Curry lentils and escarole – two ways

I’m infatuated with lentil soup. Lentils cook quickly, have protein and fiber, and go nicely with many different types of seasoning. This meal from start to finish took 30 minutes. Here’s how:

In a dutch oven over medium heat, saute 1 chopped onion, 1 stalk celery, and 2 chopped carrots in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Add about 1 teaspoon (or to taste) of your favorite curry powder (I used a mild yellow curry) until the vegetables have softened. Add one cup of lentils and 3 cups of water or chicken/vegetable stock. Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. At this point I used my immersion blender to puree some of the lentils and added chopped escarole to the mix. The heat from the lentils will wilt the escarole without overcooking it. 

For my meat-loving husband, I needed to add a little to this dish. Leftover to the rescue! Layered on the bottom is black forbidden rice. Black rice is gluten free and has more antioxidants than blueberries. Plus, the nutty flavor and chewy texture are quite satisfying. Over the top I thinly sliced some beef filet. 

It goes to show that you don’t need to make separate meals to make everyone happy; with a little creativity and adding or subtracting from a basic dish there are endless variations. 

Menus – for the week of July 9

Monday : whole rainbow trout grilled with lemon and fresh dill, steamed brown rice with mushrooms and onions, chopped raw veggies

Tuesday: @ Dad’s house

Wednesday: Lentil stew with yellow curry powder (something I found in an Asheville spice shop on my recent girl’s weekend). Millet and flax lavash with zatar seasoning (another spice find…does this make me a “spice girl?!”)

Thursday: Dover sole, zuchinni fritters with garlic, parsley, and lemon zest

Friday: Spaghetti squash (for me), pasta (for Anna and Eric) with vegan meat sauce and spinach.

Saturday will be a birthday dinner for my Bubbie (Happy 86th!) so the plan is a gluten free pound cake with fresh strawberries and a strawberry boiled icing. We’ll see how it goes.

Something new

I’ve been absent a bit from blogging for many reasons. A big one has been time; when you work, are a mom, and are starting your own business time seems to be a very valuable commodity. On the positive side my business is doing well and I am in the black  

My daughter and I had a meeting of the minds to discuss how we can live together without killing each other as I start going through peri-menopause and she is going through puberty. Ground rules were discussed and established, and so far so good. I’m sure we will have occasion to revisit the rules and add/amend them but this is what we started with:

1. Listening = Respect.

2. Treat belongings with care.

3. Do it right the first time; that means doing what is asked when it is asked so “forgetting” is not an issue.

4. Everybody helps.

5. If you can’t articulate a good reason WHY you are doing something don’t do it.

6. Flush.

Simple start, but there is a lot that can fit into those categories. 

I also revamped my diet, which is why there haven’t been recipes added. I’m still in the experimental phase. Gluten is still out, and now dairy is as well. Turns out I feel a lot better without dairy in my diet. I’m eating a lot more fruits and vegetables (organic if it all possible), beans, raw nuts, and am limiting meat. So stay tuned….

Baked frittata

Did you notice no photos for this recipe? That is because we ate it all before thinking to stop and take a picture! Picture in your mind a casserole of layered potatoes, sautéed vegetables, savory slices of sausage, and a crunchy topping of cheese.

This is a breakfast dish so delicious and hearty that I’ve made it for dinner on more than one occasion.  It covers all the basics: starch, protein, vegetables – and is completed by a serving of fruit on the side.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

While the oven heats, slice 4 russet potatoes (mine came out to about 2 pounds) into 1/8 inch slices. A mandolin or food processor with a slicing blade is a great help for this if you don’t have a steady hand and/or a sharp knife. If you don’t have a sharp kitchen knife, go ahead and put that on your holiday wish list because it will make your life easier and safer in the kitchen.

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and run cold water over them until they are cool enough to handle. Set aside.

Saute one chopped onion and one package of al fresco country-style chicken breakfast sausage over medium high heat until the onion is softened. I like this brand of chicken sausage because there are no nitrates, minimal ingredient list, and calories/fat are within my budget. They come in at 50 calories per link and remember that this serves 8 people. You can substitute regular pork sausage, bacon, cubed ham, or turkey bacon…whatever you like or happen to have on hand. This is where you can let creativity shine. Add spinach and feta if you like it. Add green peppers and mushrooms if those are your favorites. Set this mixture aside.

