Avoiding the d-word

I just returned from vacation, where my family and I spent a week eating ice-creams as big as our heads and put away a truck-load of kettle chips, amongst other treats. I confess that two of us also drank more wine and beer than we pro...o...o...bably should have. Holidays for me are all about over-indulgence, so I count this one as a success.

See what I mean? As big as her head...

Trouble is, reality strikes when I get home, in the form of the dusty scale in my bathroom. It looks at me, all disappointed and disapproving, so I step on it in a fit of optimism, hoping to be able to crow about still having the metabolism of a twenty year old. Except that I never get to crow, chiefly because I'm not twenty, and neither is my metabolism. After reality strikes, guilt comes a-knocking, and I start the inevitable internal debate on whether I should go on a... you know... I can't say it.. aargh... diet. And there, friends, is for me the dreaded d-word. I have never managed to go on a diet, as the thought scares me. Food is my life.

In truth, there are only three ways I have ever lost weight in my life: giving birth, breastfeeding and having stomach flu. None of these feels like an attractive, attainable, or sensible option in my current predicament however, so I am forced to resort to my usual course of action. No, not a d-d-d-diet, but a period of cutting down. Cutting down sounds so much more acceptable, doesn't it? It makes it feel like an opportunity to try out all those healthy salad dishes I've been clipping out of magazines and salivating over during the summer months. If I can just steer clear of the 750 Best Muffin Recipes book....

Last night was the inaugural cutting down dinner, and it was a dish which I will be returning to, and not just post-vacation-binge, as it was rather yummy, if I do say so myself. I found the recipe in a recent issue of Cooking Light magazine. It is high in fiber and low in fat (in case you are doing a d-word, then it has just 296 calories per serving). It would make a delicious meal on its own, and is perfect for a lunch-box, but I served it alongside a simple spinach salad and some bread (so that the kids at least could have some more carbs for their warp-speed metabolisms to process, while their aging parents reluctantly passed on the focaccia).

Chicken and Feta Tabbouleh
Serves 4 (serving size 1 1/2 cups)

3/4 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
1 cup boiling water
2 cups chopped, skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
1 cup chopped plum/roma tomato
1 cup chopped hothouse/English cucumber
3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped green/spring onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic (approx. 3 cloves)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Cook bulgur wheat according to directions, then drain any remaining liquid and rinse in cold water to cool slightly
2. Combine chicken and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add bulgur wheat and toss gently to combine.

A new addiction in the making

I feel it only reasonable to confess that I may be developing an addiction to lemongrass. There are probably worse afflictions, especially since, according to Wikipedia (so it MUST be true), lemongrass has anti-fungal qualities, is used in Brazil in a tea to combat anxiety, and in India is used to help relieve coughs and nasal congestion. But if I do let my new addiction run riot and start putting lemongrass in everything, from chocolate puddings to bacon sandwiches, please someone do let me know. It's like when someone has toilet paper stuck to their shoe, it may be awkward to point it out, but just do it selflessly. Another reason to find me immediate medical assistance if this goes that far, is that lemongrass can also apparently be used as a lure to attract swarms of honeybees. Yikes. So for heaven's sake, save me from myself, should the need arise.

Lemongrass is apparently (thanks again Wikipedia) also known as Cymbopogon. Fair enough, if my name was Cymbopogon, then I would probably want to go by an alias too. It is also known as Barbed Wire Grass. If you are going to sell yourself as a delicious (pain-free and safe) foodstuff, then that isn't a great name either. I kind of figure that Barbed Wire Grass is probably a nickname introduced by one of the meaner spices on the rack (Cayenne Pepper, perhaps) to ruin Lemongrass's street cred. Anyway, suffice to say, we'll stick to Lemongrass and keep its good-spice reputation intact.

As I mentioned, I have been on a bit of a health-kick this week (in case any of you locals glimpsed me out in public eating pizza the other night, please know that this was a tiny blip in a week of virtuousness, honestly). Today's lemongrass fix is therefore in the form of a salad. I served it up alongside some couscous, so that those carb-obsessed members of my family would not scream warnings of impending famine, and it went down very well. We don't allow bowl-licking in this house, but dare I suggest that my well-behaved children would have licked plates and serving bowls clean, if it were permitted. The dog meanwhile did have a pretty good lick as all the plates went in the dishwasher, which is a worthy endorsement, I feel. And thus far, he has not received any unwanted attention from swarms of bees.

