Category Archives: Recipes

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Fall Soup

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I got this recipe just today from a woman I work with.  I arrived home to find my daughter frying onions.  What’s for dinner? I asked.  I don’t know, she replied, this is as far as I’ve gotten.

So here is what we made:

Step 1:  Fry 2 medium diced onions in olive oil in a soup pot
Step 2:  Peel 3 beets, 3 carrots, 2 sweet potatoes and 1 turnip
Step 3:  Cut the vegetables into several large chunks each, and add to the soup pot
Step 4:  Cover the vegetables with water, and boil 15 min until softened
Step 5:  Scoop out the vegetables into a food processor or Vitamix, and swirl until smooth.
Step 6:  Return the puree to the pot of liquid, add a teaspoon each of thyme, salt, and pepper.
The soup was heavenly.  The color was divine and the flavor was a celebration of autumn, earthy and sweet at the same time.  I put a whole bunch of spices on the table for people to choose from, and they were terrific in all different combinations: turmeric, cumin, and hot paprika.  Rosemary would be good, too.
Hearty appetite!
 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Talia’s Crispy Apple Cereal

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You know how some of the best inventions happen by accident?  So this past Sunday I decided to slice up about a dozen of the abundance of apples in my refrigerator and dehydrate them.  I don’t have a real dehydrator, so I used the next best thing — the oven.  Around noon, I sliced each apple into 5 or 6 circles, spread them on cookie sheets, sprinkled them with cinnamon, and turned the oven to 200 F.  Then I left on an assortment of errands.  I planned to return around 4 pm, at which time I would begin to check on the apples periodically.  

But it didn’t turn out that way, exactly.  I’ll spare you the details, only to say that the apples were quite crisp at 8 pm.  I thought I was going to have to feed them to the chickens, but was surprised to discover that they were really good!  I began scooping them off the cookie sheets and putting them into a jar on the counter.  
Right then, my daughter walked through the kitchen and helped herself to a few.  Hey, these would be great in milk, she said.  So she crumbled a few into a cup and poured some milk over them.  Almond milk, in her case, but any milk would work.  They kept their crisp and made a great (grainless) “cereal.”  And we still have bunches more.  

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit the post called Let’s Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: HOT GREEN TOMATO PICKLES

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If you saw the photo of my haul of green tomatoes and the rest of “the best harvest of my life” last week, then you know what I’ve been doing.  I made my way through a whole bunch of recipes I’d never made before, including green tomato chutney, hot sauce, sauerkraut, pickled watermelon rind, and the aforementioned hot (as in hot pepper) green tomato pickles.  The house smells a little vinegar-y, but the pickles came out great!  They’re nothing like my Grandma Rosie’s green tomatoes, which were deliciously sour, garlicky, and completely different.  I’ve also given away a few jars, which has been an extra bonus.  



I did not actually put up the tomato pickles for long-term storage.  I just filled up glass jars and stuck them in the refrigerator.  Learning proper methods for canning is on the list of things I intend to get to in the next year or two.  I’m not really concerned about their shelf life in the refrigerator.  First, there’s so much vinegar in them that nothing could live.  Secondly, they’ll be gone long before there could even be a problem.  They go with everything, and were particularly good with scrambled eggs and applesauce for lunch the other day.  



Here’s the recipe:

8 cups quartered green tomatoes

2 cups chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped hot peppers

1 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons salt

2 cups white vinegar

1 teaspoon celery seed



Place all the ingredients in a large pot.  Cook on high heat until mixture begins to boil, and remove from heat immediately.  Pour into clean jars and refrigerate.



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Angela’s Recipes

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To celebrate the end of this spectacular growing season, I spent the afternoon pulling tomatoes off the vine, as well as cherry peppers, jalapeño peppers, cayenne peppers, eggplants, cabbages, cauliflowers (gorgeous orange-colored ones), parsley, basil, and sweet peppers. I left the squash and watermelons on the vine for now.  My mom helped a lot.

To use up some of these beautiful vegetables, I’m inspired by a few of Angela’s recipes, given to me just this week by her son.  Angela was my friend’s mom and one of the great things she did (besides cook) was to teach Joby how to find his way around the kitchen, too.

