Twisted Ratatouille

Vegetables are indeed the sure bet for health…. have you ever heard anyone say that vegetables are bad for you?  No, vegetables are definitely good for you.  A belly full of vegetables is a belly full of….. drum roll please…

Vitamins, Vigor and Vitality!  

Indeed.  This is the wonderful pitcher that my Little Sis gave me for my birthday.  Isn’t she awesome?  She had fun negotiating with the man at the flea market who was the former owner of this wonderful thing.   I’m so glad she won!  And so I say to you dear friends… bring on the vegetables and their inherent vitamins, vigor and vitality.  We could all use a little V cubed couldn’t we?

On nights when I haven’t planned well, the extra and assorted vegetables on the counter or in the frig call out to me like a siren song and invite me to make them into dinner.  There is always the stir fry or curry approach to a variety of unclaimed / unplanned for vegetables, but this time, with an eggplant, a sweet onion, and a can of tomatoes on hand I decided to go in a different direction.  

According to Wikipedia: “Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by pasta, rice or bread). Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, courgette (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), bell peppers, marjoram and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence.”

My Super-Step-Mom introduced me to ratatouille and while she always made it with a tomato base and an Italian feel, there was still variety in what else went into the saute.  I decided to experiment with the North African spice mixes I blogged about a few weeks ago in our ratatouille.  Although it has not been tested on the younger crowd yet (he was away at overnight camp when I made this), my husband and I loved it.  We had potatoes on the side but did not bother mixing it with anything – it stood (okay, lay still on the plate)… on it’s own!

Twisted Ratatouille

Oil for sauteeing
1 medium sweet onion – diced
1 medium eggplant – diced
1 28 oz. can of tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
1/2 tsp. tabil
1 tsp. harissa
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt (optional)

Saute the onion and tabil in oil until onions are translucent
Add eggplant and saute until soft
Add tomatoes, harissa and cinnamon
Cook for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve plain or over toasted bread or rice – or favorite grain.

 Those multi-colored potatoes on the side were roasted with coconut oil and to my surprise they did not take on a noticeable coconut flavor – just rich potato flavor with a little crisp.  I think this ratatouille would also go nicely with hummus.  Little Sis has some incredible hummus variations including a black bean with orange version that I have only recently tried.  It is excellent.

Enjoy this twist on the old French favorite…. but most of all enjoy your vegetables.  They really do bring along vitamins, vigor and vitality.  Just ask Popeye.

Sunflower Seeds Recalled

for listeria – also applies to some snack mixes.  Details here.  Sunflower seeds?  Bummer.

Seafood Recalled for Listeria

Imported seafood products recalled for Listeria. Details here. Check your labels. Third recall by this company… three strikes would do it for me, but what do I know. Spread the word. Eat well, be well.

Even Saucier – shortcut Harissa, North African Delight

I know I talk a lot about sauces, which of course makes me very saucy.  And here’s proof of the familial sauciness which abounded at the beach!

  How come Little Sis is taller than me?  She’s wearing high flip flops….  Yeah – that must be it!

Shoes or no shoes…. and there was a lot of no shoes during our week at the beach, we ate really well.  We didn’t go out to eat.  We took turns cooking and it was so delightful to plan, share and partake of a week of delicious healthy food with my wonderful family.  I wanted to do something special for them (Little Sis made an incredible plant-based, gluten free birthday cake for me- she is so wonderful!!) and so I prepared ahead of time to cut down on prep time.  In so doing, I have discovered a new (to me) spice mix and sauce that promise to dress up many healthy, veggie-heavy meals in the future.

We went North African one night and I want to share the tabil (a spice blend) and the harissa (which I found a great shortcut for – as we are a little short on North African sauce stores in my neck of the woods) that made the dish so special.

Both of these include cumin, one of my favorite spices, and were made to complete a roasted vegetable dish from the June issue of Vegetarian Times.

I found a recipe for harissa on-line and then adapted it because I didn’t have chilis, didn’t have time to soak chilis, and was not so inclined amidst other preparations for a week away from home.

Here is the original from Saad Fayed

Harissa

Ingredients:

10-12 dried red chili peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin

So I’m thinking, chilis and garlic, chilis and garlic….. Hey!  I have chili garlic sauce in the frig!  Mine is Vietnamese, but there are many Asian chili garlic sauces, and I bet they are much easier to find in any neck of the woods – mine came from my neighborhood Kroger.

I ground and combined the spices (you can use already ground if you prefer, but my store did not offer ground caraway seeds) in my coffee grinder.

Then I added 2 Tbsp. of chili garlic sauce, used only 1 Tbsp of olive oil and voila… although some parts of North Africa may object to ‘voila’.

I used the sauce in the roasted vegetable with couscous dish from the June issue of Vegetarian Times, and today I used it in a delicious carrot hummus also from the same issue.  Tonight I will serve the carrot hummus with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes and cauliflower seasoned with oil and Tabil…..  