Now it’s time to whip up some eggs. I use a combination of eggs plus additional egg whites. For this recipe I use 6 whole eggs plus 4 additional egg whites. It cuts calories while preserving the taste of real eggs. I’ve tried several egg substitute products and haven’t been impressed by them – but if that is what you enjoy, go for it. To my eggs and egg whites I add salt and pepper.  Nothing too fancy.

Now it is time to start layering.

Spray a 9 X 9 baking dish with cooking spray. Add a layer of potato slices. Top with your vegetable/meat mixture. Add 1/4 cup shredded cheese. I’m a fan of sharp cheddar but use whatever you have on hand or your favorite.  Or omit completely. I make this without cheese for my daughter and she loves it.

Repeat the layers and finish with potato slices on top.  Pour the beaten eggs over the top to fill in all the spaces. Top with 1/2 cup of cheese (it may sound like a lot of cheese – but the total recipe uses 1 cup and serves 8 people so it breaks down to an acceptable amount).

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through and the top is browned.

 

Enjoy!

Melissa vs. the Juicer

I’ve always been one to embrace new kitchen gadgets. Love ‘em in fact, except for the excess room they take up in the house…mental note: next house will have to have a kitchen gadget storage pantry. I was watching the Dr. Oz show on TV and the levels of arsenic found in simple things like processed apple juice  (and before I get a lot of comments I do understand the difference between organic and inorganic arsenic . I also understand the FDA has members with financial stake in getting products out the the consumer)

With $20 in Amazon.com gift cards burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to equip our home with a Breville juicer. Fresh juice made from organic apples grown in the USA. What could be better? Silly, silly, woman.

The juicer arrived, all stainless steel and big blades, and mesh. I was prepared with a big bag of apples from earthfare.

Rule number 1 with the juicer: Have the piece that covers the feed tube handy when you put hard items in the juicer. First attempt = apples raining in my kitchen. Initially cautious dogs decide this new noisy machine may not be a bad thing if it’s going to throw food at them and hover around the kitchen waiting for the Breville volcano to erupt again.

Once I came to that understanding, all went well. I juiced the entire bag of apples and the taste (once I skimmed off the foam) was very sweet and incredibly fresh. I found I needed to cut it with water for a taste more to my liking.

Next experiment was a “green juice”. We all know we should have more leafy greens in our diets, but in the winter I just don’t feel up to eating a huge salad every day. Enter the juicer. I put in an entire head of romaine, an apple, 2 cucumbers, a little lemon and ended up with something I could enjoy. A little fresh ginger would have zipped it up a bit, or maybe some pineapple.  But it is healthy and baby steps towards including larger amounts of greens in my diet (and my husband’s).

The leftover pulp can be mixed into dog food for a little extra fiber and nutrition or dumped out into your compost pile for a no-waste approach.

If you have a juice blend you really like, please share it in the comments below; I can’t wait to try more combinations!

Enjoy!

GF, dairy-free, corn-free, soy-free birthday cake

My little girl is going to be 10 in just a few days – and this year the birthday cake was a bit more of a challenge with all the new allergy requirements. It had to be gluten free for me (so I didn’t contaminate my pans), soy free, dairy free and corn free for Anna…that’s a lot of “free”. Plus I wanted it to taste good. No sense in eating birthday cake if it doesn’t taste good.

This cake did take planning and I did have to order a few of the ingredients online, but it came together easily. I actually ended up making it twice because I flipped one of the layers of the first batch on to floor. Happy dogs, but not enough cake left for human consumption. It ended up being a good thing because it gave us an extra layer for Anna and her friend to decorate and for a taste test (always important!)

The recipe is taken from Annalise Robert’s book Gluten Free Baking Classics.

Makes 2 eight inch or 9 inch rounds or 24 cupcakes

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 1/2 cups brown rice flour mix (I ordered this from Authentic Foods. It is sold under the name GF Classic Blend) The secret here is extra finely ground brown rice flour. The stuff in the stores is too gritty to produce a fine crumb on baked goods.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon baking powder (Hain brand does not contain corn)

1 teaspoon xantham gum

1 cup canola oil

1 cup milk substitute (I used almond milk)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position rack in center of oven. Line 2 nine inch round pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray (note: some cooking sprays contain soy. I ended up lightly brushing the pans with canola oil)

2. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer at medium speed for one minute. Add flour, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, oil, milk, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed for 1 minute.

3. Pour batter into prepared pans [note: I reserved some batter and stirred in melted Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips then placed spoonfuls on top of the raw vanilla batter and swirled with a knife. Marble cake!] Place pans in oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes (40 min for 8 inch pans, 18-20 minutes for cupcakes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

4. Cool cake layer in the pans on a rack for 5 minutes. Use a small knife to cut around the edges to loosen cake and invert the cake onto a rack, peel off parchment, and cool completely.

