Pappardella

New Food of the Month: Black Lentil Dal

2013-07-30T12:10:00.001-04:00

I'm barely sneaking this new food of the month into July! Lentils are an amazing food. As a legume, they possess wondrous amounts of fiber, high amounts of vitamins and minerals, blood sugar-stabilizing complex carbohydrates, and when they are combined with rice, you get a complete protein! This means that you are getting all of the essential amino acids you need to consume, just as if you were eating an animal protein. In fact, lentils have the highest amount of protein by weight of all legumes or nuts, besides soybeans and hemp.

I decided to try some black lentils, since I've already had a few of the other colors. I played with a recipe that could be made in the slow cooker. You can find the original recipe here.

Black Lentil Dal
Makes 10 servings (serve with rice)

2 1/4 cups black lentils
2 tsp ginger root
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 dried or fresh chiles (I used dried New Mexico chiles)
1 huge bunch of cilantro, about 1-2 cups
2 tsp cumin seed
2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp salt
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chile powder
9 cups water
plain yogurt, cilantro, and hot sauce for garnish

Chop the ginger, garlic, peppers, and cilantro in a food processor. Mix with the lentils. Put into a 5 quart slow cooker with all the other ingredients, except the garnishes. Cook on low for 8 hours! It's that easy!

Yes, they turned out brown. But I promise you they were jet black when I started.

Unfortunately, the tool I normally use to calculate recipe nutrition information doesn't have lentils. Weird, right? So I calculated the calories and protein by hand for ya.

1 serving of dal (garnishes not included) = 170 calories, 11.25 g protein
1 serving of dal with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice = 280 calories, 13.75 g protein

Just so you know, I probably will not be posting for a couple weeks since we are visiting Ryan's family in Nicaragua. I'm won't be MIA...just on a little break. :)

Link of the Week: Raw Food--Friend or Foe?

2013-07-26T19:54:00.001-04:00

Earlier in the year I posted about whether or not you should cook vegetables to get the greatest nutrient value out of them. My answer was a little complicated, due to the fact that it's different for different vegetables. Ryan stumbled upon this article the other day and showed it to me as he does with all nutritionistic things he comes across. I thought they did a fine, succinct job of explaining the issue, so I figured I'd share it with you! You'll notice they reference an RD, of course. :)

Health Myth: Is Raw Food Really Better For You?

I'm also linking to my old post in case you want a little more of a research-y take on the issue.

To Cook or Not to Cook: Vegetables

Link of the Week: Don't Poison Yourself

2013-07-20T16:00:00.003-04:00

Have you ever tried to follow a recipe that you wished had more instructions? Sometimes I wish I could go around and insert food safety procedures into recipes. Thaw the meat in this way and chop the vegetables on a different cutting board and when you're done eating here's how you should cool and store the leftovers, et cetera.

Now...don't get me wrong. I'm not a crazy germaphobe. I'm just a dietitian who has memorized loooooonnngg lists of foodborne illnesses you can contract and all the different ways you can get them and what all the symptoms are. Trust me. You don't want to experience these.

So. Take a moment to recall a time when you got sick from any kind of food and let that motivate you to brush up on your food safety skills! Even if you and your mom and your mom's mom have been doing something the same way your whole life it could end up getting your intestinal tract in trouble later on. Just because something has never happened doesn't mean it never will.

Please don't get too deep on that last sentence. Just trying to be inspiring.

OK I've pasted an extremely helpful infographic that sums everything up very nicely (You will need to click on it and it will load in a new page and then click on it again to make it a readable size) and I've also linked to a brief brochure that has a few more specifics. I hope you either find some important ways to make your food preparation practices safer or else get confirmation that you are already a jedi warrior against bacteria.

Be Food Safe Brochure

Spice-Rubbed Fish with Fancified Cheese Grits

2013-07-16T11:45:00.003-04:00

Lately I've been trying to use up some of the things I have lurking in my cabinets. Many times I find myself ooing and ahhing over a recipe only to end up purchasing all these new ingredients. So I've found that the best way for me to save money AND get creative is to simply work with what I have.

'What I had' a couple nights ago was some simple frozen pollock and a drawer full of various pastas. Upon routing through this drawer I discovered a bag of stone ground grits from North Carolina that I had bought at the Asheville Farmers' Market a while back. Voila! Now I had something that went together.

Here's what I did.

Spice-Rubbed Fish
Serves 4

4 small fillets white fish (such as pollock)
1 tbsp of your favorite dry rub
1 tbsp canola oil

Preheat broiler to high. Rub the spices on the fish while heating a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp canola oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add fish. If the fish is frozen, cook 5 minutes. If the fish was already thawed or never frozen, then cook for 3 minutes. Flip and place the pan on the top rack in the oven with the door cracked. Cook for 3-5 more minutes or until done.

Fancified Cheese Grits
Serves 4

3 cups water
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup dry grits
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp dried parsley
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil. Add the salt then add the grits slowly, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until thick. Stir in the butter, cheese, parsley, and black pepper.

I served this with salad to make a well-rounded meal. Altogether it was quick and easy and very flavorful!

If you're making these at the same time, this is how I did it:

Put water on to boil.
Preheat broiler.
Sprinkle dry rub over fish.
Add salt and grits to water while preheating fish pan.
Add fish to pan. Cook. Make salad. Flip. Put in oven.
Add remaining ingredients to grits once thick.
Remove both foods from the heat and place impressively on the table!

Here are the nutrition facts for the grits:

Nutrition Facts
4 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories		204.3

Total Fat		5.6 g

	Saturated Fat	3.3 g

	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.4 g

	Monounsaturated Fat	1.6 g

Cholesterol		13.7 mg

Sodium		213.1 mg

Potassium		62.4 mg

Total Carbohydrate		31.3 g

	Dietary Fiber	0.6 g

	Sugars	0.2 g

Protein		6.6 g

The nutrition facts for the fish will vary depending on what fish you used. With the size of pollock fillets I had, I estimated that each fillet had about 130 calories after being cooked.

Easy and Healthy Chicken Fried Rice

2013-07-10T17:27:00.000-04:00

Fried rice is one of my comfort foods, I'd say. In fact, not very many of my comfort foods are American. There are not many foods that make me happier than authentic pad thai or creamy curry with naan bread or a Korean hot pot where the rice crusts to the bowl or steaming hot mussels over silken pasta. However, those are all a little time-consuming. Fried rice, on the other hand, is quick and easy and modifiable.

Many restaurants make their fried rice main dishes with about 75% rice, 20% meat, and 5% vegetables. To me, this is unacceptable. I prefer percentages closer to 30-40% rice, 20-30% meat, and 30-40% vegetables. This way when you scoop out a serving you truly are getting an accurate serving size of grains, meat, and vegetables!

I've made fried rice many times and never really standardized what I do into a recipe. A couple days ago I paid attention to the process and here it is! So next time you cook up some rice, make a little extra and use it the next day to make this super yummy and healthy fried rice!

