Dr. Maring's Farmers' Market and Recipes Update

Early Season Peach Salsa

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:45:08 -0800

The Lone Oak Ranch from Reedley, CA has offered year around seasonal fruit, almonds, cherries, grapes, and raisins at our hosptial farmers market now for over 6 years. It is always a special treat when their peaches and nectarines first show up. I had a yellow and white peach from the most recent market which became the foundation for an excellent salsa modified from a recipe I saw in the San Francisco Chronicle. It tasted great over some leftover roasted chicken on a bed of garden lettuces dressed with a little lemon vinaigrette.

Early Season Peach Salsa

2 peaches, not too ripe, diced
1/2 cup diced jicama
3 Tbsp finely diced red onion
About 3/4 inch of the end of a jalapeno, finely minced
1 clove garlic, minced
8 cherry or grape tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of one lime
Salt to taste
Few pinches smoky paprika or to taste

Gently toss everything together in a bowl. Taste and add more of whatever you think it needs. Could go well with chicken, fish, or pork.

Spectacular Corn, Tomato, and Cilantro Salad v1.3 with a Magic Trick

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:13:13 -0800

This recipe keeps coming to mind when the first fresh corn of the season becomes available. Remembering how much I loved this recipe before, I got excited and forgot to cook the corn at all. Turns out the fresh young kernels were crunchy sweet and were perfect raw.

And now for the best part --- my son showed me a new trick last week that makes halving cherry tomatoes a breeze. Invert a couple of round plastic container lids that are about 6 inches in diameter. Cover the inverted bottom lid with the cherry tomatoes. Place the other inverted lid on top of the tomatoes. Press down the top lid firmly with your palm but not so hard so as to squish the tomatoes. Using a sharp chef's knife, squat down and cut horizontally between the lids and "voila"--- you've got a bunch of halved cherry tomatoes. Repeat until the pint is done.

Serves four

4 ears fresh corn, husked
1pint cherry tomatoes, stemmed and halved this cool way
1/2 red onion, diced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Salad greens (optional)

Mix everything together. Mound on top of fresh salad greens. Serve. Marvel at what you created.

Burgers Made with Spinach, Lemon Zest and Garlic

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:39:21 -0800

One of the versions of turkey burgers I’ve offered in the past are a decadent version made with blue cheese (usually from Point Reyes Station here in West Marin ---- search for them on this site if you haven’t yet tried them and add about 1/3 cup of minced fresh cilantro). Trying to get more veggies into our diets is always a goal so I was happy to find a way to incorporate spinach into a summer staple. These can be made with ground turkey or lean grass fed beef. By the time you add the spinach and other ingredients, a half cup measuring cup makes four burgers per pound of ground meat.

Burgers Made with Spinach, Lemon Zest and Garlic

Serves 6

1 ½ pounds ground turkey or beef or a mixture of both
10 ounces baby spinach leaves
Zest of one lemon
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fire up the grill. Bring a saucepan half full of water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook a couple of minutes until it wilts. Drain in a colander using the bottom of another bowl to compress it and squeeze out the water. In a large bowl, mix the turkey or beef, spinach, lemon zest, garlic, salt, and pepper. There’s something about seeing wide veins of green in these burgers that is very satisfying. Make healthier quarter pounders using the half cup measuring cup to get an equal amount per burger then flatten them on waxed paper. Grill them until done making sure you get those cool grill marks. Serve them, of course, on whole grains buns with whatever else you usually put on burgers.

Asparagus Soup Live

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:34:54 -0800

A few weeks ago I posted a great recipe for asparagus soup. This link is for a brief segment on KGO 7's View From the Bay highlighting the soup. It's actually green when you make it ---- just looks orange on TV.
http://media.abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/food_wine&id=6850978

Unbelievably Good Chicken Stew with Meyer Lemon and Fennel

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:48:11 -0800

If you are fortunate enough to be good friends with folks who have a Meyer lemon tree in their backyard, you really have to try this recipe I modified from an offering in January 2005. While looking through the archives of the blog to find recipes to print for a KP member, I realized that there have been many dishes I only tried once or twice because I usually try to come up with something new each week. But since I doubt that very many people ever browse through the archives, I am going to offer a series of “golden oldies”.

