Tami Discovers Food

Hey there - 

I’ve not given up on my alphabetic vegetables or writing my blog, but I have taken a break because I am buying a house!  Life is crazy hectic right now, but will be posting more soon.  Thank you for your understanding and interest!

Tami 

• Green Bean
• Garlic
• Ginger

Green beans are delicious!  I have a caramelized red onion and green been recipe that I’ve made several times that I quite enjoy.  I also chop them up raw and add them to salad.  

• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 3 med red onions (or 2 large) MUST BE FRESH (old ones are too strong)
• 1 lb of green beans
• 1/2 cup veggie or chicken broth
• 1 tbsp balsalmic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste (if you are me: LOTS.)

Heat oil in pan over medium heat.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until golden 10-15 minutes.  I like them to be seriously melted. Cook onions, cook!

While your onions are cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Add green beans and cook uncovered 6-7 minutes.  We don’t want mushy here.  Drain and set aside. 

Add broth to onions and cook for five minutes.  Add vinegar, salt and pepper, and beans.  Cover and cook 2 mins.  Some recipes call for a little sugar here.  I personally found it too sweet.  I think with properly caramelized onions and balsamic it is sweet enough.  However, if you are in transition and your taste buds haven’t adjusted yet, feel free to add 1 tsp of brown sugar.  

On to garlic.  GARLIC.  Oh, how I love ye.  In all the ways possible. Raw or roasted, whole or minced, garlic you are amazing!  I love LOVE love it.  GUSH GUSH GUSH. 

And last and totally least (hehe): ginger. 

I love this recipe for biscuits.  It was great from the get go.  I’ve made no alterations to it.  This is directly copied from 100 days of real food.  All credit goes to her.  I just want to share the awesome.  These freeze great too.  I tend to make them a little smaller, rolling the dough to 1/2 inch, and end up with a dozen biscuits.  I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat that I bought from Costco.  

Finding great whole wheat recipes isn’t as easy as one would think, plus they can take playing around with depending on your elevation and moisture level in the flour.  I’ve found that especially so when it comes to breads.  The more you do it, the more intuitive you will become.  I love these with homemade strawberry jam or as a breakfast sandwich with some scrambled egg, a veggie sausage patty, and a slice of pepperjack.  My absolutely favorite is to drizzle them with honey, but that’s pretty rare treat.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole wheat organic flour)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk (any kind)

In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with whisk or fork. Cut the ½ stick butter into little pea sized pieces and then mix the pieces into the flour mixture. Using a fork, try to mash the butter pieces as you mix it together with the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. It is okay if the outcome just looks like the same pea sized pieces of butter covered with flour. Then pour in the milk and mix it all together. Knead the dough with your hands 8 to 10 times and then turn out onto a counter or cutting board. Pat it out flat with your hands until the dough is a somewhat even ¾-inch thickness (sprinkle with a little flour if necessary). Turn a drinking glass upside down and cut out biscuit rounds. I have also used shaped cookie cutters (like a heart or star) if you have little ones helping you! Then put them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

• Fennel

That’s all I could come up with that I didn’t feel was cheating.  Fava is a bean.  That felt like cheating.  I’ve never eaten fennel, but understand it has a licorice flavor.  That is not at all appealing to me, but it must work when put with other foods or it wouldn’t be so popular in recipes. 

How do you cook fennel?  Do you have a favorite recipe?  Perhaps one where it is not the main attraction, but brings a certain something to the meal? 

The last week has been rough because of some changes in my diabetes medicine having bad, bad side effects. This reduced me to eating nothing but rice, potatoes, applesauce, bananas, and popsicles.  Not great for my blood sugar, but the only things I could eat without suffering. 

That got tired very quickly and after 4 days I felt like my system could handle some more.  I ate normal food one day and everything went well so I jumped into this delicious Red Bean Curry from Smitten Kitten.  

