Good Hood Food...

Not-So-Perfect Roast Chicken

2010-09-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sam and I recently became obsessed with the idea of roasting a whole chicken with root vegetables. We got the idea from a dish we had while vacationing in Mexico, believe it or not, but really we'd been talking about it for a while and just happened to get re-inspired by our vacation meal.

We're fans of Ina Garten so we tried her recipe. The result was mixed - we LOVED the way the roasted vegetables came out; fennel, onion, baby carrots, and parsnips roasted until browned and caramelized. I've since realized that roasting is my favorite way to prepare vegetables. I just love caramelized-till-they-almost-burn yummy goodness! The chicken was not bad, it just needed to be cooked a little more and we both thought it needed a bit more flavor. We'd probably smear a paste of garlic and lemon and herb under the skin next time. But here's the recipe we used. Anyone else have a good recipe for roasted chicken?

Perfect Roast Chicken

Prep Time:: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time:: 20 min
Cook Time:: 1 hr 30 min

Level:: Intermediate

Serves:: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Smoked Fish

2010-09-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

I absolutely ADORE smoked fish and feel lucky to have married a man who shares my passion! A few months ago we bought some amazing smoked wild salmon and smoked trout from our local farmers market. I decided to make a smoked fish plate for dinner one night with the following accompaniments:

Beet Salad
French Potato Salad (adapted from Jacques Pepin's recipe)
Lemon Horseradish Dill Yogurt Sauce
Sliced Lemon, Tomato, and Capers
Cocktail Pumpernickel Bread

Omigosh it was sooo delicious! I started with some lovely beets. I boiled them until tender. Waited for them to cool, peeled and cut them and added some lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper and voila! Sweet and tangy goodness. I always like a sweet element to a meal when I have something smoked, like smoked fish. Sweet & smokey go together perfectly, making a well-balanced flavor profile.

Next, I made the delicious French Potato Salad. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly as Jacques Pepin created it, only I didn't have fresh chives so I substitutes dried and I omitted the hard-boiled egg garnish. I highly recommend this recipe. The fingerling potatoes work perfectly and cooking the onion and garlic and then adding them to the salad really adds great flavor without the sharp tang of raw onion and garlic. Plus the Dijon adds a nice zip. I used parsley for my herb (you could also use basil or tarragon).

The lemon dill horseradish yogurt sauce is simple. Take some Fage Greek Yogurt and add fresh lemon juice, salt, prepared horseradish and chopped fresh dill to taste. Voila!

Put it all together and you have a delicious cold meal for a warm summer night.

Yeah, summer's about gone but around these parts it's still warm.

So go out and enjoy the sun and the wild smoked salmon if you can! We clearly did:

Good Hood Food is BACK!

2010-09-26T13:48:00.001-07:00

After a five month hiatus...Good Hood Food is baaaack!

Yes, I've got a few backlogged entries from as far back as June. April and May were no cook months as Sam decided to try a pre-packaged meal plan for a while (we didn't like it). We were back to cooking in June but really we ate a lot of take out food from restaurants -- getting completely hooked on Mexican food again. It's cheap and tasty and not too unhealthy if you're careful. Hope you like my first entry. It's good to be back.

Our comfort food and it's many sides

2010-04-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to make the Turkey Meatballs with Quick Tomato Sauce again. It's the perfect comfort food for us. I love that it uses grated carrot and minced onion for added moisture in the meatballs without added fat. I love that I get to brown the meatballs by broiling them in the oven then soak them in the sauce on the stove. Turkey and vegetables with one slice of whole wheat bread, herbs, an egg, and spices - that's the meatball. I use 50% turkey breast and 50% dark meat.

To reduce calories even further, we don't put our meatballs over pasta or polenta. We instead choose to eat our meatballs with a greens. Last time I made braised kale with our meatballs. On Monday night I made a simple salad of baby arugula with a tart cherry apple cider vinaigrette. It was a lovely accompaniment.

Tonight, I reheated the leftover meatballs and sauce. (One of the benefits of this dish is that it's just as good if not better the second day.) I had picked up some beautiful red chard at Piedmont Grocery and decided to sautee it with browned onions and shallots and 3 large cloves of garlic. It was melty and garlicky but sweetened by the onions and shallots. I also added a splash of cider vinegar at the very end. Aaah, the power of acid in cooking. It really brightens food, rounding out the flavors.

I wanted to make whole wheat breadcrumbs to top the chard - texture is so important for me. So I defrosted a slice of bread in the toaster. (I have recently discovered the awesome benefits of keeping a loaf of bread in the freezer. Wow. Not only do I get a slice of bread whenever I need it, but I don't waste loaves like I ALWAYS did in the past. Having a toaster that easily defrosts the bread is a great thing. Wedding gift. Yay!)

