Red Quinoa and Rice Patty

So simple quinoa patty

I almost always cook quinoa together with another grain in my rice cooker, not sure why but I like the combinations.
 First day:  red quinoa, white rice, celery, onion, and some Mediterranean spices.
I just mixed it with greens and that's it.
Second day:  added some homemade bread crumbs, and an egg, cooked patties in some canola oil
Best eaten fresh, hot and crispy but ...
Third day:  ate the last patty with fruit for lunch - still very good!

My New Food Processor

I got a new food processor for Christmas and it makes short work of so many recipes!  I used to have to make  a can of Garbanzo beans into hummus in two or three batches in my 3 cup processor and I'd have to put up with teary eyes for 15 minutes while I chopped lots of onions.  No more!  Besides hummus I've made Butternut Squash Soup , Cranberry Relish, Black Bean Cakes and Sweet Potato Fries with my new toy already.  I'm having so much fun and I've just begun!  

Sweet Potato Fries before.....

and after baking.  Aren't they perfectly cut??

Butternut Squash Soup

Black Bean Cakes

                                                                           

I'm new at this!

I really enjoy eating nutratarian-ish! I'm finding it easier each day. My new motto is "I may not be plant perfect, but I can be plant strong!" Thanksgiving dinner was a great success, although only 3 of us at dinner, we all loved it. Our favorite was the Vegan stuffing stuffed pumpkin and FRESH cranberry relish, (I picked the cranberries myself) a family recipe from Mary.

Waste

I did great through the long Thanksgiving weekend taking part in traditions but keeping mostly to my commitment to healthy eating.  Now I'm trying to clean out some cupboards making room for some of the appliances I use more often like a rice cooker for all kinds of grains, blender for smoothies, food processor for cutting veggies and pureeing legumes for dips, sauces, dressing (think hummus).  For some reason I'm finding it difficult to throw away the things I have around that I no longer include in my diet, like cake mix.  Should I give the stuff away and contribute to someone else's unhealthy ways (I would NEVER buy cigarettes for a friend!)? Or should I toss it all?  I "baked" a "cup of cake" with a small amount of cake mix in the microwave.  It was a familiar flavor but strangely sweet and artificial tasting.  That, I should have tossed.  What about the things that really aren't JUNK but not on the nutritarian list either.  I guess it's a case by case decision making process.  Anybody want some Lipton Noodles or 12 packages of Jello???

                                                                             

I seem to remember Weight Watcher's having some kind of clever position on this subject...something comparing "wasting" food to the size of one's "waist"...anybody remember this?

Thanksgiving - Then and Now

As I wrote out my Thanksgiving menu for a party of ten I marveled at the differences between this menu and what it would have been just a few years ago.  I'm still compromising for the sake of my (Standard American Diet) company but here are a few notable examples of changes for the better:

                                                                 

                                 I'd like to add  one more veg dish, either fresh steamed Brussels sprouts with a flax meal and grainy mustard dip, or roasted root veggies like beets, carrots and parsnips.  I didn't address dessert here because other people are providing them...but I have ideas!

Stuffed Squash With a Shortcut and Some Questions

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This squash was stuffed with Vigo's Red Beans and Rice which I cooked on the stove top (without adding the butter!)while the squash was baking.  I added a medium bunch of kale, cut up, halfway through the 20 minute cooking time.  If I were making it for company I would probably sprinkle some nuts or grated cheese on top and bake it to brown the top but since I was cooking for myself I just spooned the rice mix into the half acorn squash when it finished baking and ate it with a salad.  It was very tasty, hearty and satisfying.  I added no additional seasoning since the rice package comes fully seasoned. 

 This is an easy dish and looks nice to serve to others but I do have one concern.  When I looked up the nutritional information online it said, "totally fat free" and "0 calories from fat"; however, the label says one serving contains 1 gram of fat, 0 grams sat. fat.  So where are the 9 calories from the 1 gram of fat?  Also, the Ingredients list includes "Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed and Soybean Oil".  What?  Is there a minimum amount required before it has to be listed as part of the Nutrition Facts or Calories?  Now I feel like I've lost one of my favorite quick foods.  I'm going to work on a good combination of seasonings for my beans and rice dishes that does not include hydrogenated oil and all those other additives.

Glazed Acorn Squash for Priscilla

Christmas is to children as the honeymoon is to newlyweds as harvest season is to a vegetarian!

Erich and I cooked dinner for Priscilla's 92nd birthday tonight and I know she loves squash so I made this simple but impressive looking version.

Glazed Acorn Squash

                                                             

Slice the squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and slice into eight wedges.  Spray with oil spray and bake on a cookie sheet covered with non-stick aluminum foil at 400 for about 45 minutes.  Drizzle with a little maple syrup (don't even THINK about using "pancake syrup!) and bake another 15 minutes.
Note:  I ran out of time and ended up microwaving the squash for about 6 minutes thereby reducing the baking time by about 30 minutes.

It looks like Priscilla enjoyed her birthday dinner!
(And it looks like I need to de-clutter my frig door)

                                                                                

Seasonal Soup

This recipe started out with butter, heavy cream, and oil...why would you ever need all three?  After making healthy changes I think it tastes so much better.  If you're going to make squash soup shouldn't you taste squash?  And some tasty freshly grated spices...

 Butternut Squash Soup

Bake (or boil) 4# butternut squash, 1 very large or 2 medium

Sautee 1 large chopped onion in veg. broth with 2 bay leaves.

Add the squash and the rest of the can of veg. broth

Add:  4t brown sugar

           1-2 T  fresh ginger, grated

            1-2t  cinnamon

           1/4t  fresh grated nutmeg

            1/4t  fresh ground allspice

            1-2 t salt, pepper to taste

Blend with hand blender until creamy but a little chunky

Add 1 cup almond milk, more if you prefer a thinner or creamier soup

Serve with a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil 

A plate of julienned veggies added crunch and more nutrients.
The beets were from the farm market and sooo good and sweet!

                                      

Welcome, Dawn!!

The title, "Welcome, Dawn!!" sounds like new beginnings, a new day, right?  It also expresses my happiness at introducing my very good friend Dawn to this blog.  She has recently adopted the Nutritarian style of eating and  I asked her if she would help with the blog.  She's a great cook and artist so we intend to have fun with this!

Dawn was visiting this weekend and our breakfast this morning was a simple combination of bulgur wheat and quinoa cooked in a rice cooker together.  I chopped up an apple and heated it up with some fresh (or frozen) whole cranberries and a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar.  This made a great topping for the grains.  Next time I'll probably add walnut pieces and almond milk.  Yummy and quick!

Cranberry Apple cereal topping

         Tip:  make more grains than you need for one meal and use the leftovers for another.  Save 15-20 min.

Quick Mushroom Potato Soup

I had a few potatoes left from Robin's garden, Baby Bellas were on sale and this is what they became:
Quick Mushroom Potato Soup


Sautee in 1T oil:  1 large onion, chopped
                             3 cloves garlic, minced
                             8 oz baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
Add:  1 can vegetable broth
          3 small potatos, cubed
Season to taste with Oregano, Basil, Thyme, S&P

Blend with a hand blender until creamy and a little chunky.
Add 1c almond or soy milk (plain).  Serve.

Travel Eating

 Being a nutritarian or vegetarian in Austria would be a major challenge.  After three weeks spent living as the locals live I narrowed it down to the top three challenges.