Unbelievably Good Chicken Stew with Meyer Lemon and Fennel

Serves 6

1 large fennel bulb
3 large Meyer lemons (you might want to use just two – it depends on how much you like a bold lemony flavor)
6 red new potatoes cut into quarters
1 tsp coarse salt
6 chicken thighs, boned and skinned or the equivalent using a mixture of chicken breasts and thighs
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano or 3 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup green olives (optional)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp grated Meyer lemon zest

Trim the stalks from the fennel, reserving the lacy greens. Slice the fennel lengthwise in 1/4" thick slices then slice these lengthwise into 1/2" pieces. Cut the lemons in half then cut each half into 3 to 4 pieces. Discard the seeds. Put the lemons in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Add the chicken, pepper, garlic and oregano and turn to coat. Set aside for about 30 minutes.

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a deep sauté pan over medium heat. Lightly brown the chicken, turning several times. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the remaining olive oil and the fennel. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the lemons, optional olives, wine and water, scraping up the brown bits. Return the chicken to the pan. Add the potatoes. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Mince the fennel fronds, mix with the lemon zest and sprinkle over your dinner in a serving bowl. Serve with a big garden fresh salad.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:48:18 -0800

Most of us have been comforted by some version of chicken noodle soup during our collective lifetimes. I remember well the almost Pavlovian response to chicken noodle soup out of a red and white can served with a grilled Velveeta cheese (product) sandwich. Times have changed. Now I make my own stock sometimes --- see recipe for chicken stock 2/19/09. I am still refining my stock skills. The last time I made it, I simmered it with the lid slightly ajar and it cooked down to about ½ the volume. It had a rich and wonderful flavor. Last weekend’s stock was good but a bit more pedestrian as I kept it covered while it simmered. I plan to simmer the remaining frozen stock when needed to reduce it a bit for the next batch of soup. Enough about stocks --- let’s make some chicken noodle soup.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 8 as a first course

10 cups chicken stock
1 ½ cups sugar snap peas or snow peas
1 ½ cups sliced white or brown cremini mushrooms
1 ½ cups thickly sliced carrots
2 cups shredded leftover cooked chicken
8 ounces noodles of a kind and shape that please you (I used buckwheat soba noodles because that was what I had in the house and I got a few style points for using whole grains)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon dried dill or three Tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill
½ teaspoon salt (remember homemade stock used 1 teaspoon salt for 12 quarts of water --- accounting for the salt that probably stays with the chicken bones and the veggies used to make the stock, there’s probably about 100mg sodium per cup of stock --- that’s a lot less than the 900mg plus sodium in a cup of commercial stock)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Bring the stock to a simmer in a soup pot. Add the chicken. When the incipient soup returns to a simmer, add the peas, carrots, and mushrooms and then the noodles or the other way around depending on the kind of noodles. Noodles take as long as the instructions say. The veggies take about five minutes or less. Stir in the parsley, dill, and salt. Add pepper and adjust the seasonings to taste. Serve hot with some kind of a one dish salad.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 298
Fat: 6 gm
Saturated fat: 2 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 60 mg
Carbohydrate: 36 gm
Fiber: 3 gm
Sodium: 318 mg
Protein: 23 gm

Mango Salad with Ginger-Raisin Vinaigrette

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:41:46 -0800

Mangoes only grow in tropical climates. This is one of those fruits like pineapple or bananas that I won’t be finding at my local Northern California farmers market. But I can find the greens, peppers, and raisins in season. A mango comes together with more northern latitude vegetables to make a very refreshing salad I’ve tried recently from Eating Well In Season: The Farmers’ Market Cookbook.

Perhaps the only minor mystery for some will be how best to end up with mango in bite sized cubes. Slice the ends off. Stand it upright. Slice the peel off with vertical cuts. Slice off long pieces of the fruit parallel to the long seed in the center. Cut up into cubes.