Anyway, I pulsed the defrosted, slightly toasted slice in my small food processor, added some garlic powder, dried parsley, about a teaspoon of grated parmesan. Then I heated a nonstick pan on medium-high and put the breadcrumbs in, sprayed a spritz of canola oil and then kept moving the breadcrumbs around till they browned but did not burn. The result was delicious and still healthy. The crunchy texture was a great addition to the silky chard. Mmm!

And for dessert we shared one of the most delicious mangos I've ever tasted. Wow. Heaven. Too good and gobbled up too quickly to even take a photo...but it was yellow, soft and yummy.

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Lemon Cream

2010-03-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

I love smoked salmon but don't get to eat it very often because I don't eat farmed salmon at all, for health reasons, and unfortunately most restaurants do not serve smoked wild salmon.

But a couple weeks ago In Trader Joe's I came across beautiful Smoked Wild Salmon from Alaska - the best kind! I wanted to make fluffy scrambled eggs topped with Wild Smoked Salmon and lemon cream.

I finally got to make it today and it was so damn good. And quite easy. It felt so gourmet! I used Meyer lemon because that's what I had on-hand and worked off a recipe from Bon Appetit which I have pasted below. I used 2% Greek Yogurt in place of the sour cream to make the calories a little lower and used half the amount of dried thyme in place of the fresh thyme. Lemony good and a perfect accompaniment for the smoked salmon.

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Lemon Cream
Sophisticated lemon cream makes these simple scrambled eggs dinner table-worthy. Be sure to use wild smoked salmon, preferably from Alaska. Wild salmon is sustainable, healthful—and delicious.
2 SERVINGS
PREP: 20 MINUTES

TOTAL: 20 MINUTES
Recipe by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen
Photograph by Misha Gravenor
February 2009

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons sour cream
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1 large green onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

PREPARATION

Mix sour cream, fresh lemon juice, finely grated lemon peel, and chopped fresh thyme in small bowl. Season lemon cream to taste with salt and pepper.
Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Melt butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add thinly sliced green onion and sauté 1 minute. Add eggs; cook until almost set, stirring often, about 1 minute. Divide scrambled eggs between plates. Top scrambled eggs with thinly sliced smoked salmon; drizzle with lemon cream and serve.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some (Part 2)

2010-03-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

Winner: Fennel salad with olive oil and lemon, red onion and spices.

Loser: Alaskan Cod breaded in panko and broiled. Blech.

Why oh why did I choose Cod? I mean, the recipe called for Cod and I hadn't ever cooked with it and it works so well battered and fried with chips and tartar sauce, right?

WRONG!

It sucked. Man. I hate to make a dinner and then watch it fail. Well, maybe that's dramatic. It was edible. Sam and I both ate the entire meal. But it wasn't delicious. The fillets were way too thick to cook properly and honestly, we both found the Cod to be pretty tasteless. Especially compared to my usual fish of choice to cook with the chock-full-of-Omega-3s-low-in-mercury, ever-so-affordable: Rainbow Trout.

I guess it wasn't a complete failure: the tartar sauce accompanying the fish was damn good! Sam actually said that it was better than many restaurant chefs' tartar sauce!

And of course, the fennel salad I served with it was absolutely fabulous. I used my mandoline again and dressed a medium fennel bulb and 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion in 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a pinch of ground coriander, cumin, some salt and pepper, and parsley. Mmmmmm!

1 package of ground turkey - two delicious meals!

2010-03-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

I had a package of ground turkey, a desire to make spaghetti and meatballs and a craving for Middle Eastern food. What's a girl to do? Make two dinners, of course!

Ground turkey and chicken are becoming fast favorites of mine for protein. So versatile and easy to cook, ground turkey can be transformed into meatballs, chili, sausage, meatloaf, etc etc etc.

I bought some whole what spaghetti to keep it healthy (though Sam and I decided that the meatballs and sauce were good enough without the pasta and I never ended up cooking any of it!). I used a recipe from Ellie Krieger for Turkey Meatballs and a Quick and Spicy Tomato Sauce. I love how the smell of homemade tomato sauce permeates the apartment. Mmm.

But the middle eastern meatballs were what I was really looking forward to. Spiced Kofte on a bed of lightly dressed baby spinach in lemon juice and olive oil, with a tart apple raita in a toasted pita!!! Wow. The flavors were great. Thanks Bobby Flay! The savory, spicy meatballs went perfectly with the cool raita. Sam and I love yogurt sauces and we were both blown away by the unique apple raita. Plus, this meal was really easy to make. (Easier than the meatballs and tomato sauce!) Check it out!

Inspirations from the Farm Box: Kale and Polenta Pie, Rainbow Carrot Salad & White Bean Turkey Chili

2010-03-16T23:12:00.001-07:00

On Monday I made a healthy favorite of ours for dinner: Turkey and White Bean Chili based upon a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis. It's so damn good. Sam loves it. I made 6 servings so we had leftovers for Tuesday.

