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By sally, on February 3rd, 2010
When Graham and I got married one of the gifts we received was a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I was super excited about the mixer, but Graham had been a little hesitant to put it on our registry in the first place. I think his main concern was that this monstrous machine might end up going unused and just take up valuable kitchen space. I tried to explain all of the wonderful things that mixers can do and how he would benefit from all of the yummy stuff I would make. Driven by his sweet tooth, Graham finally agreed that we should put it on the registry and keep it if we got one. However, I had to promise that I would use the mixer at least once a month.
To date, I have made good on my promise and have actually far exceeded the once-a-month quota. I’ve used the mixer to make a number of tempting treats, but given a little bit of concern about their effect on our waistlines, I decided we needed to start making some healthier recipes. As a result, I’ve been making a lot of bread with the mixer. Though not all of the bread recipes I’ve made can be considered healthy, they are a step up from cookies and pastries!
The most recent “bread” recipe that I made with the mixer was for cinnamon raisin bagels. Never having made bagels before, I have to say I was quite proud of how they turned out. I was reassured of my success when Graham, after his first bite said, “Wow, these are like real bagels!”
The recipe for these bagels is from Peter Reinhart’s, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Reinhart goes step by step through the process of making the bagels and I would highly recommend checking out the book if you are interested in making bagels or any other homemade bread.
I’ve been working my way through the recipes in this book and while some of them can take a while to make, the mixer takes out some of the grunt work. Here are some pictures of the breads that I have made so far. Hopefully they will entice you into making your own…
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
| Recipe Report Card |
Notes About Recipe Ratings |
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Tasty Rating
Four Chefs (Delicious!)
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Toasted with butter, these bagels were a truly tasty breakfast treat. |
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Easy Rating
Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…)
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It takes two days to make these bagels. Most of the time is not hands-on time, but there are quite a few steps (mixing, raising, shaping, boiling, and baking). |
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Healthy Rating
Two Apples (Surgeon General’s Warning!)
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I used refined flour for these bagels, but they don’t have added fat and are lower in sugar. |
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Green Rating
Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved)
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The ingredients that made up the bulk of this recipe were organic. I guess it is possible to buy organic yeast, but I haven’t come across it in my local grocery store yet. |
By sally, on January 28th, 2010
I went to battle the other day. I wish I could say that this battle was against an Iron Chef in Kitchen Stadium, but who am I kidding – being a chef on that show would be way too intense. I think I might run away as fast as I could as soon as the secret ingredient was revealed!
Instead this battle was waged in my own Kitchen Stadium against some explosive corn fritters. I’m sorry to say that there were some casualties during this battle. Without warning the corn kernels in these ferocious fritters would explode, throwing hot oil projectiles in every direction. While trying to flip a fritter and suppress some of this hostility, I took a direct hit to the eyelid. Yes, it hurt, but I didn’t go down easily. Armed with a large pot cover for a shield, I came back and showed those fritters who was boss.
Though the fritters were fierce opponents, in the end they did go down pretty easily. Victory tasted so sweet! Or should I say, tasted sweet and savory with a kick of heat from the Thai curry paste. Yes, despite all the trouble I had, these crispy little fritters were delicious. A fresh and tangy cucumber relish helped to further tame these fritters by providing a cooling contrast to the spicy fried flavor.
I would definitely recommend this recipe, but the big lesson learned from this battle was—when frying corn fritters, it is best to have something to shield yourself from the exploding corn and oil (and maybe even wear some protective eye gear!). Next time I might also try to reduce the amount of oil for frying the fritters. This might help reduce the chance of sustaining causalities from the hot oil, as well as cut down on the calories and fat in this dish.
Thai Corn Fritters with Cucumber Relish
Adapted from the Café Flora Cookbook
Thai Corn Fritters
You can use either fresh or frozen corn kernels for this recipe. Since corn is not in season right now I used frozen. The original recipe called for a tablespoon of Thai red curry paste. The store bought Thai curry paste that I used for this dish has a very concentrated flavor, so I ended up cutting the amount of curry paste I used. Depending on the type of curry paste you use, you may have to add more or less. The batter for the fritters also needs to chill for an hour before it is cooked. While the batter chills, you can put together the cucumber relish (see recipe below).
- 2 cups corn kernels
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- ¼ cup of all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons of red curry paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- vegetable oil
In a food processor, blend together 1 cup of the corn kernels and the celery. In a bowl, mix together the finely chopped corn kernels and celery with the remaining corn, the flour, baking powder, and red curry paste. Once mixed, refrigerate for an hour.
