CIOPPINO On The Cheap

Cioppino On The Cheap

Cioppino is one of my favorite foods. But until recently I only made it on special occasions. That’s because this delicious main dish fish soup was just too expensive for everyday meals.  However, on a recent ordinary cold spring Sunday, I was craving something warm and just couldn’t get Cioppino out of my head. So I set out to find the best ingredients for an awesome Cioppino on the cheap.

To save some cash, I didn’t include lobster, crab legs, or clams.But I used lots of mussels.  In place of  fish fillets, I used Trader Joe’s frozen boneless and skinless Mahi Mahi  Pieces, for which I paid only $4.49 per pound.

My Cioppino On The Cheap turned out absolutely great! A keeper! Hope you like it too!

Recipe note:
This recipe is adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ Cioppino recipe. Her recipe was a great guide to ingredients and timings.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 large shallots, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons organic tomato paste
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced organic tomatoes in juice
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups clam juice
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 pound wild caught mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1/2 pound uncooked shell-on very large shrimp
3/4 pound Trader Joe’s frozen Mahi Mahi Pieces, cut into large bite-size chunks
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, and shallots, and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, clam juice, and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 20 minutes.

Add the mussels to the pot. Cover and cook until the mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and mahi mahi. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, about 5 more minutes. Stir gently. Discard any mussels that do not open. Season the soup, to taste, with salt, if desired.

Ladle the soup into individual bowls and top each bowl of steaming Cioppino On The Cheap with chopped parsley.

Food shopping note:
Clam juice: I really  like Bar Harbor Clam Juice. It is not too salty, like many of the other brands of clam juice.

Enjoy and be healthy!
~Leni

Homemade Garlicky Olive Oil

Is there a food or recipe doesn’t benefit from some garlic? OK, maybe that dessert you’re dreaming about. But just about everything else is enhanced by garlic! So I keep Homemade Garlicky Olive Oil in my refrigerator at all times. It’s easy to make; just takes three common ingredients to make garlic flavored olive oil safely – without creating a medium for botulism to grow.

INGREDIENTS

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Garlic
• Fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Peel the garlic and trim off the end close to the root where bacteria are likely to hide.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the garlic until it’s very finely minced.

Pour some olive oil into a glass dish (not plastic). Then pour some water into a slightly larger glass dish. Take the dish with the olive oil and place it into the dish with the water. Now you have a water bath for gently heating your olive oil! Note: The water in the larger dish should reach only up to the the level of the olive oil (in order to keep the water from sloshing into the oil when you move the dishes).

Place the olive oil in its water bath and then into your microwave; heat it on the medium or high setting. Let it get hot, but do not let it boil. The amount of time time it took at the high setting to heat the small amount of olive oil that you see in the photo was 30-40 seconds.

Put a few spoonfuls of the finely minced garlic into the hot oil; mix.

Add the lemon juice; mix.

Let the garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice mixture sit in the water bath for 10 – 15 minutes.

STORAGE

Store in refrigerator for up to a week.

FOOD SAFETY TIP –  Before you head to your kitchen, please read this Food Safety Tip!

When you combine garlic and oil, you create an environment in which botulism (a deadly food-born bacteria) can grow. According to the University of Colorado Extension Service, to prevent the possible growth of botulism when mixing oil and garlic, you should always “add an acidifying agent such as lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe at the rate of one tablespoon per cup of oil.” Also you should “discard infusions after one week, or sooner if apparent cloudiness, gas bubbles, or foul odor develop.

USES FOR HOMEMADE GARLICKY OLIVE OIL

I reach in my refrigerator for this wonderful Homemade Garlicky Olive Oil whenever I want to:

• Add both garlic and oil to a recipe, for example, when making a Fresh Herb Sauce.
• Add flavor to a simple sautéed food, for example, a piece of fish or a vegetable, such as Beet Greens. Just top the sautéed beet (or other) greens with Homemade Garlicky Olive Oil. And..by adding the garlic to your food AFTER cooking, you can’t burn the garlic ᕙ(`▽´)ᕗ!

