Bar Food BONANZA!

Let's face it, bar food tastes good...no, great....no, it's amazing! But once that grease, oil, and preservatives hit your insides, it's too late. The damage is done. For example, the liver can only digest so much saturated fat. Once it's reached its limit, the build-up remains in your liver and gallbladder, creating painful gallstones. Plus, greasy foods cause you to gain weight. Weight gain can lead to deadly conditions including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and high risk for stroke.

In my mind, you can have the best of both worlds. I've created a heart-healthy bar food mini-menu that gives you the flavor of your favorite guilty pleasure minus the health risks. In addition, these foods are made from whole and nutritious ingredients. You will be receiving all the vitamins and nutrients needed for your body to recognize its needs have been satisfied and you will FINALLY not feel hungry. So often, people continue eating and eating because they feel they're missing something, even when they've eaten far too much. It's almost always the nutrients and vitamins that can be found in unprocessed and non-fried foods which are the missing link.

Anyhow, let's look at the pics and get the how-to for these tasty vittles! You could have guilt-free bar food on your table in no time!

Southwestern Style Black-Bean Burger

1 can of black beans, rinsed

1/2 onion, chopped into segments

1 egg

1/3 cup of cilantro

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

In a food processor combine chopped onion, 3/4 of beans, garlic, the egg, and cilantro. Pour mixture into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add bread crumbs, remaining whole beans, and stir to combine. Season with sea salt and pepper. This should create four large patties or six medium sized ones. Add patties to heated, oiled pan (1 tbsp olive oil) and cook for about 6 minutes on each side at medium-medium high heat.

Use whole wheat hamburger buns and add whatever toppings you like. I stuck with the southwestern theme and added sliced avacado, havarti cheese, tomato, and salsa. Ole!

Now, onto the extra bad stuff. Chicken strips and fries! Here's my version. It's a bbq marinated breaded chicken tender meal with thyme/garlic flavored yam and parsnip fries. And believe you me, it was SO much better than the real thing. True story.



For the chicken strips, I marinated 1 pound of tenders in bbq sauce mixed with a tablespoon of honey for 30 mins in the fridge. Next, I set up my assembly line. First, the strips took a dip in whole wheat flour. Then, they were submerged into 2 whisked eggs, and finally, covered with seasoned bread crumbs. Once prepped, I layed the chicken in a shallow baking pan and tossed in a preheated 450 oven for ten minutes on each side.
While your chicken is marinating, prep the fries. Cut one large yam and three large parsnips into French fry strips. Place the fries in a gallon ziploc bag and pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the them. Zip up the bag and shake, shake, shake it! Once all the fries are lightly covered with oil, place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle whatever seasonings you like (I usually go with thyme, garlic and sea salt as seen here)and bake for 30 minutes at 450, turning over with a large spatula once to ensure even baking.



The finished product. Ta da!