Sweet and Sour Green Beans with Pancetta Recipe

Ingredients
1 pound trimmed green beans
1/2 pound of pancetta, coarsely chopped
1 medium shallot chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. In a large pot of boiling salted water cook green beans until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water; cool 5 minutes. Drain. Transfer beans to paper towels and pat dry.
2. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta and sauté until crisp, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon transfer pancetta to paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook chopped shallots in pancetta fat. When the shallots are translucent, toss in the vinegar, sugar, and salt in the shallot mixture. Make sure the ingredients are well incorporated.
3. Toss in the green beans into the shallot mixture. You don’t really want to cook the green beans. You want to make sure the green beans are heated through, about 4-5 minutes. Crumble pancetta on top to serve.

Ingredients:

1 cup berries (strawberries or blueberries are most popular)

1 banana – cut into pieces

1 packet of instant oatmeal

1 cup of low-fat milk

2 cups of ice cubes

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except ice cubes) to blender.  Blend until smooth, then add ice cubes and blend for about 30 seconds.

Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.

Mushroom Salad Recipe

Ingredients
1 pound fresh white mushrooms (also known as button mushrooms or crimini mushrooms)
1 cup sliced celery thinly sliced on an angle
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup shaved Parmiginao-Reggiano
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon prepared Dijon-style mustard
Salt to taste

Directions
1. Whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard in a medium bowl (salt to taste).
2. In a separate bowl, mix together mushrooms, celery and parsley.
3. Liberally drizzle the salad with the salad dressing from step 1 until evenly coated.
4. Divide the salad onto plates and scatter shaved Parmiginao-Reggiano cheese on top of the mushroom salad. Serve immediately. Yields 6 servings.

Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.

Ingredients

1 tbsp almond butter

1 cup low fat or soy milk

1 banana

1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Almond butter is high in protein and will stop midnight munchies.

Bananas have a high magnesium content to help muscles relax after a hard day’s work.

Skimmed milk helps the brain use sleep-inducing tryptophan to produce melatonin, which regulates your sleep cycle.

Sesame seeds are rich in tryptophan too.

Mango Iced Tea Recipe

Ingredients
* 1 1/4 cups of mango nectar
* 2 quarts brewed tea
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Stir together all ingredients; chill until ready to serve.

Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.

The cool thing about cherries is they are plentiful in melatonin. The best, most melatonin rich cherries are Montmorency, which are tart and yummy. I highly recommend eating a small bowl of cherries after dinner as a cool, refreshing, non-fattening desert. Here are 5 more ways to enjoy cherries this summer:

1. Add dried cherries to your cereal in the morning.

2. Add dried cherries to tossed salads.

3. Make cherry muffins instead of blueberry muffins.  My kids love them!

4. Add frozen cherries to smoothies. Try our delicious Cherry Mango Smoothie tonight!

5. Drink cherry juice as you recover from a workout.

INGREDIENTS:

Tuna
1/4 Cup Black Sesame Seeds 
& 1/4 Cup White Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
2 – 6 ounce Ahi (Yellow Fin) Tuna Steaks (for two people)
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Marinade
1/ 2 Cup of Low Sodium Soy
1 Lime (Juice and Zest – If you want more lime flavor, add another)
1- 2 Cloves of Garlic Minced
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoons of Freshly Chopped Cilantro Leaves

DIRECTIONS:
1)  Add all marinade ingredients to a small bowl and mix well.
2) Pour the marinade in a large zip lock bag, add the tuna, and then squeeze out the air. Marinate for 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator, turning the tuna about half way through.
3) Remove tuna from fridge and let stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
4) Remove tuna from marinade, shaking off any excess and dry on paper towels.
5) Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. The oil should be hot but not smoking.
6) While the pan is heating, arrange your sesame seeds on a flat dish. Roll the tuna around in the seeds pressing down as you roll ensuring the seeds are packed into the tuna nicely.
7) Add the tuna to the hot sauté pan and shake it a bit to make sure the tuna does not stick. Sear for 30 to 40 seconds on both sides.