This recipe is delicious!  I was so pleased with this.  Through trial and error I have come to understand that I am more of an Indian curry vs. Thai curry sort of person.  I made few alternations to the recipe - I used 1/8 tsp of cayenne and I did not have tomato sauce.  Instead I used a can of diced tomatoes and 1/2 can (tiny can) of tomato paste plus 1/2 cup water.  I froze the rest of the paste for next time.  NEXT TIME!  YUM YUM YUM.  Oh, and I served it over basmati rice. 

Red Kidney Bean Curry [Rajmah]

Adapted from an Arora spice blend

This is an Indian cousin of your favorite spicy red bean chili.

Serves 6

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger (I use half this; I’m tepid in the fresh ginger department)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 plum tomato, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large green chili, chopped (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

8 ounce can of tomato sauce or 8 ounces of one of your choice

3 cups boiled red kidney beans or 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, undrained

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley, if you’re cilantro-averse)

Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat for one minute. Add ginger, garlic, onion, green chili, and let sizzle for one minute. Add the tomato sauce, salt and remaining spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the kidney beans with water or canned red kidney beans (undrained) plus one additional cup of water, and tomatoes. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro.

• Endive
• Eggplant

Curly endive, or frisée, happens to be my favorite lettuce! It took me months to figure out what it was called because it was in a spring mix I bought and when you read the ingredient label of a spring mix you see that it “may” include a ton of different things!  One day I was patrolling the green grocer section of of my organic delivery company and I found it.  I kid you not I hopped up and down in my chair and clapped my hands in excitement.  A head of this stuff is huge because it is seriously densely packed.  I tend to tear it into little pieces and mix it in with a butter lettuce.  Romaine is too crispy to go with endive for me.  I like it best with butter lettuce, but also will mix it with spinach.  I use it on sandwiches and in pitas as well.  

I’ve never (to my recollection) eaten eggplant and I find their shiny aubergine exteriors intimidating!  One time, years ago, my mom told me they were difficult to cook and you had to go through a whole process to make them edible so I never got around to trying it.  This is on my list!  (Plus, there is totally an eggplant pulp dish at a local Indian restaurant that I am dying to try.)  Any favorite eggplant recipes? 

What I hate about myself and eating unprocessed whole foods is that I know all the reasons to do it.  I will make beautiful meals.  Pack an entire days worth in a cooler to haul around from errands to work to home so I don’t buy anything, but I will buy stuff anyway.  Sometimes I binge eat.  It’s hard to stop.  I’m working on it.  

I know it’s both physical and psychological.  (Despite what my endocrinologist tries to say.  Read some studies, woman.  Sugar is toxic.)  

The Celeriac, Garlic, and Ginger Soup on page 112 of my awesome Totally Vegetarian cookbook?  It did not work out well for me.  I’d never had celeriac before, but really enjoyed the smell before putting it in soup.  What I think did not work was the amount of ginger.  I think 2 inches was too much.   Ginger is very strong and I feel it overwhelmed everything.  I’ll make it again with 1/2 has much ginger this summer and see how it works then.  I managed to eat about half the pot, but couldn’t face eating more of it.  Sad waste!

My next recipe will be this one for Red Kidney Bean Curry from Smitten Kitten. I am finding that I really enjoy indian flavors.  I’m also going to try to make Saag Paneer in the next few weeks - including making the paneer from scratch.  Yay cheesemaking!

This is my third year growing a garden.  Each year I try something different.  See if I can work the kinks out of something that didn’t do so well the year before or if I can do better this year.  One thing is that I’m limited on space so I’m consistent in what I grow.  No cool new veggies for me, sticking with my standards and classics.  

I have a 4x12 raised bed.  This year I am trying those hanging tomato things because I have a consistent issue with water rot.  I think this is due to the sprinkler system on the property.  (I have no choice in the running of it.)  I’m excited for these and I hope they work well.  An added benefit of removing the tomatoes from the bed is it freed up more room for noms in the garden!  What really surprised me last month when I went out there to clean up the bed in preparation for planting was that there were some onions leftover that were already growing.  They are a good six inches now.  Yay surprise food!  So I just cultivated around them.  I have a Garden Weasel  that I like a lot.  It works well to fluff up the dirt and remove weeds in order to plant, but it also works well as a weeding tool.  You can remove the tines so you just have the one and that works between rows very well.  

