Food Fascination

I admit it - there are summer days when I just have no motivation to cook - all I want to do is munch on something as we relax in the back yard or in front of the fan. It’s those evenings that I’ll make up a bowl of this dip, set it out with French bread and vegetables and dig in. For more than just hot days, though, this dip is also great for groups of people - one recipe serves 2-3 as dinner with bread and raw vegetables or 8-10 as a appetizer dip. Don’t be afraid to make it ahead and let it sit - it actually gets better the longer flavors meld in the fridge.

You’ll need:
1 small package frozen, chopped spinach, or 4 cups fresh, whole spinach leaves
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 package ranch dressing powder mix
2 cups sour cream

Thaw the frozen, chopped spinach and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible - or, chop the fresh spinach and wilt in a frying pan over medium heat until it’s limp and soft.

Chop the water chestnuts into small chunks

Combine the spinach, chestnuts, ranch mix, and sour cream in a bowl. Dig in!

This is one of my most favorite summer dinner solutions, for those nights when you look at the oven and just can’t bring yourself to turn it on, when even the microwave doesn’t sound like a good idea. It’s easy to customize, and worth every bit of the 10 minutes it takes to put together. It’s also a great excuse to check out your local farmer’s market - almost everything is probably available there, and grown/made locally.

For the most basic of raw pizza, You’ll need:
1 pre-baked pizza crust (Boboli is the most widely commercially available - or make and pre-bake your own)
1 small package fresh mozzarella cheese (shredded will also work)
Fresh basil leaves (they’re usually in the produce section)
1 bunch fresh spinach
1-3 cloves garlic (depending on how much you like)
2-3 red tomatoes
Olive oil (I LOVE the flavored olive oils for this one - try garlic or roasted red pepper.)

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the crust. This will help everything stick.

Layer the spinach and basil leaves over the crust, going out to the edges..

Cut thin rounds of the mozzarella cheese, and arrange over the spinach and basil.

Mince the garlic (or use pre-minced) - sprinkle it over the cheese. (For some, raw garlic is way too strong. If this is the case, saute’ your garlic in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat until it’s sizzling and softened.)

Slice the tomatoes and arrange over the garlic and mozzarella.

Drizzle with a bit more olive oil.

Slice and dig in!

Some other things to try on this pizza:
Leftover cold chicken
Other types of cheese (try cheddar, or Parmesan)
Cold cuts of ham or turkey
Basically anything you find in your fridge

An explanation of the 7×7 challenge
Follow Bart’s 7×7 Adventure

While Bart didn’t put much dessert-like stuff on his list, Jackie noticed that a modified banana rice pudding would serve beautifully in that role.

Usually, rice pudding is made by boiling rice and milk, cream, eggs, sugar, butter, and all sorts of spices. The starch in the rice blends with the protein of milk and creates a pudding that doesn’t require sirring forever - and actually has some nutritive value!

However, since milk, cream, butter, sugar, and spices are all off Bart’s list, a traditional recipe wouldn’t exactly be possible.
The solution? Use pureed banana as a stand-in for the milk. Banana doesn’t have as many different proteins as milk, but pureed with a bit of water, it would have some of the creamy texture and would provide a good base in which to boil the rice. It would also stand up beautifully to that much heat, and the sugars inherent to bananas would add some sweetness. This recipe could also well-serve as a rice pudding substitute for anyone lactose-intolerant.

So, here’s what we came up with:
5 bananas
1/2 - 1 cup water
1/2 cup white rice (short grain, preferably, but long grain will also serve)
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk (this will help add back some of the richness lost when the milk is left out)
1/2 teaspoon salt

First, send the peeled bananas through either a potato ricer or food processor. Bananas have long strands of fibrous material that wouldn’t serve well in creating a “banana milk”. The ricer will trap these strands, or the food processor will chop them up. Either way, in the end, you should have a bowl full of banana mash. Whisk it with just enough water to create a runny liquid. Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and salt.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the banana mixture and rice. Cook over medium-high heat until it just starts to simmer - then cover and cook until the rice is soft. (Depending on the rice, this could be 5-20 minutes. Check the directions). By covering the simmering mixture, you’re trapping the steam in the pot, and helping to force more moisture into the rice. The eggs will solidify a bit and help create the “pudding like” texture of this mixture.

