food matters monday

This weekend, I revisited “whole food: 300 recipes to restore, nourish and delight” by Jude Blereau.  I picked it up sometime last year at half priced books for a steal, and it looks like you can get it for an even lower price on Amazon.

The premise of the book is very food matters.  The recipes are made up of whole, healthy and unprocessed ingredients, and there is a heavy emphasis on plant based foodstuffs.  It’s not a completely vegetarian or vegan cookbook, as there is a whole section for meat, but many of the base recipes are vegetarian/vegan friendly, with meat mentioned only as potential add ins.

In my marathon cooking session this weekend, I made a chicken stew, millet and veggie patties and baked beans.  I tweaked each recipe a bit as I normally do, as I’m always looking for a way to add more vegetables into the mix.  I stocked up on $1 1 lb bags of mixed veggies recently, and they were just begging to be used every time I opened the freezer.

Bean recipes are always hit and miss with AbuS.  I had thought coming from a culture where ful is eaten daily, he’d be happy to embrace other kinds of bean dishes.  Alas, most times they aren’t his thing.  Alhamdulilah though, he really liked this, although I think it may be more a function of the fact that he’s taken to squirting hot sauce into everything, thus making them taste more tongue burning than anything else.

Speaking of hot sauce, I had a can of adobo in the cupboard that I had bought for some recipe and never used.  AbuS came across it a few months back and decided to see how it would taste in his ful.  That little can has created a hot sauce monster!  Since they were relatively expensive for their size, I decided to try to introduce sriracha.  Much cheaper I thought – $3 for a big bottle, that’s got to last quite a long time.  Um yeah, no.  If I had created a monster before, now the monster had mutated.  We now go through a big 28 oz bottle every 2 weeks.  Still cheaper than the cans of adobo, and I suppose an easy way to add flavor.

Baked Beans with lots of Vegetables

• 1 cup dried navy beans, soaked
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 3 cloves diced garlic (recipe originally called for one)
• 6 cups vegetable stock or water (I used all vegetable stock, but next time I’ll probably go half and half to reduce the salt, or use a stock cube with less salt)
• 2 tsp molasses sugar (I used brown sugar, which is apparently similar, but less molasses-y)
• 1 tbsp honey (recipe originally called for apple juice concentrate, which I didn’t have)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard (I think they probably meant actual liquid mustard, but I just used ground mustard seeds)
• 2 tsp hot sauce, more or less to taste
• a 2 second squirt of ketchup (even with tomatoes, I always feel baked beans need ketchup)
• 14 ounce canned chopped tomatoes
• 1 lb bag mixed frozen veggies

After the beans have soaked, discard the water and drain well.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onions, basil and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the navy beans and all other ingredients except tomatoes, ketchup and frozen veggies.  Cover, leaving a tiny crack for a little steam to escape and just barely simmer for 1 hour.

Add the tomatoes and ketchup and cook 2-3 hours more, uncovered (the cookbook notes that by adding the tomatoes after an hour, you prevent the acidity in them from inhibiting the beans from softening).  The liquid should reduce down to a slightly thick sauce that still covered the beans by a 1/4 inch.

Add frozen veggies and cook another half hour.

Serve with whole grain bread.

food matters monday

It lives!

AbuS style Tropical Oat Stackers

I think it’s safe to say AbuS has become a bit of a fat-a-phobe.  Anything that can be done to remove fat from a recipe must be done.  This recipe originally started with nuts and a 1/4 cup of butter or oil.  It’s now got no nuts and 2 Tbsp of oil.  It can’t be completely eliminated without making the cookies impossible to cook.

I’m lucky if these cookies last more than a few hours in Casa Squeaky.  Usually, they’re gone before the night is out.  I first made this recipe probably 3 weeks ago, and I already have it committed to memory.  Perhaps I’ve made it a few too many times?

