Healthy Meal of the Week: Baked Glazed Ham, Mixed Veggies, Mashed Potatoes
Leftover Idea: Ham Glazed Wrap
Here’s a meal to get everyone in the mood for the upcoming holiday – baked ham with a tasty apricot/pineapple glaze, mixed vegetables, and mashed potatoes. To top it off, using just one slice of baked ham along with a healthy whole wheat wrap, you can quickly make so you’ll have for lunch the following day.
Think of this as a pre-Thanksgiving warmup. You actually may enjoy this glaze so much that you’ll use it for your main dish next Thursday or whenever else you may want to prepare a ham or turkey. Give it a try to see what you think. It’s really simple to make and takes less than 10 minutes.
Equipment Needed
– oven pan
– pot for veggies
– pot for mashed potatoes
– colander (strainer)
Cooking Time
– 1 hour
Ingredients
(6-8 servings)
– 2-3 pound pre-cooked ham
– 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
– Instant Potato Buds (you’ll also need milk, butter, and salt)
for glaze:
– 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
– 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
– 8 oz. apricot preserve
– 1 can sliced pineapples
– 2 tbsp butter
– 1/2 cup diced white onion
For Leftover Ham wrap:
– low-calorie whole wheat wraps
– shredded mozzarella cheese
– optional: lettuce greens
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Hopefully the precooked ham you purchased already has presliced cuts started for you. You can simply take a sharp knife and continue those cuts 3/4 of the way to the bottom of the ham. Doing this allows the glaze to seep down and really flavor the entire piece of meat and not just remain on the exterior.
2. To make the glaze sauce, first diced a white onion into small pieces until you have approximately a 1/2 cup worth. In a saucepan on low temp put the 2 tbsp of butter along with the 1/2 cup of diced onion. Stir well for about 6-7 minutes.
3. Add the 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard, 8 oz. of apricot preserves, and 3 pineapple slices but only put a 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice from the can (don’t add the entire contents). Continue to stir the mixture well for another 7-8 minutes on med/low temp.
4. Put ham in an oven pan and carefully spoon the glaze mixture over the ham. Try to open the slices using a fork or other utensil so that the glaze has a chance to cover each side of every piece. You can place a pineapple slice or two on top and use the rest of the pineapple slices that should still be in the can around the entire ham.
5. Place pan uncovered in the oven on the center rack and allow to cook for one hour. If possible, carefully take out after 1/3 cooking time has passed so you can spoon the glaze back over the entire ham, and once more after another 1/3 of the time has passed. This really helps get that meat covered in that delicious apricot pineapple glaze.
6. While the ham is cooking you can start boiling the frozen mixed vegetables. These will only take about 15 minutes so you may want to hold off a bit until the ham is halfway done cooking. When ready, boil 4 cups of water and add entire bag of frozen mixed vegetables.
7. Finally, the mashed potatoes (that take less than 8 minutes), check the side of the box to see the directions for how many servings you want to make. Keep in mind if you plan on having mashed potatoes for leftover meals or to add into the ham wraps, you may want to make a little extra so you have plenty afterwards.
8. When you serve your appropriate portion size, pour one or two spoonfuls on top of the ham and even the potatoes if you’d like. That glaze is delicious so hope you enjoy!
Leftover Meal Idea – Ham Glazed Wrap
This is a simple lunch leftover idea you can make in under a minute granted there is a least one piece of ham left. The only extra items you’ll need is some shredded mozzarella cheese, lettuce, and a whole wheat wrap. These whole wheat wraps are great to have on hand because they are only 50 calories each as opposed to a flour tortilla which can be up to 150 calories each.
Take the one piece of glazed ham and dice into bite sized pieces. You can layer some lettuce greens on the whole wheat wrap if you like, then place the ham pieces, spread a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes. Top with some shredded mozzarella cheese, and carefully wrap it up like you would a burrito. You can keep this wrap in a piece of foil inside the refrigerator until it’s ready to be taken with you to work. Enjoy this along with a fruit and a bottle of water and you’ll have a great, healthy lunch far better (and cheaper) than a fast food meal.