10,000 Vinyasas

I stumbled across this ancient grain a few weeks ago, and liked the taste of the salad made with it, so I got some and last night made a delicious meal of it, using the following recipe for an outline:

Wilted Spinach Salad with Kamut and Sauteed Vegetables

Ingredients:

* 1 cup uncooked kamut, soaked overnight in cold water
* 3 cups fresh baby spinach
* 1 medium red onion, sliced 1/4″
* 3/4 lb yellow squash, sliced 1/4″
* 8 oz mushrooms, sliced thinly
* 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
* 1/4 cup cubed Pecorino Romano
* 6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
* 1 red pear, cored and sliced thinly
* 2 tsp Kosher salt
* fresh ground pepper to taste
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to saute
* 2-3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Preparation:

1. Place the kamut in 4 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 50-60 minutes. Drain and allow to cool slightly at room temperature.
2. Place the sliced squash in a medium bowl and toss with 1 tsp kosher salt. Allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will draw out much of the water which would otherwise prevent the squash from caramelizing. Drain the squash and pat dry.
3. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauteuse over medium heat. Add the squash and saute for about two minutes until one side begins to brown, turn over and saute the other side for an additional two minutes, or until lightly brown. Remove from pan and set aside in a large bowl (you will build your salad in this bowl).
4. Add the sliced onion to the pan and saute until it begins to caramelize. Remove from pan and set aside with the squash.
5. Repeat step 4 with the garlic. Reduce the heat slightly.
6. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the sliced mushroom and stir in pan for one minute. Add one tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar and stir. Allow mushrooms to lightly brown and then remove and set aside with the squash.
7. Remove the pan from the heat. Add up to 1/4 cup of olive oil to the pan (*you might scale this back a little if you were heavy handed with the oil while sauteing) and 1-2 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar. Stir to incoporate the brown bits into the warmed dressing. Pour over the sauteed vegetables. Add the pine nuts and kamut. Toss well.
8. Add the spinach, sliced pear, and 1 tsp of kosher salt and toss well, allowing the spinach to wilt.
9. Garnish each serving with some of the cubed Romano. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper, and salt if desired, to taste.

I left out the spinach and pear, and changed the cheese to something I had already, but overall, this worked out extremely well. Give Kamut a try; it’s available, probably, in your local bulk bins.

For some reason, this popped into my head the other day: granola! Of course I had to try to make some. Here’s the recipe I cribbed off the internet, modified of course to my own needs:

4 cups oats (3 regular, 1 rye)
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
a bunch of mixed nuts (cashew, almond, pecan, walnut, macadamia)
a bit of vanilla
1/3 cup flax seed
some salt
cinnamon
about half a cup of shredded coconut

mix oats, nuts and flax seed together, spread out on nonstick baking pan. Melt coconut oil, add to maple syrup along with vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Add this to the pan of oats and stir. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes, stir, and bake again for 15 minutes.

Ok, this turned out really well, and is yet another item you don’t need to buy at the store. Just get the ingredients and mix it up!

Here’s one from a soup cookbook that friend Barbara gave me the other day. It was kitchen-tested last week. Verdict: easy, simple, delicious. Give it a try.

2tsp butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 lb. zucchini, sliced
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup sour cream, plus extra to garnish

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook about 3 minutes until it begins to soften.
Add the zucchini, stock and curry, along with a large pinch of salt, if using unsalted stock. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let cook gently for about 25 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Allow the soup to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender or food processor and blend, just until smooth (there should be green flecks present).

Return soup to sauce pan, stir in sour cream, and heat gently.

Serve with sour cream garnish on top.

Yield: 4 servings.

I modified this with goat butter and plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Very nice.

Here’s a Thanksgiving tradition at my house (actually, my parents’, which is where Turkey Day takes place since time immemorial), that I started when I dug the recipe out of the newspaper (back when we had a newspaper). Now, it seems that most of the family expects me to appear with it, so here goes:

Almond Squash Soup

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 leek, white part only, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1/2 stalk celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
4 ounces (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup flour
4 medium yellow squash, diced into 3/4 inch pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary, minced
5 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1 cup half and half, or as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in medium sized pan, then add onion, leek, carrot, celery and garlic, and saute gently until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
While vegetables are cooking, make a roux. Melt 4 ounces butter in separate pan, add flour, stirring in well. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Remove roux from heat and set aside until needed.
When vegetables are tender, add squash and saute 8 more minutes. Add rosemary and stock, and bring mixture to a boil. Add prepared roux, stir to blend, and allow mixture to cook and thicken about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and puree in blender, along with toasted almonds, until smooth. Heat half and half and add to soup until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Yield: 8 servings

I modify this recipe somewhat, depending upon (yes!) what I have in the kitchen. Also, in the past I’ve used skim milk instead of half and half and whole milk. I think the flavor doesn’t suffer.