Chicken Fried Rice
Makes 5 servings (about 1.5 cups each)

Chicken
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sambal oelek (chili-garlic paste...you can find it at the supermarket in the ethnic section)
1 tsp sesame oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of extra fat

Rice
3 cups cooked brown rice, preferably leftover (I used basmati because I ran out of brown, but brown is healthier!)
1 green (or other color) bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
10 baby carrots, quartered lengthwise (Or about 3 big carrots, julienned)
2 eggs
1 tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced ginger root
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)

Start by mixing the ingredients for the sauce for the chicken in a small bowl (hoisin sauce through sesame oil). Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. Baste the chicken with the sauce. Spray the pan with cooking spray and place the chicken in the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from pan and let cool. Chop into bite-size pieces.

While the chicken is cooking and cooling, you should prep the other ingredients.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Spray the pan with cooking spray and scramble the eggs. Remove the eggs from the pan.

Drizzle in the canola oil and then throw in the minced garlic and ginger. Stir for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until lightly browned and fragrant. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bell pepper and carrots. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until the onion and pepper are soft. Stir occasionally.

Add chicken to the pan and cook for another minute. Mix the 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp rice vinegar in a small bowl. Add rice to the pan and then sprinkle the sauce over, stirring well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in the scrambled eggs, breaking them apart into smallish pieces. Grind some black pepper over it if you feel like it. Serve with hot sauce, if desired. We used sriracha! Mmmm...

P.S. You won't need salt...even the low sodium soy sauce adds enough.

Nutrition Facts

5 Servings

Amount Per Serving
Calories 249.6
Total Fat 8.2 g
Saturated Fat 1.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.3 g
Cholesterol 109.0 mg
Sodium 572.2 mg
Potassium 291.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 30.1 g
Dietary Fiber 2.9 g
Sugars 0.6 g
Protein 14.7 g

Link of the Week: The SuperTracker

2013-07-05T14:17:00.001-04:00

This week I'm linking to an awesome site. It's called The SuperTracker. After creating a basic profile for yourself, it not only tells you about how many calories you should be eating and how much physical activity you should get, but it ALSO breaks it down into how many servings of each food group you should have.

You can use it like any other tracking sites by entering in your food, activity, and goals. However, this site is unique in that it also offers weight maintenance advice, sample individualized meal plans, a Food-A-Pedia where you can look up and easily compare the nutrition information for different foods, and fancy graphs to chart your progress! Take a peek by clicking the link below.

The SuperTracker

The 100-Calorie Brownie

2013-07-02T16:18:00.001-04:00

Let's have a show of hands. How many of you have whipped up something sweet...pie, cake, brownies...and found yourself constantly coming back to it in your kitchen, slicing away for just a little taste? Maybe straightening that "edge"? Because it's just a shame for a pan of brownies to be sitting there unattended after it's been crookedly sliced. After a while you lose track of how much you've really eaten (I mean, who knows??) but now the pan is half empty. Hey, my hand is up there with yours!

How do you fix this? There are a few possible solutions, including not making sweets at all. But there are certain times this solution cannot be used...for example, special occasions, house guests, or just the simple desire for something sweet. It's my strong belief that even brownies can fit into a healthful diet.

One solution that I favor is making a healthier version of the recipe and dividing it into serving sizes. Don't hide the nutrition information from yourself. That way you know exactly how much of a splurge you are really making.

Hence the development of this 100-calorie brownie. It's really quite amazing how the calories add up in typical brownie recipes. The normal standard-sized brownie is somewhere between 200 and 400 calories. Then there's those varieties with frosting and peanut butter and nuts and caramel and all other manner of caloric additions.

As I was searching for "healthy" brownie recipes I came up with a few options. But pretty much all of them featured one or more of these ingredients:

Black beans. I've had these pureed in brownies. It's ok. But...no.
Artificial sweeteners. I try to stay away from these. Except stevia. But it still whispers "fake" on your tastebuds.
Gluten free flour. Ok what? This doesn't make it healthier. Unless of course you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant.

In frustration I decided to make up my own recipe. I sort of started from this recipe.

Here goes!

100-Calorie Brownies
Makes 20

1.5 tsp instant espresso powder OR 1/2 cup strong coffee
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x13" pan with cooking spray.

If using, mix espresso powder with 1/2 cup hot water. Set aside.

Whisk dry ingredients together (whole wheat flour through salt...not the chocolate chips). Stir in wet ingredients (including the espresso or strong coffee) until thoroughly moistened.

Pour in prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over. Bake about 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (not counting melted chocolate chips!). Let cool and then cut three times lengthwise and four times widthwise, making 20 100-calorie brownies!

Here they are going in the oven:

Here they are coming out!

So...the big question... how do they taste?? Moist, not-too-sweet, super chocolatey, and just a hint of tartness. That came from the yogurt. If you wish to avoid that, then reduce the yogurt to half a cup and increase the applesauce or coffee by half a cup. Also, they taste their best when completely cool or stored in the refrigerator.

And I know some of you are wondering...what did Ryan think? He loved them! He said his favorite thing is that they are not overly sweet.

Nutrition Facts

  20 Servings

Amount Per Serving

  Calories 101.6
Total Fat 3.2 g
Saturated Fat 1.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 138.9 mg
Potassium 71.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.1 g
Dietary Fiber 2.1 g
Sugars 11.8 g
Protein 2.8 g

Link of the Week: Diet and Risk of Cancer

2013-06-28T15:18:00.000-04:00

It is amazing how many diseases develop over time due to poor eating habits. It's so hard to control what we eat sometimes because there are barely any immediate consequences...besides feeling sluggish after those fries. But when it comes to diet, you have to think long term. Will what I am eating now negatively affect me in 10, 20, 30 or more years if I continue to eat this way? What if I continue to eat the same amount while my metabolism slows with age? Am I armed with the determination and willpower to exercise more and eat less to avoid gaining excess weight?

This is why so often we dietitians stress lifestyle changes. Ryan and I have this joke when we come to the choice of an escalator or stairs. One of us will say "It's a lifestyle" and then choose one route or the other. Because it truly is a lifestyle. Do we look for opportunities to put a little physical activity into our day and temporarily boost our metabolism? Park a little farther away perhaps instead of circling the lot for ten minutes to find the closest spot possible? In addition to having an active lifestyle, it's good to cultivate a lifestyle of healthy eating. Crash diets are not lifestyle changes. They are stressors on your body. When seeking to lose or maintain weight, you must make changes that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

There are many different types of cancer caused by many different things and they are treated in different ways. However, you can reduce your risk of many types of cancer by being active and properly nourishing your body.

The following link is to an article on the website of Central Baptist's Cancer Center. It provides some great tips about physical activity, food, and supplements. I suggest you read it and take it to heart! Not only will following these guidelines reduce your risk of cancer, but they will also make you healthier and less disease-susceptible overall.

