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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!