Comunidad Health Foods

Tomorrow is National Egg Day. I repeat: tomorrow is National Egg Day.  Finally, I have an excuse to gush on and on to you about the wonder of eggs and egg dishes. Ok, really, I won’t gush on and on – but I do have an egg-centric recipe to tell you about, and I thought leading into tomorrow’s “holiday” was a perfect time.

How many of you buy fresh broccoli? How many of you chop off those annoying stalks and toss them in the trash?

Yeah, I thought so. It’s tempting, right? I mean, what the heck are you supposed to do with those fibrous, tough sticks that hold up the “good part” of the veggie, anyway?

The answer to that question is simple: plenty! I was buying a fair share of broccoli and kept throwing the stalks in the freezer, convinced that there had to be another use for them. I hate throwing food away. I finally did some research when my bag of stalks was ready to burst, and found that if you just peel off the extra tough outer edge, broccoli stalks are actually pretty neat ingredients, and not just for boring soups. That would’ve been a good tip for before I froze them, but I’ve since learned my lesson.

And thus, this broccoli stalk omelet was born. It tastes like garlicky broccoli and eggs, not some concoction of weird, foreign ingredients you’ve never had before. You may not have ever eaten the stalk before, but if you’re a broccoli lover, then this dish shouldn’t take much convincing. The key is to just patiently give the chopped stalks a sufficient amount of time in the pan to become tender. When you mix those with slightly browned bread crumbs and a very healthy dose of garlic, you get an appreciable depth of flavor that isn’t always expected from the humble little omelet.

So the next time you find yourself with some leftover broccoli stalks, give this a try!

Savory Baked Eggs with Vegetables (LC) 

Comfort food. You think of lots of butter and heavy cream, right? Biscuits and gravy, chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese – meals you guilt yourself about eating but that make you feel warm and safe when you do. I’m convinced that it doesn’t have to be that way. I love comfort food, yet I really hate heavy foods that feel like a ton of bricks settled in the pit of your stomach by the time you reach the bottom of the bowl. Lighter foods can still be comforting, can still evoke that warm and safe feeling so traditionally associated with those heavier meals. No guilt required (not that I think you should guilt yourself about anyfood decision – make your food choice mindfully, and enjoy whatever that choice may be; if you can’t eat it shamelessly, it isn’t worth it, if you ask me).

This dish – baked spinach with eggs – was loosely adapted from the Smitten Kitchen, and by loosely, I mean I changed very little about it aside from cracking an egg into the dish during the last few minutes of cooking. I also swapped all of the butter for olive oil and used whole wheat, homemade bread crumbs, not that there’s really anything wrong with a little bit of butter here or there; I just didn’t have any on hand, and was curious to see if the olive oil would be successful. I do, however, have serious issues with store-bought bread crumbs, when homemade are so much healthier and ridiculously easy to make. But I’m no doppelganger hanging out on your shoulder while you cook, so don’t let that guilt settle in if you like and happen o keep store bought crumbs in stock – remember what I just said about guilt? Yeah, it’s lame. If you like shake-n-bake, use it as proudly as I use my food-processed whole grain bread butts. (But if you haven’t tried making your own, I highly recommend it.)

 

But alas, I digress. This dish is so much more than olive oil and bread crumbs. The spinach is light and not soggy or greasy or slimy the way that some cooked spinach dishes can become – it tastes about as fresh as cooked spinach can possibly taste. The smoked cheddar cheese gives off this poser-bacon flavor and the eggs really come in with a protein/nutrition 1-2 punch. And did I mention it’s low-carb? Well, low-carb unless you choose to pair it with a warm, fresh loaf of bread – which is absolutely a fantastic decision, though I didn’t do that. Even without any herbs and spices, this is seriously one of the best recipes I’ve made in a long time, and I’ll be the first to admit that I use my seasonings (except salt) with a heavy hand. And comfort food? Folks, you have not tasted comfort food until you’ve tasted this baked spinach and egg dish. Forget your Aunt’s famous pot pie or your husband’s great-grandma’s secret recipe for biscuits. This is the new face of comfort food: healthy instead of heavy, without sacrificing any of the warmth and happiness that comes with taking that first bite. And then the second. And then the third. And then…

By the way, do not be intimidated by this recipe. It looks long, but it goes very smoothly and is very intuitive. If you need to, take a deep breath (I know I did!), and give it a shot, because it’s not a difficult recipe and the pay-off is absolutely incredible in the end.

