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Borscht Borscht Borscht!

February 2, 2012 in Gluten Free, Healthy Fare, Paleo

 

A naturally hearty vegan stew: Borscht!

Those of you whose only experience with borscht is as a cold magenta liquid, perhaps served with a single boiled potato, think again! This version of borscht (there are many variations) hails from Russia & the Ukraine (the former is more the Polish/Yiddish variety), and is more like a hearty stew than a sort of beet-based gazpacho. It’s still very much peasant food, though: immensely nutritious, satisfying, and seasonal. Perfect for snowy winter nights!

It’s also effortlessly vegetarian, and even vegan if you skip the dollop of sour cream at the end, or use a non-dairy version of the sour cream. Bonus: assuming you serve it alongside well-sourced protein, it fits right into the Paleo groove as well (sour cream omitted, and potato optional, depending on where you’re personally at with starchy carbs).

In a nod to our fabulously frugal roots, I recommend that you resourcefully save the beet greens, saute them in a little olive oil, and serve them with a dash of sherry vinegar alongside the steaming bowls of borscht.  Read the rest of this entry →

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Farina with Fruit Swirls Recipe and An Arizona Girl’s Breakfast Memories

January 27, 2012 in Healthy Fare

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Farina with Fruit Swirls - shown here with strawberry and blueberry

Looking back, I was a wimp.

Those “cold” mornings when I just had to have a hot breakfast to warm me up were only in the ’50′s for a low temp. And yet. I was a skinny kid who knew no colder climes than sunny southern Arizona. My childhood was not easy or stress-free. But for just a moment once in awhile on a “cold” morning, the world was right.

The smooth, ooey gooey steamy bowl of farina goodness was my favorite comfort breakfast, and I begged my mom regularly until she gave in and cooked some. Farina, which is the polenta of the wheat world, is ground wheat germ. And my special touch: swirling in some jam right before eating.

Nowadays, I throw some fruit in the blender, or I use some of my hubby’s morning  smoothie concoction now for the swirled effect. Yum. One bite takes me back.

So, if you are lucky enough to have some cute little people cruising around your house, cook up some farina and let them swirl it with a favorite jam. Heck, try a spoonful of chocolate hazelnut spread for decadent deliciousness. You’ll be creating breakfast memories for generations to come. If you don’t believe fun food memories kids can have with a mom who cooks farina for them, check out Family Friendly Food’s hilarious post about farina porridge mess!

Happy Winter, Everyone!

– posted by Donna

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Happy 2012, Part Two: And now for something completely different.

January 20, 2012 in Gluten Free, Healthy Fare, Paleo

Make it Paleo, from the authors of the Food Lover's Primal Palate

 I loved Donna’s Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions, Foodie Edition! I share many of the same goals, of course – especially #1: MAKE MORE MISTAKES. We definitely all get into that habit of only trying what we know or are at least reasonably certain will work – but stepping outside that comfort zone is where innovation and inspiration really happens.

As far as lifestyle changes go, though, my own approach is taking a different and pretty dramatic turn. I’ve known for a while that I’m better off without gluten – my breastfeeding daughter had a sensitivity to it, and lo, when I changed my own diet so as to meet her needs while nursing, I found that *I* felt better. I noted at the time that I had always done best in terms of weight management with a lower carb approach.

In hindsight, I thought that the drastic reduction of wheat products (and near total elimination during Phase One, save for sneaky culprits like soy sauce here and there) may have had much to do with the results – but lately, I’m becoming more and more inclined to think this wasn’t nearly enough for me to sustain in the long run, especially after a pregnancy where too much weight was gained and still – STILL – has not been completely lost. And the more I learn about nutrition, about gut healing, and about the role of inflammation on our bodies, the more sense a whole new approach makes to me.

So I’m taking the Paleo plunge. Read the rest of this entry →

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Got Leftover Sweet Potatoes? The Best Ever Leftover Recipe: Healthy Sweet Potato Brownies

November 28, 2011 in Healthy Fare

Sweet potato Borwnies 1865x1865

So. The biggest meal of the year is over. I’m wearing my elastic-waist pants with that gravy-hangover feeling, how about you? I’m swearing off fatty foods for the rest of my natural life. Or at least until the next holiday season begins in a few days. And wondering what to do with all the leftovers. And in my momentary healthy way of life . . .  surprising combinations of foods sound like they might actually work.

