Golden Summer Squash & Corn Soup

Today I was going to post about one of the great restaurants I have discovered, but I keep making these delicious recipes that need to be shared immediately. This recipe came from the August 2009 issue of Eating Well. It is a tragedy that it has taken me two years to make it.

The other good news about this soup is that if you left off the feta cheese, it would be totally cleanse appropriate. However, unless you have a serious problem with lactose, I would not recommend it. It is too delicious.

ingredients

1 tb olive oil

1 medium shallot, chopped

about 1 pound of medium summer squash diced, (maybe 2?)

3 ts fresh herbs, chopped (thyme or oregano recommended - I used oregano)

14 oz. chicken or veggie broth (I did not have enough broth so I substituted 7 oz of heavy whipping cream... maybe another reason I loved this soup so much)

1/4 ts salt

1 cup fresh corn kernels cut from the cob

1 ts lemon juice

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (or as much as you want)

directions

Heat oil in large saucepan. Cook shallot in oil over medium heat, stirring about 1 minute. Add squash and 1 ts herbs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash starts to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add broth and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the squash is soft, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a blender, or use one of those fantastic hand blenders and blend until smooth. Return to pan and stir in corn. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn is tender, 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Serve garnished with the remaining 2 ts herbs and feta.

This recipe made barely enough for two decently sized servings.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/golden_summer_squash_corn_soup.html

Winter Grain Bowl w/Ginger Miso Lime Sauce

First, do not let this picture of the leftovers I am eating for lunch today turn you away from making this recipe. I forgot to take a picture when I first made the recipe a couple nights ago and it's all I've got.

So, I tried to do The Cleanse earlier this year and it didn't really work out. It is very hard to do on a consistent basis because of all the cooking. As my friend Becca put it last night, "Doing The Cleanse is social suicide" because you have to decline so many eating invitations. Although, it is much more liberal than the P90X diet everyone is doing now. Anyway, I digress. Since I have such a hard time going 100% with the cleanse, I try and incorporate cleanse recipes into my regular diet as much as possible.

One of the many things I love to eat while on the cleanse are the "grain bowls". There are four suggested grain bowls in the recipe book, but by the time I'm done mixing and matching my grain bowl doesn't really resemble the original recipe. This week I made a grain bowl and the closest recipe it resembled was the Winter Grain Bowl.

Original Winter Grain Bowl Recipe

Barley

Roasted Squash & Root Vegetables

Sauteed Kale

Adzuki Beans

Ginger Miso Lime Sauce

I changed the vegetable into summer squash, sunflower seeds instead of kale, and black beans instead of adzuki. Mostly I just wanted the sauce:

Ginger Miso Lime Sauce

3 TB light miso

1/4 c. water

3 TB olive oil

1 TB grated fresh ginger

1 tsp maple syrup

1 clove garlic crushed or minced

1/4 c fresh lime juice (I was quite liberal with this.)

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

Dissolve miso in water, add other ingredients and blend until smooth.

Another important point is that these grain bowls taste the best when the grain and the beans are made fresh. I usually soak the beans overnight and then cook them in the crock pot while I am at work.

Barley is cooked best with a 3 to 1 (water to barley) ratio. I usually add a little salt as well. Also, The Cleanse guy recommends you always add one inch of kombu seaweed anytime you are cooking beans or grains to make them more digestible. It doesn't change the flavor. Barley only takes about 20-30 minutes depending on how much you are making. It should be done by the time you have prepared everything else.

Reuben #2 - Carnegie Deli, Las Vegas

This Reuben was discovered by my friend, Sam Nelson, who lives in Las Vegas. Sam, thank you for joining the Search for the Perfect Reuben. From Sam...

I’ve never had a Reuben quite like the one from Carnegie Deli in Las Vegas. Carnegie Deli is famous in New York City and the imitation in Las Vegas did not disappoint. It’s a plateful of sandwich big enough for two, three, or even four people.

I’m a believer that it is the bread that makes a sandwich. That is why I was so surprised that I loved this sandwich. The bread was a dry slice underneath the sandwich that didn’t add much to it. It also had just a thin layer of sauerkraut. What made the sandwich were the pastrami and the melted swiss cheese.

The pastrami was thicker than I normally like, but it was full of flavor. The cheese was piled on but surprisingly, it wasn’t too much at all. The sauce was served on the side and tasted like a fry sauce with some sweet pickle relish mixed in.

