Melissa's Cooking!

(Note: I tend to refer to my World’s Healthiest Foods book in order to cook my foods. It tells you how to prepare and cook the foods so that you can do so without losing much, if any, of the nutrients that the oh-so-good food provides. It’s an amazing book. Pick it up or just visit their web site: whfoods.org But it’s an excellent resource for your kitchen!)

On Sunday, August 30, for lunch, I created a delicious wrap. I was craving healthy healthy ingredients, so I chose the following ingredients:

• flat-leaf spinach (tossed with the Mediterranean Dressing – see below)
• diced tomatoes
• zucchini (tossed with the Mediterranean Dressing – see below)
• black bean hummus
• whole wheat wrap

• Mediterranean Dressing tends to include: 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice,  a clove or 2 of garlic, sea salt and pepper to taste…but depends on the vegetable and your preference to determine exactly how much to include. I typically wing it.

First, I quick-boiled my flat-leaf spinach. (Why? because “quick-boiled” reduces the acids found in Spinach, brings out its mild, sweet, distinctive flavor, retains its bright color and maximizes its nutritional profile.) While the water was boiling, I prepared my spinach, by cutting the stems and rinsing well. Once the water was boiling, I boiled the spinach for EXACTLY ONE MINUTE (Don’t overcook!) You want to boil UNCOVERED as well, as doing this helps the acids escape into the air. Once a minute is up, take the spinach out of the water and press out the excess liquid with a fork. I tossed the Mediterranean Dressing ingredients together with the spinach.

To prepare the zucchini, I cut into cubes and “healthy-sautéed” them for  minutes. By “healthy-sautéed,” you heat up 3 TBS of vegetable (or chicken) broth. Once the broth steams, you add the zucchini for 3 minutes. (Don’t over cook this either! If it becomes translucent, then they’re overcooked.) Once that is done, I tossed the zucchini with the Mediterranean Dressing. (The book tells you how much of each, but I pretty much just wing the amount of those ingredients.) Seriously, with those ingredients tossed with your veggies, that creates the most yummy taste to go along with vegetables…and SO GOOD for you!

With my spinach and zucchini prepared, I put together my wrap. First adding the black bean hummus, then the spinach, then the zucchini and diced tomatoes…but obviously, you can choose the order

I apologize for having no image of my final wrap all ready to eat, but I’m sure you can imagine what it looked like and believe me, it was SO YUMMY and good for you!