Hungry for Change has a 10 step action plan

Sacred Source Nutrition wrote:

Really simple and easy to follow 10 steps for better health. I agree with all 10 points on this chart provided by the people at Hungry for Change. If you haven't seen this documentary, I highly recommend it!

What points on this list would you like to incorporate into your lifestyle that you haven't quite adopted yet? What's holding you back?

What do you think is missing from this list and what would you add?

This graphic come from Hungry for Change and has a 10 step action plan:

Foods that are rich in fiber, Vitamin A, C, calcium and iron

Here's another chart from Sacred Source Nutrition about foods that are rich in fiber, Vitamin A, C, calcium and iron:

Kale, tomatoes and goat cheese recipe

Kale, tomatoes and goat cheese

Since we received kale in our CSA box last night, and kale is always best used right away, I used the kale to make my own dish last night. Here's what we did:

-1 bunch of kale (leaves removed from stalk and washed)

-some red grape tomatoes from Doug's garden

-a package of gold grape tomatoes from Mother's Market

-1 cup of maui onions

-1 cup of goat cheese

-olive oil

-5 fresh garlic cloves

-1 cup fresh parsley

-1/2 cup milk

-1 cup pesto sauce

-1 cup parmesan cheese

We browned the parsley, garlic, olive oil and onions in our wok.

We added the kale and a little more olive oil and cooked until just wilted.

We added the tomatoes and cooked until the tomatoes were just heated. The key is not to over cook the tomatoes so that you don't wind up with stewed tomatoes. Otherwise you lose the sweet taste of the tomatoes.

We added goat cheese, parmesan cheese, milk and pesto sauce and heated until the goat cheese melted.

Then serve.

This dish came out very well. We both liked it.

New CSA box

New CSA box

Last night we picked up our new Tanaka Farms CSA box. We had:

kale
4 ears of sweet corn
radishes
green beans
romaine lettuce
squash
cucumbers
grapefruit
tangerines
oranges
cilantro
red maui onion

I used the kale and some of the onion last nigh. I'll post that recipe in the next entry.

Interesting alkaline foods chart

This chart comes from Sacred Source Nutrition:

Sacred Source Nutrition wrote:

Love this cute little alkaline foods chart.

One of the advantages of a raw food diet, high in leafy greens, fresh fruits and vegetables,  is that it naturally maintains the body?s proper pH. Different areas of the body have different levels of pH. Our blood has a 7.4 pH level which is slightly alkaline.

Eating red meat, processed foods, wheat, saturated fats and dairy causes the blood to be more acid. Having an overly acidic body, a condition known as metabolic acidosis, may cause a range of health problems. The important thing to remember is that disease cannot manifest in an alkaline environment.

Ideally, 80 percent of what we eat should be alkaline and just 20 percent acidic. For those eating the typical Standard American Diet (SAD), they will be eating the opposite, with acidic foods making up the majority of what they consume.

An overall acidic body environment contributes to weakening your overall physical and mental health, while an alkaline environment supports health.

Check out this chart for a list of what you can find on the alkaline side of things.

Spinach Salad with Littlehouse Pear Gorgonzola

With the cabbage saute that I made last night I aslo did a Spinach Salad with Littlehouse Pear Gorgonzola. In this salad I used:

fresh organic spinach
1 Granny Smith apple
shaved parmesan cheese
gold grape tomatoes
dried cranberries
almond slivers
Littlehouse Pear Gorgonzola dressing

Spinach salad

Healthy Sautéed Red Cabbage

Healthy Sautéed Red Cabbage

We tried this recipe last night. But I made a few moderations to it. The original recipe can be found here. My modifications are in red.

Healthy Sautéed Red Cabbage - http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=240

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups red cabbage, shredded
1 TBS lemon juice
5 TBS low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
I added maui onions because I had them.
I added garlic too.

Mediterranean Dressing
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS lemon juice
1 medium clove garlic, chopped or pressed
Sea salt, and pepper to taste (We don't add any salt or pepper.)

Optional:

2 TBS grated ginger (We couldn't find any fresh ginger root last night at Mother's so I used the spice I had.)
1 TBS sesame seeds
5 drops soy sauce
1 TBS chopped cilantro
few drops of rice vinegar/rice wine
 
Directions:

Quarter cabbage, slice into 1/4-inch strips, and let sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out the hidden health benefits of cabbage.