The original recipe came from a magazine... yes, again I was clearly overzealously clipping recipes and failed to note which magazine. My apologies to the originator. I did tweak it somewhat because I didn't have any sambal oelek on hand (I know, horrifying gap in my cupboard), and I found the dressing too sweet for my taste, so added more soy sauce than originally recommended to make it less so. And of course, I had to increase the quantities for my own personal swarm.

 

Lemongrass Chicken Salad
Serves 6

Dressing:
2 tsp minced lemongrass (I used the Garden Gourmet stuff in a tube, because sometimes it is hard to find fresh)
2 TBSP vegetable/canola oil
2 TBSP coconut oil (or more veg/canola oil, if you cant get this)
4 TBSP lime juice
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Salad:
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 TBSP honey
4 TBSP chili sauce
6 cups sliced romaine lettuce
3/4 cup red bell pepper, cut into matchstick strips
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped, roasted and salted cashews

1. To prepare dressing, add lemongrass to a small bowl with remaining ingredients, whisk together and set aside.
2. Mix together honey and chili sauce. Coat chicken breasts with the mixture, then cook on a well-oiled grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes each side, until chicken is cooked through.
3. Let chicken cool slightly and then cut into bite-size strips.
4. Toss romaine, bell pepper and carrot together in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over, toss slightly, then sprinkle with chicken and cashews.

Taking only one just isn't an option

We are extremely lucky to live in our neighborhood. Not only are our neighbors lovely, friendly people, but there is a regular opportunity to get together with them, with our local 'First Friday'. The first Friday of each month, one local household volunteers to host an early evening get together (which often becomes a late evening get together) inside or out, with the only requirement being that every family joining in the fun brings an appetizer to share and a nice bottle of wine to grace the drinks table for as long as it lasts (not long!).

The dish above is what I opted to take last time, for a number of reasons. Firstly, first Friday kind of crept up on me, so I needed something quick and easy to rustle up fast, and secondly, I was hosting, so I could whip these straight out of the oven when the timer beeped and serve them fresh and hot (they are undoubtedly less delicious if they have to sit around). I've messed with this recipe a few times over the years, changing the filling, and it is invariably delicious, but I do keep going back to the original. I realize that crescent dough is not available everywhere, and for that, the rest of the world has my sincere sympathies, but you could easily substitute puff pastry cut into 2" squares.

Mini Ham Puffs
From Pampered Chef's All the Best
Makes 24

oil spray
3 oz finely chopped ham
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, shredded/grated
1 egg
1 TBSP snipped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 package (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls (or puff pastry, see above)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly spray a 24 cup mini muffin pan with oil spray.
3. Mix together ham, onion, cheese, egg, parsley, mustard and black pepper in a small bowl.
4. Unroll crescent dough on to a lightly floured surface and press over perforations to make one large rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 24 squares.
5. Press one square of dough into each cup in the sprayed muffin pan.
6. Place an equal amount of the filling into each cup (approximately 1 tsp in each).
7. Bake in oven for 12-14 minutes or until puffs are light golden brown.
8. Remove from pan and serve immediately.

Meatless Wednesday

 

Who says meatlessness has to stick to Mondays? In truth, I am trying to make sure that we eat veggie at least two or three evenings a week. This week, we are between food binges, having had a lovely foodie weekend eating out and barbecuing carnivorously last week, and getting ready to head up to Tahoe next week for more of the same, so I have been striving for healthy all week. This of course all ties in with the Cancel-Out Effect I described in a previous post (see Skinny Dipping, 7/15/13). One week of halo-polishing, vegetable-worshiping, health-conscious eating will of course cancel out the impact of the Kettle chip and cocktail binge I have planned for the sunny evenings on the deck in Tahoe. Of course.

