Hubby gives the nuts a shake

I got a taste this week of what it will be like to be busy, when my business truly takes off. It has made me glad that I let myself off the hook about writing this blog every day and taking photos every day and all the other social networking things I've committed too. 

Anyway, all this busyness has made me wonder what I ate all week? I know hubby cooked once or twice, and we did our no-cook Friday. I did manage to make one new meal this week – well, an altered version of it. It's from the EatingWell site and it's called Spice-Crusted Tofu.

I'm not sure what it is about tofu. I don't seem to be able to get over the thought of it. I don't even eat it in miso soup. The little cube-its remind me of chicken fat. That's really what it is, the texture. I am a bit of a freak when it comes to any form of fat on my meat. Just thinking about it right now is giving my belly a quiver. And because the texture of most forms of tofu I've eaten is very soft and the general colourlessness of it, I just can't seem to get past the thought of it.

Having said that, I think this recipe, made with extra-firm tofu, might be edible. Might be. Because the recipe made with a pork loin chop was so good, I might actually try it. Might.

I also made on of the YOU: On a Diet salad – Spinach Walnut. I had leftover arugula, so used that. Have you ever met someone who cannot take any form of bitterness? Well, that's my hubby. His tastebuds nearly went off the bitterness scale when I used that broccoli rabe a while back, but I've been wanting to try this salad for a long time, so I told him to suck it up and go with it. Being the good-natured soul he is, he agreed. Better that then to starve I guess.

I used only 1/4 of the grapefruit, and I actually removed all form of the pith and skin around the segments, which in my experience is what really makes grapefruit bitter. That's how I always eat grapefruit anyway. Makes for an ungodly mess, but red grapefruit is soooooo tasty if you can get to the good bits. (Come to think of it, eating it this way is probably less nutritious, but hey, it's not like I eat it everyday anyway.)

SPINACH WALNUT SALAD
2 servings

1 tablespoon olive oilDressing Ingredients:
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
Dash of cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Salad Ingredients:
1 large bunch spinach, washed and trimmed
1/4 cup walnut halves, plain or pan roasted (beware of smoke detector sounds if you do this like Dr. Mike and answer the phone when it rings, and forget what is in pan roasting)
1/2 orange, cut into segments
1/2 grapefruit, cut into segments
2 green onions, chopped

Combine oil, vinegar, honey and cayenne pepper; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Toss spinach with dressing and walnuts. Arrange orange and grapefruit sections on top and garnish with green onions.

So, how about those shaking nuts? Well, I have found in eating a fair amount of walnuts since January that they are less bitter if they've been roasted. I was in the middle of taking the skin and pith off the grapefruit segments, and had already put the nuts in the pan to dry roast. I didn't want them to burn so asked hubby, quite innocently I might add, "Hey honey, can you give those nuts a shake?". He stopped what he was doing, turned to me and said, "Exactly what are you asking me to do?". I realized what I'd said and we had a good laugh. Next time I'll tell him to stir them up instead. That's better, right?

So, the salad is good, really good actually. Refreshing comes to mind. Some people find arugula bitter, and I think the grapefruit might have brought the bitterness out. It was okay to me, but I think you could quite easily skip the labourious task of using on the grapefruit pulp and use only orange segments, which you can simply cut up and add. The  dressing is very good. I love Dr. Mike's dressings! I used tarragon white wine vinegar, which adds a lovely taste.

As for the main course, I made some mashed potatoes (I always make them with the skins on). We used a bit of butter and milk in them, but a trick to making them tasty, but no-fat/non-dairy, is to use chicken broth to add moisture when you mash them.

This recipe worked very well with pork loin chops. I mixed up the spices and then turned over the cooking part to hubby. The colour is awesome. If you choose to use pork, don't overcook the meat (hubby suffers from the old belief that pork has to be well-cooked, but it doesn't, a pinkish tinge is the way to go). I didn't bother with the pine nuts because we were using pork, but also our salad already had nuts.

This recipe would be absolutely awesome with salmon filets or steaks (I've made something similar with salmon). It is really, really tasty. I added a bit of soy sauce (maybe a tablespoon) to the glaze. You need to keep a good eye on this when you've added the glaze because it will probably burn. Thank goodness hubby likes to cook (and takes direction well), I couldn't have done both the salad and the main on my own without burning the main. So either make the salad ahead, not adding the dressing until you're ready to serve, or get some help. Wouldn't this picture look so much better with the salad on the same plate?

