Instant, Healthy, and Delicious Lunch

I threw this lunch together at midnight last night because I needed to have SOMETHING to eat the next day at work. It looked so pretty I took a picture of it (above).  I wasn’t so sure I’d like it, but it turned out to be DELICIOUS. The only thing I would do differently next time is include two – not just one – frozen frozen mango ‘cube’.

I really loved the mixture of quinoa, wheat berries, and mango — which I just mixed together with my fork after the meal had been heated. This contrasted nicely with the smoky-salty bean soup.  And then the kale mixed with the cilantro sauce, was another delicious and interesting flavor.

So if you are looking for a light and healthy – and easy to throw together lunch – try this one yourself!

Ingredients

1 pre-frozen portion of Whole Foods Black Bean Soup

1 pre-frozen flavor Cilantro Chutney

1 pre-frozen cube of pureed champagne mango ( Just puree peeled and seeded mango in blender, freeze puree in  silicone mini muffin pan, and once frozen store in a plastic freezer bag in the freezer – just like you may already do for all your ‘flavor cubes.’)

1 portion of cooked quinoa

1 portion of cooked wheat berries

For details on how to cook wheat berries without soaking them overnight, see Eating Well.

1 portion of lightly steamed kale leaves (stems removed)

Note: Kale is a member of the cruciferous family so it has all the benefits that cabbage has!

Directions

To make this lunch, I just assembled these items. That’s it! It’s that easy!

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Curry and More – a partially-homemade lunch or dinner

I like a hot meal for lunch. My current favorite is Curry and More. I just don’t get tired of it!  It’s delicious and, of course, very healthy.  And, since I rely on some packaged frozen food, it takes no time at all to pack lunches for the entire week – which I put into the freezer so I can grab one anytime.

BASIC INGREDIENTS – use each of these ingredients

• Tandoor Chef Dal Rajastani

• Available in the frozen food section of Whole Foods and other grocery stores.

• Tandoor Chef Chicken Curry

• Available in the frozen food section of Whole Foods and other grocery stores.

• Turmeric

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Monamifood Cilantro Sauce

OTHER INGREDIENTS – choose those that you like best

• Frozen organic spinach

• Monamifood Roasted cauliflower

• Frozen peas

• Monamifood Lemony Dal

• Baked sweet potato, cut into thick rounds

• Quinoa

• Cooked brown Basmati rice

Directions

Defrost the Dal Rajastani: Plop it out of the plastic tray it was frozen in and put it into a glass container; heat it in the microwave until it’s soft enough to spoon out.

To the defrosted Dal, add plenty of turmeric (don’t worry, keep adding and tasting until you get the right amount) and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; mix well.

Spoon one-third of the Dal into each of three glass containers. (For example,  I use a container that’s 7 x 5 x 1.5 inches.)

Now defrost the Chicken Curry in the same manner as you defrosted the Dal. If you like, you can add some turmeric and black pepper to the Curry too!

Spoon one-third of the Curry into each of three glass containers.

Place one frozen Cilantro Sauce flavor cube into the glass container.

Then fill the rest of the container with your choice of ingredients from the “Other Ingredients” list above – lots of veggies and some quinoa, rice, or sweet potato, too.

Put a lid on each container and put them in the freezer. Now you have a healthy frozen meal — ready and waiting.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

EGG WHITES: Egg White Puffs

Why egg whites?

Egg whites are a good source of protein and they’re fat free. (The fat and cholesterol in an egg are entirely in the yolk.) Because cooked egg whites are pretty tasteless, they need to be perked up with flavor, and that can come from healthy foods such as herbs, spices, and vegetables. So while egg whites, themselves, aren’t an anti-cancer food, the foods you make with egg whites can be great anti-cancer foods.

EGG WHITE PUFFS

I used to make scrambled eggs (mostly egg whites) in large batches in non-stick pans and refrigerate them so it was easy to have some eggs for breakfast for the next few days. But recently I have come up with a better idea — Egg White Puffs – which just take minutes to make in the microwave. Now I whip up a batch or two at a time and refrigerate what we don’t eat that day so these delicious puffs are ready for breakfast the next day.

Ingredients

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup of egg whites

• ½ of a 16-ounce carton of egg whites or the whites of about 6 eggs

Ground turmeric

• For information about turmeric and it’s anti-cancer properties,  see the post, Turmeric and Black Pepper.