A friend of mine told me she looks forward to leftover sweet potatoes every end of November to make sweet potato brownies. Hmmmmmmm . . .

I don’t know about you, but I am always game for one of those Guess-the-Secret-Ingredient recipes. I used my family as taste testers and all of them loved these brownies, but not a single one of them guessed the secret: sweet potatoes in brownies. Whodda thunk it???

I decided to go healthy with these. Task One:  I made them  low-sugar.  I used a little sugar for the moisture and texture.  Then, I took out the eggs and just added a little healthy oil to hold the brownies together. For the last upgrade, I used oat flour – high fiber and protein without gluten. So, yes, these are vegan brownies, low-sugar brownies and gluten-free brownies. Again, wow.

You’ll be shocked at how much these brownies taste like the decadent, fatty high- sugar originals. I know I was.

These brownies are moist and flavorful, without having one of those off-putting veggies-in-the-wrong -place kind of tastes. Highly, highly recommended to all!

Happy Meatless Monday, foodie fans!

– posted by Donna

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Burgerville’s Pumpkin Smoothie: Recipe Revamped

November 17, 2011 in Desserts, Gluten Free, Healthy Fare, Vegan Recipes

Burgerville's Pumpkin Smoothie, even healthier!

One of the most wonderful things about moving to Portland is the local chain called Burgerville, beloved to all. Yes, I’m seriously speaking positively of what is essentially a fast food joint: They have all the treats and trappings of fast food, yet manage to turn many of the negatives about fast food completely inside out. When you throw out your trash, every restaurant has it divided into three bins: Recyclables, Landfill, and Compost. You read that right: COMPOST. They reuse all of their cooking oil as biodiesel. They offer, among many healthy yet seriously delicious choices, three different kinds of veggie burgers. They source their food locally, and they also include a rotating seasonal menu. So every fall, Portland residents look forward to sweet potato fries, salmon sandwiches, and pumpkin shakes and smoothies (all locally sourced, of course).

Those shakes and smoothies, are every bit as delectable as you can imagine. The ice cream shake is like an extra-custardy pumpkin pie in a glass, while the yogurt-based smoothie is a little tangy and a bit lighter overall.  But what about vegans, or those who are intolerant or sensitive to dairy? I thought I’d try making a dairy-free version at home.

And lo, it worked! Read the rest of this entry →

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The Gestalt of the Tomato: Caprese Parfaits

August 20, 2011 in Appetizers, Gluten Free, Healthy Fare, Vegetarian Entrees

Caprese Parfaits

For years, like many members of  the last few factory-farmed, shrink-wrapped, additived-and-preservatived generations, I thought I detested fresh tomatoes. Mealy and bland, almost always refrigerated, only acceptable in thoroughly stewed or sauced form. My mom used to nostalgically describe picking tomatoes as a child, out of my grandma’s garden in upstate New York, and eating them like apples. I could hardly imagine anything more revolting at the time.

Now, of course, we’ve all become much more sophisticated, in our current local, sustainable, seasonal collective consciousness. We know that what we really loathed were the out-of season supermarket imposters, mass-produced and shipped thousands of miles to your January attempt at a  salad (probably involving iceberg lettuce, which, I notice, is making an odd sort of comeback; perhaps it’s ironic, the produce equivalent of a hipster’s PBR). A truly fresh tomato, procured in its natural habitat and life cycle, that is a completely different experience.

I can think of no better expression of Tomato, its essence, the thing-in-itself, than the caprese salad. Read the rest of this entry →

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Hedy’s Hummus: Tried and Tried and True

August 11, 2011 in Appetizers, Gluten Free, Healthy Fare, Vegan Recipes

Hummus meets hen.


