Comunidad Health Foods

 

Today, I have a quickie for you. You see, I’ve been up since 7 and apart from a 15 minute jog, a hop in the shower and an oh-so-necessary baking venture consisting of chocolate and raspberries (can you blame me?), I have been up to my elbows in research about cinnamon and Type 2 Diabetes. All of this effort and time, just to come to the conclusion that more research is needed. So needless to say, my brain is deepfried, and it’d probably be wise not to launch into some long, complicated recipe. My summer course ends on Tuesday, so pretty soon I will be back to my old, totally sane self. Do not make any jokes.

This little gem is something I like to call Banana Mash Frosting. And yes, about 90% of the time I refer to this dish I start singing the Monster Mash song in my head. I just can't help myself. It (the recipe, not the song) is similar to a technique I saw over at Chocolate Covered Katie, which is one of the most fabulously creative blogs ever. Basically, this “recipe” came out of the realization that if you freeze a banana and then thaw it (something I do all the time for banana bread), it completely changes textures and turns much more liquidy than any regular banana ever could. When mixed with the right ingredients, it becomes this creamy, naturally sweet and unabashedly healthy spread. Think pancakes, waffles, yogurt, oatmeal, toast, fruit salad, granola – this baby can top or be topped with just about anything your heart desires. That little blob of a picture at the top of this post would be the mash atop a pumpkin pancake; I'm sure you can do a more artistic job than I did on this particular morning. You can also make riffs on the original with different nut butters, cocoa powder, and even other thawed fruit. So what are you waiting for?

 

I have a secret to tell you, but before I do, you have to promise that you won’t point, laugh, and shun me for it. I can’t handle having to sport a branded letter on my arm, signifying to the world the truth. You see, I have this thing. With red meat. No, not making sure it’s grass fed. I mean, yes, there’s that, but that almost sounds normal compared with this other thing. This thing that’s totally bizarre-o and so not appropriate for a gourmand foodie such as myself (don’t laugh). Here goes…

If you sit me down at a table and place 2 plates in front of me, one showcasing a $35 perfectly cooked steak dinner and the other featuring a big, juicy, $5 homecooked burger…I will turn a cold shoulder to that steak before you can even say, “and how would you like your steak cooked, madam?” I actually don’t like steak, and trust me, I have had some really top notch cuts in my life. It makes only eating grass-fed beef much more affordable and manageable, since I can watch people eating steaks left and right and not get jealous, and I don’t burn a hole in my wallet trying to ethically satisfy some red meat craving all the time.

The fact that I don’t really like steak very much means something else: I basically never cook it. I barely know how. I’ve handled raw red meat I think twice in my life, and one of them was just last week. I’m a total amateur, but that’s ok. Because if I can conquer the red-meated beast, so can you. And I even went first, so you get to learn from all of my silly mistakes.

Mistake #1: Believing that you can at a whim stop by your local Whole Foods market and find the exact cut of beef that you need…in grass-fed form. Result: what was originally intended to be a Memorial Day cook out was postponed until Whole Foods’ next shipment came in…2 days later.

Mistake #2: Believing the recipe when it tells you that after 5 brief minutes per side, your full steak will not be an absolute bloody mess when you cut into it. Put that thing back on the grill, seriously! (As a side note, I know people who actually would’ve loved how rare – virtually uncooked – the meat was at this time interval, so if you’re one of those people, ignore this. If you like your meat more towards medium-rare, maybe 7 minutes per side. And if you like it well-done…just slice the darn thing and cook it that way. You’ll save yourself a ton of grief.)

Ok, so really, that’s not so bad, right? I also made a few really fantastic judgment calls when making these sandwiches. First, I decreased the amount of meat called for in general – ½ pound per person is just ridiculous, especially for a sandwich. I went with 1.5lb for 4 people and even then had leftovers – I think this sandwich is intended to be piled high with meat, and that’s just not my (or my family’s) style. Ok, it’s a little bit my family’s style, but they were following my lead and I made my sandwich first. Ha!

Overall, this is a good sandwich. I don’t know if it’s phenomenal enough to warrant Rachael Ray’s title, “Tony Soprano’s Steak Sandwich.” I mean, those are big shoes for a sandwich to fill. Still, it was tasty; I think it just needed one more element to really put it over the top. I also secretly think that turning it into burger form would make it even better, but shh! The Red Meat Snobs are going to bludgeon me for such blasphemy, so let’s keep that little recommendation between us.