A great part about this sandwich was that it did not leave a pile of grease at the bottom of the plate. For how much pastrami and cheese was included, it ended up being the perfect mix of flavor without all the grease.

Although a different type of sandwich, this is the best Reuben I’ve had so far, and definitely the best in Vegas.

Creamy Garlic Pasta with Shrimp & Vegetables

This was amazing.... and easy. I've actually never cooked shrimp before, but I decided to try it and was rewarded with this delicious dinner. If you are allergic or don't like shrimp, you can substitute chicken, or just more vegetables. You could actually make this with any combination of meat and vegetables and it would still be delicious because of the sauce. Garlic. Lemon Juice. Salt. That says it all. I got this recipe from the June 2010 Eating Well magazine.

ingredients

6 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti

12 ounces peeled and deveined raw shrimp, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 large bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 cups yogurt (I recommend greek yogurt)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts*

directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook 2 minutes less than package directions. Add shrimp, asparagus, bell pepper and peas and cook until the pasta is tender and the shrimp are cooked, 2 to 4 minutes more. Drain well.

Mash garlic and salt in a large bowl until a paste forms. Whisk in yogurt, parsley, lemon juice, oil and pepper. Add the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Serve sprinkled with pine nuts.

* If you don't know how to toast pine nuts, it's really easy. Just put them in a pan over medium heat and push them around until they are fragrant. Usually not more than 4 minutes.

Chile-Spiced Fruit Salad with Queso Fresco

Yesterday I made this salad for the office Cinqo de Mayo party. I tried to find something that was healthy, but also on theme. Unfortunately, I forgot to read the recipe before I showed up at work and I had to make the dressing in the microwave. Luckily, it turned out fine. Also, since the fruits it calls for are not in season, I substituted strawberries and kiwi for the peaches and blueberries. My only suggestion would be to add more lime juice. At least twice, maybe three times as much. I got this recipe from the July 2008 Cooking Light magazine.

ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 large jalapeno pepper, sliced in half length wise

(I also seeded the jalapeno so it wouldn't be as spicy)

2 cups cubed seedless watermelon

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 large peach, peeled & sliced

(or whatever fruit you want)

2 TB fresh lime juice

for serving

crumbled queso fresco

directions

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until sugar dissolves, remove from heat and add jalapeno to sugar mixture. Cover and let stand 1 hour or until cooled to room temperature. Strain sugar mixture through a mesh sieve over a bowl and discard solids.

(office version: Add the sugar to 1/4 cup of hot water and stir until it dissolves. Add jalapeno and microwave everything for about 30 seconds or until the mixture bubbles. Add ice cube to cool it down and take out the jalapeno.)

Combine fruit, sugar mixture and lime juice. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

The Power Plate

A few months ago there was an article in the LA Times about a group of doctors who sued the USDA for ignoring this vegetarian alternative to the food pyramid. (Click here to read the LA Times article.)

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but I think it is interesting, and definitely more user friendly than the food pyramid. Enjoy!

The Power Plate

The Cleanse Rules

The last theme of this blog is The Cleanse. This is what we call it. It is actually called The 28 Day Cleansing Program and is outlined in a book by Scott Ohlgren. Some of the claims he makes are kind of extreme and I don't really believe them, but overall the diet has really good principles that make sense. I've done it before and felt fantastic which is enough evidence for me to do it again and again. So I started again yesterday. Here are the rules:

Forbidden List

1. Rule #1 is Do Not Go Hungry

2. No Dairy

3. No Processed Grains (this includes any product which contains flour as well as any other product containing a processed grain )

4. No Processed/Refined Sugar

5. No Meat (however, if you are working out regularly you can eat organic eggs and fish)

Things to do Every Day

1. Drink AT LEAST half your body weight in ounces of water

2. Drink AT LEAST 12 oz. of fresh vegetable juice (this can also contain fruit)

3. Eat AT LEAST one food item containing live bacteria (ie. some pickles, sauerkraut, some soy products, some olives, some types of soy sauce, anything with miso, etc.)