One Year Ago: Savory Baked Eggs with Veggies, Sophisticated Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Vegetarianism and veganism fascinate me. Although I don’t ever see myself completely ruling out animal products, I can’t help but be drawn into all of the inventive and novel ingredients, preparation methods, and recipes that make being a vegetarian or vegan so vibrant and exciting. I especially love incorporating these concepts and ingredients – and, often, full recipes – into my own diet and cooking, just to add variety and embrace all of the incredible options we have before us for nourishing ourselves.

One of my more recent purchases has been nutritional yeast flakes. I’m sure I’ve mentioned them before in recipes from this past year. I think I’m still getting used to how to use them properly – I tried adding them to homemade popcorn and they all just fell to the bottom of the bowl, and I’ve scorched them more than once believing I could use them as a faux-cheese topping under the broiler (at least I didn’t think they would melt, but I still don’t know exactly what was going on in my head with that last one). But one recipe I just made was spot on, and I still can’t get over how deliciously savory the whole meal was.

I need a catchy name for this (I’m open to suggestions!), but for now, we’re going to go with the Cheesiest Cheeseless Omelet on Earth. This omelet bites back with its hot sauce and black pepper, and then it apologies for its enthusiasm by offering up a comforting, cheesy flavor that really could fool you if it weren’t for the fact that melty strings of cheese don’t get stuck between your fork and the plate. Feel free to add more vegetables – broccoli in particular would taste phenomenal – but personally, I kind of liked the simplicity of eating it as is. The only other change I would recommend would be to reduce the oil (and, therefore, the calories) if you plan to eat this with a side of some kind – toast, home fries, etc. A full tablespoon for one serving is no laughing matter, but it’s also not something to be too afraid of (think of all those heart healthy fats you’re getting!), especially if you’re eating this omelet on its own without tons of other accompaniments.

It’s the Monday after a very big holiday weekend, and I’ll bet even if your celebrations occurred on Friday or Saturday, you’re still feeling the effects of all of that food-and-family time. The amount of leftovers in my fridge is astonishing, and I found myself this morning reworking my meal plan for the week before going grocery shopping to try to use more of the leftovers instead of cooking too many new things. It can be overwhelming to be presented with so much food – even if the majority is healthy.

Sometimes, after a big holiday, you just need something simple to eat. It’s even better if it’s very healthy, since many people find themselves in “detox mode” (I use that term loosely – we’re not talking about an actual detox here!) after a holiday filled with culinary indulgences. This cucumber-tomato salad and omelet is the perfect meal for the morning after a holiday – it’s easy, it’s simple, it’s good for you, and it tastes really good, too. Of course, I made this in the middle of February when no one on the East Coast of the United States should be buying tomatoes, so this meal wasn’t given the opportunity to shine as it would in, say, July. Someone really should slap the back of my hand with a ruler for even attempting it. Still, even with the lackluster tomatoes, I liked it. I have every intention of making this as tomatoes come more into season.

And maybe even before that, with all of these leftover cucumbers and tomatoes from seder crudite I have on my hands…

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to put a new twist on a classic or traditional recipe. Most recently, I took a standard breakfast dish – French toast and eggs – and amped it up to be truly worthy of dinner. I don’t even know if this can even be classified as brinner anymore. I swapped the regular stale bread with a slightly dry and sturdy jalapeno cornbread, used the egg white wash from the bread to create a flavorful omelet to pair with it, and drenched it all in an easy, homemade and healthy enchilada sauce (yes, I’m finally giving you the recipe for the red enchilada sauce that I’ve been referencing in other recipes for the past few weeks). The cornbread has a cool-hot jalapeno flavor rather than a burning-hot one thanks to removing the seeds from the peppers, but the sauce is spicy enough for the heat-lovers out there to accept the slightly more demure corn bread beneath it. The sauce also does an excellent job moistening up the meal, as the cornbread, as I mentioned, is on the drier side on its own. The egg was really good – full of flavor and a perfect companion to the French toast. Some sautéed spinach would add a nice extra pop of color, but aside from that, I don’t think that I would change a thing.