Chop or press garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

Sprinkle cabbage with 1 TBS lemon juice before cooking to prevent it from turning blue.
Heat 5 TBS broth over medium heat in a stainless steel skillet.

When broth begins to steam, add cabbage and cover.

Sauté for no more than 5 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl.

For more flavor, toss cabbage with the dressing ingredients and any of the optional ingredients you desire while it is still hot.

(Mediterranean Dressing does not need to be made separately.)

Serves 2

The cost of eating healthy

Here's an interested graphic that comes from the Savvy Vegetarian:

Eagerly anticipating our next CSA box on Wednesday

According to the Tanaka Farms blog this is what might be in our CSA box:

Small box might have:
- Carrots
- Kale
- Cucumbers
- White Corn
- Summer Squash
- Romaine Lettuce
- Clementine Oranges
-​ Grapefruit (Oro blanco)

Large box might additionally have:
- Cilantro
- Large Maui Onion
- Valencia Oranges
- Radish

Using the Juicer

Making juice

Over the weekend we used our juicer to make some juice. This time we used mangos, apples, oranges, tangerines and lemons. It turned out pretty good.

10 Tips For Going Vegetarian

Here's a good article about going vegetarian from the Savvy Vegetarian - 10 Tips For Going Vegetarian - http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/svreports/10_tips_for_becoming_vegetarian.pdf

Cantaloupe Season Is Here

Here's an interesting blog entry from Whole Foods Market - Cantaloupe Season Is Here - http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2012/06/cantaloupe-season-is-here/

Nutritional composition of animal-based foods versus plant based foods

This is from Sacred Source Nutrition:

If you haven't read the book The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, I highly recommend that you do. It's one of the best books on nutrition I've ever read, with compelling evidence to show that consuming animal protein is directly related to heart disease, diabetes and cancer, through the most comprehensive study on nutrition ever conducted.

This chart below show the nutritional composition of animal-based foods versus plant based foods, per 500 calories of energy. It's quite an eye opening breakdown, especially for those who still believe the myth that we need animal protein to be healthy. This is simply not true. Corporations promoting their agenda have instilled this propaganda in our culture and our governments have supported it and now that myth is slowly dissolving within our collective consciousness. If you're still not sure about this, and you are open to new information, read The China Study and let me know what you think.

Benefits of herbs

Here's an interesting photo that talks about the benefits of certain herbs.

Bok choy and ginger

Bok choy with ginger

Last night I had a recipe to use the ginger we had bought with bok choy. But, again, the recipe didn't make sense to us, so we came up with our own version.

I bunch bok choy or 4 bunches of baby bok choy

1 cup maui onions

parsley

5 small cloves of fresh garlic

2 TBS of grated or minced fresh ginger root

and equal amount of lemon juice, olive oil and soy sauce to your liking

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

Brown onions, garlic and parsley in olive oil in a large skillet or wok.

Add bok choy and chicken or vegetable broth and stir.

Once bok choy is just wilted, add the ginger, lemon juice, more olive oil and soy sauce and stir.

Cook to your desired tenderness of bok choy and serve.

If you use baby bok choy all you need to do is cut a small portion of the end off. If you use the large bok choy separate the leaves from the stalk. Cut the stalks as you would celery and discard the very end portion. Add the leaves and the cut slices of the stalk.

.

How to cut and peel fresh ginger

I'm going to be using fresh ginger in a couple of dishes so I bought some at Whole Foods. I didn't have a clue how to use it so I searched on Google and find a site with videos, pictures and how-to instructions. Here's the link:

http://startcooking.com/blog/97/How-to-Cut-and-Peel-Ginger

I'll let you know the recipes after I try them.

If you don't like the recipe, modify it

Kale & spinach Pasta

Awhile back I found a recipe for a kale and goat cheese pasta. I thought "oh here's another way I can use up the goat cheese." But I guess I didn't read the directions before printing it off. Last night as I was reading the recipe while preparing the ingredients, I noticed that it said to put the kale, olive oil. lemon juice and goat cheese in a food processor and puree it. I decided that would be a terrible waste for the kale and so I varied considerably from the recipe.

