Will Chicken Soup really keep the doctor away?

Soup could quite possibly be the ultimate secret for staying healthy!

Contrary to frying or roasted foods that lose much of their nutrients in the cooking process, foods that are put in soups conserve much of their natural nutrients and vitamins.  Does it need to be “Chicken” soup…no.  In fact, a straight vegetarian soup is actually much higher in vitamins.  Adding beans to soup is the “meat” of the soup.  Beans are so incredibly good for you!  High in protein, high in fiber and very filling.  All soups in general though are good because they help restore the necessary water balance, which in turn helps keep our blood pressure (and salt content) under control.  Soup, especially if made organically, has anti-inflammatory effects and can help lessen the symptoms of a cold or flu.   Soup is also very economical.  In the winter, which for Portland Oregon seems to have officially started, I try to make a big pot of soup every week.  We eat the soup for dinner on Monday and have enough left for not only another meal later in the week, but also a lunch or two thrown in!  Just change the side dish!  The first night serve it with crusty hot bread, the second night, serve with a side salad.  Put cup sized servings in plastic ware and take to the office for a lunch that your office mates will be envious of when they catch the aroma!  So I have indeed officially started my soup making for winter and made an incredible Minestrone this week.  I am ending this week’s blog with that recipe for you to make at home. 

Here’s to health and very happy eating!!

                      MINESTRONE SOUP

4 slices Pancetta – chopped (omit if you want vegetarian)

1 celery stick – chopped

1 carrot – chopped

1 onion – chopped

2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 bell pepper, red, orange or yellow – chopped

4 cloves fresh garlic – minced

¼ C. Sherry

1 large can crushed tomatoes

8 C. Chicken or vegetable broth

Small bunch of fresh thyme or rosemary – wrapped in string

2 bay leaves

1 can northern white beans – drained

1 can pinto beans – drained

2 slurps of Worcestershire sauce

2 slurps of balsamic vinegar

1 dash of sugar

1 zucchini – chopped

1 yellow squash – chopped

(You can replace squashes with any other veges!)

6 oz. Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Shells (or regular pasta shells)

1 small pkg. fresh spinach – chopped

EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil)

S & P

Parmesano Reggiano

Saute in olive oil Pancetta until limp and slightly done.  Add celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add onion & pepper flakes and sauté until all are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Add pepper and sauté another 5 minutes.  Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.  Deglaze pan with sherry and scrape up all bits.  Add tomatoes, broth, herbs, beans, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic and sugar.  Bring to a simmer and cook slightly covered for about 45 minutes.  Add squashes and pasta and simmer until pasta is done, about 12 minutes.  Add spinach and drizzle of EVOO and stir.  Turn off stove and let sit for 5 minutes and ladle into soup bowls.  Top with freshly grated Parmesano Reggiano and serve with hot crusty bread or a salad.

Bon Appetit!

Is buying organic worth it???

Is consuming organic food worth the extra price you must pay for it????  The answer is an emphatic YES!!!!
Food that is not USDA Certified Organic is sprayed with pesticides.  When we eat a delicious red apple that seems healthy on the outside but is showered in poison, it enters our body and over the years runs havoc, and can be the cause of cancers, immune system weakness, etc.  Spending a few cents more now may save you thousands on doctor bills later!   Now, if you are still not convinced, how about we start you out gently.  The foods that you eat MOST often, buy organic.  Those are the foods that are constantly going into your body on an ongoing basis and will cause the most harm!  Also, another good rule of thumb is to buy organic the foods that you do not peel.  The pesticides sit mostly on the skin, so apples, peppers, celery, strawberries, lettuce, grapes, spinach..to name a few are musts for buying organic!  Let's not forget milk.  If you buy milk that is not organic, you are drinking from a cow that has most likely been injected with hormones and/or antibiotics.  On that note, if you are a meat eater, buy organic as well for those same reasons.  Don't be tricked by labels that say, "natural" or "free range".  Only buy if the labels say USDA Certified Organic or 100% Organic.  As always, it is BEST to buy at your local farmer's market.  There you'll get the freshest seasonal ingredients!  Feel free to talk to the farmer before you buy and make sure it's organic though!   To ease your mind, this is not as scary and difficult as you might imagine.  Even Costco sells some of their produce items certified organic!  Check the labels!  Your grocery store will have a section of organic, and if it's a REALLY small section, talk to the grocery clerk and let him know that you would like to see a broader selection of organics.  If more people do this, the organic sections will out grow the others!  Let's all work on this together and really put out an effort to consume healthier, our bodies will thank us!

The power of the ingredient!

Let's talk ingredients!  Have you ever prepared a meal only to find it just didn't taste as well as the recipe sounded?  Well, a big factor of that could be the quality of the ingredients that you used!  Our bodies were created to eat geographically and seasonally.  We were not made to eat the same foods every day of our lives.  We will, in fact, grow an intolerance or a sensitivity to that ingredient if we habitually do that.  To combat this, and to get the most flavor of of our ingredients, we must prepare our meals with only the freshest bounty of our own areas farms!  This past summer, in my area around Portland Oregon, the bounty has been Heirloom tomatoes, corn, fava beans, wild mushrooms, peaches, blueberries, marion berries ....to name a few.  As the season begins to do it's evolving, the farmer's markets here will begin showing more of it's root vegetables....parsnips, turnips, celery root, beets, squash...to name a few....and so on with every season!  So here's the key to the MOST flavorful meals.  USE SEASONAL INGREDIENTS!!  Your body will love you and your taste buds will adore you!  As I approach the end of the summer season ingredients, I start my mourning process to the likes of fava beans, heirlooms, and corn.  But life does go on!  I soon will be making a killer Butternut Squash Soup!  