You could buy jarred giardiniera for the relish, as the recipe states, but then why would you, when 100 pages later in the exact same cookbook she teaches you how to make your own? Just don’t make the whole thing – the recipe said it made 1 quart, and the sandwiches called for 1 quart – but one of those two yields was way off because I’ve basically been eating leftover giardiniera for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week straight and still have about a cup left. The recipe below makes the full batch, but I’m pretty sure you could halve it and still have enough to pile 4 sandwiches to the sky with it. I found the recipe to be a little bit too sweet, but I’ve left the sugar content alone because I don’t know how much you could reduce it without affecting the pickling ability of the solution. And it’s really only too sweet when you eat big spoonfuls on its own (really, I wasn’t kidding, I made way too much…); on the sandwich it adds a nice balance to the savory steak.

So maybe this isn’t Tony Soprano’s steak sandwich, but I liked it, my dad liked it (ok my dad had his without any veggies and with ketchup, but he’s a Philadelphian, can you blame him?), L liked it, my mom liked it. It may not be mob-approved, but it’s certainly us-approved, and as I said before…I don’t even like steak! I mean…what?

 

Lately, I’ve been shying away from actual recipes and increasingly drawn to taking inventory of my kitchen and figuring out what combinations of foods could produce something edible. Before moving out on Saturday, I had been getting a lot of satisfaction out of taking the odds and ends ingredients and foods from my apartment that I was trying to use up, and turning them into something interesting. Some of my attempts were admittedly better than others, but one of my favorites was this peanut butter spread/dip. I tend to pair my peanut butter with sweeter foods – fruit, yogurt, and chocolate more than anything else – but every once in a while I like throwing my taste buds a curveball and tying in some more savory flavors to a peanut butter meal, which is exactly what I did for this spread. I made it two ways – first as an actual spread and the second time bulked up with some yogurt to make more of a dip, and both were equally delicious. The spread is perfect for sandwiches, pancakes, or vegetables; the dip is much creamier – vaguely reminiscent of a sour cream & onion dip – and would be fantastic with some fresh vegetables like broccoli or carrots. You may even want to toss it in some pasta with vegetables if you’re feeling particularly wacky. I’ve included both alternatives below, but only have a photograph of the dip. 

 

One Year Ago: Ridiculously Easy, Ridiculously Decadent Chocolate Peanut Fudge

It’s hard to believe that in just 10 days I’ll have graduated college. I’m going to move back home, start a dietetic internship to become a Registered Dietitian – it’s not nearly as frightening as actually stepping out into the workforce (stay tuned in about 1 year when I reach that point), but it is definitely new for me. All of the habits I’ve gotten into living on my own, cooking for myself – these are all about to be challenged as I learn to adjust once again to the rules of living under my parents’ roof.

One food habit that I picked up while in college was eating more ground turkey breast. It’s relatively inexpensive, pretty darn healthy, and much easier to track down than grass-fed beef (at least around these parts). My family eats it occasionally, sure, but I think I might actually miss my turkey burgers and casseroles that may not be weekly staples, but are definitely on the menu a few times a month.

Of course, I don’t just pack down the turkey meat from the package into patties and cook them just like that, so I’m always on the lookout for tasty ways to flavor the turkey to make a truly interesting burger. I think I got really lucky with these turkey Bolognese burgers, because they’re by far some of the best I’ve had. A lot of times, it’s the burger toppings that enthrall me, and they distract me from the essence of the burger – the turkey. And although the sauce poured over these burgers is truly fantastic and I’m equally looking forward to the tofu-avocado sauce I’m going to pour over them again tonight, the burger itself is also cooked to absolute perfection. No dry meat here, folks! I’ve never broiled a turkey burger before but after the success of this recipe, I think I’ll be testing it out with other recipes, too.

Overall, this dish is a keeper: the arugula lends its quintessential bite, the sauce had just a little bit of a spicy kick to it, and the burgers were melt-in-your mouth delicious and full of savory flavor from the mushrooms. I also made it lactose free by using nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese and forgoing the cheese on top, and I still found them to be delicious. Cheese certainly can make anything taste better, but when it’s this good on its own – that’s the mark of a truly exceptional recipe. So come on, go make this for you and your family. Maybe swap spinach in for the arugula for the kiddos if they’re not a fan of arugula’s distinct flavor. 