Wohoo! A great dinner for two nights with only one night's effort. I'd totally kick back on Tuesday night.

Yeah right. We got our farm box delivery today. And that means...Inspiration!

Among the vegetables received were Red Russian Kale, Savoy Cabbage, Rainbow Carrots, and Shitake Mushrooms. Inspired by the bounty I decided to make some vegetable dishes to accommpany the chili.

Afterall, the produce is always best the first day. So here's the story...

The Red Russian Kale was purple and gorgeous, strong and tough.

I decided to use it in a polenta pie baked with parmigiano reggiano and pepper using quick cooking polenta.

It's kind of like a kale cornbread, and it's delicious with the chili ladled over the top!

I used a recipe modified from one by Jack Bishop.

The rainbow carrots were beautiful!! These are just a few.

There were also purple carrots. Just lovely.

I decided to make a carrot salad. I boiled `em till just tender then sliced and tossed them with a vinaigrette from Bobby Flay.

It turned out beautiful, spicy - incredibly flavorful. And the dish nicley complemented the chili over kale & polenta pie.

When Sam saw the meal I prepard, he actually started jumping up and down, excitedly.

It was a great feeling to see the joy my good hood food brought to the table!

Grilled Citrus Chicken with Citrus Butternut Squash Mash and Citrus, Celery, and Shaved Fennel Salad! Who likes citrus here?

2010-03-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Keeping with the EASY, TASTY, HEALTHY mantra I now have for cooking dinners, last night I utilized the (precooked) Grilled Lemon-Pepper Chicken Breast from Trader Joe's and went to town on the vegetables.

And I finally got to use my mandoline. It was cool. I made a Citrus, Celery, and Shaved Fennel Salad (recipe at bottom). It was delicious but kind of a pain in the ass, especially compared to the preparation for the rest of my meal. The biggest pain in the butt part was removing the pith and peel and then removing the orange and grapefruit segments from their membranes and keeping the juices from going all over the place. But it was worth it. Sam and I LOVE fennel and I especially love citrus. It was good, the vinaigrette was nice, the texture lovely, but honestly I think an even simpler fennel salad with some lemon juice would have been even more to my liking.

I need to remember to buy fennel more often. I love having a salad but I kind of hate most lettuce!! Well I don't hate lettuce it's just usually my least favorite part of a salad. But fennel - wow - you get the crunch of lettuce with this lovely light anise/licorice flavor. Yum. Actually, one of my favorite preperations of fennel (when not in a salad) is in a fritto misto. I will eat fried food (something I do not generally do very often) just to taste fennel this way. One of our favorite restaurants does it very very well - Marzano in Oakland.

But once again, I digress...

I used leftover orange and grapefruit juice and poured the juice over the chicken breast and then put it in the microwave to heat it up with some moisture and flavor. When it came out, I poured some more juice over the breast, almost like a sauce. It was soo damn good. But I share the credit with Trade Joe's. The addition of the juice was good, but the basic seasoning was already there in the package. I will definitely buy this again.

Then I took another Trade Joe's special - pre-peeled and cut butternut squash - zapped it in the microwave for about 8 minutes, poured some juice on the squash, added salt and pepper, and then mashed it with a masher and voila! DELICIOUS butternut squash mash flavored with NO FAT!! It was so sweet and delicious. We were both surprised at how yummy it was without any addition of butter. And so frickin easy!!!

Here is the Citrus, Celery, and Shaved Fennel Salad recipe from Gourmet magazine:

1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon whole-grain or coarse-grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 navel oranges
2 grapefruit (preferably pink)
2 medium fennel bulbs (sometimes called anise; about 1 3/4 lb), stalks cut off and discarded
3 celery ribs, cut diagonally into 1/8-inch-thick slices

Special equipment: a Japanese Benriner* or other adjustable-blade slicer

preparatio

Whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking, until combined.

Cut peel, including all white pith, from oranges and grapefruit with a paring knife. Working over a bowl, cut segments free from membranes. Squeeze juice from membranes into a small bowl, then whisk 3 tablespoons juice into vinaigrette. Drain citrus segments, then add to vinaigrette.

Quarter fennel bulbs lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into paper-thin slices (about 1/16 inch thick) with slicer. Add to fruit along with celery and toss gently to combine

Going back to my roots...no, not deli food...asian!

2010-03-02T15:31:00.001-08:00

I first learned to cook when I lived at Lothlorien, a vegetarian co-op at UC Berkeley, my sophomore year. One night a week me and two other "elfs" would cook dinner for the lot. Back then I followed recipes and learned as I went along, cooking vegetarian and vegan meals for 60+ co-op residents. It was a crash course in cooking. And I really enjoyed it. Of course, the first meal I ever cooked at Loth included Gazpacho and the recipe called for seeding about 30 jalapeno peppers. I had never handled a jalapeno before and had no idea the pain that was to befall me. Wow. After about 20 minutes of seeding the jalapenos with just my fingers, they were burning so badly that I actually had to stop cooking and get first aid! I literally BURNED my fingertips. It hurt A LOT! My fingers were ON FIRE!!! And it took hours for the pain to go away. But I sure never made that same mistake again!

