Recipes help you
eat your way to good health

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Quick and easy recipes follow for busy home cooks who want to incorporate fresh, whole, in-season produce into healthful dishes.

Lawalu Fish

(Courtesy of Herbert Hoe's 'Ai Pono program)

1 tablespoon diced tomato
1 tablespoon diced round onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Hawaiian sea salt
3 ounces mahimahi or ono
Green onion, chopped

Combine tomato, onion, garlic and salt; sprinkle on fish. Wrap fish in ti leaves; then steam or bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Garnish with green onion and serve hot. Makes 1 serving.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 80 calories, 0.5 gram total fat, no saturated fat, no cholesterol, 2,300 milligrams sodium.*

Chicken Squash

(Courtesy of Herbert Hoe's 'Ai Pono program)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken
2 cups long squash, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 small round onion
1 slice fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons Hawaiian sea salt
2 cups yellow squash or kobacha pumpkin, cut in 1-inch cubes

Combine all ingredients except yellow squash. Add water to cover, about 4 cups. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until long squash is translucent. Add yellow squash and simmer 5 minutes more or until tender. Makes 5 servings.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 160 calories, 2 grams total fat, 0.5 gram saturated fat, 65 milligrams cholesterol, 1,240 milligrams sodium.*

Vegetable Barley Soup

(From "Dr. Shintani's Eat More, Weight Less Cookbook,"
Terry Shintani, Halpax Publishing, 1995, $17.95)

3 cups vegetable broth
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 large carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup barley
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 or 2 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 1 hour. Remove bay leaves and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Home cook Ruth Payne adds chopped button and portobello mushrooms, more barley, herbs and spices, and Ro-tel brand canned tomatoes with diced green chiles, available at Safeway.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 120 calories, 1 gram fat.

Pack-A-Punch Pesto Pizza

(From "Bone Appetit" cookbook, Alan Titchenal and
Joannie Dobbs, Hawaii Osteoporosis Foundation, 1996, $15)

1/4 cup (2 ounces) soft tofu, calcium-set; frozen, thawed, drained and crumbled into 1/4-inch pieces (reserve liquid for steaming)
1/4 cup chopped onions
Vegetable oil spray
1/4 cup broccoli florets, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
7 ounces Safeway Select Verdi Original Italian Style Flatbread
1/2 cup Prego Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms
1/4 cup Pack-A-Punch Pesto (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray onions with vegetable oil for one second. Saute until onions are translucent. Stir in tofu and reserved liquid. Add broccoli and bell peppers; steam until tender.

Place 2 flatbreads on cookie sheet. Blend tomato sauce and pesto; spread mixture over flatbread. Top with tofu mixture. Bake 5 to 8 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; serves 4.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 200 calories, 3 grams total fat, 0.5 gram saturated fat, no cholesterol, 400 milligrams sodium.*

Pack a Punch Pesto

1 cup garlic cloves
6 cups basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup white or red wine

Machine process garlic until finely chopped. Continue processing while slowly adding basil and wine. Store in refrigerator or freezer. (Add salt only during food preparation to assure proper saltiness of final dish.) Makes 1-3/4 cups pesto.

Approximate nutritional analysis per 1/4-cup serving: 40 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, 5 milligrams sodium.*