Freshly ground black pepper

Aleppo pepper or any other hot or slightly hot dried pepper you like (optional)

• Penzeys is a good source for Aleppo pepper and all herbs and spices.

Directions

Grease a silicone mini-muffin pan with olive oil; set aside.

Whip air into the egg whites using one of the following methods (optional):

• Pour the egg whites into a 2-cup measuring cup. Use an immersion blender to whip the egg whites up so that they have an inch or so of foam on top.

• Pour the egg whites into a blender and blend until nice and foamy.

Note: Whipping the egg whites as described above does not change the taste, it just makes the puff puffier, and I like that, but not everyone does.

Pour an equal amount of egg whites (whipped or not whipped) into the prepared mini muffin pan. If you have whipped the egg whites, most of the froth will remain in the measuring cup or blender. Use a teaspoon to evenly divide the froth among the muffin cups.

Sprinkle a little turmeric, black pepper, and Aleppo pepper (optional) on each one of the egg whites in the muffin pan.

• Since I use turmeric a lot, I keep it in a jar with a shaker top (one that used to have cinnamon in it).

Put the filled muffin pan into the microwave oven and microwave on high for 2 minutes. You will see the egg whites puff up and then fall back somewhat.

• In my microwave oven (but maybe not in all microwave ovens) the egg whites on the outside cook completely in 2 minutes, but those in the center need another 30 seconds.

Use a teaspoon to lift each of the cooked (no longer runny) puffs out of the muffin pan.

If needed, put the muffin pan back into the microwave oven for 30 seconds to cook the last two or three puffs that need more time. Then use a teaspoon to remove the last couple of cooked puffs.

Serve your Egg White Puffs with Sauted Herb Flavor Cubes or  Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes or both.  They’re absolutely delicious and so very healthy!

Enjoy and be healthy,

~Leni

TOMATOES: Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes

SUN DRIED TOMATO FLAVOR “CUBES” (also a spread)

This recipe makes a great spread. But ‘s also a recipe for so much more. You can freeze this spread in mini muffin pans (or ice cube trays) for use later in lots of different recipes — to boost the flavor and the nutrition of whatever you are making — from soups, to pasta sauces, to omelets — you name it!

Ingredients

Given below are the quantities that I used to make a small amount when I was first experimenting with this idea. But resulting flavor was so good, I went ahead and made this recipe in a much larger quantity, using a full-size food processor, the second time. In fact, I’ve already processed the whole two-pound jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes and now I have lots of flavor cubes ready and waiting in my freezer!

½ cup sun dried tomatoes canned in olive oil (only), drained

I used Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes in 100% pure olive oil that I bought at Costco. This product contains: sun dried tomatoes, pure olive oil, garlic, herbs, spices and sulfites (for color retention).

Some people are allergic to sulfur dioxide. For those people it’s definitely not safe; for the rest of us, it’s OK. For more on sulfur dioxide’s safety (and the safety of many other additives and preservatives in our food), see Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Pure olive oil is a lower grade of olive oil and it’s often used in commercial foods. Lots more on olive oil grades.

1 tablespoon (or more) extra-virgin olive oil

6 fresh basil leaves (exact quantity not important; use as much as you like)

• In winter when fresh basil is hard to come by and expensive, I don’t bother with fresh basil leaves. If I still have some Monamifood Basil Pesto Flavor Cubes in the freezer, I use those instead. And if I don’t have any left, I simply use Penzeys Spices Pasta Sprinkle (ingredients: sweet basil, Turkish oregano, thyme, and garlic).  For the exact ingredients that I used when I made this recipe using using Penzeys Spices Pasta Sprinkle and a whole two-pound jar of Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes from Costco, see Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes – Winter Version at the end of this post

1 tablespoon of other fresh herbs such as oregano and thyme (exact quantities not important), optional

¼ teaspoon Aleppo peppers (dried pepper), or to taste

• These are great little peppers and they’re ideal for pasta sauces. But you can use any hot pepper you have on hand. Of course, you will need to use less if your particular hot pepper is hotter than the aleppo pepper. So just taste and adjust seasoning.
• My Aleppo Pepper comes from Penzey’s (my favorite spice store).

Directions

In a mini-food processor fitted with the metal blade, place all ingredients and process to the consistency of a spread.

Spread on toast and enjoy!