Mango Salad with Ginger-Raisin Vinaigrette

Serves six

Dressing

¼ cup golden raisins
1 cup boiling water
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar or malt vinegar (haven’t had the malt vinegar version yet but really looking forward to it)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger (remember that it’s easy to peel with the edge of a teaspoon)
1 fresh green Thai, serrano, or small jalapeño chili, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (only have tried the jalapeño so far. The others should impart their own distinct but subtle changes to the flavors)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Salad

8 cups of mesclun or mixed baby salad greens
1 large, ripe but firm mango cubed
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Pour the boiling water over the raisins in a small bowl. Let them soak for about 30 minutes to soften then drain and transfer to a blender. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and purée until smooth. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the dressing and toss gently with the mango and red pepper. Dress the greens with the rest. Top the greens with the mango and red pepper and serve.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 117
Fat: 7 gm
Saturated fat: 1gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 14 gm
Fiber: 2 gm
Sodium: 58 mg
Protein: 1 gm

Our 6th Birthday

Mon, 11 May 2009 20:43:33 -0800

Last Friday we had our hospital’s farmers market 6th birthday. A sunny day, blues music, balloons, Eating Well cookbooks signed and given away, a good crowd of shoppers, and 30 juniors from Oakland High School out to learn about local food systems and careers in health care.

Our Oakland Kaiser Permanente market was one of the first hospital based markets in the country. We now have 30 markets in four states. San Jose Kaiser Permanente has created a mobile cooking demo van that went to 156 community events last year. Kaiser Permanente in South Central L.A. started a farmers market in a community park in Watts.

We’ve brought tasty local fruits and vegetables to our inpatients. We sourced about 25 tons of local farmer food to our Northern California hospitals in 2006 and 75 tons last year to hospitals in North and South.

Organic food boxes are being delivered to an ever increasing number of our employees in Kaiser Permanente regional and national office buildings as well as some hospitals and medical office buildings that don’t have farmers markets.

Hundreds of our vending machines are offering healthier options.

And just this week, at Oakland, we’ve begun to offer prepared complete meals using local farmer ingredients that are nutritionally appropriate for everyone but specifically for some of our sickest patients delivered to home at a reasonable cost. Sometimes those having the most health problems have the most problem having good meals. Just maybe this new program will help them.

There is so much more to do. Good local foods are good for the people who eat them, good for the local economy, and good for the planet.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Sun, 03 May 2009 21:53:10 -0800

You can still find rhubarb in some Northern California markets. Most of the rhubarb I ate as a kid in Detroit was sort of stewed for a while, probably just with sugar. I remember really loving the sweet yet tart flavor. I found another great way to celebrate rhubarb along with early season strawberries in the Eating Well In Season: The Farmers’ Market Cookbook. This is a perfect spring time dessert. Even just a small serving is very satisfying.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Serves 8

Filling
2 pints strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced
8 ounces rhubarb, trimmed of the leaves and cut into ½” slices --- about 2 cups
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca or 1 tablespoon cornstarch (I used the cornstarch not having had tapioca in over 50 years.)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar divided
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (I know there’s a lot of cool chemistry going on with these last two ingredients -- releasing carbon dioxide to make the dough rise – the baking soda works fast and makes it rise in the mixing bowl while the baking powder makes it rise in the oven. Given all the bad stuff we hear about carbon dioxide and global warming it’s good to remember we all breathe it out upon exhalation and need it to make a good cobbler. Probably tough to explain to kids.
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoon cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup nonfat buttermilk

To prepare filling: Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, ½ cup sugar, cornstarch or tapioca, 1/8 teaspoon each cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, in a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. Let it stand for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the topping: Stir together the flour, sugar, salt and spices listed above for the topping. Cut in the butter with two forks or your fingers until crumbly. Stir in the buttermilk just until combined. (The buttermilk is the “acid” needed to activate the baking soda)
Using a large spoon, drop the dough in 8 big dollops over the filling and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake until browned and bubbling, 40-50 minutes. (It’s wise to have a pan or tray under this cobbler as the juices tend to get exuberant) You can cover it with foil if it’s browning too quickly. Serve this warm. It’s a real treat.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 249
Fat: 3 gm
Saturated fat: 2gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 52 gm
Fiber:3 gm
Sodium: 329mg
Protein: 6 gm