So, I will try this recipe with tofu the next time I make it. We're both a bit freaked out at the thought of it, but we're nothing if not adventurous. Not to mention dedicated.

Hubby has also promised to make me dinner tonight. I found a recipe for pasta at EatingWell and I think I'll get him to make it. I'll report on the proceedings next time.

I'm going to be pretty busy over the next couple of weeks on a course, so I doubt there will be much culinary experimentation going on. But I will return as I can.

Take care and happy experimenting!

Kathy

Feast of Love 2010

I am definitely my mother's daughter. When we went to Cora for breakfast on Saturday, there was a new placemat with a food personality quiz. According to Cora I am a "food connoisseur" because I believe in living to eat rather than eating to live. And I have finally embraced this as one of my core (Cora?) beliefs.

  There is no better way to show my love than with food. 

My hubby is definitely loved. He may not have got a Valentine's Day card, but he has been the ongoing recipient of my "Eating the Rainbow" experience. We were musing on this topic while eating our respective breakfasts of egg panini crepe (me) and Billy Button stuffed crepe (he) when it came to me that we hadn't had a repeat meal (except for leftovers) since I started this blog in January 2010. Nary a bowl of spaghetti has been served, nor a turtlini, our old stand-bys. In fact, hubby put the new batteries in the scale yesterday and I stepped on today, expecting to see a gain of many pounds, and instead discovered I'd lost 12 since I last weighed-in before we moved east. Not that that number matters. I like that the YOU docs say throw out the scale and bring out the measuring tape. But that's for another day.

Today is about a feast of love.

I generally did nothing all weekend to save my strength for feats of epicurean extravagance for Sunday. On my menu: Arugula and Watermelon Salad (YOU: On a Diet), Vanilla-Balsamic Shrimp with Saffron-Basil Israeli Couscous (Oprah.com) and Chocolate Soufflé (EatingWell.com).  I did want to maximize the taste of the vanilla-infused oil, so I sliced, seeded and heated the olive oil on Saturday evening to let the vanilla do its magic (there was an amazing transition overnight from vanilla mixed with the sharp scent of olive oil to vanilla oil).

On game day, I started preparing the salad first, assembling it without the dressing, then putting it in the fridge, then worked on the shrimp and couscous. Hubby was hanging around so I put him to work peeling shrimp. I prepared the recipe to the point of cooking and let him sautée the shrimp even though he had imbibed in three glasses of the spanish sparkling wine he bought for our feast of love. He did admirably well despite his tippling. I was too focussed and took no more than a few sips. I was in my element.

Here is the basil-flecked Israeli couscous with yet another vanilla bean set at 12:00. Couscous is very coolcool – a form of toasted pasta that soaks up flavour like a sponge.

While hubby was sautéeing, I thought I'd try to get a jump on the dessert by making the chocolate. DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME KIDS! This is what you'll get:

 

and this is what you end up doing with it:

I might add that that was the last 2.5 oz of my best chocolate. Sigh...

So, are you ready... Ta dah!

Arugula and Watermelon Salad

Oh, this salad is gooooood! I saw a similar (or maybe the same) one in a magazine a while back, but the old me was afraid to try it – my loss! This is a delightful salad – I expect with or without the feta. Don't add any salt though if you're adding feta or it could be too salty even if you rinse the feta. The watermelon is a slightly sweet and so refreshingly tasty next to the salt and pepperyness of the feta and arugula. I will absolutely make this again.

Vanilla-Balsamic Shrimp with Saffron-Basil Israeli Couscous

This dish is a gift to your tastebuds. When you first take a bite of a bit of shrimp and a bit of couscous with the vanilla-balsamic sauce, your tastebuds are literally jolted by the balsamic and basil. A few chews into it and you begin to experience the subtlety of the vanilla as the beads of slippery couscous slide around in your mouth. I don't know how to describe it exactly. Not what I was expecting, and yet, so much more. Oh yes, I would be happy to eat this again.

And then the ultimate dessert for lovers (funnily enough we had just watched "Down with Love" the night before and I perked up from a snooze just as the soufflé scene came on). After enjoying the last bit of sparkling wine (very dry and crisp – not like French champagne, but entirely drinkable), I set about re-melting and combining the chocolate with the egg yolk, bit of cream, cinnamon and miniscule 1 tsp of flour, then beating up the egg whites with sugar. In a very short time we were literally watching the soufflé rise.

