I have published some of my citrus-based side salads before, like Mediterranean Couscous Salad, Vegetable Rice Salad, Greek Salad, and Corn and Bean Salad. Interesting tidbit: lemon juice based dressings are common in Middle Eastern food, because they historically don’t drink alcohol… so no wine, no vinegar, no vinaigrette based dressings.

In general, the dressings are 4 parts olive oil to 3 parts lemon (or lime) juice plus herbs. Personally, I like lemons and the acid bite, so I typically do more like a 1:1 ratio. And if you are using Meyer lemons, I would reverse the ratio, 3:4 (more lemon juice) because they just are not as sour.  Lemons pair wonderfully with many different herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, dill, oregano, mint) and will keep them from turning brown. 

Beet salads just have a spectacular color, especially if you use red beets. It is a bit of a pain to cook them, I try to do ahead if I’m baking something else, just refrigerate after they have cooled, and they will hold for a day or so. 

The phrase was coined in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra in 1606. In the speech at the end of Act One in which Cleopatra is regretting her youthful dalliances with Julius Caesar she says: "...My salad days, / When I was green in judgment, cold in blood… “ (thank you Wikipedia).

I had to look this up, because I always though it referred to days of being young and poor. Which never made sense, because I really never associated salads with being poor. But well, I was wrong. Which can be even more dangerous than not knowing.

Anyway, salad days at my house started Memorial Day weekend. I eat salads all year, but generally a main dish type salad for lunch (which is a topic for another day). I am talking about side salads: Potato salad, chicken salad, green bean salad, bean and corn salad, couscous salad… those kind of salads. Salads that are convenient to take to the park for a concert on the lawn. Or the beach should the sun come out.

I also realized that I pretty much just use 3 different dressings for these kind salads: creamy dressing, lemon (or other citrus) & olive oil, or vinegar & olive oil. Various herbs or spices added as desired.

Creamy dressing is just a variant on mayonnaise. If I were the type to make homemade mayonnaise, I would just use that.  But raw eggs still scare me... and even if I'm OK with them, I'm not comfortable about serving them to guests.  So this is what I use:  A small spoonful of mayonnaise, a big spoonful of plain (preferably 2% Greek) yogurt, and a forkful of Dijon mustard. Maybe add some pepper. Mix together with the mustard fork. That’s it. How much depends on how much you need. Doing 1 egg salad sandwich, it will be a small spoon. Doing potato salad for a crowd? BIG spoon.

So a couple of notes on the yogurt. For the yogurt haters out there, you won’t know it’s there. At least nobody has mentioned that my potato salad tastes different than mom’s, and I use at least half yogurt, she uses all mayonnaise. However, one problem with using “normal” (not Greek) yogurt, is that you can get some water separating off. It’s ok at first, but in a day its really noticeable. This is not a problem with Greek yogurt, or plain yogurt that you have strained some water off of by putting in a strainer lined with a coffee filter or double thickness cheese cloth (which is how Greek yogurt is made). And last, the ratio between mayonnaise and yogurt is not that critical. If you are watching calories and/or sodium, use more yogurt. If you not sure about the whole yogurt thing, start with more mayonnaise (and gradually increase the yorgurt…)

Chicken Salad

This is an important lesson I learned from engineering project planning. You made plans based on what you knew, did risk assessments on things that might go wrong (based on past history), but the really bad problems were things that came out of the blue – things you didn’t know.

I was reminded of this lesson this week, during our session with Ethan’s personal trainer (also known as the treat lady). She figured out that Ethan is a bit territorial about the new rug in the front room (which after all, we did get for him as an alternative to scratching up the floor). And this leads to undesirable behavior when someone, even nice like the treat lady, walks near the rug. I got that he was territorial about the kitchen… but a rug?

One of the things that I don’t know (believe or not, there are a lot of things I don't know), and I don’t think is generally known (at least based on a few web searches), are levels of pesticides (and fungicides, herbicides, etc) in our dairy and meat products. Or for that matter, processed food. There is lots of publicity about pesticide levels in fruits and vegetables (the dirty dozen, the clean fifteen…), but is this the most important thing spend the extra money (and often time) to get organic?

Here is how I try to decide:
1. If organic is easily available, for a small premium (like 20%), just get the organic.
2. If you eat a lot of it, get organic
3. If there are other benefits (like less antibiotic resistant bacteria, or better-for-you fats) get organic.
4. Where the non-organic choice is GMO (i.e. corn, soy products)

I also just try to avoid produce that has been imported (since it typically has a higher level of pesticides/other chemicals), and don’t buy any food from China (organic or not – their food system is just too corrupt to trust), and farmed fish (with some exceptions for US-farmed trout). And skip “organic” salmon. This is another way to say “farmed” salmon. Go for wild. Also remember that “natural” on a package of food is a marketing term, not an indication of what’s in the package. As far as processed food (and that includes the food from restaurants): best bet is to keep minimize how much you are eating. Because even “organic” can be full of sugars, overly processed ingredients, and bad fats.

