaporated. Transfer quinoa into a tupperware and place in refrigerator to cool.
Next, prepare veggies. Finley dice tomatoes and onion and mix together in a large bowl. Then, chop fresh cilantro and add to mixture along with a can of corn. Once the quinoa has cooled, add into mixture and give a final mix.
Season with salt and lime juice.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Crock-Pot Chicken Chili

November 24, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

You ready to get your Crock-Pot on again?

Crock-Pot Chicken Chili #healthy #fitfluential #glutenfre

Seriously people, that is how I’ve been feeling about cheese lately. I CAN NOT get enough of it! I love all kinds of cheese: goat, feta, bleu, Colby jack, mozzarella, you name it! I made a giant batch of chicken chili and realized i didn’t have any shredded cheese.

No fear.

I slapped on an entire square! Just one though

I have a feeling that the crock-pot (CP) is going to be making a weekly appearance in my kitchen and on the blog for the next few months. I haven’t ever been an avid user, but ever since I made the sesame chicken crock–pot dish, my CP pretty much hasn’t left the counter!

Easy preparation and easy cleaning. Plus- there are gajillions of recipes around the blogosphere. Just search crock-pot recipes on Pinterest and you will be set for life.

Today’s recipe is in my opinion, an All American Classic. My mom made chili all the time growing up in the crock-pot and it never gets old. This is THE perfect recipe to make for game day or eat on a crisp Fall night. Speaking of Fall…

Highs are only in the upper 60’s for the next few days. My bittersweet summer, don’t leave me.

Along with my chicken chili, I made a pan of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornbread. I didn’t have any already made quinoa or that would have been thrown in there to make my Quinoa Cornbread. Instead, I followed the package and added a scoop of Designer Whey Plain Protein Powder for some extra protein. Why not right? I couldn’t taste it at all and I got me some protein!

Ingredients for Crock-Pot Chicken Chili

chicken breasts
salsa, mild
water
black beans
white northern beans
diced tomatoes
fresh jalapeños, diced
chili powder
cumin powder
garlic powder
onion powder
smoked paprika
lemon or ground black pepper
milk
flour, any kind

If you could choose any meal to be made in a crock-pot, what would it be?

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Crock-Pot Chicken Wings

November 24, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Crock-Pot Chicken Wings

I told you I would be back with 19 more crock-pot recipes. The crock-pot is that one invention that I wish I would have thought of. It’s genius. Pure genius. Everyone is “busy,” and some people claim to be “too busy to make themselves dinner at home.” Well- they probably don’t own a crock pot! It makes cooking in general so simple. Throw a bunch of stuff in a pot, turn it on, and 3 hours later…viola!

Like chicken wings for example. You can make chicken wings in your crock-pot.

This time I experimented with different ingredients to make a sort of sweet and sour tasting version, but your options for flavor are endless!

I’m thinking this recipe is going to become: “Lee’s classic game day recipe.”

The flavor actually reminds me of my Crock Pot Sesame Chicken. I wonder why… I used many of the same flavors .

For this recipe I acutually mistakenly purchased full chicken wings instead of the already separated wings and drumsticks. Either works just fine…it’s just more work to separate the full chicken wing into bite size pieces.

I strained the sauce before serving, but you could always add a thickening agent like corn starch if you are a “sauce person.” In my opinion, these wings had a TON of flavor just from sitting in the marinade for 3 hours, so the extra sauce wasn’t necessary for my preference.

I am thinking about doing a crock-pot series every Sunday. I say this now and I already know I’m not going to post one next Sunday because the wonderful Lindsay from the Lean Green Bean will be taking over while I am in Florida for the Anytime Fitness Conference Thursday-Sunday. It will just have to wait until October.

Ingredients for Crock-Pot Chicken Wings

chicken wingettes and drummettes
red wine vinegar
soy sauce
ketchup
honey
hot sauce
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
green onion
water

Check out some of my other Crock-Pot Recipes…

Happy Sunday I have a busy ACE work with the Anytime Fitness Conference happening this week.

I also have some tubular (yes I said tubular) recipes coming up that I’ve already scheduled!

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Chicken Quinoa Soup

November 24, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Chicken Quinoa Soup recipe

It is officially fall here. Leaves are changing and leaves are falling. I have a love hate relationship with fall. Fall means chili and layering and pretty colors and perfect temperatures. But it also means winter is right around the corner. sigh.

Speaking of Chili…FFF’s Black Bean and Quinoa Chili was featured a couple times the past few days…