LOVE THIS OLIVE OIL – Laconiko Olive Oil!
By chance I stopped by a booth where Laconiko 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oilwas featured. I tasted it  and loved it – as did the judges of a recent international olive oil competition! I was hooked! So I spent the next 20 minutes talking to the two brothers whose family produces this olive oil in Greece. Having just read the book, Extra Virginity – The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, I had so many questions about the quality and nutrition of their product. They had the answers! Of course, I purchased a bottle of their wonderful extra virgin olive oil right then and there! I chose a 500 ml-bottle of this olive oil and it cost $20.00 – a good price for a great oil. When we have finished this bottle, I plan to go to one of the local stores that carries this brand of olive oil and bring them my empty bottle (washed out with water and baking soda) and then I’ll get it refilled with fresh olive oil from the barrel where it’s stored. So it will be really FRESH olive oil! And…this time I think I’m going to try their Rosemary Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I know it’s fabulous because I tasted it  when I was at their booth and I’m sure it will be great for making Homemade Garlicky Olive Oil.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OLIVE OIL
Olive oil is a fascinating subject. Really! Here are a my favorite web resources

• The Truth in Olive Oil (from author of the book Extra Virginity) - This link takes you to the page: Buyer’s Guide to Olive Oil in North America – a great resource.
• Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil - The new standard for the best olive oil. (The Laconiko Olive Oil I mentioned above is one of them!)

Enjoy and be healthy!

Peace,

~Leni

How to Create Fabulous Fresh Herb Sauces or Pestos

It’s unbelievably easy to create fresh, healthy, and delicious herb sauces (pestos)! Just  select your favorite ingredients from the six or seven food categories shown in this diagram and throw it all in your food processor or high-speed blender! Get creative! Have fun! Enjoy!

HERBS and GREENS (fresh)

• Flat leaf parsley (Italian parsley)
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Tarragon fronds
• Oregano (Dried oregis good! In fact, I prefer dried oregano; it’s less overpowering.)
• Basil  or Thai basil
• Thyme
• Chives
• Green onions
• Mint
• Fennel fronds (green feathery tops of fennel)
• Arugula
• Spinach
• Watercress

LIQUIDS

Acidic Liquids

• Fresh lemon juice
• Fresh lime juice
• Fresh orange juice
• Vinegar

Not Acidic Liquids

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Avocado oil
• Coconut milk

THICKENERS

• Nuts (My favorites include: pine, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, pecans, macadamia)
• Avocado
• Hard-cooked egg yolks
• Cooked or canned (drained) artichoke hearts or bottoms
• Feta cheese
• Goat cheese
• Ricotta cheese

FLAVORINGS

Umami - (also known as the 5th taste) makes food taste richer, meatier, and more savory.

• Anchovies and anchovy paste
• Fish sauce
• Soy sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Tomato paste
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Marmite
• Vegemite
• Kimchi (made with Napa cabbage, also known as Chinese cabbage)
• Miso
• Olives
• Capers
• Parmesan cheese
• Seaweed fresh or dried (including the popular roasted seaweed snacks)
• Mushrooms, especially shiitake
• Green tea leaves (I haven’t tried adding green tea leaves in fresh herb sauces yet, yet but it might work!)

Other flavorings

• Garlic (fresh)
• Mustard (prepared or powder)
• Ginger (fresh)
• Turmeric (fresh or dried). [One of my favorite spices! To learn more, see the blog post: Why turmeric?]
• Shallots
• Preserved lemons
• Lemon zest (from organic lemons)
• Lime zest (from organic limes)
• Orange zest (from organic oranges)
• Salt – Try different varieties!

Spicy hot (optional)

• Cayenne pepper (ground)
• Red pepper flakes
• Aleppo pepper
• Black pepper (freshly ground)
• Paprika, including: Hungarian, hot, smoked
• Hot peppers, including: Serrano, jalapeño, Thai, etc.

FOOD SAFETY TIP –  Before you head to your kitchen, please read this Food Safety Tip!

When you combine garlic and oil, you create an environment in which botulism (a deadly food-born bacteria) can grow. According to the University of Colorado Extension Service, to prevent the possible growth of botulism when mixing oil and garlic, you should always “add an acidifying agent such as lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe at the rate of one tablespoon per cup of oil.” Also you should “discard infusions after one week, or sooner if apparent cloudiness, gas bubbles, or foul odor develop.”

FREEZE what you don’t eat!

A great way to store extra fresh herb sauce (or for that matter, leftover portions of any liquid) is to freeze it in silicone muffin pans. For details, see the post, Silicone Muffin Pans – a Kitchen Staple – but not for baking!

CREATE and SHARE!