Over Power Cancer

Semi-quick Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2013-06-27T19:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was craving ice cream and a smoothie just wasn't going to cut it. We didn't have any in our freezer and I'm not about to hop in my car and drive to Kroger just for ice cream (not to mention the fact that most of the brands sitting on those frosted shelves have a book-long list of ingredients).

So not wanting to break the calorie bank, I decided to come up with something myself. I was inspired by this recipe for a low-calorie quick ice cream, but I wanted to make a single serving and I wanted to standardize the recipe a little more. I toyed around with some ingredients and put them in the freezer and tried not to think about it for an hour and a half. It was frozen around the edges when I got it out so I blended it with some ice cubes and it came out like this:

Not bad. Certainly looks yummylicious.

But after ten seconds it looked like this:

And by the time I finished...I would have had to call it soup if anyone had asked me what I was eating. The ice cubes made it too bland and there was way too much liquid. Plus when I calculated the nutrition information it was a little higher in calories than I wanted it.

So I tinkered around some more and gave the new mixture a little more time in the freezer. I waited to eat it until today, but if you start checking on it after 4-5 hours, it should be frozen enough. The goal is to get it frozen solid if possible.

I know you're thinking...that's not quick!! But here's what you could do. Make a bunch of single servings and freeze them so whenever you want one you can pull it out!

Here's my final recipe:

Semi-quick Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Makes 1 serving

1/4 banana
1/2 cup unsweetened plain or vanilla almond or soy milk
1/2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tbsp chocolate chips (mini if you have 'em)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp instant expresso (optional...but tasty!)
1/2 tsp maple syrup (you can use 1/2 packet stevia instead if you wish...)
1 teensy pinch of salt

Mash the quarter of a banana in a freezer-safe container. (I always keep frozen bananas cut up into fourths in my freezer for smoothies and occasions such as this.) Add the other ingredients and whisk. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Thaw for a few seconds in the microwave until you can get it to slide out in a few chunks. Blend. (I used my Big Boss individual size blender...which is awesome and I would recommend to anyone.) Enjoy!

You could easily multiply this recipe by how many servings you want to make.

And it turned out like this! And it stayed like that until I finished consuming it. It was also the perfect amount of sweetness and just peanut buttery and chocolatey enough.

Nutrition Facts

  1 Serving
Amount Per Serving

Calories 140.8
Total Fat 7.4 g
Saturated Fat 1.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 192.9 mg
Potassium 199.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 15.7 g
Dietary Fiber 1.8 g
Sugars 10.0 g
Protein 2.8 g

Loafing Around: An adventure in bread

2013-06-25T16:21:00.002-04:00

When life hands you lemons...well you know the rest. But what about when life hands you a broken air conditioner? Make yeast bread! This is what I decided yesterday when I was sweating in my sauna (aka house) waiting for various heating and air companies to call me back.

So I leafed through one of my favorite bread cookbooks and found a recipe to play with. Despite my belief that 82 degrees would be the ultimate rising temperature...it didn't double in size. I did go a little crazy with the whole wheat flour and wheat bran. But it still ended up pretty darn tasty...especially smothered in peanut butter for my breakfast this morning!

One warning. This recipe will use almost every one of your measuring cups. Don't ask me why I did that. It wasn't on purpose, I promise.

Whole Wheat Bread
Makes 1 loaf (about 10 servings)

1 1/4 cups white bread flour
1 3/4 cup whole wheat bread flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup wheat bran
2/3 cup lukewarm water (you may need more...depending on a lot of things)
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp molasses

These are the bread flours I prefer to use:
Weisenberger Mills Whole Wheat Bread Flour
White Lily White Bread Flour

And this is what I use for wheat bran. It's great to throw in baked goods.

Bob's Red Mill Wheat Bran

1. Mix the flours and salt in a bowl.

2. Stir in the yeast and wheat bran.

3. Make a well in the middle and add the water, yogurt, oil, and molasses. Stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Add more water 1 tbsp at a time, if needed.

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes.

5. Spray a bowl with cooking spray. Shape the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and leave in a warm place.

Now leave the floury mess on your counter because you'll need it again and do something for 1-2 hours. Like read my blog! :)

6. Brush a cookie sheet with oil.

7. Turn the dough out onto the floured counter (glad you didn't wipe it up now?), punch it for fun, and knead for about a minute.

8. Shape into a ball and put on the cookie sheet.

9. Cover with the damp dish towel and let rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while you're waiting.

10. Slash the loaf how you want and bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

11. Transfer to wire rack to cool and don't cut into it for at least 10-15 minutes so it can finish cooking in the middle!

For some reason it reminds me of Jabba the Hutt.

Nutrition Facts

10 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 166.8

Total Fat 3.5 g

Saturated Fat 0.3 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g

Cholesterol 0.5 mg

Sodium 238.7 mg

Potassium 59.8 mg

Total Carbohydrate 29.2 g

Dietary Fiber 3.6 g

Sugars 0.5 g

Protein 6.2 g

You could easily make the servings smaller if you like. I just happened to slash the bread so it naturally fell into 10 servings. Enjoy!

Link of the Week: Calorie Calculator

2013-06-21T14:36:00.001-04:00

Today I am linking to a site that uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation to estimate how many calories you need per day. I like this one because it shows you not only how many calories you need to maintain your weight, but also how many calories you need to consume in order to gain or lose 1-2 lb per week.

Now, keep in mind that everyone is different. This equation is generally accurate, but since you have to average your activity level and your metabolism may be slower or faster than normal it may not be exactly right for you. Be sure to take into consideration the amount of calories you are currently eating and how that is affecting your weight.

Calorie Calculator

If you are actually going to be tracking calories, I recommend getting a profile with a site like MyFitnessPal. This website is a wonderfully easy way to track how much you eat compared with how much you should eat and it also has an app!

A Dietitian's Plate: At Home

2013-06-19T13:42:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be fun to let you in on how I eat by every once in a while posting pictures of everything I ate in a day. This is to show you how I work with what I have to eat healthfully. To start, I'm just showing you a day where I happened to eat everything at home. Eventually, I would like to blog about days on the road or days when I have to pack lunches and so on.

So when I'm deciding what to eat for a meal, the main things I consider are:
1) does it contain at least three of the five food groups (grains, dairy, protein, vegetables, and fruit)?
and
2) does it contain a decent amount of protein?

I don't normally count calories unless I notice that a few pounds have crept back on and I need to get back on track. It's good to count calories for a couple days every now and then to make sure that your intuition about how much you should eat is accurate!

When I'm deciding what to eat for a snack, the main thing I consider is whether or not it contains both a carb and a protein food.

Unfortunately, these photos seem to be a bit blurry. I'll try to use Ryan's camera next time instead of my ancient iPhone 4.

So here's breakfast:
Whole grain toast, scrambled eggs with spinach, a kiwi, and a tall glass of water.
Four food groups and about 20 g of protein.