Pour enough vegetable oil into a large skillet to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat oil over medium heat. When oil is hot add a heaping teaspoon of batter for each fritter to the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on one side. Flip the fritter and cook for another 2 minutes. Watch out for the hot oil! The fritters should be golden brown and the center should cooked through. Remove fritters from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.
Served fritters topped with cucumber relish.
Cucumber Relish
- 1 English cucumber, slice in half and deseeded
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Cut the seeded cucumber into small 1-inch slices and then roughly chop. Place the chopped cucumbers into a small bowl and mix in cilantro, mint and basil. Add vinegar, sugar and red pepper flakes and allow mixture to marinate for 30 minutes.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
| Recipe Report Card |
Notes About Recipe Ratings |
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Tasty Rating
Four Chefs (Delicious!)
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Delicious! We especially liked the fresh and herby cucumber relish. |
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Easy Rating
Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…)
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Putting the batter together for these fritters was not difficult, but the frying piece bordered on dangerous. |
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Healthy Rating
Two Apples (Surgeon General’s Warning!)
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Though very tasty, these fritters were fried. Frying is definitely not the healthiest cooking method. |
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Green Rating
Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved)
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The majority of the ingredients were organic, but not local. The eggs were cage free and local. |
By sally, on January 23rd, 2010
In the last few evenings I’ve noticed that it has been staying lighter just a little bit longer. These extra few minutes of daylight give me hope that the dark and dreary days of winter are coming closer to an end. Granted, here in California, our days are not quite as dreary as other parts of the country, but until spring comes, finding ways to bring light and warmth into our days is essential.
A bowl of sweet potato and coconut soup recently supplied us with some of that much-needed warmth. This soup is like sunshine in a bowl. After just a few spoonfuls, Graham and I felt like we had been transported to the islands!
The original recipe for this soup did in fact come from some islands (the Islands of French Polynesia, that is), but unfortunately we did not acquire it there. Since neither of us have been there, we had to experience the flavors through a recipe from the World Food Café Cookbook. This book contains vegetarian recipes from around the world and photos that make my mouth water.
Even though I’ve flipped through this book multiple times, until recently I had never made one of the recipes. Though all of the dishes look very tasty, some of the recipes are pretty intimidating. However, the sweet potato and coconut soup was a fairly easy and definitely tasty introduction to this book.
The creamy soup was dominated by the rich flavors of sweet potato and spices and the heat from the cayenne pepper. These strong flavors masked the coconut flavor for Graham, but the sweet aroma and delicate flavor of the coconut definitely came through for me. Please try out the recipe and let us know what you think…
Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup
Adapted from the World Food Café Cookbook 2
- 2 large sweet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
- cilantro, for garnishing (optional)
Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Chop onions and garlic.
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions begin to soften. Add sweet potato cubes to the pot and cook until potatoes just begin to soften (roughly 10 minutes). Mix in spices and cook for 1 more minute.
Add the vegetable stock and bring soup to a boil. Once boiling, cover pot and reduce the heat. Soup should simmer until sweet potatoes are soft and can be pierced easily with a fork. Add coconut milk to the soup and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Remove the soup from heat and use an immersion blender or countertop blender to puree the soup. Once blended, the soup should be smooth and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish soup with cilantro leaves.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
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Notes About Recipe Ratings |
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Tasty Rating
Four Chefs (Delicious!)
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This soup, as I mentioned previously, is like sunshine in a bowl. Brightly colored with rich warm flavors. |
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Easy Rating
Three Easy Chairs (Average Difficulty)
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Pretty straightforward recipe. An immersion blender makes pureeing this soup a snap. I can imagine that it might be a little bit of a task to puree the soup in a countertop blender though. |
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Healthy Rating
Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise)
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On the whole a pretty healthy, vegetable based soup. The coconut milk does add some fat and calories to the recipe, but I used a light coconut milk to cut some of that down. |
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Green Rating
Three Leaves (Average Environmental Friendliness)
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Most of the ingredients were organic, but the coconut milk was not organic and was pretty far from being local. |
By sally, on January 15th, 2010
When flipping through a new cookbook or a magazine there are always some recipes that seem to just jump out at you. The appealing pictures or particular ingredients make you think, wow, I have to make that! Well, this cauliflower recipe was one of those for me.
One of the reasons this recipe stood out was of course because of the cauliflower. Cauliflower is not just broccoli’s pale little sister, but a versatile vegetable that tastes great prepared in a number of different ways. The other reason was the panko. I’ve never used panko in a dish before and a recent conversation with a co-worker convinced me that these especially crispy breadcrumbs were a must try.
