Posts Tagged ‘Food’

« Older Entries

Unrecipe fo the Week

May 23, 2012

Are you looking for a healthy, tasty salad that packs a ton of flavor? Look no further.

This Kale Salad has edamame and chickpeas for protein, and dried cranberries for a sweet touch. The zesty lemon dressing ties it all together beautifully.

Cleaning the kale takes a bit of work, but one bunch yields a lot.

Lemony Kale Salad:

For the salad:

Cut the ribs out of a bunch of kale, and chiffonade* it into small, narrow pieces.

Add a handful each of fresh mint leaves and fresh basil leaves, also chiffonade cut.

Toss in about 1/2 cup each of chickpeas and steamed, shelled edamame.

Add several cherry tomatoes, sliced in half, and a large handful of dried cranberries.

For the dressing:

Mix the juice of 1 lemon with several tablespoons of olive oil. Add salt, pepper, and about 1 teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil. Mix in a garlic clove that has been pressed but not chopped. Whisk the dressing well and allow it to sit to let the flavors develop.

Toss the salad with the dressing and enjoy!

*To chiffonade: stack the leaves on top of one another and roll them up. Slice the roll into thin pieces. Gently separate the strips.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | Leave a Comment »

Unrecipe of the Week

May 14, 2012

My friend Amanda suggested that this recipe for Socca, a Middle Eastern flatbread, would be the perfect “unrecipe” for us. We just tried it, and we think she’s right!

This is adapted from Mark Bittman, who is the ultimate unrecipe chef.

Socca

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine 1 cup garbanzo flour*, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 ½ cups of water in a bowl. Whisk until smooth and cover with a towel until it is the consistency of a thick pancake batter. (This shouldn’t take much longer than it takes to heat the oven, but can be left standing for several hours.)

Add enough olive oil to lightly cover the bottom of a 12” skillet.  Add 1 shallot, finely chopped and some fresh chopped rosemary, spreading it evenly in the pan.

Put it into the hot oven, until the oil smokes and the shallots start to sizzle (a few minutes). Add the batter and return the pan to the oven for about 40 minutes, until the batter has browned and the edges become crisp.

At this point, it should be easily  release from the pan. Cut it into wedges, and enjoy!

*Garbanzo flour, or chickpea flour, can be purchased at Whole Foods Market, or any health food store or Middle Eastern food market. It is gluten free.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | Leave a Comment »

Fast Food Fiasco

April 30, 2012

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, someone comes up with something that tops it all.

Pizza Hut, reeling from its successful hot dog crust pizza, has released a cheeseburger crust pizza in the Middle East.

Dubbed the “Crown Crust Cheeseburger Pizza”, this delicacy has mini burgers set into the crust along the perimeter of the pizza, topped with melted cheese. The center of the pizza is filled with more ground beef, lettuce and tomatoes, and drizzled with “special sauce”.

Are you salivating yet? Sorry, it is only offered for a limited period of time in their Middle Eastern locations.

Good thing we just wrote about natural stomach remedies, huh?

Tags:, , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

Unrecipe of the Week

April 24, 2012

Cauliflower is an amazing vegetable. It tastes great roasted, and can masquerade as mashed potatoes. I recently started hearing about cauliflower pizza crust, and became intrigued. A little searching led to me a few recipes. This one is taken from “Eat, Drink, Smile” and adapted a bit. It is low calorie, and wheat and gluten free. It yields a soft, almost quiche-like crust that requires a fork to eat. It’s not a traditional pizza, but it is an interesting, tasty and healthy one.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cut one head of cauliflower into florets and put them into the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until it is the consistency of grain.

Place the cauliflower in a glass bowl and microwave it without adding water for about 7-8 minutes, depending on your microwave. Allow it to cool.

In a medium sized bowl, mix about 2 cups of the cauliflower with 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 eggs beaten, a finely minced clove of garlic and about ½ tablespoon each of dried oregano and dried basil and some sea salt to taste.

Cut parchment paper into circles (about 8-9”) to use as a guide to create the crusts. Place them on a cookie sheet, and spray with cooking spray. Spread the mixture onto the parchment rounds in a fairly thin, even manner. Bake the crusts for about 15 minutes or longer, taking them out before the edges get too brown.

Add the toppings of you choice. I used a chunky tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese, and added pepperoni for those who desired it,and sprinkled it with chopped arugula when it was done.

Put it back into the oven under the broiler for a few minutes, until the toppings are hot and bubbling.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Photo: Spencer Jones/ Glasshouse Images exclusively for Indigo Jones

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Unrecipe of the Week

April 19, 2012

I love to cook. I am confident and intuitive in the kitchen, and I don’t need to rely on a recipe to make a wonderful meal. Except when I want to hard boil eggs.

