Food In Many Forms

When the farm share starts in June, one of the first things we always get is lots of greens - salad greens, spinach, cabbage, kale, rainbow chard. Some of the more exotic ones are a hard sell in my house - I was enjoying rainbow chard in omelets, and sauteed in olive oil, but I couldn't inspire any enthusiasm for it. The end of the season also brings lots of greens, so I had an opportunity to try again. This recipe, inspired by Martha Stewart and the New York Times, makes Swiss chard a bit more palatable, without the elaborate assembly that lasagna normally requires. INGREDIENTS 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium red onion, coarsely chopped 1 pound Swiss chard 5-6 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 can whole-peeled tomatoes with juices (do not drain) 8 no-boil lasagna noodles 1-2 cups of fresh whole milk ricotta cheese Salt and pepper to taste DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash the chard and separate the leaves from the stems. Chop the onio...

A few months ago, we grabbed some marinated Chicken Shawarma from Trader Joe's and were pleasantly surprised how well it turned out by just baking it in the oven. We paired the chicken with pita, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and cucumber. Any meal that gets praised in my house is worth repeating. So, I looked through a few homemade marinade recipes and decided to try it out for myself. The NYT recipe looked like the best option, because the chicken was also meant to be baked after it was marinated.  INGREDIENTS 2 lemons, juiced 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp olive oil 12 cloves garlic 1 tsp kosher salt 2 tsp black pepper 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp turmeric A pinch of ground cinnamon Red pepper flakes, to taste 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley DIRECTIONS 1. Prepare a marinade for the chicken. Combine the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon...

CSA season is like a marathon of food preparation, and it started yesterday. Last season, I found it stressful to find ways to use all the different vegetables, to the point where I couldn't wait to give them away and I got angry when I forgot to use them up in the forms of veggie kabobs for bbqs, or side dishes at parties and dinners. Eating healthy shouldn't be so stressful. So this season, we are splitting the share with another couple and I am going to get organized and enlist help. This week's box included: kale spinach  red leaf lettuce  spring mix bok choy broccoli radishes scallions garlic scapes  PYO snap peas  PYO strawberries  PYO lavender Last night when we got the box, we washed all the greens, and made our own proprietary salad mix that we put in an old supermarket container. I chopped up the broccoli and put the green onions in water. Tonight I made a radish and greens salad with a homemade mustard dressing from epicuri...

I love it when I stumble on something so easy and good. This recipe is adapted from two different sources, and serves 2 hungry people. Depending on how big a fillet you use, you may have a bit leftover for lunch the next day. I paired it with steamed french green beans and brown rice, but it could go with pretty much any kind of vegetable/ grain combo. The nutrition profile looks a little crazy, but keep in mind that there is going to be marinade left in the baking dish. Hopefully, you are probably not drinking the remaining marinade, but it's still good to know what the worst-case scenario is. INGREDIENTS 1/2-2/3 pound salmon fillets 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed 3 Tbsp soy sauce 3 Tbsp cup brown sugar 3 Tbsp cup water 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1/2 lemon's juice DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 400 degrees. with a rack in the center. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, water, and vegetable oil until sugar is dissolved.  Place fish in a l...

We have been stocking up in case we have to quarantine for weeks. Last Friday, I told my boyfriend I would stop by Haymarket and the grocery store after work to pick up a few more things. When I came home, I found that I had brought soft corn tortillas, he bought hard taco shells. I bought a crispy french baguette, he bought a loaf of everything bread. I bought 5 lbs of carrots, he bought baby carrots. I tucked the 5 lbs of carrots away in the back of the fridge, hoping they would stay good for a while. And a week later, there is not a can of soup to be found on the shelves, so I am making my own carrot ginger soup in case we end up sick in bed pretty soon. Ingredients 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 cup chopped yellow onions 8 garlic cloves, smashed 4 heaping cups chopped carrots 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 4 tablespoons white wine 4 cups vegetable broth Sea salt and fresh black pepper 1 teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (optional) coconut milk for garni...