  

 I need to start this post on a little bit of a downer (well, maybe – it might be a good thing in the end): I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up with these 30 Minute Thursday posts. It isn’t that I’m getting close to having cooked my way through Rachael Ray’s entire book – I most certainly haven’t. However, the recipes that I haven’t made and am actually interested in making are dwindling quickly, and I almost feel as though the recipes that I do make and write about are mostly variations of the same meal. Case in point: another Mexican recipe for today, even though I’ve told you about fiesta salads and chicken fajitas and green chile quesadillas up the wazoo. And I’m not even done yet! I have another Mexican-inspired meal in the line up already. Don’t get me wrong, they taste good – I just worry that I’m falling into a rut that you aren’t too interested in following me into. I can’t say that I blame you if that’s the case.

I haven’t made any decisions yet, and likely won’t definitively until after the semester ends (which, by the way, is a frighteningly short 3 weeks away – when did I get to be old enough to graduate?). So for now, 30 Minute Thursdays continue. But I may scale it back to every other week or once a month, and eventually I’ll move on to my next cookbook victim (I wonder which one will come next?). If you have any strong feelings about these posts, please share them! I cook for myself but I do write with you in mind, so I would definitely take your thoughts into account when I make my final decision.

If you’re bored of Fiesta Floptimism, you may want to stop here. If not, though, I have another decent, back-pocket meal for you today. This recipe in the book is called a Make Your Own Burrito Bar, but seeing as how I cook for myself and no one else, the “bar” really just turned into me making a black bean burrito with my choice ingredients like I would any other night. Not so festive, but it worked.

To the glass-half-empty chef, this meal may very well have been a total disaster. I fumbled to get the tomatoes charred the way I wanted them, then I overcompensated and charred the burrito so long that it got a little too stiff to roll and I had to eat the whole thing with a knife and a fork. I added greek yogurt (aka the Floptimism version of sour cream) to the burrito after I flipped it once, which heated the yogurt and actually made it coagulate a teensy bit. It was a hot mess to eat, to say the least.

But to the glass-half-full chef, as I aspire to be, this was a star performer recipe. Eating a burrito with a fork and a knife is no tragedy, nor is it something new for me since I habitually overstuff my sandwiches to the point where eating with my hands is not an option. I actually liked the way the yogurt cooked slightly – it imparted a pseudo-cheesy flavor and worked really well with the other flavors. As a whole, this was a mildly spicy burrito full of flavor, and definitely full of fun. What’s not to love about that?

Welcome back, everyone! I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend, whether you were celebrating the holidays or not. I know that it was a whirlwind for me, but I had an incredible time with L’s family and am really looking forward to telling you about some of the things I made for dessert for both Christmas Eve and Day. I need a breather, though – a little reprise from all of the holiday baking and traveling. I’ve always found the day after Christmas to be a little anti-climactic. The Christmas songs go away, the energy from Christmas morning wanes but doesn’t go away completely – I find myself up today, drinking a glass of almond milk in preparation of returning to my workout routine after a few days of sacrificing it for the sake of getting all of that baking done, and I’m almost thinking to myself “Well, what now?”

This kale salad is anything but anti-climactic, though. In fact, I was so skeptical about it because I wasn’t fully convinced that I even liked kale beyond kale chips, but my produce calendar said it was in season and I’m up for giving anything a second chance. Plus, I always feel like salads should be doing more for me nutritionally than my beloved romaine, yet sometimes a big plate of raw spinach really rubs me the wrong way. As it turns out, kale is the perfect blend of the two! It has the light taste of romaine – not the same watery crunch, but still very far from the chew of spinach – with all of the nutritional powerhouse qualities of spinach. It’s absolutely my new favorite salad base!

I quartered the recipe and wound up with enough for about 2 pretty voluminous, though not necessarily entirely filling, portions. When I first made it, I ate it with an egg casserole; the next day I just had it on its own and both times it was nothing short of amazing. The vinaigrette, which I’ve made twice now and have gotten big compliments on it from everyone, is full of depth from a good olive oil and flavor from the citrus and parmesan. Lemon and parmesan really do go well together (and, by the way – I have officially switched over to the Real Deal parmesan; no more of that awful canned Kraft stuff here at Floptimsim!), and you don’t need much of the cheese to get the desired flavor. The pine nuts added a toasty chew, too. Plus, the salad got arguably even better overnight –the next day I was practically in heaven. You need to make this salad. You just do. If you’re looking for a lighter reprieve from the sugar rush of this weekend, this is perfect. If you could care less about healthy eating but just want a ridiculously good salad, a real crowd pleaser (does anyone need an idea for a New Year’s Eve or Day gathering recipe??), this is perfect, too. In fact, I don’t know if there is a situation where this salad wouldn’t be perfect.