Fire Roasted Tomatoes

As promised, I’ll share my method (not recipe, because a lot of the time, I’m winging it and not following a recipe) for one of my freezer fillers.  At least once a week for the past several weeks, I’ve been buying a bucket of “seconds” tomatoes–for a dollar a bucket.  Since we use a lot of canned fire roasted tomatoes in various recipes all year, I thought I’d just make my own and freeze them to use this winter.

In their raw form, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, but since it is heat sensitive, cooked tomatoes don’t contain much vitamin C to speak of.  The cooked form, especially when there is a little oil present (olive oil is a favorite choice around here), the antioxidant Lycopene is readily available–it is protective of men’s prostate health, which is something we can all appreciate:  the men for obvious reasons, and the women who love them…Here is what I do:

1 bucket of seconds tomatoes, cored and cut in half along the stem side (not equator)

splash of olive oil (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 cup)

Stir/toss the tomato halves gently with a spatula or spoon so that they are all evenly coated with the olive oil.  Fire up the grill (I use gas, and set the burners to medium high) and let it heat up.  Using tongs, I place each tomato half, cut side down on the grill, and close the lid.  After a few minutes, or when I start to see smoke, I turn the halves over so that the skin is on the grill.  You may have to arrange and rearrange the tomatoes based on how fast they are cooking due to size or hot spots on the grill.  Let them grill for a few more minutes.  Start turning them over to see how charred the skins are.  I let a few of them get quite charred, while others not as much.  They are done when quite mushy and you are slightly afraid they might slip through the grill bars.  Some can be more mushy than others.  Put them in the bowl you tossed them around in originally and let cool a bit.  Then you puree them in the food processor of your choice and store in a quart sized freezer safe container.  I usually add a little smoked salt when I puree them, but you don’t have to salt at all–taste and decide for yourself!

Enjoy!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and other inspirations…

One of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver, has written a book that I actually CAN’T read before bedtime because it kicks my brain into high gear.  It keeps Kurt awake too, because I’m “thinking too loud”.  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is her latest book and chronicles the year that she and her family ate only local foods  (which would be hard for me because I just love olives too much).  This book, complete with recipes, thought promoting information, and how-to’s, along with a local business called Locavorious (I wish I’d thought of the idea myself!!), which is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that disperses its shares in the winter months with produce they have processed and frozen when things are at their peak of harvest NOW (genius!), have provided me with endless inspiration this summer.  A co-worker suggested I read “Saving the Harvest” for more ideas.

I was too late in signing up for a share of the frozen CSA (a good sign–I’m not the only one that thinks this is a great idea).  After I got over my initial dismay, I decided to be my OWN frozen CSA.  Last week we bought a freezer that is almost as tall as I am, and I’ve been busy filling it.  I started by visiting the web page for Locavorious (see link) to get a list going of things that freeze well.  Then I thought of more things.

So far, I have several pints of pesto (I’ve been averaging a pint per week for the past month or so), a few gallon sized bags each of yellow and green beans, carrots, corn, strawberries.  Currently caramelizing away in the crockpot are the onions I bought today at market (look for the recipe in a future post).  I plan to puree them and freeze them in amounts appropriate for various uses such as soups, pizza toppings, casseroles, sauces, etc.  I’ve also been pureeing fresh tomatoes (if you buy “seconds” at the farmers market, they are VERY cheap, about $1 per bucket, which makes about a quart of puree).  I’m planning to follow a canning recipe from the book, but I’ve also just started a trend of fire roasting tomatoes (look for the recipe in a future post) on the grill and pureeing them–most likely they will end up in pizza sauce, chili, lasagna, soup, crockpot cassoulet…uh-oh there goes the brain again…

So far, the bottom drawer of my new toy has grass fed beef (on sale) and is the future home of chicken carcasses I’ll use to make chicken stock,  which I’ll also freeze in amounts I can use for various recipes…

Beet and Rice salad

Below is a recipe for one of my summertime favorites, beet and rice salad.  It is a colorful side dish (we just had it with cajun whitefish and sauteed summer veggies), or if you mix in chickpeas or cooked chicken and serve over a bed of greens, this can be a balanced meal.  I usually make a batch of brown basmati rice (2 cups cooked) and it might last us a week.

