This recipe comes from Caldwell Esselstyn's book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. It's crazy healthy, like everything else in there. I plan to take the stick blender to a few spoonfuls and feed it to Simran tonight. I'm also pleased to see I can make this hours ahead of time, shove it in the fridge, and just heat it up in the oven half an hour before dinner.
Ingredients
12 medium Yukon gold potatoes
2 cups or more oat or nonfat soy milk (I have never seen nonfat soy milk in a store in my life, despite months of searching, and I don't know what "oat milk" is, so I'll be using low-fat soy milk and some leftover almond milk I need to use up)
1 16-oz bag frozen corn
2 cups green onions, chopped
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and chopped (2 cups) (I plan to use one red and one green. To make it more confetti-like.)
1 tsp granulated garlic or chopped fresh garlic
pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Scrub potatoes, pierce with a knife, and bake for 1 hour.
3. Remove potatoes from the oven, carefully cut in half, scoop out insides into a large mixing bowl, and arrange skins in a baking dish.
4. Whip hot potatoes, adding milk slowly until quite soft.
5. Add corn, green onions, bell peppers, garlic, and fresh ground black pepper. Mix well.
6. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.
Note: You can include pretty much any vegetation you want in the insides. Whipped butternut squash, grated carrots, chopped broccoli, peas, lima beans, parsley, cilantro, etc. I'll be including some frozen peas tonight to up the protein level. I regret not buying fresh cilantro when I was at the Whole Foods two hours ago.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Colorful Broccoli Salad
I have two new habits I'm building this month: have at least one green vegetable with every dinner (we do most nights anyway, but this means when we have pizza we also have a salad -- that sort of thing) and make at least one dinner per week that is the level of healthfulness Simran has been living by. This essentially translates to eating mostly fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and avoiding oil, salt, added sugar, and animal products. In the next month she will be eating less strained baby food and more of what Sameer and I eat (but pureed), and I don't want her diet to immediately suffer from that. She'll have plenty of time to acquire a taste for chocolate cake and bricks of cheese when she's older.
Since I'm not used to cooking at quite this level of healthiness, most of my initial Simran-level recipes will be coming from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Dr. Esselstyn works at the Cleveland Clinic and is a leader in using nutrition to cure and prevent things like heart disease) and Joel Fuhrman's Disease-Proof Your Child (Dr. Fuhrman is to kids what Dr. Esselstyn is to heart disease patients -- eats by the same basic rules, but with more allowance for healthy fats from things like avocado, nuts, and small amounts of oil, as well as small amounts of dairy).
Today's Colorful Broccoli Salad comes from Dr. Esselstyn's book. This recipe is how I learned that I like bok choy. To make a full meal tonight, I'm pairing it with Confetti Twice-Baked Potatoes from the same book.
Ingredients
2 bunches broccoli, florets in small pieces, stems sliced
2 large onions, quartered and separated
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (1 cup)
3 pieces bok choy, chopped in 1-inch sections, including both white and green parts (I tend to use the entire bunch, just because I don't have any other meals planned that would use it)
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tsp mustard, any kind
juice and zest of 1 lime
Directions
1. Steam broccoli until just tender and bright green, remove from heat, and put in a large bowl.
2. While broccoli is steaming, spread onions on a baking sheet and broil until browned on one side, watching carefully. Turn and brown other side. Remove and scrape into bowl with broccoli.
3. Add peppers, bok choy, and green onions to broccoli.
4. Mix vinegar, nutritional yeast, mustard, lime juice, and zest in a small bowl and pour over broccoli. Chill before serving.
Since I'm not used to cooking at quite this level of healthiness, most of my initial Simran-level recipes will be coming from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Dr. Esselstyn works at the Cleveland Clinic and is a leader in using nutrition to cure and prevent things like heart disease) and Joel Fuhrman's Disease-Proof Your Child (Dr. Fuhrman is to kids what Dr. Esselstyn is to heart disease patients -- eats by the same basic rules, but with more allowance for healthy fats from things like avocado, nuts, and small amounts of oil, as well as small amounts of dairy).
Today's Colorful Broccoli Salad comes from Dr. Esselstyn's book. This recipe is how I learned that I like bok choy. To make a full meal tonight, I'm pairing it with Confetti Twice-Baked Potatoes from the same book.
Ingredients
2 bunches broccoli, florets in small pieces, stems sliced
2 large onions, quartered and separated
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (1 cup)
3 pieces bok choy, chopped in 1-inch sections, including both white and green parts (I tend to use the entire bunch, just because I don't have any other meals planned that would use it)
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tsp mustard, any kind
juice and zest of 1 lime
Directions
1. Steam broccoli until just tender and bright green, remove from heat, and put in a large bowl.
2. While broccoli is steaming, spread onions on a baking sheet and broil until browned on one side, watching carefully. Turn and brown other side. Remove and scrape into bowl with broccoli.
3. Add peppers, bok choy, and green onions to broccoli.
4. Mix vinegar, nutritional yeast, mustard, lime juice, and zest in a small bowl and pour over broccoli. Chill before serving.