Hummus: So delicious, so open to endless variation, so healthy . . .  SO annoying to photograph. It is beige mush. Blah in color and devoid of shape. It takes a truly gifted food stylist/photographer to really make it look good, aesthetically speaking.

So although the hummus in the picture above looks TERRIBLE, aesthetically speaking, I decided to share this shot because of the honest-to-gods spontaneous chicken photobomb. I was trying my dangdest to get a decent angle and utilize some good natural light, moving around the backyard. I added the dry chickpeas to get some shape and texture in the mix, and, this being a Portland backyard, it has chickens. These happened, also, to be hungry chickens, who thought I was bringing them a fabulous treat. In the above shot, girlfriend is actually pecking at the jar.

On to today’s recipe: This was shared by a friend in a Facebook mom’s group, and I liked her hummus history and recipe testing so much that I decided I just had to share it here, with her permission, as a guest post. Read the rest of this entry →

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Zucchini Shirred Eggs Lower Fat Recipe – A Whole New Way to Use Up All That Zucchini for Meatless Monday

August 1, 2011 in Entrees, Healthy Fare, Vegetarian Entrees

Zucchini Shirred Eggs Square

Lower-fat Zucchini Shirred Eggs Baked in Ramekins

Shirred eggs are delicious and creamy on their own, but they are a little on the bland side. Just eggs baked in cream, basically. So, I decided to experiment with adding produce from our garden. I tried Swiss chard, spinach – but honestly, they were nothing to write home about. Then, I thought about slicing zucchini into paper-thin planks and use them like you would a leafy green to cradle the eggs. This was the winner by a landslide!

The roasted zucchini adds a subtle garden freshness to the eggs and dairy, and improves on the one-note flavor of the baked eggs. I also healthified it even more by using lower fat dairy than is usually called for – and a teaspoon of half and half instead of a tablespoon of cream.

In the early ’70s, I remember laughing out loud the first time I heard of a thing called “Zucchini Bread.” WHat?! Zucchini in Bread?! Absurd. Ridiculous. And then I tasted it. I was in shock for days. And  I never looked at zucchini the same way again.

This recipe is one of those recipes. You will look at zukes in a different way.

If you need to get rid of some zucchini, I highly recommend baking it with some eggs. And what the heck, you could even serve it as a Meatless Monday entree!

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Pesto Pecan Chicken: 3 Ingredient Entree

July 29, 2011 in Entrees, Healthy Fare

Pesto, presto.

Here’s a short, simple, yet highly scrumptious one for Friday: The title essentially gives you the recipe. This was a gem I found in Rozanne Gold’s “Low Carb 1-2-3″. Kind of a dry name, but honestly, the recipes are anything but! As long as you have a jar of prepared pesto on hand, it really is 3 ingredients. Read the rest of this entry →

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No-Cook Raw Corn and Chilled Shrimp Soup Recipe – Sublime Summer Bliss in a Bowl in Just 20 Minutes

July 27, 2011 in Appetizers, Entrees, Healthy Fare, Side Dishes

Corn Soup Square

No-Cook Raw Corn Chilled Soup with Shrimp, Avocado and Cherry Tomato Garnish

About a year ago I discovered raw corn.

Oh, sure, I have feasted for years on the whole-cob hot-and-steamy dripping-butter-to-your-elbows cooked corn. Summer just isn’t complete if you haven’t had your fill of that all-American summer staple. But RAW corn? I never would have tried it in a dish until the last few years of my adventurousness in the kitchen.

Let me tell you what: this soup will make you a believer in raw corn. This is not just any old raw corn recipe. This is Oooh and Aaaahhhhh raw corn. Crave-worthy raw corn. Raw corn to write home about.

This soup, the creation of my culinarily talented mom, Carol, takes minutes to make and yet is sublime and elegant. (Did I just say “elegant” and “corn” in the same post?) I was lucky enough to be in Carol’s kitchen and she and I made it together for the very first time.

Do yourself a huge favor: RUN – do not walk – to your nearest corn stand and scoop up a trunkful of cobs and make this soup. Today. Best summer dish I have had in years!

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Carol Hicks and her Raw Corn Chilled Soup

– posted by Donna

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