Food (and recipes) for Health

Until today, I did not know that cabbage is an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids, or, that half of a medium avocado has more potassium than a banana. And get this: artichokes are good for our eyes?

Recipes for Health, featured in the Fitness and Nutrition section of The New York Times, highlights an impressive list of tasty fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains always found on the perimeter of our grocery store aisles. There are some eye-opening and interesting nutritional factoids to be found in this article series, as well as delectable recipes that feature each food as the "hero" in their respective dishes.

Take a gander and read all about these super foods here. And cheers to a summer of healthy, fresh, and vibrant cooking!

Chia Pet, Apt. Garden

Oh, dear. Looks like this past month's recent warm and sunny it's finally Summer weather has succeeded in keeping me far from the confines of my apartment dwelling. Thus, my blog set-up here has, quite noticeably, been lacking many a Printed Thought.

On the bright side though, my Vitamin D levels are totally up! Taking advantage of fantastic weather has in turn, given my New Englander skin a much needed healthy glow (a glow btw, that is virtually undetectable 7 solid months out of the year).

In light of beautiful weather and today being the first OFFICIAL day of Summer where everything is green and in bloom, I thought I'd share with you a little side project of mine. An herb garden. No, I certainly don't have the luxury of an outside balcony, or for that matter, any room for large potted plants, but I DO have a multitude of cooking pots. Behold: the Chia Gourmet Herb Garden (thanks E!). Easy to care for, easy to grow. And thankfully, kinda fool-proof for someone whose scraggly apartment plants haven't fared too well in the past.

Though my kitchen is indeed the size of a closet, take a gander at some sprightly Cilantro and Basil! My Chives haven't poked through the Chia-Pet soil yet, (I'm afraid something went wrong and they're a lost cause at this point), but I do have some more Basil seeds to throw in there and plant. Can never go wrong with more basil. It is, after all, an essential summertime indulgence.

You might be wondering why these little sprouts are hanging out in a cooking pot? For sure, my roommates have inquisitive looks on their faces every time they reach for one to boil pasta. Well, as it turns out, these Chia Herb Pets demand A LOT of water. Everyday. And let's face it, I may have forgotten this essential ingredient once or twice...or especially after returning from a long weekend away, only to discover them wilted and pathetic looking. So, as a time-saving, plant-saving solution, I just water them all at once by keeping them in a cooking pot by the window. The Chia potting soil draws up water from the bottom of the pan and bingo - there you have it. In no time, it'll be time to harvest. Click HERE to learn more about the Chia Gourmet Herb Garden and to purchase one of your very own!

Seasonal Gazpacho Craving

One of the tell-tale signs Spring and Summer are right around the corner is when the delicious, cold, tomato-based, raw vegetable soup called Gazpacho starts appearing on restaurants' "Soup du Jour" menus. Since Gazpacho is a seasonal soup that disappears over the cold winter months, Spring (and warmer weather) for me always initiate intense Gazpacho cravings. As in, if I see it listed on a menu, there's a 99.9% chance I'll be ordering it. But, let's be realistic. I'm on a city-girl budget here, so to stretch my dollar a little further, I like whipping up vats of it from scratch using my baby Cuisinart. Hello generous portions of Gazpacho for lunch and dinner all week!

There are many variations of how gazpacho can be made; the consistency, ingredients, toppings, etc. Having studied abroad for a semester in college in Spain's Southern region of Andalusia (Gazpacho's indigenous homeland), I prefer as basic as a gazpacho can get. Not too chunky and not too pureed or over-processed. Garnish with croutons, shaved cucumber, olive oil, avocado, and pour a glass of Rioja to accompany.

Gazpacho is very simple to make - win! And its also super healthy. Raw, dairy-free, and an excellent serving (or two) of nutritious veggies. Turning to culinary master Ina Garten and her to a T recipes of pure genius, this gazpacho recipe of hers is just that. Perfect. Delish. The quintessential melding of cold, sweet, and tangy flavors suitable for a sweltering day. Here is a photo of my homemade Gazpacho, though for a party - look how posh it looks presented in shot glasses!