Pie Crust
This Alton Brown recipe is what I've used for years any time I want to make a pot pie or most other sorts of pies or tarts. I've also used it to make cheese and onion pasties (which are essentially hot pockets). It's flaky and delicious and surprisingly easy to make (read: I cut a lot of corners with this recipe and it still turns out great). I replace the lard in his recipe with vegetable shortening.
Directions
1. Place butter and shortening in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to use, remove and cut both into small pieces.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until texture looks mealy. Add shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times.
3. Remove lid of food processor and add a small amount of water. Replace lid and pulse 5 times. Keep adding small amounts of water slowly and pulsing until mixture forms into a large ball of dough.
4. Place ball of dough in large zip-top bag, and then press into a rounded disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
6. Put pie pans in refrigerator to chill. (I always skip this step and everything is still fine.)
Ingredients
- 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) butter, chilled (use vegan butter such as Earth Balance to make it vegan)
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) vegetable shortening, chilled
- 6 ounces (approximately 1 cup) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling dough
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 cup cold water
- Approximately 32 ounces of dried beans, for blind baking
Directions
1. Place butter and shortening in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to use, remove and cut both into small pieces.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until texture looks mealy. Add shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times.
3. Remove lid of food processor and add a small amount of water. Replace lid and pulse 5 times. Keep adding small amounts of water slowly and pulsing until mixture forms into a large ball of dough.
4. Place ball of dough in large zip-top bag, and then press into a rounded disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
6. Put pie pans in refrigerator to chill. (I always skip this step and everything is still fine.)
7. Remove dough from refrigerator. Cut along 2 sides of the plastic
bag, open bag to expose dough, and sprinkle both sides with flour. Cover
again with plastic and roll out with a rolling pin to a 10 to 11-inch
circle. Open plastic again and sprinkle top of dough with flour. Remove
pie pans from refrigerator and set first pan on top of dough. Turn
everything upside down and peel plastic from bottom of dough. Place
second pan upside down on top of dough and flip again. (I don't do all this; I just use the rolling pin to move the dough into the pie pan. The main idea is just not to stretch the dough.) Remove first pan
from atop dough. Trim edges if necessary, leaving an edge for meringue
to adhere to. Poke holes in dough with a fork and place in refrigerator for 15
minutes.
8. Place a large piece of parchment paper on top of dough and fill with dry beans. Press beans into edges of dough and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove parchment and beans and continue baking until golden in color, approximately 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool completely before filling.
8. Place a large piece of parchment paper on top of dough and fill with dry beans. Press beans into edges of dough and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove parchment and beans and continue baking until golden in color, approximately 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool completely before filling.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Candied Pears
Grandma Franklin, my mother's mother, used to make this dish for every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. She called them "spiced pears," but their flavor comes more from candies than from spices, so I've amended the name over time. These pears were always a favorite of my brother's and mine, and I remember calling my grandmother and asking for the recipe in 2004 and 2005, when Sameer and I started spending the holidays together and I hadn't yet bothered writing down any recipes I used.
Please note all amounts listed below are approximations. You can vary them wildly and it shouldn't matter too much.
Ingredients
1 (28 oz.) can pear halves in heavy syrup
1 (10 oz.) jar maraschino cherries (without stems)
1 cup maraschino cherry syrup (not the same as grenadine, which is pomegranate syrup -- you can typically find maraschino cherry syrup with either sundae toppings or drink mixers at the grocery store)
12-15 Red Hot candies (If you can't find Red Hots, you can substitute other less potent cinnamon candies such as Hot Tamales and just use more.)
7 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
Directions
1. Combine a few of the maraschino cherries (smushed to release their juices), all of their liquid from the jar, the additional cup of maraschino cherry syrup, Red Hots, cloves, and cinnamon stick in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Simmer syrup, mashing Red Hots with a spoon until they have almost completely dissolved, about 7 minutes (I'm making that number up -- it could be anywhere between 5 and 15 -- I've never watched the clock while doing this.)
3. While syrup is simmering, drain the pears and put them in a heat-proof container just large enough to hold them all (your goal is for as much of the pears to end up submerged in syrup as possible).
4. Remove syrup from heat and strain through a sieve into the dish with the pears. (The sieve keeps out the tiny un-melted candy bits, as well as the cloves and cinnamon stick. You can make do without it, but I'd hate to have to. Rinse your sieve immediately after using it, before the syrup dries into all the tiny holes and becomes difficult to clean.) Add most of the remaining maraschino cherries to your pears, seal container, and refrigerate until cooled. These pears are best made up to 5 days in advance.
Please note all amounts listed below are approximations. You can vary them wildly and it shouldn't matter too much.
Ingredients
1 (28 oz.) can pear halves in heavy syrup
1 (10 oz.) jar maraschino cherries (without stems)
1 cup maraschino cherry syrup (not the same as grenadine, which is pomegranate syrup -- you can typically find maraschino cherry syrup with either sundae toppings or drink mixers at the grocery store)
12-15 Red Hot candies (If you can't find Red Hots, you can substitute other less potent cinnamon candies such as Hot Tamales and just use more.)
