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.)

broccoli-cheddar omelet…okay scramble

On the weekends I like to cook breakfast instead of a shake. Eggs, whole grain pancakes or french toast are the usual suspects. I decide which one based on flavor craving and fuss. To me, eggs are the easiest breakfast to cook. Once you decide to use eggs, get creative and get at least a serving of vegetables to go with it. It’s a tasty way to sneak in some nutrient rich food like broccoli.

I have to admit, broccoli I tolerate more than I did when I was younger. I hated to see “green trees” as a side at dinner time. It took all I had to force myself to swallow it. My mom used to say, “When your taste buds mature you will love it.” Well, she was partially right, I do like a lot of foods now that I didn’t when I was younger but the broccoli I have learned to like. It’s just enough so I can benefit from eating it occasionally but not so much I eat trees weekly. I’m working on it.

So, in honor of mom, taste bud maturity and keeping my insides healthy I present the broccoli-cheddar scramble. Which was supposed to be an omelet but I wasn’t attentive enough. The great thing about eggs is if you screw-up, they can always be scrambled.

Serves 1

Eggs (preferably yard eggs) 2, large, 1 whole, 1 with yolk removed
Broccoli, fresh or frozen, ½ cup
Onion powder, ½ teaspoon
Garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon
Cheddar cheese, low-fat, such as Cabot, ¼ – ½ cup
Salt and pepper to taste

In a glass bowl whisk together eggs a pinch of salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper until well combined. Set aside. Spray small skillet well with non-stick cooking oil. Put pan over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, fresh or frozen, to the pan with onion and garlic powder. Cook until broccoli deepens to an intense green color. Remove from pan and place on plate you will eat off of.

Coat pan again with cooking spray, bring to temperature and add eggs. Scramble to desirable consistency, I like them browned but you may like them runny. Add cheese to top of eggs and top with broccoli. Turn of heat, cover with lid and remove from burner. Take a peek in about 2 minutes to ensure cheese has melted. Serve.

Add a slice of whole grain toast and you are ready to tackle whatever weekend project is awaiting you from painting your house to working out or maybe just sitting by the pool.

Nutrition at a glance:
Eggs – the yolk is what gives eggs a bad rap but really they are a part of a healthy diet. There is much debate about the naturally occurring cholesterol, is it good is it bad. If you have a cholesterol problem and are fearful, try an egg white omelet, they are good too. Eggs do offer: protein, vitamin A, potassium, and calcium just to name a few nutrients.

Broccoli – there is a reason it is labeled a “super food”, it is full of a variety of vitamins and minerals. It also contains phytonutrients. Which are powerful antioxidants that help your immune system put up a good fight against disease. If you hear the word “antioxidant” tossed around and don’t know what the fuss is all about read this information from the National Cancer Institute – eat the broccoli!

Low-fat cheese – less saturated fat intake while getting cheese fix and calcium. If you are having a party and making a beautiful cheese plate, use the full fat good stuff. If you are making grilled cheese sandwich, omelet, mac & cheese…you get the point, use the low-fat cheese. If you think non-fat would make your choice even better I personally believe you are wrong. It is a vile food substance with strange taste and texture – leaving you wanting and disappointed. Going low-fat, exercising and portion control…you should be just fine health wise.

rise and shine

If you wake up with a little extra pep in your step on a weekend morning, take ten minutes to assemble this puff pancake.  Pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes while you relax sipping coffee, tea or start tackling that pile of laundry.

Use whatever fruit you’d like, what’s in season will taste best.  I’ve made a similar recipe from Real Simple, puffed pear pancake, which I think was a little faster than the recipe I followed this morning. The ingredients are identical. The only change I made was using whole wheat pastry flour in place of white flour.  If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, use whole wheat flour and white flour split 50/50.

Fresh apples, pears, stone fruit or berries would be best. Once pancake rises to the occasion, dust with powdered sugar or serve with real maple syrup, Aunt Jemima does not count.  It is all corn syrup.  Treat yourself to the real deal.  You only need a little so it is worth the price and you will taste the difference.  Enjoy!

down with dirt

Belonging to a CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) keeps things interesting in the kitchen. I’ve gone from choosing recipes and writing a grocery list to picking up vegetables, searching for recipes to fit, and then writing a grocery list. I’ve tried vegetables I’ve never had and made recipes that I would never thought too, like Asian Root Vegetable Stew with parsnips.

It is vegetarian, in fact vegan. I served it over soba noodles which have egg whites so back to vegetarian. When reading the ingredients you may scrunch up your nose and think ‘ick’. I know, what you are thinking. I was all set to order pizza. There is no way these ingredients would add up to be something edible, or rather something I’d want to eat. But they did and it was good. The broth becomes mildly sweet from the root vegetables. Adding seaweed (put that nose down) and soy sauce adds a rich saltiness. It works. Try it. Eat it. You may like it.

Another part of belonging to a CSA is dealing with the dirt. It is not too much of a hassle but very different from the convenience pre-packaged “fresh” and ready to go veggie bags at the supermarket. It just takes some time, water, your hands and a salad spinner.

In the past year when picking up vegetables for our share I’ve heard one kid and two adults balk at all the “DIRT!” I just grin and laugh inside. It’s funny to me just how far removed from food we’ve become. Of course vegetables have dirt on them. That dirt is the soil they are planted in, grow in and harvested from for us to eat. So, get down with the dirt. The dirtier the vegetable the cleaner the meal.