Food Fascination

I admit it - there are summer days when I just have no motivation to cook - all I want to do is munch on something as we relax in the back yard or in front of the fan. It’s those evenings that I’ll make up a bowl of this dip, set it out with French bread and vegetables and dig in. For more than just hot days, though, this dip is also great for groups of people - one recipe serves 2-3 as dinner with bread and raw vegetables or 8-10 as a appetizer dip. Don’t be afraid to make it ahead and let it sit - it actually gets better the longer flavors meld in the fridge.

You’ll need:
1 small package frozen, chopped spinach, or 4 cups fresh, whole spinach leaves
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 package ranch dressing powder mix
2 cups sour cream

Thaw the frozen, chopped spinach and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible - or, chop the fresh spinach and wilt in a frying pan over medium heat until it’s limp and soft.

Chop the water chestnuts into small chunks

Combine the spinach, chestnuts, ranch mix, and sour cream in a bowl. Dig in!

This is one of my most favorite summer dinner solutions, for those nights when you look at the oven and just can’t bring yourself to turn it on, when even the microwave doesn’t sound like a good idea. It’s easy to customize, and worth every bit of the 10 minutes it takes to put together. It’s also a great excuse to check out your local farmer’s market - almost everything is probably available there, and grown/made locally.

For the most basic of raw pizza, You’ll need:
1 pre-baked pizza crust (Boboli is the most widely commercially available - or make and pre-bake your own)
1 small package fresh mozzarella cheese (shredded will also work)
Fresh basil leaves (they’re usually in the produce section)
1 bunch fresh spinach
1-3 cloves garlic (depending on how much you like)
2-3 red tomatoes
Olive oil (I LOVE the flavored olive oils for this one - try garlic or roasted red pepper.)

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the crust. This will help everything stick.

Layer the spinach and basil leaves over the crust, going out to the edges..

Cut thin rounds of the mozzarella cheese, and arrange over the spinach and basil.

Mince the garlic (or use pre-minced) - sprinkle it over the cheese. (For some, raw garlic is way too strong. If this is the case, saute’ your garlic in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat until it’s sizzling and softened.)

Slice the tomatoes and arrange over the garlic and mozzarella.

Drizzle with a bit more olive oil.

Slice and dig in!

Some other things to try on this pizza:
Leftover cold chicken
Other types of cheese (try cheddar, or Parmesan)
Cold cuts of ham or turkey
Basically anything you find in your fridge

My office is setting up a community garden, and after hearing many exclamations that beets seem to be a popular item, and “what do you do with BEETS?!?” I was challenged to provide an answer. So, one-cube-away, here you go

Yes, they’re an odd color, and yes, they’ve got a flavor you may not quite be used to. Get over it! Beets are tasty, full of all kinds of vitamins, nutrients, and fiber. Not to mention a great way to add color to your plate (the easiest “diet plan” ever is to make sure your plate has at least four colors of fresh food on it every time you eat.) Beets are useful for both their roots and their greens. The roots are high in copper, vitamins B1, B2, and C. The greens are high in iron, vitamin A, and potassium. So if you’re getting sick of bananas and spinach, throw some beets into the mix. They also have a high natural sugar content (table beets are a cousin to sugar beets, after all) and are buttery-smooth when cooked.

So, grab a few beets from the grocery store and prepare to experiment!
Things to remember when working with beets:

1- Both the greens and the roots are edible, so there is very little waste
2- Don’t peel the beet roots until AFTER they’re cooked, otherwise they will “bleed” both color and flavor. This isn’t true for soups, since the color has nowhere to go but right back into the soup.
3- The juice can stain - in fact, it is often used as a dye. Wear a pair of latex gloves (you should have a box around for meat prep anyway), then use lemon juice to wash off any stains.
4- Like all root veggies, they are tough and crunchy - so use very tiny raw pieces (such as grated beet root) or cook them.
5- Raw beets don’t freeze well - they break down too easily when the ice crystals start forming. Instead, cook and then freeze them.

Recipes:
Roasted Beets
Red Root Soup
Beet Hummus
Ironman Salad
Crimsion Pear Sauce

There are those of us who just don’t like cranberry sauce. (Wait! Before you say that for sure, try these!) Or, perhaps you just don’t want something more fruity than your crazy aunt at the holiday table. Or you’re looking for something new. Whatever the reason, this sauce is absolutely amazing on turkey, chicken, pork - really any white meat. While this recipe calls for some specific types of onions and vinegar, there are ways to substitute if your local store doesn’t have what you need, or you just don’t have it around. This sauce is best served room temperature or warm - try garnishing it with a few sprigs of mint.