I actually prefer it in dough form, so I scoop myself out a bowl before I bake.  It’s almost like a bowl of banana coconut oatmeal.  Hmm, now that sounds good.  Me thinks I’ll be googling recipes for that this week.

• 3 large ripe bananas
• 2 Tbsp neutral oil
• 1 cup shredded coconut (if sweetened, no need to add any additional sugar)
• Sugar to taste, probably 1/4 cup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 or more of rolled oats (the recipe originally calls for 2/3 cup, but since we eliminated the nuts, I think it needs something more solid to hold it together.  I actually don’t know the amount I use.  I just keep adding until the dough holds together and isn’t very mushy)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Throw bananas and oil in food processor.  Process until smooth.
3. Add vanilla, salt and baking powder, and process until incorporated.
4. Add coconut (and sugar if using).  Process until mixed
5. Add oats until the dough becomes semi solid.
6. Spray cookie sheet and drop teaspoon or tablespoon sized dough balls onto sheet.  Back 8 to 10 minutes, or until the bottom is browned.

food matters monday

Today’s recipe is an UmmS original – well, as original as a veggie wrap can be.  In true Bittman-esque fashion, it’s incredibly versatile and customizable, depending on what’s in your fridge, what’s on sale and/or what you feel like eating.   And, it follows the principles of making food matter:

1. Eat fewer animal products than average.  My wrap uses just a tiny bit of cheese.  You could also throw in a little shredded smoked salmon or roast turkey.
2. Eat all the plants you can manage.  The majority of the filling is veggies veggies veggies.
3. Make legumes and whole grains a part of your life.  I use a home made whole wheat chapati for my wrap, but you could use pita, tortilla, or other bread, so long as it is actually whole wheat.  You can also incorporate legumes by adding hummus or a bean puree.
4. Avoid processed foods.  Since I make my own chapatis, there isn’t anything really processed in this.  Are canned tomatoes considered processed?
5. Everything else is a treat.  My inclusion of cheese is definitely a treat for me.

And now, on to the food!

Since I like to prepare bit amounts of food to be eaten over several days, I start by making a big container of mixed vegetables.   Here’s what I included this week:

• butter lettuce
• cucumber
• green and red peppers
• tomatoes
• carrots

This I keep stored in the fridge.  When I want to have a wrap, I pull a chapati out of the fridge and microwave it for 15 seconds (to make it soft and easy to fold).  I then take a big handful or 2 of the veggie mix and stick it in a bowl.  I add a small amount of a soft cheese (AbuS always has egyptian cream cheese on hand that I normally don’t like [smells like a barnyard to me] but just a little bit of it’s creaminess really goes a long way in the sandwich), and 1/6 of an avocado.  I toss everything so that the avocado and cheese coat the veggies, then place on the wrap and wa’la, a tasty tasty sandwich.

If you’re planning on taking this for lunch, I would suggest keeping the veggie, cheese and avocado mix separate from the bread and only assembling it when you’re ready to eat.  Sometimes vegetables will release some moisture and make the bread soggy.  And the last thing you want to eat is a soggy sandwich, yuck.

food matters monday

It was a good food matters weekend at Casa Squeaky.  In the fridge for this week’s consumption is:

• tropical oat stackers – banana coconut oat cookies, or as I like to call them, little puffs of jannah.
• noodles with tofu, broccoli and black tea sauce
• UmmS’ kofta – my own creation, half cropped peppers, half ground chicken.  I’m still working on perfecting the recipe, but once I make it a few more times, I’ll post it here inshaAllah
• root vegetables, brussel sprouts and chicken with sunflower seed sauce – this was originally chicken and parsnips with pumpkin seed sauce, but I can never make something with just one root vegetable.  And, sunflower seeds were 1/4 the price of pumpkin seeds.

and

Polenta “Pizza” with Stewed Tomatoes

As always, if you enjoy these recipes, please consider purchasing the book Food Matters.  I’m not paid to plug it, I just love it and want to share it’s awesomeness.  Thus far in the year of food matters, I’ve lost a pound a week, despite major sabotage I blame on Kraft, Target and my lack of self control.  Target was having a major sale on Macaroni and Cheese, and I just happened to pick up a box of their organic version.  Low and behold, they make it with non animal enzyme.  Takbir!  Of course, I ended up buying more than a few boxes.  And eating more than a few.  Bah.  No self control. Bad nafs, bad bad.