I’ve been meaning to try composting for quite awhile…just something that seemed to be a good thing to do, but hadn’t gotten around to it until recently, when I purchased a small kitchen bin from a local discount store. About a foot high, it seemed kind of small, but what the hey, let’s give this a shot. Well. I was just amazed, after using it a couple of weeks, at how much kitchen refuse this thing swallowed up. It seemed to be full, but then you press it down a bit, and voila! it goes back down. I’ve put an enormous amount of stuff into this thing (lots of coffee grounds, natch) and it still refuses to fill up. This item has really exceeded my wildest expectations. I mean, the amount of biodegradable kitchen material that we discard is just amazing, when you look at it, and the second thing that ran through my head was, “why doesn’t everyone do this?” I mean really, it’s so easy and so cheap, and requires no effort at all. Just another example of how ridiculously wasteful our industrialized society is, and a hint of how much more we could all do, or at least some of us, if we wanted to.

Here’s a very nice and simple recipe for stuffed portobello mushrooms. Mushrooms, of course, are one of the mysteries of the natural world; we aren’t sure what they are, exactly. A plant, a fungus, who knows? Well, for our purposes, they have quite a “meaty” taste and are excellent in many many dishes. Here is one that will make you smile:

6 or 8 portobello mushrooms, remove stems (don’t discard, they go well in the Mexican Flag Omelet)
tiny amount of red/green bell peppers, chopped
one or two cloves of garlic, chopped
small amount of feta cheese bits
tiny amount of onion, chopped

Put all ingredients into mushroom caps, bake in oven at 400 for awhile. This would be for a single serving, so add more of everything if you’re sharing. Takes about 10-15 minutes. Here’s a picture of some I made tonight:

Tuesdays, unless I’m working, I usually take the time to whip up a two egg omelet, with lots of veggies. Topped with salsa and cheese, this is one of my favorite breakfasts. The salsa tends to come from a local Mexican food chain, Taco Cabana, which is one of my food “vices.” They do, however, produce an excellent selection of red, green, and brown salsas in a town that’s got rugged competition in this category. Hence, the name “Mexican flag omelet.” The usual vegetables tend to be red and green peppers, onion, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and a bit of cumin sprinkled on top. Well, anyway, here it is….

Made this last night, with some wild Alaskan halibut I just received from www.pristinesalmon.com(highly recommended for fish right off the boat):

Title: Roasted Fish Fillets with Dill and Spinach
(4 Servings)

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 6-oz skinless fish fillets IE: SNAPPER or HALIBUT
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
4 tsp Dijon mustard
8 tbs finely chopped fresh dill or 2 tbs dried dillweed
1 tsp olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
2 10-oz packages fresh spinach leaves, stems trimmed, rinsed, drained
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lemon, quartered lengthwise

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray glass baking dish with
nonstick vegetable oil spray.

Arrange fish fillets in dish and sprinkle with 1 tbs fresh lemon juice.
Spread 1 tsp Dijon mustard over each fillet.
Sprinkle fish with 7 tbs chopped dill.
Bake until fish fillets are just cooked through, about 10 minutes
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add spinach and minced garlic and stir just until spinach is wilted,
about 3 minutes.
Using tongs, transfer spinach to serving platter, leaving pan juices
behind;
top with fish fillets.
Garnish with remaining 1 tbs. chopped dill and lemon wedges.
PER SERVING: calories, 270; fat, 4 g; sodium, 342 mg; cholesterol, 34 mg

Here’s another one from the “home alone” department: I love fresh berries, in my cereal and elsewhere, and tend to want to buy a lot of them at once, for financial and convenience reasons. Alas, we find that these little devils tend to spoil relatively quickly, making their quick consumption a priority. Strawberries tend to be the worst, but all varieties are subject to this to some degree. To that end, here’s one way to dispose of a great many berries at once: a smoothie. Here’s one recipe for a nice one:

cup of blueberries
2 or 3 strawberries
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup orange juice
some walnuts
couple of tablespoons each of oat and rye flakes
6 ounce cup of plain or vanilla yogurt (try to get the ones with the least sugar)
some ice cubes
(optional) banana, peanut butter, protein powder

Mix it all up in your blender and enjoy the taste of health and frugality.