Anyway, I digress..

Every week at Loth we'd get gorgeous boxes of organic produce and we could use anything we wanted to cook for ourselves. Around the same time I bought Mollie Katzen's The Enchanted Broccoli Forest and starting regularly making vegetable stir fry with her delicious sauce that had things like tamari, ginger, fresh orange juice, garlic, etc. YUM! I would cook plate after plate. Eventually I stopped following the recipe and made it my own with a few adjustments (like leaving out the cornstarch for example).

This decidedly Asian dish was the first one in my repertoire.

And yet, I can't remember the last time I cooked with Asian flavors! So I decided to go back to my roots last week, inspired by our purchase of "Just Chicken-Teriyaki" from Trader Joes. As you recall from the last post, my goal now is EASY and HEALTHY. And I've been leaning towards simple protein preparation and more complex vegetable sides. Though I hate to call the veggies "sides", as I like to think of the vegetable portion of the meal as the star with the protein as the supporting player. In terms of the food pyramid, that's how you should always think of your meals - at least in terms or proportions.

So I had this "Just Chicken-Teriyaki"which was sliced cooked breast meat with subtle teriyaki flavoring. I added lime lime juice and heated it in a pan, making sure not really dry it out - I was merely reheating and adding moisture and additional flavor. I am a firm believer in adding acid to your dishes to brighten and enhance. I like to always have lemons, limes and oranges handy. They work wonders and with very little effort!

To serve along with the chicken, I once again turned to Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop for inspiration - Sesame Broccoli. I've included the recipe below.

I used canola oil in place of peanut oil and used just a smidge less oil than the recipe called for, all in the name of lowering calories. But it really doesn't have that much oil in it and it makes a big ole pile of yummy broccoli!

Sesame Broccoli

from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/4 peanut oil
1 pound broccoli florets, rinsed, patted dry, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

Toast the sesame seeds by first heating a small, stick-free sauté pan on medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and jiggle the pan so they spread out in a single layer. Let them cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Do not walk away from them while cooking, as once they start to brown they can easily burn. Once lightly toasted remove from heat and put into a small bowl, set aside.

Mix the stock, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil together in a small bowl, set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in a large, covered sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the broccoli florets, stir to coat the florets with the oil, Sauté for about a minute. Clear a space in the middle of the broccoli and add the ginger and garlic. Add a little more oil to the ginger and garlic (about a teaspoon) and sauté for half a minute, stirring just the garlic and ginger, until fragrant. Then stir the garlic and ginger in with the broccoli.

Add the chicken (or vegetable) stock mixture to the pan. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cover. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until broccoli is still firm, but can be pierced with a fork. Remove from heat. Remove broccoli with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Return pan to heat, increase heat to high and boil down the liquid until just a couple tablespoons remain. Turn off heat, return broccoli to the pan, add the toasted sesame seeds, toss with the liquid. Put into a serving bowl.

Viva Mexicana!

2010-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

Sam and I adore Mexican food, a statement I've made here before. Last night I had an opportunity to throw together a delicious healthy Mexican meal for Sam using only ingredients I had on hand.

Now I happened to have awesome limes from my Farm Box. Delicious avocados too. I also had Lacintao Kale and yellow onions, and a tomato from Mexico. Add that to a boneless, skinless chicken thigh and voila! Or, i mean, Ole! You have a fajita type meal that's hella good for ya.

First I made my guacamole - it's fattening, albeit healthy fats - so I only used 1/2 of a small avocado. I smashed it up, added lots of fresh lime juice, ground coriander (normally I'd use fresh cilantro/coriander), cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder. I also added some finely minced onion and a dash of garlic powder (I didn't want to bite into raw garlic). I also added half of a slightly overripe tomato and it's juices. YUM! It turned out beautifully. I put it in the fridge with plastic wrap touching the top of the guac to keep it from browning and added some more lime juice on top too.

Then I made the Sauteed Spicy Lime Kale with onions and tomato. (Think of it in place of bell peppers). I quick boiled the kale for about 8 minutes, till tender, then sauteed half an onion (thinly sliced) in one tablespoon of olive oil till soft and golden, added one clove of minced garlic, lime juice (from half a lime), salt, the other half of the tomato and a some crushed red pepper flakes. I sauteed for a few more minutes, added the kale back in and mixed it all through. Mmmm, it was so flavorful and delicious and, as always, healthy. The flavor profile definitely screamed Mexican even though I've never seen kale in Mexican cooking. (Not that I am an expert in ANY way!).

I sliced the thigh meat into strips and cooked it over medium heat in canola oil spray. Before I cooked it I squeezed lime juice over the meat and added salt and pepper. Season season season!!