Trouble with eating healthily is that I have three boys to feed in this house, all of whom have ridiculous appetites, not to mention hollow legs, and one other girl, who is going through puberty, and dancing for four hours each day, and whose dietary requirements currently more closely resemble the boys' than I ever thought possible. Faced with a pile of vegetables, and nought else to munch on, I have no doubt that there would be rumblings, of discontent and hungry tummies. Nevertheless, I have found that satisfaction can be achieved provided there is bread on the table as well, and that the veggie-laced dish is tasty enough to hush those rumblings on contact. This dish more than fitted the bill last night.

The recipe is taken from Cooking Light (August 2012), and I stuck pretty much to the original, except that I added green zucchini/courgettes to the yellow squash to make it even more pretty and colorful, and increased the quantity of everything (did I mention the hollow legs?)

Tomato, Squash and Red Pepper Gratin
Serves 6 'healthy' appetites or 8 normal human beings

6 tsp olive oil, divided
2 chopped red onions
2 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1 lb yellow squash, cut into 1/4" thick slices
1/2 lb zucchini/courgette, cut into 1/4" slices
1 1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
2 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp salt, divided
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup reduced fat milk
5 oz aged Gruyere cheese, shredded/grated
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
2 1/2 oz of course breadcrumbs
2 beefsteak tomatoes, sliced into 8 slices each

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat 4 tsp of oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook for three minutes until translucent. Add bell pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes until becoming tender. Add squash and garlic and cook for 4 more minutes until squash is also becoming tender.
3. Place vegetable mixture in a large bowl and stir in quinoa, 1/2 cup basil, thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper.
4. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, remaining salt, cheese and milk with a whisk. Add mixture to bowl with vegetables and quinoa and stir to combine.
5. Spoon mixture into a large baking dish (mine is approximately 15" x 8") which is coated with cooking spray.
6. Add breadcrumbs and remaining oil to the skillet used to cook the vegetables and cook for three minutes until lightly toasted.
7. Arrange tomato slices over the vegetables in the baking dish, and then sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs evenly over the top.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until topping is browned. Sprinkle with remaining basil before serving.

Who needs fried chicken?

I heard on the radio the other day that chicken-lovers in Gaza will pay to have a courier sneak through secret underground tunnels into Egypt, the nearest location with a KFC restaurant, and return with bags of greasy fried chicken. Several things are apparent from this - firstly, unfortunately the assumption that KFC is tasty has spread worldwide with epidemic proportions. Since when did KFC embody the pinnacle of chicken's tastiness? The Colonel would be proud. Secondly, people spend their money on crazy things.

We eat a lot of chicken in my house. At one point in my life, I actually gave up eating red meat, but when the kids came along, I fell off that bandwagon, in the desire to expose them to different meats, protein, iron and the like. I have since discovered so many delicious recipes incorporating beef and pork that I couldn't possibly give up red mean (curse you, cooking addiction!). But we still eat more white meat than red in this house, and I am always keen to discover different chicken recipes.

I found this recipe in Rachael Ray's Everyday magazine, something I often pick up at the checkout (yes, I am the person they aim for when they put the magazines there, and yes, my kids are the reason they put the candy there too). I liked the look of this one, because I am always trying to find more dishes to cook on the grill - being a Brit, I wasn't exactly raised on barbecued meals. And I admit, I was also sucked in by the claim that it cost less than $3 per serving, which even though my kids eat more than one serving each on a bad day, let alone a good day, makes it way cheaper than KFC (I did have to multiply the recipe below by 1 1/2 to serve my family of 5).

Buttermilk Chicken Kebabs with Chopped Salad
Serves 4

2/3 cup buttermilk
3 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme
zest of one lemon, plus 3 TBSP of juice
salt and pepper
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs/breasts, cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1 head romaine lettuce, cut into 1" pieces
1 large hothouse cucumber, chopped
1/2 small red onion
1 cup red grapes, halved

1. Preheat grill to medium high
2. In a small bowl, mix together buttermilk, oil, thyme, lemon zest and juice.
3. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with half of the buttermilk mixture.
4. Thread chicken on to 8 skewers.
5. Grill, turning frequently, until cooked through and browned in spots (13-15 minutes)

 

6. In a large bowl, toss romaine, cucumber, onion and grapes with remaining buttermilk mixture. Season and serve with kebabs.

