not your mom's dieter soup...

...because it is lacking the ranch dressing flavor packet. Does anyone else remember this soup? Made of cabbage, a can of diced tomatoes, string beans, potatoes (maybe) and a packet of dry ranch dressing. Is it weird that I thought it was quite tasty? I feel this is more an early sign of my love of veggies rather than love of dieters . . . anything.

I raided the fridge last week to make something that followed this new 6 week detox. I'm calling it a detox because it sounds chic and it is more of a detox than a diet, whatever! Back to my fridge raid, I found the cabbage and collard greens, ginger and lemons. Soups on! Use any veggie you find as the yum is in the lemony, ginger broth.

I sauteed shallots and finely diced ginger then added the sliced cabbage and collards. The chicken stock was next followed by some quinoa. At the very last, I added slices of lemon. Lemon juice makes the best secret ingredient to most soups! Lastly some leftover cilantro. I enjoyed the simplicity of this soup.

Funny story(if you know Dan), I packed a hearty serving of soup for my lunch. The following day, when I was ready to head to work I could not find my soup. I called Dan to warm him he took my healthy soup in error. Now, he might have been spinning the truth but that night he said he, "actually enjoyed the soup"

phoebe vs. the tastykake kandy kake

if you live outside of the north eastern region of the US you may have never had a Tastykake. It is true what they say, "nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake." When I went off to college it was Tastykake and a great pizza that I missed the most (in terms of food). Growing up we were never indulged with goodies and this may be were my sugar fix is rooted.

As part of a challenge from my boss (a healthy chiropractor), we are removing sugar from our diets. She may have more willpower than I, I tried to have some Jif with my apple this evening. I have trained Dan too well, he knew Jif is junk and has loads of sugar in it. I actually enjoyed the almond butter instead.

I'd rather master my cravings than have them master me! So what masters you? How much healthier would you be if you cut it out of your diet?

juz' sayn...

samosa lasagna - part 2

I think it turned out quite tasty; however, I would do a few things differently...

• maybe add some ginger and shallots to the butter/oil used for the bechamel sauce. I did use garlic powder and would do that again...or use fresh garlic.
  
• keep the ricotta in but not add pre-blended garlic seasoning mix ... it had oregano in it, blah!
• a dollop of cool yogurt may have been a nice way to serve it (yogurt thickened by "straining it in a coffee filter) ... maybe some fresh cilantro on top?
  

butternut squash lasagna meets samosas

a photo later...

I was going to make a quick lasagna for dinner tonight, short on time and needed an excuse to use some of the dozens of jars of homemade sauce we put up this summer. Thought I had a small bit of samosa filling that was from a test batch a bit ago but it turned out to be more like 3 cups of this tasty ground turkey, pea, and sweet potato filling. It was too much to have the Indian flavor lost in the tomato sauce. Yuck, what was I thinking...that Dan would not notice a bit of Indian meat in the tomato sauce? yup. So a new recipe idea began to form in my bitty mind. I have a feeling that Dan might at least try it...if I starve him.

I made a bechamel sauce and just as it neared thinning added 2 cups of squash puree (buttercup squash from the garden). I mixed 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese with a garlic seasoning mix and some shredded cheddar. I know this sounds a bit gross but the scent wafting from the oven is tempting. This may be one of my MacGyver fridge moves that will either bomb or pleasantly surprise.

So, a layer of the squash bechamel sauce in a greased pan, whole wheat lasagna, samosa with ricotta, sauce and so on. Listen, if people can find pleasure from eating Hamburger Helper then this really deserves a chance. I used real, unprocessed healthy food!

We shall see tomorrow!

penzeys spices

hello, thank you to the lovely person that gifted me a Penzyes gift card for Christmas. My goodies arrived today! That's all... I am just wrapping up my prepared lunch for tomorrows delivery. The croutons just came out of the oven and the un-quiche smells divine!

Indian flatbread

Found a new recipe for an Indian flatbread in a food magazine. The process and ingredients seemed very simple. I enjoy the naan bread recipe that I blogged about a year ago.

This recipe was pretty much 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup warm water knead it 5 minutes, let it sit 30 minutes, divide into 6 pieces, roll out to about 9 inches and cook 1-2 minutes each side on a flat grill pan. Easy enough, right?