Freeze this paste to make flavor cubes you can use whenever you want!

You can freeze this paste/spread just like you freeze the basil pesto, as explained in my earlier post on basil pesto.

• We went to a party the other day and I defrosted a few of these Sun Dried Tomato Flavor Cubes and just spread some on slices of toast. It was a big hit at the party.
• And when making pasta sauce with all of the tomatoes that are ripening in our little garden  now, I thew in a few of these sun-dried tomatoe cubes and a few of the garlic paste cubes as well. What a great sauce we had for dinner over whole wheat pasta (my husband and I) and over quinoa (my daughter)! I’ll give you the recipe the next time I make it and can pay attention to the quantities enough to report on them here.

A few more things…

Dry your own tomatoes, anyone?

Make your own sun-dried organic tomatoes in olive oil?

Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes – Winter Version

Ingredients (Winter Version; also large quantity)

1, 2-pound jar of sundried tomatoes in olive oil (Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes from Costco)

3 tablespoons Penzeys Spices Pasta Sprinkle

1 tablespoon Penzeys Spices Aleppo pepper

1/4 cup plus two tablespoons good quality flavorful extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

In a full-size food processor (mine is the 11-cup size and it acommodates all the ingredients at one time) fitted with the metal blade, place all the ingredients and process to the consistency of a paste/spread.

Fill 3 silicone mini-muffin pans with this Sundried Tomato paste/spread. I like to fill the mini muffin cups with differing amounts of this wonderful paste/spread so that I have different sizes to choose from later when they’re frozen. Freeze until solid. Then pop the mini muffins into a plastic bag and store in the freezer.

A few of the ways that I use these Sundried Tomato Flavor Cubes

• Mixed with Monamifood Sauted Herb Flavor Cubes
• Mixed into Monamifood Pasta Sauce or store-bought pasta sauce that needs more “umph”
• Added to almost any vegetable soup you are improvising
• Spread on toast with a little goat cheese for an appetizer
• Spread on bread for sandwiches
• Mixed into hummus and stuffed into hard cooked egg whites.
• I even added some to the hot and sour soup I made the other day — making it more Thai than Chinese. The result was great! It did not matter at all that there were some Italian herbs in my hot and sour soup! So don’t let convention stand in your way – experiment!

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni

TURMERIC & BLACK PEPPER: Tomato & Onion Chutney Flavor Cubes

Why turmeric and black pepper?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, turmeric and black pepper are a great cancer fighting combo.

After reading over my earlier post on turmeric and black pepper, I realized that it probably sounds complicated. So I asked myself how to simplify the preparation that I described earlier and here’s what I came up with:

1. Make plain scrambled eggs.
2. Make plenty of the chutney — all at one time.
3. Freeze the chutney in small batches for later use.

Then when you make scrambled eggs all you have to do is defrost a few flavor cubes to go with your eggs!

So…here’s a generic recipe for a healthy tomato and onion chutney — very much like the one I described in the previous post about turmeric and black pepper (only I like this version a little better). And by the way, this recipe is nothing new. In Indian and Pakistani cuisines, versions of this chutney have been around for ages.

TOMATO & ONION CHUTNEY FLAVOR CUBES

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped
2-4 green chilies, very thinly sliced
2 teaspoons canola or olive oil
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 heaping teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
A little salt, to taste
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy skilled over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the onions to the pan and sauté them until they are lightly brown.

–A large skillet is recommended so that the onions can cook evenly and not sit on top of one another which would make them steam instead of brown.

When the onions are slightly brown, add the tomatoes and green chiles; mix. Stir occasionally until the tomatoes become soft and mushy.

In a small non-stick skillet, over medium heat, heat the 2 teaspoons of oil until warm. Add the cumin seeds and watch carefully. When the cumin seeds just start to turn a little browner, grab your spatula (a silicone one is great) and scrape the spice mixture into the pan with the onion mixture; stir to mix.

Add the  turmeric, ground cumin, black pepper and salt  to the onion mixture; stir and continue cooking on medium-low heat for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.

Mix in the chopped cilantro.
–Or leave the cilantro out and add it later to the defrosted the frozen chutney.

What to serve with this chutney?

