Week in Food

21st January 2010

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Quick Red Lentils

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to post! And I will only be able to post sporadically due to my being in thesis at my grad program, but I will try my best to keep the blog alive.

This is healthy comfort food! A great recipe for vegetarians and omnivores alike. Lentils are a great source of protein, but you could also toss in some cubed chicken breasts for a super protein punch. The ingredients list may seem intimidating, but if you don’t have all of the spices, just work with what you have. It will still be delicious and comforting!

GET

• 1 tbsp canola or olive oil
• 1 chopped leek
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 4 cups veg or chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups red lentils
• 1 medium or large turnip/ rutabaga, cubed, pretty small 1/2 inch or smaller
• 2 chopped celery stalks
• 2 chopped carrots
• 3 cardamon pods (or tsp cardamon)
• 1 tbsp butter (clarified or regular)
• 1/2 lime (juice)
• tsp grated lime zest
• tbsp agave or sugar
• tbsp tomato paste
• tsp allspice
• tsp coriander
• tbsp sea salt
• tbsp chili oil or chili or a dash of cayenne
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

COOK

Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add leeks, cook for about 5 min, add garlic, saute for about a minute. Add stock, water, bay leaf, then lentils, and all ingredients through lime juice (Add cubed chicken breast now too). Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally about 20 min or so. Next add the rest of the ingredients and cook about another 10 min until lentils are falling apart soft. Serve over Basmati or brown rice. Garnish with fresh parley, cilantro - or both!

22nd November 2009

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Divine Red Sauce

I made this incredible red sauce to go over baked cod with a spinach salad topped with roasted red peppers and garlic and mashed potatoes on the side. Sadly I lost the photos of that meal, but I made extra sauce to have for the week and here it is on a piece of toast with spinach and sheep cheese (Caña de Oveja). Fine dining in about 2 minutes.

Red Sauce:

GET

• 1 container of cherry tomatoes
• 1 roasted red bell pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon corriander
• 2 tbsp whole fresh or died rosemary
• 1 lemon
• 1 tspn blood orange or white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tspn black pepper

PREPARE

Roast the sliced pepper for about 45 min on 400. Use about 1/3 of the pepper in the sauce, use the rest to put on sandwiches or salads, etc. No need to remove skins from tomatoes, just wash well. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend well, until it’s foamy. You can store this for about a week in the fridge, though it gets a little tangy with time. Just add a touch of agave if the citrus becomes too strong. Top salads, sandwiches, fish or whatever you like. It’s fantastic tossed with quinoa. Actually, it’s so good you might want to eat it by the spoonful.

Red Sauce and roasted peppers in my new glass storage containers. If you store this sauce in plastic the acid in the tomatoes, lemon and vinegar will leach toxins into your food:

This Perel Blood Orange Vinegar is zesty and subtle, works really well in my recipes:

22nd November 2009

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Sunday Pancakes and Delicious Vermont Maple Syrup

We finally broke our oatmeal ritual and had buttermilk pancakes this morning, with a wonderful maple syrup from the Union Square farmer’s market. It’s $2 more than the Whole Foods organic 32oz, but well worth it. If you see Deep Mountain Vermont Maple Syrup, get it.

And this is my favorite butter. It’s Amish, it’s good.

22nd November 2009

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Japanese Style Brown Rice

I made this flavored rice to go with a burdock, beet, kale and dulse salad I’d been eating most of last week. The recipe for the entire salad is posted earlier, search: gobo. The rice is based on a traditional Japanese recipe a friend from Japan was describing, but I threw it together with what I had. Red wine instead of mirin, etc…

GET:

• 2 cups brown rice
• 2 chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped burdock (optional)
• tbsp raw sesame seeds
• tbsp sesame oil
• tbsp soy sauce
• tbsp fish sauce (optional)
• 2 tbsp wine or mirin
• 1/2 cup seaweed (I used dulse and another kind I’m missing the name of)

COOK

Throw ingredients (and water) in rice cooker and viola! Your done. Cooks about 45 minutes. This pairs nicely with greens and raw or steamed veggies.