We eat a lot of apples and banana’s, they are easy to get organic, that’s easy. As far as vegetables, I try to get as much as possible at the farmers market, from suppliers that are organic or that don’t use pesticides. I get organic corn chips. We eat enough oats that people might think we have a horse, so it falls into the organic list – if I happen to be at Trader Joes. Otherwise, I get Quaker at Safeway. Trader Joes carries a lot of organic products at reasonable prices, and Safeway is getting better (even have organic chicken now).

I really try to get pastured and/or organic meat, dairy and eggs. The data on pesticide levels is scant. There is some data on beef (which shows pesticides detected in a fair number of samples… mostly in the fat). But there are lots of other benefits, like higher omega-6 fats and less saturated fat, less antibiotic residue, and less bacteria (especially the nasty antibiotic resistant strains). Plus, the chicken and beef factories are fed with (government subsidized) genetically modified corn and soy. Organic meat is hard to find and more expensive. Milk and eggs are easy, just expensive – but we eat a lot of yogurt. And I don’t necessary cook my eggs until they are well done. I think meat raised out of doors, in a pasture tastes better, and is better for you.

Right now, there seems to be an explosion of conditions like autism, fatigue syndrome, ADHD, gluten intolerance, some types of cancer, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases that scientists don’t know why are increasing. And we also don’t know what low levels of a bunch of different chemicals (some known to be highly toxic in high levels) are doing to our bodies.

So, I make the effort.

I do have a list of foods that I avoid (not to be confused with chemical additives to food that I avoid… a post for another day). One of the categories of food I avoid is processed meat. Deli turkey. Pastrami. Hot Dogs. Bologna. Like trans fats, it seems that studies done on heart disease shows a link with high consumption of processed meat, but not meat in general. The scientists don’t know exactly why (seems the more they study, the more they don’t know). In addition, this week in USA Today there was a story how anyone over 50 (LIKE that’s old or something) should not eat deli meat unless it’s heated to over 150F, because of a risk of listeria (a type of food poisoning more commonly associated with raw milk), especially fatal to the elderly and pregnant.  Just one more little piece of data to help just walk by the deli counter when shopping.

As a side note, I do eat bacon, salami, and prosciutto, especially when made by small suppliers, using traditional methods. In limited amounts. After all, this diet is an evolution: any diet that isn't, is hard to maintain.

But deli meat is pretty easy to avoid. It’s easy to just cook some extra meat (chicken, pork, etc) to use that for sandwich or salad. Or have tuna, or eggs. Or peanut butter. Or Turkey.

BBQ Turkey

It’s good to have a thermometer on your grill for this, although I’m sure you can get there from trial and error. Flames and lots of smoke BAD

Rub:
1 teaspoon of each:
Chili Powder (I like Ancho, but anything works, even Paprika for the spicy-adverse)
Cumin, Coriander, Salt, Brown Sugar.  And maybe some Tumeric.. something I will try next time I make this.

1 3-lb turkey breast half (with bone)
Wood chips (mesquite or other)

Mix rub ingredients in a small bowl, then rub all over the half breast. Place in plastic (Zip-loc) bag and then into the refrigerator 4-8 hours.

About 30 minutes of starting to cook, place about a cup of wood chips in a bowl of water to soak. Prepare a drip pad to go under the turkey from foil, or use a small purchased foil pan. Place in the center of the grill, then light. Heat a gas grill for indirect heat (front and back on my grill). Using a double layer of foil, make a packet of the soaked wood chips, seal up, and then poke several times with a paring knife.

Put the foil packet directly on the burners (under the grill), pull the turkey out of the bag, and on the grill. Turn down the heat.. goal is to achieve about 325 ^oF. On my grill, this is on the low side of medium. Expect to cook about 25 to 30 minutes per pound, until an instant read thermometer reads 155^oF.

Name most any vegetable, and I can tell you at least 5 different ways to cook it.  But artichokes I always eat the same way.  Just steamed.   As a kid, I always dipped them in mayonnaise.  But now, I do a mayonnaise based dip based on the French version of mayonnaise called Aoili.  But (gasp) I do a shortcut using (gasp) real mayonnaise (as in Best Foods Real Mayonnaise, not mayonnaise you would really make). 