4. Eat AT LEAST one food item rich in minerals (ie. celtic sea salt, some type of seaweed)

5. Perform AT LEAST one of the 7 daily cellular cleansing activities (see below)

6. Live Organic (eat organic whenever possible, use organic/natural personal products)

7 Cellular Daily Cleansing Activities

1. Skin Brushing

2. Cardiac Sweat

3. Sauna Treatment

4. Massage

5. Colon Cleanse

6. Mineral/Salt Bath

7. I can't remember #7 right now

Reuben #1 - Red Rock Brewing Company

This weekend I had huge success in the Search for the Perfect Reuben. The delicious sandwich was at Red Rock Brewing Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. I have to rate this at least in the top 5 best Reubens I've had so far in my search.

You can see from the picture that the bread claimed to be a rye bread, but was not the typical marbled rye. One thing that was different about this sandwich was that the bread was lightly fried, like it usually is on a grilled cheese sandwich. This was a huge plus since sometimes the bread can be too hard around the edges.

Another thing great thing about this sandwich was that it tasted really fresh and not too heavy. I think that probably comes from the fact that Red Rock Brewing Company makes their own corned beef and sauerkraut in house, both of which were delicious and tasted fresh.

The only complaint I have about the sandwich was that it didn't have quite as much zing as some others I've tried recently. If the sauce had been a bit more flavorful, this may have been the Perfect Reuben Sandwich.

http://www.redrockbrewing.com/

Black Bean Vegetable Soup

I got this recipe from Jenny Corry who got it from a friend of hers who specialized in vegan recipes. It is definitely one of our favorites, although there is always a debate whether to seed or not to seed the jalapeno.

Also, I've included a delicious black bean recipe. The soup is still good with canned beans, but what makes it great is using beans you cooked on your own.

Black Beans

1 lb. dried black beans, rinsed

6 cups water

2 bay leaves

Pinch of baking soda

I also add a bunch of spices, usually cumin, salt, pepper and anything else I feel like adding.

Another tip is to include about an inch of kombu seaweed. I know it sounds weird, but it helps with the digestibility of the beans. Same idea as the baking soda.

I cook these in a crock-pot for 6-8 hours. You could do the same with a large pot on the stove…cook on low-medium heat. Cook until the beans have soaked up all the water.

ingredients

1 recipe of Black Beans

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 small onions or 1 large onion, diced finely

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced finely

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (or not seeded depending on your spice preference)

1 stalk celery, diced finely

1 carrot, peeled and diced finely

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

2 tsp salt, or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

3-4 cups vegetable stock

for serving

lime wedges

chopped avocado

fresh cilantro

tortilla chips

Greek yogurt

directions

Place black beans in very large stockpot.

To prepare vegetables:

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Sauté the garlic in the oil until the garlic begins to sizzle, stir for 30 seconds, and add the onions and bell pepper. Stir and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the onions and peppers are very soft, then add the jalapeno, celery, and carrot. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the carrot has begun to soften, then remove from the heat.

Add the vegetables to your cooked beans in the large stockpot. Stir in any remaining oil, plus the cumin, oregano, thyme, and vegetable stock. Cover the pot, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pot, and simmer for 35-40 minutes, until the carrots and celery are tender.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool 10 minutes, add the vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Like most soups, this soup will be richer and more flavorful the next day.

Garnish each serving of soup with chopped cilantro and chopped avocados. Serve with lime wedges.

-Recipe from Veganomicon by Moskowitz & Romero

Is Overeating an Addiction?

This article, which compares overeating and alcoholism, was in the New York Times in January. As I sit here finishing off an entire bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears, I know for myself that the answer to this question is yes.


Can You Be Addicted to Foods?
(click here to view original article)

Many people tend to think that all obese people have to do to solve their problems is eat less and move more. Alcoholics, on the other hand, need treatment.

But are the two disorders really all that different? Is it possible that eating in today’s sweet and salty fast-food world is actually somewhat, well, addictive? Could people with a predilection to abusing alcohol and drugs just as easily abuse food?

A study published in The Archives of General Psychiatry this week is not the first to examine the neurobiological similarities between behaviors that drive obesity and those that drive substance abuse. The researchers, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, examined two large surveys of nationally representative samples of American adults questioned about alcoholism in their families. Each included about 40,000 adults; one survey was carried out in 1991 and 1992; the other was done a decade later, in 2001 and 2002.

The people surveyed were asked whether a relative had “been an alcoholic or problem drinker at any time in his/her life,” a question repeated for several types of relative — mother, father, brother, sister, half-sibling and children. Participants also reported their own weight and height, so body mass index could be calculated (B.M.I. is a calculation of weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, and a result of 30 or more is considered obese).