Tomato sauce:
1 onion, medium
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 medium-large tomatoes (or 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes) 
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
Blend onion and garlic in blender or food processor, then sauté in olive oil until golden.  Pour in tomatoes and stir.  Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer.  Add salt, sugar, and pepper.  Add crushed fresh basil if desired.

Eggplant:
Peel eggplant and slice into one-half-inch slices.  Salt eggplant slices and allow to sit 15 min.  Rinse in drainer and place in glass baking dish.  Cover with large dish towel and microwave 6 min.  Pour the tomato sauce (recipe above) all over the bottom of a second glass baking dish.  Layer the eggplant, sprinkle with freshly grated romano cheese, then add slices of mozzarella, and more tomato sauce.  
Keep repeating the layers to the top of the pan.  Cover with sauce and bake for 45 min at 350 degrees.

Pasta fagioli soup
Rinse a package of lentils and sift through through a strainer to remove any stones.  Add 8 cups of water or broth, 1 medium-large onion (chopped), 2 finely chopped carrots, and 1 thinly sliced celery stalk.  Bring to a boil, and cook on medium heat for 30 min.  Then add 1/2 box didalini pasta (tube shapes cut into small “slices”) and cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Add 1 tablespoon salt.  Then chop 3 cloves fresh garlic, fry in 2 tablespoons olive oil until light brown and crunchy, and stir garlic into soup.  Serve immediately.

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit the post called Let’s Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: TWO SOUPS FOR THE SEASON

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A friend of mine does her own thing by spending Monday mornings at 4 a.m. down at the city’s commercial organic vegetable market.  She elbows her way in between buyers from some of the best restaurants and grocers in town to bring home boxes of the most beautiful produce she can find.  Then she divides it into a dozen or so bags, which she leaves out on the front step for those of us lucky friends who all join in for this weekly bounty.  Did I mention that she’s a very talented cook, besides?
Last week she sent out a recipe for “Butternut Vegetable Soup.”
1 medium onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 T. olive oil
1 medium butternut squash, cubed
3 sweet potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, sliced
3-4 potatoes, cubed
1 T. fresh basil 
1 T. fresh thyme 
1 quart vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté onions and garlic for 10 min.  Add carrots and squash, sauté for 10 min more.  Add all remaining vegetables, vegetable stock, and 4 cups of water.  Add basil and thyme.  Bring to boil and simmer covered 30-45 minutes until vegetables are soft.  Puree soup with an immersion blender if you have one, or a potato masher if you do not.  Add water to thin soup if you like. Salt and pepper to taste.
And then she explained how to make “Simple Cauliflower Soup.”
Break up cauliflower into florets.  Cover cauliflower with water in a saucepan.  Bring to boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 min or until cauliflower is tender.  Puree cauliflower and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.  She says that her children love this simple soup.  
I’ll bet it also tastes great with a 1/4 cup cashews tossed in before the puree step, and I’ll bet I can make it in my new Vitamix!

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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: JAPANESE EGGPLANT STIRFRY

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Not sure where I found this recipe, but I have at least 10 gorgeous Japanese eggplants hanging out in the garden and begging to be eaten in exactly this way.  This recipe has more ingredients than I usually choose, but I thought it was worth it.  Since almost all the ingredients are in the sauce, just skip it if you don’t have one of them.  It’ll still be delicious, just different.



1 medium-large eggplant or 3-4 Japanese eggplants (small, long, thin, dark)

2 long English cucumbers

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons coconut oil (or canola oil if you prefer)

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons minced chives



1. Trim the eggplants. Cut in half lengthwise, slice 1/4 inch slices.

Toss lightly with approx 1 tsp. salt, and place in colander. Allow to rest 15 minutes, and prepare other ingredients. Then squeeze excess water from eggplant slices and dry with cloth or paper towel.

2. Meanwhile, trim cucumber ends, cut in half lengthwise, and slice again into 1/4 inch slices.

3. Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, salt and sesame oil in a bowl and set aside.