Three hours later, I ate lunch (leftovers...yeah):
Skinless/boneless chicken thigh, salad, roasted potatoes, a homemade muffin, and a tall glass of water.
Three food groups and about 20 g protein.

Five hours later, I had a snack:
An apple and plain nonfat Greek yogurt with strawberry jam.
Carb (apple) and protein (yogurt)

Two hours later, I had dinner!
Tuna Salad Niçoise from Cooking Light and crackers with Brie cheese
Four food groups and about 30 g protein.

And dessert.
Vanilla ice cream (half the fat) and mini chocolate chips.

So now you know how I go about eating healthfully in my daily life! Hope it's given you a little inspiration for your own diet.

How to Read a Nutrition Label

2013-06-17T14:46:00.002-04:00

Navigating the back of a package of food can be a bit troublesome for some folks. (And no, I'm not talking about those games on cereal boxes.) Nutrition facts labels have so many numbers and percentages that it's very easy to get confused. But it's essential to know how to read them so you can judge the product for yourself instead of blindly believing whatever health claims they make on the front of the package. That's why I am here to clue you in on how to interpret the dang thing!

We'll start at the top of the label.

Using this lovely label from a cracker box, you can see it first lists Serving Size and Servings Per Container. This part is very important...it is the key to interpreting the rest of the label, in fact. All of the rest of the information on the label is for ONE serving size, not the entire package. Lots of food items will try to trick you here. Some packages that look as if they are meant to be eaten or drunk as one serving are actually 1.5 or 2 servings or more. If you don't believe me, google the nutrition label for a 20 oz bottle of pop! So 1 serving here is 5 crackers. And there are about 5 x 28 crackers in the box.

Next we look at the Calories. Notice this is right under the text "Amount Per Serving." In this case, 5 crackers have 80 calories. Next to it we find that 40 of these 80 calories come from fat.

Traveling on down we see that there are 4.5 g of Fat per serving. Then you see a bunch of indented lines. Because these are indented, it means that these values are included in the total above it. It is simply telling us what those 4.5 g of fat are. So we see that 1 g is Saturated fat (try to limit this). There are 0 g of Trans fat (try to never have any of this). There are 1.5 g of Polyunsaturated fat and 2 g of Monounsaturated fat (these fats are healthier than saturated fats). So voila...we have our 4.5 g of fat.

Next comes Cholesterol. It's best to try to limit your intake of this to about 300 mg per day, on average. If you have issues with your cholesterol, it's recommended to keep your intake below 200 mg.

Then there's Sodium. Even people who have not been told to watch their sodium should still try to keep their sodium intake to less than 2,400 mg per day. If the food item has 400 mg or more of sodium per serving, that's considered pretty high.

Then we find our friends the carbohydrates. This part of the label is like the part listing the fat types. The two indented lines underneath Total Carbohydrate are included in this total. So here we have 9 g of carbs total and one of these grams is Sugar and less than one of these grams is Fiber, leaving about 7.5 g of other assorted types of carbs. When you consume carbohydrate-containing foods, it's best to have a good amount of fiber...preferably at least 2-3 g per serving.

Finally, there's good ol' Protein. I try to get at least 15-20 g of protein per meal.

Next you see a bunch of vitamins and minerals! Every label displays a different number of these. It's best to eat foods that are high in vitamins and minerals...but this usually means they are whole foods that don't come with a nutrition label.

But what about all that stuff on the right side and at the bottom? The % Daily Value numbers are (as it says at the bottom of the label) based on a 2000 calorie-per-day diet. So for instance, if you need 2000 calories a day, then eating one serving of these crackers is about 7% of your daily allotment of fat. However, I rarely pay attention to these values because everyone's calorie needs are different. You likely need either more or less than 2000 calories. Check back here on Friday for a link to a website that will calculate your estimated calorie needs!

I'll leave you with this helpful image that summarizes everything quite nicely. Please comment if you have any questions!

Link of the Week: What Are Dietitians Anyway?

2013-06-14T16:35:00.000-04:00

It's ok. Most people I talk to do not know what exactly a dietitian is. So today's link (the first of a series of links I plan to post once a week about topics regarding food and nutrition) is to an article in the Washington Post that explains what a dietitian is, how they are different from nutritionists, and how they can help you. Enjoy!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/dietitians-can-provide-skilled-advice-on-how-to-eat-more-healthfully/2013/06/03/75f57f78-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e_story.html

New Food of the Month-Spinach Kiwi Smoothie

2013-06-13T17:57:00.001-04:00

There's something about 90 degree days that makes you want to give up all hot foods with a Lent-like passion. In perspiring desperation, many people turn to smoothies. With the desire to start posting about one new food I try every month as my motivation and this recipe from Cooking Light as my inspiration, I developed this surprisingly tasty and refreshing concoction as my own way to beat the heat!

Now, believe me, even as a dietitian I was not among the first to jump on the veggie smoothie bandwagon...hence this being classified as a "new food" for me. However, it is an excellent way to pack an extra serving of vegetables into your day!

The primary ingredients of this recipe are spinach and kiwi...so if it helps, just tell yourself it's green because of the kiwi. At least that's what I did. I used some spinach I had purchased at the farmers' market and a probably not quite ripe kiwi. But it turned out for the best, because the tartness of the kiwi ended up as the most prominent flavor, masking any earthy greeniness (which I do like tasting in salads...but not in smoothies).

Spinach-Kiwi Smoothie
Serves 1

1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 rather large handful of spinach
1 kiwi, peeled and chopped haphazardly
1/4 cup milk of choice (I used plain nonfat soy...less calories than skim but more protein than almond)
3-4 ice cubes
1/4 banana (preferably frozen)
Sweetener of choice (I used a packet of Stevia to keep it light...so if you use sugar, agave, or honey just remember to add those calories and carbs to the total I have below for accurate nutrition info)

Place in blender. Blend.
(Do I really need to give you instructions on how to blend a smoothie?)

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
1 Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories		133.1

Total Fat		1.0 g

	Saturated Fat	0.1 g

	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.5 g

	Monounsaturated Fat	0.2 g

Cholesterol		2.5 mg

Sodium		94.7 mg

Potassium		734.0 mg

Total Carbohydrate		23.7 g

	Dietary Fiber	4.6 g

	Sugars	6.6 g

Protein		9.9 g


Vitamin A	90.0 %

Vitamin B-12	12.5 %

Vitamin B-6	16.3 %

Vitamin C	149.7 %

Vitamin D	7.5 %

Vitamin E	8.9 %

Calcium	20.4 %

Check out that vitamin A and calcium! Some fiber even snuck in there. There's a decent amount of protein...you could add more yogurt to up that number a bit. But all in all, a wonderful snack that I will repeat soon!

P.S. Ryan even gave it the thumbs up! :) That's success in my book.