If you’re not limited to 7 ingredients and want to try the banana rice pudding at home, try whisking in a 1/4 cup of brown sugar, a few teaspoons cinnamon, a teaspoon nutmeg, or even 1/2 cup of raisins.

Follow Bart’s 7×7 Adventure

A challenge has been issued - my friend Bart signed himself up for the 7×7 challenge - a competition where 8 guys will eat only 7 ingredients for 7 days. Each gets to choose their own list of ingredients, and each tries their darndest to undercut everyone else. So - in an effort towards the positive (helping him survive and not get bored on 7 ingredients for 7 days) as opposed to the negative (sending the competition links to this blog ) Jackie and I came up with a list of suggestions for his list of ingredients.

His 7 are:
Corn tortillas
Portobello mushrooms
Cheddar cheese
White rice
Avocados
Eggs
Bananas
with freebies of salt, pepper and water.

Here were our original thoughts on the ingredients:

Make up a lot of white rice at a time, and keep it in the fridge. It’ll be a good source of starch, and even when it’s cold it’s easy to mix in with other things. This, along with eggs, will probably be the staples.

Bananas have a higher sugar content than anything else on the list. Make use of this! Not only to satisfy your sweet tooth, but also to caramelize and sweeten more blasé combinations.

Corn tortillas are especially good when warmed - put them in a dry skillet and let them warm over low heat. It’ll help them be more flexible and pliable, too.

Portobello mushrooms are practically a meal all in themselves. Sprinkled with a little salt and pepper, they’re amazing grilled. The longer you cook these mushrooms, the firmer and “meatier” their texture is

Cheddar… mmmm, cheese. Get some shredded, or shred some so it’s on hand and easy to use. Also, keep some chunks around to snack on when you need munchies.

Avocados have the fat and oils you don’t really have anywhere else in your diet - so make use of this. Smash them with a little cold water for a spread-like paste, or literally eat them whole (once you’ve halved them).

Eggs, in addition to providing a lot of nutrients you need, act as binding agents for other ingredients. So don’t be afraid to throw one in when things are (literally) falling apart.

Learn to love your Teflon. Because you don’t have oil or fat to cook in, Teflon and low heat will become your friends.

And original menu suggestions:
Breakfast:
Slice an avocado in half, poach an couple of eggs, and cradle the eggs in the avocado.
Scramble eggs, layer them on corn tortillas with cheese, leftover grilled or baked mushrooms, some avocado and/or rice. Breakfast burritos!
Peel and slice a banana in half, put them on some tinfoil, and broil them in the oven. Warmed bananas are sooooo good.
Fried eggs over a tortilla with some cheddar cheese melted on top with the broiler

Lunch/Snacks/Dinner
Melt a bunch of cheddar cheese over rice, stir in up, throw in some pepper. Slice some avocados on top if you care to.
Grill or bake a mushroom, spread cheese and avocado over it
Wrap mushroom pieces and cheese in a tortilla
Stir together some eggs, avocado, and cheese (add white rice if you’d like), then bake in an oven-safe bowl or pie plate lined with tortillas
Hard-boiled eggs with some salt. More info on boiling eggs Try drawing a face on the shell before you crack it
Crack a couple eggs into a hot frying pan, then scramble with white rice and mushroom bits or sliced bananas for stir-fry.
Quesadillas! Over low heat, melt shredded cheese and mushroom bits between two tortillas, then eat with avocado smash for a dip/spread
Meringues - whip up a bunch of egg whites and a touch of cold water with a whisk or electric mixer until they’re stiff - you could even fold in some thinned, smashed bananas for flavor.
There is also a food I have heard of, but never tried called a chupaqueso - basically turning cheese into a fried shell. I’ll let those that know what they’re doing explain this one: chupaqueso.com/original-howto/
Modified Rice Pudding - recipe to follow

How would you do a 7×7? What ingredients would you use?