1. The most common Früschtük (breakfast) is cold cuts and cheese with white bread.  When I tried to explain to someone that I don't eat much meat at home she looked at me in astonishment and said, "Then what do you eat for breakfast?!"
     Solution: in a word, Müsli (muesli, like granola)


2. After repeated attempts I could not get a salad with just veggies and dressing on the side.  The closest I got was this salad with eggs and cheese.  The creamy dressing was on the side all right but the greens were tossed in a generous serving of oil.  Once I even ordered a "lean gourmet salad" or Schlankschlemmersalat and received the same fare.  By the way, I did order it myself and handled the pronunciation amazingly well to the accolades of my fellow diners!
Solution:  I would keep trying.  Maybe if I asked for a salad without dressing rather than "on the side"?


3. Snacks.  They always involve meat, usually processed, fatty, and organ meats like liverwurst, and cheese and eggs.  These offerings look quite beautiful esthetically but you can see what I mean.

Thick chunks of cheese and meat, sausage and smoked bacon

A variety of cold cuts, bacon, eggs

Liverwurst, assorted pates of liver, fish and cheese

Then there are the comfort foods served by wonderful friends and family...

Weisswurst, (white sausage) and
fresh baked pretzels with beer at
Erika and Wolfgang's house

Wiener Schnitzel
 (traditional fried pork cutlet dish from Vienna)
lovingly made by Hermi Weitschegger

Solution:  eat all the veggies and sample the rest in very small portions and eat slowly sipping the wine and enjoying the lively Austrian music and conversation!


P.S. I chose not to address the dessert issue here....  

Chocolate Sachertorte, 
a popular torte originating in Vienna

frittierte Krapfen

Fresh home baked apple streudel!
That's me and Hermi

Apfelstrudel

Thirsty

A couple of months ago I realized I've been drinking less water.
 I was never an "eight glasses a day no matter what" person
 but I  often drank water if I felt tired, thirsty or hungry and it adds
 up over the day.  I may have figured out why I've been
 drinking less the past several months.



First, I'm consuming very little in the way of prepared foods including canned soups, frozen dinners or restaurant fare.  These all have a lot of salt.  Second, when so much of my diet comes from fresh produce I get a lot of fluids naturally from the food.   Does that sound like a reasonable explanation to you?

Garden Goodies

A co-worker brought some fresh produce from her garden into the office and I took full advantage.  I went home with three green peppers and 3 large zucchinis.  I grated two of the zukes and measured 2c portions into Ziploc bags for baking zucchini bread this winter.

I used the rest  of the veggies for Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Sauce.  The stuffing was shredded zucchini, carrots and baby bella mushrooms with brown rice, a few whole wheat bread crumbs and McCormick Perfect Pinch Mediterranean Herb seasoning.  I stuffed halved peppers and covered them with a sauce made with Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup.  I topped it with a sprinkle of grated Romano cheese and baked til bubbly.  I can think of lots of ways to vary this recipe with other grains, veggies and sauces but this was a great place to start!

Delicious Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Spinach Onion Tart

This was supposed to be kale but I used spinach.  The recipe was from one of McDougall's books which are usually good but this was really blah!  I should have followed my instincts and used more herbs and garlic in the veggies.  I would use my whole wheat pizza crust recipe next time, too.  This crust was made from scratch with whole wheat flour and yeast but no seasoning at all and  by the time it  browned was way too dried out.  It has potential so I'll try again some time.

Quick Main Dish

With fresh green beans and some leftover quinoa I set out to make some soup and thought this one came out pretty good.

Bring to a boil in a 2qt saucepan:
 4c cut up fresh green beans, 1/2 c cut up celery, a large chopped onion and 3-4c water

Lower heat, add seasonings and simmer 30 minutes:
 2T Tamari, 1tsp dried basil, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 tsp celery seed, fresh ground black pepper

Add 1c. cooked quinoa

Enjoy.

Baba Ganoush

I want to do some more experimenting with interesting combinations of nutritious foods but for now something simple...here's the lunch I packed for work tomorrow.  A baba ganoush spread on dark rye with shredded carrot and fresh spinach.

Baba Ganoush

Slice an eggplant in half lengthwise and roast on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 30 min.  Or put on the grill whole or sliced until soft.