Here is what's on my menu for tonight!

PaparadellE with fresh ricotta and Salmon

·        8 0z or so of Paparadelle cooked in salted & dashed with Olive Oil boiling water, for 5-6 minutes until al dente 

·        Reserve 1 cup of starchy water-then drain pasta

·        Lay 4 or so Paparadelle on center of each plate, in a fan

·        Spread softened whole goat cheese ricotta or regular ricotta onto the middle of noodles

·        Saute 3/4 pound of salmon, medium rare; skin and remove bones

·        Tear cooked salmon into pieces and scatter onto ricotta

·        Chiffonade (cut into thin strips) basil AND spinach or arugula, and scatter on top of salmon.  If you can still get fava beans, add them on top as well... or instead of!

·        Season with salt and pepper

·        Fold noodles over each other and top with Madeira Sauce (see below)

·        If needed Microwave for 20 seconds just prior to saucing and serving in case it cools off while prepping.

MADEIRA SAUCE

·        Sauté 3 chopped shallots & 1 clove minced garlic

·        Add 1 cup of Madeira (or Marsala or Sherry) and reduce by half

·        Add ½ cup of saved pasta water

·        Add ½ cup cream and bring to boil and simmer until just reduced.

·        Turn off heat…..add 2 tablespoons butter…. Stir slightly

My first blog!

I am commencing my first blog today, September 30, 2010.  I will be blogging, "what's for dinner tonight", menu ideas, recipees, helpful hints and much, much more!

Let me start my saying that I love to cook.  No, not just the "cooking part", but everything it entails!  From going to the market to see what is seasonally out there, to preparing menus, to prepping, to final cooking and best of all, to serving it beautifully!  We eat with every sense.  We start with sound when you hear the first sizzle of the first ingrediant, (usually onions!), going into the frying pan.  We then move on to smell with the fragrant scent of the ingredients in the pan, we then move on to eyes, which to me is the most important sense to eating.  The food MUST be pleasing to our eyes to get the utmost experiance of what we are eating, so plating the food artisically is crucial!  The sense of touch is even important when eating finger foods!  So as you can see, it's not all about the taste!  We truly do use every single sense when eating.  The importance of knowing this is that if you make it a point to experience every sense, you will eat slower, you will savor your food more, and you will tend to not over eat.  If you are truly enjoying every sense, you will sense when you are 80% full...your ultimate stopping point.  If you go beyond that sense to a full 100% full, you will then sense the uncomfortable feeling of feeling over stuffed.  Why end such a pleasant experience like that?  It makes NO "sense"!! 

On the menu for tonight is Chile Rellano's on a bed of Roasted Tomatillo Sauce, topped with Avacado and a dollop of Sour Cream, alongside Organic Black Beans with Farmer's Market Tomatoes....yum......

Recipe:

Roasted Tomatillo Sauce:
8 Tomatillos, "paper" skins removed, wash and quarter
1 onion, quartered
1 Jalepeno pepper, halved, seeds removed
1/2 Canola Oil + some for tossing in pan
4 cloves garlic
1 fresh lime-squeezed
2 tlbs. honey
S & P to taste

Preheat oven to 400.  Put tomatillos, onions, pepper and garlic on cooking sheet, sprinkle oil over all and toss with you hands.  Sprinkle with s & p.  Roast about 25 min or until soft and lightly browned.  Place in food processor and puree until smooth.  With motor running, add 1/2 C. Canola Oil.  Add lime juice, honey..taste again for s & p addition if needed.

Black Beans
1 Can Organic Black Beans
1 tomato
1/2 red onion-chopped

Saute onions in frying pan.  Add tomato and beans and saute until hot.

Chile Relleno
4 Poblano Chiles
8 oz. Pepperjack Cheese
1/3 C. Flour
Canola Oil for deep frying
4 Eggs
salt
1 Avacado sliced
Sour Cream-couple of dollops
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro-lightly chopped

Roast chiles either directly on gas burners on stove, on grill, or under broiler.  When charred on all sides, but in a paper bag and close up so they can steam for at least 15 minutes.  Take out and with your hands gently peel off black skin.  Make a slit in each chile about 3/4 down and gently pull out ribs and seeds, leaving stem intact.  Cut cheese into thick slices and insert a piece into each chile.  Roll chiles in flour.  Set aside.  Meanwhile, prepare the egg coating for dipping as follows:  Separate 4 eggs,  Whip whites with 1 tsp. salt until firm peaks form.  Beat yolks separately, then quickly fold into whites.  This cannot be made in advance as it must be used right away!  Heat oil in a frying pan until very hot.  Dip floured chiles into egg mixture and put into hot oil.  Cook until golden on each side. 

Plating:
Place a couple ladles of Tomatillo sauce on plate, top with rellanos, top rellanos with avacado, a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro.  Place alongside the hot bean mixture.