Everything…almost…
Scrambled eggs
Chicken
Fish
Cooked grains (rice, wheat berries, quinoa, etc.) – just mix the chutney in or serve alongside the cooked grains
Potatoes
Beans

How to freeze the chutney

Fill the muffin pockets of a silicone muffin “tin” (mini or regular sized silicone muffin tin) with the cooked mixture; freeze; pop the frozen “muffins” out of the muffin tin and place them in a ziplock bag (the kind that’s made for the freezer).

If you don’t have a silicone muffn tin, you can use a metal one following the procedure given in the earlier post about basil pesto.

Enjoy and be healthy,

Leni

BASIL: Basil Paste; Basil Pesto Flavor Cubes

BASIL PESTO (pesto and so much more)

Note: This recipe’s ingredients, amounts and basic processing steps comes from the Cusinart Instruction Booklet (that came with my new machine), p. 37.

Makes 1 1/3 cups (enough to make about a dozen ice cubes in my ice cube tray or  mini muffins in my silicone mini muffin pan)

Ingredients

4 ounces high quality Parmesan cheese (rind removed), cut into 1-inch pieces

• Ideally, I like to use a chunk of Parmesan Reggiano (great taste).
• Remove the hard Parmesan rind before you put the cheese into the food processor.
• Note: Parmesan rind is great for seasoning homemade soups and pasta sauces. For extra flavor, just toss the rind in with all the other ingredients. If you simmer the soup long enough the rind nearly disappears.

4 small garlic cloves

2 1/2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves (hard stems removed)

• If your basil has flowers on it, that’s OK. They’re edible too!
• Note: Fresh basil can sit for a few days on your kitchen counter in a glass of water, just like cut flowers! Just make sure only the stems are in the water but the leaves are not.
• For a truly remarkable website about basil as well as all herbs and spices, see Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages ! Among other things, on this site you can find the name for herbs and spices in the languages of the the cuisines that commonly use each herb or spice – something that’s very helpful when shopping in your local Asian or other ethnic market!

1/3 cup walnut pieces

• Walnuts are a decent source of ALA, the pre-curser to omega-3′s — which means your body can convert ALA into Omega 3′s – though it’s a very inefficient process and you can’t rely on getting omega 3′s this way.

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Using the food processor fitted with the metal blade, chop the Parmesan for about 30 seconds, until nicely chopped.
• Add the garlic, basil, walnuts, salt, and half of the olive oil and process until combined, about 8 pulses.
• With the machine running, pour the remaining oil into the feed tube (which lets the oil drain gradually into the work bowl of the processor).
• Scrape the bowl with a spatula, and continue processing until you have a smooth consistency.
• Taste and add salt, if desired.

Storage – Use today and freeze the rest

• For food safety reasons, it is safest to use pesto the day you make it, and freeze the rest to use later. For food safety information related to pesto and other fresh herb sauces, see the Food Safety Tip in my post, How to Create Fabulous Fresh Herb Sauces or Pestos.
• To freeze:
  • If  you have a silicone mini-muffin baking pan, you can freeze the pesto very easily. Just fill each muffin cup with basil. Then keep the muffin pan flat and place it in the freezer. As soon as the pesto is frozen, you just pop the “pesto muffins” out. Put the frozen pesto muffins into a plastic bag for the freezer; store in the freezer.

• If you do not have a silicone mini-muffin pan, use an ice cube tray. And instead of popping the frozen cubes out later, just pry them out with a fork. That works too!

So…now what are we going to do with all of those frozen pesto ice cubes? Defrost them and then…

• Smear some pesto over grilled fish or chicken

• Mix pesto with a little more oil and some vinegar (or lemon juice) to make a great salad dressing

• Add to vegetable soups!

BASIL PASTE FLAVOR CUBES

If you don’t need pesto, but you want to have some basil to use all winter, you can freeze your basil with a little olive oil (to lightly coat the leaves and keep them nice and bright green). Here’s the technique developed by a fellow blogger, Kayln Denny. Also, herbalist, Susan Belsinger, makes basil paste the in the same manner, as shown in this Washington Post article/recipe.

As you know, I like to freeze small portions (sometimes in teaspoon or tablespoon portions) in silicone mini muffin pans and then pop the frozen flavor cubes into plastic bags for the freezer. Recently at one of William Sonoma’s technique classes, I learned that if you zip your bag closed and then insert a little straw into a small opening you can suck out the air. This will help keep your Basil Paste Flavor Cubes (and all other flavor cubes) fresher for longer!

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni