Breathe Magazine

After last week’s slip-up, I’ve  gotten my act together. 6 weeks into this, I finally had a week of good, decently healthy, and tasty eating, with an average of almost 75% calcium intake each day. Right now I’m a bit obsessed with recipes, planning for next week’s Thanksgiving extravaganza, so for this week’s post I thought I’d feature three high-calcium, high-taste dishes. All are easy, and pretty easy to fit into the grocery budget.

First, a super simple means of cooking Brussels Sprouts. We never had this vegetable in my house growing up, since my dad hates them. I keep wanting to make them for the family when I go home though, because I’m convinced that he’d love these (however, he’s stubborn and refuses to bite). This method is so simple it seems almost silly to write it up as a recipe. But here goes… Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients: a carton (a pound or so) of Brussels Sprouts, trimmed; a generous drizzle of olive oil; Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees; place Sprouts in a large bowl, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper; spread the Sprouts out on a baking sheet and place on a rack in the center of the oven; roast for 35-40 minutes, until dark, shaking the pan a few times; sprinkle the Sprouts – and Sprout chips that have separated (my favorite part) – with a bit more salt, and serve hot.

Greens Soup (courtesy of my friend Tucker, who got creative this summer when her share in a farm’s fresh produce resulted in bushels and bushels of greens)

Ingredients: about 6 oz sausage/bacon/pancetta (whichever you like); 2 bunches fresh collard greens (or kale), chopped; 1 large onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; a few tablespoons of chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, whatever you like); 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock/water combo (modify to how you like your soup’s salt level); olive oil (or bacon grease if you want to get decadent); rice and/or beans optional.

Directions: Cook sausage (or bacon or pancetta) in a stock pot and set meat aside; add onion, garlic, carot, and herbs to saute in the remaining oil/fat; add stock, greens, and reserved meat; simmer until greens are wilted and the soup is a consistency you like; add rice and/or beans if desired; serve with crusty bread.

Pizza with Figs, Prosciutto, Gorgonzola, Balsamic, and Arugula

Ingredients: Cornmeal (just a little, for sprinkling); 1 pound packaged pizza dough; 2 cups crumbled Gorgonzola cheese; 6 fresh figs, cut into 1/4-1/3 inch thick slices; 2T fig balsamic vinegar; 8 thin slices prosciutto; 1T olive oil; 8 cups arugula.

Directions: preheat oven to 450 degrees; sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal, roll out dough on floured work space to 12×10 inch rectangle, and transfer to baking sheet; sprinkle dough with gorgonzola and freshly ground pepper; place fig slices in medium bowl, drizzle with half the vinegar, set aside; bake pizza until brown on bottom, 15-20 minutes; remove and cover pizza with prosciutto slices and then fig slices on top of the prosciutto; return to oven and bake until figs are just heated through, about 1 minute; transfer pizza to cutting board; whisk remaining vinegar and oil in large bowl, add arugula, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat; mound salad on top of pizza, cut pizza into pieces, and serve.