Alas, this week’s recipe did not photograph well.  But, you still get an awesome picture of hotdog, the food matters wonder cat.

In all honesty, this recipe isn’t really pizza-y, at least not to me.  But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly tasty and healthy – it is :)

This recipe originally called for green olives to stew with the tomatoes, but honestly, the only kind of olives I like are kalamata.  The kalamata olives in my fridge have pits, and I’m too lazy to depit them to chop them, so there were no olives on this pizza.

There is also the option to sprinkle parmesan cheese on the top, but as my dear readers know, I have no self control when it comes to cheese in my house, so I chose not to buy any, lest it be gobbled down by a wayward nafs.

When I make it again, I think I’ll add finely chopped broccoli or brussel sprout quarters to the tomatoes as they stew.

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 cup coarse cornmeal/polenta
• salt
• 1/2 cup milk (the original calls for whole, but I used skim)
• black pepper
• 2 onions, chopped (yaaay, a recipe that calls for lots of onions.  I usually add more than what’s called for, but in this case, it was plenty)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 cups chopped tomatoes (I used 1 28 oz can)
• 3 bay leaves – UmmS’ addition
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (I used dried)

1. Brush a layer of oil on a pizza pan or baking sheet.  Put the cornmeal and a large pinch of salt in a medium saucepan; slowly whisk in 2 1/2 cups of water and the milk to make a lump free slurry.  Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring almost to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.  Cook, whisking frequently, until thick, 10 to 15 minutes.  If the mixture becomes too thick, whisk in a bit more water; you want the consistency to be like thick oatmeal.
2. Stir 1 tablespoon of the oil into the polenta (I skipped this).  Spoon it onto the prepared pan, working quickly so the polenta doesn’t harden; spread it evenly 1/2 inch thick all over.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover the polenta with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or more (you can refrigerate it for up to 24 hours if you prefer – this is what I did).
3. Heat the oven to 450 F.  Bake the polenta until it begins to brown and crisp on the edges, 25 to 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, put 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions, garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and thicken a bit, about 15 minutes (I also added the bay leaves here, and simmered on low for an hour.  In the last 10 minutes, I added the basil).
4. Spoon sauce over polenta crust, serve warm.  Enjoy!

food matters monday

If you’ve read my blog over the last year, you probably remember my singing the praises of Mark Bittman’s life altering (no joke) book, Food Matters.  Not just another diet book, Mr. Bittman presents a different way to eat.  Rather than think diet, pain, agony, deprivation, and attempt to eat in a way that is totally unsustainable (come’on, tell me you can live the rest of your life without carbs, fat, sugar, or any of the other myriad of “bad” nutrients) he challenges you to rethink your approach to food.  Food should still be enjoyable.  It just needs to be eaten a bit different.

1. Eat fewer animal products than average
2. Eat all the plants you can manage
3. Make legumes and whole grains part of your life
4. Avoid processed foods
5. Everything else is a treat – and you can have treats daily

Nothing is outright banned.  Unlike most diets where you feel guilty if you have that slice of bread or thick juicy steak, if you eat like foods matters (lots and lots of plant based foods, animal products in smaller amounts, lots less processed foods), an occasional slice of pizza isn’t going to kill you.  Just make sure it’s occasional, and before you eat it, make sure you have some carrots and an apple.