I may have been a little hasty the other day in announcing that I would be switching to WordPress. In the research I’ve been doing to try to make a smooth transition, I came to the realization that it’s not the right move for me at this time. I will, eventually, want to purchase my own domain name and move my blog over to my own hosting site, but until then, I’m going to happily stick to Blogger. It hasn’t let me down yet!

To pay homage to my haste, here is a recipe that’s perfect for those rushed or poorly-planned-out nights. Eggs, as you may have noticed, are my saving grace in the kitchen; they’re perfect, easy, and inexpensive for any time of day. They’re such a great option for high quality, lean protein meals for those times when your other dinner plans implode on you, or you just plum forget or don’t have time to make more labor intensive, thought out plans.

This egg white omelet – well, it’s really not about the egg whites at all. It’s about the salsa perched on top of the egg whites, which is a really refreshing alternative to a traditional tomato-based salsa. The use of avocados and grapefruit make the dish pop with color, for one thing, and you get a unique combination of all kinds of textures and flavors. It’s spicy, crunchy-but-smooth, and very citrus-y, if we can pretend for a moment that’s a word. The lime and red pepper balance out the bitter tones of the grapefruit so that you hardly even notice that bitterness at all. And with how easy it is to throw this meal together, it’s the perfect choice to save you from having to dial up the local pizza joint when life gets the better of you and your time.

A few months ago, I used a gift card to Whole Foods to treat myself to an assortment of foods that I had been wanting to try but had always let preconceived notions of cost and fussiness dissuade me. One of those products that I bought that day was a package of chia seeds – yes, like the kind you plant as a pet and watch as grass grows out of the plant holder’s head. I’ve been hearing a lot about these little seeds as nutritional powerhouses, a vegan’s best friend in the kitchen, and I really wanted to see what they were all about. The first thing I made with them (and have made several times since because it was absolutely incredible – recipe to come, I promise) was for chia pudding, which involves soaking the seeds in almond milk with various flavorings (personal favorite: cocoa powder and peanut butter!) until the mixture gelatinizes and creates a thick, pudding-like consistency. It’s out of this world.

Well, one morning, I was eyeing the contents of my fridge and wondering if the same concept could be applied to other liquids. I pulled out my high protein carton of egg whites, poured it into a bowl, stirred in some chia seeds and waited. Well, I’m here to tell you – nothing happens. However, I didn’t let that discourage me much, and pushed forth on my quest for an innovative way to enjoy my chia seeds. I cooked up the egg white-chia seed mixture with some cinnamon to make a pretty standard omelet, spread some peanut butter over half, and folded it over on itself. And voila! A high protein, moderately high (healthy! Healthy!) fat, low carbohydrate start to the day that will keep you full and absolutely tickle your taste buds.

I need to plead now for you not to be afraid of the fat content of this meal. Yes, it’s a little high, and yes, it’s true that even too much good fat can be bad, but if you don’t go on in your day to frequent McDonald’s for lunch and the local pizza parlor for dinner, it’s totally permissible. Plus, you’re also getting a really healthy dose of protein with the meal. I even decreased the fat content a little bit for you – the first time I made it I used sesame oil, but have since greased the pan with a thin coating of spray and have found the meal to be just as enjoyable and satiating.

If you give this omelet a chance, I don’t think you’ll have too many qualms about the macronutrient breakdown, either. This omelet is so fantastic – creamy, light, and spongy. It’s indulgent but not particularly sweet, though you can satisfy a more demanding sweet tooth with a spread of jam or some banana slices (it just won’t likely be “low carb” anymore, but that is also perfectly fine). A little sprinkling of cocoa powder or – if you’re feeling particularly decadent – actual chocolate chips could also be fantastic additions to the filling. Additionally, you can go the totally savory route with chicken or tofu, red pepper slices, tomatoes, and spinach – all of which pair very well with peanut butter.