The first survey, from the early 1990s, found no link between a family history of alcoholism and obesity. “There was an almost perfect overlap between the B.M.I. distribution of people without a family history of alcoholism and people with a family history of alcoholism,” said Richard A. Grucza, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University and lead author of the new paper.

Ten years later the survey told a different story. In 2001 and 2002, adults with a family history of alcoholism were 30 to 40 percent more likely to be obese than those with no alcoholism in the family. Women were at particularly high risk: they were almost 50 percent more likely to be obese if there was family alcoholism than if there wasn’t. (Men were 26 percent more likely to be obese.)

Why the change over time? Dr. Grucza says our so-called obesigenic, or obesity-inducing, food environment has changed in the decade between the two surveys. The most likely culprit, he said, “is the nature of the food we eat, and its tendency to appeal to the sorts of reward systems, which are the parts of the brain implicated in addiction.”

Certain foods — loaded with sugar, salt and fat and specially formulated to appeal to consumers — might be cues that trigger overeating in people with the predisposition for addiction, appealing to the primitive reward centers of the brain, and reinforcing the addictive behavior. These types of foods, which the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. David Kessler has called “hyperpalatable,” may be more reinforcing of overeating than, say, green vegetables, Dr. Grucza said, and they’re more commonly and easily available than they were in the past.

In his book “The End of Overeating,” Dr. Kessler describes how these highly palatable foods — the kind served at fast-food and chain restaurants — change brain chemistry, triggering a neurological response that stimulates people to crave more food, even if they’re not hungry. The sense some people have that they cannot control their intake may in fact be true, he argues, because these rich, sweet and fatty foods stimulate the brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center. In the process, they rewire the brain, so that the dopamine pathways light up even at the thought of eating these foods.

Other explanations for the increased obesity among relatives of alcoholics are possible, however. For example, it may be that people from families with alcoholism are more susceptible to stress generally, or to suffer from underlying depression that leads them to drink or overeat.

No single gene is responsible for making someone obese or alcoholic, Dr. Grucza said. But people who eat or drink excessively may share critical characteristics like lack of impulse control and the inability to stop once they get started, a sort of “missing stop signal,” he said. Stress is also implicated in both behaviors.

“The notion of alcoholism being a disease can be oversimplified,” Dr. Grucza said. “At some point, it’s a behavior and a choice. It’s just that some people are more vulnerable to the effect of that choice than others. I think the same is probably true of overeating — some people just don’t have the predisposition to find certain kinds of food that pleasurable, or to eat that much.”

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Tacos

This is a recipe I got from my dear friend Jen Smith. I'm not sure where she got it. Also, I forgot to take a picture of my tacos, so I got this picture off the internet by googling "pictures of butternut squash." I think I am supposed to say that.

I love this recipe because it is simple, but has a really great flavor. Make sure to cut up the butternut squash into very small bite size pieces so it fits nicely in a taco. Tips for peeling & cutting the butternut squash: Poke it with a fork and microwave for about a minute before peeling. Then use a really sharp knife.

Also, I made my own refried black beans by first, soaking the beans overnight. Second, cooking them in the crock pot while I was at work. Third, adding the beans, enough of their juice to keep them the right consistency and some coconut oil to a pot and stirring them around with a little bit of cumin, salt & black pepper. Delicious.

ingredients

1½ cup refried black beans

1 small butternut squash

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

soft corn tortillas

for serving

Salsa Verde

Cilantro sprigs

Creme fraiche or sour cream or I like to use greek yogurt

directions

Warm the refried beans gently over low heat. Cut the butternut squash into very small bite size piece, about 1/2 inch. Heat large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add olive oil or coconut oil. When it smokes, add squash cubes and toss well. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, cumin and black pepper. Saute over high heat, tossing frequently, until tender but not mushy inside, about 10 minutes. To serve, heat tortillas quickly one by one in a very hot dry skillet, about 10 seconds per side. Assemble tacos by spooning in black beans, topping with sauteed squash, cilantro sprigs, and cream or yogurt.

Food, Actually

This blog is about food. There are going to be five main themes:

1) Delicious and Healthy Recipes

2) Interesting Articles about Food & Health

3) Good Restaurants of the World

4) The Search for the Perfect Reuben Sandwich

5) The Cleanse