No-Name-Yet Healthy Mushrooms (Curry; Miso)

This post is actually a post-in-process.

Well, my first attempt to make sauteed mushrooms with mostly turmeric for flavor, was real flop, and it has now been removed from this blog — which is why you won’t find it on this page any more.

Instead, let me suggest sauteeing the mushrooms in olive oil and some Sweet Curry Powder (which is not sweet, just not very hot). I chose Penzeys Spices Sweet Curry Powder because the first ingredient is turmeric and it also contains black pepper, but of course, you could add more black pepper to taste.

While using Sweet Curry Powder instead of turmeric doesn’t provide as much turmeric as if you used mostly turmeric, it tastes a LOT better!

But curried mushrooms do not go with everything…so I started to think again about what I could do to make a great sauteed mushroom dish that would go with most foods…and I came up with sauteed mushrooms and miso! It’s really good.  I don’t have the proportions down yet…but it’s something like 8 ounces of sliced baby portobello mushrooms sauteed in a little olive oil. Then before the mushrooms are fully cooked, pour into the pan a mixture of about 1/2 cup water and a tablespoon miso. Cool until the liquid evaporates and the miso has lightly coated the mushrooms.

Miso.  The darker the miso, the stronger the flavor. Try it you’ll like it!

More exact recipe to come…

Ingredients for sauted mushrooms with curry seasoning

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large white  onion, diced (approximately 1/3-inch dice)

• How to dice an onion (a short video)

2 1/2 teaspoons Penzeys Spice Sweet Curry Powder

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1, 8-0unce box  baby bello mushrooms , sliced (baby bello are baby portobello mushrooms)

pinch of hot red pepper (Note: Use a spoon, not your fingers to avoid possibly burning yourself when you touch your fingers to your eyes.)

salt, to taste, if desired

Optional additions to mix in

1  Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cube I think this works quite well. Just mix a defrosted Garlic Flavor Cube in at the end so that the garlic won’t burn. I took a small (about 1/3-inch high cube) and defrosted it in the microwave and then added it to the cooked mixture of onions and mushrooms. It made the mixture a bit less grainy and more mellow. Very nice.

• Note: If you are defrosting a small amount of food such as a Garlic Flavor Cube in your microwave, it’s a good idea to add something else to the microwave at the same time so that the microwaves have more food to work with. I just keep a half cup of water handy by the microwave and use it over and over for this purpose, as needed.

A squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice  -  I added a 1/2 teaspoon lime juice after adding the Garlic Flavor Cube. I think I’ll add more next time because it was very nice.

Optional garnish to add on

fresh chopped cilantro (Of course, if you love cilantro, add a touch of green!)

Directions

Heat the olive oil (1 tablespoon) over medium heat in a large (10-inch), heavy non-stick skillet. When hot, add the onions and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the onions start to become translucent but still have crunch to them (about 8 minutes), add in the curry powder and black pepper; stir to mix; continue to cook over medium heat for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. (This helps the spices mix and develops their flavor and it prevents the turmeric from tasting awful as it does – at least to me – when it’s raw/uncooked!).  Add a little oil or a little water, if needed, to keep the spices from burning. Remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside.

Add the second tablespoon of olive oil to the pan (the pan from which you just removed the onions.) When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Stir to mix and continue cooking and stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until some of the mushrooms get a little brown at the edges.

Now add the onion mixture to the mushrooms in the pan. Add a pinch of hot red pepper and salt, to taste, if desired. Mix well and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.

How to use this versatile recipe

Add a few spoons on top of chicken, fish, tofu, eggs, and assorted grains. Mix some into greens and other veggies.

Notes on this recipe in progress: I am still working on this recipe. I’m going to try this again but with some changes. I’ll cook the onions as described above. Then I’ll heat some oil in a small non-stick pan and add the curry powder, black pepper, and red pepper, and cook the spices in the oil for about 30 seconds; bit tricky – do not want to burn them. Then I’ll pour the cooked spices and oil onto the onions in the large skillet. Mix the onions and the spices well and continue cooking for a few minutes. Then do the mushrooms as indicated above, etc.