So no matter how you make this – as is, or with some phenomenal additions to the filling – you’re sure to start your day off right with this omelet.

New nutrition majors are militant. They’re overzealous, enthusiastic, and on a mission to cure the world of all nutrient maladies. It’s endearing, in a sense. I was one of them. My view on food is still much more strict than the average Joe’s, but I’m a far cry from the pseudo food Nazi that I was even just one year ago. The one battle I still forge on in is the one against sugar. I have demonized sugar a thousand times over in my head. I can indulge and treat myself to a cupcake or ice cream cone without batting an eye, but try to sneak a few extra grams of that simple carbohydrate into my yogurt? My almond milk? My dried fruit, which already has such high concentrations of sugar to begin with? Forget it. My brain has drawn a glaring red line between dessert foods and everything else I eat throughout the day, and you can guess which side sugar and its associated ingredients/food products are confined to.

I know I need to work on this. It isn’t that I want to move toward a complete, uncontested and unequivocal acceptance of sugar, but I need to be less rigid. I even cringe at honey, agave, and some dried fruits. So when I got two little jars of the most adorable honey crèmes I have ever seen with my Around the Plate goodie box, it was a bitter-sweet feeling. They sounded fantastic, but what would I eat them on? They sounded way too sugary, way too rich for spreading on a breakfast scone (heck, right now I wouldn’t even eat most scones for breakfast – honey crème or not - due to their nutritional profile); fruit already had its own sweetness, so I wasn’t sure I could add it to that, either. I worried that I would let these products go to waste, and the folks from Honey Ridge Farms and their products deserved more than that.

You see, Honey Ridge Farms is a family business run out of Brush Prairie, Washington. They produce single-floral source honeys in many varieties, all of them 100% from the United States. When it comes to more commercial honeys, many of them can’t even be considered honey anymore, and it can be incredibly challenging to find a 100% U.S. made brand. Although I will most likely continue to purchase my honey from more local sources, since Washington is still on the opposite side of the country for me, it’s refreshing to hear of an American company with its feet still planted firmly in the ground and its values entrenched in the wellness of our world - people, places, and “things.” Honey Ridge Farms even goes a step beyond supporting local bee keepers and the use of only the highest quality ingredients – they donate a portion of their profits to fund research aimed at promoting bee colony health. As deathly afraid of bees as I am, I know the devastation our ecosystem would face if they were to vanish, and their populations are being seriously threatened. You can feel good about buying honey from Honey Ridge Farms, and that’s not something that can be said of most honey manufacturers and distributors.

So now you know why I couldn’t just shrug off these honey crème samples – the company was too good to ignore. So, I swallowed my militant, anti-sugar qualms and incorporated it twice (yes, you heard me right – not once, but twice!) into my breakfast routine. Scandalous, I know, but we all need baby steps sometimes. I still have only tried the lemon honey crème – I was nervous to open both and have them go bad, since it will admittedly take me some time to go through a full container on my own (a little goes a long way!) – although the more I think about it, the more appealing some sort of blackberry-lemon honey crème combination sounds, doesn’t it? But I digress.

I opened that jar of lemon honey crème and found a thick, creamy texture that reminded me just a little of a semi-liquid fondant. Because it’s so sweet on its own, I find that it’s easier to use in the right proportions if you heat it first to thin it out and spread it out across whatever it is you’re eating it with. I’m not sure if this ruins the integrity of the honey, as the company prides itself on the fact that they don’t heat it during the process of making it. I hope I haven’t broken some cardinal rule of honey crème eating by thinning it out. If you have an insatiable sweet tooth, go ahead and slather it on your favorite muffin recipe or mix it into oatmeal as it is.

I used the honey crème to make a sweet drizzle to go over a citrus egg white omelet, which was excellent. The strong sweetness of the honey balanced out the intensity of the grapefruit. Next time, I would consider chopping the fruit into smaller pieces and letting them soak in the honey and spice mixture, reserving some honey for the topping but switching most to the filling. It was a beautiful way to use the honey crème, though, and would definitely recommend it. Scroll down for the recipe (which has been changed to reflect the alterations I just mentioned)!