 

So here is the Tabil recipe from Vegetarian Times, June, 2013, p. 44:

1/4 cup coriander seeds
2 Tbsp. cumin seeds
1Tbsp. caraway seeds
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. garlic powder

Toast all but the garlic powder in a small skillet – swirling constantly for about 3 minutes or until darkened and fragrant (and BOY is it fragrant), then transfer to a bowl, add garlic powder, grind finely and store in an airtight container.

I used the tabil to spice up some of my seed crackers, and can foresee using it in lots of savory dishes.

We’ll probably wrap all of this goodness up in rice tortillas or flatbreads, or mix with rice and some hummus.  Mmmmm.

Anyone out there using Harissa or Tabil?

P.S.  I already miss my Sis who gave me a wonderful pitcher for my birthday plus lovely conversation and memories.  I’ll post the pitcher next time.  Gotta leave you with a cliffhanger, right?

The Sisters Hit the Road

Hey friends!  It’s that wonderful time of year when Bigg Sis and I (and our entourages who insist that we cook for them and tuck them in) meet our fab Carni-Mom for some quality time at the shore.  We’ll be taking the week off this time – in the sense that we won’t be posting recipes.  We WILL most assuredly be cooking in between visits to the beach and games of cards, and I’m sure we’ll have plenty to share when we get back.  Who knows – we may even have some pictures of our escapades to share (I know you can hardly wait).  We sincerely hope that you have a glorious unofficial start to summer, that you are able to resist wearing white shoes until Tuesday, and that all (or at least most) of your food choices are real choices.  We’ll be back, refreshed, revived, and most likely more relentless than ever!  Eat well, be well!

Giggling in Anticipation,

Little Sis

One Simple Sauce – Several Tasty Meals

Some of my favorite meals are simple.  They are often not the meals that I choose to serve to guests, I guess the show off comes out in all of us sometimes…. or lots of times, however, simple is so important to a majority of what I cooked when I first started cooking…. and before I started trying to show off in a blog .  As Little Sis and I have been writing the Baby Steps series, we have discussed that there are recipes that are ideal for people just getting into cooking.  These are SO important, because biting off more than you can chew can discourage further cooking… but hopefully not further eating.  I have written about sauces in the past because they are the difference between Blah and Bingo!  And Bingo will help you and your family stick with some healthier recipes.I much prefer “Bingo!” to “Do I really have to eat all of this?”

So while preparing a delicious, but not overly simple recipe from Amanda at Good Clean Food I was so impressed with the tofu marinade that I knew it was destined for other uses besides the Gingered Greens with Tofu that she shared.  And if I lost you at the tofu, fear not…. what you choose to marinade or stir fry is between you, your doctor and the animals in your life   Although I will say that tofu gets a bad rap with folks who’ve never tried it, the truth is that it takes on the flavor of what it is cooked in, AND there are ways to change it’s texture if you don’t like it as is (see notes at the bottom).

So do check out the recipe above…. and do check out this marinade because it is very simple and I’m going to add just afew ingredients to it the second (or third time around to make a VERY easy stir-fry.

The marinade is (from Amanda as mentioned above and based on a Moosewood recipe):
Tofu Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry or mirin (I used sherry)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs brown sugar or agave nectar (I used brown sugar)

Mix the ingredients and bring to a boil.  You might make extra because it is very useful!
You can use it to marinate and then cook meat or tofu and you can used it as a simple stir-fry sauce with or without one or more of the following ingredients:
almond butter or peanut butter
grated ginger
minced or pressed garlic
oil for cooking

Here’s what I did.
 I made Amanda’s recipe.  To the left are little baked tofu squares.

Sauteed the greens according to directions and we had a fabulous meal one night.  One so good that I am serving it to my family on vacation on one of my nights to cook.

Several nights later I put a little sesame oil, 1 clove of minced garlic and about 2 tsp of grated ginger in a pan, sauteed the veggies I had on hand, added some of the marinade sauce – add 1/4 cup and then taste, (people can always add more as a condiment), cooked rice noodles and voila meal number 2.

 Sorry, lousy photo, but you get the idea and can see that I had sugar snap peas, peppers and onions on hand that night.

Lastly, I wondered if the sauce could stand on it’s own for a stir fry.  Of course I couldn’t quite leave well enough alone, so I added about 2 Tbsp. of almond butter to the next batch of stir fry veggies and the sauce.  I started with a little safflower oil, sauteed, added almond butter and again about 1/4 cup of sauce… give or take – it depends on how many veggies you are using.

Unfortunately, our camera broke and I don’t have a picture of this last variant in the bowl, just in the pan, but the combo of peppers (I do love my peppers), cabbage, broccoli and carrots worked with the sauce.  It was very tasty and some of us added a little more sauce to our bowl, and some did not.  Preparing this took only a little longer than it took to chop the vegetables.  I didn’t even use rice…. just lots of cabbage, a versatile but easy sauce…and we had a rootin’ tootin’ good time around here!

Now for the tofu challenged.  I buy extra firm tofu, freeze it, thaw it the day of and squeeze out the excess water.  This can be done over the sink by hand or by placing the tofu in a colander, over a plate (for the drainage) and placing a small plate and a heavy can on top of the tofu and letting it sit.  Freezing and squeezing gives the tofu a heartier texture and makes it a little more porous so it can absorb sauce.