I also tweaked the recipe from the original, which had you cook the beets ahead in boiling water.  I read recently that the nutrients remain intact and are more bioavailable from raw beets (which is why I’ve been adding them to the smoothie recipe too!).  Also, we are in the thick of summer and Kurt gets a little testy when I crank up the stove and oven in hot weather–(he’s got a point)…AND, I always like to find ways to simplify recipes and eliminate steps…so here it is–these amounts almost filled a quart sized container:

• 2-3 golf ball sized beets, peeled and minced in the food processor (they are available now at the farmer’s market–PS:  save the greens, wash them and use in tossed salads!)
• 2 medium sized carrots, peeled and processed like the beets (also available at the Farmer’s Market now)
• 1 clove garlic (add to beets and carrots in food processor)
• 2 cups cooked rice, rinsed in cold water (I like brown basmati for this recipe)
• 1/4 cup each olive oil and champagne vinegar (use less vinegar if you are not a fan of it)
• 1 Tbs honey dijon mustard
• 1 Tbs dried tarragon (or fresh if you have it!) and or any other herbs you like and have on hand

I usually make the vinaigrette in a mixing bowl large enough to hold the rest of the ingredients and tweak it for taste before I add the veggies and rice.  Then I add the minced beets, carrots and garlic.  Then I add the rice.  Everything gets VERY hot pink, which I love, but may be scary for some…The taste of beets is not strong in this recipe and has passed taste tests with people who don’t like beets.  Mostly you taste the basmati rice and vinaigrette, with the carrots and beets providing a fresh and pleasant CRUNCH.  Sunflower seeds would be great sprinkled over at the last minute (so they don’t turn pink).  Enjoy!

Oatmeal cookie recipe

Here is my favorite recipe for oatmeal cookies.  Usually these have raisins in them, but I prefer to use dried cherries and chocolate chips.  I also use 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil.  The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, and I use my small OXO cookie scoop to portion out the dough into “heaping tablespoon-fulls” according to The (New) Joy of Cooking…

Pre-heat oven to 350* F and whisk together thoroughly:

1 3/4 cups All purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (I usually grate mine fresh with a microplane)

Beat on medium speed until well blended:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil (in the solid, room temperature state)

1 1/2 cups light or dark brown sugar (I use dark for deeper flavor)

1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended and smooth.  Stir in:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup dried cherries (you will have to chop them into smaller pieces if you want each cookie to have some)

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

I use my small cookie scoop to form the dough balls, gently squashing them down so that they are fat little discs.  Bake until “lightly browned all over and almost firm when lightly pressed in the center of the top, 6-9 minutes:  rotate pan half way through for even browning.”  Cool on a cookie rack and enjoy!

These would be great probably if you played around with substituting some of the butter for flaxseed meal, but I haven’t tried that.  These are tasty little treats!  The coconut flavor is very subtle…

How can I burn fat??

This is a question most people want to know the answer to, so I sat down with a sports nutrition book, my old anatomy and physiology textbook and the text I’m currently teaching from.  The answer is not simple, and it depends on factors such as energy needs of the moment, availability of oxygen and carbohydrate and body composition, to name a few.

Fat needs oxygen (O2) and carbohydrate (CHO) in order to burn as energy.  It is important to know that the metabolic process by which we glean ATP (units of energy we use to move) that fat goes through takes a lot of time but yields ALOT of ATP.  Metabolizing CHO is much faster, but doesn’t yield as much ATP.  It is also important to know that body fat is the preferred source of muscle tissue at rest–the more muscle tissue you have, the more fat you will burn just sitting around doing nothing.  Remember though, that the more time you spend sitting around doing nothing, the less muscle you have, generally speaking…so let’s talk about the fuel we use at different levels of exercise intensity.

If I’m sitting around doing nothing, I’m burning mostly fat.  If I get off the couch and head out for a walk with Otto and I can sing to him, this is the lowest level of intensity, and I’m burning a mixture of fat and CHO, mostly fat.  If I pick up the pace and can talk comfortably to Otto, but can’t really sing as easily, I’m still burning a mix of fat and CHO, but the amount of fat I’m burning is starting to decrease, and the amount of CHO I’m burning is starting to increase.  The faster I go, the higher the demand is for ATP right NOW and my body switches to more CHO and less fat being used as fuel.

