I read that parsley is good for urinary tract health, a matter which is of grave concern to many women, myself included. So I immediately started thinking of ways to incorporate more parsley into my diet. Ariel is always saying we should have more salads, but I loathe salad. But my dumb ol' brain finally remembered that I like tabbouleh, which is essentially a parsley salad!
You might be familiar with tabbouleh being sort of like couscous - lots of cracked wheat and a little bit of parsley and tomatoes. This is more of a salad with some wheat berries included to make it more satisfying and give it some body. Ariel and I agreed that it was a recipe that needed writing down so I could make it again :)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup parboiled wheat berries or bulger wheat if you can't find wheat berries (Irish oatmeal would probably also work)
1 bunch parsley, chopped, stems removed
1 cup chopped seeded tomato, about 3
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion, about half an onion
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cumin (sprinkle this in a bit at a time as you stir, or it won't distribute)
Cook the wheat berries (or whatever you're using) according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool slightly. Then, just mix it all together!
Traditionally, tabbouleh is served chilled, but I enjoyed it warm and then I enjoyed at room temperature when I went back for seconds, heh heh. You can chill it if you like, though. The lemon juice vinaigrette keeps the salad fresh for a couple of days and the leftovers are often even better the next day.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Hearty Mexican Chard & Chickpea Soup
A recipe modified in enough ways that I consider it mine at this point, it's fast (15 minutes if you're good!) and easy, not to mention satisfying. A good way to get some greens and fiber, too.
Ingredients:
1 head Swiss chard, doesn't matter what kind - the stems lose their color when boiled, so if white is cheaper, then just buy white
1 small can chickpeas
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
2 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
1 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper, or 1-2 canned chipotle peppers, seeded and minced
1 brick pepper jack cheese (low-fat works well here)
1/2 brick regular monterey jack cheese (low-fat works well here)
(Note that the cheeses must be bricks, not shredded.)
Tear the chard leaves into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Slice the ribs like celery and set aside, separate from the leaves.
Chop the onion and the garlic and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until the garlic is translucent. Add the spices and the broth and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add the chard ribs and boil for 4 minutes. Then add the leaves and boil for another 2 or 3 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.
Remove from heat and add the chickpeas I do it this way so that the chickpeas cool the soup slightly, so it's ready to eat without needing an ice cube to cool it. If you don't intend to serve it immediately, or if you enjoy burning your tongue on your soup (weirdo) then add the chickpeas along with the leaves and boil an extra minute to warm them.
Cut the cheese into cubes about half an inch wide. Put 1/4 of the cheese cubes in the bottoms of 4 soup bowls and ladle the soup on top.
Frankly, you had me at "cheese cubes."
A note on chipotle peppers: Chipotle has recently come into vogue. Even McDonald's has chipotle-flavored stuff now. The chipotle pepper is a smoked red jalapeno. If you are familiar with jalapenos, then you can safely use them equivalently in terms of heat.
Until recently, I could only find these peppers in cans of adobo sauce, which was annoying because I never used the whole can before it went bad, and also I had to wear gloves to handle them or inevitably the pepper's heat would find its way into some tiny cut I didn't know I had and I'd be running around the kitchen yelling about how I should have worn gloves. Now, though, McCormick's Spices sells ground dried chipotle peppers and suddenly chipotle is SUPER easy to use. (Although I personally buy mine from Penzey's, I'm sure McCormick's is fine.) Try a sprinkle atop eggs, in anything mexican or beef-based, and on top of chef's salads!
Ingredients:
1 head Swiss chard, doesn't matter what kind - the stems lose their color when boiled, so if white is cheaper, then just buy white
1 small can chickpeas
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
2 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
1 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper, or 1-2 canned chipotle peppers, seeded and minced
1 brick pepper jack cheese (low-fat works well here)
1/2 brick regular monterey jack cheese (low-fat works well here)
(Note that the cheeses must be bricks, not shredded.)
Tear the chard leaves into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Slice the ribs like celery and set aside, separate from the leaves.
Chop the onion and the garlic and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until the garlic is translucent. Add the spices and the broth and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add the chard ribs and boil for 4 minutes. Then add the leaves and boil for another 2 or 3 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.