Into the oven

Halfway there

Done like dessert!

Oooooh, it's kind of moist and pudding-cake like inside!

and, done!

If I was a less humble cook, I would tell you this is a very difficult dessert to make so I could use it to impress you, but it isn't. It's ridiculously easy and I wonder why I didn't ever attempt it before. Having watched many, many 60s movies, we did tread carefully, but it was completely unnecessary. The fluffiness held up until there was nothing left to support it. The taste is sweeter than I expected, (if you'll remember I used up all my good quality semi-sweet chocolate) but maybe with really good quality bittersweet chocolate – OR my amazing chili chocolate!, it would be even better. Oh yes, I will make this again!

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Maybe this is me imposing my will on you, but I think there is nothing more loving I can do for myself or for others than to serve amazing food that I have made myself from scratch. Food is life-sustaining and I am, after all, a Taurean woman without children of my own.

After all these years, I'm in a bit of a re-birthing process as I learn that good doesn't have to mean decadent and dessert doesn't always mean the most important part of the meal. It's all about how foods taste together, and getting the most goodness I can squeeze out of the combination. Whether that means by pairing two disparate ingredients like vanilla and balsamic vinegar that amount to a taste explosion (no let's call it what it is – a mouth orgasm) or a tried and true combination of chocolate and sugar that bring back happy memories of my mom's love for me.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all – de ma cuisine à votre cœur!

Kathy

Black Bean Thursday

I worked hard today on my company mail-out, but we all have to eat, so I used my lunch time to make the Real Age YOU: On a Diet Quick Black Bean Soup. I naively thought I'd eat it for lunch, but it isn't that quick to make.

I love Black Bean Soup. President's Choice makes a really good one in their Blue Menu line. It's low in sodium, but if when eat it without other food like a sandwich, I can really taste how good it is. I'm not sure if that's because the taste is so delicate, or that it really is bland and I've just gotten used to it! It's  $2+ a can (I eat a whole can if I'm not eating a sandwich with it), so it's a great price for lunch, but I figured, why not make my own, for probably way less and freeze it in lunch-sized portions?

I didn't follow the recipe all that closely. It goes without saying that I doubled the garlic. I used 3 carrots and I don't care for celery in soups, so I substituted 2 small red bell peppers. Once I had everything together in the pot, I tasted it. The stock was seriously bland. I doubt puréeing the beans would have added much flavour, so I set about tweaking. I added 2 tsp of cumin powder, 2 tsp of chili powder and a big 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, which really helped. Again, the balsamic vinegar, adds a huge amount of flavour.

QUICK BLACK BEAN SOUP

8 servings (about 1-1/4 cups each)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 quarts (8 cups) low salt vegetable stock or broth
2 cans (15 or 16 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, carrot and celery; cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add stock, beans, coriander and cayenne pepper; simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Transfer to blender or food processor; process to desired consistency. Reheat if necessary. Ladle into shallow bowls; garnish with cilantro.

What's In It for You
(per serving)

Daily calories 305.31

Total fat (g) 16.29

    Saturated fat (g) 3.76

    Healthy fats (g) 11.02

Fiber (g) 10.59

Carbohydrates (g) 33.16 

Sugar (g) 10.83 

Protein (g) 13.09 

Sodium (mg) 1259.23 

Calcium (mg) 193.23

Magnesium (mg) 42.8

Selenium (mcg) 1.08

Potassium (mg) 968.39

So far I've only spoon-tasted it, but it's got loads of flavour. I think tomorrow when I reheat it for lunch it will be even better. It's not very thick compared to the PC version, but maybe the canned variety has thickener in it. Or maybe it will thicken overnight.

My version is redder than I usually see in a black bean soup, but I don't think tomatoes are usually added. It would be great with a dollop of low-fat sour cream and some shredded sharp cheddar, which is how I sometimes serve it.

I think the reason I added tomatoes is that I sometimes make black beans with salsa mixed in, served over rice and it is wonderfully flavourful. I may end up adding more cayenne tomorrow, but I'll wait to taste it.

After all the mailer prep I did and going for a walk on the incredibly windy walking trail by the river, I was too pooped to make a salad tonight. So you'll have to stay tuned for that update. Tomorrow night is Friday, and I'll be in the no-cook zone. We're having nachos with ground beef (which I will substitute with ground chicken). I just hope I can find pickled jalapeños. Even my Atlantic Superstore doesn't have them. Strange, but maybe in the Moncton store?