A dollop (1 tablespoon) of light sour cream (17 calories!) with a sprinkle of chili powder finished it off. Finally, I served the meal with one low fat, low carb tortilla (50 calories, 10 g carbs). Sam made his "mmm" sounds all the way through. Very satisfying for both of us.

SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE but still healthy and tasty!

2010-02-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Sam is now taking evening Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes in the city every night, which means he won't be home until 8:30 or 9:30 depending on the night. This means I am not going to be cooking anything elaborate since I will be eating alone and then re-heating it for Sam.

So now I want stuff that's *easy* and healthy. But just because I now want dinner to be extra simple to prepare, I didn't want to skimp on the flavor. So for last night's dinner, I made the protein simple and used my farm box produce for inspiration and tons of flavor.

We got our latest organic farm box on Tuesday (I now get it every other week) - it had lacinato
kale, cauliflower, broccoli, assorted citrus (lemon, limes, blood oranges, mandarins, and navel oranges), fuji and pink lady apples, garlic, 2 tomatoes (from Mexico) and sweet potatoes.

I decided to heat up in the oven a boneless skinless chicken breast that we had bought already pre-cooked & frozen. 425 degrees in the oven for 18 minutes. I flipped it halfway through and squeezed a little bit of lime juice on it.

We still had avocados from our previous farm box (they were very unripe when we got them but were now about to be overripe). I thought about making a guacamole, but the blood oranges (one of my faves) from this week's box were too irresistible!!! I made a simple "relish" of diced avocado and blood orange with a little salt and lime juice and put that on top of the chicken breast to add a burst of flavor, vitamins and minerals, and a little healthy fat. I served it with steamed organic broccoli that I drizzled with a simple meyer lemon-dijon vinaigrette that had less than 1/2 teaspoon of canola oil (in addition to the juice from one meyer lemon, teaspoon of dijon, salt, pepper). I did that just to liven up the broccoli a bit.

Sam said he was expecting something really simple (read: boring) but was pleasantly surprised with my addition of the avocado/blood orange relish. Yay! Success. Stay tuned for more.

And I promise to post with pictures. Last night he was just too famished to make him wait and take a picture!

Then I

New Sides for a Favorite Entree

2010-02-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

Not feeling too inspired these days so it was back to an old favorite. Panko crusted chicken with maple mustard pan sauce. Yum.

But this time we utilized the amazing brussels sprouts that came with our Farm Box. Wow, these light green gems were so sweet and delicious that I merely braised them in water and salt and then tossed them with a bit of unsalted butter and pepper to finish them off. Delectable.

I usually prepare a mashed sweet potato with this meal but we had butternut squash that Sam had picked up the week before that I wanted to use. I split the squash in half and baked it at 400 degrees, cut-side down for about 45 minutes. Then I melted one tablespoon each of butter and maple syrup and brushed that onto the squash and then popped it back in the over for about 5 minutes. Simple, delicious.

Mushroom Stew! Polenta! Leeks! Napa Cabbage Salad!

2010-01-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

This past week I made use of my CSA Box and cooked a hearty vegetarian meal of Mushroom Stew over Cheesey Polenta with Braised Leeks and a Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing. Sam said the meal felt like gourmet comfort food. And it was good for us too!

The recipe for the Hearty Mushroom Stew came from an amazing book by Jack Bishop called Vegetables Every Day. If you get a CSA box I highly recommend buying this book. The recipes are organized by vegetable and he hits every vegetable you could think of from Onions and Broccoli to more exotic vegetables like Jerusalem Artichokes and Kohlrabi. It's an incredible resource.

For the stew I used a mixture of dried porcini, fresh baby bella and button mushrooms. I also got to cook with Turnips for the first time. They are awesome! Like sweeter less starchy potatoes when cooked. Yum.

The stew came out a little more watery than I wanted because the pot I used was not big enough (the recipe calls for a using a large casserole or Dutch oven). So Sam made a small roux to thicken it up and we reduced it all a bit more. In the end the stew perfectly complemented the hearty, thick polenta. Mmmm.

I used instant (5-6 minute) Italian Polenta and threw in a handful of 2% reduced-fat shredded Cheddar Cheese. Easy and delicious. Just make sure you keep stirring the polenta!

I served the stew and polenta with a side of Leeks Braised in Red Wine using another recipe from Vegetables Every Day. I had never braised anything in red wine before. It's so easy and the leek came out sweet and tangy and melt in your mouth tender.