I wanted to use up some things we already had on hand. So here's my modified version of this recipe:

1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of spinach (I had some spinach left in a bag from a previous meal.)
1 cup maui onions
fresh parsley (as much as you want)
garlic (as much as you like)
olive oil
1 cup goat cheese
1/2 cup milk
pasta (any type will work and as much as you like)
tomatoes (from Doug's garden)



Some ingredients


Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta per directions from box or bag.

In a skillet or wok, add olive oil and brown garlic, parsley and onions.

Add kale and cook until just wilted.

Add spinach and cook til just wilted. It takes longer to saute the kale so we added it before the spinach.

When spinach and kale are just wilted, add tomatoes.

Add goat cheese and milk. Cook until goat cheese blends in.

Then add pasta and stir.

I can think of a lot of variations to this recipe. That's what's fun about cooking. You can always make changes.




Using our wok



Another view

Making substitutions in recipes

There is a recipe I wanted to make that I sampled at work when I went to SODEXO's cooking demonstration. It calls for oyster sauce. I tried Whole Fooods and they were out. So I was going to The Bite Market down the street from where I work (this is where I get my Stash Meyers Lemon tea bags) and I asked the woman who manges the place if they had oyster sauce. She said they didn't carry it and suggested that I do a Google search to see what other item I could substitute for it. I just did that and found out that soy sauce is basicly the same thing. In my seach I found the following table that was helpful:

Here are some food substitution suggestions for ingredients commonly used in Chinese cooking.

Ingredient	Substitute
Agar-agar (An Asian gelatin substitute that doesn't require refrigeration)	Gelatin
Bamboo Shoots	White cabbage
Bok choy	celery or Swiss chard
Chili Sauce	1 cup tomato sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp. vinegar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, dash of ground cloves and allspice**
Chinese five-spice powder	Equal amounts cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel, and Szechuan Peppercorn. If Szechuan peppercorns aren't available, use freshly ground black peppercorns
Cilantro or Coriander (Chinese parsley)	Parsley (for decoration only, not taste) Can add dash lemon juice
Coconut Milk	whole milk in equal amounts, if possible with coconut extract. For coconut cream, substitute half and half or whipping cream (with coconut extract if possible).
Galangal (used in Thai Cooking)	Fresh ginger
Fresh Ginger	Candied ginger
Garlic Cloves	1/8 tsp. garlic powder
Hoisin Sauce	Equal amounts ketchup and molasses Also, sweet bean sauce
Hot Red Chili	Crushed red pepper
Lemon Grass (Used in Thai Cooking)	Zest of a lemon
Lotus Root flour	Cornstarch (Cornflour)
Mushrooms ( Straw, Clouds Ear)	Fresh mushrooms (the taste will be different)
Oyster Sauce	Soy sauce
Rice Wine Vinegar (also called Rice Vinegar)	Dry sherry, white wine vinegar, malt vinegar
Sesame Oil	1 Tbs. Sesame seeds fried in 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Soy Sauce	Japanese tamari or Worchester sauce.
Water Chestnut	Jicama (commonly found in the Southern United States)

**From the Kansas State University site - found at http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa042399.htm

While on that site I found some other interesting recipes.

I made a peanut dresing the other night, but here is one much different:

Peanut sauce is a great way to add flavor to appetizers, salads, noodles, fried tofu, and satays. This Chinese influenced recipe for peanut sauce doesn't have the sharp taste of Thai peanut sauce recipes made with curry paste, but is just as flavorful.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

•1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
•1/2 cup peanut butter
•3 garlic cloves, minced
•2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
•2 mint leaves, chopped
•1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar
•2 tablespoons soy sauce
•3/4 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste, or 1/ 2 - 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
Preparation:

Warm the chicken broth in a small saucepan and keep warm on low heat.
Process the peanut butter, garlic cloves, cilantro and mint leaves and sugar in a blender or food processor. Slowly add the warmed chicken broth and process again.
Remove from the blender and stir in the soy sauce, and the chili powder to taste.
Serve peanut sauce with satay and salads, or as an appetizer dip.
Peanut Sauce Recipe Copyright 2003 by Rhonda Parkinson. All rights reserved.

