Recipe: 20 min dinner: Prosciutto Wrapped Halibut, Quinoa, and Garlic Spinach.

I adapted this halibut recipe from a fabulous cookbook my sister just gave me called Fast Fish.

Fish:
Ingredients:
• 1-1.5 lbs halibut
• Jar of olive tapenade- I've tried this recipe with both green and black tapenade. I liked the black better. You can also see recipe link for additions to the tapenade.
• 1 package of italian prosciutto




1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut halibut into 3 x 3 inch squares (or as close as you can get to this.)

3. Place a piece of prosciutto on a cutting board, put the fish about 1 inch from the end, and then put 1 TBSP of the tapenade on top of the fish and wrap the ham around the top of the fish, tucking in any extra. Repeat with new pieces until fish is all wrapped up.

4. Place the wrapped pieces of fish in a baking dish and place dish in pre-heated oven. Cook until fish is to your liking- we like it on the softer side, but of course that is individual preference. I also like to broil for the last 5 minutes to crisp up the ham. Mmmmm.

We use smaller pieces for our 2 1/2 year old and he can just pick them up and take bites.

Quinoa:
Quinoa is a grain that is relatively higher in protein than many other grains. I love the texture, and also the fact that it is a whole grain but cooks in 15 minutes as opposed to 45 minutes for brown rice. It is common in Peruvian cuisine and can be used in any way that rice is used.

Ratio of 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water.

Rinse quinoa first, then place in pan with water as above. Boil. Turn to simmer and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Should be fluffy and the little 'tail' should show on the grains.

Spinach:
We love fresh spinach but also always have several bags of frozen spinach for those times that we need to get dinner on the table quickly. Our 2 year old also prefers the frozen kind, I'm not quite sure why. For our garlic spinach we put 2 TBSP of olive oil in a pan with 3-4 cloves of pressed garlic or 3-4 squares of frozen garlic from Trader Joes. On low to medium heat cook garlic until it just starts to turn a golden color. Add bag of spinach, stir, cover, cook until hot, about 5-7 minutes depending upon your stove.

Tip:
If you have extra proscuitto, tear into small strips and wrap around pitted dates. Put them in the oven on a baking sheet until ham is crispy. I place a few of these on the plate as well but we also send them with our son to school for his snack.

Voilá, 20 min dinner, wheat and dairy free, well rounded. Delish.

In Health,
Dr. Samantha

Stimulation of Acupoints Is Effective for Post Operative Nausea and Vomiting.

Anyone out there get nauseated post-anesthesia? I do, and acupuncture has always been helpful for me. I can't count the number of times I've recommended it.

A new review of 40 existing studies affirms my recommendation and finds that indeed, it does work. As a matter of fact, we don't even need to use needles, acupressure will do the job just as well (for this condition, anyway.)

Next time you're in, ask me about this point, in my experience it's great for most kinds of nausea, not only post operative.

In Health,
Dr. Samantha

Recipe: Breakfast Pizza- Wheat and Dairy free.

We love breakfast foods at our house. I'd say that on any given week you'll see breakfast for dinner at least once (and cereal for snack? I won't even try to count.)

Last week we had a showdown...one of my boys wanted 'pizza' for dinner and the other wanted eggs. Thus the birth of our new favorite dinner: Breakfast Pizza.

Ingredients (we doubled it and made 2 so my son could take it for lunch all week.)
1. Whole grain pizza crust. We like Graindance frozen spelt pizza crust- it has gluten, but no wheat. You could also use a frozen rice pizza crust or a homemade pizza crust if you are gluten free.
2. 6 eggs. I recommend omega-3 fed free range eggs.
3. Half of a bag of frozen spinach or a few cups of fresh spinach with large stems removed.
4. 1 onion chopped.
5. 3 cloves of garlic pressed or minced. Trader Joes has frozen 'garlic cubes' that we keep on hand in case we don't have fresh available.
6. Olive oil.
7. Sun dried or fresh tomatoes. If you use fresh, remove the goopy part.
8. 3-4 sliced of precooked turkey, veggie, or regular bacon chopped (optional, we happened to have cooked bacon in the fridge when I made this.)

Preheat oven to temp recommended with your pre-cooked pizza crust

In saute pan, saute onions and garlic in olive oil. We like to use lots of olive oil and cook them slowly so the onions are a bit sweet, but as long as the onions are soft when you're done, it's all good.

Add spinach and tomatoes and cook until soft, mixed and aromatic.

Beat eggs with a fork and pour into the veggie mixture until just barely cooked/still a little wet.

Put all of this on top of the pizza, sprinkle bacon on top, and bake for about 10 minutes or crust is browned and eggs are set.

Serve hot, or not.