As a crunchy contrast to the soft stew, polenta, and leeks I made a Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing - a recipe from Gourmet. It was delicious! The recipe calls for using 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and I substituted one of them with a light mayo to reduce the calories a bit.

this week with the farm box

2010-01-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

so on friday we got our delivery from farm fresh to you. organic produce. we got some fruit (pears, tangelos), 2 avocados, 2 heads of napa cabbage, 1 bunch of collards, a head of green leaf lettuce, and a ginormous leek.

so this week i'll be making:

hearty wild mushroom stew over polenta with leeks braised in red wine and napa cabbage salad with buttermilk dressing

hazelnut-panko crusted trout with braised collard greens and a sweet potato (or parsnip)

jerk chicken and napa cabbage slaw with spicy cilantro dressing

as you may have noticed, i did cook one meal last week. i did not make the brazillian dish or the split pea stew. sam and i have been finding it difficult to go to the market.we have been subsisting off of healthy mexican food (chicken burritos with no cheese or fat on whole wheat tortilla) since he got sick (or rather got well). gotta get back into the swing of things! the CSA box certainly helps with that. i hate to see produce go to waste.

but i am going to check out a competitor's box and we'll get that delivered on tuesday of next week. i am hoping it's a better selection.

I'm Baaaaack

2010-01-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

I've been out of commission for a couple of weeks. First it was the holidays and then Sam got super sick with a wretched case of strep throat and all focus was on making him healthy and feeling better. So we ate lots of Jello, frozen yogurt, popsicles, and mac and cheese. But I think I'm ready to come back and cook!

This Friday we'll be receiving a box of organic fruits and veggies delivered right to our door. From there I'll determine what to make for the following week. It's exciting. Can't wait to see what we get!

But this week, till then I'm really only interested in cooking vegetarian or fish. I reintroduced myself to a cookbook I've had for a long time called Global Vegetarian. I'm going to make a vegetarian version of the Brazilian black bean and rice dish called Feijoada. To keep it healthy, brown rice will be used and of course, no meat. I'll let you know how it goes! I'll serve it with a salad of radishes, celery heart, avocado, and fennel with a citrus vinaigrette. I bought a really nice mandolin for only $60 and I can't wait to use it!

After that I'm going to make Dutch Split Pea and Barley stew. But Sam requested I make the Feijoada first. I'll make it Wednesday and let you all know how it goes!

Turkey Taco Salad. Enough Said.

2009-12-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

Sam and I adore mexican food. Tonight was Taco Salad night. OMG. We're so doing this again. It's also really simple to prepare. And it's low cal, when done properly.

We used these low cal taco shells made from corn and whole wheat at 180 calories. They were pretty cool. But I think the taco salad would be just as good without them and with a few baked tortilla chips. Sam disagrees and says that the taco shell is a must.

Anyway, the Taco Salads were f-ing delicious!! And so easy. It's just taking the following ingredients and making a salad with em. You can add or delete as it suits you. This is what I made our Taco Salads with tonight:

Ground Turkey. We browned some ground turkey breast (1 lb serves 4), then added Lawry's Hot Taco Seasoning, 2/3 cup liquid (some water and some tomato juice from Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes), and some Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, then simmered. You can also substitute veggie meat for the turkey of course!
"Refried" Black Beans I took one can of reduced sodium black beans, drained most of the liquid, heated it in a saucepan, added chili powder and cumin and salt. Then I refried `em buy taking our immersion blender to the beans! You can add some liquid from the Muir Glen Diced Tomatoes if you need to.
Shredded Romaine Lettuce
1/4 cup of grated Reduced Fat Jack Cheese (we both thought it wasn't actually much of a value add and should go without)
Avocado (be careful, use sparingly, though good for you avocados are high in calories)
Muir Glen Diced Tomatoes (drained)
Non-Fat Sour Cream
Cilantro
Frontera Salsa (being a fan of Top Chef I had to try Rick Bayless' salsa.)
Chili-Lime Vinagrette. (Not necessary but really yummy, discard if needed to eat low calorie.)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
Whisk together lime juice, cilantro, sugar, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper, then add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified. Serves 6.
.

Preparing for the last few days of the year...

2009-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today we did our menu planning and food shopping for the last few days of 2009. Our grocery bill was very high but our fridge is stocked and we have some new staples like canola oil, capers, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, sugar, etc.

Tonight we didn't feel like cooking a huge meal, so we opted for healthy mexican take out. Grilled Mahi Mahi Soft Tacos with cabbage and lime and salsa verde. There was no cheese, no sour cream, no guacamole, nothing fried. And yet much flavor! This is one of the reasons why we adore mexican food.

We did do a little bit of cooking. We cooked up some left over chicken breast for Sam's lunch to make a low-cal, low-fat Chicken Cheesesteak Wrap (~265 calories) from The Biggest Loser Cookbook. 4 oz of chicken sliced thin, sauteed with onions, then put in a low carb whole wheat wrap with 1 laughing cow cheese, a few pickled peppers, some ketchup. Mmm.

I also made some apple sauce. This is a great way to flavor oatmeal. It's so super easy to make too. Here's the recipe. I added cinammon. We frakkin' love cinammon. You will need a food mill for this. I really like my food mill. I love that it's powered by me.