Here is what I planted this year:

• Green leaf lettuce
• Red leaf lettuce
• Spinach
• Mesclun
• Green Onion
• Radish
• Carrot - Rainbow, YAY PRETTY COLORS!!
• Green Beans - Blue Lake
• Zucchini 
• Cucumber
• Butternut Squash

I know - a lot of squash.  If even half the zucchini, cucumber, and butternut seeds germinate I’m screwed!  They are going to take over so I’m going to have to manage them carefully.  I also bought pumpkin and corn, but hold no hope they will grow.  But my brother asked me so earnestly and I caved.  I’m putting them in some random square of space I can find.  We’ll see how it goes. 

In the yard we already have established: 

• Sour cherry trees
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Apple tree (Super tiny, but finally apples last year! 3!!)

I’m very excited about all this.  I’d really like to find a way to use the sour cherries.  I usually let the neighbor have them and the rest go to the birds.  If you know a way to utilize the cherries that doesn’t require sugar, or very little sugar, please share!  

• Dandelion
• Daikon

I can honestly say I have tried neither, although I’ve always been curious about dandelions.  I’m too afraid to try the ones around my house because I know they’ve been attacked by evil ROUND UP.  ::shudder::  

I’ve heard of daikon, but am not certain of it’s use.  Let’s see what I find. Well, the internets seems to claim it is very like a mild radish.  It seems to commonly be used in stir fry, pickling, and salads.  I could put mild radish in my salad.  Daikon, you trump dandelion today!

I am making my favorite dinner tomorrow of Roasted Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onions.    As I said before, I use an entire onion and a whole can of chickpeas to stretch it over several meals.  I did some of the prep work today.  I roasted and cubed the squash and put everything I need for the recipe on the counter.  This is something I tend to do.  If I can get just a little bit of it done ahead of time then I am more motivated to actually complete the meal the next day.  

I believe this is for two reasons: 1) “I have to make it so it doesn’t go to waste!” and 2) “It’s nearly made.  You hardly have to do anything.”  And that is enough to get me off my duff and making actual food instead of stuff from a can or box.  I know this about myself so I’m working it into my plans.  As I juice for one day, I prep most of the veggies for the next.  I just have to give myself that small head start on the next day and it seems to keep me going.  It also sets up an expectation of continuing cooking my whole food the next day.  Go positive thoughts!

After cooking my delicious squash dish I’m going to start prep on a new recipe.  This always excites me.  The possibility of delciousness!  The possibility of disgusting!  One never knows:)   I picked up celeriac at my local farm the other day without really know what to do with it.  Thankfully, my go to vegetable book, “Totally Vegetarian,” had a celeriac recipe.  And I have all the ingredients on hand! If you have the book (which I totally recommend as someone who is learning to cook veggies in healthful ways) it is the Celeriac, Garlic, and Ginger Soup on page 112. Does anyone know if it is okay to post the recipe as long as I give credit?  Hmmm…  

So I’m excited to try this new soup, but I’m also trying to figure out what to eat with the soup.  Side dish suggestions anyone? 

Wow. Made the best roasted chicken I’ve made so far! Go chicken! Wiith roasted veggies and giant salad of romaine, arugula, sprouts (made by me!) and assorted veggies with feta. NOM NOM NOM.

Currently making chicken stock/broth to freeze with the bones and all the little vegetable tidbits I’ve saved in the freezer over the last few weeks.  I make veggie stock or chicken stock every 2-3 weeks based off those tidbits.  I’m pretty close to calling it for a while - because over a dozen jars is a lot to store in the freezer - but I wish I had a compost pile or a chicken to eat all the tidbits because I hate tossing them. Ah!  Hate waste!  Every time I decide I’m not going to make more I use 3-4 jars for soup and think that I must replenish so I always have SO MANY JARS.  LOL