And yet another:

Peanut Sauce - an Easy Dipping Sauce Recipe

Using only five ingredients, this quick and easy peanut sauce recipe is a great choice for nights when you don't have time to chop fresh herbs or crush peanuts.

Ingredients:

•5 tablespoons peanut butter
•3 tablespoons warm water
•2 1/2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
•1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
•3 teaspoons white granulated sugar

Preparation:

Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use. Note:For best results, refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. Before serving, thin the sauce with a bit more warm water if needed. Use the peanut sauce within 3 - 4 days.

And in case your interested here is a vegan substitution for oyster sauce:

Vegan Substitute: Another option is to prepare a vegetarian substitute for oyster sauce. This will be more useful for vegans. All you have to do is to dissolve one mushroom broth cube in half a cup of boiling water. Add two tablespoons of brown bean sauce and one tablespoon of unprocessed sugar to the solution. Allow it to boil for sometime and then add cornstarch mixed with water (one teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in one teaspoon of cold water). Stir the boiling solution, till it thickens. Your oyster sauce substitute is ready.

And if you want to delve even further into oyster sauce, you can make your own. I think I'll skip this one.

Homemade Oyster Sauce: You can easily prepare oyster sauce at home, with the following ingredients. Drain oysters from half a pound of shucked oysters (with liquid) and keep aside the liquid. Mince the drained oysters and add one tablespoon of water and the reserved liquid to it. Take a saucepan and boil the mixture. Once it is boiled, simmer for around ten minutes. Then, remove the saucepan from heat, add salt and let it cool. Sieve the mixture and add two tablespoons of light soy sauce for every half cup of the mixture. The next step is to add half tablespoon of dark soy sauce. Now, boil the solution and simmer for about ten minutes. Your homemade oyster sauce is ready and can be used as substitute for regular one.

This information comes from - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/oyster-sauce-substitute.html

Another stir fry

Stir fry

Last night we wanted to use a lot of the items from our last CSA box. And whenever we do that it's always in a stir fry. Here's what we added from the CSA box:

radishes
green beans
broccoli
maui onions
garlic

Here's what I bought at the store and added:


kohlrabi
bean sprouts
a little bit of parsley - just because I had some
a little bit of cilantro - just because I had some

And we topped it off with low-sodium soy sauce.

I was a little disappointed in how tough the kohlrabi was as I had bought it at Albertsons. We had bought the smaller ones. But everything else turned out good. I added soy nuts to mine.

Eat more greens

I found this graphic and thought it was worth posting.

Another bok choy salad with a peanut dressing

I combined a couple of recipes to make another bok choy salad. I liked the dressing from a kale salad and so I used it for a bok choy salad. I also added some other items to the original recipe.

Bok choy salad with peanut dressing

Dressing 

1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup safflower oil (I used sesame oil cause that's what I had)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. dark brown sugar

I placed the ingredients for the dressing into my blender and pureed it.

Salad

1 head of bok choy
shredded carrots
1 cup maui onions
I used some spinach because there wasn't enough bok choy.

Mix with dressing and serve.

Bok choy salad with peanut dressing

Mashed potatoes with goat cheese & kale

Mashed potatoes with goat cheese and kale

Last week I wanted to try another recipe that used goat cheese. I found this one below:

Mashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Kale

Servings: 8
Ingredients
4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bunch kale, stems discarded, rinsed thoroughly of grit
1 cup whole milk
1 cup goat cheese, at room temperature
salt, to taste
1 cup onions (I added maui onions even though the recipe doesn't call for onions)
Directions:
1.Place potatoes in a large stockpot with and fill with water to cover. Salt well and bring to a boil.
2.Cook potatoes for 15-20 minutes or until fork-tender.
3.Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large pan and saute the garlic, onions and kale until tender, about 3-5 minutes, and set aside.
4.Drain potatoes and return to pot. Mash with a potato masher, then add the milk gradually, mixing to incorporate. Do not overmash or you'll get gummy, flat potatoes.
5.Stir in goat cheese and kale, add salt to taste and serve. Can be made a day ahead of time and reheated in a pot over low heat or in the oven.
 