Having grown up in a hometown that had a very strong presence of Mexican food, I can say one of the things that I truly and utterly miss is the taco-truck tacos that my friends and I would grab afternoons during lunchtime and chow down on while rushing to get back to school. There was always some secret to the meat that just made those things amazing to eat. Now, I’ve had my fair share of the packaged-seasoning neon-orange taco meat mixes, and I will admit some of them are not too bad. However, it is not only more tasty, but much much less expensive to mix up your own taco meat (not to mention a heck of a lot more healthy).

So, to start, let’s examine what, exactly, is in your basic name-brand taco seasoning mix. Listed in order, the ingredients are:
Chili Pepper
Cumin
Oregano
Red Pepper
Onion
Milk Whey Solids
Salt
Sugar
Paprika
Garlic
Potato Starch
and Citric Acid

They get a few things right - first, they actually include garlic, onion, chili pepper, and cumin. All good, solid mexican spices that lead to a tasty taco.
They get several things wrong, too, though. For example: Milk Whey Solids. Milk? In a taco? They do this so when you mix water in with the seasoning, everything will thicken and your tacos won’t be too watery. Ditto for the potato starch. The salt and sugar are not really needed, and in there because, well, they make *everything* in a package more attractive to human taste buds (430 mg of sodium for every 2 tacos - with 500 mg recommended daily.) Also, what the heck on garlic being one of the last ingredients? That’s just not cool - Mexican food should be full of flavor, as spicy (or not) as you want it, and have a definitely garlicy taste.

So, let’s one-up this package of Taco Death and mix up our own seasoning. You’ll need:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white or yellow onion (as I’ve talked about before, white onion has a sweeter flavor, while yellow onion is your classic “oniony” taste)
3-8 cloves garlic, peeled and diced (Yes, that is a lot of garlic. The pre-peeled and packed in olive oil also taste pretty good, if you don’t feel like peeling it all yourself. Try to stay away from garlic powder, though.)
2 baby carrots or 1 small peeled carrot, minced(Carrot adds a depth to the flavor by providing some natural sugar. It’s a good trick for a lot of spicy dishes, actually.)
1 pound ground beef (preferably 80/20 or 85/15. Check Homemade Burgers Done Right for why).
1 can diced tomatoes, or about 1 or 1 1/2 cups diced fresh tomatoes and 1/4 cup water
2-3 Tablespoons chili powder (If at all possible, get the stuff from a ethnic grocery store. It’s less expensive and more flavorful. This is where the heat comes from - so choose how much you want and the type carefully. If you’re not sure what you want, start with the mild stuff and work your way up from there.)
1 Tablespoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons lime juice (If you don’t have lime around, lemon will work as a substitute. This serves the same purpose as the “citric acid” in the premixed seasoning - helps keep things tasting fresh)
2 teaspoons freshly chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano - fresh or dried

In a large frying pan or heavy-bottomed dutch oven, saute the onions, garlic, and carrot in the olive oil until they’ve softened. Add the ground beef and cook over medium-high heat until the beef has mostly cooked through. Drain off all but a few tablespoons of the fat (do this either by literally straining the mixture or - more easily, push all the meat to one side, then use a large spoon to skim the fat off the other side.) Add the tomatoes and seasonings, cover, and let simmer over low heat for 10-30 minutes, adding water as necessary to keep the mixture from scorching. And that’s it - you should have a delicious, fresh-tasting taco meat that is leaps and bounds healthier and tastier than the mix stuff. And just as quickly.

For an easy, quick, simple-to-feed-a-group taco bar, lay out the meat along with warmed tortillas (wrap them in tinfoil and warm in a 200-degree oven while the meat is simmering, or individually warm them in a dry frying pan over medium heat), grated cheddar or colby-jack cheese, fresh romaine or butter lettuce, salsa, warmed corn niblets, sour cream, and homemade or deli-purchased guacamole.