Last week in our rush to get stocked up for the quarantine, we stocked up on protein, but chicken was hard to come by. Normally, I would frown on eating such large quantities of red meat. But the stores have absolutely no chicken right now, so we have beef short rib and rack of lamb instead. I will eat them because it is what I have available, but it doesn't mean I can't also load up on vegetables and whole grains! Ingredients 1 lb beef short rib 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 Tbsp honey 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp sesame oil 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped 4 cloves garlic, halved 1 cup shaved carrots 1 cup finely shredded red cabbage 1/2 cup coarsely shredded cucumber 1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro Directions 1. Trim fat from meat. Place meat in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For marinade, in a blender or food processor combine onion, honey, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Pour marinade over meat. ...

How do I find time to cook at home?  How do I prevent getting bored of the same foods when I am cooking for one? How do I incorporate seasonal produce into my food routine? These are typical questions that come up during a nutrition counseling session. My clients often want easy answers at first. They want a meal plan; they want to be told what to eat. But the more they learn about good nutrition, and the more they prepare their own food, the more they learn to eat their own favorite foods in different ways and to plan out their meals in a way that works for them.  Let me tell you about my experience when I first was learning to cook and feed myself. I remember when I started this blog, back in college, around 3-4 pm, I would start running through the mental inventory of the food in my fridge. Would I start with rice, pasta or tortillas? Did I have a good protein? Did I have leftovers I needed to use up?  By the time I was walking home after class, I...

I had a mental shift recently. The whole adulting thing is hitting me pretty hard, and although nutrition will always be a concern to me, cost has become a much larger factor in my decision-making a the grocery store. That means shopping at cheaper stores, using coupons, and eating in a whole lot more.  It also means I'm less likely to choose recipes with fancy ingredients I don't have, and more likely to just use what I've got in the pantry. This may be why I have been blogging a lot less - because my meals are so run of the mill and don't always seem worth sharing. But I have an ever-growing pile of recipes that I have carefully annotated.When that pile gets too large, I find myself wanting preserve all that work so I can continue to make my cooking better. Ironically, my grocery bill is 1/3 to 1/2 of what it used to be since I started being more budget conscious, but my restaurant spending is right in line with the typical millenial. According to on...

Since I started working full-time last September, I have relied heavily on leftovers to save me money and keep me eating healthy during the work week. This was one of the best leftover meals I have made so far. When combined with a 4-pack of chicken sausage, this recipe made about 4 1/2 meals for me last week. The flavors of the Spanish rice meld together making it more rich every extra day it hangs out in the fridge. That being said, I still want to experiment with adding other spices and perfect this dish which is sure to be a favorite. Future additions might include chili powder, oregano, garlic, fresh cilantro, hot sauce, or lime juice. I will keep you posted! Ingredients 1/4 cup olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 bell peppers, seeded, ribs removed, and diced 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (optional) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup long-grain brown rice 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes 2 cups water 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon cumin Pr...

On a chilly day like today, when the temperature never reaches above freezing, and the wind chill is in the negative digits, it is only natural to crave soups and stews. I had fish de-thawed in my fridge, so I initially thought I would make fish stew. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the ingredients, and I wasn't highly motivated to leave my house to go shopping. Luckily, Ellie Krieger saved the day with a simple, healthy and easy recipe, that I adapted below, using the fish I already had in my fridge! Great RD's must think alike! Ingredients 2 6 oz fish filets of your choice (Salmon, Tilapia, Cod, etc) Marinate overnight in a ziploc bag with : 2 Tbsp Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil 1 Tbsp Wildtree Hot & Spicy Fra Diavolo Blend ¼ tsp salt OR 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves ¼ tsp salt 2 teaspoons garlic grapeseed oil, divided 1 small onion, di...