I will post the results of this next round of testing as soon as I do it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

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

Chicken with Chaat Masala

This is a very easy recipe and so I turn to it over and over again. The Indian seasoning, Chaat Masala, is one of my favorite seasoning mixtures. The Shan brand of Chaat Masala that I buy at our local Indo-Pak store contains: “salt, red chili, paprika, corriander, cinnamon, ginger, aniseed, long black pepper, cumin, green cardamom, black pepper, clove, mace, green mango, carom, citric acid, asafetida.”

While you may not be able to get this exact brand of chaat masala, you will probably be able to find one like it at an Indian or Pakistani market or an Asian supermarket, if you have one in your area.

Of course, you could also make your own chaat masala. Here’s a good recipe for making chaat masala at home.

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil
Skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Chaat Masala
Turmeric

• How does turmeric help your body to prevent cancer?

Freshly ground black pepper
White balsamic vinegar
Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Add olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a non-stick skillet (which should be flawless so no  bits and pieces of the non-stick coating get into the food). Heat the skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs with the shiny, smooth side down. Generously sprinkle the chicken in the pan with the chaat masala, turmeric, and black pepper – to taste.  Honestly, you don’t need exact measurements for this; just use your good judgment and experiment.

Let the chicken cook (shiny side down) until it’s slightly browned on the bottom. Using tongs, turn the chicken over so it will cook on the other side — the side with the seasonings.

When the chicken is cooked through, turn it over again so that the first side cooks in the seasoned oil that’s in the pan. Cook for about 20 seconds.

Remove the chicken from the pan and turn the heat to low. Pour a little white balsamic vinegar (this is a slightly sweet, not-too-acid-tasting vinegar) into the pan stir it around. (This “deglazes” the pan.) Pour the vinegar and pan juice mixture over the chicken. Note: If you do not have white balsamic vinegar, try using fresh squeezed lemon juice and little agave nectar for sweetness.  I have not yet tried this, but I think it should work just fine. I’ll try this and report back here.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Note: Aside from serving Chicken with Chaat Masala hot off the stove, it’s great cold in a salad. Recently I served a salad made of hearts of romaine lettuce,  baby arugula, chunks of fresh mango, slices of avocado, tossed with a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing and then topped with cut-up pieces of cold Chicken with Chaat Masala.  It was a big hit!

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

CILANTRO SAUCE – the anti-cancer “ketchup”!

Makes about 2 ½ cups (about 550 ml) or 24 “mini muffins” of frozen sauce

This delicious sauce transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary – and it’s easy to make. All you need are some common fresh ingredients and a blender. If you think of this of this sauce as your anti-cancer “ketchup” and use it for almost everything – as we do at my house — you will be adding great taste AND lots of anti-cancer nutrients to every dish.

Some yeas ago, Edward Hamann, a culinary expert on food from the Asian subcontinent and a wonderful cooking instructor who is now at Sur La Table, taught a small group of us how to make his fabulous Fresh Cilantro Chutney (Dhaniya ki Chatni ).  I started with his amazing recipe, added turmeric, black pepper, made a few other changes, and that’s how this Cilantro Sauce recipe evolved.

Ingredients

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

+ Monamifood “Why Citrus?” How do citrus fruits help to prevent cancer?

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

+  If you do not have lime juice, just use 1 cup of lemon juice.

¾ cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger

+ Monamifood “Why Ginger?” How does ginger help to prevent cancer?

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed slightly with a meat mallet or the back of a heavy cup

+ Monamifood “Why Garlic?” How does garlic help to prevent cancer?

2-3 Serrano peppers, stemmed and roughly chopped, including seeds

+ Use more or less peppers depending on how hot you want it to be

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon agave nectar

+  You can use 2 tablespoons of sugar plus 1 tablespoon water instead of the agave nectar.

+  This amount of sugar or agave nectar is really very little per serving, so it’s OK.

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

+  Monamifood “Why Turmeric?” How does turmeric (and black pepper) help to prevent cancer?

+  Sometimes I add more turmeric. Experiment and add more turmeric, if you like.