Our meals for the last week of 2009:

Mon 12/28: Taco Salad w. lean ground turkey, beans, lettuce, salsa, nonfat sour cream, avocado, tomato, and reduced fat jack (just a little)

Tues 12/29: Panko-crusted Trout Fingers with low-fat tartar sauce, vinegar coleslaw, and beet chips (I am so excited to make these beet chips - they're baked not fried and sound so delicious)

Wed 12/30: Carrot Soup, Indian Spiced Lentils, w. date-orange chutney (not low cal, use sparingly), Raita (using organic nonfat yogurt), Steamed Brown Rice

Thurs 12/31: New Years Eve!! We are going out to dinner.

First Dinner of 2010:

Fri 1/1: Five C's n' Black Eyed Peas

Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish w. Creole Mustard Vinaigrette, Collard Greens, Black Eyed Peas & Cornbread w. honey butter.

This New Years Day meal is inspired by my desire to eat black eyed peas on new years for good luck and prosperity. It is not necessarily a low cal meal, but it's not ridiculous either. And it's chock full of healthy vegetables and not very much fat. The cornbread and honey butter can be dangerous to have around. Watch out. And enjoy!

A very delicious mistake.

2009-12-23T23:22:00.000-08:00

So tonight we made one of Sam's favorites: Panko-Crusted Chicken with Mustard-Maple Pan Sauce from Bon Appetit. This main dish is so good it would easily work for company. Plus it's incredibly simple to make. And it's only 390 calories per serving (4 oz. of chicken with sauce).

You have to flatten the chicken breast with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Beware: it's a very loud process. Then you dip it in egg, parsley, and Dijon mustard. Then you dip the breast in the panko breadcrumbs and cook it in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. It comes out so crispy and good. Now, if you haven't cooked with panko, I suggest you start. These japanese breadcrumbs are so incredibly light and crispy you can get the feel of fried chicken without deep frying.

Tonight we made a very delicious mistake with the panko. (Tee hee.) The recipe serves 4. We were only making 2 servings of the dish, but we accidentally coated our chicken in 4 servings worth of panko: 1 full cup (220 calories). But man, it just made the chicken crispier and yummier. For company you might want to make this mistake. If you want to keep the calories down, stick with 1/4 cup of panko per serving of chicken.

But maybe the best part of the dish is the maple mustard pan sauce. For two people the sauce uses 1.5 teaspoons of butter (50 cals) and 1.5 tablespoons of maple syrup (75 cals) and then dijon and whole grain mustard and low sodium chicken broth, reduced. Oh man, it's good. And when the sweetness of the maple mustard pan sauce pairs with the crispy, crunchy chicken and the tangy, spicy collard greens all the elements fall into place into delicious harmony. Did I just say that? You know what I mean. It's good.

He called my (almost) vegan meal "Hearty" and "Delicious"

2009-12-22T21:44:00.001-08:00

Sam loves meat. I do not. And tonight I was determined to cook vegetarian. Healthy vegetarian to boot. I had an interesting recipe for White Bean Chili with Jalapeno Bulgur and I thought a cool and crisp chopped vegetable salad would pair well with the warm, spicy chili.

Turns out I was right.

I was just finishing the salad dressing (a creamy dijon vinaigrette - made creamy through the use of a little non-fat sour cream at only 10 cals. a tablespoon - my only non-vegan ingredient) when Sam came home from Boot Camp with the bulgur wheat. (I could have sworn we had some!) The moment Sam walked into the house he started talking about how delicious it smelled -- in our apartment and outside our door. He made "mmm" sounds when he grabbed a bite of the chili. "Woohoo!" I thought, this vegetarian chili is a success. Now onto the jalapeno bulgur.

Turns out Sam brought me 100% whole grain bulgur wheat, which is a little different from the regular bulgur and, as such, it cooked a little differently.

Yeah. I burned the first batch.

But after following the directions on the package, we successfully cooked up another batch. It turned out great -- and felt heartier and healthier than regular bulgur. The addition of lemon juice, a little olive oil, sliced scallions, salt, pepper and chopped jalapeno made the bulgur sing and it worked so nicely with the White Bean Chili, especially stirred right into the chili.

My chopped vegetable salad consisted of fresh corn, diced green beans, diced yellow pepper, diced red onion (chopped very small), diced avocado and chopped garbanzos. Delicious! (Sam is making me mention that he preferred the garbanzos whole and not chopped.) So crunchy and fresh! And you can really use any combination of vegetables you like. Personally, I like the salad evenly diced so you can easily get a bit of every vegetable in each bite. Who needs lettuce?

When we finally sat down to dinner Sam oohed and ahhed about how our meal was so hearty and delicious. He eventually demanded I give him the leftovers for lunch. (Me: "Are you sure? You might get sick of it." Sam: "Why are you questioning me?")