The first few flats of bread were kind of crunchy, it took a few tries before I got the hang of it. I must say I prefer the other recipe that did require more time though this one was tasty. I added some fresh rosemary and thyme.

In the small print of this post, I need to make a confession. We have friends from visiting from out of town. Every year we get together a tradition has developed, Shady Maple for the breakfast buffet. Today I had a bit of .... well, that is not important. What is important is the company for friends... over an oreo cookies 'n cream filled doughnut or maybe or the comfort in knowing though I ate loads of stuff my body does not need I did not eat a sampling of everything.

phoebe's snowed in vegan raspberry scones

this is what summer looked like...

• make hot tea
• laundry
• clean tub
• fill tub in case of power outage
• SCONES!!!!

I made only 3 batches of scones. Two recipes were a twist on Ina's maple oat scone and strawberry scones(made mine black cherry & almond). The 3rd batch were vegan raspberry scones (olive oil & agave). Here is the real mystery, when the scones were mounded and cooling on the kitchen island Dan came in and tried a warm one. Of all the scones he had to choose from, he had the vegan raspberry scone. All of the scones looked beautiful but he chose the scone made with whole wheat flour and agave. I made it very clear that the other treats were made with good ol' fashioned butter, eggs, and white flour (I lied about the flour), his usual preference. The raspberries are from his glorious raspberry patch...this might explain his selection.

• 2 cups spelt or whole grain white, unbleached flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/4 c rolled oats
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 c oil (I used extra virgin olive)
• 1/3 c agave
• 1/3 c hot water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c fresh or frozen raspberries
• optional: vanilla bean, seeded and white chocolate chips

preheat oven to 375 degrees

whisk the dry ingredients and add the wet stir until just combined and stir in the raspberries

use a 1/3 c ice cream scooper for ease. bake for 15-20 minutes.

dirty risotto...comfort food oolala

I have a great, fool-proof recipe that I use for risotto from a Todd English book, The Figs Table. This is a perfect comfort food and this week's weather begged for a pot! My version is fudged from the original. My aunt-in-law went to Myrtle Beach for the month of February and dropped off some things that she could not pack and did not want to spoil...okay guys, down there in MB your loss!

I was gifted garlic, red onion, fresh herbs for soup, a sweet potato, and a butternut squash. I already used the herbs and garlic for a simple tomato garlic soup with chick peas and orzo. The red onion was next to be used. Typically a basic risotto is creamy white and to use the red onion would alter that color, I further fudged it up by using dried mushrooms and the broth they were reconstituted in. Instead of the traditional white wine, I used red to further dirty my rice and lastly I found whole grain risotto!!! No photo for this post, it was dirty rice.

If you like Italian sausage (not passing judgment...being as some people keep pigs as pets is all) it might be nice in this mix, maybe with a bit of sage and thyme.

Four-Onion Risotto
this is Todd's recipe ** my alternations are in blue

serves 6-8

2 T butter **extra virgin olive oil
2 c leeks, thinly sliced **red onion
1 spanish onion, diced
5-6 shallots, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or pressed)
1 cup dried mushrooms, reconstituted
2 cups arborio rice **brown arborio
1/2 c white wine **red wine
6 cups chicken broth **organic beef broth
2 T thyme, fresh or 1 T dry
1/2 goat cheese **grated parm

Place a large stainless steel/non-reactive pot over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onions, shallots and cook until tender and translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and cook until it is absorbed.

Add the broth, one cup at a time, stirring with each addition, until it is absorbed, about 20 minutes. DON'T leave unattended! Add the herbs and cheese and serve while still creamy.

100 Pop Bud cookies

I am a bit behind in posting but have to share last weekends handy work ... 100+ cookies. No, you are not welcome to eat them, I'm not sharing, just sharing the photos. (FYI, if I have shared these cookies with you, know those are the ones that fell on the floor) With the help of Karen, our hostess and teacher, I learned how to make Pop Bud cookies. This is a modified dutch cookie recipe. Bud, Karen's father, wanted to removed the fat and cholesterol from the cookies so that he could enjoy them.