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ – ½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 – 3 bunches (about 7/8 pound) fresh cilantro, including all but the very ends of the stems

Directions

Place the ingredients into a blender – in the order given above, but do not put all the cilantro in at one time. Using a spatula, firmly push the cilantro down toward the metal blade of the blender; then place the cover on the blender and blend until a lovely smooth sauce results.  Note: You will have to push the cilantro toward the blender blade quite a few time times, but always when the blender if off, not running!

A few of the MANY ways to use this sauce

+  Use as a condiment to liven up almost everything, including fish, chicken, eggs, or tofu.

+ Use as a hot or cold sauce to go with almost everything.

+  Spread on whole grain bread. I made a sardine and onion open-faced sandwich by spreading this Cilantro Sauce liberally onto a piece of lightly toasted whole grain sourdough bread. Then I add a couple of slices of red onion. And, I topped that with sardines (from a can of King Oscar Sardines in Olive Oil). Note: To prepare the sardines for the sandwich, I put the sardines into a strainer and rinsed them with cold filtered water to remove the excess olive oil. Then I let the water drain off well before adding them to the sandwich.)

+  Mix with ripe avocado to make a lovely dip or spread. I just put some of this Cilantro Sauce-avocado mixture on slices of daikon and it was fabulous. The next time I need to bring an appetizer to someone’s party, this is what I plan to bring – it’s delicious and a great conversation starter too!

+  Sauté any vegetable in olive oil and mix some of this sauce in at the end.

+  By the way, I just mixed some of this sauce with some sauted greens (sauted tops of the daikon radish). Superb!

+  Add to soups — bean soups, chicken soups, vegetable soups, fish soups

+  Add olive oil to make this sauce into a salad dressing!

Storage

+  This sauce gets a little thicker by the next day.

+  This recipe makes a lot of sauce. I like to make this large quantity and freeze most of it in 100% food grade silicone mini muffin pans. When frozen, I just pop the frozen mini “muffins” out, and store them in a plastic freezer storage bag in the freezer. (The plastic does not interact with the food, so it’s OK.) Then I just defrost the amount of sauce that I need whenever I want some – as in every day!

+  Since this recipe is made with fresh ingredients and contains garlic, I would store it in the refrigerator for a day or tw, not longer.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Why turmeric and black pepper?

Dry/powdered or Fresh Turmeric (peel, chop, freeze) – use anytime!

Curcumin and other chemicals in turmeric are powerful anti-inflamatory agents. In the lab, it has been shown that curcumin inhibits a many different cancers. For more on how turmeric fights cancer cells, see Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber, p. 104-106.

Also, as mentioned on Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s blog,  new research shows that in the Petri dish the bioactive compound found in turmeric (curcumin) and the bioactive compound found in black pepper (piperine) — when combined — are a potent anti-cancer combination – especially against breast cancer stem cells – the cells that conventional treatment (chemotherapy and radiation) have the hardest time eliminating.

Accordingly, Dr. Servan-Schreiber says in his blog: “…given that turmeric and pepper, taken as part of a normal diet, are practically never toxic in any way, it seems to me to be perfectly reasonable to recommend that all of us regularly consume a soupspoon of turmeric every day, with a pinch of pepper.”

But he adds: “CAUTION: Note that it is often safest to avoid turmeric during chemotherapy as well as three days before and after the treatment. This is because it can – rarely, but it can – interfere with some chemotherapy treatments and reduce their benefits.”

Turmeric and black pepper — the combo

Think of these two spices as one – because black pepper must be present in the food for turmeric to be fully assimilated by the body. “Pepper multiplies the body’s absorption of turmeric by two thousand.” (Anti-Cancer by David-Servan Schreiber, p. 104)  So…“To be assimilated by the body, turmeric must be mixed with black pepper (not simply peppers). Ideally, if must also be dissolved in oil (olive, canola, or linseed oil, preferably).” (Anti-Cancer, p. 120)

For more information about turmeric and it’s healthful properties (and some cautions)….

• Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s website – Integrative Medicine, Herbs. Here you will find all the details and background research on turmeric!
• NIH National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine

Delicious recipes with dry powdered turmeric or fresh turmeric

Dry powdered turmeric: To find delicious recipes that give you the health benefits of dry powdered turmeric, just go to the search button (upper right hand section of this page) and enter “turmeric.” One of my favorite recipes with turmeric in it is Cilantro Sauce. My family uses this Cilantro Sauce as a dip for veggies and as a condiment along with bean and lentil dishes!