Nutrifact 5: To cook or not to cook: Vegetables

2013-02-02T14:40:00.005-05:00

I've returned...and this time as an RD. I passed!! I completed my bachelor's degree and internship and passed the exam...which are the qualifications for becoming a Registered Dietitian...but I'm not done yet! I'm currently working on my master's and plan to graduate in December.

Because of my frenzied studying the past few months before I took the exam, our dinners have mostly been taking advantage of the frozen section of the new Trader Joe's in town. However, I am now on here to write a blog post that has been insanely long in coming.

Have you ever wondered if those green beans are still as nutritiously wonderful after they're been simmering for half an hour? Should I be eating those carrot sticks raw? I'm here to share what I've learned about this topic so you can squeeze the most out of your vegetables!

Vegetables contain many wonderful minerals, water-soluble vitamins, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. However, these can be lost if they are cooked certain ways, such as in water or for long amounts of time. I read a few research articles to try to understand this issue. As an RD, it is very important to me that what I say is evidence-based.

In 2008, a study was performed to determine what happens to carrots, zucchini, and broccoli when they are boiled, steamed, or fried. Interestingly, the antioxidant capacity of the vegetables increased after all three cooking methods. This is likely due to the softening of the vegetable's structure, allowing the antioxidants to be more readily released in our digestive tracts. However, boiling and steaming better preserved the antioxidants than frying. Also, all three methods reduced the amount of vitamin C in the vegetables. This is to be expected, however, because vitamin C is very sensitive to cooking.

In contrast, a 2012 study on the effects of cooking on kale discovered that this vegetable in the cabbage family loses most of its antioxidant activity after cooking (vitamin C, polyphenols, and beta-carotene in this case). They concluded that vegetables in this family may be best eaten raw or with little processing.

So now it was starting to get confusing...which vegetables should I cook and which should I not?

After a little more digging I found that, in general, the nutrient availability of vegetables increases after they are cooked for a short amount of time and with little or no water.

Now, I know there are some people who would want to have a chart on their refrigerator that says exactly which vegetables to eat raw and which to cook and how to cook them the best way. However, in my mind this is complicating things way too much.

My goal is to make eating healthy a simple matter.

In my opinion, the best way to eat your vegetables is to eat them. Too many people shy away from vegetables to tell them that the only way they should eat kale is raw.

Have fun with your vegetables! Buy different ones every time. Slice them up and try them raw. Saute them in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast them with some grated cheese. Pop them in the microwave with a teensy bit of water. The point is to eat them and to eat a variety.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests the following tips for cooking vegetables:

-Clean your thick-skinned vegetables under running water instead of soaking them.
-Steam instead of boiling vegetables. Cooking vegetables in water causes their nutrients to leach into the water, which is then discarded.
-If you do prefer to cook vegetables in water, freeze the water for later use in soups and sauces and such.
-Microwave. This may sound strange at first, but microwaving your vegetables actually allows for a very short cooking time, which maximizes nutrient retention.

I agree with these suggestions. To make it even more simple...don't submerge and don't overcook. If you can remember these two pointers, you'll be golden!

So get out there and try some new veggies!

Home-Roasted Salsa: Preserving the Remnants of Summer

2012-09-17T20:04:00.001-04:00

It seems everyone has their own version of salsa. It's one of those recipes that, once made often and long enough, takes on the sacred status of a family heirloom.

I've made this one for a while now...developed in my mom's kitchen a few years ago simply by standing with the pantry door open, pondering my personal favorite qualities of a salsa.

Roasted. Medium spicy. Fresh. And different.

Home-Roasted Salsa
1/2 onion, layers separated (add more if you wish...I have to minimize the onion due to Ryan's dislike of it)
3 cloves garlic, sliced
15 medium smallish tomatoes (or whatever equivalent you care to use--these came from my garden)
3 jalapeños, seeded
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Cilantro, 2 handfuls
Cumin, enough to fit in the small part of your hand when cupped
Salt, 2 pinches

Sauté the onion and garlic until soft in a frying pan heated with a little olive oil. Remove into blender. Halve the tomatoes and blacken slightly in the frying pan with a little more olive oil.

(The way I started out doing this was on my mother's gas stovetop. If you have one, skewer the tomatoes without halving them and roast over the flame. Carefully.)

Remove into blender. Add the remaining ingredients. Blend, pulsing until it reaches the desired consistency. Taste and add adobo sauce if you want it spicier. Remember...it may get spicier as it sits in the fridge.

Now I made this batch with my new Ninja blender. Be careful...as it turned my salsa into tomato juice rather more rapidly than I expected.

Nutrifact 4: Detox Debunked

2012-09-16T15:08:00.000-04:00

Being a near-dietitian, I find it incumbent upon me to give this blog a healthy spin. There are many nutrition issues I would like to discuss at some point, but one that has been particularly on my mind lately is the Detox Diet.

First of all, let me just clarify that a diet does not entail weight loss. We are all on a diet. Whether it's a diet of McDonald's hamburgers or vegetable juices...it still classifies as a diet. Whatever you normally eat is your diet.

The detox diet comes in all shapes and sizes and everyone has heard of a different juice or smoothie or liquid fast that benefits your body in all kinds of miraculous ways! People usually grab hold of the idea as another elusive quick fix. This is just another example of how the world of nutrition can be extremely confusing. Well, the most recent Food and Nutrition magazine by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics included an article about Detoxification written by (who else?) an RD. (Registered Dietitian...which is what I will be in two or three months when I pass the exam!)

Robin Foroutan, MS, RD, delves into this difficult topic without fear. She starts by defining detoxification as "the biochemical process that transforms non-water-soluble toxins and metabolites into water-soluble compounds that can be excreted in urine, sweat, bile or stool."

This basically means that your body has a process that turns waste products from metabolism and external toxins into forms that can be eliminated from the body. The intermediate stage between the toxin's first form and the form that can is excreted is a free radical.

So this process can go wrong in two different ways. Either the body can't keep up with all the toxins entering the body, resulting in extra toxins getting deposited in the body's tissues. Or the body lacks enough enzymes to transform the intermediate free radicals into the excretable form, resulting in extra free radicals floating around.

So what is a toxin? When the word "toxin" is used in this sense, it generally refers to pesticides, food dyes, additives, and chemical preservatives that are in almost every single food we find on the shelves. Metabolic wastes are basically whatever is leftover after you have gotten everything useful out of whatever you ingested. This is normal. This is the very reason WHY we have an exit at the end of our digestive tract and kidneys that usher leftovers out of the blood and down the tubes.

For example, when you consume protein, you are consuming something that is made up of a bunch of molecules that contain the element nitrogen. Once our body digests these, ammonia is formed from the left over nitrogen. Our bodies can't do anything useful with ammonia and it is toxic. So the liver takes over and converts it to urea, which is much less toxic and can be excreted through the kidneys.