Buen Salud!

GAZPACHO

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Copyright 1999

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled

2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded

4 ripe plum tomatoes

1 medium red onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups organic tomato juice

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup good olive oil - preferably Spanish

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)

Method:

1. Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable into the food processor separately and pulse until it is coarsely chopped; do NOT over-process!

2. After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer the gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

Mini-Prep Weekend Purchase

Until this past Saturday afternoon, I had never before purchased an electronic kitchen device for myself. Toaster, coffee machine, hand-mixer, nope. All have been {very much appreciated} hand-me-downs for one apartment to the next. Though I've hunted for small game (ie: pots, pans, utensils, cutlery, flatware) in numerous T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods stores, there's something undeniably exhilerating about being the proud new owner of my very own food processor! A big thanks to my good friend Sabrina who generously gifted me a Williams and Sonoma gift card last May for my birthday. Indeed, it may have taken me several months to actually hone in on a purchase, (there were just too many fun things to chose from!), but I'm confident this selection will help further my cooking aspirations. Additionally, I've never owned anything comparable to it.

This little Cuisinart Elite Die-Cast Mini Prep, 4-Cup machine isn't only one of the cutest things I've ever seen in comparison to it's giant relatives, but I've already found it to be incredibly user-friendly and easy to wrangle around a kitchen countertop. It also fits my lifestyle. Sure, a 16-Cup beauty would be nice to have around for making dough and vats of gazpacho someday, but in the meantime neither do I have the counter space nor the need for all of those attachments and uses. I predict this mini processor, however, will have a long and busy life whipping up little batches of sauce, soups, pestos, dressings, slaws, egg salads, and tapenades.

So far, it's been impressively simple to clean, operate, and store. Emboldened to branch out with a new "from-scratch" creation this weekend, I attempted a basil pesto. Though it was, unfortunately, 3 cloves too heavy on the garlic this time around (as I discovered after brushing my teeth and rinsing 4 times with mouthwash in vain), I now at least have the tool to make classic pesto a steadfast recipe in my culinary repertoire. p.s. If you have a favorite pesto recipe, please, please, please send it my way!

The Cuisinart Elite Die-Cast Mini Prep, 4-Cup can be found at Williams and Sonoma - near you, or online - for $59.95.

Bagged Lunch: Hummus Sandwich

In light of my new year's resolution of toting more homemade lunches to work, I unveil to you my newest creation: the Vegetarian Hummus Sandwich! It's simple, satisfying, dairy-free, and is certainly an excellent way to sneak more of those veggies into your diet.

While I'm becoming more adventurous with different brands and flavors of hummus, in the meantime I'm very satisfied with the exquisite flavor and super creamy texture of Cedar's Original Hommus Tahini. Hmmm. Is it "Hummus" or is it "Hommus"?

In any case, here's the step-by-step process of the building-of-a-hummus sandwich. I whipped up this little tasty lunchtime delight before work this morning in only 5 minutes. Not only did it stand up well to the morning commute, but it was still irresistibly appetizing by noon on the same day. Try it for yourself!

Obtain two pieces of sliced whole-wheat bread.

Spread a healthy amount of hummus on one side (I like to wipe the excess hummus left on the knife onto the other piece).

Thinly slice up some cucumbers and layer them on the hummus.

This part is up to your interpretation, but I love the combination of red onions and thinly sliced carrots.

Tie the entire sandwich together by piling it high with some fresh sprouts. These little guys are packed with vitamins and minerals.

Finally, finish off your hummus sandwich by cutting it diagonally and wrapping in up tinfoil to hold all the ingredients together.

Frozen Turkey? Have No Fear!

The perfect golden turkey. A Martha Stewart-esque color-coordinated table setting with cutesy handmade place cards. A variety of several delicious side dishes, fresh rolls and desserts, all cooked to perfection and ready at precisely the same moment. Everything conjured up from scratch and organic wherever possible...