Fresh turmeric: You can find fresh turmeric (the yellow, not the white variety), at Whole Foods and in Asian supermarkets. To learn about fresh turmeric see Cooking with Kurma.

How to store fresh turmeric for use anytime: When I buy fresh turmeric at the Asian market, I buy a lot at once and process it for storage in my freezer. Here’s how:

Peeling turmeric

• Wash the turmeric to get the dirt off.
• Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off; discard the skin.
• Rinse the peeled turmeric with water.
• Place the peeled and rinsed turmeric into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until the turmeric looks like it’s been grated.

Turmeric after processing in food processor

• Line a rectangular storage container with a layer of parchment paper (and make sure the parchment paper sticks out over the edges of the container) and using a spatula spread just enough of the “grated” turmeric to cover the parchment paper with a thin layer of turmeric.
• Repeat this process: layer of parchment paper; layer of turmeric.

Thin layer of turmeric over parchment paper

• Cover and freeze.
• Remove from freezer and let it defrost on the kitchen counter for a few minutes. Then tug on the top layer of parchment paper that overhangs the sides of the container. This will lift up one frozen layer of turmeric.
• Using your hands (or rubber gloves if you don’t want to get your hands yellow colored), break the layer of frozen turmeric up and place the irregular pieces of frozen turmeric into a plastic bag for the freezer. Store you turmeric in the freezer for future use – anytime! Just remove the amount you need and cook!

Pieces of frozen turmeric in freezer bag

Note: When using fresh turmeric, use at least about twice as much as you would if you were to use dry powdered turmeric, since it is less concentrated and has a milder flavor. And…remember to always add black pepper to your recipe!

P.S. I also store fresh garlic and fresh ginger in the same way! Just peel, process, freeze, and store! Never run out of the healthy foods you need for cooking!

from left: frozen pieces of garlic, turmeric, ginger

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

SPINACH AND ONION CRUSTLESS QUICHES

After creating the recipes for Egg White Puffs and for Carmelized Onions and Roasted Spinach, it suddenly dawned on me that I could combine the two recipes and make Spinach and Onion Egg Puffs – now fondly known as Spinach and Onion Crustless Quiches.  Wow! They turned out great and my family and I have been enjoying them for breakfast, lunch, light dinners, and snacks ever since!

SPINACH AND ONION CRUSTLESS QUICHES ( aka SPINACH AND ONION EGG PUFFS)

Makes 6 crustless quiches (each one the size of a muffin)

If you would like to see a video showing how this recipe is made, just click on this link for the YouTube video that I made with the help of my friend Ludo Van Vooren, who served as my director and film editor, and my husband, Charles Nazare, who cheered me on. Also a big thanks to my friends Shelley and Fred and cousin David who looked this video over and told me it was good enough to share. I had my doubts, but I’ve swallowed my pride and learned to live with the fact that I don’t look as young as I used to when I made my other videos…and I’m out of practice, besides. But making this video was fun, so I plan to do more of them for this blog in the future. I hope you enjoy viewing the video.

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil (for greasing the inside of each muffin cup)
• 6 tablespoons caramelized onions, prepared according to the post, Monamifood Caramelized Onions & Roasted Spinach
• 6 tablespoons roasted spinach, prepared according to the post, Monamifood Caramelized Onions & Roasted Spinach
• About 1½ teaspoons ground turmeric
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  
• Aleppo pepper or any mild red pepper, such as paprika (not the hot variety). The purpose of the red pepper is to give the quiche a nice warm color.
• fresh thyme leaves (or dried thyme leaves or dried oregano – or a mixture of these), to taste
• 1, 16-ounce container of liquid egg whites
• 1 tablespoon shredded or grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Equipment Prep Step

• If you are going to cook these quiches in a microwave oven, you will need a 100% food-grade silicone muffin pan (for regular, not mini size muffins).
• Unfortunately, in a microwave oven, the food in a muffin pan does not cook evenly. (The food closer to the walls of the oven cooks faster than the food farther from the walls of the oven.)  So using a pair of kitchen shears, I cut my silicone muffin pan into 6 muffin cups as you see below. Now I can arrange the muffin cups in a circle for even cooking.
  