I posted before on the value of oatmeal. Since then, I’ve been refining and adding to my original formulation, to the point that I believe I now have the quintessential hot multigrain cereal (it’s changed so much, you can’t really call it oatmeal any more) recipe, and here it is:

A spoonful of each:
oat flakes
steel cut oats
rye flakes
amaranth
hard red winter wheat
wheat berries
ground up flax seeds
These should add up to about one-half cup for a single serving

Add to the above:
some walnuts or pecans, in pieces
sprinkle of cinnamon
sprinkle of nutmeg
salt

Heat one cup of skim milk on the stove, taking care not to scorch. Stir the above mixture in, and keep stirring occasionally. When it reaches desired consistency, remove from heat and pour into bowl.

Add in whatever sweetener you prefer (honey, maple syrup, agave are suggested), and whatever fresh or frozen berries you prefer.

Yield: one hearty serving

Notes: this is, by far, the best breakfast cereal I’ve ever had. I almost want to make a double portion, it’s so good. Once you get the hang of it, it really takes very little time to make; the most time you’ll spend is assembling the ingredients. Buy these in bulk and you’ll not have to worry about it for quite awhile.

I am quite aware that the reason that recipes like this are so, well, unusual is that the industrial food system has taken over and tyrannized our ideas of what “food” is to the point that making something like this is considered odd…

Yes, that’s right, there are many many things you can do with roasted peppers (and by this we mean bell peppers, Hatch chili peppers, and any other variety that lends itself to roasting and stuffing). The technique is relatively simple: hold them over gas or other open flame until they are charred on the outside, turning from time to time, confine them to an enclosed space (here we’re thinking a plastic container or a bowl with clear plastic wrap) for a few minutes, and then scrape off the charred outer layer. Split them open, and remove seeds. Now you can stuff them with whatever you would like; I have a preference for chopped onion, tomato, mushroom, cilantro, cumin and you can add some kind of meat or seafood (chicken, crab, shrimp, the possibilities are endless). Indulge your creativity and have fun with this. Once the peppers are stuffed, put some cheese on top and cook in the oven for awhile until the stuffing is cooked through.

I have a great love for organic spinach leaves…they make great salads, and additions to my various incarnations of spaghetti.  I long ago ate at an Italian themed restaurant (which has been absorbed into a vile food chain; okay, it was Macaroni’s Bar and Grill…please don’t eat there) that featured sauteed spinach and garlic as a side dish, and recently I was inspired to recreate the dish at home.  Without mincing words, this turned out just fine.  It makes a nice accompaniment to barbaqued salmon, or a pasta with red sauce, or any number of other dishes.  Here’s how you do it:

6-10 approximately, garlic cloves (I buy mine peeled and in bulk from Costco)

a big handful of spinach (it shrinks more than you think so use a lot)

olive oil

sea salt

parmesan cheese

Saute the garlic cloves in a bit of olive oil, until brown.  Toss in the spinach and saute that too (spinach takes about a minute). Remove from skillet, add some sea salt and the cheese.  Serve.

I have a soft spot in my heart for oatmeal, since it was the beginning of my current odyssey of less processed food, and it is, in fact, not very processed at all, if you buy just the oats.  (Please don’t talk to me about “instant” oatmeal packets, with little bits of dried fruit and ground up nuts, and all the value added stuff the food industry thrives on…)  Oatmeal is very cheap (less than $1.00/pound, if you buy in bulk at places like Costco), and makes a filling hot breakfast.  As an added bonus, it can be bought in large quantities and stored for a long time, if you have any questions about our just in time food system being able to supply your needs in, shall we say, times of economic stress.  Even more beneficial, you can add all kinds of things to oatmeal, and not necessarily in the quantities that the food industry thinks are optimal (optimal for whom? them or you…). Specifically, you can limit your sweeteners if you’re concerned about the glycemic index and its potential for weight control.  Here’s a quick, easy  basic recipe for homemade oatmeal:

1/2 cup oats

1 cup skim milk

pinch of salt

heat milk in small pot on stove, stirring constantly.  Stir in oats gradually and add salt, turning down heat as milk heats up (don’t let the milk scorch). While stirring, add whatever else you want to the bowl you’ll be eating out of (fruit, nuts, sweetener).  When oatmeal reaches desired consistency, turn off heat and add to bowl. Makes one hearty bowl.

Variations:  add cinnamon, wheat berries, flax seeds, wheat germ, pecans, walnuts, dried or frozen berries (frozen berries work well because the oatmeal is hot). The variations are effectively limited only by your imagination.

Sweeteners:  honey, raw sugar, raw agave nectar, maple syrup.