Go ahead and Google “how to make a hard-boiled egg” and you will get many different answers, ranging from 9-17 minutes. Some add vinegar or salt to the water, others don’t. After a little trial and error, here is my  fool-proof method:

Fool-Proof Hard Boiled Eggs:

Place large eggs in a small pot, and cover them with cold water. Set the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down so the water is gently simmering,and cover the pot. Cook for 10 minutes.

When the eggs are done, run cold water into the pot (with the cooking water still in it) to start the cooling process. Peel and enjoy!

WikiHow has an interesting way of telling if the eggs are done or not: Whirl the egg on a table or countertop. If the egg spins quickly and evenly, it is hard-boiled. If it spins slowly and wobbles off to one side, it is soft-boiled.

photo: Glasshouse Images

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | Leave a Comment »

Unrecipe of the Week: Easter-over

April 8, 2012

Today we are celebrating “Easter-over”, a non-denominational hybrid of Passover and Easter. The beginning of the meal features classic matzoh ball soup, leading up to a salad of mache and figs, herb roasted leg of lamb, roasted new potatoes and vegetables, and ending with an array of Passover desserts.

This year, in addition to the sponge cake, made from my grandmother’s recipe and cooled upside down on a glass bottle, there are homemade coconut macaroons with a tiny chocolate center, and chocolate matzo brittle.

Matzo brittle is a fairly recent concoction, and not the type of thing I would normally make. I balk at things that start with processed ingredients, and with no disrespect to our state’s acting first lady, the idea of “Semi-Homemade” is unappealing. Yet, something made me want to try this one, and I am glad I did!
It is easy, yet a little messy, and absolutely addictive, regardless of what your heritage might be!

Matzo Brittle

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Cover 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil, including the edges.( you will thank me for this later) and then lay a piece of parchment paper on each pan.

Lay out sheets of plain matzo, using broken pieces to fill any gaps.

In a heavy sauce pan, melt 2 sticks of butter, and 1 cup of brown sugar, stirring until melted together. Allow the mixture to bubble up for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove it from the pan and pour it over the matzo, covering each piece evenly.

Put the pans in the oven, and bake for about 15 minutes. The mixture will bubble up.

Remove the pans from the oven, and sprinkle each one with a bag of chocolate chips. Pop back in the oven for about 5 minutes, and then use a spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the matzo.

Allow to cool, and then break into pieces.

Try not to taste it, or there won’t be any left for the guests.

To all of our readers around the world,Happy Easter-over! May you enjoy a wonderful celebration of the Spring season surrounded by friends and loved ones.

Enjoy!

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | Leave a Comment »

Eating Religiously

April 6, 2012

Several weeks ago, as my Trader Joe’s “Sweet, Savory and Tart Trek Mix” addiction was reeling out of control, I discovered it was Lent.  While I am not Catholic, and honestly couldn’t tell you anything about the significance of the occasion, I did know that it involved giving up something you enjoy until Easter, and I loves me some good trek mix!

Always one for a challenge, or in this case an intervention, I tossed the last of it in the trash and decided to do without it for awhile. (Before the food waste followers gasp in horror, if truth be told, the bag was nearly empty!)

Tonight marks the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover, where one is expected to do without flour products for 8 days in remembrance of the Jews’ escape from Egypt, where the bread did not have time to rise. I am not certain what that has to do with cookies and pasta which are relatively flat, but since the rules were established centuries ago, let’s just roll with it.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, now is a great time to take a break and go gluten free for 8 days. If you don’t fill up on all kinds of “replacement” foods, and just forego the bread, cake, pasta and cookies, it’s highly likely you will lose weight.
If you are like me, you will also lose that bloated belly, and gain energy.

So consider yourself challenged: Try to spend the next 8 days, “passing-over” refined carbs and eat only whole foods that have not been processed, preserved or packaged.

If your body really is your temple, it will thank you!

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | 4 Comments »

Unrecipe of the Week: Waste Case Edition

April 1, 2012

In the spirit of avoiding food waste, I saved last night’s sauteed kale with shallots and converted it into a pesto topping for salmon.

It was a small amount; exactly the amount I would have tossed out a week ago, since it wasn’t really enough for another meal. Being conscious of food waste, I became creative with my leftovers and found a way to enhance our meal with something that was already there.

It’s easy to take almost any strong flavored green vegetable and make it into pesto. I have used broccoli rabe and spinach in the past, as an alternative to the traditional basil.

Tonight, I put 1/2 a garlic clove ( remember it was a tiny amount of kale) and a tiny handful of pistachio nuts into the food processor, with some parmesan cheese and the kale. I added a little drizzle of olive oil to thin it down, until it became a thick paste.

After broiling the salmon for a few minutes, I spread the pesto mixture over it, and cooked it for a couple more minutes.

It was flavorful and added a nice and healthy touch to a menu staple that we eat several times per week.

What do you have on hand that you can use to make a mundane meal more interesting?

Here is recipe for a more traditional take on pesto. Use it as a guide to make your own innovative variations, based on what you have on hand.