Ready to see if panko could live up to my coworker’s praises, I set about making this new recipe. The resulting cauliflower caramelized around the edges and had a slightly sweet flavor that was well-complimented by the crispy garlic infused panko.
For the most part I was quite pleased with my first panko experience. I did notice that by the end of meal that the panko had lost some of its crunch though. Leftovers from this dish would definitely not have the same texture as the freshly made version.
Crispy Panko Coated Cauliflower
Adapted from Cooking Light (12/09)
To steam the cauliflower, I used a steam basket in one of our pots on the stove. The original recipe includes instructions for cooking the cauliflower in the microwave.
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
- ½ cup panko
- 2 garlic cloves
- salt and pepper to taste
Slice the cauliflower into small florets and steam florets until they are tender, but still slightly crisp.
To toast the panko, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Once the oil is hot, add panko to the pan. Cook for a few minutes or until the panko becomes golden brown, stirring constantly.
Remove toasted panko from the pan and heat the remaining oil. Add the garlic and the steamed cauliflower. Cook the mixture until the edges of the cauliflower begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Top cauliflower with the panko and salt and pepper to taste.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
| Recipe Report Card |
Notes About Recipe Ratings |
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Tasty Rating
Four Chefs (Delicious!)
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Definitely a tasty way to prepare cauliflower. |
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Easy Rating
Four Easy Chairs (“ABC, Easy as 123…”)
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Although this dish does require the use of two pans, it is pretty easy to put together. The ingredients are also all easy to find. I’m pretty sure panko can be found at most supermarkets (check the baking aisle). |
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Healthy Rating
Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise)
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Although there is some added oil and the panko is not whole grain, the vitamin rich, waist-friendly cauliflower makes up for it. |
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Green Rating
Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved)
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All organic ingredients, except for the panko. |
By sally, on January 9th, 2010
For Graham and me, the beginning of the New Year meant it was time to do some New Year’s cleaning. With preparations for the holidays and travel to visit our families, we took a bit of a hiatus from cleaning in December. As a result, when we arrived back home we found that our neglected abode was not in a state fit for welcoming in the New Year.
Despite some initial pouting from me about spending my last vacation day cleaning, we swept and mopped, scrubbed and organized for most of the day. We even went as far as to clean out and organize the pantry. In the pantry we found some interesting odds and ends that we had forgotten were there, including several cans of black beans. The cans must have been breeding in there, because neither of us was sure where they all came from.
Feeling a little uninspired by the multiple cans of beans, I thought about just stacking them up and putting them back in the pantry again. However, we were doing New Year’s cleaning, so I thought I should at least see if I had a recipe that would use up some of the cans. Low and behold I found a recipe for Cuban-style black beans that I had clipped from an old Real Simple magazine. The recipe looked pretty tasty and best of all it called for two whole cans of beans!
When we finished up all of our cleaning, I quickly whipped up a batch of the beans. Served over some brown rice and garnished with avocado and cilantro, the beans made for a nice hearty dish. The tang from the vinegar added a little zip and a dash or two of Tabasco gave the dish a spicy kick. To top it all, we were able to enjoy the beans while admiring our no longer neglected, spic and span house…!
Cuban Style Black Beans
From Real Simple
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into small pieces
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans of black beans (15 ounces each)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until the onion and bell pepper soften. Add cumin to the mixture and cook for another minute.
Stir in black beans, water and oregano. Cover the pot and simmer mixture for roughly 10 minutes. Add the vinegar to the beans. To thicken the soup, smash several of the beans with a spoon.
Serve the beans over brown rice and garnish with cilantro and avocado slices.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
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Notes About Recipe Ratings |
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Tasty Rating
Three Chefs (Average Tastiness)
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This dish was good, but not great and not as tasty as some of our other recent dishes – definitely edible, but nothing to write home about. |
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Easy Rating
Four Easy Chairs (”ABC, Easy as 123…”)
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Chop vegetables, open some cans and heat. This is a very quick meal to pull together, with all easy to find ingredients. |
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Healthy Rating
Five Apples (My Body is My Temple!)
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Complete with vegetables, legumes and whole grains, this dish is low in fat and a good source of protein and fiber. |
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Green Rating
Three Leaves (Average Environmental Friendliness)
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I would say about half of the ingredients in this dish were organic (not quite meeting our New Year’s resolution here). |
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