Wow. My basically vegan dinner was good enough (vegan except for the use of sour cream in the creamy dijon dressing, which can easily be substituted with a regular dijon vinaigrette) to satisfy my meat loving husband. I will definitely make this again. It feels so good to eat like this.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some

2009-12-22T08:55:00.001-08:00

So last night I made Hazelnut and Panko crusted Trout baked in the oven with steamed broccolini with lemon and a microwaved sweet potato (I wanted to bake the sweet potato in the oven but I did not have time).

I had an inspiration and made wasabi sour cream using fat free sour cream, wasabi paste, rice vinegar and lime juice for the sweet potato. It wasn't that great. It didn't suck, but Sam preferred the sweet potato with a dollop (or 2 or 3) of fat free sour cream. (20 calories per 2 tablespoons) Ahhh, ya win some, ya lose some. All in all the meal was still good.

Tonight I make a vegetarian dinner: White Bean Chili with Jalapeno Bulgur. I'm also gonna make a chopped salad of fresh green beans, avocado, celery, red onion, fresh corn, yellow pepper and garbanzos and toss it with a dijon vinagrette. YUM!

I am really trying to make at least one vegetarian dinner a week. I prefer to eat vegetarian and only started eating chicken again in 2008 (hadn't eaten it since 1991). I will never go back to eating red meat. Ever.

One day you must all eat or make Sweet Potato Latkes with wasabi creme fraiche. So amazingly delicious. (And NOT low calorie, these are more for celebrations, not regular consumption!) Sam and I are going to be making them for New Years Day, along with homemade Bloody Mary's that I have a great recipe for from the NYC restaurant The Spotted Pig. (Sounds like a nice way to ring in the new year, no?). I'll also try and make some black eyed peas too, for good luck in 2010. Maybe a nice black eyed pea salad...

Dinner Menu for the week

2009-12-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

Today is Sunday, also known as Chores Day. Sam and I went grocery shopping for the week. Sam wasn't feeling so great, but he pushed through so we could go grocery shopping together. We bought a lot of stuff, though our cart was mostly produce.

(That is how it always should be! You should eat more servings of produce than anything else each day. But try not to eat more servings of fruit than vegetables.)

Here's the dinner menu for the week:
MON: Hazelnut-Panko Trout with Steamed Broccolini & Mashed Sweet Potato
TUES: White Bean Chili and Jalapeno Bulgur & a Chopped Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
WED: Panko Chicken with Maple Mustard Pan Sauce & Braised Collard Greens
THURS: Christmas Eve - Dinner at a friend's house
FRI: Christmas Day - except for breakfast, we're going out to eat!
SAT: Jerk Chicken (breast with a Jerk Rub) & Asian Slaw

Once we got home from the market I did chores: four loads of laundry, reorganized|cleaned the refrigerator, cleaned up the house, put away the groceries. About 5 hours of work. It felt really good to be moving.

During this time I also whipped up a batch of Curry Chicken Salad with Apple, Celery and Shallot for Sam's lunch and then packed the rest of the lunch, along with his snacks.

Sam usually does Boot Camp in the morning as well as Ju-Jitsu on Mondays (and Wednesdays & Saturdays) for about 2 hours during mid-day. So I want to make sure he has enough fuel for the day for his body weight, taking into account his exercise level and goal weight.

Of course, if you lead a more sedentary life your daily caloric intake should be less. Here's a tool available on the interweb for calculating caloric intake: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm. The Biggest Loser diet recommends your current weight x 7 as your daily caloric intake. I've read the formula as your goal weight x 12 if you exercise or goal weight x 10 if you don't.

I am ordering the book Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Loss. I'll review it when I read it.

Figure out what makes the most sense for you. Or consult a nutritionist.

Sam's Lunch & Snacks for the Day
2-low cal yogurts @ 80 cals each (160 cals.)
1-med. green apple (80 cals.)
1-reduced fat laughing cow cheese (french onion) (35 cals.)
1-small can of low sodium V8 (30 cals.)
2-oz. roasted garlic hummus (70 cals.)
1-stalk celery (10 cals.)
1-cucumber, sliced (20 cals.)
1-low carb whole wheat tortilla (80 cals.)
Curry Chicken Salad (~ 360 cals.)

Quickest Supper in the West

2009-12-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

As it was chores day today, and I had been going non-stop for about 4 hours, I did not want to cook an elaborate dinner. I wanted the quickest meal that still felt like a tasty reward for all the work of the day.

So I made a healthier version of Franks & Beans & potato chips! It was yummy.

Healthier Franks & Beans:
Turkey Hot Dogs (1 dog = 100 cals.)
Sauerkraut
Mustard
All Natural Pickle
Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns (1 = 170 cals. each!)
Vegetarian Baked Beans (228 cals in half a can)
1/2 single serving bag of BBQ Pop Chips (50 cals.)

The last thing I did before closing up the kitchen was cook up some cinammon apples with a teaspoon of sugar till soft (it tasted like apple pie filling) for Sam's morning oatmeal.