Papaya-Pineapple Salsa
1 cup diced pineapple
1 ripe papaya, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 jalapeno or Serrano Chile pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon hot chili oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, combine pineapple, papaya, onion, Chile pepper, lime juice, cilantro, and chili oil. Mix well and season, to taste, with salt.

Serve tuna over brown rice and spoon salsa over top.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped canned artichoke hearts
1/4 cup vegetable broth
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium-size yellow tomatoes, seeded, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (optional)

Directions
1. Rinse quinoa in a strainer under cold running water until water runs clear (this is an important step because it helps keep the flavors clean). Drain the quinoa.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil the quinoa with 2 cups water, and salt. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is cooked/al dente. The water should be mostly absorbed. This step will take approximately 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. In a separate large nonstick skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add artichoke heats and sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Pour in the vegetable broth and cover until you bring it to a simmer (about 3 minutes). Add quinoa and the three tablespoons of olive oil. Simmer for about 2-4 minutes until heated through.
4. Stir in tomatoes, onions, basil, and lemon juice. Toss with feta cheese or goat cheese (optional). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.

For other quinoa recipes, check out http://www.thewholegang.org

Cherry Mango Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup mango (fresh or frozen)
1 cup frozen unsweetened tart cherries
1 cup skim milk

Directions

In a blender, puree mango, cherries and milk in until smooth. Serve immediately.

Serving size: one serving.

Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.

• Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto (see below for recipe)
• Mango Sorbet (recipe to follow)

You will benefit most by eating foods high in tryptophan throughout the day.  My risotto recipe is packed with ingredients that help promote sleep (rice, asparagus, shallots, Parmesan cheese and shrimp are sleep-inducing foods).  While almost all fruits have good amounts of tryptophan, mango is one of the best sleep-inducing foods (kind of like an all star).  Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.  Eat Well & Sleep Well!

Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound peeled and de-veined medium-size fresh shrimp
• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, fresh stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 cups of broth, kept simmering (I prefer chicken, but you could use fish stock or vegetable stock)
• 1 glass dry white wine (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 small shallots finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (but you can also use Carnaroli rice and Vialone Nano rice)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

• In a large pot of boiling water, you want to quickly cook the asparagus.  When the water comes to a boil, add the asparagus and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  You want the asparagus to be cooked but still retain their beautiful green color.
• In a medium-sized pot, you want to keep the chicken broth on a low simmer throughout the entire risotto cooking period.
• Sauté diced shallots in hot oil in a pan over medium heat  until tender, but not brown.
• Add the 1 1/2 cups rice to the pan, stirring constantly for a 3-5 minutes to toast the grains.  Add the dry wine wine and stir for about 2 minutes.  Then add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and stir constantly until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
• Repeat the procedure of adding the broth and stirring it until the liquid from the previous time has been absorbed.   After about 15 minutes (you should have about 2-3 cups left of stock), add the shrimp to the remaining broth and cook for about 2 minutes, or until shrimp is pink. Remove the shrimp and add it to the the risotto mixture. Also add the asparagus you had set aside earlier.
• Add ½ cup of the broth at a time until desired creaminess is reached (there may be broth left over).  Add butter, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Serve immediately. Yields 6 servings.

Mango Sorbet

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups fresh or frozen mango (if using frozen mango, thaw in refrigerator)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 2/3 cup of water
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

• In a small saucepan, mix together the sugar and water on medium heat until the sugar dissolves (about 1-3 minutes). Make sure you carefully watch this because you don’t want it to burn. Remove from heat and cool completely (this will take about 1-2 hours).
• In a food processor or blender, puree mango, lemon juice and cooled sugar water mixture.
• Pour combined liquid into the ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacture’s instructions. Sorbet is particularly soft after churning but firms up after freezing. After the sorbet is finished in the ice cream maker, transfer to an air tight container. Cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve.

Search our comprehensive list of foods high in tryptophan.

Notes: Don’t have an ice cream maker?  Pour your sorbet mixture into a freezer-safe covered container and “still freeze” it.  However, you have to stir the mixture every half-hour or so to keep it from freezing into a solid block.