Banana - Orange Relish

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:37:36 -0800

I found a sweet yet tangy relish recipe in the new Eating Well In Season: The Farmers’ Market Cookbook which goes well with a mild white fish like halibut or a pan roasted chicken breast. It uses oranges which are coming to the end of their season soon to give way to stone fruits at the markets ---- at least here in California. Making this relish gives you the opportunity to perfect your skills at creating citrus supremes – those wedges of citrus that don’t have any of the potentially bitter white pith left on them.

The relish is easy to prepare once you “supreme” the orange. After getting the orange zest you need, cut off the top and bottom of the orange until you see the orange flesh inside. Guide a chef’s knife down the side of the orange following its contour cutting away the skin. Do this all the way around being sure to remove all the pith. Hold the orange in your palm over a bowl (to catch the juices). Cut wedges of orange out of each section leaving the membrane between the sections behind. Drop the wedges in the bowl and give what’s left a big squeeze at the end to extract all the juice. Real chefs can cut the wedges really close to the membrane so the orange isn’t wasted. I am not that good but keep trying.

Banana – Orange Relish

Makes four servings

2 ripe bananas, diced
½ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
2 oranges, supremed as above, then diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (start with a large handful)
2 Tablespoons lime juice
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Mix everything in a bowl. Serve over fish or chicken.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 87
Fat: 0 gm
Saturated fat: 0 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 22 gm
Fiber: 3 gm
Sodium: 74 mg
Protein: 1 gm

Eating Well/KP cookbook released

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:10:24 -0800

Today the great new cookbook, Eating Well In Season: The Farmers’ Market Cookbook, gets released. It will now be available in bookstores and has been available already on Amazon. Kaiser Permanente partnered with Eating Well on this book because they have a good, basic philosophy about food. They offer recipes that are easy to prepare, use a lot of fresh, seasonal ingredients, are very tasty and can be made at a reasonable cost.

I was privileged to be able to collaborate in writing the introduction for the cookbook and tell the story of Kaiser Permanente’s journey toward focusing on good food as fundamental to good health. What really sold me on Eating Well was a visit to their test kitchen in Vermont. They have several “normal” stoves ---- gas, electric and cook top. They use “normal” pots and pans, the kind most Americans have. They test every recipe using a combination of pans and stoves to insure that what they publish will work for anyone. And they offer all kinds of recipes to give choice for all. They use meat, fish, poultry, lots of fruits and veggies, and even occasional canned ingredients. Unlike some cookbooks that only offer certain kinds of foods or foods that fit a particular diet, they are more pragmatic. They simply recommend that people eat good fresh food and not too much.

The book also has tips about buying organic, stocking your pantry, and helpful “how to” tips for the kitchen. There are beautiful color photographs that show what the recipes could look like (I don’t think I have ever made anything that looked like the pictures though it has tasted good). I’ve cooked a number of recipes from the book myself and am looking forward to cooking many more. I think you would find it to be one of those books you come back to over time.

Curried Pea Soup

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:44:27 -0800

One-dish dinners, like farro, arugula, tomatoes, shrimp and a simple lemon vinaigrette, are easy to prepare, nutritious and economical ways to feed your family. "No cooking needed" soups are good too. All you really need is a blender. There are fancy high speed blenders that can make the creamiest of soups without the cream but most of us don’t have those professional type blenders at home. If you can get used to just a little texture, any blender works just fine. I am OK with texture.

Try this pea soup. It is perfect for this season. All you have to do is put everything into the blender and push the button or flip the switch.

