Welcome to #FriendFriday where each week I’ll be sharing a delicious recipe from one of my Instagram friends! I find so much inspiration and friendship in the Instagram community so I’m looking forward to sharing some of that here with you. I’m excited for you to get to know some of my friends, I know you will find them as motivational as I do! Be sure to find them on Instagram so you can follow their journey and find more of their delicious meal ideas!
Today you are meeting Harley from @mataharley. Harley is a huge source of meal inspiration for me! She shows us that even the fanciest meals can be simple and healthy. She’s one of my favorite accounts to follow for beautiful food photography too – take a look, her photos are stunning!
Hi, Harley, tell us about yourself!
Hey there! I’m Harley, aka @mataharley on Instagram. I joined IG a few years ago at the suggestion of a friend who thought it was the perfect outlet for me to share my passion for cooking and creativity, it had the added bonus of being a way to keep myself accountable on my weight loss journey. I never anticipated how fulfilling it would become or that I would make some great friends though it!
Professionally, I’ve applied my creativity to a variety of things… starting out in graphic design for TV, shifting to event production at Vogue; designing handbags, style consulting/personal shopping; baking couture cupcakes; meal prep catering; jewelry consulting, and most recently I’ve added recipe development to the list… I developed a love for cooking, baking, and entertaining at an early age; by the time I was in my late teens, I was throwing elaborate sit-down dinner parties for 10 when my parents were out of town! I’ve always gravitated towards a little bit of fancy and think that often carries over to my style of cooking. It is my belief that a meal can feel decadent and indulgent, and by being thoughtful and creative it can still be healthy; which is why I regularly use the hashtag #EatWellEatSmart.
What motivated you to change your lifestyle?
Honestly, vanity. Even though I thought I needed to lose weight when I was younger, I didn’t really. I started to gain weight in my late 20s, early 30s when I turned to food for comfort. And as any emotional eater can attest, it becomes a vicious cycle of feeling bad and eating, and then feeling bad about eating, so you eat some more! Luckily I’ve never had any health related issues to my weight gain, but it has definitely mentally held me back from being my best self. Three years ago I was at a particularly stressful point in my life and decided if I wanted things to change I had to change. I joined WW that day.
What are your favorite foods to cook?
I need a lot of variety to keep me engaged in my weight loss journey. I really love Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors so I often try to incorporate them into my cooking. I try to keep my ingredients clean and seasonal, and always opt for a little bit of the real thing over “skinny” substitutes.
What is one piece of advice you’d give someone just starting out on a health journey?
Be kind to yourself. Don’t deprive yourself of the foods you really love; try to find a way to balance them out with thoughtful choices. Don’t be afraid of trying new foods or activities; change is part of the process.
Tell us about the recipe you are sharing today!
People often think my recipes are fancy or complicated, but they are in fact deceivingly simple; today’s recipe is a perfect example. The magic of this dish is the sauce! 3 ingredients- lemon juice, low sodium soy sauce and fat free plain Greek yogurt (and pepper! Do you count pepper as an ingredient? Ok, and a teeny bit of butter.) I originally made this dinner with chicken and mushrooms; I think the flavor works really well with seafood too. I made a variation of the original dish with shrimp and broccoli over pasta. Seriously, the sauce is so good you will want to lick the plate!
Harley’s Lemon Cream Sauce recipe makes 3 servings at 2 Blue WW SmartPoints or 3 Green WW SmartPoints each or 52 calories. Let us know your favorite way to use her sauce! Be sure to follow her on Instagram at @mataharley to see all of her amazing recipes!
- ⅓ c lemon juice
- ⅓ c low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ c plain fat free Greek yogurt
- pepper, to taste
- ½ tbsp butter
- Mix lemon juice and soy sauce. Pour into a saute pan and heat over medium heat for a few minutes.
- Add Greek yogurt and butter and whisk until smooth.
- Continue to heat for another few minutes, add pepper to taste; adjust to your palate.
Serving Suggestion: You can saute chicken in the sauce, pour it over vegetables, seafood, pasta, or rice. It's good on almost everything!
*If calories aren't a concern, I would use cream in place of the yogurt.
Nutritional information is calculated with MyFitnessPal and may vary based on brands used. Smart Points information is calculated with the Weight Watchers app and may also vary based on brands used.