Once Otto and I are going so fast that I can’t even talk, and I’m breathing pretty hard, I’ve crossed over into anaerobic respiration.  What that means is that since there isn’t any O2 available, I’m not using fat as fuel, just CHO since that can burn without O2 and I really need energy QUICKLY.  You might be wondering why in the world I would cross over into a form of respiration that doesn’t use fat as a fuel source if my goal is to burn fat???  The more I cross over into anaerobic respiration, the more I increase my O2 carrying capacity, which means that the next time I work out with Otto, I can stay longer in aerobic respiration or “fat burning mode”.

If wishes were fishes…

Recently, a dear friend shared a link with me that I find myself checking out when I am making my grocery list and want to choose a fish that is both good for me AND the planet.  I’d encourage you to visit www.blueoceans.org/seafood .  You can search for fish you usually consume to see if it is safe to eat and not overfished, or just peruse the list and get ideas.

I rediscovered Tilapia thanks to this website.  While it is farm raised, the farming practice is not damaging to the environment.  It is worth mentioning that tilapia has a pretty reasonable price tag, a lovely delicate flavor and flaky texture.  It makes a great backdrop for trying out new and exciting spices, and is VERY easy to prepare (I usually lay out fillets on a foil lined sheet pan, sprinkle with spices and olive oil, put it in the oven set to 400* and it flakes easily with a fork in less than 10 minutes.  In fact, check in after 5 minutes), and comes without the skin or bones.

Also thanks to this website, I’ll never EVER buy farm raised salmon again.  This is also known as Atlantic salmon.  Wild caught Alaska salmon?  Now that is something worth investigating…

Enjoy!

Ginger Glazed Salmon dinner salad

Now that it is warmer and approaching summer temperatures, I’ve been diving back into one of my favorite warm weather cooking/eating habits:  The Dinner Salad.  We just finished tonight’s version, and I was thinking to myself that this was “blog-worthy”, when Kurt said “This should go on your blog!!”.

So, here is what I did:  I took the 1# fillet of Alaskan wild caught salmon I bought today, and put it on a foil lined sheet pan.  Then I carefully smeared about 3 Tbs of “Ginger Spread” made by Ginger People (ingredients:  Ginger, Sugar) all over the slab of fish–I say carefully because the sticky spread didn’t want to stick to the fish.  Next time I might thin out the paste with a LITTLE soy sauce until I get a thick glaze consistency…water would probably work too.  Then I put it in the oven at *400.

Next, I took out the container of washed mixed greens from the fridge, along with a cucumber, half of an avocado, and the roasted red potatoes and sweet potatoes I prepared on Monday.  I grabbed the container of sunflower seeds from the cupboard and the bottle of Annie’s Goddess dressing (a favorite dressing that has a nutty asian flavor).  I set to work building our salads by laying down a green foundation of mixed greens (about 2 cups per plate–which equals 1 “cup” of veggies).  Then I cut up and sprinkled the other ingredients (for a total of another 1 or so “cups” of veggies) over the bed of greens.  Then, I drizzled the Annie’s dressing over that.  I checked on the salmon, and when I could flake the thickest part of the fillet easily with a fork, it was done (about 10 minutes or so in my oven, but I checked on it after 5…).

I served up about 3 ounces for me and 4 for Kurt (because he is bigger and went for a long run today) and placed it on top of the salad.  SO good.  The flavors and textures reminded me of sushi (crunchy cucumber, velvety avocado, zingy ginger…) and one I’ll make again for sure.  I’ll also share more of the versions I come up with that are equally delicious!

Roasted Asparagus (and others)

This past week at the farmer’s market, Asparagus made its debut appearance for 2008.  How exciting!!!  I excitedly bought twice as much as I thought I’d need, promising myself that we would eat it.  It is thursday, and the last of the roasted asparagus disappeared yesterday.  In fact, I roasted it Monday night and then climbed into the shower.  As I was toweling off, Kurt appeared with the container of roasted asparagus in his hand, munching happily on this green snack…note to self: “buy even MORE asparagus this week!”

Here is what I did (and I have to say, this basic method applies to every vegetable I roast–potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower florets, fennel bulb, brussels sprouts, winter squashes…):

Make sure that the bottom end of each spear is tender by finding the natural “snapping point”.  If you buy the bouquets of asparagus in the grocery store, you can just cut off the bottom third–composting the scraps, of course …I’m a little particular, so I like for the tips to all line up–it makes for easier plating and prettier presentation.