Look at you...learning nutritional biochemistry! :)

In general, the resiliency of our bodies allows us to eat strange diets for a small amount of time without suffering too greatly. One diet I would classify as strange is the juice diet. If you use this diet for a day or two to mentally prepare yourself for a healthy eating lifestyle change, it won't cause much physical harm. (Unless, of course, you have diabetes or blood sugar issues! Please do not attempt any new diet without consulting your doctor!) But basically a juice fast is doing nothing but drinking simple sugars (carbohydrates that are more quickly digested) without the benefits of the fiber that is in the whole fruit or vegetable. You will either suffer through a series of blood sugar highs and lows or you will have to drink a lot of this high-calorie substance to feel full.

Another detox diet is one containing herbal supplements. Generally the ones promoted for detoxification mean they enhance your body's own detoxifying system...meaning extra excretion. Think toilet time.

Another detox diet is only eating raw fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, many vegetables contain nutrients that are much, much more useful to the body after they have been cooked. (I have been asked about this topic recently and intend to make this my next Nutrifact!)

So the question is...does your body need help doing something that it is already designed to do?

It is my opinion that detox diets are a waste of time and money. However, increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables you consume is never a bad idea and will help your body's digestive and excretion system maintain itself.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to bring them up. I would also appreciate any nutrition topic ideas that you would like me to discuss!

Sources:
http://www.foodandnutritionmag.org/defining-detox
http://nutrition411.com/component/k2/item/113-detox-diets-truth-or-fiction
My biochemistry notes

Two Ice Creams: Bailey's Chocolate Chunk and Roasted Banana with Nutella Flecks

2012-08-20T11:33:00.001-04:00

My dietetic internship may have been just stressful enough to keep me off of here, but I am not going to let graduate school take my blog away from me. Needless to say, I graduated! No, not back in May, but after the summer session. I have been thoroughly enjoying my couple weeks off before I jump back into the academic world.

What better way to celebrate summer but to make some decadent ice cream?

Bailey's Chocolate Chunk
Roasted Banana with Nutella Flecks

The first is a traditional custard-base flavored with Bailey's or whichever Irish cream you prefer...I used Ryan's...shhhh....

The second is more of an ice milk since it has no cream.

So here we go!

Bailey's Chocolate Chunk, adapted from She Makes and Bakes
Makes about 2 quarts

For the ice cream:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 cup sugar, divided
Pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream, Bailey's, milk, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar. Heat over medium, stirring frequently, until it comes to a boil. Let it boil for one minute.

Let me interject here. I'm not sure if I can think of a time I have made ice cream with this method without it boiling over. It just takes so darn long for the cream to heat up that I start getting lackadaisical about it and before I know it I hear the dreaded fizzing of cream burning on my electric cooktop. So, speaking from experience, here's what you do if that happens:
If the handles don't have cream bubbling over them, grab the pot and move it off the heat. If the handles are covered, then use hot pads or paper towels or your apron. Turn off the heat. Then take a super quick estimate of however much spilled over...mine's usually about 1/2 - 1 cup. Then use rags or paper towels to wipe up the mess before it hardens. The leftover scum will have to wait til the cooktop cools down. Then add half milk and half cream back into the mixture, use a different burner, and watch it like a hawk until it boils.

So while the milk mixture is heating, whisk together the egg yolks, the other 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla until thick and pale. After it has boiled for one minute, slowly pour a steady stream of it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. This is called tempering. Once you have poured 2/3 of the Bailey's mixture into the eggs while whisking, slowly pour the egg mixture back into the pan and reheat over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for a few minutes until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and pour it into a large bowl.

Now, if you did a poor job of tempering, you'll have some scrambled egg bits in there and you'll want to strain it as you pour it into the bowl. Also, I like to set the bowl in an ice bath to help it cool down faster. Once it's cooled off for a bit (maybe stop and stir it a few times every so often), cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to cool for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Once the ice cream mixture is cold, churn it according to the manufacturer's directions. During the last few minutes of churning, sprinkle in about 4-6 oz chopped dark chocolate. Scoop the ice cream out of the maker and into a bowl. Freeze it for several hours or overnight before serving.

Alright, still with me? Just one more! This one was a little easier.

Roasted Banana with Nutella Flecks, adapted from Chocolate and Chillies

4 bananas (ripe but not overly ripe), sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 cups 1% milk (The recipe called for whole, but I only had 1%...it turned out great...and healthier)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400 F. While oven is heating, place the sliced bananas, brown sugar and butter in a baking dish. Toss well. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring once, or until bananas are browned and cooked through.

Scrape the bananas into a food processor. Add milk, sugar, vanilla and coarse salt. Process until smooth. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and store in the fridge until chilled (about 3 hours or overnight). Once chilled give it a quick whisk and process according to your ice cream maker's instructions. While it is churning, heat up about 3/4 cup Nutella in the microwave just until melted. In the last few minutes of churning, drizzle it in! Freeze about 2-4 hours.

If it is in the freezer for longer than this, it will become rock hard due to its low fat content. So you may want to plan to let it sit out for about 30-60 minutes before serving.

Surprisingly, the Roasted Banana Ice Cream was everyone's favorite. I say surprisingly because the Bailey's Chocolate Chunk is richer and has a better mouth feel. But if I make a healthier option that people actually prefer?? I'd say that's a dietetic success.

Can you spot me?? :)

Wish me luck as I start classes on Wednesday and study for the RD (Registered Dietitian) Exam!

Bourbon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Butter Roasted Pecans

2012-05-21T23:48:00.003-04:00

"Best ice cream I've ever had." Straight from my husband's mouth.

Needless to say, after purchasing an ice cream maker earlier this spring, I've felt inspired. This was the first batch I made and am proud to say I came up with the whole idea myself!

I used a trustworthy vanilla ice cream base from A Year in Chocolate by Jacques Torres, but changed up a few things and doubled the recipe (why not double your yield when going to all that effort??).

Here 'tis.

Bourbon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Butter Roasted Pecans

Base
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
14 large egg yolks
2 cups 1% milk
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp bourbon (or more...)

Place 1/4 cup and 1 tbsp of EACH of the sugars in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks until well combined.

Prepare an ice bath by putting ice cubes and a little water in a large bowl and nesting another bowl inside it.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the rest of the sugar, milk, cream, and honey. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a heatproof rubber spatula. Once boiling, immediately remove from he heat.

Slowly pour about a third of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. (You may need someone to help you with this.) Pour the tempered egg mixture into the hot mixture, stirring constantly. Place over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes, or until it gets to 182 F on an instant read thermometer, or until it coats the back of a metal spoon. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla and bourbon.

Pour the custard into the bowl nested inside the bowl with ice water. Let cool, stirring frequently. Once thoroughly chilled in the refrigerator (I recommend leaving it in there all night), the ice cream base is ready to meet its (ice cream) maker.

Add-ins
10 oz of your favorite chocolate (I used 5 oz dark Valrhona and 5 oz milk Valrhona)
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp butter
pinch of kosher salt

While the base is cooling, you can make the Butter Roasted Pecans. Preheat oven to 350 F. Toss pecans with butter and salt and spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until fragrant and nicely toasted.

