What do you like to eat that's different, not mainstream burgers & fries or pizza kind of food? Stuff that's healthy, diet-friendly, tasty and different?

I could eat sushi (proper sushi is seasoned rice with 'stuff' - could be anything, not just raw fish) every day for the rest of my life and die happy, but it's hardly alterna-food anymore - it's getting more and more mainstream every year. And that's a good thing in my mind!

I have one super easy and tasty recipe I got from my favourite Middle Eastern cookbook: It's chic peas, cooked with onions, tomatoes and spinach. Saute a couple of onions in olive oil, add some pureed tomatoes (two or three), the chic peas (2 cans or about 3 cups soaked and pre-cooked dried ones), and a big bunch of spinach. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Yum!

Some of my favourite weird fruits are to die for too - persimmons, mangosteens, ground cherries, and longan.

BP

I think salad with kidney beans, olives, and cheese is good. Without ranch or anything like that, it has enough flavor with those things that you don't need it. ^_^

PS. Apples and peanut butter is good too. ^_^

Cucumber slices w/guacamole

Halloween girl, yum! Imagine cucumber, guac and natural yog. Sounds good.

Migotokokoro - apples w. PB iz da boooomb!

I like eating tuna mixed with mashed pumpkin, peas and topped off with LF natural yog. It's awesome, trust.

Also, tuna and whipped cream. I never eat it anymore but its awesome.

Well, I don't know how alternative my food choices are.. but...

I love agave nectar. Especially with greek yogurt. It's super tasty.

And I've just started trying out quinoa. Making it more often with dinner.

here in eugene we have Yumm! bowls- brown rice, black beans, yumm! sauce (imagine a yeasty thinner version of hummus only more delish then that) some ff sour cream, some avocado, olives, salsa. best thing ever. can easily be mady very fatty or very healthy. and both versions are delish!

something new i started making is i guess an udon soup. i get one of those udon soup packages from the produce dept, and make it up per package instructions- then i stir fry veggies and some tofu "steaks" made by Helens Kitchen - noodles, veggies, tofu, with the broth on top. some sambal and you're set! yum.

I could not live without a taco bake I make. It's just lean ground turkey, re-fried beans, salsa, and 2% shredded cheese. I usually eat it with multigrain tortillas.

Another favorite is putting boneless, skinless chicken breast, a can of cream of mushroom soup, some chopped up potatoes and carrots in a slow cooker. YUMMY.

A favorite snack is a serving of thin wheats with a slice of laughing cow cheese. I can't seem to stop eating them!

i put ground flaxseed in lots of my dishes. i buy the seed whole, grind it in me coffee grinder and store in the freezer. super healthy.

i second the agave nectar. yummy in hot tea and oatmeal.

most of my hippy-dippy vegan rockin foods are alterna. hopefully, one-day, it'll be mainstream and easier to do in public.

I really like Greek, Lebanese, Thai, Vietnamese - fresh, simple and healthy ingredients in most of the dishes. I am always looking for lighter versions of Indian and Italian recipes as I really enjoy those too but have to watch for cheese, butter, coconut milk etc.in some of the recipes. I really enjoy cooking and trying new recipes.

Sadly, there are no good Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants in my area of Canada.


Favorite healthy snacks:

hummus & baby carrots
sharp cheese with pear or apple slices
greek yogurt with fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey

Those Indian curries are tasty, but deadly to my goal of losing weight!

mauvaisroux - make your own tex-mex! No good places in Montreal either (well, no good *cheap* places!) We made our own tonight. I made refried beans (my own, not the pre made canned stuff), brown rice, guaccamole, and we made burritos with whole weat tortillas. I put a bit of fat free sour cream on it too, but I think I like it better with yoghurt.

BP

mmmm, i love quinoa. my favourite lunch right now is quinoa with tofu. the secret ingredient is loooooooooooooooads of garlic (not really, i put at least 3 cloves of garlic in almost everything)
and a veggie haggis recipe i found here: http://www.vegsoc.org/news/2001/burns.html

i'm not veggie/vegan anymore but i still love tofu and lentils etc. i make veggie food sometimes for the sake of my housemate who's vegan and mainly eats white sliced bread, bags of crisps or pasta with tinned tomatoes mixed in. giving vegans a bad name! he buys all the worst, most expensive and foul-tasting vegan 'substitute' products as well like scheese (tastes like a poor substitute for playdoh) instead of cooking vegetables, beans or tofu. i used to eat like a king when i was vegan, even managed to get fat on it, woohoo!
hmm..why am i always nagging my absent housemates on threads about something completely unrelated?

I love to go exploring in Chinese, Indian, Korean, Turkish [...] supermarkets and stores. One of my enduring obsession is with the wide variety of leafy greens you can get at some Chinese supermarkets - there are at least 20 kinds, and all of them have a different taste and texture. I just sautee them with a bit of salt, maybe garlic and ginger, sometimes roasted sesame seeds and sesame oil or a handful of peanuts or cashews. I serve them over quinoa, couscous, or rice, with tempeh or tofu as a stir fry, or in stews. Lovely!

Oh, and bopeep, that chickpea/spinach/tomato combo is one of my all-time favorite meals - I add some garlic and ginger to is, sometimes some cumin. There were times when I had this every single day of the week.

I love sushi and Japanese food. I could quite happily eat Japanese for the rest of my life and I do have sushi pretty much every day for lunch. I just fear I am consuming too many carbs with all that rice though.

I am a fellow sushi freak! I don't know what it is but I love it so much. Too bad about the rice though, I have to watch my carbs (pre-diabetic) but I save them up if I think I'll be having sushi.

I love a good pad Thai and will save up carbs for that as well. Thai food in general is great.