Place the eggplant, 2 cloves garlic, juice of 1-2 lemons, 1T tahini, and sea salt to taste in a food processor until smooth.  The original recipe calls for 1/4 c olive oil(!) but I skip the oil.  Good as a dip or a spread with raw veggies or pita bread.

Nutrient Sparse

Back to work today after a week off.  The table in the staff lounge was full of "treats".  Bagels, a (not a whole grain in sight), coffee cake with frosting, and scones.  The scones were made with whole wheat pastry flour, blueberries, and oranges but I'm sure the sugar and fat content were up there.  It feels like I'm the only one in the world trying to eat the nutritarian way.  I brought a banana, melon and leftover stir fry with brown rice for lunch.  But I had a half a scone, too.  It was good.

Silk Surprise

It's my day off.  I didn't want the same old hurried oatmeal or tea and toast I have on many work days.  I wanted a smoothie for breakfast and I was thinking decadent but nutritarian.  This is what I ended up with:

Combine in a blender:

12 oz Lite Chocolate Silk (soy milk)
1/2 c. cooked quinoa
1/2 c. blueberries
1/2 c. ice
I was resigned to eating it whether it was good or not and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was delicious!  I sipped it as I read my emails this morning and fully enjoyed my breakfast.





While I'm on the subject of Silk Lite Chocolate here's a favorite late night treat:  Mexican hot chocolate: 
 Start with Silk Lite chocolate soy milk and add some cinnamon, vanilla, and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper.  Heat in a mug in the microwave.  Yumm.

Quinoa Apple Smoothie

Photo M Wild Hansen
The color comes from cinnamon and red apple peel.  Yumm!

I really just wanted to publish this smoothie idea but felt I needed to give credit to Paulina Vásquez from Bolivia and call attention to her circumstances as well.
  From the NYTimes article:

" Paulina Vásquez, 52, a housekeeper and mother of three children in their 20s who live with her in a poor district on a steep mountainside of La Paz, sows the crop each year on her family’s land outside the city. The packaged quinoa found in supermarkets is beyond what her family can afford.

quinoa preparation process

Instead, they harvest their own, store it and then prepare it by hand, a painstaking process that includes washing away the resinlike saponin coating that protects the seeds. Sra. Vásquez regularly prepares a sweet drink of quinoa, apple, cinnamon and sugar for her family for breakfast.

But she says many in the younger generation have moved away from it. “People my age and older are eating quinoa,” Ms. Vásquez said. “The young people don’t want it. If there is a pot of noodles everyone is there, as if noodles were nutritious. Even my children are that way.”

For the recipe:
 I used 1/2 c. cooked quinoa, 2 small cored red apples, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2t. nutmeg
 Blend into a smoothie with a little soy milk 
 I thought it was delicious without sweetening but you could add a little maple syrup.

 Also see Quinoa Quandary

Quinoa Quandary

women weighing quinoa at a market in Bolivia 

The irony of it all.  Bolivians and other Andes South Americans have been thriving on quinoa for centuries(dating back to the Incas) but now that it's becoming a popular food worldwide for it's complete set of amino acids (complete protein) as well as many other vital nutrients it has become unaffordable to many of those same Andean people.

a chinopod (like beets and spinach), quinoa is a seed, not a grain

I first heard of quinoa about five years ago and used it mainly as a side dish or breakfast cereal until a few months ago when I "went nutritarian" and saw its value as a complete protein in main dishes.  It turned up in the United States decades ago when NASA found it was an ideal food for long term space missions.  Until recently I could only find it in health food stores but now it's available in my supermarket.  With this increase in demand many of the farmers' incomes have risen but they either can't afford quinoa at the new prices or their children prefer noodles or rice.   While quinoa prices tripled in the last five years Bolivia's consumption of it declined almost 35% in the same time period.  What a quandary - local farmers earn more but fewer Bolivians reap quinoa's nutritional benefits!  

Read the NYTimes.com article on this topic.