Food Friday - It's Eat Your Veggies Day!!

from Tracey G.

This week's recipes just kind of happened when Kris and I were talking food. I'd just sent her a text saying I seemed to be on a broccoli kick - which isn't a stretch since it's one of my all-time favorite vegetables. There really isn't a vegetable I don't like - the one exception that comes to mind is okra. I just can't do okra. Nope. Don't care, not my thing, I know lots of people who do like it and that's ok! I do not harbor any okra-eating prejudices at all!! It's just not for me...

But anyway, we got talking about broccoli, because I was going on how I like it because it's a great side dish to make in these days of watching what I'm eating, and it's one thing I don't have to worry about watching! Granted, my from-childhood way to eat it is (warm or cold, no matter to me) with red wine vinegar, olive oil and some salt. Bar none, that is my go-to way to eat it and cauliflower actually. (And it makes canned spinach and canned asparagus pretty yummy as well, I LOVED both as a kid because of it!) It even works in my mindful eating plan, since extra virgin olive oil packs a lot flavor even in the teensiest drizzle to give me that "comfort food" feel! 

But I was wanting something a little different for the heck of it. I'd made a yummy new recipe a couple weeks ago, "Asian Orange Beef". The sauce included fresh ginger, orange juice, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. I'd made broccoli to go along with it and discovered my broccoli tasted pretty darn good dipped in the extra sauce. That led me to today's recipe.  I found one to use as a jumping off point and then put my own spin on it. I also wanted a recipe I could use frozen broccoli with because it's certainly NOT broccoli season around here, and even when it is - the stuff in my stores is always terrible looking, so I depend a LOT on frozen broccoli florets, and that's what I wanted to work with!

Asian Inspired Broccoli

Serves 2 (feel free to double or triple etc)

3-4 cups frozen broccoli, thawed

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp canola oil

1/4 cup water + 2 tbsp, divided

3 tsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon peel

1/8 - 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the broccoli, ginger and garlic, add the 1/4 cup water. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp tender and water cooks down to about half. Add the hoisin sauce and extra 2 tbsp water if needed. Cook and stir until broccoli is evenly coated. Before serving, toss with the 1 tsp of lemon juice (or you can add more to your taste, I just liked the "hint" of lemon flavor). Garnish with the lemon peel and red pepper flakes. 

from Kris B.

Broccoli!  I love broccoli!  Therefore writing a recipe with broccoli should be easy because it is my favorite green vegetable and we eat it all the time.  The problem is that when 
I make it as a dinner side, all I do is coat it in a little olive oil, sprinkle it with pepper and maybe a little salt or garlic salt and throw it in the oven to roast for 15-20 minutes.  If we are being fancy, I may grate a little fresh Parmesan cheese on the top right before serving.  That’s it.  And I feel like I could eat broccoli in ad infinitum prepared just like this.  The problem here is that basic roasted broccoli doesn’t seem like enough “recipe” for today’s post.  So, for my contribution this week, I actually turned to a searching for a new recipe, a new way to enjoy my favorite green vegetable.

I discovered lots of variations on the broccoli slaw theme.  I make and enjoy a few such recipes, but almost everyone has a favorite along these lines.  I also found a good number of recipes with broccoli and pasta or grains.  Again, they sounded good, but were nothing substantially different than I do myself.  And then I found today;s recipe.

I already said that I love broccoli.  Sweet potatoes are also a personal favorite.  And we all know how I feel about bread.  And a few nuts and a little spice and it should be good.  Nonetheless, I found myself hearing a mantra that I used to say to my children, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”  Just because I can make a spiced sweet potato spread, spread it on a piece of toast, and then top all of that with broccoli doesn’t necessarily mean that I should do that, or expect it to be good.  The clincher to me giving in and trying this recipe was that it calls for fresh basil. Last week Weber said to me that we needed to find something to do with basil because the basil plants in our garden are getting huge.  I considered that a sign and committed to giving this seemingly strange but potentially good combination a try.  The original recipe is from the February 2014 bon appetit.

The Spiced Sweet Potato and Roasted Broccoli Toast is relatively easy to make, especially because both the sweet potatoes and broccoli can be made up to three days in advance of serving, leaving just the toasting of the bread and assembling to be done at the point that you are ready to serve these.

We ate these as an afternoon snack.  They also make a would make a great appetizer or perhaps even lunch.  Weber said that they are quite filling.

I won’t deny that the combination is a little odd, but it is a good kind of odd.  And, these are a reasonably healthy food choice whether eaten as a snack, appetizer or as a meal.