I got my email newsletter from Eating Well today. Oh my goodness, it is a veritable feast of chocolate! I will make one of the recipes this weekend for our Valentine's meal. There are even some recipes suitable for diabetics. I found a recipe on Oprah.com for Vanilla-Balsamic Shrimp with Saffron-Basil Israeli Couscous (and my wonderful Food Barn had the Israeli Couscous) that sounds like a feast of love. Pair that with some wicked chocolate dessert (I might even attempt a chocolate soufflé!) and I'm set for the rest of the year, I figure.

I'll report on the proceedings on Monday, as I plan to be basking in the glow of love (and maybe a bit of a chocolate high) on Sunday night.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Kathy

Asian Night at Rainbow House

I've been craving salmon the last week or so, so tonight I got busy making another set of Real Age recipes from my botched diet plan. On the menu tonight was Japanese Ginger Salad and Asian Salmon with Brown Rice Pilaf.

JAPANESE GINGER SALAD

8 servings

Dressing Ingredients: 

1/2 cup olive oil 

1/2 cup rice vinegar 

1 small sweet onion, quartered 

1 large carrot, chopped 

1 tablespoon orange juice 

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 

1/4 teaspoon soy sauce 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional) 

Salad Ingredients: 

2 (large) heads romaine lettuce, torn 

1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts 

1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds 

Combine all dressing ingredients except salt and pepper in blender (or food processor); puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired. Toss lettuce with dressing; top with sprouts and seeds. 

I'm honestly not sure about this salad. Once again I thought I had enough rice wine vinegar and I couldn't find bean sprouts at Superstore, but otherwise I made it according to the recipe – all 1+ cups of it. I found the vinegar overpowering (I used garlic wine vinegar [which is not as scary as it sounds] to make up the 1/2 cup of vinegar required, but unless rice wine vinegar is milder and sweeter, I think it was far too much. I think the orange juice and carrot were meant to sweeten, but after tasting it, I added a tablespoon or so of honey just to make it more palatable. Also for a salad with ginger in the title, I couldn't really taste it, so I added more, but still couldn't really taste anything but the warmth of the ginger. I didn't add any salt or pepper. It was good, but if I were to make it again I'd use a lot less oil and vinegar. Since I was making it only for two people, maybe a tablespoon of each and then a tsp each of orange juice and ginger and maybe a full tsp of soy sauce. 1/4 tsp for 8 servings of this dressing is kind of a why bother in my opinion. Another thing that might have brought out the Asian flavour would be to use 2 tsps of olive oil and 1 tsp of sesame oil (or maybe 1/2 tsp because sesame oil is very strongly flavoured). Maybe grate some carrot for colour and visual interest and use a bit of honey? I'd taste it before adding the honey as I did tonight. I think there's a good idea in there, but it needs some tinkering for sure. 

ASIAN SALMON WITH BROWN RICE PILAF

4 servings

Brown Rice:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2 cups water

1 cup short grain brown rice

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Salmon:

2 skinless salmon fillets (about 4 ounces each)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon maple syrup

2 green onions, chopped

For rice, heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 3 minutes. Add water and rice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 50 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork; stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Meanwhile, place salmon in a pie plate or shallow dish. Combine remaining salmon ingredients; mix well. Pour marinade over salmon; let stand 15 to 20 minutes. Heat a ridged grill pan over medium heat until hot. Add salmon, discarding marinade; cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until salmon is opaque and firm to the touch. Serve with brown rice.

I'm proud to say that I took the skin of the salmon myself. I did a good job, but I didn't realize that the bits left over that were cloudy were actually fat. I didn't end up eating it, because I can't event handle salmon oil capsules, but if hubby wouldn't have been around, the dog would have got a serious dose of Omega3 right there!

I live in a house with a hubby who is not only French Canadian, but from New Brunswick, where maple syrup is made and used all the time – which could be why we were out of it. But hello?! how could that happen? Anyway, I used honey and managed to find some maple extract. The recipe says to discard the marinade but there wasn't really anything to discard without scraping it off the salmon, so hubby cooked the salmon with the marinade and the salmon intact. We also don't have a ridged grill pan (it's on my wish list – a cast iron baby for those beautiful grill marks and extra iron in my diet), so he just used our regular frying pan. I think it turned out just fine as-is.