Or, use taco meat in your favorite pasta casserole - or on burritos to freeze for your at-work lunches - or whatever else sounds good. If you’d like to freeze just the taco meat, put it in freezer-safe zipper lock plastic bags and toss in the freezer. Just defrost it on the stove over low heat instead of in the microwave - the microwave tends to make any ground beef very very chewy.

I live on a simple concept when it comes to summer cooking: if you’re going to do hamburgers at home, you might as well do them right. Don’t settle for a slab of (even really good) ground meat on a store-bought sponge-like bun. So get the grill fired up (even if it’s a George Foreman) and make a burger that’s worth it.

First, use gloves and just dig into the meat. Forget being delicate and trying to mix things with a spoon. Throw it in a bowl and squish it up like you were a kid playing with clay.

Second, step away from the bbq sauce! It’s perfectly fine to slather your burger in the stuff, but don’t mix it directly in with the raw meat - the moisture and sugar content will char your burger long before it’s truly tasty.

Third, cook it to perfection - whatever you consider “perfection” to be. Medium-well (160 degrees internal temperature) is a good starting place. Stick a meat thermometer in the center of the burger and give it a minute or so to register.

Fourth, Experiment! It’s a burger for gosh sakes - so take what you love and give it a try. If it doesn’t work, you haven’t wasted all that much.

Fifth, don’t be afraid of a little fat. Sure, the 97/3 meat (that’s 97% “meat” and 3% fat) in your grocer’s meat case seems tempting - only 3% fat? In hamburger? Don’t be so quick to say “sign me up”. That is because the fat in meat is what actually gives it flavor. Without some fat, the meat becomes dry, tough, and cardboard-like. Most of the flavoring happens as the fat is cooking OUT of the meat anyway, so as long as you don’t save the drippings of the ground beef and pour them all over your potatoes, you’ll be fine. Go for 90/10 or 85/15 - the burgers will cook down a bit smaller, but it’ll be worth it.

So what to mix in? If you’re mixing in cheese, use a dry cheese like grated Parmesan (save the cheddar for a burger-topper). Just about any spice or seasoning that you wouldn’t find in a cookie is worth a try (forget the nutmeg - try basil.) Go light on the salt and let the other flavors come through. Small amounts of liquid are fine, just don’t use more than 3 Tablespoons per 1/2 pound of beef. And try out veggies! Chopped onions are a classic, but give green onions, or chopped garlic, a chance!

My personal favorites on seasoning combinations (all using about 1 pound of ground round):
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
several good sprinkles of:
Basil
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic powder
Pepper
and the lightest touch of salt.

Or:
1/4 cup soy sauce (usually I go for low-sodium)
Rosemary
Chopped onions
Chopped garlic
Ground white pepper

Of course, a well-prepared bun is just as important when you’re talking shop of a good burger. Get a bakery bun, or make a pan of rolls. Then slice them in half, spread some melted butter on the top, and set them under a broiler for a few minutes, until they’re turning golden brown. Or, if you’re on the grill, just invert them over the heat. Either way, a well-toasted bun is the best way to top your masterpiece.

My office is setting up a community garden, and after hearing many exclamations that beets seem to be a popular item, and “what do you do with BEETS?!?” I was challenged to provide an answer. So, one-cube-away, here you go

Yes, they’re an odd color, and yes, they’ve got a flavor you may not quite be used to. Get over it! Beets are tasty, full of all kinds of vitamins, nutrients, and fiber. Not to mention a great way to add color to your plate (the easiest “diet plan” ever is to make sure your plate has at least four colors of fresh food on it every time you eat.) Beets are useful for both their roots and their greens. The roots are high in copper, vitamins B1, B2, and C. The greens are high in iron, vitamin A, and potassium. So if you’re getting sick of bananas and spinach, throw some beets into the mix. They also have a high natural sugar content (table beets are a cousin to sugar beets, after all) and are buttery-smooth when cooked.

