Taking it easy

Being at home sick isn't fun for anyone. I have been eating tons of junk and traveling. I now have a sore throat and a general feeling of my immune system being down. Wanting to give my body a little break I am eating clean and simple foods with hopes that any extra energy will be used towards fighting off any sickness. Along with the below two recipes I am eating brown rice and fruit. This is in no way a diet but more of an approach to simple nourishment when you just want to take it easy for a day or so.


Pink Miso and Veggies
6 cups of water or vegetable broth
shitake mushrooms
zucchini
carrot
miso paste
beet greens
swiss chard
spinach
scallions

Bring water or vegetable broth to boil add sliced shitake mushrooms thinly sliced carrots and zucchini to the pot. Simmer for about five minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Take the pot of the stove and stir in about 4- 5 tablespoons of miso paste, you can always add more or less to suit your taste. Lastly thrown in all the greens spinach, beet greens, swiss chard and chopped scallions. These greens will cook perfectly when just left to steep in the hot broth. The color in the stems of the beet greens will turn your soup a pink-ish color.


Amrit Tonic
This has been my go to beverage since I was a little girl. Whenever I feel a cold or sore throat coming on make a big batch of this and sip it through out the day. My theory is that the cayenne pepper gets into your body and heats things up to burn out the bad guys. And no, this is not a master cleanse thing.

Water
Cayenne, dash or two
Ginger, large piece
Lemons, aprox 6 or about 1 cup of fresh lemon juice
Honey, 1 cup

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a dash or two cayenne pepper. I would err on the side of caution and not add too much as it can get pretty spicy.
Peel and slice a whole large piece of ginger and add to the pot. Cover, reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for about 15 minutes. While your waiting juice the lemons. Remove the ginger cayenne water from the heat and pour in the lemon juice and stir in the honey.
Drink warm.
For the vegan version of this just substitute agave for honey.

Thai Night

I have a friend who used to live in Thailand, he's a chef, a scuba diving instructor, currently studying as a med student, and list goes on. We have begged him for years to cook for whenever he comes to visit New York City. Being that this is New York City most visitors would rather eat out since there are so many great restaurants. This most recent time he visited we were able to get him to do a little cooking for us and it was really special. I have no idea what these two dishes are called but they were both quite delicious. The above is more of a street snack and involves a little of each of the following ingredients lime rind, fresh grated coconut, finely chopped ginger, finely diced onion, dried shrimps, chili, peanuts, and honey syrup.



We also had a Thai coconut shrimp soup. This soup was so flavorful and still very light, it had the perfect hint of coconut and lime and the shrimp were subtly sweet.
My boyfriend also made a Thai chicken green coconut curry that is the best chicken curry I have ever had. For this particular recipe we have to travel down to a specific store in Chinatown that imports a special small round Thai eggplant. And for desert we had sweet sticky rice with mango. This meal was total perfection from start to finish!

One of these days I'll be sure to post the recipe for how to make the chicken curry.

Tuna Tuesday

Serves two

Oven Roasted Asparagus
1 bundle of asparagus, trimmed and rinsed
Olive oil
Salt/pepper
Parmesan
Lemon

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
Toss the asparagus in a little bit olive oil. Add a little sprinkle of salt and some fresh fresh ground pepper. Lay asparagus on a baking sheet and cook for about 10-12 minute.
Plate and serve with some fresh slices of Parmesan cheese and a lemon wedge.

Tuna Salad

Romaine lettuce
Ortiz tuna in olive oil
Garbanzo beans
Corn kernels
Grape tomatoes
Cucumber
Avocado
Balsamic vinegar
Dijon mustard
Lemon juice, fresh
Salt/pepper

Slice tomatoes in half and place in bowl. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over the tomatoes and a couple grinds of fresh pepper. Add the juice of half a lemon followed by 2 teaspoons of mustard and 1-2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine and taste the dressing. Add more of anything you like until your happy with it. Then add about 2/3 of the jar of tuna to the bowl, this is just about 4 oz. Since the tuna comes packed in olive oil there is really any need to add extra olive oil. If you want to add more oil you can pour a little more in from the jar of tuna. Stir together or mix with your hands so the tuna breaks up into smaller pieces.

In a separate bowl combine lettuce and all other salad toppings add in tuna and tomato mixture, toss and serve.

Beans, greens & grains...Oh my!

For a Veggie/Vegan friendly variation use vegetable stock and and your favorite meat-free sausage.

Serves 4

1 tbs oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup quinoa, dry
3-4 cups chicken stock (depending on how soupy you like it)
5 leaves swiss chard, roughly chopped
1/2 cup red kidney beans, canned
1 scallion, chopped
4 sausage links (one per person)
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in pot and add garlic, cook for about a minute then add quinoa and stir over heat for another minute. Add one cup of chicken stock, bring to boil then cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in swiss chard until gently wilted and mixed with the quinoa. Next add beans, scallions and 2-3 more cups of chicken stock, depending on the consistency you like. More broth equals more soup and less broth makes for more of a stew like consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for another 5-10 minutes or until beans are warmed through. Remove from heat and squeeze in a little fresh lemon juice and give it one last stir.
In a pan cook the sausages until they are nicely browned then remove from heat and slice into pieces and serve over stew.

