Tasty Summer Recipes Less Than 400 Calories (2024)

May 28, 2013

Let’s face it—swimsuit season is rapidly approaching and you’ll probably consider jumping into your local watering hole this summerto beat the heat. What’s more, ‘tis the season for barbeques with friends and family, and for better or worse—lots of greasy foods. Meanwhile, it seems like everyone has a camera phone these days and you never know who might snap a few photos of you in your swimsuit for Facebook. What’s a modern social butterfly to do?

The obvious course of action is to start exercising and eating right before it’s too late. Don’t get us wrong, your friends and family will still love you with the extra 10 pounds you’ve been lugging around. But don’t you want to feel your best this summer? Plus, when you stay healthy, you can save money on term life insurance premiums, thus helping you protect your family, shield your business or insure your liabilities—at a low cost.

In the past, we’ve included information about exercisingon this blog and will no doubt include more in the future, but this post is dedicated to three healthy recipes that would be fantastic for a barbeque. We looked through one of our favorite books for ideas, “The Eat Clean Diet Recharged!” by Tosca Reno, and we’re pretty sure you’ll like what we found. Each delicious recipe is less than 400 calories so you’ll have zero guilt about your next social-eating engagement.

Paradise Island Bean Burgers

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Nutritional Value:

Calories: 352

Calories from Fat: 42

Protein: 7g

Carbs: 34g

Total Fat: 5g

Saturated Fat: 3g

Trans Fat: 0g

Fiber: 5g

Sodium: 108mg

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sugar: 2g

Ingredients:

1 cup black beans, rinsed, drained and mashed

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 clove garlic, passed through a garlic press

2 tbsp. leeks, whites only, finely chopped

2 tbsp. cooked and mashed sweet potato or pumpkin

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tbsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. dried basil

¼ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

4 Ezekiel buns, toasted

Method:

Mix all ingredients except the olive oil and buns in a large bowl. Cot clean hands with olive oil to mix.

Divide mixture into equal fourths. Shape into patties.

Heat grill pan over medium flame and coat lightly with oil. Add patties and cook five minutes per side or until the patties are golden and crispy.

Serve on toasted burger buns.

Dress burgers with your favorite accouterments.

Beet & Arugula Salad

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 lbs. baby beets, washed and trimmed (all beets should be about the same size)

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed

2 ½ tsp. sea salt, divided

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 cubs baby arugula

4 cups mesclun salad greens

½ cup sunflowers seeds, toasted

4 oz. goat cheese, sliced into 8 pieces

2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare baking dish by coating lightly with olive oil.

If beets are much bigger than Brussels sprouts, cut them in half; otherwise leave them whole. Toss beets and Brussels sprouts in 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil and season with 1 tsp. salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place vegetables in baking dish in single layer. Roast in hot oven for one hour. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove skins from beets when cool enough to handle.

Divide salad greens among four plates. Sprinkle with toasted sunflower seeds. Arrange beets and Brussels sprouts evenly between plates. Place two pieces of goat chees on each plate. Drizzle each plate with vinegar and olive oil.

Season with a dusting of sea salt and black pepper.

Serve.

Chocolate-Coated Frozen Bananas

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Nutritional Value:

Calories: 172

Calories from Fat: 89

Protein: 2g

Carbs: 20g

Total Fat: 108

Saturated Fat: 5g

Trans Fat: 0g

Fiber: 3g

Sodim: 3mg

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sugar: 10g

Ingredients:

4 medium bananas, no brown spots

8 bamboo skewers

4 oz. good-quality chocolate, 70% cocoa or darker

1 ½ tbsp. coconut butter (if unavailable, use olive oil)

2 tbsp. walnuts, chopped (the pieces should be small enough to stick to the chocolate)

Method:

Prepare small baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.

Peel each banana. Discard peels and cut tips off each banana. Cut each banana in half.

Insert a bamboo skewer into each piece of banana.

Lay pieces on baking sheet. Lay a piece of parchment paper gently over the bananas and place in freezer. Freeze for a few hours until banana is well frozen.

Before serving, melt chocolate and coconut butter gently in a double boiler. Add nuts. Mix well.

Dip each frozen banana piece into the chocolate mixture and return to baking sheet (or decorative platter lined with parchment paper) when done. Serve immediately.