Here are the links to the fresh herb sauces / pestos found on this blog:

• Artichoke Lemon Pesto
• Arugula Pesto
• Cilantro Chutney (Indian)
• Charmoula (Moroccan)
• Basil Pesto(Italian)

I hope you have fun creating your own fresh herb sauces! And I would be very happy if you decided to share your creativity with us by posting a comment about your recipe!

Thanks!

Enjoy and be healthy,

~ Leni

Old Bay Salad Dressing – Makes GREAT Cole Slaw!

Red Cabbage Cole Slaw

Not long ago I was at Whole Foods and enjoyed a sample of Tessemae’s All Natural Lemon Chesapeake Salad Dressing. It was delicious – with a familiar yet special flavor. So I bought a bottle even though it cost about $5.00 per 10 ounces. My husband, Charles, went wild over it! So I set about to recreate it in my kitchen. After countless tastings, Charles finally said “that’s it; it’s great!”  And that’s how we came up with this Old Bay Salad Dressing recipe.

We have enjoyed this dressing a lot – in fact, it’s become our go-to salad dressing:
- mixed with sliced cabbage to make cole slaw
- over greens
- over artichoke and tomato slices

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil|
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (Do not omit! See food safety tip below.)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Dijon or brown mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Food shopping tip: Old Bay Seasoning comes in at several sizes:
- 6-ounce size — available at Amazon online or in supermarkets.
- 24-ounce size  (great price!)– available at Amazon online or in Costco stores.

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients into a bowl or tall glass container and using a whisk, mix well.

Time-saving tip:  In order to dirty as few dishes as possible, I make, serve, and store this dressing in one tall glass container, specifically this  21-ounce “working glass.” Before storing in refrigerator, I just pop one of these matched lids onto it.

Also, these working glasses (with lids), in both the 14- and 21-ounce sizes, are available at Williams-Sonoma online. And in our local store, you can even buy individual working glasses with matched lids.

STORAGE

Refrigerate for up to one week.  Olive oil will harden when it gets cold, so when you remove the dressing from the  refrigerator, you will need to let it come to room temperature before serving or put it in microwave for 10 seconds on high. Whisk to re-mix.

Time-saving tip: I have found that the warmest part of my refrigerator is the door. So I store this dressing in the refrigerator door and then it takes less time to warm up to room temperature.

FOOD SAFETY TIP -  Before you head to your kitchen, please read this Food Safety Tip!

When you combine garlic and oil, you create an environment in which botulism (a deadly food-born bacteria) can grow. According to the University of Colorado Extension Service, to prevent the possible growth of botulism when mixing oil and garlic, you should always ”add an acidifying agent such as lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe at the rate of one tablespoon per cup of oil.” Also you should “discard infusions after one week, or sooner if apparent cloudiness, gas bubbles, or foul odor develop.

Enjoy and be healthy!
Peace,
~Leni

Artichoke Lemon Pesto

This simple artichoke pesto is, honestly, pretty bland — and that’s a good thing! It means you can customize this pesto to your liking and add it to lots of foods. (At the end of this post, I have listed some of my favorite ways to use this pesto.)

Artichokes contain prebiotics. I tend to think of prebiotics as food for probiotics – the good bacteria in your gut. But it’s a little more complicated than that. According to the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP): “A prebiotic is a selectively fermented ingredient that results in specific changes in the composition and/or activity of the gastrointestinal microbiota, thus conferring benefit(s) upon host health. (Gibson et al. 2010. Food Science and Technology Bulletin: Functional Foods 7 (1) 1–19.)”

For credible scientific information about prebiotics and probiotics, see:

• Prebiotics: A Consumer Guide for Making Smart Choices 
• Probiotics: A Consumer Guide for Making Smart Choices 

INGREDIENTS

1, 12-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, cooked according to package directions, drained
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
grated rind of one organic lemon
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon of salt

DIRECTIONS

Place all of the ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until a smooth paste forms.

Store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze what you will not use up in a week.

FOOD SAFETY TIP –  Before you head to your kitchen, please read this Food Safety Tip!

When you combine garlic and oil, you create an environment in which botulism (a deadly food-born bacteria) can grow. According to the University of Colorado Extension Service, to prevent the possible growth of botulism when mixing oil and garlic, you should always “add an acidifying agent such as lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe at the rate of one tablespoon per cup of oil.” Also you should “discard infusions after one week, or sooner if apparent cloudiness, gas bubbles, or foul odor develop.”

