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!"

Back On The Horse

This blog is getting off the ground in fits and starts. I'm posting the following meals long after the fact on the premise that late is better than never. I made them individual for the sake of keywords.

Motto #1: We have to live in the world!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These have some healthier ingredients, for what it's worth. I'm inclined to think every little bit counts. They also have half the sugar, which really makes a difference. They're definitely sweet enough without it.

1 c. Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 c. unbleached white flour
1 1/4 c. rolled oats, Bob's are really good, Quaker will do (not instant!)
1/3 c. oat bran
1 t. aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 t. mineral sea salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. high quality vanilla (like Mexican, or Madagascar Bourbon)
2 c. Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl whisk the flours, soda and salt together. In a larger bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed mixture. Mix the dry into the wet, then fold in the chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes for chewy, 11 minutes for crunchy. Remove from the sheet to cool on a rack or flat plate. Store in an airtight container.

Falafel, Cookies

Know thy customer.

Mine is much less likely to eat an apple whole. If I cut it up, it goes in. I suspect old Rugby tooth injuries from school days.

He also must have chocolate, or at least something sweet. I try to make that thing contain at least one or two "healthy" ingredients. These are chocolate chip cookies. (Recipe to follow in another post).

After that, the rule is to have plenty.

I baked the falafel, steamed the orange cauliflower (pretty!) and yam, briefly toasted the whole wheat pita, used red leaf lettuce and some red peppers. Tomatoes would be good, but I didn't have any. I don't tend to buy them because I'm allergic.

The third container has some big chunks of chicken, wild rice and peas (frozen and thrown in at the last minute). I cooked the chicken as part of making a stock, so it was handy, but any would do. It would be good over some white or brown rice, too.

Snapper, Black Beans

The secret of a good lunch is often in the previous night's dinner. (And the secret to good photography is lighting, which I can't focus on in the morning rush. For now.)

Some broiled filet of snapper on mesclun with asparagus and honey key lime dressing wouldn't be as likely if the snapper hadn't been cooked the night before. The same is true of the black beans and rice. The berry cobbler is easy enough to make with berries, maple syrup, a little kuzu or cornstarch, and some pie crust. Or buy one for fun, but know your fat won't be as good and the sweetener will be white sugar.

The fast version: saute some fish in a skillet with olive oil, lime juice and garlic, use canned Cuban black beans over some already cooked rice (you could even use instant. Heat left over rice briefly or it will be crunchy and not good), and throw a yam in the microwave for five or ten minutes. I happened to have some steamed spaghetti squash, too. This is another easy microwave item. Skip the asparagus, or throw it in the skillet with the fish (at the end).

When I make black bean soup, I put the soaked, rinsed black beans in the slow cooker with a bay leaf or two, several cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half, and several pieces of smoked turkey parts. Over night on low is ideal and it can be packed hot in a thermos. Garnish with lime juice, check the salt, add raw onions, peppers, tomato, avocado, cilantro, cheese if you like.

A Lunch At Home

This was one at home, yesterday. It would pack easily, though, and reheat well.

Broccoli, steamed. Corn, boiled on cob exactly four minutes and cut off when cool enough. Cabbage, sliced and sauteed at medium high heat in EV Olive Oil with water as needed.

But what are the festive doodley-whoppers? They're Bean Croquettes adapted from Vegan Planet. She has them with canned black beans, but I used what we had, which were pretty well cooked aduki beans, drained. I replaced her shallots with red onion and a clove of garlic, kept the parsley, but switched her bread crumbs with oatmeal and a little oat bran. I contemplated replacing the potatoes with yam, and next time I may. I think some scallions would also be good. Also, I baked mine, she fries hers.

On top is a couli of red peppers, purple onions, a touch of garlic and some lemon juice, all sauteed, then run through the food processor, which was out anyway because of the croquettes.

Lemon can be drizzled over everything but the corn. This was all awesome at dinner the night before, when we had kabocha squash as well. The baked croquettes are not storing as well as I'd like them to, but I'm willing to bet that a reheat involving frying in good oil would restore them beautifully.

The lunch was filling and satisfying. We started with a mushroom soup, and ended with maple sweetened Sun Drop oat cookies. Those were a hit, so I'll post the recipe soon.

Brief Hiatus

T was home last week and is out of town this week, so posting is exceedingly unlikely. As soon as he's back in production, I will be too! Thanks for visiting!

Coconut Rice & Lunch In A Pinch

Yesterday baby fever = Mom making ham, egg & cheese sandwiches, packing a little English fruit cake and a peeled tangerine.

For the rest of this week we're all home between production phases. That means lunch at home, but no less food, so I'll still be posting.

Today we're doing Indian leftovers. Coconut rice, tandoori chicken, saag panir (that's the spinach and cheese dish, we got it at Wild Oats). I'm not sure what else. This would be totally packable either in a sectioned container or an all-in-one with the rice on the bottom.

Coconut rice is easy and incredibly delicious.

Use jasmine rice, white or brown. Replace water with coconut milk (not cream) found in the Asian or Latin sections of the grocery store. Add a little extra water to account for fat and solids taking up some of the measure. We use a large microwave rice steamer (found at Walmart) and make 5 1/4 c. milk, 3 3/4 c. rice and 1/2 c. water. You can't really mess it up too horribly. It will have solids on top and be quite stiff when done. It requires serious stirring. It's great with beans, meat, veggies. Everyone loves it!