When you are ready to freeze your ice cream, melt the chocolate in a double boiler over the stove or in segments in the microwave. Freeze the base in your ice cream maker according to its directions. Five minutes before it is supposed to be done, gradually drizzle in the melted chocolate. Next, gradually sprinkle in the pecans. Add these while it is still churning. In case that wasn't obvious.

Once finished, place it a freezer-proof, sealed container and freeze until it reaches your desired consistency!

I'll post next about my Peanut Butter and Honey Ice Cream that hearkens back to a childhood sandwich I actually never had!

In the Midst of It All

2012-04-18T23:18:00.000-04:00

Oh my! I even shocked myself with the date of my last post. For those of you who might not remember, I am in my dietetic internship right now and have been slammed with all kinds of homework and assignments! However, I had to make time to sneak on here and let you in on some of the things I've been making.

I recently decided that I have not cooked enough recipes out of my cookbooks. So I categorized them on my little cookbook bookshelf and am going through them systematically. So the first week I took the first book from each of the categories and made one of the first few recipes in each of them. The second week I took the second book...and so on. It's been quite fun!

Another change that has occurred is the addition of an extra flash to Ryan's camera. We've been experimenting with it...usually I just get frustrated and have him take pictures if it's right before dinner. But, if it can wait to be photographed until the next day, I try to take pictures in natural light when I get home from work.

As you can see, I've still been cooking! Recently, however, we've had so many things going on that I had not cooked dinner for two weeks. Seriously. We somehow had something going on every night. When I told Ryan I was going to make dinner this past Monday, he asked, "Are you sure our kitchen still works?" Yikes! Now you know why I haven't had time to blog, let alone do homework and exercise somewhat regularly. And housework. And yardwork. And...

Nevermind. Let's not think about those things right now.

These peppers smelled absolutely amazing toasting away in the oven. I ground them up and put them in a chili, which, unfortunately, very stubbornly refused to be photogenic and was eaten before I had a chance to try again in different lighting.

Blueberry Buckle! When I was little, I told my mom that when I grew up I would make blueberry buckle and bring it to her every day. Don't know how I got that in my head...but I did take her some of this!

Tip: Asian soups are amazingly tasty and surprisingly fast and easy.

Know what this is? Yep! Homemade Apple Strudel Bread! You know, like what Great Harvest sells? I think I made a little too much topping, but basically what I did was make a basic whole wheat bread dough. When it was all risen and ready to bake, I mixed some unsweetened applesauce, cinnamon, a little bit of brown sugar, and 1 chopped apple, spread on top, and baked it!

Well now you're somewhat caught up. I hope to get back on here very soon as I can't wait to tell you about the first ice cream I made in my new ice cream maker from Williams Sonoma...Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Roasted Pecan. Yes. And I made it up. So...that means you get the recipe!

Stay tuned!

Healthy and Quick: Fish Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Brown Rice

2012-02-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

For those of you who may not know, I am in my dietetic internship right now. I have three rotations, Food Service Systems Management (10 weeks), Medical Nutrition Therapy (10 weeks), and Community Nutrition (7 weeks). I just finished my sixth week of the FSSM rotation and I have had some wonderful experiences so far! I taught the nutrition portion of a diabetes seminar on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. I am also in the middle of planning a themed meal for the cafeteria in St. Joseph Hospital, where I am interning for the first two rotations. I get to do everything from planning the menu, to choosing the recipes, to ordering the food (waaaay more complicated to order an accurate number of portion sizes for 200 people), to briefing the staff, to carrying out the plan on the day of!

Anyway, all that to say, I've had a lot of interesting shift times because I have been shadowing everyone in the kitchen, from AM Cook (4:30 am-1 pm) to Tray Passer (7 am-5:30 pm) to PM Lead (12-8:30 pm). And sometimes I don't have very much time or energy (or neither) to make dinner. This meal is great for when you want a healthy dinner on the table in less than an hour.

Ryan commented that this curry was too sweet...but I'll tell you that's because I was trying to reduce the sodium and cut out some salt. So...it's up to you how much you want to put in. We also added crushed red pepper at the table.

Fish Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Brown Rice
adapted from Anja's Food 4 Thought

1 cup brown rice

1 lb white fish, chopped into chunks
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 sweet potatoes
3/4 tsp turmeric
2 cups low- or nonfat coconut milk

cilantro for garnish

Marinate the fish in the chili powder, salt, and lemon juice.

Cook the rice according to the package directions.

Peel and chop sweet potatoes.

While rice is cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pot (the one the curry will end up in). Fry the fish over medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from pot.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pot. Heat slightly and add the garlic. Add the tomato, sweet potatoes, turmeric, and salt to taste. (See...this is where my taste did not equal Ryan's.) Stir in the coconut milk and keep stirring until boiling. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the fish and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

By this time, the rice should be done! Serve with rice and cilantro.

By the way, kudos to Ryan for buying a new awesome flash and taking pictures for me when I get frustrated about not getting the result I want.

Coconut Shrimp with Mango Mint Dipping Sauce

2012-02-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

Now I'm going to warn you right away...I'm not going to share the exact recipe for this.

After reading a discussion about blogger plagiarism and consulting my own conscience, I decided not to copy recipes that are in a cookbook, not even if I include the name of the cookbook and author. If my source is online and free to all, then I will copy the recipe and link back to the original page. But I don't want to steal the results of someone's hard work from them. I will give the process and my opinion, but not the exact recipe. However, if I change the recipe significantly, I will write it out.

This may motivate me to develop my own recipes more often! But, unfortunately, when I do that, I usually don't make note of what I do and can't repeat it. Honestly, though, a food blogger who mostly posts recipes straight from someone else needs to learn how to experiment a little more and stop showing off their ability to follow a recipe. I'm talking to myself here. :)

Anyway, this was one of our favorite meals recently. Ryan and I teamed up in the preparation process...I made the shrimp and he made the sauce. The recipe came from Small Bites by Jennifer Joyce.

The end result was delicious, but coating the shrimp took forever. I dipped each of them in four ingredients...salt and pepper, corn starch, egg white, and coconut.

The rest is pretty simple...just fry 'em in some oil in a wok!

The sauce was basically a bunch of fantastic ingredients (including mango, mint, cilantro, limes, chili pepper, etc.) whirled in a processor until smooth.

Combine the two and magical things happen!

Tangerine Crème Brûlée and Mexican Chocolate Cookies

2012-02-14T18:42:00.000-05:00

Cliché alert.

I am way behind on posts!

And I have a huge stash of photos just waiting to be exposed (pun intended) to you.

Stay tuned for Coconut Shrimp with Mango Lime Sauce, Miso Chicken, Black-Eyed Pea Patties with Beer-Braised Turnip Greens, and Spinach, Lentil and Bacon Stew. I've gotta crank 'em out because I have lots more exciting things on the menu for this week.

