Vichysoisse, Chat

Oh, today is good. These are some of T's favorite things.

Broccoli Rabe, steamed. Sauteed pepper medley with red, yellow and poblano, garlic and ginger, stir fried in sesame oil. Sliced avocado. Chicken Chat.

The Chat was a favorite in NYC, where we had a place in the neighborhood that rocked. Here we're lucky enough to have a friend who is the goddess of chicken tikka. We have regular pot luck dinners with international themes, and I had some of her dreamy chicken tikka in the freezer. We had it for dinner last night, and I cut some up for the chat today. You could use any chicken, cook it with some cumin and garam masala, or just add those to already cooked chicken. Recipe to follow.

I also made some vichysoisse for dinner last night. It's a leek soup with potato and a little milk, served very, very cold, often over ice in fact. Perfect for when things really heat up. To keep it chilly I plunked an ice cube into it for T's lunch, put some chives on top, and it was ready to pack. This is from the recipe in The New Joy of Cooking with the 1 T of butter option, vegetable stock, and used milk, not cream. It is so good and cool I even had it for breakfast today.

It would be cinchy to veganize. Walnut oil and almond milk or a tablespoon of raw almond butter would be my picks. You'll have to reconcile the nightshade-without-dairy conundrum for yourself though.

Chicken Chat

1 small granny smith apple, cubed
cubed chicken to equal the amount of apple
chopped onion to taste, usually several slices
chopped tomato to taste, usually equal to the onion
chopped cilantro leaves
2 or 3 T lime juice, lemon juice or naranja agria (sour orange juice, available in Latin groceries)
1 T sesame oil (not the tasty roasted kind, just plain)
1/2 t peeled, chopped ginger
1/2 sliced serrano chili with seeds, optional for heat
several dashes of salt

If chicken is plain, add 1/2 t garam masala, 1/4 t cumin powder or seeds, 1/4 t coriander powder or cook the chicken with a proportionate mixture of this sprinkled on top, and fresh garlic and ginger

Apparently the secret to the tikka is powdered green mango which tenderizes the meat and makes it tangy. We've been talking about making some. You could marinate in lemon juice and water for about ten minutes, pour off, then season and cook.

You could make this with some good Indonesian tempeh and have knock your socks off vegan.

Artichoke Sausage & Spinach Pie

Today we've got Mediterranean flavor.

(The photo is over exposed, but until I can either photograph at dawn or have a serious lighting set up, that's going to happen sometimes! Alas, I'm not a photographer...)

Spinach pie (the low fat kind from Costco), low fat artichoke and smoked chicken sausages, super-fast cous cous with a little olive oil and lemon juice, Caesar salad with grapes and orange pepper, and I stole one of the little chocolate puddings from the kids for Daddy.

Ham Roll Ups

Today we have two big whole wheat & ham roll ups with low fat mayo, some of Mom's yummy eggplant, tomato, low fat ricotta and Italian cheese bake in the roll up, and romano lettuce.

Steamed broccoli (do you have a microwave steamer yet?), granny smith apple rubbed with lemon, and grapes.

You could make this vegetarian by skipping the ham.

Souffle

This actually is today's lunch. I can't say it was a particularly large lunch, but T was quite happy with the souffle.

Parmesan Souffle, sauteed yellow squash, stir fried asparagus with lemon, eggplant baked with tomatoes, low fat ricotta and mixed Italian cheezes (and plenty of garlic).

Don't chuckle about the souffle. It's so much easier than you've been led to believe.

The reason we think it's hard is because restaurants can't do it. They can't do it because it requires last minute beating of egg whites and they don't want to deal with that in the kitchen. If beating egg whites is just too hard, then forget it, but for most people, especially guys, this is a cinch. Remember, this is farmer's food. Truly. Have a good, clean whisk and go for it.

There are only three things to remember with eggwhites: the bowl and whisk must be completely free of oil and yolk, it's easier with a tall-sided bowl and a big whisk, it must be done right before you mix and cook.

It's a bechamel. You've had this as a base for your milk gravy, or mac and cheese. It's just oil and flour in equal parts sauteed to cook the flour. This keeps it from making lumps when you add cold liquid.

I doubled the recipe in The New Joy of Cooking. I cheated and used 4 T of butter and 6 T of flour because a thicker sauce is better for this. The New Joy has good technique, but I'd never use warm liquid. I warmed half the measure with the 2-3 T minced onion, 2 cloves and 1 bay leaf till the onion was soft, strained it and put it in the freezer when it was done, then mixed it with the remaining measure of milk from the fridge when it was time. I also left the minced onion (I was out of shallots) in the pan, threw in the butter and flour, sauteed, then poured in the 2 1/2 cups milk and whisked till it was thick.

While that cooled I separated the eggs, shredded the Swiss and measured the grated Parmesan (any combo you like), and also buttered the souffle molds and sprinkled them with Parm to coat.

By this time the bechamel had cooled, I whisked in the 6 egg yolks one at a time, added the 2 1/2 cups cheese, dash of nutmeg and 1 t salt, and turned on the oven to 375. Cleaned the whisk, beat the whites, stirred some into the bechamel mixture roughly then carefully folded the rest, poured, baked, puffed, ate! They were lovely. It took about 40 minutes. Of course they fall very quickly, but are no less delicious, and it makes left over souffle easier to pack. If you reheat a slice, do it in the toaster oven, like toast, but it's just as nice cold.

Light Summer Lunch

BLT with low fat turkey bacon, mayo and red onion. T really loved this.

Mesclun with blueberries and honey key lime dressing.

Cheese tri-color tortellini with grated parmesan.

Boiled firm tofu with tahini and tamari.

Mustard greens, beets, quinoa. (What on earth is quinoa? Technical info, and the short version with recipes.)

Cherries.

Shrimp & Sausage

There was a taste-test meal plan at the grocery store (Publix) involving Shrimp and Smoked Sausage, Okra, and Rice. That had been dinner. I made jasmine rice instead, did the okra without tomatoes and added garlic, and I made a sauce for the meat, which I stir fried, using honey, apricot fruit-only jam, white wine, and a dash of tamari.

I topped all this off with steamed collard greens, chick peas, yams, tempeh cooked in cabbage and sauerkraut, and a salad with grapes, tomatoes, sunflower and hemp seeds with a balsamic dressing. Little Afrika chocolate cookies topped it off.

Macro Lunch

Photos of macrobiotic meals never do the flavors justice. This was really so delicious! All the main recipes are from Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook.

There is barley and shitake mushroom congee, tempeh cooked in sauerkraut and purple cabbage, mustard greens, arame and sunflower seeds, and apple, currant and lemon kuzu. The kuzu is more tart than sweet, and very refreshing. T packed the extra container. I guess he liked it!

The salad is greens with a left over falafel and tahini sauce, red pepper and a piece of yam. The red pepper is not macrobiotic, but it looks pretty.

T's comment: "It's delicious. So clean!"