You’ll need:
3 medium beets
1 stick (4 Tablespoons) butter
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onions (or use white onion with 2 teaspoons sugar)
1 can pear slices (while fresh pears are attractive, the canned pears are softer and easier to puree)
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (cranberry vinegar or balsamic raspberry vinegar is also a good choice here)
Dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and onions. Melt over low heat, then allow to simmer until onions are soft.

Add the pear slices, vinegar, beet chunks, and salt to the saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until it barely simmers. Use a potato masher or ricer to smooth the sauce out, or run it through a food processor or blender for a few rounds. If it is too thick, add a bit of the canned pear juice. Makes about 3 cups sauce.

This salad is packed with iron, calcium, vitamin C, fiber, everything you’d want for a training regimin. This is another great place to use pre-roasted beets. As with most salad mixes, add whatever you’d like or what you have in your fridge - this is just a suggestion to build off of.

You’ll need:
2 medium beets with greens (and extra greens, if you have them leftover from other cooking adventures. Also, if you can find them, combine red and yellow beets for color variation)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow or red onion, chopped (red has extra bite to it, if you enjoy it)
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1-2 cups spinach
Feta cheese
Dried cranberries
Shredded carrots
Your favorite vinegarette or dressing

Slice the greens off the beet roots, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

Rinse and pat dry the spinach and beet greens. Roughly chop or rip into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In a small frying pan, combine the onions and balsamic vinegar. Cook over medium heat until the onions begin to carmalize (this is easy to do ahead of time in large batches, then store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks). Set the onions aside and take the pan off the heat. Immediately add the greens and allow to wilt in the warm pan.

Combine the greens, onions, beets, cranberries, carrots, and whatever else you’d like. Toss with the dressing and enjoy with a large glass of milk.

Makes 2-3 servings salad

Red hummus? It may bring a few curious stares in the lunchroom, but pair with a pita or some wheat crackers, and you’ll be in crossover cuisine heaven! The beets add a slightly sweeter, earthier taste that pairs so well with chickpeas and garlic, you’ll want to make it by the pound.

You’ll need:
1-2 medium beets (if you’ve got roasted beets already, this is a great place to use them.)
1 can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped finely
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup tahini or sesame paste (this is a paste of seasame seeds, most likely found in the “ethnic” section of your grocery store or an oriental / near eastern grocery store.)
1 Tablespoon cumin
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

In a small frying pan, heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.

Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.

In a food processor, chop the beets, onions, garlic, and chickpeas together until smooth. Add the tahini and cumin, and process again. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then replace the lid. While the blades are running, slowly add the lemon juice and olive oil mixture until the hummus is at your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Makes 2-3 cups hummus

This soup is absolutely amazing for cold, rainy spring days or as a frozen, easy-to-heat-up-on-a-weekday dinner. Serve it with French bread or baguette, and you’ve got a meal. If you already have roasted beets or leftover baked potatoes, go ahead and use them - just don’t boil the soup as long. This is also a great restricted-diet option, as it has no gluten, can easily be made vegetarian, has no dairy, and no soy. The parsnip can be replaced by a carrot if you’d like - parsnips are a white, slightly sweeter cousin to carrots.

You’ll need:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, diced
1 parsnip, chopped
4 medium beet roots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cups beef or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon dill
1 teaspoon salt

In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and parsnip and saute until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the beets and potatoes and heat for 2 minutes or until they’re beginning to roast. Pour in the broth and spices and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 5-10 minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let cook until the beets and potatoes are cooked through. Serve as a stew, or for a creamier soup, separate 1/4 to 1/2 of the mixture and puree in a food processor, then stir back into the remaining soup.

To freeze, allow to cool in the fridge, then separate into freezer-safe zipper lock bags or storage containers.

Makes about 4 cups of soup

Roasted, beet roots are easily eaten on their own as a great side dish, but can also be tossed into a salad of mixed greens with feta cheese and raspberry dressing, or frozen for later use. Roasting is also a great way to pre-cook beets for use in other recipes.

You’ll need:
1 pound of beets
1/4 cup olive or vegetable shortening
If desired, seasonings - try basic salt and pepper, or parmesean and thyme, honey and pepper, or even lemongrass. Experiment!

Trim the greens off the top of beets. Wash and lightly rub each beet root with oil or vegetable shortening. Lay out on a baking pan covered in foil. Roast in a 450 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, or until they’re smooth when stuck with a fork.

Remove from the oven and cool, peel and chop into pieces, then go beet crazy! Makes 1 pound of roasted beets.

Spinach and Feta are one of those combinations that are so good together, they work in so many different situations. In addition to making wonderful spanakopita, this combo also works great as one of those all-around dinner sauces - good on top of rice, pasta, ravioli, even baked or grilled chicken. For example, the other night dinner was baked garlic chicken and long grain and wild rice - all with a hit of this sauce. Then the leftover sauce (because making a double batch is always a good idea) got used on ravioli the next night.

