Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

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The Leftover Conundrum

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

Leftovers in the fridgeSure that meal was great the first time around, but what do you do with the stacks of plastic containers full of leftovers that pile up in the fridge?  Americans throw away, on average, more than a quarter of the food they purchase.  Is letting last night’s dinner turn into a Tupperware science experiment an effective use of your food budget?

When it comes time to deal with the ghosts of dinners past, the first question that comes to mind is “What do I do with this?” followed quickly by “Do I really want to eat this again?”

Leftovers don’t have to mean rewarmed repeats.  You can take your Rubbermaid remnants and craft them into new and interesting meals.  Whereas our grandparents and those that came before them were schooled thoroughly in the art of getting the most mileage out of a meal, as a culture we’ve lost the touch when it comes to culinary re-runs.

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Indulge with Berries – Pancake Style

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Blueberry PancakesSo, I’m not always about diet food these days.  There’s a lot more out there to eat than salad, and not every meal must be penance for past caloric sins.  That being said, these pancakes are not light fare.  They are, however, delicious and pretty simple to make.  Besides, after the berry-picking trip of two weeks ago, I’ve got several packets of hand-harvested blueberries in the freezer ready to go.

First, I would exhort you to make these from scratch.  Jiffy mix and Bisquick are convenient, sure, but that box of miscellaneous baking mix that’s been sitting in your cupboard for months isn’t going to give you the best results.  Besides, if you’re going to spend the calories on something tasty, doesn’t it make sense to put some love into it?  Making your own batter also ensures that you know exactly what you’re eating.  Plus, it’s just really simple to do.

Ingredients:

1 c flour, unbleached all-purpose
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c soy or skim milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 whole egg
1/4 tsp cinnamon, fresh ground if possible
1 c blueberries, fresh or frozen, rinsed & drained

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Support Your Local and Regional Growers, Save Cash

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

Fresh ZucchiniSo, Wednesday was market day.

And, by market I don’t mean a trip to the nearest strip-mall supermarket with cart corrals, though I shop at Giant and Safeway like everyone else.  It was walk-to-market day.  I work from home one day a week, and every other Wednesday I’m afforded the luxury of my own private branch office in Catonsville, MD.  Not only to I get to save 20% on my commuting fuel consumption, I can walk or ride to somewhere interesting on our “main street” at lunch time.

Every Wednesday morning, from May to November, we have a local farmers’ market.  It’s small, it’s in the community center parking lot, but it’s better than just about any grocery store’s produce department. All vendors must grow or produce for themselves all of the goods they sell.  No “faux-farmers” offloading trucks of greenhouse tomatoes from produce distributors; these folks grow it, care for it, pick it, and truck it to your community.  We use the farmers’ market a lot.  When I’m home on Tuesdays instead of Wednesday, Theresa makes the trip to gather the goods.

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Posted in Food, Ingredients, Slow, The Kitchen | Tags , , , , | 3 Comments »

A Slice of Heaven

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

So, just to let you know…

I’m sitting here with a small plate in front of me.  On this plate is a sandwich.  The sandwich consists of two slices of artisan-made rosemary Italian bread, lightly spread with mayo.  Between this bread are slices of tomato, from a ripe Roma tomato still warm from the summer sun.  There is a bit of salt and pepper.

There are currently three bites out of this sandwich.

I’m about ready to pass out from joy.

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100-Mile Caprese Salad

Friday, August 8th, 2008

Caprese SaladThe “100 Mile” menu is supposed to be centered around locally produced ingredients.  In my area of the country, the Mid-Atlantic, spring through fall offer plenty of opportunities to take advantage of local farmers’ products.

Here’s an easy one – almost every community has a local or regional dairy, and farmers’ markets explode with fresh herbs and summer vegetables.  The Caprese Salad of tomato, mozzarella cheese, and basil with a vinaigrette dressing is a fantastic starter for a meal or side dish for a picnic.  If your farmers’ market has someone who’s selling a boutique buffalo mozzarella, grab it!

More refined versions of this dish call for olive oil only, and layers of sliced Roma tomato, cheese, and whole basil leaves.  This more rustic version is heartier and packs a bigger flavor wallop.  This salad is vegetarian, but not vegan.

Ingredients:

1 lb. assorted cherry tomatoes (red, orange, yellow, purple varieties)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (part skim)
10-12 leaves fresh basil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

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Posted in Diet, Food, Vegetarian | Tags , , , , | No Comments »

Spices, the… umm… spice of life.

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Colourful Spices in a French MarketOne of the necessities of eating well is the need for appealing flavors. The American diet is heavily slanted toward basic ideas of what tastes good – sweet, salty, and fatty. Which is why a lot of people (myself included) half-jestingly consider bacon to be the Perfect Food – smoky, salty, fatty, with a bit of sweetness from the sugar in the cure.

However, what we crave is not necessarily nutritionally sound. We crave the salt, sugar, and fat because they are the basic nutritional needs that we require from food. We need salt to maintain heart rhythm, blood chemistry, and electrolyte balance. Sugar gives us instant energy for short-term demands. Fats are premium long-term energy storage – the densest calories we consume. We eat a lot of all of them. They taste good, and for very primal reasons. However, we overeat, especially fatty foods, because we need a certain sensory component to satisfy our appetite. If we take our satisfaction only from the basics, then we tend to require a larger amount of fats, salt and sugar to make us happy, because there are few other elements contributing to the gustatory experience.

Take the lowly potato. Pretty darned bland in and of itself, it’s got just a bit of starchy sweetness. Deep fry it, and sprinkle with salt, and it’s suddenly a tasty treat that’s loaded with sodium and fat – satisfying, but not healthy. Take that same potato, and cook it with other flavors – tomatoes, perhaps, and assertive seasonings – and it becomes a satisfying dish without destroying it nutritionally. As a culinary culture, we need to learn to substitute more intense flavors of spices for sugar, salt and fat’s lowest-common-denominator appeal.

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Posted in Food, Ingredients, The Kitchen | Tags , , | No Comments »

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