**side note: I can't advocate eating white flour and sugar, it is in fact, unhealthy as it robs vitamins from your body, is not nutritious, causes disease when eaten in excess (diabetes for one) and eventually turns to fat anyway; however, if you are vegan or eggs gross you out and cow juice (milk) turns your stomach and/or you don't really care about white flour or sugar... these cookies ROCK!!!! I fall into the first category and prefer to keep my distance from gooey eggs/chicken wannabes and cow liquid... unless they are in a divine recipe. Did I mention these cookies are wicked good??? I have enjoyed 2 with coffee while typing this post.


baking should be this much fun!!!

The recipe makes a batch of 100+ cookies and it would have been an arduous task if Karen had not laid out all the tools and ingredients. The recipe is basic (sour your own "milk", flour, sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda) but it makes such a huge batter for which you need a special spoon (must be mixed by hand), gigantic bowl, and a special frame and rolling pin to roll these bad boys out (we used a flyers cookie cutter, so these were bad boys cookies... the fighting, slashing and boarding kind).

Thank you Karen! Our next lesson opera fudge!

bud's vegan cookies and beaches

I have been neglecting to post yummy recipes recently and short on time to prepare anything tasty. Last week my mother and I took a trip to see a friend of hers who moved to Fort Myers. I'll have to post a photo of a beach on Sanibel Island. We enjoyed the time with beautiful Sandy and her husband. She is a card and enjoys a great laugh!

I have had time to prepare and deliver lunches twice this month and will be making a mango chicken salad and black bean soup this week. Both recipes will be from scratch and rather simple. I just put the dried bean on to soak for the soup. Did ya know when you cook dried beans you should never cook them with just plain water? I read this in one of my Italian cookbooks. It is true and makes a whole lot of sense. The house has a wonderful scent from my cooking beans ... was lazy this time ... dried garlic, cilantro, pepper. I love to use rosemary especially for chickpeas when making hummus.

Long and short of this post I am crazy excited to visit with Dan's mother's cousin's wife in law ladeda. She is going to teach me to make a family recipe. Her father loved cookies but had to modify a recipe for health reasons...and modify he did into vegan cookies. I am stupid with excitement! These are the soft, fat sugar cookies that are slicked with icing...mmmm.... I've had a week from ... and been eating poorly so this will be the perfect way to close the chapter on this torturous week.

garden planning

I am a bit behind but am getting the ball rolling on my garden plans for Mill Street 2010. It is late (11:18pm) but here's what is dancing in my head...
leeks, eggplants, peppers (tollies, ancho, and wicked hot), cucumbers (canning and Armenian), onions, shallots, peas, beans, kale, collards, squash, zucchini, lettuce (a few varieties), radish and... more to be determined. There will certainly be a variety of tomatoes again!

too ugly lentil, rice and sweet potato pilaf

UPDATE: this is the pilaf made into a beautiful bowl of soup with quinoa and pilaf leftovers...

This pilaf was too ugly to photograph and looked a bit like swamp mud but was so tasty. I stirred and handled the pilaf too much but it was an experiment, it will be prettier next time. I love the taste and texture of lentils. I buy my organic lentils from Echo Hill because I'm not ready to commit to buying a 25 lb bag for my business.

Did you know?
lentils are a fiber super star. So not only are they great for your heart (cholestoral reducing soluble fiber), are chock full of insoluble fiber to keep your plumbing clean, the soluble fiber also helps maintain blood sugar levels and feeds your body with a slow burning kind of fuel (i.e complex carbs), are full of iron and . . . are easy and quick to prepare!

I also sneaked in some vitamin C & A and extra fiber by adding sweet potato. mmm. . . This recipe makes at least 4 cups and if for some reason (there is no excuse) you can't eat it all use the leftovers to make soup. Mix up some broth, a can of diced tomatoes and shop in your fridge on on your shelf for your other favorite goodies to add.

too ugly lentil pilaf

1 cup sweet potato, chopped (about the size of bullion cubes)
1 3/4 cups broth or water if you are watching your sodium
1/2 cup brown jasmine rice (I'm a rice junkie thanks to echo hill but use what you have on hand...and man oh man I hope it's not white rice)
1/2 cup french lentils or green lentils
1/3 cup onion, chopped
3 T celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp thyme

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the oil, onion, celery, and saute for about 6 minutes or until onions are translucent. Then add the garlic to cook 2 minutes longer. Stir in the sweet potatoes and rice to cook for 2 minutes. Add the lentils, broth and thyme bring to a boil cover and reduce to low and cook for about 25 minutes.