Curried Pea Soup

Serves 4

1 pound shelled fresh peas (big bag of fresh peas --- buy a lot and you can always use the extras for another recipe) or frozen peas
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 ½ teaspoons curry powder
2 cups sliced butter lettuce
1 shallot
10 mint leaves
2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
1 cup ice water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
¾ teaspoons kosher salt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and purée until very smooth. This may take a few minutes. With a pedestrian blender, it may work better doing it in two batches. Best if served chilled.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 244
Fat: 15 gm
Saturated fat: 2gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 21 gm
Fiber: 6 gm
Sodium: 264 mg
Protein: 9 gm

Garden-Fresh Asparagus Soup

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:07:38 -0800

The new cookbook to be released on April 20th from Eating Well "EatingWell in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook," just keeps on giving. It talks about asparagus growing 10 inches in a single day if the conditions are right. The conditions must be right near Monterey as we are blessed to have big bunches of organic asparagus grown near there every Friday at our hospital's farmers' market. The farmer says he will be there until early June. I will be there with him and hopefully so will many others. The first spring recipe in the cookbook is for a wonderful asparagus soup. It used ingredients I never would have considered in the soup like lite cocunut milk and red potatoes. But these additions made for a creamy and tasty soup. It's the season ---- try this one.

Garden-Fresh Asparagus Soup

Serves six for appetizer servings

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon curry powder, divided
1/4 teaspoon ginger (I admit that I use HEAPING amounts of these spices)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided
2 cups diced peeled red potatoes
3 cups vegetable broth or reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup "lite" coconut milk
2 cups 1/2 inch pieces of asparagus (about one big bunch)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

For the garnish

1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 cup chopped scallion greens (How cool is this? Every other recipe says to just use the white and light green parts of scallions) or chives

Melt the butter in a large soup pot, add the oil, and heat it. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the onions are golden stirring often---- this takes about 5 minutes. Stirin the curry powder, ginger, lemon zest and potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the broth, coconut milk and asparagus. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, partially cover, and continue to cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Puree the soup with the hand held immersion blender or in bathces in your regular blender. Remember to remove the central cap in the top of a blender to let the steam escape so the lid doesn't blow off. I learned to just cover the hole with a bunched up towel loosely. Also it's advisable to do this step in batches so the blender is never more than about half full. Season with remaining salt and pepper.

Whisk the nonfat sour cream, lemon juice, and chopped greens and garnish the soup with an artistic swirl. Enjoy.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 203
Fat: 13 gm
Saturated fat: 6 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 14 mg
Carbohydrate: 19 gm
Fiber: 3 gm
Sodium: 444 mg
Protein: 4 gm

Wheat Berry Salad with Red Fruit

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 10:02:01 -0800

I must admit that I have bulk food anxiety. But overcoming it is well worth it. It starts when you read a recipe that says you need to rinse whatever the main ingredient is going to be and then carefully sort out the stones. Then you go to the grocery store and start looking at the two to three layers of clear plastic bins along a wall filled with mostly earth tone things. These bins work differently at each store so it usually takes a while to figure it out. Some have scoops in a recessed compartment, but there’s usually not a scoop by the bin you want. You wonder if there will be adverse effects of using a scoop from another bin. Or there’s a handle you pull down. Don’t test it to see if that’s how your particular bin works without a bag under it. Then there are the bags. Some entire cities have banned plastic bags and fine stores for every bag used to help the environment and you are about to use one to tote your healthy bulk food. Scooping offers more control than gravity. The handle ones dispense about two pounds in two seconds. Then you have to find the “twisty” and a pen. The pens that have the spiral extension cord attached are usually out of ink. You vow you will remember the four digit number all the way to the checkout stand, but you don’t and the clerk has to ask the manager. Finally you get home and the fun begins.

This wheat berry and red fruit salad is worth it. Wheat berries are whole kernels of wheat with the outer husks removed. They are chewy and nutty. It’s a new texture and flavor I think you will like brought to you straight from "EatingWell in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook," which also features the story of Kaiser Permanente's farmers' markets.

