simple pleasures

Ahh, Saturday morning.  Grab the list, pour second cup of coffee into handy travel mug and head out the door by 7:30 a.m. to get first dibs at the Farmer’s Market.  I look forward to this every week.  The food calls out “Look at me!” in all its lively colors.  Then there are the handcrafted foods like Cajeta which is fresh goat milk caramel made by Blue Heron Farm.  It is the best I’ve every tasted -  velvety, golden sweet perfection.  Don’t lick your screen.

Not only is there caramel from this farm but fresh cherve, feta and flavored cheese spreads.  Each weekend I have to decide if I head to see the “goat lady” or the fresh yard egg stand first.  The choice may leave me empty handed one way or the other.  Shorter hours of daylight in the winter yield lower production from the animals.  But this weekend, there was a new addition I was so excited about, P.J. Stoops & Family.  They will now be bringing fresh caught fish from the Gulf!  I have been trying to devise a way to only purchase fish from the Gulf and now I don’t have to hunt all around town, it’s been taking care of for me.  So is the choice of which fish to eat.  P.J. Stoops & Family will not purchase fish like Red Snapper which are overfished and still experiencing overfishing.  What’s the difference and the big deal? Check out NOAA’s Fish Watch to better understand.

The simple pleasure of being outside, talking to people who labored to bring this food to market and all the colorful veggie eye candy is the best weekly ritually I’ve had in a long time.  Not to mention, writing about it, talking about it, and photographing the food – which is a sweet deal since somebody has to clean the plate.

(The apple…no it is definately not local.  It is an organic red delicious from Washington state.  There isn’t much in the way of fruit around here except strawberries.)

one more to go

Broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts….ick.  Well at least until I was 25-ish then broccoli started tasting better and better.  Now, a decade-ish later I’m coming around on cauliflower.  I’ll confess that the two times I really enjoyed it, a cheese sauce has been involved.  Kind of like a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down…a cup or so of cheese helps this vegetable go down.

My next attempt will be just roasting without all the cheese.  Until then, my recipe of choice will have to do -  Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan and Pancetta from Giada De Laurentis of the Food Network.  If you don’t have Pancetta bacon works just fine.  I used peppered turkey bacon and the dish was spot on.  Enjoy!

(Oh, brussel sprouts – still no love for them.  I’m working on it.)

classic summer side

Grill is on.  Beer is flowing.  Eating outside the only side that is right for this night is potato salad.  And not any of the fancier ones I usually make but the creamy classic.  When I was younger it was this or macaroni salad.  If it was my family, the eggs were left in large slices if there were any at all.  This thanks to my sister disgust of eating eggs.  Even though I love eggs, I’ve come to find I do not like them in my potato salad.

But if you like them in or on top of  this classic potato salad recipe from Ina Garten, a.k.a the Barefoot Contessa, I’m sure it would go just fine.  I like the cooking method for the potatoes in this recipe.  The skins stay intact and that is what I like about it.  If you don’t have fresh dill, use 1 to 2 tablespoons of dried.  Small red potatoes work well too.  Otherwise, stick to the recipe and definitely do not skip on the Dijon and whole grain mustard. This is a great go to when you are in the mood for the original creamy style potato salad.

What’s in it for me?

potatoes:  vitamin C, B6, calcium, potassium, iron, and fiber.

celery:  vitamin A, B6, C, riboflavin, calcium, potassium and fiber.

From the CSA share:  potatoes and celery

the day the cow and pig left

Around the time I was in fifth grade, beef and pork stopped being a part of my mother’s meal rotation. It had nothing to do with dieting although once I was in middle school my mom and I were dieting buddies. From the rice diet to one that required me to eat a lot of cottage cheese – which I still cannot eat to this day and hold back the urge to retch when looking at it.

The reason for the halt on four legers in my family’s diet went a little something like this: My mom was driving to work one fall morning. It was still mild enough to have the windows down, which she did. Her commute was short and consisted of winding back roads, no highways. On this fateful day, she ended up behind a large truck carrying cows. She could hear them mowing and saw how they were packed tightly into the confined space. Then the truck turned, giving her a close-up view of one cow’s sweet, simple, kind, big-eyed face as the truck entered the drive to a slaughter house. My mom just couldn’t cook beef again after that experience. I think she was struck by how that steak got to our plates. I assume she just decided she didn’t like how the process worked, she didn’t want that animal to die in order for her to dine on it.

Since she was the grocery queen and the cook, a damn good one too, no more beef. So, the pork? Well, for some odd reason I don’t think she had gotten that far on the food chain until my dad entered. In his normal sarcastic manner, at my mom’s declaration of no more beef in the house, my dad said, “Okay, so no more cows. How come the pigs are so lucky?” adding a head shake, eye roll and a chuckle. With that comment, to his deep regret, out went Wilbur too.

Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, cheese, grains, fruits and vegetables were all on the okay list. In the 80s, there wasn’t the variety of chicken and turkey products there are today. Thankfully, she was an excellent cook. So, we never suffered at meal time. I still don’t suffer, and neither does my sister. We both adapted and adopted this way of eating. I have not had a meal focused around beef or pork in about seventeen years. I have tasted dishes my husband or friends are moaning over being soooo good and they are but I don’t have any desire to cook or order it.