For this recipe I used Bilinski's pesto romano chicken sausages, but of course you can use whatever sausages you like.

Potage

Not sure what the weathers like where you are today but here in NYC it's another cold and grey day. You know the kind that makes you long for something hearty and warm in your belly.
Not feeling like doing much of anything, especially not grocery shopping, I made do with whatever I already had in the fridge and pantry. Served by itself or with a leafy green salad and chicken sausage (which is how I had it) it was just what the Dr. ordered!

Quinoa Potage
4 small new potatoes, diced
3 cups of chicken broth (or bullion)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
1 large leeks (or 2 small), chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
½ cup quinoa
1 medium zucchini, diced
2 large white mushroom caps, diced
Salt and pepper

Bring 1 cup of broth to a boil add all of the diced potatoes along with a pinch of salt and pepper and simmer for five minutes. Then with a slotted spoon remove half of the potatoes and set aside. Keep the remaining potatoes and broth boiling for another five minutes. Remove from heat and blend the contents of this pot so that you have a smooth opaque liquid. Set aside.

Heat one teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large sized pot. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes until translucent. Next add the leeks and again cook for a couple of minutes until they have softened a little and become green. Now add the garlic, bay leaf, carrot, celery, ½ cup of quinoa, ¼ teaspoon of salt and couple of grinds from your pepper mill. Give this a couple of minutes to cook together and stir it a couple of times.
Next add the blended potato broth liquid followed by the two cups of plain broth. Lastly toss in the reserved par-boiled diced potatoes that you saved in the beginning along with the diced zucchini and mushrooms. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Mexican Lasagna

This recipe might appear a little intimidating but I assure you that after you have made it once you’ll see it’s not that difficult. Essentially you are preparing each layer separately and then you can begin to build your Mexican lasagna. For the vegan version omit the chicken and use soy cheese instead.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into arpox ½ inch thick pieces
1 red onion, medium sized, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro chopped
1 lime, juice and zest of
1 green jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
2 Tbs taco seasoning
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs orange juice
2/3 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
2/3 cups green bell pepper, chopped
2/3 cup frozen corn kernels
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes, liquid drained and reserved
16 oz can of fat free refried beans
6 Tbs salsa
4 scallions, chopped, trim and discard 2-3 inches of the green ends
6 oz grated part skim mozzarella
4 small corn tortillas, cut into 1/8’s
salt and pepper for seasoning throughout
8” square baking dish


To marinate the chicken combine the following ingredients together in a bowl.
½ of the chopped red onion, 1 clove of minced garlic, ½ of the chopped cilantro, the juice and zest of 1 lime, 1/2 of a chopped jalapeño, 2 Tbs orange juice, 1 Tbs taco seasoning, 1 Tbs olive oil, salt and pepper.

Pour this mixture into a Ziploc bag, add the pieces of chicken to the bag and seal it. Once sealed give the bag a little shake to make sure the marinade is mixed and has evenly coated the chicken. Allow the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours or overnight if you have time. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and allow the chicken to come to room temperature.

Heat non-stick pan over medium flame. To the pan add ½ Tbs of olive oil, the remaining half of the chopped red onion and 1 clove of minced garlic, sauté for about one minute. Next add all of the yellow and the green peppers, the corn and the tomatoes to the pan. Lightly season with a little salt and pepper and cook all together for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and place cooked veggies into a bowl and set aside.

Using the same non-stick pan heat again over a medium flame. To the pan add the remaining ½ Tbs of olive oil, the remaining 1 clove of minced garlic and the remaining ½ of the chopped jalapeño. Cook together for about a minute then add all of the refried beans and the salsa. Stir together and cook for about five minutes. Remove from heat and place refried beans into a new bowl, stir in remaining half bunch of chopped cilantro and all of the chopped green onions. Set the bowl aside for later.

Again using the same non-stick pan heat over a medium flame. Spray the pan with cooking spray and add the marinated pieces of chicken to pan. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of taco seasoning over the chicken and a splash of the liquid you reserved from the tomatoes. Cook the chicken for about 2mins each side. You want the chicken to be cooked through but just barely, remember it’s going into the oven and will continue to cook in there. Once cooked remove from the pan and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes. Then shred or chop the chicken into smaller pieces and set aside in a new bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray the bottom of a baking dish with cooking spray.
Layer corn tortilla down in the baking dish, next spread a layer of refried beans followed by a layer of vegetable mix, then add a layer of shredded chicken followed by a layer of cheese. Repeat once more only this time leave off the last layer of cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and cook in the oven for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

I wait to add that last layer of cheese until the very end. When the cooking time has ended remove and discard the aluminum foil. Scatter the remaining cheese across the top of the dish and place it under the broiler for about a minute or two so that it gets a little bubbly and gets a little browned and crispy.

Let it cool for a couple of minutes and then cut into squares and serve.

GIN GINS WIN

I am having a little bit of a love affair with ginger at the moment. Last night I made a bunch of triple ginger cookies and today I was introduced to these lovely little bites called Gin Gins Boost. They are soft and chewy and taste like ginger infused caramel. I like them because they have a nice clean taste and are quite satisfying for that perfect after meal sweet that I am constantly searching for. Their catch phrase is "little potion for the motion" because it's supposed to help with motion sickness.

GET YOURS