My silcone muffin pan after surgery to separate the muffin cups

Directions (Microwave cooking)

Note: Oven cooking directions are given below the microwave cooking directions.

• Using a pastry brush and olive oil, lightly grease the inside of each silicone muffin cup with olive. (You may not need to grease these muffin cups. If you find that your little quiches slide out of their cups without greasing the muffin cups, that’s great; just skip this step.)

• If you can, remove the glass “go round” inside your microwave oven and place it on your kitchen counter. (If you can’t remove the glass “go round” from your microwave, then just use a large round microwaveable platter.) Arrange the 6  individual greased silicone muffin cups in a circle on the glass “go round” or round platter. Try to make sure that each of the cups is about the same distance from the outer edge of the glass “go round” or platter.
• Put 1 tablespoon of caramelized red onions inside each of the muffin cups.
• Put 1 tablespoon of roasted spinach inside each of the muffin cups.
• Sprinkle a scant ¼ teaspoon of ground turmeric into each of the muffin cups.
• Sprinkle a little freshly ground black pepper into each of the muffin cups.
• Sprinkle a little Aleppo pepper into each of the muffin cups.
• Add as much fresh thyme as you like to each of the muffin cups
  
• Shake the container of egg whites (as it says on the carton). Pour the liquid egg whites into the partially filled muffin cups, filling each cup almost up to the top. You will use – or almost use – the entire container of egg whites.
• Using a small spoon, gently mix the contents of each muffin cup to distribute the veggies more evenly.
• Place the “go round” or platter with the filled muffin cups into the microwave oven.
  
• Cook on high for 3– 4 minutes or until outer half of each of the mini quiches is starting to look slightly cooked (not so runny).
  
• Carefully rotate the each muffin cup 180 degrees so that the inner edge becomes the outer edge.
• Cook on high for another 2-3 minutes or until there is no more liquid remaining on the top of each quiche. In the final minute or so as they cook, you see them puff up high above the top edges of the muffin cups and then drop back down when they’re done. It’s dramatic and fun to watch!
• If desired, top each little quiche with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and heat for another 10-15 seconds to melt the cheese.

• When the muffin cups are cool enough to handle comfortably, remove them from the oven.

One muffin cup with a Spinach and Onion Crustless Quiche inside

• Invert each muffin cup and the little quiche should slide right out. When you turn the quiches  right side up they look beautiful — and, I think you will agree, taste GREAT!

Directions (Oven cooking)

• To cook these mini quiches in a regular (not microwave) oven, follow the directions given above, but bake at 350 degree F — either in a silicone muffin pan or in regular metal muffin pan. I made three little quiches in my toaster oven (using cut-up silicone muffin cups) and they were ready after baking for about 20 minutes. It should take around that long to cook these in a metal muffin pan, too.
  

Notes

• After posting this recipe (and that was after making it at least 25 times), I discovered that adding fresh thyme made the little quiches even more delicious. And, since thyme is an anti-cancer food in its own right, (as explained in my earlier post, Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Thyme), go ahead and add plenty of thyme. Just buy (or grow) fresh thyme, wash it, dry it, and store it in your freezer. Storing in your freezer will make it easy to remove the leaves from the stems (as explained in the Roasted Grape Tomatoes post) and it will still taste fresh.
• If you are out of fresh thyme, no problem. Use dried thyme or dried oregano leaves. Oregano and thyme (as well as rosemary, basil, and mint) are members of the terpene family and have anti-cancer properties.
• These Crustless Quiches do not freeze well. But you can store them in your refrigerator for a few days.
• By using a silicone mini muffin pan (cut up into individual cups), you can make mini quiches. (And, if you don’t want to cut up all your silicone bakeware, use the pan as is and take out the cooked mini quiches and return the pan to the microwave to cook the rest.) I served these mini quiches at a party not long ago and they disappeared!
• I learned the hard way that if I follow the manufacturer’s direction that came with my silicone muffin pan: “do not place in the dishwasher,” then the muffin cups remain non-stick and I do not need to to grease the muffin cups.
  +++++++++++++++++++++++

And here’s another Crustless Mini Quiche recipe from Monamifood: Updated Crustless Mini Quiches. The newer version does not require silicone muffin pans. And it is easier to make. However, it does not include turmeric. I now use turmeric (including fresh turmeric) in a lot of other foods I cook, so I don’t mind not having some for breakfast.