5. Frost as desired.

Frosting:

I used a recipe from Wilton for buttercream frosting. I found I needed to double this and then had some left over.

1 cup shortening (Spectrum organics makes a shortening that is only palm oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

4 cups sifted powdered sugar [note: I had to go online to King Arthur Flour to buy "glazing sugar". This is powdered sugar without the addition of cornstarch]

2 Tablespoons of milk substitute (I ended up using 3 T for a better spreading consistency. It is pretty thick)

Beat in the electric mixer until combined well.

The decorations on the cake are just melted Enjoy Life chocolate chips piped onto parchment, frozen, and applied to the cake, but you could absolutely tint the icing and do a more traditional decoration.

Being the home health coach

When I went through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition it was with an eye on learning more about dietary theories and to help deal with the gluten free lifestyle I needed to adopt.  Now the stakes are higher – my nine year old daughter was recently diagnosed with a lot of food allergies (and a lot of environmental allergies on top of that).

We knew from the time she was a few months old that she was allergic to milk. The pediatrician kept telling us that she was fine, she was gaining weight, a lot of babies throw up, a lot of babies have rashy faces…but I knew there was something with the formula that wasn’t agreeing with her. After going back and forth on that issue I finally told the pediatrician I was changing Anna’s formula and she could either recommend something or I would figure it out myself. Within a day of being on soy formula the vomiting after feeding stopped. Then the rashes went away, and the colicky periods stopped.

We did try milk again on the pediatrician’s advice when Anna was older – and I still remember the frantic phone call from my mom, who was watching Anna at the time, describing how Anna was breaking out in hives all over her body and how the pediatrician’s nurse advised benadryl immediately and to watch for breathing problems.  That was it as far as I was concerned: no milk. I learned how to substitute for milk, how to bake well without milk or butter – and Anna ate a very healthy diet.

Fast forward and she has been getting hives for years. Huge welts all over her body. Luckily, they don’t itch and seem to go away on their own. Her father and I divorced and of course I notice she has hives more when she has been with him than with me. I seceretly believe he is feeding her things with milk or not being careful when eating out. She also has horrible seasonal allergies and I know he is not giving her the prescription medication as directed because the pharmacy records indicate he hasn’t refilled it or transferred it. We go to her recent physical together this year and I request a referral to an allergy specialist; did I mention we changed pediatricians? This pediatrician agrees and wants to run some blood work to look at allergies and look at other potential causes for chronic hives.

The results come back and she is very allergic to just about all the molds, grasses, and tree pollens they tested for. Her milk allergy is confirmed. However, she is also allergic to wheat, corn, tomato, peanuts, soy, and egg white (very mild). I feel like a crappy mom because I am just as guilty of feeding her these things as the evil ex is. She does eat less wheat at my house because I am gluten free, but I keep graham cracker sticks and peanut butter for her to snack on, regular bread, etc.

That afternoon I talked to the ex and he agreed to remove these things from her diet at home and to go to the allergist with us for further testing and education. Then I went to earthfare and found cereal, coconut milk yogurt, bread, and a few yummy things for school lunches. I showed Anna what she COULD eat and left the focus there. Her attitude was amazing and she told me that she was lucky I was a health coach. There hasn’t been an issue about eating or snacks and she has liked everything that I’ve prepared. It takes more thought and in some ways I feel like I’m starting all over when I go to the grocery store. The first time I went shopping for dairy free took about 2 hours. The first time I had to shop gluten free took hours. Now I’m shopping gluten, dairy, corn, soy, peanut free….on a positive note, it means a lot of fresh veggies, fresh fruit, lean cuts of meat. Processed stuff is kept to the minimum. It is a healthy way of eating and she will get all her nutrients and fiber. With time the planning will go quicker as I have certain meals and products I know work.

It gives me yet another area of health coaching that I have personal experience to help future clients with. There is the health coach side that says, “we can do this, this is healthy, no worries!” and then there is the mom side of me that feels so sad that her daughter has to scrutinize every little thing she puts in her mouth and overwhelmed about the prep work for lunches, the research before eating out, the sheer amount of work this entails. Then the mom side is a bit guilty because I see children I work with every day that are so sick and have so many restrictions – this really is nothing. My child is healthy and happy and one mistake will not kill her, just give her hives. But it’s my nothing to be sad about, so today I’m going to feel a little sad and then move on to what I can do.