Honest to God, if you follow his theory for sane eating, you will lose weight inshaAllah.  This last year, I lost 37 lbs.  I unfortunately gained 10 lbs back after Ramadan when I reverted to a typical american diet -more processed foods than I should,  lots of dairy, lots of sugar, and very light on the fruits and veggies, not to mention the dangers of the middle eastern buffet, where it’s meat meat and more meat, all of it either fatty or drenched in oil.  Iis it just my family, or is it normal to have to ‘get your money’s worth’ at buffets?  All in all, gross.

But, my ever so kind sister purchased me Mark Bittman’s new tome, the Food Matters Cookbook, and I’ve declared 2011 as the year that Food Matters.  I intend to do my very best to make several dishes each week that follow the 5 principles and be sincere in my quest to eat like Food Matters.  inshaAllah I hope my cholesterol and blood pressure will continue their downward trend, and my stalled weight loss will be rebooted.  27 lbs down, 43 more to go inshaAllah.

And,  inshaAllah I intend to write every Monday about at least 1 of the recipes I made in the spirit of making Food Matter.

If you benefit from these recipes, please do go out and purchase the original book, the cookbook or even both.  If you get even a little bit healthier from it, it will more than pay for itself in lower doctors bills, less medication, and inshaAllah, hopefully avoiding serious health complications like a heart disease and diabetes down the road.

So without further adieu, I give you the first Food Matters recipe:

Mostly Whole Wheat Tortillas

Not the most glamorous recipe to kick off the series, but oh so good.  Homemade whole wheat tortillas really are fabulous.  Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a package of tortillas (whole wheat or otherwise) at the grocery store?  Why on earth does the list need to be longer than my shopping list?  Enter these little disks of goodness – 5 ingredients, all familiar.  Nothing that requires google to decipher.  The only downside is that they may be too good.  It’s easy to pick a fresh one off the stack and nommed it down without even realizing it.

But, if you can control yourself, these are a perfect vehicle for eating key Food Matters ingredients.  You can create wraps with bean purees and fresh cut veggies.  You can make a stir fry and wrap it up.  You can make a quick pizza with tons of veggies and a sprinkle of cheese.  Seriously folks, the sky’s the limit.

My first batch was devoured in less than a day by a certain AbuS and his wife (who shall remain nameless).  The next batch lasted 3 days and accompanied another Food Matters dish that I made for this week, a bugler chili made with sweet potatoes, green beans and corn.  Yum!

How’s that for an introduction?  Now, on to the recipe!  This makes 6-8 tortillas.  I prefer to make 6, so I have room to stuff more veggies in.

• 1 cup whole wheat flour, plus more as needed
• ½ cup all purpose or bread flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, olive oil, softened butter, or lard
• about 1/2 cup boiling water, or more as needed

1.  In a bowl or food processor, mix together flours and salt.  Stir or pulse in the oil.  Add water slowly, a bit at a time, until dough holds together in a ball.

2.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until it becomes smooth and elastic (~4-5 minutes by hand or 1 minute in food processor).  Wrap dough in plastic and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 mins. or up to a couple hours (or in fridge for a few days).

3.  Working with room temperature dough, divide into 6 to 8 pieces.  Flatten each into a disk on a lightly floured surface, cover, rest again for a few minutes.  When ready to cook, roll each disk as thin as possible into circles 8″ or more in diameter, stacking between sheets of wax paper or plastic as you work. UmmS note – me thinks I am going to have to invest in a tortilla press, as I think these will be a frequently made item at Casa Squeaky

4.  Put a large (cast iron) skillet over medium-high heat for 5 mins.  Cook tortillas one at a time, until brown spots begin to appear on bottom, just under a minute; turn and cook on other side.  Each tortilla will only take a couple of minutes, total.  Wrap in a towel to keep warm…or let coo, wrap tightly and store in fridge for a few days (or freezer for up to a few months).

*source- Wikipedia

*This post is linked to:

*Be sure to enter my Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook & Cookie Gift Pack Giveaway by Sunday Dec. 12…it’s good stuff…keep it or check someone off your holiday shopping list!*

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