FREEZE IT!

A great way to store extra fresh herb sauce is to freeze it in silicone muffin pans. For details, see the post, Silicone Muffin Pans – a Kitchen Staple – but not for baking!

OTHER FRESH HERB SAUCE  RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

• Arugula Pesto - REALLY easy to make!
• Cilantro Chutney (Indian) – Everybody loves this one.
• Charmoula (Moroccan) – Totally amazing! Adds a lot of pop to the food!
• Basil Pesto(Italian) – A great standby.

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THIS ARTICHOKE LEMON PESTO? 

• Use this Artichoke Lemon Pesto recipe as a starter to make something even more flavorful

ARTICHOKE LEMON PESTO + grated Parmesan Cheese + chopped fresh flat leaf (Italian) Parsley .

• Improve any salad dressing

ARTICHOKE LEMON PESTO + your favorite Italian salad dressing.

• Create a delicious thick and creamy salad dressing

ARTICHOKE LEMON PESTO + fresh squeezed orange juice + dried oregano (fresh would be too overpowering) + fresh garlic (minced fine) + salt. Makes a great salad dressing. Try it on greens and top with pecan halves. Amazing! I served this dressing (without the garlic) at the lunch I made for my mom on her 89th birthday. She loved it! Personally I like this dressing with the garlic in it, but for those like my mom who don’t like garlic, it’s great without it too.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Arugula Pesto

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup walnuts
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 – 2 peeled garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 small organic lemon (optional)
2 cups tightly packed baby arugula (5 ounces)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS Place all ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until finely chopped.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

A FEW OF THE MANY WAYS YOU CAN USE THIS PESTO…

• SALAD DRESSING - Bitter arugula pairs well with sweet balsamic vinegar and buttery extra virgin olive oil to make a great salad dressing!

• STUFFED MUSHROOMS 

Mushroom Caps stuffed with Arugula Pesto mixed with extra Parmesan Cheese and garnished with Parmesan Cheese

 

• APPETIZER SALAD – Just spoon Arugula Pesto over sliced tomatoes and avocados! Who knew healthy food could be this amazingly delicious!

• SOUP – To 1 cup of a chicken, beef, or vegetable broth/stock, add 1/4 cup Arugula Pesto. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, if desired. Note: The soup will have tiny walnut pieces in it, and that’s a bit unusual for a soup, though quite nice, at least to my taste.  If you prefer, you can omit the walnuts in the pesto.

Cilantro Chutney (an herb sauce)

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, and made a few other minor changes, and that’s how this Cilantro Sauce recipe came to be.

This delicious sauce transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary – and it’s easy to make. We love it! For a while this sauce was the new “ketchup” at our house. I served it with everything from scrambled eggs to pan fried fish, and, of course, curries. In fact, it was this Cilantro Chutney that made me want to learn more about herb sauces and led me to create the other herb/vegetable sauces on this blog: Charmoula, Arugula Pesto, and Artichoke Lemon Pesto.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves peeled garlic
2 Serrano peppers, stemmed and roughly chopped, including some of the seeds
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ – ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
3 bunches (about 7/8 pound) fresh cilantro, including all but the very ends of the stems

Note: I like to add dry ground or finely chopped fresh turmeric (and freshly ground black pepper) wherever I can get away with it. It’s so healthy! Adding 2 teaspoons of ground turmeric to this recipe does not negatively affect the taste, in fact you hardly even notice the turmeric, so why not add it?!

DIRECTIONS

Food processor

Add all the ingredients to the food processor fitted with the metal blade and process to desired consistency.

Blender

Place the ingredients into a blender – in the order given above — but do not put all of the cilantro into the blender at one time. Blend and then add more cilantro and blend again. If needed, stop the blender; push the cilantro down toward the blade; then place the cover on the blender and blend until a lovely smooth sauce results.

HOW TO STORE

• Store in the refrigerator for a few days

• Freeze in 100% food grade silicone muffin pans. When frozen, just pop the frozen “muffins” out, and place them in a plastic freezer bag; store in the  freezer for use anytime.

A FEW OF THE MANY WAYS YOU CAN USE THIS CHUTNEY (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.
• 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 sautéed greens. Superb!
• Add to soups — bean soups, chicken soups, vegetable soups, fish soups.
• Add olive oil to make this sauce into a salad dressing!

Charmoula!