Salvation, in chocolate form

You know those evenings when you just NEED dessert? Don't even try to tell me I'm the only one. That's not big and it's not clever.

Trouble is, unless you knew in advance that it was going to be that kind of afternoon, and happened to purchase the ingredients for something comfortingly chocolatey, it means either a trip to the store, or self-deprivation and disappointment. I don't know about you, but I didn't know in advance that my son was going to spill half a liter of maple syrup over the kitchen floor which required the floor to be mopped FOUR times before it was even possible to walk across it without sticking. And I didn't know that my other son was going to have a major tantrum because his evil mother won't allow him to play minecraft all day over the summer. And my daughter's hissy fit because I apparently haven't washed her ballet tights recently enough? Nope, didn't predict that one either. So besides needing to brush up on my ability to predict human tragedy in my household, I also need a stand-by recipe for such days, which uses only stuff that I happen to always have in the cupboard.

Well, thank you Pampered Chef, because, fortunately for the remaining threads of my sanity, the book 'Delightful Desserts' has just such a recipe. All in all, it is not my favorite book of all time - you could probably, in a fit of sarcasm, rename it '1001 uses for Whipped Topping'. Whilst whipped topping makes my children inordinately happy, I am somewhat suspicious of the stuff. What IS it? I kind of like to cook with things that I recognize. I'm not a raw foods addict or a health nut, but when a 'food' advertises itself as "Fun and Delicious", and looks like cream but is "Non-dairy", I get suspicious. And what is wrong with whipped cream (unless you are lactose intolerant, in which case you have my sincere sympathies)? Anyway, I digress. There are some total gems in the pages of Pampered Chef (and I have a serious addiction to their cooking equipment, which I adore). This is one of those gems, one that it is easy to whip up (hahaha) in no time at all, and which will satisfy the need that a long school-free summer's day spent with three tantrum-prone and obviously clumsy children can create.  And, as you can see from the photo below, it comes complete with it's own sauce underneath, so you don't even have to resort to a squeezy bottle of chocolate syrup that inexplicably does not include chocolate in the ingredients... All you need is ice cream and a spoon!

Brownie Pudding Cake
Serves 6-8

1 1/4 cups AP flour (= plain flour)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla, divided
1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups boiling water
Ice cream to serve

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, melted butter and 1/2 tsp of the vanilla. Stir until smooth, then add chocolate chips and stir in.
3. Spread batter over the base of a baking dish (I used an oval dish, approximately 12" long and 3" deep)
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Gradually stir in boiling water and remaining 1 tsp vanilla. Carefully pour mixture over the batter in the baking dish.
5. Bake for 35 minutes in oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before serving with ice cream.

Pearly Plates

Food is about so much more than taste. Texture clearly plays a huge role too. That is the only way I can explain the horrified looks with which two of my children have always greeted avocado, for example. Let's face it, it IS a weird texture, and one not shared by many other foods. One of my daughter's favorite foods is pearl couscous, and again I think this has to do with the texture, as much as the taste, since couscous is really just a base for other flavors.

Clearly my daughter must have enamored herself to me recently, as I wanted to create a dish based on her favorite texture, and one of her favorite tastes, namely basil and pesto. Combine that desire to please her Preteen Highness with the contents of my fridge, and this is what I came up with. If I do say so myself, it was rather tasty, and her Majesty showered me with the kind of compliments which so rarely emanate from a preteen's mouth, that they should be savored as much as the food itself.

Smoked Mozzarella and Couscous salad with Basil Vinaigrette
Serves 4

1 1/2 cups pearl couscous (also called Israeli couscous)
3/4 cup basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
1 cup halved/quartered cherry/grape tomatoes
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
6 oz cubed smoked mozzarella
salt and pepper

1. Prepare couscous according to directions, drain and rinse in a colander with cold water. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, process the basil, oil and vinegar until smooth.
3. Toss together the dressing, couscous and remaining ingredients.