INGREDIENTS

For the Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1 large sweet potato (approx. 12 oz.) peeled and cut into  1” cubes

1 red Thai chile (optional), halved, some seeds removed

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Broccoli

1 Large head of broccoli, stems removed  and cut into large florets

6 TBS olive oil

2 TBS chopped raw pistachios

1 TBS (or more) lemon juice

1 TBS fresh basil, divided

1 TBS fresh mint, divided

4 slices of crusty  bread

Olive oil to coat bread

Flaky sea salt

Combine the sweet potato, chile, orange juice and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan; season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and then simmer until the sweet potato is very soft and the liquid has evaporated (20-25 minutes).  Remove from heat and mash.  Let cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss broccoli and 2 TBS olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender (15-20 minutes).  Let cool and then coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, brush both sides of the bread with olive oil.  Toast on a baking sheet until golden brown (6-8 minutes).  Toss broccoli, nuts, lemon juice, half of the basil and mint, and 4 TBS olive oil in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

Spread toasts with sweet potato, top with broccoli mixture and remaining basil and mint, and sprinkle with sea salt.  

Cut into pieces.

That is the recipe as it originally appeared.  Here are the changes that I made:

• I used sliced almonds instead of pistachios.
• I did not toss the broccoli with the extra 2 TBS of olive oil when combining it with the basil and mint.
• I added all of the basil and mint to the broccoli rather than saving some for garnish.  I still could have used more in the broccoli.
• I did not garnish with the salt or use as much salt during the preparation.
• If you want a little hot but don't have a Thai chile, toss a few red pepper flakes in with the broccoli rather than the sweet potatoes.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to know your thoughts - good, bad , or otherwise.

Food Friday - Veggies, Please!

from Tracey G.

This week the snow is finally starting to melt and I'm starting to want more fair weather foods - or at least things that remind me that summer and lovely weather isn't too far away! This salad is one of my favorites and it's so super simple it ought to be a crime! Not even sure anymore where I found the original recipe, but I do know that I have added and subtracted here and there to suit my taste. It's like a super quick refrigerator pickle in way, but very lightly pickled so that it's still a salad and not an actual pickle! Whenever I make anything with Buffalo Sauce (like my favorite chicken cutlets), this salad goes on the side, it tempers the spicy heat nicely!

I use English cucumbers because I love the little to no seed aspect, and you don't need to peel them, thus saving time. Not to mention, just a quick rinse is all that's needed, since they are usually individually wrapped in the grocery. 

This salad also comes together super quick, another thing I absolutely love about it, plus you could add things if you like - green or any kind of onion sliced thin would be nice, I think. Simple and yummy - what else could you ask for?

Cucumber Salad

(about 4-5 servings)

4 cups thinly sliced, quartered cucumber

2  tsp minced fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley

Dressing:

1/4-1/2 cup sugar (depends on your taste, I use 1/2 usually)

4 tbsp water

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp salt

Combine dressing ingredients in serving bowl, whisk well until sugar is dissolved. Add cucumbers and parsley, toss to coat. Let stand for awhile or serve immediately. Serve with a slotted spoon. 

from Kris B.

Pizza  is often one of those dinner suggestions made at the end of a long day or week and it usually involves a phone call to the local pizza delivery shop, not a trip to the kitchen.  As much as I like someone else to do the cooking on such evenings, homemade pizza is so much better than that which is commercially made.  The problem with wanting homemade pizza at the last minute is the crust.  There is no getting around the fact that making pizza crust takes time.

The truth is that the recipe that I am sharing this week isn't really about the pizza crust, but about the toppings. Though if you are interested, I use the recipe from Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois's book Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day.  If, like me, you are a bread lover, their method is a great way to enjoy homemade bread every day without spending a great deal of time every day in its preparation.  If pizza dough making is not your thing, just buy a pre-made crust at the grocery store.  It will work just fine.  Like I said, this is about the toppings.

In addition to bread, I do like vegetables.  I just don't care for the mixture of veggies that are offered on commercially made veggie pizzas, especially olives.  There are lots of foods that I "don't care for," but will eat and there are a very few that I just can't eat under any circumstances.  Olives, black or green, fall into the latter group  By the time you remove the olives and then the mushrooms, which fall into the don't care for category but will eat in a pinch, most veggie pizzas are then left with only peppers and onions.  Those two alone don't really constitute a "veggie" pizza.  It is my quirky pizza veggie preferences that led me to experiment with other vegetables as pizza toppings.

This combination is one of my favorites - traditional white pizza with shaved asparagus.  Because my pizza stone is rectangular, so are my pizzas, more or less.  Lol! They usually end up being about 12'x14'.