Charmoula (a Moroccan herb sauce) is truly amazing! Packed-with fresh herb flavor, the umami of anchovies, and the bite of garlic and cayenne, it’s all you need to make the ordinary taste extraordinary.

This recipe is based on the recipe, Green Charmoula, in the New Moroccan cookbook by Murad Lahlou.

Note: I add dry ground or finely chopped fresh turmeric (and freshly ground black pepper) wherever I can. Turmeric is so healthy! So why not add it?! And, I always add black pepper too, because black pepper greatly enhances the body’s ability to absorb turmeric. After all, if you don’t absorb turmeric, you can’t benefit from it.

INGREDIENTS

Note: I love Charmoula and keep playing with this recipe. So the recipe you see here may change from time to time. 

2 cups very tightly packed cup fresh cilantro (thick stems removed)
1/2 cup very tightly packed cup fresh Italian parsley (most of the stems removed)

1-2 tablespoons diced preserved lemon 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 ounces anchovy fillets (drained of oil and rinsed briefly under cold water)
7 cloves garlic (peeled and stem ends removed)
1/4 cup capers (drained)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

8-10 ounces frozen artichoke hearts

Comments about ingredients:
Preserved lemon: The chart at the top of this post lists preserved lemon rind but I have since found that I prefer to use the whole preserved lemon – rind and pulp – without the seeds. If you don’t have preserved lemon, you could use some lemon zest (from organic lemon). Lemon zest plus more lemon juice. That would not be the same, but it would be nice.

Artichoke hearts: I have made this Charmoula many times, but recently when I tasted the final result, the preserved lemon was overpowering and the sauce was thinner than usual. For inspiration on how to doctor up what was sitting in my food processor, I turned to my earlier post, How to Create Fabulous Fresh Herb Sauces and chose artichoke hearts from the list of possible ingredients I could use as a thickener. Since I always have a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen Artichoke Hearts sitting in my freezer, the fix was easy. I cooked the artichoke hearts according to package directions; drained them; and added most of them to the food processor and gave it a whirl. Wow, the result was fantastic – better than ever!  From now on, I’m making Charmoula with artichoke hearts!!!

 FOOD SAFETY TIP –  Before you head to your kitchen, please read this Food Safety Tip! When you combine garlic and oil, you create an environment in which botulism (a deadly food-born bacteria) can grow. According to the University of Colorado Extension Service, to prevent the possible growth of botulism when mixing oil and garlic, you should always “add an acidifying agent such as lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe at the rate of one tablespoon per cup of oil.” Also you should “discard infusions after one week, or sooner if apparent cloudiness, gas bubbles, or foul odor develop

DIRECTIONS

Blender: Place all ingredients into a powerful blender (such as a Vitamix or Blendtec) and process to desired consistency.

Food processor: Place all ingredients, except the extra virgin olive oil, into the work bowl of a food processor fitted a metal blade and start to process. While the food processor blade is turning, pour the olive oil into the work bowl and process to desired consistency.

STORAGE

• Refrigerate: Cover and refrigerate for up to a week.
• Freeze: A great way to store extra fresh herb sauce (or for that matter, leftover portions of any liquid) is to freeze it in silicone muffin pans. For details, see the post, Silicone Muffin Pans – a Kitchen Staple – but not for baking!

MANY WAYS TO USE CHARMOULA!

• Serve charmoula with fish, pork, lamb, or chicken that’s baked, broiled, or sauted.
• Mix charmoulsa with chopped organic spinach (I use frozen). Serve with eggs in the morning!
• Mix with canned tuna or salmon and plenty of diced celery and onions. Makes a really sophisticated fish salad (sans mayo).
• Stuff charmoula under the skin of chicken before cooking! Then pass the charmoula at the table.
• Saute fish, for example monkfish, in olive oil, and during the last minute of cooking, add the charmoula and finish cooking. Serve more charmoula at the table.
• Add olive oil and fresh lemon juice to charmoula for a great salad dressing.
• Mix charmoula with mashed avocado for a sensational dip.
• And here’s my favorite: Mix charmoula into an unalted chicken or vegetable stock to make a fresh herb soup which you can serve hot or cold.

Other fresh herb sauces / pestos found on this blog:

• Artichoke Lemon Pesto
• Arugula Pesto
• Cilantro Chutney (Indian)
• Basil Pesto(Italian)

Enjoy and be healthy,

~ Leni

Can I eat beet greens? Yes, you can!