Thankfully, there are so many different products on the market now for me to prepare. Also, as I have said, my mom cooked very well. I learned a lot from her. At times I’m asked questions like, “Meatloaf? How do you eat meatloaf?” Quit simple actually, ground turkey thigh (7% fat) can be used wherever ground beef or pork are called for. I haven’t had any complaints about my chili, meatballs or burgers.

Regardless of what type of ground meat you like to use, just go for the leaner choice. I used to use ground turkey breast, which is even healthier than the turkey thigh I purchase but it can dry out quickly. I like the flavor I get from the thigh meat but you can purchase beef or pork with the same fat content. I just didn’t learn to cook that way and stick with what I know.

When I purchased the cook book, 1,000 Low-Fat Recipes, I had no idea what an influence it would have on my cooking. I got the gist of how to throw down without all the fat. Most of the recipes are great. The bread items, like muffins, are way too dry so I avoid them but this may be me. I can cook; I never said anything about baking. One of my favorite recipes, and my husband’s too, is Greek-Style Burgers. This with a side of Yogurt Cucumber Salad, a good handful of cherry tomatoes, and some Lay’s Ruffles Reduced Fat potato chips – perfect on any warm day that’s good for grilling. Enjoy!

Greek Turkey Burgers – 4 servings

Turkey, ground thigh, 7% fat (lamb or beef may also be used), 1 lbs.
Brown rice, ¼ cup cooked (try to get brown rice that has 3 grams fiber/serving)
Parsley, fresh, ¼ cup, chopped
Garlic, 1 clove, minced
Oregano, dried, 1 teaspoon
Plain low-fat yogurt, 2 tablespoons
Kosher salt, ½ teaspoon
Black pepper, freshly ground, ½ teaspoon

Place all the ingredients into a large glass bowl. Combine well with your hands (if you don’t like to touch the meat, put on latex gloves first). Form mixture into six patties. Cook on grill or stove top or broil in the oven. Flip patties just once during cooking process. Burgers are ready to serve when they are no longer pink, juices run clear and the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Tent burgers with aluminum foil until you are ready to serve.

Great toppings: romaine lettuce, tomato, feta cheese, black olive, roasted red pepper and/or cucumbers. Plus, putting the yogurt cucumber salad on top is great. If you need some more moisture, add a little garlic mayo, just mix garlic powder in with low-fat mayonnaise, you pick the strength. Serve on a whole grain bun.

Yogurt Cucumber Salad – 4 servings

Plain low-fat yogurt, 1 cup
Lemon juice, fresh, 1 teaspoon
Garlic, 1 clove, minced or powder ½ teaspoon (don’t forget fresh garlic grows potent in leftovers)
Parsley, fresh, 1 tablespoon
Oregano, fresh, 2 teaspoons or dried, 1 teaspoon
Kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon
Black pepper, freshly ground, 1/8 – ¼ teaspoon
Cucumbers, 2, peeled & seeded, then chopped
- To seed cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and use a teaspoon to gently remove seeds from the center.
In a glass bowl combine yogurt through black pepper, once combined well add cucumber. It tastes better if it is refrigerated for at least an hour before serving.

lovely lentils

I can’t think of another bean that is more versatile than the lentil. It can be formed and molded into a meat like patty, ball or loaf. Lentils are very accepting of any flavor that fits your mood from curry to Italian seasonings.

Lentils are a tiny nutrient powerhouse. If you are looking to serve a vegetarian meal once or twice a week in your house, start with this legume. High in protein, iron, and fiber but low in calories and is naturally fat-free. Soups of all kinds are my favorite to cook and to eat – from start to finish it is pure comfort. So, to date my favorite lentil recipe is this lentil tomato soup. There are many convenient pantry items on the ingredient list, then a few fresh for added nutrition and flavor.

If you have a half an hour to prepare it and an hour to leave it on the stove while you do whatever it is you need to do this evening…you can have a well balanced, healthy, satisfying, tasty soup on the table for dinner. If you want to make this truly vegetarian, then substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. Enjoy.

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light

Lentil-Tomato Soup

Olive oil, 1 tablespoon
Yellow onion, 2 cups, chopped
Garlic, 3 cloves, minced
Turmeric, ground, 1 teaspoon
Cumin, ground, 2 teaspoons
Chili powder, 1 ½ teaspoons (you choose heat level preference)
Cayenne Pepper, ¼ teaspoon
Black pepper, freshly ground, ¼ teaspoon
Salt, ¼ teaspoon
Lentils, dried, 16 oz. bag, rinsed
Water, 3 1/3 cups
Chicken broth, 5 ½ cups
Cilantro, fresh, 1/3 cup, chopped
Tomatoes, canned, diced, 28 oz.
Salt and pepper to taste
Tomato, fresh, chopped (optional garnish)
Cilantro, fresh, chopped (optional garnish)

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, add onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add garlic through salt and sauté 1 minute. Add lentils through canned tomatoes to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Once lentils are tender, place 3 cups of soup in a heat safe container such as Pyrex measuring cup. Use an emersion blender to in the pot and blend the rest of the soup. You may also use blender but the soup has to cool first. Be very careful using blender with hot liquid; it expands and may cause blender to break. (Note: blending is optional; it is still good as is once lentils are tender.)

Once blended, stir in reserved lentils. Add fresh tomatoes and lentils if you’d like and serve.