Hubby also plated the meal, serving a huge portion of rice and a ginormous piece of salmon. I put half the salmon back, but I did eat the rice :-)  In his defense, I normally don't ever eat leftover fish, but I'm developing such a taste for it these days, I did double the batch. 

This salmon and rice made up for whatever was lacking in the salad (and actually helped the salad a lot).  The salmon was deliciously Asian tasting. Again, maybe using a bit of sesame oil would have made it even more so, but maple syrup substitute aside, I thought this was super tasty and simple to make.

I made the rice in a rice cooker (seriously THE best way to cook rice), but I did saute up the onion and pepper first. I added a vegetable bullion cube into the water. I was amazed how sweet the rice tasted and I'd have to assume that it's because of the sauteed onion and pepper. Really very good with the salmon. In fact, I'd make it much more frequently now that I know about adding the onion and pepper. 

All in all, a good meal. Since we'll be eating the salmon and rice again, I think instead of the Japanese Ginger Salad I might try either the Arugula and Watermelon salad I've been dying to try or the Spinach and Walnut salad (which has grapefruit and orange segments in it). I think either of those would be very good.

I'll make one of them and report back. In the meantime I just found this salad recipe on the site that is closer to what I think would work:

ORIENT EXPRESS SALAD
2 servings

Dressing Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt and pepper (optional)

Salad Ingredients:
2 small heads Boston lettuce, torn
1 small cucumber, sliced
1 small bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
2 green onions, chopped 

Combine all dressing ingredients except salt and pepper; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Toss lettuce, cucumber and carrot with the dressing. Transfer to serving plates; top with peanuts and green onions. 

Doesn't this one sound more like what I was saying I'd do with the other recipe? Hello, can you say genius? I know you can!

Well, that's it for tonight. I'll let you know what I think of whatever salad I make tomorrow. I can't believe I thought I didn't like salad in winter.

Kathy

P.S. 

The title of tonight's blog reminds me of the Yellowknife community of N'Dilo (pronounced Deelo). When the Queen came to Yellowknife in let's say the 70s, City Council wanted to clean up N'Dilo, which is a typical northern village of not very well kept, scrappy looking houses. So, they offered the communities leaders money for paint. The community leaders in turn gave the money to the people to spend on paint. And paint these people did! Each house is a different happy colour (red, pink, orange, purple, azure blue, yellow – you get the picture). This particular stretch of N'Dilo, which was probably all of it back then, is called Rainbow Valley. 

I feel lighter...

... but certainly not from dieting!

Life gets a bit overwhelming at times, especially when hormonal, but I feel better now that I've come clean and I'll just carry on doing what I'm doing, what I want to do, instead of what I think I'm supposed to do.

Yesterday I cooked a great meal. Three courses great. I made YOU: On a Diet recipes for appetizer and dessert, but the dinner course was a little YOU and lotta ME.

I've always said I don't care for salad in the winter, but I think what I really don't care for is traditional salads with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and on and on. These YOU salads have really tasty dressings and interesting ingredients. The dressings are so simple it makes me wonder why I buy pre-made dressings. I already have every vinegar known to cookingdom, why not make my own? Some things are so ridiculously obvious when you just remove the blinders. This is the same salads as I made on Friday for lunch, but it went over really well with hubby. He didn't even mind the radicchio. And I did use feta again. No added salt, and oh, yeah, I used dried mango that I soaked in water to reconstitute, because I ran out of cranberries. Whatever works, I say!

MIXED GREENS WITH CRANBERRIES AND WALNUTS

2 servings

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Salad Ingredients:

3 cups packed mixed mesclun or spring greens

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled farmer’s cheese

Combine oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic and soy sauce; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired. Toss dressing with greens, cranberries and walnuts. Arrange on serving plates; top with cheese.

 The main course started out to be Royal Provence Pasta, but I couldn't make myself get up and out to the store for eggplant, so it became "a thing". Lots of roasted red peppers, spinach, greens, garlic, tomatoes served over rotini pasta. Sorry, can't be more specific than that and I'll likely never recreate it again, but you'll have to take my word for it that it was good.