Baby beet greens are a common ingredient in field green salads. But have you ever eaten beet greens from mature beet plants? I must admit that until this weekend, I had not! What a shame — all those beet greens that I threw away could have been enjoyed — and from today on they will be!

Here’s a simple recipe for beet greens with lemon and garlic.

Fresh beets from the farmer’s market

Beets – 3 veggies in one

Beet Greens with Lemon and Garlic

+ Saute the chopped beet green stems in a little olive oil. Or, just steam the chopped stems to cook them a bit.

+ Saute thinly sliced beet greens in a little more olive oil, until the leaves start to wilt.

+ Toss to mix the sauteed (or steamed) stems with the sauteed leaves.

+ A a few squirts of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with grated organic lemon peel.

+ Drizzle with Homemade Garlicky Olive Oil just before serving.

Sauteed beet greens with lemon

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Dal Soup

Dal Soup

This Dal Soup recipe was inspired by the recipe for Red Lentil Soup from the Global Stomach. But the Global Stomach’s recipe calls for curry leaves which is not a common ingredient. So I came up with a recipe for which the curry leaves are optional (but recommended).

According, to Julie Sahini, one of my favorite experts on Indian cooking, curry leaves are “this decade’s lemon grass.” You can find packages of fresh fragrant curry leaves on tender stems in the fruit and vegetable section of Asian markets. And, some of my green-thumb Indian friends even grow curry leaf plants in pots — outdoors in the summer and indoors in the winter.

While you can make this Dal Soup without curry leaves and it will taste great, if you make it with curry leaves, I think you will like it even more. Just throw about 20 leaves into the pot along with the onions. You do not have to remove the curry leaves from the soup. (I don’t eat them, myself, but I understand that they are edible as they are featured in recipes such as this cabbage and curry leaf recipe where you would, of course, eat the curry leaves.)

For more on curry leaves, my current favorite herb, see Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages and this Washington Post blog. And though, as it states in this blog, the Indian culinary expert, Julie Sahini, does not recommend freezing fresh curry leaves, I think it’s OK for a recipe like this where there are so many different flavors. For directions, on how to freeze fresh curry leaves, see Chowhound.

Note: The links in the ingredient list below will take you to Monamifood blog posts that give details about some of the health benefits of a particular ingredient and also, when applicable, how cooking and storage affect the bio-active components of that ingredient.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
4  medium tomatoes, chopped or 1, 15-ounce can diced organic tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Serrano chiles, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups vegetable broth
8 cups water
20 curry leaves (optional)
2 cups masoor dal (split red lentils), picked over and rinsed until the water runs clear
° Split red lentils can be found in Asian supermarkets, Indo/Pak grocery stores,       or Whole Foods (bulk section).

To pass at the table

Foods to pass at the table

 

• coconut milk (light coconut milk is preferable)
  • Just a tablespoon or so per serving is plenty. It adds creaminess but not a lot of fat.
• lemon wedges
• crushed red pepper (the kind you sprinkle on pizza)
• chopped fresh coriander

And if you have some steamed or lightly roasted kale on hand…just pass thre kale, too! Ladle this soup over the kale for a great beans and greens dish! (Hey, this is my favorite lunch these days!)

Directions
Add the olive oil to a large stock pot and heat over medium heat until the oil is hot but not smoking. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and saute the the onion garlic mixture for about 30 seconds. Add the tomato, tomato paste, curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chile, salt and saute for another few minutes.

Add the vegetable broth, water, curry leaves (if using), and masoor dal, and continue cooking the mixture over medium heat. When the mixture comes to a simmer, partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the mixture simmer gently for 20-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

To thicken the soup after it’s cooked: Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender) to puree some of the soup, and then mix the pureed soup with the non-pureed soup;

At the table, pass the coconut milk, lemon, red pepper, and cilantro, as well as the steamed kale, if desired.

P.S. Asian supermarkets in the Northern Virginia area
Planning a trip to one of the Asian supermarkets in the Northern VA area? My favorites are: Super H and Hanaro. I’ve also heard that Lotte is a great place. Grand Mart is just OK in my opinion. And…if you go to Super H or Hanaro on a Saturday or Sunday morning (or maybe afternoon), it’s quite an adventure, because there lots people passing out samples to try! (I haven’t been to Lotte so I can’t vouch for the supply of samples there…)

Enjoy and be healthy!
~Leni