4. Heat wok or skillet over high heat until very hot.  Add oil and tilt the pan to distribute. Add eggplant and stir-fry 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Add ginger and red pepper flakes, stir-fry 30 sec. Add cucumbers and chives, stir-fry 30 sec more. Add soy sauce mix, and stir-fry 60 sec until cucumber begins to soften.  Serves 2-4.

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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: ANOTHER GAZPACHO, THIS ONE GOLD!

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I saw this recipe on a site for new blenders.  Since I expect that I’ll have a new blender by the end of the week (!), I thought it was a perfect time for this beautiful, late summer, golden gazpacho recipe.  If you can’t find yellow (acid-free) tomatoes, use red ones and the soup will be orange.



5 medium yellow tomatoes, quartered

Corn kernels stripped from 2 cobs

1/2 cucumber, peeled if thick or waxy

1/2 yellow pepper, cored and seeded

1/2 clove garlic

1 scallion, cleaned and sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper



Blend the tomatoes first.  Then add in the remaining vegetables, one at a time.  Then add the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Serves 4.



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Creamy Kale (No Dairy)

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You would not believe how much kale is growing in my garden.  I’ve given some away, eaten some steamed, spun some into green smoothies, and still there is more.  So here’s one more way to use it up.  Many thanks to Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen for this great recipe.  They recommend serving it with quinoa, raw vegetables, and chicken or black-eyed peas for dinner.  They also warn that 10-12 cups of chopped kale may seem like a lot, but it shrinks a lot when you cook it.

Ingredients:
10-12 cups finely chopped kale

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (approx. 1 heaping cup)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
1/2 small jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 to 2 teaspoons Herbamare (an herb/seasoned salt mix–I used 1 t. salt + a mix of fresh basil and oregano)

#1  Chop the kale and set aside.
#2  Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, then onions and garlic. Saute 5 min or until soft and turning brown at the edges.  Add to a blender with cashews, water, jalapeno pepper, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and Herbamare. Blend until smooth and creamy. 

#3  Return sauce and chopped kale to the skillet and simmer 10-15 min until kale is soft and sauce is thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: GAZPACHO

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There were 10 large tomatoes in my CSA box today.  Here’s something wonderful to do with them, adapted from “Poor Girl Eats Well.”

Gazpacho
                                                                                                  
5 large, very ripe tomatoes                                                           
1 medium cucumber, unpeeled
1 small bell pepper, red or green as you prefer
1 small red onion
1 large carrot

1 T finely chopped hot pepper (serrano, jalapeno)  
1/2 t crushed red chili flakes                                                    
2 large garlic cloves
2 c tomato juice
1/4 c olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  Dice and mix together the onion, bell pepper, carrot and cucumber.  Separate into two equal batches, but put one batch in a large serving bowl (or pot) and the other in a small bowl.
2.  Chop the tomatoes.  Add one cup of the chopped tomatoes to the small bowl of vegetables to use later.  Add the rest of the tomatoes to the large serving bowl filled with chopped vegetables.
3.  Add the tomato juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to the serving bowl, now filled with tomatoes and vegetables.  Slowly puree the mixture using a blender or hand mixer.
4.  Finally, pour the reserved vegetables (from step 1) and tomatoes (from step 2) into the serving bowl.  Adjust seasoning and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. 
5.  Garnish with cilantro, chopped scallions, or grated carrot, as you like, and serve.
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YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: POTLUCK BEAN SALAD

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Running out of ideas for what to take to potlucks?  Run no more…

16 oz can red beans
16 oz can black beans
16 oz can garbanzo beans
16 oz can corn, drained (or 2 cobs worth)
Rinse and drain.

2 large stalks celery, sliced very thinly
1 medium red onion, diced small
1 large tomato, diced small-medium
1 c spicy salsa (or 1/4 cup tomato paste + 1 small jalapeno, diced fine)
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c lime juice (approx 4 limes)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

Mix spices with lime juice at the bottom of a beautiful, wide pottery bowl, and then add in the olive oil and salsa.
Mix in corn and all the beans. Add all but 1/4 cup of the celery, diced onion and diced tomato.  Mix them together, and then pile the small mixture in the middle on top as a garnish.  Let sit 1/2-1 hour, and then take to a pot luck.  Delicious!