April 20, 2012

Recipe of the Week: Cool Soups

April 20, 2012/ Gwen Morrison

We’re in for some warm days so I’m prompted to think about the changes in food preferences as the weather changes. A first thought: when the weather is warm - soups should be cool. It’s a great alternative to a salad that also is a warm weather food.

For cool soups - the basic technique is to put the ingredients in a food processor, blend to desired consistency, and then let stand for the flavors to meld. It’s different than a smoothie in the sense that it doesn’t have to be all together smooth. Having some chunks in the soup is perfectly acceptable. I like to add a tablespoon of chia seeds per serving to ‘thicken’ the soup. After the chia seeds stand for about 15 minutes in liquid they form a gel; they are a ‘super food’ that have found a long list of uses in my everyday cooking over the past few months.

My favorite cool soups start with either cucumber or salsa. Or course - cucumber and salsa could be combined to make a soup but let’s start separately.

I like cucumber and citrus so the combinations

Cucumber - lemon yogurt - orange zest or
Cucumber - lemon flavoring - orange zest - chia seeds

Are my basics for the food processor. Spices or ingredients can be added depending on what you need to use up and the flavors you like to combine. Added grapes or apples make it sweeter. The pulp of 1/4 lemon or orange make it more citrusy. Celery or lettuce or parsley gives it more bulk and all the benefits of leafy greens. A bit of vanilla and a packet of stevia can make it into a dessert soup. Mrs. Dash or a drop of hot sauce can make is into a spicy soup.

Starting with salsa - here are some combinations for the food processor to consider:

Salsa - celery - lettuce - parsley
Salsa - carrots or sweet potato - celery
Salsa - V-8 - celery - green onions (this one you may be able to make without the food processer if you like the chunks of celery and green onions
Salsa - bullion/broth (this could also be a hot or warm soup…but is good cold as well)

Additions to any of these could be sweet peas or broccoli chunks or cut corn from the freezer (partially thawed) or any fresh veggie that can be easily diced.

So - as the days get warmer - consider cool soups either as a whole meal or as a side dish.

March 05, 2012

Recipe(s) of the Week: Yellow Veggies

March 05, 2012/ Gwen Morrison

There have been times in my life that I have been challenged to get enough yellow/orange veggies…but not recently. It seems so easy now. Here are my top 10 ways to get at least one serving of yellow veggies every single day:

Pumpkin or sweet potato or carrot muffin (Great any time but my preference is breakfast or mid-morning snack)
Pumpkin custard (Skip the crust and just make the custard!)
A fall favorite: Select a small pumpkin and bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes. Cut off the top, scoop out the seeds and fibers from the center. Stuff with applesauce and cinnamon…or just dust with cinnamon…replace the top and bake until it is soft. Serve as wedges drizzled with the applesauce stuffing or butter.
Raw carrots (The small ones, already prepared, make a great snack or as an colorfu addition to a meal)
Cut up carrots into slivers and add to your favorite stir fry or salad
Add carrots to a homemade soup.
Baked sweet potato (Serve with butter or a drizzle with butter/pecans/maple syrup to turn it into dessert)
Baked sweet potato wedges (Peal sweet potato. Put wedges in a ziplock with olive oil and cinnamon to coat with spice…then bake about an hour at 350 degrees F.)
Cut an acorn squash in half. Bake cut side down for an hour. Serve with cinnamon and butter.
Shred a raw sweat potato in the food processor then use over the course of the next week
- In stir fry
- In sweet potato/raisin salad with orange marmalade and olive oil dressing
- Baked in individual serving portions drizzled with honey and butter at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes
- As a salad ingredient

February 21, 2012

Recipe of the Week: Salads without Lettuce

February 21, 2012/ Gwen Morrison

The best part of the salad is usually not the lettuce – so consider salads that have no lettuce at all. Some of my favorites are below and they must be liked by others as well since some of them appear on salad bars in restaurants. They are easy to make at home...and can easily turn into a whole meal!

Carrot raisin salad. Grated carrots (use a food processor), crushed pineapple (optional) and raisins. The traditional dressing is mayonnaise and honey but I like orange marmalade or honey with olive oil. A good substitute for the carrot is raw sweet potato. It can be easily grated in a food processor and retains its orange color as well as carrots.
Green peas and cheese. Frozen green peas (thawed), grated cheese, onions. The traditional dressing is mayonnaise but I like low fat ranch. This can very easily become a brilliant ‘confetti’ salad by adding frozen corn (thawed), small chunks of carrot, and/or diced tomato. To make it a meal, add chunks of ham, chicken, or smoked turkey.
Three bean. Canned green beans, wax beans, red/black beans with vinaigrette. I tend to always keep a can of three bean salad in my pantry and add to it since the dressing it comes in is more than adequate. My favorite additions are canned lima beans or green peas (purchased frozen, then thawed. To make it a meal – try adding chunks of smoked turkey or bacon.
Cucumber and yogurt. Chopped cucumber, yogurt, garlic, basil, onion flakes. Best if mixed together and left to stand for 10 minutes or so. This can also be processed into a smoothie - ‘salad in a glass.’
Cucumber and tomato. Chopped cucumber, diced tomatoes and onions (or onion flakes) in vinaigrette.
Left over potato salad. Left over baked potato with skin (chopped with kitchen scissors), hardboiled egg (chopped), small amount celery with mayonnaise. I usually substitute low fat ranch for the mayonnaise. Add bacon bits to make it a meal.
Celery and peanut butter. Clean and cut stalks of celery into manageable lengths. Put glob of peanut butter in ramekin and use as a dip!
Finger salad. Cut up your favorite veggies (lots to pick from: celery, cauliflower, broccoli, turnip, carrots, tomatoes, peppers). Put dressing (low fat ranch is my favorite) in a ramekin and use as a dip.
Spaghetti squash salad. Rather than pasta salad - try using leftover spaghetti squash instead. Green onions, diced tomatoes, frozen peas…it doesn’t take much to make this a colorful salad. One time I went with all green additions - green onions, frozen peas, celery, and parsley! I like to use a generous amount of a no-salt seasoning blend particularly if the squash does not have very much flavor itself (sometimes it does…and sometimes it doesn’t). A vinaigrette or orange marmalade/olive oil dressing is good although plain yogurt makes a good dressing too. To add some protein - pecans is what I usually pick. If the squash is a bit watery, I add chia seeds to the salad. They’ll make whatever extra water there is into a gel in about 10-15 minutes.