These were the high standards my sister and I set for ourselves last year in preparation for our family's Thanksgiving feast. Due to circumstances, we happily volunteered to cook and pull together the ENTIRE meal for our family from stuffing to pumpkin pie. We were both excited to tackle the task with gusto! However, my sister is a vegetarian, so it was me flying solo on Turkey duty. (Mind you - I had never once roasted an entire bird, let alone a 12-pound turkey in my life).

All was going smoothly, until I went to grab the turkey out of the fridge at 10:00 a.m. That's when I stared down in utter disbelief and had a minor Thanksgiving meltdown. It was a frozen block of turkey-ice.

So, with this cooking-centric holiday only a few days away, I'm here to share with you what your average cookbook will not: how to actually pull off a successful Thanksgiving turkey dinner, beginning with the first ingredient: one very frozen turkey.

Chronological steps to take, upon realizing your turkey is frozen solid on Thanksgiving morning:

1. Panic. This will probably occur naturally.
2. Place phone call to culinary-talented boyfriend (or friend or family member) hyperventilating, eyes welling up in tears. "Please help me, what do I do?!"
3. Deep breaths. "You will not ruin Thanksgiving dinner," they say. Take this person's reassuring and sound advice, and begin defrosting the turkey in a clean kitchen sink under running lukewarm tap water.
4. Be patient. For the next 1 ½ hours, (I suggest wearing an apron and popping in a good CD), slowly massage the turkey to defrost. Make sure water pours into the cavity and that it stays lukewarm. Hot water will start cooking the turkey, which is bad.
5. Slowly work open the cavity.
6. Have vegetarian sibling, who is in charge of cooking side dishes, take photograph of you in utter horror. Brace yourself. You’re about to remove the neck and giblets from inside the turkey cavity.
7. Scream and shriek together when you remove the turkey neck from the cavity. Do a “that was so icky” dance around the kitchen.
8. Follow Ina Garten’s recipe for the perfect roasted turkey (below). She's a miracle worker in the kitchen and I find that her recipes are always straight-forward and give you amazingly precise results.

Perfect Roast Turkey

Courtesy of Ina Garten's cookbook, Barefoot Contessa, Parties!

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 fresh turkey (10-12 pounds)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large bunch fresh thyme

1 whole lemon, halved

1 Spanish onion, quartered

1 head garlic, halved crosswise

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
3. Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any leftover fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry.
4. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic.
5. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
6. Roast the turkey about 2 ½ hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
7. Slice that turkey and serve!

In the meantime, while the turkey is roasting and you are preparing succulent side dishes, set the table. Click here for the official Martha Stewart "How to Set a Formal Dinner Table" guide. Light candles for added ambiance. This is what our final dining room table 'scape looked like last year.

Have faith! I PROMISE that you do, in fact, have the culinary ability to cook a delicious Thanksgiving turkey, (though I highly recommend NOT starting with a frozen bird). Turn to the defrosting steps above only as your emergency contingency plan. You can also be reassured that the Barefoot Contessa's "Perfect Roast Turkey" recipe is quite tasty (frozen turkey or not) - we received rave reviews all around even before the pumpkin pie.

Best wishes for a happy holiday, and good luck with your culinary adventures!

Eat Your Veggies

In lieu of this past Sunday's New York City Marathon, I am filled with new-found inspiration to run the 26.2 myself next November. Also, with the holidays just around the corner, I'm entirely committed to making a concerned effort to munch on more vegetables and leafy greens...like these!




Ok, so it also has to do with currently reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food and wanting to grow a quaint vegetable garden just like the Obama family. (Sadly, apartment living does not allow this).

Shopping "veggies for one" is a tricky process, though. I tend to overestimate how much celery I can actually eat in a given week, and always seem to end up with some of it squished and forgotten in the back of the fridge. Or worse - lettuce. I can't tell you how many heads of lettuce have gone rotten before I've even had the chance to stuff some leaves in a pita.

I've adapted a new method though! It's not anything revolutionary, but I think it's going to make my life a little easier. Upon returning from the farmer's market or grocery store, I wash, peel, cut and STORE my veggies right away so they are, from that moment on, at the ready for snacking and cooking. Basically, the less effort it takes to eat some carrots and hummus for a snack after work, the more inclined I'll be to opt for that combination over say...my favorite vegan chocolate chips.