The deal is...I have to make exciting dinners because I've been packing my lunch for the past four weeks and let's face it...I'm running out of ideas. And at 5 in the morning I can somehow decide that I can last an entire 8 hours on coffee, oatmeal and an apple. Not really working out for me.

Yes, I am currently interning in a hospital kitchen. Yes, there is a cafeteria full of wonderful things every day. But when it comes to feeding myself, I get stingy with my moolah.

Anyway, on to some delicious recipes!

This first recipe is entirely from Tartelette. To view the original post, please click here.

I copied the recipe here because I used two of her posts to make it and this just makes it easier for you.

"Tangerine Crème Brûlée Tartelettes

Kitchen Notes: The dough recipe was enough for four 4 inch fluted tartelettes and four 3 inch straight edged tartelettes, so I would say it makes between 6 to 8 tartelettes depending on your molds. You can replace the tangerine with orange or grapefruit, and leave the Grand Marnier out.

For the cocoa cardamom sable dough:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (93 gr) powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 1 /2 cups (188gr) flour
1 tablespoon (10 gr) natural cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon (2gr) ground cardamom
pinch of salt

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, cocoa, cardamom and salt and mix briefly to incorporate. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Do not work the dough while in the mixer or it will toughen up. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between the sheets of plastic. You will have extra dough that you can save for another use in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen, well wrapped for up to 3 months. Cut out 8 rounds two inches larger than your pastry rings. Fit the dough inside the rings with your fingertips and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Line the rings with small squares of parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool."

"For the tangerine cream:
2/3 cup (120gr) sugar
3 eggs
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons (30gr) all purpose flour
1 stick butter (115gr), melted and cooled
2/3 cup (160ml) tangerine juice
grated zest of 2 tangerines
2 tablespoons (20gr) Grand Marnier (optional)

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, whole eggs and egg yolks until pale. Add the flour and butter and whisk until incorporated. Whisk in the tangerine juice and zest. Place the mixture in a saucepan over medium low heat and cook until thickened about 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly without letting it boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Grand Marnier if using. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the cream to prevent it from forming a crust while cooling. Let cool to room temperature.

To assemble:
tart shells
tangerine cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1/4 cup packed brown sugar for the brulee crust
tangerine slices and candied tangerine zest (use the recipe for candied kumquats, using tangerine zest instead)

Divide the cream evenly among the shells and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Top each tartelette with about 1 tablespoon of the sugar mixed and using a blow torch, caramelize the top of the tarts to create a sugar crust. If you do not have a blowtorch, set the tarts on a sheet pan under the broiler and broil them until golden, watching carefully to monitor that the edges don't burn.
Decorate with segments and zest of tangerines.

Candied Kumquats:1/2 cup (125ml) water
1 cup (100gr) sugar
2 tablespoons (40gr) light corn or glucose syrup
1 pint fresh kumquats, washed, patted dry, and cut in 1/8 inch thin slices

In a heavy saucepan, combine the water, sugar and corn or glucose syrup and bring to a boil over high heat. Let the mixture reach 234F. Add the kumquats, being careful not to overcrowd your pan and let the fruit become translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and place it, separating the slices, on a piece of parchment paper or silpat. Use as desired."

My notes: Her sugar mixture for the topping did not work well for me. So I used raw sugar instead. In fact, the tartelette in my photos is the only one that turned out. The others were ruined because I did not bake them long enough and so they did not come out of the pans easily. So, while baking beans are helpful, I would recommend taking them out of the tart shells for the last 3-5 minutes of baking or until the shells are done. Also, the candied tangerine turned out extremely hard and chewy. Not sure what happened there...perhaps it cooked too long.

Next up...Spiced Chocolate Sugar Cookies! These are from the book A Year in Chocolate, by Jacques Torres. One of my friends and I made these together and we were thrilled with how they turned out! I like to call them Mexican Chocolate Cookies, because that more accurately describes them, in my mind.

Makes about 4 dozen

1.75 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ancho chile powder ( I didn't have this so I used regular, but I'm sure ancho chile powder would be better!!)
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 cup light corn syrup (I know. Disappointing. But we went with it.)
1 cup (about 6 oz) chopped bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment and set aside.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, chile powder, and salt. (We didn't sift.) Set aside. in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the batter on low speed to soften. (I don't have a stand mixer, but since I was making it with another person, one of us acted as the stand mixer.) Add the brown sugar, raise the speed the medium, and beat until well blended. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Add the melted chocolate and corn syrup and beat until blended. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture, and beat for about 3 minutes, or until a stiff dough forms. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped chocolate.

Spread the granulated sugar on a small plate. To shape the cookies, scoop up a nugget of the dough, form it into a 1-inch ball between your palms, and roll the ball in the sugar to coat evenly. (OK, we didn't do this either because the dough was so soft. We just dropped them on the sheets using teaspoons and then sprinkled sugar over them.) Leave about 2 inches between cookies.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until puffed and the tops are cracked. Remove and let cool on the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer to the racks and cool completely.

This recipe was amazing and I will definitely make these again.

Alright...it's finally time to get ready for my Valentine's date with my hubby tonight!!

Pappardelle with Veal Meatballs

2012-02-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

The anniversary of this little blog came and went yesterday. There's something addictive about the melancholy yet celebratory nature of anniversaries. Ryan and I celebrate as many as we can. Two-year engagement anniversary coming up on February 6th. First date anniversary. First kiss anniversary. Wedding anniversary...obviously. :)

Anyway, in honor of this blog's one-year anniversary I made pappardelle again. I wanted to recreate a recipe I fell in love with quite a few years ago at a local restaurant, Portofino. The Veal Marsala Meatballs with Tagliatelle is to die for.

Here is what I did to the best of my ability without a recipe:

Pappardelle with Veal Meatballs
Makes 3 large portions or 4 medium portions

12 oz ground veal
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
pinch of kosher salt
1-2 tsp olive oil
1-2 tsp butter
10 oz pappardelle pasta
3 roasted red pepper slices from a jar, one minced and two sliced
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup red wine
shaved parmesan

Combine the veal, rosemary, garlic, pepper, salt, and minced red pepper in a bowl. Form into balls about 1.5" in diameter. Heat a large skillet with a small drizzle of olive oil. (Be careful to not let it smoke, as this destructs the flavors of the oil. Use canola oil if need be, as it has a higher smoke point.) Cook the meatballs in batches, about 2 minutes per side. (I was already roasting broccoli at 425 degrees, so I put the meatballs into a dish and into the oven for about 5 minutes to complete the cooking process. You can do this, or cook through in the pan.) Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Using the same skillet, add a small pat of butter, about a tsp or two. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the sliced red peppers and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to get up all of the meat bits. Reduce for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta according to the package's directions.

Put pasta in skillet and toss to combine. Serve with the meatballs and shaved parmesan.

Enjoy!