Clean Eating Sinigang (Filipino Sour Soup)

I have been craving Sinigang which is a traditional Filipino soup that has a sour taste because it’s made from tamarinds (an exotic fruit that look like a big, brown lima bean).  Sinigang is usually made from a packaged powder that they sell at Asian groceries and it has all kinds of sodium, corn starch, and chemicals in it, the worst offender being Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).  Eeks no!!  So I took on the challenge of making Sinigang from scratch.  I had no idea what I was doing and was experimenting through the whole thing.  Luckily, it turned out really good! 

Finding the tamarind paste was a challenge.  I found it at the Asian grocery store after asking 4 different people that didn’t speak English to try to help me.  I consider it a “clean” ingredient because it’s just tamarinds.  The only ingredient that may be questionably clean is the fish sauce, which is made of anchovies, sugar, salt, and water.  I’m not too worried about the sugar and salt because I only used 1 tblspn. 

Ingredients:

• 200g (1/2 cup) packaged tamarinds or tamarind paste (pictured above)
• 4 garlic gloves chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (patis)
• 4 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (make the pieces big so you see them and don’t eat them. They’re just here to add flavor.)
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cups chopped daikon (Japanese radish)
• 2 cups bok choy (washed, outer leaves peeled off)
• 2 cups green beans
• 1 cup okra
• Optional:  1-2 chili pepper (if you like a little spice)
• 1 lb fish *You could use salmon, tilapia, catfish, shrimp.  You can also do this with pork or dark meat chicken (drumsticks work well).

Make tamarind base:

Boil 4 cups of water and then add the tamarind paste.  Stir and mash the tamarind in the boiling water because it will be clumpy.  Let simmer 15 minutes.  Then strain the liquid and save it.  You don’t want the tamarind chunks in your soup. 

Make the soup!

Return the tamarind liquid to a large pot.  Add another 4 cups of water, bring to a boil.  Add the garlic, fish sauce, lemon juice, ginger, tomatoes, onions and chili peppers if you’re using them.  Let simmer for 10 mins or so to let all the flavors mix together.  Taste your broth and see if you like the sourness.  Some like their Sinigang more or less sour than others.  You can add more lemon juice if you want.  You could also add a little Braggs Amino Acids if you like a bit of saltiness too.

Add all your veggies.  You can really experiment with veggies here.  You could do eggplant, kale, carrots, anything.    Add more water if needed to cover the veggies.  Let simmer 10 minutes to soften the veggies.

Add your fish.  Fish cooks fast, so I put it in last.  Cook 10 more minutes or until fish is cooked through.  Don’t overcook your fish because it’ll fall apart.  You can use frozen fish filets too.

Viola!  Enjoy!

*Paleo Coconut Curry Chicken*

I got the basis for this dish from this recipe but then I tweaked it quite a bit.  I didn’t do it in a crock pot like the original recipe. 

Here’s how I did mine.

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 inch piece of ginger, shredded (I used the small side of a cheese shredder.)
• 1  onion, chopped
• 1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut each in half
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 potatoes, cubed
• baby carrots

• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1½ teaspoons ground tumeric
• 2 teaspoons ground curry spice

1. Combine ingredients from the spice blend together and set aside.
2. Heat a non-stick large skillet or wok on high heat. 
3. Add chicken and sear on each side.  About 3 minutes each side.  I don’t use oil when searing chicken thighs because there’s fat on them already and they shouldn’t stick if you’re using a non-stick pan.  You can put oil if you need or if you’re using chicken breasts instead.
4. Remove chicken and set aside.
5. Into the same pan used to cook the chicken, add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger.  Cook 3 mins.  Add spice blend and mix.  Let the heat bring out the flavor of the spices for about 1 min.
6. Add the chicken back to the pan and toss with onion mix and spices.
7. Add the coconut milk, potatoes, and carrots.
8. Simmer on medium heat until chicken and veggies cooked through.  About 15-20 minutes.
9. Serve with brown rice or quinoa if you’d like.

(Taken with Instagram)

Protein Spinach Dip

I found this super simple recipe on Pinterest.  Here’s the link to the recipe.  I can’t take credit for concocting this on my own.  For mine, I used nonfat cottage cheese though to make it completely fat free.  You could eat it with chips but I’m eating it with rice cakes and raw veggies.  It would be great as a spread in a wrap too.

Taken with Instagram

Here’s the link to the recipe —> Chicken & Chickpea Stew  The only difference I made is that I didn’t serve with cous cous and I used coconut oil instead of olive oil.

Chicken, Zucchini and Mushrooms

-1 lb chicken breast cut into 1 inch chunks

-4 zucchini cut into cubes

-8 oz (one package) mushrooms sliced

-1 tblspn coconut oil

-1 tblspn sesame oil

-1 tblspn Braggs Aminos

-1 tblspn Balsamic vinegar

-2 gloves garlic minced

-1/2 tsp fresh ginger (or 1 tsp dried)

1.  Put coconut oil and sesame oil in a large pan on high heat.  Once the oil is searing hot, add the chicken and toss until cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.

2.  Remove chicken from pan.  Then, into the same pan, add all other ingredients.  Toss to coat and cook veggies until tender (3-5 minutes).  Add back chicken and combine with veggies.

(Taken with Instagram)

Quick Shrimp Dinner

Saute peeled, cleaned shrimp in a bit of coconut oil.  Season with Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning and a splash of Braggs Aminos.  Microwave a bag of broccoli and topped with shrimp and garnished with store bought pickled carrots and radish.

(Taken with Instagram)

Salmon & Brown Rice Bowls

Seasoned the salmon with Braggs Aminos, cracked pepper, Mrs. Dash, fold into foil packets and baked 450 degrees, 25 min.

Packed on top of a bed of brown rice and steamed broccoli. 

Just reheat in the microwave and squeeze with lime before eating. 

Taken with Instagram)

I stopped eating fast food, junk food, and sweets.  I ate healthy, natural, whole foods.  And switched from 3 big meals a day to 5 smaller meals throughout the day.  Also did Plyometrics and weight training 3-5 days a week. 

Sautéed shallots, shrimp, and baby string beans in coconut oil, Mrs. Dash and Braggs Aminos, served over brown rice. It’s so good!! (Taken with Instagram)

*Creamy High Protein Chicken Salad* ~

1. Grill (or boil) chicken breasts. Grilling keeps it from getting too dry. I used 1 lb chicken.

2. Mix together 16 oz Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup mustard, pepper and about 1/2 tsp paprika.

3. Chop or shred cooked chicken when cool and mix into yogurt mix.

4. I also added in 4 chopped egg whites, 1/2 chopped green apple and a handful of chopped raw almonds. Put in fridge and allow to cool and flavors to mix.

You can eat this on top of a green salad, in lettuce boats, in a multi-grain wrap or whole wheat bread/sandwich thins. Play around with other ingredients, raisins, walnuts, celery, red onion, diced peppers, possibilities are endless. Bon Appétit! (Taken with Instagram)