Remove from heat and add the chickpeas I do it this way so that the chickpeas cool the soup slightly, so it's ready to eat without needing an ice cube to cool it. If you don't intend to serve it immediately, or if you enjoy burning your tongue on your soup (weirdo) then add the chickpeas along with the leaves and boil an extra minute to warm them.
Cut the cheese into cubes about half an inch wide. Put 1/4 of the cheese cubes in the bottoms of 4 soup bowls and ladle the soup on top.
Frankly, you had me at "cheese cubes."
A note on chipotle peppers: Chipotle has recently come into vogue. Even McDonald's has chipotle-flavored stuff now. The chipotle pepper is a smoked red jalapeno. If you are familiar with jalapenos, then you can safely use them equivalently in terms of heat.
Until recently, I could only find these peppers in cans of adobo sauce, which was annoying because I never used the whole can before it went bad, and also I had to wear gloves to handle them or inevitably the pepper's heat would find its way into some tiny cut I didn't know I had and I'd be running around the kitchen yelling about how I should have worn gloves. Now, though, McCormick's Spices sells ground dried chipotle peppers and suddenly chipotle is SUPER easy to use. (Although I personally buy mine from Penzey's, I'm sure McCormick's is fine.) Try a sprinkle atop eggs, in anything mexican or beef-based, and on top of chef's salads!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
"You followed a recipe, didn't you?" Part 1
Lemon-Ginger Pinwheel Cookies from Cooking Light. They looked pretty, don't they?
Don't be fooled. They're like dog biscuits. I think I broke a filling on one of them - no, seriously, I'm calling the dentist on Monday.
When the recipe didn't call for any baking powder, I was suspicious. But I'd never made pinwheel cookies before, so I thought maybe they wouldn't look good without the baking powder and maybe the surprisingly low oven temperature and surprisingly short baking time would make it work anyway.
Boy was I wrong.
The low oven temperature did not cook the cookies within the allotted time. Cooking them longer at least meant they weren't raw in the middle, but now they were tough. The recipe called for cooking until "lightly browned" so the second batch, I cooked even longer, until they were browned, with the result that even Ariel won't eat that batch.
To add insult to injury, the different colors of dough didn't "join" together, and so there are cracks between the colors, which look bad and also cause the cookie to fall apart when eating it. With baking powder, these cracks would have filled in and the cookie would have been a cohesive baked good, not a crumbly, tough waste of ingredients.
Trust your own judgment, ladies and gentlemen! When a cookie doesn't call for baking powder and you KNOW it should, ADD IT ANYWAY!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Basic Chicken Soup
Chicken soup at its most fundamental. Elana, this is for you :)
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup chopped onion, about 1 large
5 celery stalks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced, or 2 tsp bottled minced garlic, or 1/2 tsp dried garlic
1 small package mushrooms, quartered (optional)
2 cups chicken broth, or to your preference - I use as little broth as possible in my soups, to get the best flavor and because I don't like to drink the broth after eating the soup
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried parsley
Optional: 1 bay leave, 1 tsp chopped rosemary
Ground pepper to taste
Heat a Dutch oven (that's a big pot with relatively short sides, as opposed to a stock pot) over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray, and lay the chicken breasts into the hot pan. Cook for 4 minutes undisturbed, then turn with a spatula and cook for 4 minutes more. Don't worry if some bits stick - those bits make the broth taste good. Remove to a cutting board when done.
Dump in the vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, making sure to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Then add the broth and the herbs. There must be enough broth to cover the vegetables; any more beyond that is your choice. Turn the heat to high and leave it to boil.
Meanwhile, chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. (The reason I chop it now is because it's easier to chop cooked meat than raw meat.) When it's chopped, and the soup is boiling, add the chicken back in. Turn the heat to medium, and cook until the veggies are just tender, about 8 minutes.
If you want noodles: You must add the noodles at the same time as the chicken, and cook according to package directions (usually 8 minutes but it depends on the noodle). You will need to add more broth for the noodles to use. About 1/2 cup broth per handful of noodles. This is a great time to use whole wheat noodles, because their firmer structure and robust flavor works well in a soup.