Important! If you're packing it in a lunch you need to reheat it briefly with a bit of water. Again, I do this in the microwave. If you don't do this, it will be crunchy and gross. This is true of all rice packed in a lunch.

TGIF

I still have to work out some kinks regarding photography, light, and the morning rush. It's an interesting learning curve.

We make the lunches assuming T will eat some right away. Yesterday that was the Stromboli. Today he'll eat the almond butter and banana sandwich first, no doubt.

The overexposed redleaf salad has roasted chicken breast with garlic, tomato, peppers, grapes, carrots, raspberry vinaigrette and Mom's has celery where T's pasta goes.

Yesterday T was so full of Stromboli and Chili he didn't finish his salad, partly because he didn't have time. I'm thinking something with the salad in it would be good. Pita sandwiches and wraps probably. But then we'll need muffins or something to get him his carbs. I can't see him complaining about muffins. It's easy to sneak veggies into them, too.

He gets two ham sandwiches on whole wheat, Mom gets one with lowfat mayo. She may or may not eat the chicken salad and the sandwich, depending on how late they work today.

Tangerines, Milanos for T, and Bob's your uncle.

I did steam some chopped kale, but totally forgot about it, so the kids and I can have that today instead of salad. I like to steam it three minutes in the microwave steamer (stinky!) and dress it like a salad. It's good with an Asian dressing, or just some sesame oil and umeboshi plum vinegar, or even just lime juice, salt and olive oil once it's steamed. It's exceptional sauted with chunks of garlic in olive oil. We don't do the whole southern boil-to-death thing.

White Bean Chili

You'll need a slow cooker to do it easily and well, but it can be done stove top with a good pot that doesn't burn and a little attention to water levels.

Beans are outrageously good for you and really delicious. Make this with or without the hot stuff, with or without the meat (you could sub tempeh or seasoned tofu). Make it yours.

• 1 large bag navy beans, cannellini, or a mix of each (approx. 2 lbs.), picked for rocks, washed, soaked for 6 - 12 hours and drained
  
• 4 - 8 cloves garlic, whole or roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 t marjoram
  
• smoked turkey parts, usually neck or wing, 1 - 3 pieces to taste
• 1/2 lb. chicken breast or ground turkey
• 4 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• 2 - 3 poblano peppers, cut in chunks or strips the long way, don't worry about a few seeds
  
• 1 - 2 serrano peppers, cut in disks, with seeds
• 5 - 7 leaves fresh broad-leaf oregano, sometimes called Cuban oregano, cut into strips across the vein (chiffonade) or quadruple that for European oregano and leave whole. Don't bother with dry. You could even use a little fresh thyme instead.
  
• 1 T cumin seed, or 2 t ground cumin
• ancho chili powder to taste, if desired (it's really hot and delicious)
• 1/2 cup tomatillo sauce or canned tomatillos with the juice of 1/2 lime
• garnish with any of the following: cilantro leaves, lime, Pukka sauce, salt, avocado, cheese, blue corn tortilla chips, chopped tomato, chopped yellow or purple onion, pico de gallo, sunflower sprouts, scallions, sour cream. I've even heard some like it with sauerkraut! (Be sure the only ingredients are cabbage and salt, like this one)
  
• a health conscious but less purist recipe adds baby carrots to the cooking and chopped kale at the end, delicious!

Put the beans, garlic, marjoram, bay leaves and fresh water into the pot or slow cooker on high.

Saute the poultry in the olive oil, add the cumin and ancho (if using), set aside when done.

Saute the peppers in a splash of oil, and don't molest them! Let them roast and brown before you stir. You'll probably cough and make everyone choke and laugh. This is a good thing. They're done when they're browned and stray seeds are crispy looking. Set aside.

After the beans have been bubbling for an hour (or all day), add the smoked turkey pieces and carrots (if using). Take out the bay leaves. Add the meat, the peppers, the tomatillo sauce, simmer for at least ten minutes or another hour or two. Remove turkey parts when the carrots are soft.

Check the salt and add sea salt if needed.

It will be hot enough to cook the chopped kale directly in the bowl. Garnish the top as desired. You could also put brown rice in the bowl, or have whole grain tortillas, or make burritos. Burritos would freeze nicely.

Remember, if you have issues with beans and gas, don't eat anything sweet for an hour. Not yams, not a TicTac, not anything. After that go right ahead. Try it.

Stromboli

Witness the glory of my beautiful stromboli! And I figured out the camera! And it wasn't raining!

It was made using dough from the bread machine, turkey, Havarti, garlic, onions, Cubanito peppers and Caesar salad dressing.

It occurs to me a Cuban version would be good, as would a roasted veggie with rosemary one. Maybe with mozzarella. Maybe a touch of prosciuto.

Lunch got away from me today before I figured out the camera. It consisted of a thermos of White Bean and Turkey Chili with kale, poblanos, lime juice, Pukka sauce, and a slice of Swiss. Also a red leaf salad with tomatoes, green grapes and Annie's Naturals Raspberry Vinaigrette. More grapes, a few carrots, a couple of Milano cookies, several slices of stromboli, and a little leftover pasta alfredo filled in the box, plus a honey tangerine.

You Gotta Start Somewhere

We're on a new lunch kick. We own a young decorative painting company, and my mother and husband still do the lion's share of the production. In an effort to save money and improve our health we've started them packing. This blog is the story.