Wheat Berry Salad with Red Fruit

Serves 6

3 cups cooked hard red winter wheat berries
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 large Fuji apple, unpeeled and diced
½ cup toasted pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3 Tablespoons raspberry vinegar
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt for cooking the wheat berries and salt and pepper to taste for the salad

Rinse 2 cups of wheat berries and discard the stones (I have never really found a stone in my bulk foods). Bring 7 cups of water plus 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Add the wheat berries, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Drain and rinse. This makes about four cups so you will have some left over.

Combine the orange juice and cranberries in a bowl and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Toast the pecan halves in a small skillet over medium heat then coarsely chop them. Mix the wheat berries, pecans, and apple in a bowl. Drain the cranberries and reserve the juice for the dressing. Mix in the cranberries.

Whisk the juice, vinegar, and olive oil together. Season the dressing with salt and pepper then toss with the wheat berry mixture. Serve on a bed of greens ---- arugula is nice here. This is a wonderfully sweet/tart dish with unexpected textures. It’s well worth working through the dreaded bulk food anxiety.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 379
Fat: 14gm
Saturated fat: 2gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 60gm
Fiber: 10 gm
Sodium: 392 mg
Protein: 9 gm

Vegetables of Choice Frittata

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:43:06 -0800

Only about 10% of Americans eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Each serving is about ½ cup. Frittatas are great way to get an extra serving for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I found some leeks and fresh asparagus at my hospital’s farmers’ market and, at the time, didn’t quite know what I was going to do with them. A frittata for a weekend breakfast turned out to be a good choice. A friend of mine is an expert with frittatas. She has one of those two sided non-stick frittata pans which I think is her favorite kitchen thing. She also suggests using a mix of whole eggs and egg whites --- like 5 whole eggs and three whites for a four serving frittata. That will keep the fat and cholesterol levels down a little without sacrificing flavor and texture. Of course, the nutritional analysis can be controlled by what you add to the eggs. Many recipes call for a lot of cheese and say things like “Goats commonly graze on the steep coastal hillsides in Liguria.” You can use just a little cheese and still have great results.

I don’t have a frittata pan so I use a 12” oven proof skillet for four eggs or a larger skillet for a four serving frittata. After the eggs are initially set, I use the broiler for a few minutes.

Vegetables of Choice Frittata

Serves 2

3 eggs and 1 egg white
12 spears of asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces, discarding the “woody” end
1 large leek, white and pale green part rinsed and sliced thinly
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Cooking spray – I used olive oil
2 ounces feta
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in an oven proof skillet. Sauté the asparagus and leeks until tender --- about five minutes. Beat the eggs and egg white. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Mix in most of the crumbled feta and the parsley. Preheat the broiler in your oven.

At this point you could just add the egg mixture to the skillet and cook it but there’s always the risk it will stick. I moved the cooked veggies to ½ of the skillet and sprayed the empty half with a non-stick cooking spray then did the other half after moving the veggies around. This actually worked fine in the end.

Add the egg mixture and let it cook until it is mostly “set” but there are still some liquid eggs on top. Distribute the remaining feta. Broil it a few minutes until it is slightly browned and fluffy. Remember to keep a hot pad on the skillet handle as a safety reminder for anyone who comes into the kitchen.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 296
Fat: 20 gm
Saturated fat: 8 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 458 mg
Carbohydrate: 12 gm
Fiber: 3 gm
Sodium: 458mg
Protein: 1 gm

Mussels and Pesto with Spaghetti

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:54:27 -0800

As mussels are one of the “Best Choice” seafoods (check out seafoodwatch.org) and reasonably inexpensive, I offer this simple and delicious version of spaghetti. They are farmed around the world but don’t get antibiotics and other bad things. Not that I wouldn’t eat spaghetti with meatballs, but this one is really good and environmentally friendly.

Mussels and Pesto with Spaghetti

Serves two

1 pound mussels, debearded and scrubbed of the little barnacle things
1 big bunch basil
1 clove garlic
1 Tablespoon pine nuts, toasted in a skillet
1 Tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Splash of dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti

Bring a pasta pot of water to a boil.

It may be easier to quadruple the pesto recipe so you can actually do it in a regular size food processor. You can freeze the leftovers. This small amount is easier in a mini-prep processor (I got one for a gift once and use it a lot). You can also just mush the ingredients using a mortar and pestle.