22nd November 2009

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Turnip, Squash, Coconut and Lamb Stew with Basil and Chutney

This lovely lamb stew was a weeknight meal, but about a week ago, so I have no weekday to report. I had it for lunch for several days in a row without the roasted veggies on top, they definitely give this stew character.

GET

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 minced leek (light green and white parts only)
• 1-3 pounds boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat, then cut into bite-size chunks
• 2 mince cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger root
• 1 small butternut squash (1 to 2 pounds), peeled and cut into bite-size pieces (may substitute 2 cups pre-cut butternut squash pieces)
• 1 large rutabaga turnip (4 to 6 ounces), peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/4 cups coconut milk (do not use low-fat)
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• fresh basil
• chutney of choice
• sweet brown rice

COOK

Heat the oven to 400. Cube the squash and rutabaga into 1/2” squares. Place them on a lightly olive oil greased baking pan, drizzle with olive oil too. Bake for about 45 minutes, until soft.

Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add leeks, cook for about 5 min. Add the lamb pieces and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring to make sure the pieces are lightly browned on all sides. Add garlic and ginger; cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the half the squash and turnip, then coriander, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne and salt, stirring to mix well, then add the coconut milk and broth; stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook on low heat for about an hour or until the lamb is quite tender. Taste and add salt as needed.

For the rice I use a rice cooker, you can also follow stove tope directions.

Plate the rice, then cover with the stew, add the roasted veggies and garnish with chopped basil and chutney. I like a spicy plum chutney.

BENEFITS

To come…

12th November 2009

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Wednesday Japanese style Kale, Gobo and Beets

I will use the same ingredients in my cooking over the course of the week because I usually only have time shop once. But sometimes I really get into a food and will cook with it for months. Perhaps it’s something my body needs, or the season is to blame, either way it makes for a deeper relationship with the food.

Kale has been huge for me in the past couple of months. I eat it with everything and never tire of it. Beets are always a staple. And gobo is my new favorite root veggie.

Another kale and beet recipe.

GET

• boiled/ grated beets
• raw shredded carrots
• chopped/ torn kale
• raw thinly sliced gobo (burdock root with skin, scrubbed well)
• soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
• sesame oil
• sesame seeds
• finely chopped Dulse seaweed
• Japanese topping seaweed flakes (optional)

MAKE

Boil and grate beets (search beets for cooking instructions). I used the beets I made earlier this week. Toss all ingredients together, mix well. Make sure the oil and soy sauce covers all ingredients well. This is nice if it has time to marinade for a little while, but can also be had right away. Top with more sesame seeds and optional Japanese seaweed flakes. I’ve listed no proportions, as you can make this to your liking. Just taste as you make.

BENEFITS

To come…

12th November 2009

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Two Cheese, Pinot Nior Wednesday - Tastes Good

There is a cheese I’ve often had that comes in a white rind with a luscious cream between it and the white flaky center that guarantees to be delicious. Although I know it’s not a cow’s milk, I haven’t paid enough attention to be certain of it being sheep’s or goat’s milk, what region it comes form or any other details. I recently heard that goat’s and sheeps’s milk cheeses from the Pyrenees mountain regions are particularly wonderful. When the disinterested sales person at Whole Foods assured me he had no Pyrenees cheeses, I decided to buy both a goat’s and sheep’s milk cheese from Spain, that bore the aforementioned characteristics hoping one would be a Pyrenees.

I paired my Caña de Oveja and Caña de Cabra with a cheap Pinot Nior from Moldova, by Apollo Creek. The wine together with both cheeses was heavenly. Neither turned out to be from the Pyrenees region, but both were very good, both only mildly pungent. The Caña de Oveja sheep’s milk however was incredible. It was richer, woodsy-er and much more complex. I can now understand why people eat cheese for dessert, it’s as if part of this cheese ripened into honey. It seems that it’s the sheep’s milk I  should seek out. Perhaps now I need to narrow down a region?

Caña de Oveja is an unusual soft-ripened sheep’s milk cheese from Murcia, an area known primarily for goat cheese, caña de oveja ripens from the outside in, so it should be soft and luscious under the rind. Expect mushroom aromas and a tangy finish.

Caña de Cabra is creamy and mild but has a full and happily satisfying flavor. Tangy citrus notes balance the rich creaminess of the cheese and there’s a fleeting hint of deep woods’ mushrooms that grow in shady spots.