And if you’ve never used fresh ginger – it also can be frozen and then easily grated.  I have a microplane that I love – but any small grater will do.

Enjoy!

Eco Cuisine Food Mixes Recall

Eco-Cuisine products recalled for salmonella – includes brownies, cake, and others.  Details here.  Please check your boxes if you have any and share with friends. Eat well, be well.

Pumpkin French Toast

Okay, so it’s springtime and I’m still talking about pumpkin.  So sue me.  Well, please don’t… instead admit that you too love pumpkin, and perhaps even have a few cans in the pantry from when they were on sale, or when you didn’t get to that pie you were going to make.  Or like me, you bought a whole case of pumpkin from Amazon because you could get organic there for just a bit more than for non-organic in the store and then you had a whole case of pumpkin to use up!  Happily use up, I might add.

Rarely does a recipe call for the actual 2 cups of pumpkin available in these little cans, so what does one do with the little bits / 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, 3/4 cup of pureed pumpkin left over.  Makes a nice science experiment if left in the back of the refrigerator too long, but I try very hard to not lose precious pumpkin i this way.

Call it synchronicity, call it confluence of errors, call it poor planning, …but there I was having promised french toast to my son last weekend and I didn’t have enough eggs.  I usually make a large batch of french toast to freeze for easy school and work morning meals using 10 or 12 eggs, almond milk, vanilla and cinnamon.  I had 7 eggs and I hate to not produce my full compliment of leftovers for later use.  Truly, making enough for leftovers is the key for me being able to providing healthy meals.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, even if my story is a combination of cartoons and obscure haiku!

So I combined (beat the heck out of) my:
7 small eggs, plus
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup of flaxseed eggs.  (see below)
1 – 2 tsp. vanilla
oil to rub on skillet or griddle
cinnamon for sprinkling.  (I sprinkle cinnamon on each piece after laying down to cook because I hate the way the cinnamon clumps in the mixture with egg.  Okay, so now you know my story is a combination of rather orderly and anal cartoons and obscure haiku.)

If you’ve never made a flaxseed egg, it is:
1 Tbsp. of ground flaxseed
mixed with 3 Tbsp. water.
The mixture is stirred and then allowed to sit for about 5 minutes to gel up.
And it does thicken and become gelatinous…. in a nice way  So my 1/2 cup of flaxseed in the Pumpkin French toast is about 2 eggs which = 2 Tbsp. flaxseed (which can be purchased ground or whole which you grind in our blender or grinder) plus 6 Tbsp water.

“Flaxseeds are rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid that appears to be beneficial for heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and a variety of other health conditions. They also contains a group of chemicals called lignans that may play a role in the prevention of cancer.”  This info courtesy of Care2.com

I was pleasantly surprised by the ease with which these cooked and flipped.  I recommend stirring before each new piece of bread is dunked because the heavier stuff did start to settle out at the bottom.  And if you use cast iron – Little Sis has great ideas for perfect pancake and French toast making here.

So you’ve now added a little bit of vegetable to your breakfast plate, and a twist on French toast.  If you’d like to include more veggies in your breakfast we have some Veggie-ful ideas for you here.   We also have ideas for alternatives to syrup – Apple drizzle and Date cream.

Now you wouldn’t necessarily want to scramble a bunch of flaxseed eggs, but they made a healthy expander to my low egg count.   This also got me thinking about ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into the french toast concept and also ways for vegans to enjoy French toast.  Our friend Somer has a vegan french toast that Little Sis says is awesome.  Hmmm I’m thinking about experimenting with some ground walnuts with pumpkin and the garbanzo bean flour mentioned in Somer’s version with milk…. Anybody out there have some interesting french toast recipes to share?

PS – I apologize for only one mediocre pic – our camera broke and this was the best I could get out of my phone.  Better pics next time.

This post was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday.

A Cookie By Any Other Name

A cookie is a cookie is a cookie, right?

I’ve known that is not true since I was very young.  Not to brag, but my mother baked when I was a kid.  Her cookies were better than any store bought cookie…. but not as good as bakery cookies (sorry Mom).  I preferred a good cookie.  Who wouldn’t?

Once she started working she didn’t bake as much but still being budget conscious, she bought the cheapest cookies available.  I thought they were really lame…. until my best friend would come over and be delighted to break into the cellophane wrapped goodies.  She didn’t get cookies at all, so she thought even the cheap-o, 3 dozen for $1, lame ones from the store were okay.  It’s what you get used to, isn’t it?

I also like to bake and I have always been a cookie person as opposed to a cake person.  Many of our friends can tell you that they looked forward to dessert at our house because they knew it would be really good.  Every person’s good.  Plain old good.  Good old good – sweet – good.  What you get used to good.

Sometimes It’s Not That Complicated

I am a member of an online Mom’s group.  I don’t necessarily participate all that much, but when the twins were infants and we had just moved here, it was a lifesaver.  There was always someone around to “talk” to.  I still check in from time to time, to chat with my book club friends, get advice on a restaurant, or help a new Mom know it’s going to be okay.  While I was visiting with my online ladies yesterday, an interesting question caught my eye.