Process the basil leaves and garlic. Add the pine nuts and cheese. Process some more. Add 2 Tablespoons olive oil and process. Season to taste. Set aside.

Heat a skillet for about three minutes over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss in the mussels. They will sizzle. Add a big splash of white wine and cover. Cook for about three minutes. Stir the mussels so the ones not as open get to the bottom of the pan (this is theoretical --- they all looked pretty much alike so I just stirred them). Recover and cook until they are all open, about another three minutes. Drain the mussels in a colander being careful to catch the juice in a bowl underneath.

Cook the spaghetti per the instructions, drain, and divide it into warm bowls. Thin out the pesto with some of the mussel juice. Mix the pesto, mussels, and spaghetti. Serve with a big green salad.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 591
Fat: 27 gm
Saturated fat: 4 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 65 mg
Carbohydrate: 52 gm
Fiber: 4 gm
Sodium: 685mg
Protein: 37 gm

My Favorite Rainbow Chard

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:13:54 -0800

Once in awhile a dish comes along that deserves the designation of “favorite”. With rainbow chard widely available in California markets, I just had to find something good to do with it. And it’s always good to be able to find an excuse to use garlic and lemon.

My Favorite Rainbow Chard

Serves four

1 bunch rainbow chard
½ yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Rinse the chard. Remove the stems from the leaves by cutting along each side of the stem. Slice the stems crosswise into ½ inch pieces. Stack the leaves and roll them up lengthwise. Cut them crosswise into ½ wide ribbons. Zest the lemon. Now for the fun part. It’s time to sort of separate the lemon segments without getting too fussy. Cut about ½ inch off the top and bottom of the lemon so it stands up on your cutting board. Use your chef’s knife to cut down along the contour of the lemon removing what’s left of the peel after zesting and the white pith underneath. Holding the lemon over a bowl, try to cut the segments away from each other dropping them into the bowl with whatever juice drips down in the process. Squeeze the remaining pulp to capture the rest of the juice.

Heat a sauté pan for a couple of minutes. Add the oil then cook the onions, garlic, and stems with pan covered for about five minutes until they begin to soften. The stems need this extra time to be tender. Add the leaves, stir, and cover. Cook about another 10 minutes. The leaves will wilt and cook way down. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest, juice, and segments. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This makes a great side dish. It can also be topped something like sliced pan roasted chicken breast so that the meat is more of a condiment. Try this one. It’s easy and very very good.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 82
Fat: 7 gm
Saturated fat: 1 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 5 gm
Fiber: 2 gm
Sodium: 165 mg
Protein: 1 gm

Chicken Stock

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:34:09 -0800

When it finally rained all day on a weekend day in Northern California, it was a perfect day to make chicken stock which morphed into spectacular chicken noodle soup with dill and ginger. There are countless versions of chicken noodle soup the most familiar of which comes in a red and white can with lots of added sodium. Turns out that soup made with homemade stock cannot be equaled by anything out of a can.

The first step is making the stock. I used roast chicken carcasses and other chicken bones I had frozen for a rainy day. If you are going to go to the trouble to do this, make two pots worth at once. You can make a dilute stock with lots of liquid or not use as much liquid and simmer it down for a very rich and flavorful stock. The latter method sure tasted good.

Chicken Stock

Makes 10 cups

2 roast chicken carcasses plus other random bones you had frozen. I also threw in a bone-in skinless big chicken breast into each pot and used this meat for soup later. Somehow it tasted great in the soup even though it simmered forever in the stock.
6 stalks celery, sliced
2 yellow onions, diced
6 sprigs dill
2 medium carrots cut into 2 inch pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and halved
24 black peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt

Add 3 quarts water to each of two stock pots. Ad half the chicken parts to each pot plus 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil then add half the celery, onions, and dill to each pot. Return to a boil then cover and simmer for one hour. Add the half the carrots, parsnips, and peppercorns to each pot. Simmer another 2-3 hours. The amount of liquid will reduce giving you a very rich broth. Pour the stock through a colander to strain out most of the solids. Be sure to put another pot under the strainer to catch the stock. (My wife and I actually made turkey stock after a Thanksgiving dinner, poured it through a colander and watched it go down the sink.) Strain the stock again through a finer mesh strainer. Save whatever meat you want. Both pots make about 10 cups when simmered down. This is just enough for a soup recipe to follow in a few days. Chill the stock. Skim any congealed fat off the surface. Use it or freeze it.