INGREDIENTS
Pizza crust of your choice
Olive oil

For the white pizza sauce:
   2 cups ricotta cheese
   2-3 cloves garlic, minced
   1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
    salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
   red onion, thinly sliced (about half of a medium onion)
   shaved asparagus (8 stalks give or take)
   mozzarella cheese
   red pepper flakes, optional

Slice the onion.  For the shaved asparagus, wash and then trim the ends.  Using a vegetable peeler, "peel" the asparagus just like you would a carrot.  Peel from all sides of the stalk.

Heat oven to 500 degrees.  If you have a pizza stone, heat it in the oven as well.  If not, you can bake your pizza on a sheet pan.  Once your dough is ready to go, place it on an appropriately sized pan or a pizza peel generously covered with corn meal.  (This helps it to slide from the peel onto the oven stone.)  Brush the dough with a thin layer of olive oil.

Mix together the ricotta cheese, minced garlic, Parmesan cheese, and salt an pepper to create the white sauce.  Spread this evenly over your dough leaving about an inch of dough exposed around the edges.

Top the white sauce with a layer of mozzarella cheese then the asparagus, onions, and ref pepper flakes.  Finish with another layer of the mozzarella cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and is a bubbly golden brown.  Baking time will vary with ovens and the type of crust you use.

Make this your own pizza!  Amounts of all ingredients can most certainly be adjusted for personal preferences.  Add the mushrooms and olives if they make you happy!  Yes, we all need food to nourish our bodies, but what we eat and those with whom we eat our meals should also make us happy!  Take time to enjoy your food.

Food Friday - On the Side!

from Tracey G

When I was a kid, the only coleslaw I would eat was Kentucky Fried Chicken's - to me, that stuff was the epitome of coleslaw and what it should be. I never realized back then either how easy it was to make - it wasn't a salad my mom made at  home. When we had it, I only wanted KFC's!

I would have to say it wasn't until my 30's that I actually made the stuff. And my first time with it was kind of a disaster - I know, I know, how can one screw up coleslaw?!? Well, I had a recipe to follow, but the dressing just didn't seem like enough - so I made more. Much more. I didn't take into account the sitting time that most coleslaw recipes direct - I didn't realize the amount of liquid that would come from the cabbage and carrots and actually add to the dressing! So, by the time I took it to the potluck party it was pretty soupy. I think it was after that I learned my lessons - 1) mix up just what the recipe calls for dressing-wise and 2) never make something you've never made before to take to a party - but if you do, always have a plan B!!  

I remember the first time I made this (I even followed the directions too!), I announced that if I ever needed a potluck recipe to take somewhere, this would be it. It's so very simple, and if you use pre-made cabbage/veggie slaw mix (any kind would be good with the dressing, even a broccoli slaw etc) it comes together super fast! I think super fast is even an understatement! And aside from the dressing of the slaw mix - the dressing mixture, I think would be great as a regular salad dressing on lettuce of any kind! I don't remember where I got the recipe from, and I've tweaked the amounts because the original recipe made much too small of an amount for our household and I'm pleased with how it's evolved.

Raspberry Slaw

4 c shredded green cabbage

4 c shredded red cabbage

1-2 c shredded carrots (personal preference can be used here)

Dressing:

1/2 c raspberry vinaigrette

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 - 1 c fresh raspberries for garnish

1) In a large bowl combine green cabbage, red cabbage and carrots.

2) In a small bowl, whisk the raspberry vinaigrette and mayonnaise until well blended. 

    Pour dressing over cabbage/carrot mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at

    least an hour for flavors to blend. (I find it's much better if it's sat overnight!)

3) Before serving, top with fresh raspberries. When at home, I usually just top the

    individual servings with a few of the raspberries.

From Kris B

Most of the time I love to cook.  What I don't always like is trying to figure out what to cook.  If someone will tell me what they want, I will gladly fix it.  When I am left to determine the menu myself, it is most often the side dishes with which I struggle.  Once you get beyond some form of potatoes or rice and steamed or roasted vegetables, my creativity starts to fall by the wayside.  So, I am always on the lookout for side dishes that push me beyond my boring starchy box!

This week's slaw recipe is one of my favorite quick and easy sides.  I believe it may originally have come from Weight Watchers, but I'm not absolutely sure of that.  Regardless, it is fairly low calorie and surprises the taste buds just a bit.

INGREDIENTS

1 12 oz. bag of prepared broccoli slaw mix

1 medium to large apple (variety of your choice)

3 scallions

1/4 cup sliced roasted almonds

3 TBS prepared balsamic vinaigrette dressing of your choice

Chop the apple into small bite sized pieces.  Slice the whites of the scallions.  Combine all ingredients in a good sized bowl so that you have room to "toss."  This best if chilled at least an hour, but this is not absolutely necessary.

A side dish doesn't get much simpler than this!