This is another totally vegetarian-friendly recipe - and can be altered in several ways - see below the recipe for suggestions. It also uses roux, check the previous post for a primer on the stuff. Finally, do NOT add salt! Feta is very naturally salty (it’s a brined cheese - cured in salt water, basically) and adds plenty of the flavor-enhancer on it’s own.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 cups fresh spinach, rinsed and roughly chopped (or hand-ripped into small pieces) OR 1/2-3/4 a bag frozen spinach
1/4 cup butter
2-4 cloves garlic, minced (chopped into tiny pieces - if you’re not comfortable giving this a shot, jarred pre-minced garlic is available.)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 small package crumbled feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano

Drizzle olive oil in a wide frying pan. Add spinach and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. Fresh spinach will wilt, turn dark green, and then begin cooking down into a slightly mushy consistency - cover the frying pan to speed up the process a bit. Frozen spinach will thaw - leave it uncovered to help the extra moisture evaporate off.

Place the butter and garlic in a saucepan and melt over medium-low heat. When the butter is bubbly and foamy, pull the saucepan off the heat. Using a fork or a whisk, combine the flour in small amounts with the butter/garlic mixture until it looks like a thick paste. Return this mixture (your roux) to the medium-low heat. Add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 the package of feta cheese, whisking throughly. Add another 1/2 cup of milk and the remainder of the feta, whisking again. Add the final cup of milk. Add spices and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce has thickened. Finally, stir in the warmed spinach.

Variations:
For a spinach alfredo, try using 1 cup of Parmesan cheese instead of the feta - add 1 tsp salt to the recipe to make up for the lost salt. Or, add the Parmesean and some Romano for a three-cheese sauce.
Switch out the pepper, basil, and oregano with dill, lemongrass, and white pepper
Use lemon pepper instead of the pepper
If you don’t have basil or oregano, don’t fret! Make the sauce plain or add a different Italian-ish spice.

To freeze, separate into small containers and cool, uncovered, in the fridge. Then seal and freeze. To thaw, place in a saucepan over medium heat, add an extra tablespoon of butter (to prevent scorching) and stir as it thaws - or put in the microwave (nukrowave, microzapper, whatever you prefer to call it) on defrost mode.

Originally posted here by my friend Marie.

I was having a movie night this weekend, and among the guests I was going to have several vegetarians, a lactose (milk) -intolerant individual, a gluten (wheat)-intolerant individual, and a picky eater who hates peas.

So what to make?

To the rescue - Arroz Non Pollo. This has quickly become a favorite among my (omnivore) family, and pairs very well with rice or couscous. It’s basically a vegetable medley, but throws together quickly and is surprisingly good. The leftovers freeze well, and can be thrown in with a few extra cups of broth and leftover vegetables for soup.

1 white or yellow onion, chopped (more on How To Chop an Onion soon)
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
(these three ingredients form a mirepoix, which is pretty much the basis for most soup stocks and veggie mixes. You’ll see the term - pronounced mirror-o-poo or mirror-o-pwah - a lot in French cooking. Don’t let that scare you. It’s just a fancy way of saying “flavorful vegetables that are useful in lots of dishes.”)
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 seeded and diced red or green pepper
1 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes (don’t drain!)
1 - 2 cans vegetable broth (if you’re not vegetarian and only have chicken broth, this works too)
1 can garbanzo beans (also known as Chickpeas), drained
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
(optional) 1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1 10 to 16 oz package French cut or small cut green beans

Prepared rice or couscous (if you haven’t tried couscous, give it a shot. It’s ready to hit the table in about 8 minutes - boil water or broth, mix in the couscous, and cover. Five minutes later, it’s ready to eat)

Salsa and / or shredded cheese and / or sour cream

In a large skillet over medium-high, saute the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and pepper in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and the carrots are softening.

Place the vegetable mixture in a crockpot or large, deep saucepan. Add the tomatoes (juice and all), broth, garbanzo beans, and green beans. Let cook in the crockpot on high for 2-4 hours or low for 4-8 hours. Serve over rice or couscous with whatever combination of salsa, cheese, and sour cream you’d like.

Amazingly easy, amazingly tasty, and special-diet friendly!

If you would like to add chicken, dice 1 or 2 chicken breasts into small cubes and cook in a tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet. Add to the mixture along with the vegetables.

To turn this into a mexican-ish soup, add in a few extra cans of broth and throw in your favorite veggies - just about any vegetable without much starch goes really well (stay away from potatoes and other root veggies - other than that, go for it!)