I have never been on “a diet.”  I’m not good at just doing what someone else has thought up (which might explain why I work for myself now).   My diet is what I eat every day, not something that I go “on”, like a pill.  I don’t even have a good label … I’m not a vegetarian, or gluten-free, not a junk food addict, not a locavore, or limit myself to raw food.   I have given up on finding a one word description, but I think this is catchy:  “A healthy relationship with healthy food.”  Maybe it will be the title for my first book!

So, what does this mean?

A healthy relationship:   This means that I care about it, that I put effort into making it good, that I have fun with my food.   It means not doing sneaky things, like  going to a McDonalds drive-through and hiding the evidence.  Or eating a whole container of ice cream because I’m sad.  Or just eating crap because I’m bored.  It means paying attention, and honoring the food you eat.

Honest food:  right now, this is my biggest challenge.  Honest food is real food, not a collection of chemicals.  Cheetos are a good example of a chemical collection, not food. Most any 7 year old can understand that.  But what about a tomato at the grocery store?  Grown in Florida with lots of fertilizer and pesticides, picked when green by (likely illegal) migrant workers, gassed before buying  to make it red.  It looks like food, but doesn’t really taste like much.  How about beef? Where the majority of the weight of the animal is added at a feedlot, fed government-subsidized, Round-up resistant genetically modified corn? Plus plenty of antibiotics since cows really aren’t plumbed to eat corn.  And maybe a salt and chemical solution shot into the meat to make it even more tender and “flavorful.” Is that honorable food?  Where do you draw the line?  It would be nice to have meat from animals that lived a happy, natural life and vegetables from your local organic farmer but that’s hard to do.  For some, impossible.  You need to decide where you will make trade-offs.   In the next few blogs, I will go through some of my rationalizations on what is OK to eat, or not.  Or not much.

But meanwhile, let’s talk about Kale. It’s good braised, and a great addition to beans or soup. It’s really good for you. Unfortunately, it makes this year’s “Dirty Dozen" for pesticides.   Fortunately, it’s something that is widely available at farmers markets (in the winter in Arizona, and I suspect most of the year in San Diego, although it grows best in cool weather), so that’s where I normally get it, either from an organic farmer, or one that doesn’t use pesticides. Organic is usually available at Whole Foods.  But since Kale is so good for you, even if you need to buy at the supermarket (where its unlikely they will have organic) – go for it.   You don’t eat it every day.  Wash it well.   And here is a way to make kale into a tasty treat – really, you can eat this like popcorn!

 

Kale Chips

Serves 2

You can use any kind or kale.  The best for this is the Tuscan Kale (dark long leaves), but the more typical green curly leaf is good too.

1 large bunch of Kale, washed and dry

Olive oil (~ 2 tablespoons)

Salt

Pre heat oven to 350F, use convection if you have it.  Cover 2 large sheet pans with parchment paper.

Remove the heavy center stem from the kale.  You can do with a  knife, but generally I just hold the stem in one hand, and pull the leaf off with the other.  For large leafs, tear in half or thirds.

Make a pile of kale leaves on each pan.  Add about a tablespoon of oil to each.  Mix well with your hands, so that eat leaf is nicely coated, then spread out evenly.  There should be a single layer.

Put the pans in the oven.  After about 8 or 10 minutes, toss the leaves, they should be limp and maybe starting to dry.  Cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until nicely crisp (a bit brown) but not too dark.   Remove from the oven, salt and toss.   Slide into a large bowl and enjoy!

“Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.”  This is one of the key messages from the latest update to the USDA’s dietary guidelines, but will this change eating habits?    Likely not.

Why don’t adults eat lots (like half your plate lots) of vegetables?  

Some people truly don’t have the access or means to eat right (or sometimes eat at all), but that’s not the problem I’m tackling. My friends are generally educated, well-meaning, have access to fresh and frozen produce, and enough money to buy food. One reason vegetables get skipped is they are not convenient. You can’t get them at a drive-through. We don’t see ads for yummy vegetables on TV, we don’t pass farmers markets with big neon signs on the way home from work. The kids are not nagging you for them.

But I don’t want to discount the likability factor.  Often vegetables we get  are old, bland, and / or overcooked plus selectively bred for looks and shelf life instead of taste.  It’s not a wonder we don’t eat vegetables.

So, how to change?  Start by cooking a really tasty vegetable dish, even if just once or twice a week (but every week).  The best place to get really good, fresh vegetables is the farmers market, do try (look beyond the jewelry, candles, and crepes). This is prime season in Arizona (and California - but there, prime season runs all year).  But… you can just go to the grocery store.  Look for the freshest things: not to discriminate, but in general, this will not be asparagus from Peru, even if it’s organic.  Buy no more than a week’s worth of produce, less if you don’t know what your week is going to look like.