Enjoy and be healthy,

~Leni

BROWN RICE: Golden Rice

Why brown rice?

It’s a lot better for you than regular white rice! “…ordinary white rice should be avoided and replaced by brown or white basmati rice, for which the glycemic index is lower.” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 63)

This doesn’t mean you should eat LOTS of brown rice. As Dr. Servan-Schreiber says, “Above all it’s much better … to eat vegetables and legumes (beans, peas, lentils). Not only are their glycemic indexes low, but their potent phytochemicals fight cancer growth every inch of the way.” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 63)

GOLDEN RICE

In order to make brown rice rich in the “potent phytochemicals that fight cancer growth,” I now add turmeric and black pepper to every pot of rice I cook. And the result is a gorgeous golden rice!

For example, when we had friends over for dinner one night, I made two stir fry dishes – an Asian stir fry and Indian stir-fry (like a biriyani) — and both were made with Golden Rice, (but in the Asian stir-fry, I used less turmeric than in the Indian stir-fry).

Ingredients

Brown rice

• Previously on this page, I mentioned that I like to use a variety of brown rice called Sweet Brown Rice or Korean Sweet Brown Rice – available in the Asian supermarkets and by mail order. The word “sweet” in the name of this rice is misleading. It’s not sweet; it’s just sticky. It’s a short grain rice that clumps together when cooked so it has a very chewy texture. Well….now I’ve learned that sweet sticky rice has a higher glycemic index than the more common rice varieties. So now I use brown Basmati rice — for Indian foods — and regular brown rice for other foods.

Filtered water

Turmeric and freshly ground black pepper

• Turmeric and black pepper are a potent anti-cancer combo, as discussed in an earlier post, Turmeric and Black Pepper . In addition, new research indicates that turmeric and black pepper are especially effective against breast cancer (stem cells). For a summary of this new research, see Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s blog.

• How much turmeric and black pepper should you use when making rice? It’s up to you. Experiment; start with a little turmeric and add more next time until you get the proportion of turmeric to rice that works for you. But here’s a rough guide based on my experience:

1. For a light golden color and a slightly but not noticeably earthy taste, I add about a teaspoon of turmeric and a few grinds of fresh black pepper to two cups of raw brown rice.
2. When I want the earthy spicy flavor of turmeric and black pepper, I add about 1 tablespoon turmeric and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper to two cups of raw brown rice.

Note: I will measure carefully and report more exact proportions here soon.

Directions (rice cooker, my preferred way to cook rice)

• Rinse the rice under cold running water until it’s no longer cloudy (about 3 rinses).

• Place the rinsed rice into the bowl of the rice cooker. Add the water according to the directions for your particular kind of rice. Someone once told me that the water level should be about one knuckle above the rice and this works pretty well for me (I have small hands, though).

• Add turmeric and black pepper, according to your taste.

• Press the button for cooking and wait until it’s done. That’s it!

Directions (stove top)

• See the Purcell Mountain Farms for stove top (and rice cooker) directions for preparing many different varieties of brown rice.

Enjoy and be healthy,

~Leni

LUNCH OR SUPPER: A Quick & Delicious Fish Meal

Why fish?

“Long-chain omega-3s found in fatty fish (or in high-quality purified fish oil supplements) reduce inflammation. In cell cultures, they reduce cancer cell growth in a large number of tumors (lung, breast, colon, prostate, kidney, etc.). The also act to reduce the spread of tumors in the form of metastases. Several human studies show that the risk of several cancers is significantly lower in people who eat fish at least twice a week.”  (Anti-Cancer by David-Servan Schreiber, page 124)

Here’s a quick and easy meal that I often pack for my  lunch at work:

1 Trident Alaskan Salmon Burger

• from Price Costco (in the frozen section)
• made with wild Alaskan salmon
• uncooked; must be microwaved, baked, or pan fried
• contains 1360 g omega-3 per salmon patty

1 portion cooked brown rice mixed with basil pesto or chutney

1 portion frozen broccoli

• The organic frozen broccoli from Trader Joe’s is one of my favorites.

