Sunday, April 15, 2012

Berry Delicious Sauce












Fresh berries are naturally delicious and healthy.   All too often, some remain after the initial feasting and begin to wither. Use those berries to make a sauce for the food of the gods, Greek yogurt.  Add granola to the mix for a parfait.




Berry Delicious Sauce


Ingredients:

1 cup berries (whole blueberries or diced strawberries)
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 tsp. citric acid
1 tablespoon water
1 sprinkle iodized salt

Technique:

In a small sauce pan, place all the ingredients, turn up the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and cook until you see "foam."  Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes until the fruit becomes more candy-colored and smooth.

Remove the pan from heat.  Careful!  It's hot.

Place the cooled sauce in a covered glass container or jar, and store in the refrigerator.

Calories:  about 50 per tablespoon.

(I've used diced peaches or diced cherries instead of berries.)


Saturday, March 31, 2012

Chopped Tomato and Pepper Melange



The supermarket sometimes carries bags of mixed red, yellow, and orange sweet mini peppers.  Alternatively, I use red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. They are low calorie, high Vitamin C, and sweet.  A mixture of other ingredients brings in some heat and spice.  This bowlful takes a little chopping and then sitting to let the flavors develop.  This Melange or mixture accents grilled food.


Chopped Tomato and Pepper Melange

Ingredients:

7 sweet mini peppers (or regular sized red, yellow, and orange bell peppers)

2 organic hydroponic tomatoes

citric acid

sea salt (iodized)
lime juice
Sriracha rooster sauce

Technique and Measure:

Remove stems and seeds from mini sweet peppers.  Chop into small pieces.
Remove stems from tomatoes.  Chop into small pieces.
Mix in a bowl.

Mix in:

1/8 tsp. citric acid
12 grinds of sea salt
1 Tablespoon organic lime juice from a bottle, or juice of one whole lime
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha rooster sauce

Option:  For color contrast, mix in a small chopped jalapeno or banana pepper, or mix in some olives.

Mix together and stir all ingredients well, then cover, and let sit for several hours to take up the flavors.

(This is my husband's recipe, and I prefer to bake, stir fry, or grill the veggies, rather than eat them raw.)

Calories: 150
Fiber:  9g
Vitamin C:  560%
Vitamin A:  100%

Tomate et Piment Mélange Revisité


If you want to add to the Chopped Tomato and Pepper Melange,  add this mixture for a heartier variation.

3 dried red chiles (Anaheim or Ancho)
2 TBS sundried red tomatoes
Grind tomatoes and chiles to a fine powder.
Add 2 tsp EVOO
Add 3 TBS hot water
Add dash finely ground salt
Mix and let stand for 15 minutes
[If you add pure ground chocolate, you will have something close to a red mole.]


Red Peppers and Olive Oil are two of "15 super foods for kidney health - Kidney disease education and nutrition articles - Your Kidneys"  http://bit.ly/Je9WeV


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Zingy Veg Broccoli Salad




















This recipe makes a bowl of

Zingy Veg Broccoli Salad

I purchased from a supermarket produce section the

Veg Ingredients:

Broccoli

Carrots (organic)

Lemon (organic)

Sweetener:

Honey

Nuts and berries:

Pecans, dried cranberries

Technique and measure:

2 broccoli crowns, rinsed, florets cut from stems (2 cups)
2 large carrots, scraped and sliced/chopped (1/2 cup)
Lemon juice fresh from one lemon (1/4 cup)
1 Tablespoon honey (or maple syrup)
2 T pecans
2 T dried cranberries (or omit and add extra pecans)

Steam broc and carrots light green and orange in a steamer basket, or in a rice steamer, or microwave.  Place the sliced carrots in the bottom of the basket so they will get the most steam, followed by the broccoli.
Mix lemon and honey.
Place the lightly steamed veg in a bowl.
Top with pecans and cranberries.
Then drizzle with honey and lemon.

This recipe makes two large servings at about
260 calories, 5.5 g protein, and 8 g fiber each.


Saturday, January 14, 2012

Lentils and Sauce Vegetarian Soup


Lentils and Sauce Vegetarian Soup
Ingredients

8 cups water
1 onion
2 celery stalks
4 carrots
1 cup dry red lentils
1 tablespoon of Bragg Organic Sprinkle Seasoning
1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos
                                                                     1/2 cup (to 1 cup) jar tomato pasta sauce

Combine Ingredients:

Water:  Pour 2 quarts of water (8 cups) in a big soup pot.  Bring to a low boil.  Add the mirepoix, lentils, and herbs.  Reserve the tomato sauce and Bragg Liquid Aminos to add after the soup has simmered for two hours.

Mirepoix:  1 onion, 2 celery stalks, 4 carrots (all chopped).  The mirepoix cooks to make a no-sodium broth.

Lentils: 1 cup dry lentils:  prefer red, but brown, even green will do.  Rinse and sort.

Herbs:  1 tablespoon of Bragg Sprinkles.  Alternatively substitute your own mixture of herbs in place of Sprinkles.

Simmer:  Simmer on low, uncovered, for two hours.  Some of the water will evaporate, filling the air with aromatics.

Finish:  After the soup has simmered for two hours, add 1 to 2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce), and 1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) of tomato sauce from a jar.  Avoid canned tomato products that may contain BPA and sauces with HFCS.

The soup is complemented by hard cheese such as grated parmesan or cubed cheddar, and wheat bread, rice, crackers or pasta.

For electric crock pot:  To cook less soup in an electric crock pot, halve the ingredients and cook for several hours in the crock pot covered. 
 
Left over soup:  Left over soup can be used to top baked potatoes, and soup without broth can be used for tortilla filling by adding salsa instead of pasta sauce.  Also, the plain soup can be measured into one cup quantities and frozen for later.

Calories and Fiber:  This soup makes 6 to 8 one cup servings each with approximately 200 calories, 7 grams of protein, and 4 grams of fiber. 

@icookwhatilike