Tortilla Soup

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:34:17 -0800

It’s rare when a family member whose opinion I totally trust calls one of my dinners “delicious” and “wonderful” 5 or 6 times in a half hour. That’s what happened with this hybrid tortilla soup. Hybrids are in so I looked at a bunch of recipes online and came up with this. It’s another great way to use the leftover chicken from one you roasted a day or two before.

Tortilla (Baked Pita) Soup

Serves 8 (make it all and freeze some for 1-2 more dinners pre-made for busy days)

Tortillas, baked or baked pita chips (Cut whole wheat pita breads into wedges, spray with olive oil spray, sprinkle with a little salt and bake at 350 degrees on baking sheet until crisp)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
½ inch jalapeño, seeded and minced (You can always add more later)
1 Tablespoon diced mild green chilies (Things that come in a can like this are usually too much for one recipe -- I freeze the leftovers in snack bags or plastic wrap in recipe size portions—maybe a tablespoon or two—I had some frozen chilies to use for this particular recipe)
2 heaping teaspoons dried oregano
2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
1 small can no added salt diced tomatoes plus juice or two tomatoes diced
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 thighs, 2 legs, 1 breast leftover roasted chicken, shredded
1 ½ cup fresh or frozen corn
Season to taste with salt and pepper
About ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro per bowl of soup --- maybe a handful before chopping
4 limes, juiced (Roll them under your palm back and forth on a cutting board before you juice them. You get more juice)
2 avocadoes, sliced (When I figure out how to load videos into this blog I will show you some really cool tricks)

In a large soup pot, heat the oil. Sauté the onion, garlic, jalapeño and mild green chilies until soft. Stir in the oregano and cumin. Add the tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the corn and simmer another 3 minutes. Season to taste.

Add to each serving bowl that has three tortilla or pita chips on the bottom the juice of half a lime. Ladle in soup. Use a generous topping of chopped cilantro --- at least ¼ cup each bowl. Top with about a ¼ of a sliced or diced avocado. More chips around the edges?

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories: 350
Fat: 15gm
Saturated fat: 3 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 44 mg
Carbohydrate: 35 gm
Fiber: 6 gm
Sodium: 299 mg
Protein: 24 gm

Leftover Chicken, Farro, and Veggies

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:22:52 -0800

This is one of those "one dish meals" that takes very little time and effort to prepare and makes good use of the leftover chicken you might already have from a recent roast chicken dinner. Farro is that ancient nutty nutritious whole grain that's quicker and easier to prepare than rice. Arugula is easy to find at a farmers' markets in season or at the grocery store. Bottled sun-dried tomatoes are easy to find. Lemons are in season and make a great vinaigrette. Focused on grain and veggies with the chicken more as a condiment, this recipe fits the new food pyramids you hear about.

Leftover Chicken, Farro, and Veggies

Serves four

1 cup farro
12 sun dried tomatoes
4 cups loosely packed arugula
8 ounces leftover chicken, shredded or cut into bite size pieces
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cover the farro wtih water in a sucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes until it is chewy tender.
Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes into 1/2 inch wide strips. Combine the garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil and whisk.
Drain the farro then toss in a large salad bowl with the arugula. Use your hands. Add the vinaigrette to a sauce pan and warm it. Add the chicken and tomatoes and heat through briefly. Toss this mixture with the farro and arugula. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Information Per Serving:
Calories: 327
Fat: 12 gm
Saturated fat: 2 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 43 mg
Carbohydrate: 32 gm
Fiber: 4gm
Sodium: 169 mg
Protein: 24 gm