So, grab a few beets from the grocery store and prepare to experiment!
Things to remember when working with beets:

1- Both the greens and the roots are edible, so there is very little waste
2- Don’t peel the beet roots until AFTER they’re cooked, otherwise they will “bleed” both color and flavor. This isn’t true for soups, since the color has nowhere to go but right back into the soup.
3- The juice can stain - in fact, it is often used as a dye. Wear a pair of latex gloves (you should have a box around for meat prep anyway), then use lemon juice to wash off any stains.
4- Like all root veggies, they are tough and crunchy - so use very tiny raw pieces (such as grated beet root) or cook them.
5- Raw beets don’t freeze well - they break down too easily when the ice crystals start forming. Instead, cook and then freeze them.

Recipes:
Roasted Beets
Red Root Soup
Beet Hummus
Ironman Salad
Crimsion Pear Sauce

There are those of us who just don’t like cranberry sauce. (Wait! Before you say that for sure, try these!) Or, perhaps you just don’t want something more fruity than your crazy aunt at the holiday table. Or you’re looking for something new. Whatever the reason, this sauce is absolutely amazing on turkey, chicken, pork - really any white meat. While this recipe calls for some specific types of onions and vinegar, there are ways to substitute if your local store doesn’t have what you need, or you just don’t have it around. This sauce is best served room temperature or warm - try garnishing it with a few sprigs of mint.

You’ll need:
3 medium beets
1 stick (4 Tablespoons) butter
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onions (or use white onion with 2 teaspoons sugar)
1 can pear slices (while fresh pears are attractive, the canned pears are softer and easier to puree)
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (cranberry vinegar or balsamic raspberry vinegar is also a good choice here)
Dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and onions. Melt over low heat, then allow to simmer until onions are soft.

Add the pear slices, vinegar, beet chunks, and salt to the saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until it barely simmers. Use a potato masher or ricer to smooth the sauce out, or run it through a food processor or blender for a few rounds. If it is too thick, add a bit of the canned pear juice. Makes about 3 cups sauce.

This salad is packed with iron, calcium, vitamin C, fiber, everything you’d want for a training regimin. This is another great place to use pre-roasted beets. As with most salad mixes, add whatever you’d like or what you have in your fridge - this is just a suggestion to build off of.

You’ll need:
2 medium beets with greens (and extra greens, if you have them leftover from other cooking adventures. Also, if you can find them, combine red and yellow beets for color variation)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow or red onion, chopped (red has extra bite to it, if you enjoy it)
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1-2 cups spinach
Feta cheese
Dried cranberries
Shredded carrots
Your favorite vinegarette or dressing

Slice the greens off the beet roots, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

Rinse and pat dry the spinach and beet greens. Roughly chop or rip into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In a small frying pan, combine the onions and balsamic vinegar. Cook over medium heat until the onions begin to carmalize (this is easy to do ahead of time in large batches, then store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks). Set the onions aside and take the pan off the heat. Immediately add the greens and allow to wilt in the warm pan.

Combine the greens, onions, beets, cranberries, carrots, and whatever else you’d like. Toss with the dressing and enjoy with a large glass of milk.

Makes 2-3 servings salad

Red hummus? It may bring a few curious stares in the lunchroom, but pair with a pita or some wheat crackers, and you’ll be in crossover cuisine heaven! The beets add a slightly sweeter, earthier taste that pairs so well with chickpeas and garlic, you’ll want to make it by the pound.

You’ll need:
1-2 medium beets (if you’ve got roasted beets already, this is a great place to use them.)
1 can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped finely
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup tahini or sesame paste (this is a paste of seasame seeds, most likely found in the “ethnic” section of your grocery store or an oriental / near eastern grocery store.)
1 Tablespoon cumin
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

In a small frying pan, heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.

Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.

In a food processor, chop the beets, onions, garlic, and chickpeas together until smooth. Add the tahini and cumin, and process again. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then replace the lid. While the blades are running, slowly add the lemon juice and olive oil mixture until the hummus is at your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Makes 2-3 cups hummus