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup chopped onion, about 1 large
5 celery stalks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced, or 2 tsp bottled minced garlic, or 1/2 tsp dried garlic
1 small package mushrooms, quartered (optional)
2 cups chicken broth, or to your preference - I use as little broth as possible in my soups, to get the best flavor and because I don't like to drink the broth after eating the soup
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried parsley
Optional: 1 bay leave, 1 tsp chopped rosemary
Ground pepper to taste
Heat a Dutch oven (that's a big pot with relatively short sides, as opposed to a stock pot) over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray, and lay the chicken breasts into the hot pan. Cook for 4 minutes undisturbed, then turn with a spatula and cook for 4 minutes more. Don't worry if some bits stick - those bits make the broth taste good. Remove to a cutting board when done.
Dump in the vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, making sure to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Then add the broth and the herbs. There must be enough broth to cover the vegetables; any more beyond that is your choice. Turn the heat to high and leave it to boil.
Meanwhile, chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. (The reason I chop it now is because it's easier to chop cooked meat than raw meat.) When it's chopped, and the soup is boiling, add the chicken back in. Turn the heat to medium, and cook until the veggies are just tender, about 8 minutes.
If you want noodles: You must add the noodles at the same time as the chicken, and cook according to package directions (usually 8 minutes but it depends on the noodle). You will need to add more broth for the noodles to use. About 1/2 cup broth per handful of noodles. This is a great time to use whole wheat noodles, because their firmer structure and robust flavor works well in a soup.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Green Smoothies
My self-improvement project this winter has been to eat more vegetables. I've added one or two servings of veggies to my daily diet. So far, the main effect I've noticed is a drain on my wallet, BUT, I have also had the opportunity to play around with new recipe concepts.
One of those is ways to eat greens. I know greens are healthy but I hate salad and cooked greens are slimy (except for kale in soup). I love smoothies, though, so when my sister mentioned green smoothies, I was intrigued. Here are my results so far.
1. Chard: Produces a juicy, smooth smoothie and has a mild, nutty taste. Top choice.
2. Kale: Tastes good, but takes forever to grind. I'm going to try it in the food processor and see if that works better. Also has a little bit of an odd metallic taste.
3. Boston lettuce: Now, normally, this kind of lettuce is sweet and good, but in a smoothie it was disappointingly bitter and mineral-y. This is better as a salad.
4. Red leaf lettuce: I chose the specific lettuce head by tasting little bits of the leaves on every lettuce in the store (yeah, I'm that guy) in order to find one that wasn't bitter. Each shipment of lettuce can taste different! But I found a good one, and blended it up, and it came out surprisingly creamy, with a rich mouthfeel.
Recipe #1:
1 head Swiss chard leaves, no stems
1 cup prepared banana-strawberry juice
Juice of 1 lemon
Sweetener to taste
Recipe #2:
1 head non-bitter leaf lettuce
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 orange
Sweetener to taste
Good luck!
One of those is ways to eat greens. I know greens are healthy but I hate salad and cooked greens are slimy (except for kale in soup). I love smoothies, though, so when my sister mentioned green smoothies, I was intrigued. Here are my results so far.
1. Chard: Produces a juicy, smooth smoothie and has a mild, nutty taste. Top choice.
2. Kale: Tastes good, but takes forever to grind. I'm going to try it in the food processor and see if that works better. Also has a little bit of an odd metallic taste.
3. Boston lettuce: Now, normally, this kind of lettuce is sweet and good, but in a smoothie it was disappointingly bitter and mineral-y. This is better as a salad.
4. Red leaf lettuce: I chose the specific lettuce head by tasting little bits of the leaves on every lettuce in the store (yeah, I'm that guy) in order to find one that wasn't bitter. Each shipment of lettuce can taste different! But I found a good one, and blended it up, and it came out surprisingly creamy, with a rich mouthfeel.
Recipe #1:
1 head Swiss chard leaves, no stems
1 cup prepared banana-strawberry juice
Juice of 1 lemon
Sweetener to taste
Recipe #2:
1 head non-bitter leaf lettuce
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 orange
Sweetener to taste
Good luck!
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