Traditional Pesto:

1 bunch of basil leaves (about 2 cups)

2 garlic cloves

1/3 cup pignoli nuts* ( or walnuts)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup olive oil (or more if needed)

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Put the basil, garlic and nuts into the food processor,and process until finely chopped.

With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil into the bowl until the mixture forms a thick paste. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If serving over pasta, heat sauce in a pan until warm . If necessary, add a little of the pasta cooking water to thin it down. If you like a creamier texture, add a little heavy cream tot the sauce. Toss with the hot pasta and enjoy!

photo: Glasshouse Images

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | 3 Comments »

Waste Case Project: Weekend Wrap-Up

March 31, 2012

The week is coming to an end, and the Waste Case Project diary is coming to a close.
As a grand finale in using my food to the fullest, I had the chicken stock I made last night with a bit of shredded chicken and diced carrots for lunch, bringing the meal toll for one lowly little roasted chicken up to 6!

Tonight, a little celebratory take-out and a glass of wine (which somehow never goes to waste around our house) while I reminisce about the project…

The week has been an eye-opener. Here are a few of the big take-aways from my experience:

1. Consciousness is half the battle. I knew we were wasting food, but never really thought about how much we were tossing out needlessly. The idea that others are starving and we are lucky enough to live where food is plentiful and accessible, is a gift which should not be taken for granted. Thinking about the issue inspired me to find ways to decrease our food waste.

2. Taking inventory of exactly what you have laying around that is still fresh and usable is the key to avoiding waste. Planning around those items, instead of starting fresh every day, makes a huge difference in what gets eaten and what gets tossed out.

3.Proper wrapping and storing of food makes a big difference in it’s taste and freshness. Leaving the seed in the leftover avocado and wrapping it well, and drying the washed lettuce and rolling it in a paper towel before bagging it are just examples of how I increased the shelf life of our food.

4. Shoving food down your throat so it “doesn’t go to waste” is worse than throwing it in the dumpster. Eating excess food  and stuffing yourself leads to weight gain and health issues. If you have to choose between your food “going to waste and going to your waist” I choose the former every time.

5. Leftovers can be boring. Just reheating last night’s dinner held very little appeal for me. Up-cycling last night’s dinner was an interesting challenge. I could reinvent that roasted chicken in 100 different ways, yet I rarely tried. Now I know that a roasted chicken means at least 2 dinners, not one. The creativity will come in the second night.

5. Nobody is perfect. There will be food that goes to waste. But, just because this experiment is over, it doesn’t mean we will go back to our old ways. I will be a conscious shopper and chef, now that I have seen what a difference a little planning can make.

6. The only thing more frightening to your husband than the thought that his wife will turn into her mother, is the fear that she will turn into his mother. My mother in law would save a bread crust in the hopes that someone would eat it. She kept everything way too long and thought the freezer was a cryogenic crypt that preserved things for perpetuity. While there is definitely a limit to my food scrap hoarding, she was definitely on to something! Know when to say when. and if it seems at all ‘iffy” I say toss it, rather than risk illness.

7. Indigo Jones readers are loyal and loved having something to follow everyday. I promise to find something new to pique your interest, and post more often, even if it’s just a little tidbit that your might find of interest.
Thanks for joining me on this journey !

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Food | 2 Comments »

Waste Case Project: Day 5

March 30, 2012

I am starting to get the hang of this! Tonight, I only spent $5.99 at the grocery store, vs. the usual $40 or so.

I used all the lettuce I washed and chopped yesterday,( the arugula hung in there one more day!) part of the avocado from Tuesday (which kept surprisingly well when stored properly), some cheese I had on hand, some of last night’s roasted  chicken and a chunk of green apple that has been sitting around feeling lonely in a basket in the kitchen. I tossed it in some olive oil and  aged balsamic vinegar and  ”Viola!” a great dinner salad using all leftovers…woo hoo!

The others had the chicken shredded and cooked with bar-b-que sauce on whole wheat buns with potato chips; my 2 purchased items for the day. Bailey had the rest of my apple and some yogurt, and Spencer put the last of the avocado on his sandwich, and shared my salad as a side dish.

The remnants of the chicken are now simmering in a pot, with yesterday’s onion and 2 carrots, accompanied by some parsley I discovered in the produce drawer (score!). It won’t yield much, but a few cups of chicken stock can always be popped into the freezer and used anytime a recipe calls for it.

My husband likened me to a “depression era housewife” which is fodder for a whole other blog post, but he has a point. We need to start thinking of food as a precious commodity, and use it to it’s fullest. Today I learned to plan around what I had that was fresh and usable, and buy around it if necessary. If I wasn’t trying to please a picky eater, I wouldn’t have needed to purchase anything to make a fresh, nutritious and tasty meal.

Tomorrow’s challenge: What’s for dinner? The produce and meat is gone, so our next meal starts with a clean slate. Although I might be able to use that chicken stock for something….

photo: Glasshouse Images

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in Food | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.