I make my lunches ahead of time and freeze them in rectangular Pyrex glass containers with plastic lids.

Then at lunchtime, when my office mates are heating up their Lean Cuisines or grabbing a bag of chips and a soda, I microwave my delicious – and nutritious – lunch!

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

TURMERIC & BLACK PEPPER: Frittata

Here’s my recipe for a delicious egg and vegetable “frittata” that features turmeric and black pepper, plus lots of veggies.

EGG AND VEGETABLE “FRITTATA”

Ingredients (This is what I had on hand this morning):

–a container (still frozen) of Kirkland Real Egg Product (made with 99% pure egg whites)
–eggs (cage-free, omega-3 eggs from Whole Foods)
–6 cherry tomatoes from our garden, sliced in half
–1 red onion, chopped
–1 bunch organic green onions, green part only, cut into small pieces
–canola oil or olive oil
– ~1 teaspoon turmeric (a yellow/orange powder) from Penzey’s Spices

Why turmeric?

–freshly ground black pepper
–1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Here’s how I made an Egg and Vegetable ‘Frittata’ this morning:

Because I forgot to defrost the Kirkland Real Egg Product, I put it into the microwave for 6 minutes on power level 2. Then I shook it vigorously and put it back into the microwave for 4 minutes on power level 2.  I continued heating it on power level 2 and shaking it until it was defrosted (or almost so).
–Note: I had previously cut open an empty Kirkland Real Egg Product container to check if there was any metal in the container’s lining and found none.

While defrosting the Kirkland Egg Product, I sautéd the red onion in a little canola oil, on medium heat in a medium size sauté pan, stirring the onions occasionally using 2 silicone spatulas (which I love because I can use them for so many things in the kitchen).

When the onions were halfway cooked, I added the tomatoes to the onions. I let the mixture cook until the tomatoes softened; stirring occasionally. When the tomatoes were soft, I turned off the heat and removed the pan from the burner.

I put a small high quality (!) non-stick omelet pan on another burner and added a few teaspoons of oil. Over medium heat, I heated the oil and then added the green onions, and sauted them until they began to wilt. When they were wilted, I added them to the pan with the red onions and tomatoes and mixed all the sauted veggies together. Then I sprinkled the veggies liberally with freshly ground black pepper.

Next I took a second small high quality (!) non-stick omelet pan and put that on another burner over medium low heat. I added a few teaspoons of oil to that pan and when the oil is warm/hot, I added the cumin seeds and let them warm up for about 15 seconds (don’t let them brown) and then I added the turmeric for a few seconds. Then I immediately scraped this spice mixture into the onion and tomato mixture and mixed it all around.

We’re almost there…  I know it seems like a lot of work…but this makes a great breakfast (or a nice lunch) for a few days!

Next I took the defrosted Kirkland Egg Product and mixed it, using a whisk, with the fresh eggs. Since I’m making enough for a few days for my family, I used about 6 eggs and about ¾ of the carton of the Kirkland Egg Product.

Now to cook the eggs…

I put the 2 non-stick pans that are empty and already slightly greased (because they’ve been used to cook the green onions and sauté the cumin and turmeric) on two burners over medium heat. When warm, I poured half of the egg mixture into each of the pans. I let that sit for about a minute (maybe less, depending on how hot the pan was to start with), and then I added half of the sauted veggie mixture from each of the pans to each of the eggs mixtures and stirred it around with a silicone spatula. I kept stirring and also flipping the cooking egg-veggie mixture until it was all cooked.

Note: I didn’t add salt, but each person can sprinkle a little on top of each portion, if desired.

NON-STICK PANS?

In the book, Anti-Cancer, Dr. Servan Schreiber recommends that you use “flawless Teflon, or else non-Teflon pans, such as stainless steel 18/10” instead of using “scratched Teflon pans.” (page 6 and 7 of the center insert in the book).

P.S.  After putting this post up, I wrote the post which covers just how to make the Turmeric and Black Pepper Onion and Tomato Chutney, and also how to freeze it for use later.

Enjoy and be healthy,

Leni