This recipe totally made me rethink enchiladas - the nontraditional ingredients really worked well together! I felt like the original recipe could use even more vegetables, so I changed the recipe to double up the veg for next time. Ingredients : 8 (5 inch) corn tortillas 1 unpeeled butternut squash, seeded 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 onion, chopped 4 cups fresh spinach, chopped 8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 1 cup enchilada sauce 1/4 cup goat cheese,  crumbled 1/4 cup cotija cheese,  crumbled 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional) 1/4 cup sour cream, for topping (optional) Directions : 1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 2. Lay the tortillas flat onto a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Meanwhile, place the butternut squash half into a microwave-safe dish cut-side-down, and pour in the water. Cook in the mic...

I truly believe in food destiny . These shrimp, marinated in Chesapeake Lemon dressing , and tucked away in the freezer, were meant to meet yellow grits . Today, that destiny became a reality . I had the hardest time finding a recipe that even resembled my mental image of Shrimp & Grits. I imagined creamy, salty, bright yellow grits, with colorful veggies and perfectly seasoned shrimp . I wanted peppers, and onions, softened and perfectly blended with the shrimp.  But so many recipes saturated the grits with cheese, packed in the bacon, and ignored the vegetables altogether. I think all the cheese, bacon grease and mounds of butter take away from the simple, delicious taste of this meal . My mother's side of the family is from the south, and we eat our grits with a little bit of milk and salt and it is perfection . When costing out this recipe, I was caught unaware by the price of the shrimp (especially since I bought and froze this particular shrimp back in ...

I always tell my patients, the worst thing that can happen to their diet is complacence . When you stop working to improve your diet, it will inevitably go in the opposite direction . So I recently set some goals for myself to improve my own diet. 1) Eat more meals at home 2) Cook more meals at home 3) Use more home-cooked meats , rather than processed/packaged meats 4) Bulk up on vegetables at lunch and dinner 5) Use only whole grain products at home A lot of this has to do with finding products and recipes I enjoy, but also making time to prepare meals ahead of time. At first, this meant using a lot of frozen vegetables and microwaveable rice, and cooking meat in large batches for several days. But eating 90-second brown rice and frozen broccoli everyday can get a little boring, even if it does help me meet my goals. So now that I have a regimen that I am comfortable and happy with, it's time to shake it up a bit . Asparagus is going to be in season in Maryland ...

It was just a matter of time before Pinterest entered my life in food form , and this recipe was too easy to resist. It took 10 minutes to prepare after I got home from the gym, and 25 minutes to bake. The original recipe had too many egg whites , and too few whole eggs for my taste, so the modified version below has twice as many whole eggs and half the egg whites. There are four servings after all, I think one egg yolk per person is okay. And that is my professional opinion ;) Healthy Breakfast Frittata Makes 4 Servings Ingredients: 1 Cup Eggwhites (I use eggwhites from a carton to make my life easier) 4 Whole Eggs 1/2 a Small White Onion Finely Chopped 2 Cups Spinach (not packed) 1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Feta Cheese Black Pepper, to taste Crushed Red Pepper, to taste Salt, to taste Directions: Preheat oven to 425 F. Place all ingredients in an 8×8 previously oiled baking dish sprinkling your spices on top. Using a fork fold ingredients together....

I had a little soup mishap, and it didn't turn out quite as delicious-looking as this one. But it was still pretty tasty, and I'm confident that if I could learn to follow directions, I could make some legit potato leek soup. I made this recipe even shorter and quicker than it already is by not mashing the potatoes or pureeing the leeks. So it actually looked more like the soup pictured. But I would definitely have chopped up the potatoes and leeks into smaller pieces if I had known I was going to go the lazy route. Potato Leek Soup From Eatingwell.com Makes 6 1-cup servings Active Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil 3 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced (3 cups) 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 1/4 pounds all-purpose potatoes, (about 3 medium), peeled and cut into small chunks 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream Salt &...