Finished product

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes

http://www.foodrepublic.com/2011/11/10/mashed-potatoes-goat-cheese-kale

How do you tell the difference between a Cucumber and Zucchini?

CSA box from last night

Last night when we picked up our Tanaka Farms box Doug laid all the contents out on the counter while I was doing something else. As we were putting them away we starting questioning which was a cucumber and which was a zzucchini? There were four of them and they all looked alike. They were even the same size. So that got me to thinking that there must be a website that would talk about how to tell the difference. And yes there is:

http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-cucumber-and-zucchini/

Cucumber vs Zucchini

Cucumbers and Zucchinis have always been a problem vegetable for a lot of people to distinguish apart. Actually it is very hard to distinguish between the two because when these two vegetables are placed right next to each other they both have the same exact dark green skin, pale and seedy flesh, and long cylindrical shape. However when you touch them you will soon see that what might appear as twins which are not. Cucumbers have a cold and waxy bumpy feeling exterior and Zucchinis have a rough and dry exterior.

In the box pictured above, we got squash, cucumbers, corn, tangerines, oranges, green beans, broccoli, carrots, kale, onion, radishes, blueberries and garlic.

I picked up some red potatoes at Albertsons to go into a Potato, Kale and Goat Cheese dish for tonight. Why on earth were we at Albertsons when we have a wealth of healthy food stores? Well because they don't sell Doug's Wheaties at those healthy food stores and he has to have his cereal. As we walked through Albertsons produce area I noticed that their veggies just don't look as good as Mothers Market or Whole Foods. I know they offer some organic options, but they just don't appear as fresh. But if that's all you have, at least they are offering some organic veggies and fruits now.

Braised Red Cabbage

Braised Red Cabbage

Last night we tried another new recipe.

Braised Red Cabbage

Ingredients

•1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
•1 2-pound head of red cabbage, quartered, cored, very thinly sliced (about 14 cups)
•1/2 teaspoon (or more) salt
•3 tablespoons dry red wine or hard cider
•1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Preparation

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat.

Add sliced cabbage and 1/2 teaspoon salt; stir and toss constantly until cabbage begins to wilt, about 7 minutes.

Add red wine or hard cider and sauté until liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes.

Add red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar; stir constantly until cabbage is tender and turns bright fuchsia color, about 13 minutes longer.

Season to taste with pepper and more salt, if desired.

DO AHEAD

Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm, stirring over medium heat, before serving.

We used dry red wine and red wine vinegar. And we don't add any salt.

Braised Red Cabbage with Soy Nuts added

Here's another variation of this recipe.

Braised Red Cabbage with Vinegar

Ingredients

•1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•1 cup chopped onion
•4 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
•1 2 1/2-pound red cabbage, quartered, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
•1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
•1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
•3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Preparation

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.

Add onion and garlic; sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.

Add cabbage and caraway seeds; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Toss until cabbage is wilted, about 4 minutes.

Add broth.

Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes.

Add vinegar.

Cover and cook until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

SODEXO Dining and Catering Food Demo

SODEXO Chefs at work

I was fortunate yesterday to be able to attend a session during our Staff Summit called Healthy Eating Options on Campus. It was put on by SODEXO who does are dining and catering at Chapman University. Their chefs prepared a couple of items for us right in front of us. And we got ample samples. Even though these recipes aren't completely vegetarian, I'm posting them below. They were very good. I'm thinking I could use these sauces in some other recipes.

Asian Peanut Sauce
Ingredients:

1/8 tsp Garlic, Fresh
1/8 tsp Ginger Root Fresh
2 1/2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 1/8 tsp Oyster Sauce
1 1/8 Ketchup
2 1/3 ounces Water
2 1/2 tsp Granulated Sugar
2 1/2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/8 tsp Crush Dry Red Peppers
5/8 tsp Sherry Wine Vinegar
1 1/3 ounces Peanut Butter, Creamy
2 tsp Sesame Seed Oil Chinese

SODEXO Chefs preparing food

Preparation
Quickly stir-fry garlic and ginger until they
start to turn brown

Add remaining ingredients, EXCEPT SESAME OIL
Bring to boil, reduce heat & simmer for 5 minutes
(w/ a minimum internal temp. of 165 degrees F for 15 sec.)