The second time I tried the honey crème was also with grapefruit (I know, I know, not very adventurous of me). This time, I mixed it in with diced grapefruit chunks and broiled it until it began to glow. Did you know that grapefruit glows when it heats and caramelizes? It develops a very warm tone to it, seriously. I then let it cool completely and stirred in some vanilla greek yogurt for a citrus honey parfait, which was also wonderful.

So, after all of that, what do I really think about Honey Ridge Farms’ cute little jars of honey crème? I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. I still don’t find myself reaching into the fridge every chance I get to use it, but it’s a nice treat every now and then. I’d love to try it thinned out as a salad dressing (fruit or veggies!), maybe blended with some frozen bananas for an extra sweet banana “ice cream” dessert or with some almond milk and fresh fruit for a smoothie, or stirred into hot tea for an extra special cup. I can really think of a number of ways to enjoy it, and it’s certainly different from regular honey, which makes it an even nicer treat. These would make great gifts for people – how about pairing a jar or 2 with a batch of your favorite muffin or scone? They’re also not wildly expensive, considering the level of attention and care the business puts into its product and the fact that you can use it so sparingly and still get a punch of flavor. The only downsides I found were its slight spreading difficulty at its natural consistency (but that’s certainly not enough to prevent me from liking the product) and the missing nutrition facts panel. I’d be interested in a nutritional profile (the ingredients are listed on the container and are very impressive, but there’s no indication of serving sizes, sugar content, etc.), though I would imagine it’s fairly comparable to regular honey. The fact that it’s missing is not uncommon for a smaller, family-based business.

If you like honey and incorporating it into your recipes, I would definitely recommend this product. Even if a part of me still shies away from straight sugar (and yes, even if honey isn’t processed like white sugar is, it’s still sugar), I can still praise Honey Ridge Farms for all of their efforts to stay green and responsible. The next time you find yourself in need of a small gift for someone, or you run out of your favorite honey and are itching for something new, try ordering from Honey Ridge Farms. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

For more information on Honey Ridge Farms and its products, you can explore their website or Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter via @HoneyRidgeBuzz.

And if you do buy their lemon honey crème, try making this omelet. It’s kind of fantastic.

Today, I’m leaving for my last semester as an undergraduate. It’s surreal to think that in just 3 ½ months I’ll be employable –becoming an actual Registered Dietitian is still another year away with my internship, but with my undergraduate I can actually earn a salary instead of a wage. It’s very bizarre. When did I get to be so old? When did I turn into a – gulp! – actual, bona fide adult?

In honor of my embarking on my last semester as a college student, I have an egg recipe to share with you. I’ll bet your wondering where that bridge is, the one explaining why eggs have anything to do with leaving college (no, I’m not going to try to make some analogy, I promise). You see, when I first got my own apartment and suddenly had to cook for myself more often than not, I discovered the beauty of a good egg dish. Inexpensive, easy, fast, and stress-free, egg dinners are ideal for college. It started out mostly with omelets, but I’ve recently been branching out into egg bakes. They take a little bit more time since they need to, well, bake, but they’re still ridiculously easy, forgiving, and versatile enough so you don’t feel like you’re eating the same thing day in and day out. Take that, Ramen.

This egg bake is spongy and light, but don’t let that fool you – it’s also really filling. You could even halve the recipe if you pair it with a side dish; or, turn it into a quiche by adding some milk, cream, and/or a crust. The added dairy would give it a denser texture, and I do like the airiness that this recipe has on its own, but it could still be good. Also, if you’re wary of the ingredients, don’t be, they work really well together. The ginger gives the dish a fragrance but in terms of flavor, it and the lemon zest really just enhance the blueberry flavor from the chicken sausage. They aren’t superstars on their own in this recipe. Adding a nice vegetable salad or side dish would do this dish some good, since unlike most dishes that I create, this one isn’t loaded with fruits or veggies to begin with. I ate it with the lemon and parmesan kale salad I told you about a little while back, and it was wonderful.