Avgolemono (ahhv-go-LEH-mo-no; avgo is egg, and lemono is lemon) is Greek chicken soup, but you don’t need chicken to make it! Its simple combination of a few basic ingredients creates a deep well of comfort to satisfy your senses and soothe your soul. Even though avgolemono is about as simple as it gets, it’s an elegant recipe whose brilliance comes as much from the technique as the ingredients. As usual, the better the quality of the ingredients, the better the finished product. Also, you don’t have to use arborio rice, but it does confer a particular creamy texture that other kinds of rice do not. Continue reading
Tag Archives: lemons
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Bamboo Rice Salad
Last week, my friend Conner brought me a container of bamboo rice, a short-grain white rice infused with chlorophyll-rich bamboo shoots to turn the rice the color of pale green jade. I had never tasted bamboo rice before, and I wanted to prepare it in a way that decreases the rate of absorption, reducing the glycemic index as it were, so as to decrease the height of the sugar spike that it might cause. Though bamboo rice is not a whole-grain product, the chlorophyll provides a different type of benefit. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lemon-Sesame Kale Salad
A kale celebration for kale lovers everywhere (!). If you don’t happen to have any kale right now, you can still make this salad with any other greens growing in your garden or sitting in your fridge. Radicchio is a good addition, too. Do I post a lot of recipes for kale? Maybe. But I know hardly anyone who eats enough green, leafy vegetables. What’s the deal with green leaves? They’re basically a nutrition powerhouse, with loads of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, you name it. Exactly like taking a multivitamin. But without the constipation.
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Citrus Chicken
Something about winter cries Vitamin C(!), and I’m pretty sure that C stands for citrus. Oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit, kumquats, pomelos, tangelos, clementines, mandarins, and navels all start to call my name ’round about now, and here’s a great way to get some more! This simple recipe is a great choice, whether for company or a Sunday dinner at the end of a busy weekend, and it serves four easily. You’ll be happy to have this recipe up your sleeve when you need it. Continue reading
The Salad Dressing Situation
The last time I stopped at the local supermarket to investigate salad dressings, I learned some very interesting things. Here’s a warning: After you read today’s post, if you haven’t already done so, you’re going to start making your own salad dressing, even if it’s simply olive oil and salt (my fav), or a squeeze of lemon. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tabouleh Like You’ve Never Seen It!
I’m still collecting recipes for July 4th! This particular tabouleh is a Mediterranean masterpiece! If you’ve never tried sumac and za’atar, you are in for a treat — packed with phytonutrients and flavor, they make for a major mouth rush! If you don’t have any and you’re not inclined to go find some, then just substitute a teaspoon of thyme and don’t give it another second’s thought. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lentils & Collards Soup
I’ve posted this recipe on these pages once before, but I thought it was worth repeating. I love how the aromatic cumin and cinnamon and lemon flavors in this soup are so different from the spice combinations I usually use.
The box of vegetables I picked up a couple of days ago contained two huge bunches of collard greens, and I could see that they were just aching to be made into this warm, aromatic soup. It took a day or two, but I finally gathered up all my ingredients, and started chopping. Well almost all. Because most unexpectedly, after I’d rinsed and chopped all the greens, I discovered, for the first time in probably decades, that we were completely out of onions. So I did the only thing I could think of, which was to increase the garlic to 10 cloves. Or maybe 15. There were a lot. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Zucchini with Cilantro Pesto
Thank you to Terry Walters and Clean Start for this beautiful, inspired recipe. It’s the kind of recipe many of whose ingredients, or at least some, may already be on your counter, and it’s got all kinds of valuable substitution possibilities that can keep you experimenting for a good long while. Continue reading