Tonight, I thoroughly washed a head of red-leaf lettuce, spun it in the colander, and stored it in the crisping drawer of the fridge. No more scrambling around in the morning for lunch material. Having healthy veggies and fruits readily available in the kitchen is one of my many life-long goals (simple as it may sound). After all, as Michael Pollan writes, "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Dairy-Free Indulgence

With the holidays quickly approaching, soon will come the onslaught of homemade chocolate fudge, hot chocolate with whipped cream, apple pie, mashed potatoes, and the cookies, oh, the cookies. For an individual allergic to dairy such as myself, it takes a great deal of willpower to resist the temptation to try "just a little bite because it's vacation, after all." Well. I've had the pleasure of learning my lesson several times over the hard way, so I'm fairly strict now about maintaining a dairy-free diet. And what a difference it makes! (duh).

I'll admit it's not easy eating entirely dairy-free. Temptations abound. And sometimes, it's just downright cruel when I catch a mouth-watering whiff of my roommates' pizza slices on any given night. So, to all my fellow eaters out there who follow a dairy-free diet, a significant portion of The Printed Thought blog will be devoted to some tasty specialized recipes.

With my arsenal of Allergy Self-Help cookbooks by my side, I've actually rather enjoyed the challenge of taste-testing and substituting ingredients to create 100% dairy-free meals and desserts without sacrificing taste. My ultimate life-saver: coconut. Instead of soy, soy, and more soy, coconut milk is not only a fantastic substitute for cream, but it is also available in yogurt, milk, and ICE CREAM form! Likewise, coconut oil (deodorized or not) is an excellent substitute for butter in baked goods. And the best part? Coconut, though high in saturated fat (but the good fat like in nuts and avocados), helps make your skin and hair luminous. Please don't be scared by the nutrition label. This plant fat is metabolized by the body at an astounding rate.

Speaking of coconut, the company Turtle Mountain is an absolute gem. Since 1987, they have specialized in the creation and production of all-natural and organic dairy-free products. I'll highlight all of their Coconut Milk offerings in a following post, but in the meantime, run to your local health food store and grab a pint of their Coconut Milk Ice Cream. It is by far THE BEST ice cream substitute on the market. In fact, I would argue MUCH more tastier and healthier than real dairy ice cream. It would fool even the most die hard ice cream connoisseur. Try the flavor Cookie Dough and you will not be disappointed.

Pasta Pasta!

This past weekend, in a whirlwind of cooking ambition, my boyfriend {EK} and I decided to take on an authentic pasta dinner entirely from scratch. There we are! Prepping semolina dough for the pasta machine. Following a recipe for egg noodles, we opted for the elegant linguine shape. Since we happened to be short one pasta drying rack, we improvised with a laundry drying rack instead...and it worked surprisingly well!

Our first attempt at making linguine pasta was incredibly time consuming (as in 3 hours of being hungry for dinner time consuming). BUT nonetheless, it was (and always is) incredibly rewarding to coax simple ingredients together into something genuinly homemade and more complex. It gives one humble appreciation for the hard work, knowledge, and skill that goes into gourmet food preparation...not to mention, it's an enjoyable learning experience that rewards you with something delicious at the end.

When all had been mixed, rolled, chilled, cut, dried, boiled, sauteed, and garnished, every bite of that painstakingly crafted pasta (and sauce), bursted not only with incredible flavor, but the effort and pride of having succeeded in cooking a from-scratch Italian meal.

Several tips to make pasta:

1. Roll pasta dough into flat circle before chilling so it's easier to roll out before cutting for machine.
2. Flour dough and run a few "test strips" through the machine to remove any oil residue.
3. Flour dough before cranking through machine. Flour generously afterwards so pieces don't stick together.
4. Ideally, let pasta dry for at least an hour before boiling.
5. Keep an eye on the boiling pasta. Fresh pasta will cook within a few minutes.

Bon appétit!