7 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
Directions
1. Combine a few of the maraschino cherries (smushed to release their juices), all of their liquid from the jar, the additional cup of maraschino cherry syrup, Red Hots, cloves, and cinnamon stick in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Simmer syrup, mashing Red Hots with a spoon until they have almost completely dissolved, about 7 minutes (I'm making that number up -- it could be anywhere between 5 and 15 -- I've never watched the clock while doing this.)
3. While syrup is simmering, drain the pears and put them in a heat-proof container just large enough to hold them all (your goal is for as much of the pears to end up submerged in syrup as possible).
4. Remove syrup from heat and strain through a sieve into the dish with the pears. (The sieve keeps out the tiny un-melted candy bits, as well as the cloves and cinnamon stick. You can make do without it, but I'd hate to have to. Rinse your sieve immediately after using it, before the syrup dries into all the tiny holes and becomes difficult to clean.) Add most of the remaining maraschino cherries to your pears, seal container, and refrigerate until cooled. These pears are best made up to 5 days in advance.
Christmas 2012
I'm late posting this, but I still wanted to preserve our Christmas 2012 menu for posterity since it was Simran's first Christmas. Here is what we ate:
Tofurky Roast (no recipe -- it comes from a box)
Tofurky Gravy (no recipe -- it also comes from a box, but was weirdly lumpy)
Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Basic Sauteed Kale
Apple Pecan Cornbread Dressing
Cranberry Waldorf Salad
Pumpernickel Bread Bowl with Dill Dip and crudites
Candied Pears (my mother's mother's recipe, which she made for every Christmas and Thanksgiving)
Chocolate Cake with Homemade Chocolate Frosting
Tofurky Roast (no recipe -- it comes from a box)
Tofurky Gravy (no recipe -- it also comes from a box, but was weirdly lumpy)
Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Basic Sauteed Kale
Apple Pecan Cornbread Dressing
Cranberry Waldorf Salad
Pumpernickel Bread Bowl with Dill Dip and crudites
Candied Pears (my mother's mother's recipe, which she made for every Christmas and Thanksgiving)
Chocolate Cake with Homemade Chocolate Frosting
Basic Sauteed Kale
At one point I spent a lot of time looking for ways to eat more dark leafy greens. This is one of my favorite leafy green recipes. The original recipe is from EatingWell.com.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1-1 1/2 pounds kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2-3 teaspoons sherry vinegar, or red-wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven (or just a massive soup pot, like I use) over medium heat. Add kale and cook, tossing with two large spoons, until bright green, about 1 minute. Add water, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Push kale to one side, add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil to the empty side and cook garlic and crushed red pepper in it until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in vinegar to taste and salt.
Coconut Curry Tofu
Tonight we're having coconut curry tofu for dinner. I found the original recipe on AllRecipes.com, but I've made a few changes. The original recipe is, I think, meant to be a Thai dish, but mine turned out sort of Indian, probably because I replaced the curry powder and chile paste in the original recipe with a mild Indian curry paste. I found the curry paste on accident when I meant to buy chile paste, but I like how it tastes, so I've never bothered correcting how I make this dish. One bonus of this dish is that it's vegan without really trying to be, and Sameer and I try to incorporate one vegan dinner into our meal planning each week.
Ingredients
2 bunches green onions
1 (14 oz.) can lite coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce (or Bragg's liquid aminos, as I prefer), divided
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs curry paste
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
16 oz. firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped (I've started omitting the mushrooms since Sameer hates them and insists they taste like fish.)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (This is not an instance where you can use dried instead.)
4 cups bok choy, chopped (If you can't find good bok choy, it can be omitted, though I think it adds a lot to the dish.)
salt to taste
Directions
1. Remove white parts of green onions, and finely chop. Chop greens into 2 inch pieces.
2. In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, mix coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry paste, and ginger. Bring to a boil.
3. Stir tofu, tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms, and finely chopped green onions into the skillet. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in basil and bok choy. Season with salt (as needed -- don't overdo it; if you're using soy sauce at its full sodium level, you might not even need salt) and remaining soy sauce. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. Garnish with remaining green onion. Serve over steamed white rice (I like basmati).
Ingredients
2 bunches green onions
1 (14 oz.) can lite coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce (or Bragg's liquid aminos, as I prefer), divided
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs curry paste
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
16 oz. firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped (I've started omitting the mushrooms since Sameer hates them and insists they taste like fish.)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (This is not an instance where you can use dried instead.)
4 cups bok choy, chopped (If you can't find good bok choy, it can be omitted, though I think it adds a lot to the dish.)
salt to taste
Directions
1. Remove white parts of green onions, and finely chop. Chop greens into 2 inch pieces.
2. In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, mix coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry paste, and ginger. Bring to a boil.
3. Stir tofu, tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms, and finely chopped green onions into the skillet. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in basil and bok choy. Season with salt (as needed -- don't overdo it; if you're using soy sauce at its full sodium level, you might not even need salt) and remaining soy sauce. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. Garnish with remaining green onion. Serve over steamed white rice (I like basmati).
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