Lay the asparagus spears on a lined sheet pan, drizzle a little olive oil over all and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put everyone into a 400* oven, and check on the party in about 5 minutes.  Using tongs (for the asparagus–a spatula works best for the other stuff I roast), redistribute/gently toss the spears so that they get even roasting.  For the other stuff I roast, the reason for this step is to ensure even browning.  Another few minutes and the asparagus is done.  “Done” means that the spears are a pretty bright green and slightly “bendy” and the tips are starting to brown.  It took 8 minutes or less in my oven.

This is a recipe/method I use all year.  In the colder months, roasted veggies are wonderful warmed up and served with the rest of the meal, in the warmer months, they make an interesting addition to dinner salads, a staple at our table and in our lunch boxes.  In any season, roasted veggies provide a deeper more complex flavor, and since you are not boiling them, any heat resistant nutrients are not going down the drain with the cooking water.  This is probably a more “green” cooking method, because it takes less energy and time to roast vs boil water to cook with…

“What’s for dinner?”

…I asked myself as I drove home from work today.  The answer was oven broiled tilapia fillet seasoned with a mix of herbs and spices that I usually use on roasted or grilled salmon called “Potlatch” seasoning.  Joining the tilapia on the plate was steamed broccoli and roasted sweet and blue potatoes.  (For those scoring the game at home, that was 2 cups of veggies, 3 colors, 1/2 way to satisfying my orange and green veggie goal for the week, not to mention the starchy vegetables goal, AND lean protein…)

Here’s the word problem:  If I got home at 6:20pm, talked to Kurt and Otto for 15 minutes to catch up from the day, fixed and ate dinner, how is it that I’m sitting here typing this blog entry at 7:02pm??  The same night??!  Well, I made the tilapia at the end of last week, ditto for the roasted potatoes (both colors), and I heated that happy trio in the microwave.  Meanwhile, I steamed the broccoli I had cleaned and cut into florets over the weekend (there is enough for Kurt or I to take some for lunch someday this week–we might have to flip for it).  When I could easily slide a fork into one of the florets, the broccoli was done.  I added the broccoli to the party, drizzled olive oil and zested fresh lemon over all and sat down to a very satisfying meal!

In order to stay ahead of the game, my plan tonight is to roast the asparagus I happily snapped up at the farmer’s market on Saturday.  That way, we’ll have a green vegetable handy since I used up the broccoli tonight.  While I’m taking inventory, I can say we are all set on prepared lean protein sources (grilled salmon with olive tapenade, crab cakes, and the last of the tilapia) until I can make more later this week.  I’ll need to watch the potatoes and possibly prep another complex carbohydrate by Wednesday…

…I’ll bet you didn’t realize what a food and nutrition nerd I am, eh?

Favorite new find…

For all of you brown baggers out there, I have a great new food storage product to share with you.  My only regret is that I’m not the one who thought of this idea!!  And I’m not making any money on the success of this product…The brand is “Fit & Fresh”, and they are found at Target, including online shopping.  I went to the actual brick-and-mortar store because I like to look at, pick up and touch things in person before I buy them.  I purchased the “Salad Shaker” and the “Lunch on the go” pieces.  They also make a smoothie/drink container, and I noticed that Target online is selling this trio as a set now.  I also saw a container for breakfast, and one that keeps hot soups hot and cold soups cold.  If you are someone who doesn’t have access to refrigeration during the day, and that is what is keeping you from bringing your own lunch (which gives you WAY more control over what food goes into your body and the amount of money that stays in your wallet), I’d encourage you to check these out as a possible solution.

All of the containers have a removable ice pack that keeps food at a safe temperature, with the label proudly telling you that it “stays chilled 6 hours*” (* chill times may vary).  I probably won’t do things like store my lunch in a hot car this summer, but when I’m teaching my morning class at WCC, my lunch will be cool and fresh when I’m done at noon, for example…

The Salad Shaker holds up to 4 cups of salad (if that is straight leafy greens, you would be getting 2 “cups” of veggies–) and a little “dressing dispenser” that you twist and it dumps the dressing you filled it with into your salad and then you shake it.  This way your salad doesn’t get all limp and wilty like it would if you put dressing on at home before you left for the day.  I find this feature to be particularly clever!

I also like that these pieces are dishwasher safe (except for the ice packs), so you can reuse them and not need to rely on plastic baggies to keep the components of your lunch separate–again, a good thing for your wallet AND the environment.