Stir in Sesame Oil

Cool quickly in Fridge

Spicy Cilantro Marinade (Shrimp Grillin’)
Ingredients:

2 tsp Peanut Oil
1 tbsp Fresh Ginger
1 tbsp Fresh Garlic
1/2 bunch Chopped Cilantro
4 Green Onions
Pinch Crushed Red Chilies
4 Shrimp Peeled, Deveined, Raw
 

Lettuce Wrap with Shrimp

Lettuce Wrap

1 1/2 cup Thin Diced Carrots
4 leaves Lettuce - Iceberg, Trimmed
2 tbsp Cilantro, Fresh
1 Lime (cut in 1/8)
Preparation
To assemble: Make 2 lettuce cups
select outer leaves of iceburg or green
leaf lettuce to make cups. For each lettuce cup place 1 1/2 oz carrot slaw, 1 shrimp, cilantro & serve with peanut sauce & lime. Serve immediately.Ingredients:

Bok Choy in a skillet or wok

Bok Choy

In an earlier post I talked about using bok choy in salads. In this post I'd like to talk about cooking bok choy in a skillet or wok.

Doug's favorite thing to do with bok choy is to use it in our wok. He came up with his own recipe for it that is his favorite. And he can't give you exact measurements because he just puts in what looks right to him based on the amount of bok choy we have. There are two types of bok choy that we've used, baby bok choy and the regular bok choy pictured to the right. We prefer the wok because it holds more and we don't have to clean off the stove top which doubles as counter space for us.

This recipe started from Ale-Braised Bok Choy recipe we found. We tried the ale instead of the chicken or vegetable broth and didn't like it. So I suggested that we use the broth the next time.

I do all the cutting and preparation on this dish and Doug does the cooking. I don't think he trusts me with the vegetable broth or chicken broth as he likes more of it in this dish. Here's the recipe he uses:

4 - 6 baby bok choys
1 cup of some type of onion (leeks, maui onions, regular onions, green onions, your choice)
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
olive oil

Now here's where the recipe varies depending on what veggies we have on hand. I've posted some pictures below. Sometimes I will add shredded carrots, celery, etc. Last night we had some kale that needed to be used up and so we used that in it. I also cut up the remaining celery leaves and added them. On other occasions I have added Radicchio when I have it. It makes a nice colorful dish and adds a different flavor to the recipe. See the picture below.

Bok choy, Kale and Onions

I separated the baby bok choy and cut the ends off. Then I wash it and let it drain off the water in a strainer while I work on the rest.

Last night I also cut up the kale too. I also had put aside some bok choy stalks that I didn't use in the salad. I cut them up as well.

I cut up a cup full of the maui onions.

Doug took the remaining five cloves of garlic and cut and smashed them up.

I cut up the celery leaves I had left and placed them in a dish of water to clean.

We heat the wok and add some olive oil.

We added the garlic, onion and celery leaves to brown.

After those are brown, we added the bok choy and kale. If we are using the baby bok choy we just cut a small portion of the end off and place the whole stalk and leaf in. If we are using regular bok choy we cut the stalk in small slices and then tear the leaves off. If you're adding other veggies like the shredded carrots they would go in at this point too.

Then we add either low-sodium vegetable or low-sodium chicken broth to the mixture and saute it until it's all tender and can be cut with a fork.

I added some soy nuts or pumpkin seeds to mine so that I get the benefit of the nuts. Doug prefers his plain.

You can also steam bok choy if you prefer it that way.

bok choy with shredded carrots and Radicchio

bok choy with pumpkin seeds

bok choy with cheese

Bok choy, kale and soy nuts

bok choy and kale

CSA box for tomorrow

Tanaka Farms CSA box

I always look forward to every other Wednesday as we pick up our CSA box. They usually post on their blog what we will be getting, but today we just get the picture. There were a couple of things they did mention like garlic, purple cauliflower, kale and blueberries. And it's pretty obvious that we have some red beets, two varities of oranges, corn on the cobb, carrots, maui onions and some green beans.