Monday night, after the gym, I was inspired to pick up some sliced almonds and nonfat Greek yogurt, and make myself a fruit parfait for dinner. It took about 10 minutes to assemble, and it made for a healthy, satisfying dinner. A few Google searches later, I found this recipe for a Chicken, Pesto, Celery, Walnut, and Spinach Wrap . It's just as easy to assemble, and made for plenty of leftovers! Ingredients: 6 Fiber One garden vegetable wraps 1 1/2 pounds rotisserie chicken  4 stalks celery, diced 2 Tbsp pesto 3 cups spinach, fresh 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped Directions: 1) Pull the meat off the rotisserie chicken, remove the skin, and divide it into smaller pieces.  2) Mix the pesto, walnuts, and celery in with the chicken. 3) Sprinkle 1/2 cup spinach on a vegetable wrap and cover with approximately 3 oz chicken 4) Roll it up like a burrito and enjoy! Adapted from:  http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick-recipes/dinner/qui...

 This week was my turn to work the weekend, which meant I had Thursday off, so I spent the day grocery shopping, prepping veggies, making dip and baking lasagna. With the thermometer stuck below 20 degrees, it was too cold to do much else.  I was inspired by a roasted root vegetable lasagna that I had at Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle a few years ago. You wouldn't think that radishes, squash and leeks would make for delicious lasagna, but it did. So I had high hopes for this recipe from "The view from great island" blog. Ingredients: 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and sliced (I used the pre-cut squash) 1 leek, sliced 1 fennel bulb, sliced a couple of handfuls of Brussels sprouts, quartered about a cup and a half of thickly sliced mushrooms 3 garlic cloves,whole with skin on olive oil 1 package of no cook lasagna noodles (I used a little more than half the box) 1 large jar of your favorite tomato sauce, or tomato puree 1 1/2 lb of whole milk ricotta cheese ...

I'm a fan of just about every thing Giada makes, and I had my eye on this recipe for quite some time. A perfect healthy date night meal. Ingredients 4 skinless chicken breast halves, with ribs 2 skinless chicken thighs, with bones 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 teaspoon 1/4 cup olive oil 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced 3 ounces prosciutto, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup white wine 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves 1/2 cup chicken stock 2 tablespoons capers 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves Directions Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a heavy, large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the peppers and pros...

I took a bit of a break from blogging while looking for a job, but I am excited to jump back into it now that I am gainfully employed. When I don't have time to cook every day, or every week, cooking is a special treat to share with those I care about - and can be a lot of fun. Plus, it's healthier and cheaper than going out.  This simple combination of pasta, sauteed onions, grape tomatoes, basil, feta, olive oil, garlic and Italian herbs was a great success when my old college roommate and I wanted a quick lunch to share on the patio on one of the last warm days in September.   Giada's Roman Chicken recipe made for a delicious date night with the new boyfriend. After a long, busy week full of not the best food choices, it feels good to sit down and enjoy a homemade meal for a change. Just remember to leave plenty of time to prepare the meal, so you're not stressed out or tempted to snack while you wait. I don't how I got it into my head th...

I'm totally on a Mexican Food Kick these past couple months... Mexican Noodles, Mexican Pizza, Mexican Dip... but hey, I will always take advantage of an opportunity to use taco seasoning and tons of fresh vegetables! So when my work today brought me to the CDC recipe database -  http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnparecipe/recipesearch.aspx  - I obviously chose the tortilla pizza to go in the cookbooks we are sending home with students next week after they visit the University Farmer's Market.  And isn't it only fair that I try out some of these recipes first?   And just to make this a little more interesting, I'm going to have a little nutrition face-off with a fellow blogger's Tortilla Pizza recipe - someone who "watches her weight" and tells us how her recipe is full of protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. We will see about that!  Skip below for recipes - I'm warning you, I might ramble a bit! Honey What's Cooking Mexican ...