New Year, New You: Healthy Recipes for 2023

Out with the Old, In with the New

Words by Kayla Butts Photos by Rachel Benavides

Every new year offers a new beginning—an opportunity to get closer to achieving goals, quitting old habits, and reinventing ourselves into the person we hope to become. After the trials and challenges our community and nation faced over the last three years, 2023 has the advantage of allowing our hard-earned growth and resiliency to shine.

Why not start this year by resolving to honor your body? Please consider this list and the three accompanying recipes as a launching pad to help you determine what’s right for you in 2023.

Skip sugar for a week. Passing on the caramel syrup in a latte or the after-dinner dessert will not only help you avoid the sugar crash and hormonal hangover, but it just might also be a kickstart to learning to live with less on a regular basis.

Cut back on the cocktails. Drowning sorrows in wine and beer creates the extra pounds to prove it. Excessive alcohol only fuels our communal depression.

Drink more water. Imbibing more H2O not only helps the body on a cellular level, but it has also been shown to help with weight loss and brain and heart function. Not a fan of the clear stuff? Try infusing water with fruit, vegetables, or fresh herbs to add flavor without synthetic chemicals.

Eat at home. Challenge yourself to use mostly locally grown produce to guarantee you’re cutting your carbon footprint and supporting local growers. Bonus: local produce is usually lower in pesticides and herbicides. If you want to be a real locavore, grab some meat while you’re at it.

Cook more from scratch. The cold, hard truth is we don’t know the long-term impact of many of the preservatives and additives in much of our food system, especially the processed goodies we love while watching Netflix. Cooking from scratch often means cutting those additives in half and reducing the chemical cocktail in our bodies.

Pack a lunch. Well over a third of the calories the average American consumes come from lunch. When we fail to plan ahead and pack a nutritious lunch, we’re stuck with whatever the office cohort is door dashing or whatever drive-thru is nearby. Try the Mediterranean bowl recipe for an almost cook-free lunch option.

Eat a more nutritious breakfast. Most of us eat breakfast, just not the kind that will help us achieve our health goals. Try the overnight Chia Chai Oats recipe for a quick option you can eat while walking out the door.

This year will likely not be pain-free but one thing is for sure. After the last three years, we’re a hardened, resilient group of individuals who will be hell to reckon with.

Breakfast: Chai Overnight Oats

Chai overnight oats are thickened with chia and infused overnight. A mason jar of this nutritious breakfast is sure to start any day off right.

Makes 1 serving
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Inactive prep time: about 8 hours

Ingredients:

1 c. pastured, almond, oat, or coconut milk
1 chai tea bag
1 c. old-fashioned oats
1 T. chia seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 T. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Directions: Microwave milk for one minute in a mug or portable glass storage container without the lid (or heat it in your tea kettle until half-boiling if you’re a purist). Once heated, insert a chai tea bag into milk and steep for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix. Store in the refrigerator overnight.

The following morning, remove thickened oatmeal from the refrigerator and enjoy as is or heat until desired temperature is reached.

Lunch: Greek Buddha Bowl

Buddha bowls gained popularity as a meatless meal offering after being featured in an issue of Martha Stewart Living in the ’90s. This combination of complex carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats makes for a delicious take-along lunch, right out of the Mediterranean.

Makes 1 large bowl
Prep time: 7 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Tabbouleh Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa
2 T. parsley, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Bowl Ingredients:

1 c. spinach, fresh
1/2 c. chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cucumber, sliced
2 oz. feta, crumbled
2 roasted red peppers, canned
2 oz. kalamata olives, pitted
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 T. olive oil
1 T. red wine vinegar
Fresh oregano, chopped

Directions: Heat 1 cup of water on medium high in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has been absorbed, and the quinoa has swelled. Remove from the heat and cover, letting steam an additional 5 minutes. Add parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix well to create the tabbouleh base.

In a large bowl or storage container (2 cup capacity), assemble bowl with tabbouleh, spinach, garbanzo beans, cucumber, feta, red peppers, olives and tomatoes. Drizzle mixture with remaining olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh oregano, and salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to enjoy.

Dinner: Asian Stir Fry

Economical stew meat is tenderized using the traditional Chinese “velveting” method, which is appropriate for boneless cuts of chicken, pork, and beef. If time is of the essence, one can skip the step and have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Serves 4
Inactive prep time: 30 minutes
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 lbs. cubed steak/stew meat
1 t. baking soda
1 T. sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb fresh ginger, grated
2 large carrots, sliced
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 lb. sugar snow peas
1 small head broccoli, cut into bite-sized stalks
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. mirin
2 T. honey

Directions: To tenderize meat, stir baking soda into 1/3 cup water until mostly dissolved. Massage mixture into meat and let tenderize for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat. Once oil becomes fragrant, add beef and cook for 3 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger, carrots, and bell pepper, cooking for an additional two minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for two minutes, or until crisp tender. Serve with brown rice or lo mein.