They've given some links for the kale and garlic which I will list below. We just finished up a batch of garlic. We still have another batch from the last box. It's a good thing that garlic keeps for awhile. I love garlic. And I try to put it in almost every dish we make. It is also very good for you. Here's the link they've posted to a site that talks about roasted garlic. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_garlic/

This site tells you how to peel a garlic clove. http://www.wikihow.com/Peel-a-Garlic-Clove

This site is all about garlic. http://www.garlic-central.com/garlic-cooking.html

Next, we have a site they refer you too that talks about the health benefits of kale. http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-kale

This site has a lot of good information. They also have good information about other veggies too. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?dbid=38&tname=foodspice

Here's a blog devoted to kale. http://www.365daysofkale.com/

Asparagus with Brie

Asparagus with Brie

We tried this recipe just recently. If I do this one again I will not use brie cheese as it doesn't melt very easily. This photo is what it looked like before it went in the oven. And that's pretty much how it came out too except that the bread crumbs were browned. We even cooked it beyond the required time. Perhaps I can substitute the brie with goat cheese. Here's the recipe for this:

Asparagus with Brie

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed
1/2 (2.2 pound) wheel Brie cheese, sliced
1/4 cup butter, melted1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.Place asparagus in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still crisp, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and place in a shallow baking dish.
3.Lay cheese slices over asparagus. In a small bowl combine melted butter, bread crumbs and sesame seeds. Sprinkle over cheese.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes.

5.Increase oven to broil. Broil just until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-with-brie/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=asparagus%20with%20brie&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page


Roasted Asparagus with Mustard-Herb Vinaigrette

Roasted Asparagus

A couple of week ago we tried another asparagus recipe and like it much better. I didn't use pepper, salt or hard-boil eggs. I also topped it with Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4

This classic French recipe can be made with either asparagus or leeks. A simple garnish of chopped eggs and fresh herbs results in a visually impressive side dish for a spring lunch or brunch.
Ingredients

1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 pound (about 1 bunch) asparagus
2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped or grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

Whisk vinegar and mustard together in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil, followed by shallot. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and set aside.
Snap tough ends off the asparagus. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and plunge asparagus into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain asparagus thoroughly and transfer to a serving platter. Whisk the vinaigrette to recombine it and drizzle over the asparagus. Sprinkle with chopped eggs, chives and parsley. Serve at once.

Nutrition

Per serving: 60 calories (20 from fat), 2.5g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 5g protein, 6g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 2g sugar), 110mg cholesterol, 160mg sodium

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1207   

Yummy Bok Choy Salad

Yummy Bok Choy Salad

Here's a recipe we tried last night that is very good.

Yummy Bok Choy Salad

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 bunches baby bok choy, cleaned and sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/8 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 (6 ounce) package chow mein noodles

Directions

1.In a glass jar with a lid, mix together olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Close the lid, and shake until well mixed.

2.Combine the bok choy, green onions, almonds, and chow mein noodles in a salad bowl. Toss with dressing, and serve.

You can find this recipe here:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/yummy-bok-choy-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=yummy%20bok%20choy%20salad&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe




Bok Choy

  
Here's a couple of variations of the same salad:

Rosie's Bok Choy Salad

Bok Choy Asian Salad

Ingredients

2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, crushed
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

1. In a medium skillet over low heat brown ramen noodles, almonds, and sesame seeds with melted butter or margarine. Once browned, take off heat and cool.

2. In a small saucepan bring vegetable oil, sugar, and vinegar to boil for 1 minute. Cool. Add soy sauce.

3. In a large bowl , combine shredded napa cabbage and chopped green onions. Add the noodle and soy sauce mixture. Toss to coat. Serve.


 

Bok Choy Salad with grape tomatoes added


Rosie's Bok Choy Salad

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup margarine 1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodle
pasta, crushed
1 medium head bok choy
3 green onions

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Melt the margarine over medium heat in a small skillet. Crush the ramen noodles while still in their packaging, and add to the margarine along with the almonds and sesame seeds. Saute until everything is golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on a paper towel.
3. Chop the bok choy and green onions and add to a large bowl. Just before serving, sprinkle with the noodle mixture and dressing, and toss to coat.