So…The last post for Sautéed Broccoli looked so good …  you’re excited.  You went to the farmers market. By the time you finished your crepe, the broccoli was gone.   You went to the store.  But they just had some nasty, wilted, sad looking broccoli.  But… there were some awesome looking green beans.  Guess what?  That broccoli recipe will work for green beans.  In fact, it will work for most any vegetables!  Don’t have a lemon tree in your back yard?  Use some other acid… like a bit of the gourmet vinegar you got as a gift and don’t have a clue how to use.   Don’t like red pepper flakes?  Use some other herbs.  Big date tomorrow and don’t want garlic breath?  Use some shallots.  Need to “man it up”?  Use some bacon.   Honestly, skip everything but the fat and salt, and they will be good if you started with good vegetables.

Sauteed Vegetables: The generic technique

ANY Vegetable* (enough to feed however many people, but don’t crowd the skillet)

Water (enough to steam)

Fat: Olive oil, butter, vegetable oil, rendered bacon fat (save the crispy bacon to go on top)

Aromatic: Garlic, onion, shallot, or red bell pepper

Herbs: red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, thyme, rosemary, parsley, orange peel, or curry

Acid: Lemon, lime, or orange juice, or wine or cider vinegar, wine**

Salt.  Pepper.

Clean and chop the vegetable into nice pieces.  Put in a skillet, and  enough water to cover the bottom.  Put on high or pretty high heat.  Stir and cook until they are almost done and water is gone (add more water if needed).  Add the fat, then aromatic, spices and/or herbs it a spot in the middle. Stir until fragrant (less than a minute).  Add the acid, and a touch of salt, and some pepper if you want.

My favorite combo’s (olive oil unless otherwise mentioned):

Green beans, garlic, red pepper, lemon (just like the broccoli)

Kale, garlic, sherry vinegar

Green beans, garlic, mustard seeds

Green beans, bacon, red pepper

Cauliflower, onions, curry, OJ

Asparagus, shallots, orange rind, orange juice

Carrots, butter, thyme (can skip the acid and carrot is an aromatic)

Zucchini squash, bacon, onions

Spinach, onions, bacon (skip the acid)

Mushrooms, shallots, red wine

* Exceptions:

Baby spinach:  this will cook in like 30 seconds.  Start with the hot fat (and a little water if the spinach is dry). 

Mushrooms: there is enough water in the mushrooms, start in oil and sear.  Finish with red wine.

Potatoes:  Too starchy.  Either start in a lot of water and drain, or just fry in hot oil.  Add a bit of water to help steam.

** wine as the acid: you can use this as the starting liquid instead of water

*** For more than 3 or 4 people, or to do ahead:

Cook the vegetable in a large pot of boiling water until almost done.  Then put directly into a bowl of ice water

 I love the feedback from the last post (keep it coming!).   

Can you believe it? The blog is 4 years old.  And time for a change:  Instead of just writing about what ever … food, books, travel, and a few rants, the focus is going to be on healthy eating.  There still may be some books and rants, but books and rants on healthy food.

Why?  Because I believe that the typical modern diet is slowly killing my friends and family.   Pretty strong words.  I certainly don’t have all the solutions.  But I have found some ways to eat better.. and not just recipes or things to eat (or not), but changes in eating habits.  Change that  didn’t happen overnight; but habits that over time focused on eating more good food, and getting the crap out of my diet. This went hand-in-hand with learning what was good… or not, which is not simple in today’s environment where real “experts” are gaining new knowledge about the human body, and how it interacts with food (which is changing a lot of previous recommendations on what to eat), which is compounded by marketing from the agribusiness who are just trying to get more of our food (and tax) dollars.

Anyway, I would like to use the blog to share what I have learned, and hopefully help everyone live a little better.

To start… my current favorite way to eat broccoli:

Sautéed Broccoli

Serves 2

1 bunch (2 medium sized heads) of broccoli

Water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 – 2 cloves garlic

Pinch of red pepper

Shake of salt

Squeeze of lemon juice

 

Wash the broccoli, cut off the flower parts and separate the pieces into about 1 – 2 inch clumps.  Cut off the bottom inch or two of the stem if it is tough, and slice the rest (you might want to peel first).  Put the prepared broccoli in a large (10-12 inch) skillet, and put in enough water to cover the bottom by a ¼ inch or so.  Place on the stove and turn to high.  When the water starts to boil, stir the broccoli around so it steams evenly.  Cook until its bright green and just starting to soften, about 3 minutes or so.  The goal is to dry off the water about the time the broccoli is done (you can add a bit more water as needed). Then, make an open spot in the bottom of the pan.  Add the oil, garlic, and red peppers. Stir and cook until the garlic is fragrant and broccoli is coated with oil (about 30 seconds) then remove from the heat.  Add a bit of salt and a squeeze of lemon to taste.