The Caña de Oveja seen on the right. No contest.

BENEFITS

Cheese has lots of calcium. Calcium Helps Prevent Colon Cancer, Osteoporosis, Migraine and PMS. Also is best known for its role in maintaining the strength and density of bones. In a process known as bone mineralization, calcium and phosphorus join to form calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate is a major component of the mineral complex (called hydroxyapatite) that gives structure and strength to bones. Calcium also plays a role in many other vital physiological activities, including blood clotting, nerve conduction, muscle contraction, regulation of enzyme activity, cell membrane function and blood pressure regulation.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=121

Moderate consumption of wine is associated with a longer and healthier life than that of abstainers (an observation supported by a great mass of published evidence). While at least half of the benefits associated with wine consumption appear to be derived from the alcohol itself, there are other components of wine that contribute to the same benefits.

Alcohol’s health benefits chiefly favor the cardiovascular system, and are dramatically reflected in reduced risks of atherosclerotic heart attacks, ischemic strokes and limb amputations due to compromised blood supply. Most intriguing are the poly-phenolic flavonoids, also known as antioxidants… found in grapes, chiefly the skins, their concentrations tend to be higher in red wines (when skins are included in fermentation) than white (when skins are culled).

http://www.thewinenews.com/aprmay00/comment.html

Apollo Creek, Moldova: http://www.snooth.com/wine/apollo-creek-pinot-noir-2008/

Tagged: calciumcheesedairyproteinrecommendationsvegetarianwineAntioxidantquick-n-easy

7th November 2009

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Polish grated beet salad

One of my favorite Polish foods is a simple grated beet “salad”. It’s not what American’s think of when they refer to a salad, just grated beets. This is a variation the traditional dish.

GET

• beets w/ tops
• 1 carrot
• pepper
• coarse kosher sea salt
• white wine vinegar

COOK

Cut beet tops off and reserve. Leave about an inch of beet top on beets. Place beets with skins and a pinch of salt in water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 min. Stick a fork in the beet to check if tender. Rinse with cold water and slush off the skins with your hands, they slide right off. Grate the beets and raw carrot. Add a touch of salt and taste.

You may like it as is: sweet and delicate. Try a bite with a bit of pepper and a touch of vinegar. If you like it, you can add the pepper and vinegar as you go or mix it into the whole batch.

This can sit in your fridge for at least a week. For a full Polish experience have it with pickled herring or a pork cutlet and mashed potatoes! For a Mediterranean spin dice instead of grating and add basil, goat cheese and olive oil. Just basil works nicely too.

As for the tops, I will post a recipe once I cook them later this week.

BENEFITS

Amazing beets. These colorful root vegetables contain powerful nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer. The pigment that gives beets their rich, purple-crimson color-betacyanin-is also a powerful cancer-fighting agent.

Beets are an excellent source of the B vitamin, folate, and a very good source of manganese and potassium. Beets are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49#healthbenefits

Tagged: AntioxidantFiberFolateVitamin Ccopperdairy-freeironlow fatmagnesiummanganesephosphoruspotassiumveganvegetarianvitamin bPolish

7th November 2009

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Saturday Special Coconut Curry Chicken

This recipe is special, it calls for sage.

GET

• 3 organic chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup stock
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 2 big garlic cloves
• 1/3 of med red onion
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (or 1/2 tsp sea salt salt)
• 1 tbsp +1/2 tsp lemon juice (1/2 a lemon)
• 1 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 tbsp agave
• 1 tbsp minced sage (about 5 leaves)
• fresh basil
• brown rice

COOK

Reserve chicken and basil, put all other ingredients in a pot and stir well. Then add 1/2” cubed chicken and marinate in fridge preferable over night or at least an hour. Once it’s ready to cook, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Try the chicken to see if it’s cooked through, it might need another 5 minutes. Make brown rice in a rice cooker or follow stove top instructions. Once plated, garnish with basil. This dish is mildly spicy.

You can make this vegan, just replace the chicken with bell pepper, carrot, broccoli or any other vegetables of choice. Or add the veggies in with the chicken. No need to marinate the veggies, just add when you’re ready to cook.

BENEFITS

To come…