Since it's kind of like the Royal Provence Pasta, so I'll give you the recipe if you want to try it:

ROYAL PROVENCE PASTA

2 servings

6 ounces whole wheat rigatoni or linguini pasta

1 small dried ancho or pasilla chile pepper

1 cup (4 ounces) diced (1/2-inch cubes) unpeeled eggplant

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped

1 yellow or orange bell pepper, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes, undrained, coarsely

chopped

1 cup packed mesclun or mixed spring

salad greens

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or lemon thyme

Salt and pepper (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions omitting salt and fat. Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the chili pepper; cook, turning occasionally until fragrant and toasted, about 2 minutes. When the chili pepper is cool enough to handle, discard its stem and set the seeds aside for a garnish. Chop the chili pepper. Add eggplant to hot skillet; cook until browned, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add oil, then chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and chopped chili pepper. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and sauce thickens. Remove from heat; stir in salad greens. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Drain pasta; transfer to two serving plates and top with sauce.

I just noticed that all the way through Dr. Roizen (who seems to come up with some of these recipes) spells chili like the country Chile, so I changed it. Funny!

And then dessert. This was a bit of work, especially when you're wanting to be downstairs to watch "50 First Dates" (I love Adam Sandler's later movies – he has a real sweetness to him). It was worth the effort though. It's got almost everything you'd want in a dessert, except the cake, and is truly tasty. Once again, I substituted some stuff. I thought I had raspberries in the freezer, but all I could find was a mix of berries. I took out the strawberries, so it was a combination of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Your supposed to run the pureed berries through a sieve, but I didn't puree them, so I didn't bother to sieve either. I added a banana for some reason – maybe I thought it wouldn't be sweet enough with the white wine, but it wasn't necessary. And I thought I had chocolate chips, but oops!, so I used two squares of my chili chocolate. I think the pistachios were meant to be unsalted, but I shelled salted ones and I knew it would be great.

And it was. The chocolate really added a feeling of dessert and a depth of taste. The chili was a nice little tingle. Add a scoop of really good ice cream and it could be company worthy. Well, actually either way, I might serve it to company.

Roasted Pears with Raspberry Coulis, Chocolate, and Pistachios

2 servings

1 large red pear

1/2 cup white wine (high quality)

6 ounces frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed, or 1 cup fresh

raspberries

1 tablespoon mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios, toasted

Heat oven to 400F. Cut pear in half; remove core with a melon baller or metal measuring teaspoon. Arrange pear halves, cut side down, in a shallow baking dish. Pour wine over pears. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until pears are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Meanwhile, puree raspberries in food processor; strain and discard seeds. Transfer roasted pears to serving plates, cut sides up; sprinkle chocolate chips over the pears (the heat of the pears will melt the chips).

Combine pureed raspberries and liquid remaining in baking dish in a small saucepan. Cook over high heat until sauce is slightly thickened. Spoon sauce over and around pears; sprinkle with pistachios. Serve warm or at room temperature.

So, that's it for my cooking last night. Tonight we had leftovers and more yummy salad (with a different dressing, but I want to make it properly before offering the recipe).

That's it for now. Dog is pacing impatiently after being lazy all day, so I guess I'd better go and burn a few calories off.

Hope you enjoy the recipes!

Kathy

Can I have a do-over?

I guess my new-improved attitude about "diets" did not last. Or maybe it did, I don't really know. I did say at the start of following the YOU: On a Diet plan that I would still enjoy my Saturday brunch, still have wine and I forgot to reiterate that I don't cook on Friday nights. However, you can't really call that following a plan or a diet, can you?

I wonder if I actually had a do-over if I'd follow this diet plan any more closely? If I'm really honest about it, I'd have to say no. I was doing much better before I tried to follow a plan. There's nothing wrong with YOU: On a Diet, but I guess I'm just not ready to commit myself to a weight loss plan. I did say weight loss wasn't my goal at the beginning of this journey. But, still I feel a bit like a failure, a fraud, and that I've let whoever reads this (and myself) down.

I did make one of the recipes for one of the salads on Friday – Mixed Greens with Cranberries and Walnuts –  it was really good and I've made similar salads before. I used feta cheese instead of farmer's cheese (I rinsed it first and didn't add any salt in the dressing) and since I didn't have any walnuts, I used pumpkin seeds. I loved the contrast between the sweet of the cranberries and saltiness of the cheese. All in all, it was a really good salad. I don't think I'd use soy sauce again (even if it was reduced-sodium soy sauce) because with the feta because it was still on the salty side. Oh, and I ate both servings. I'm sorry, but to eat half the amount this recipe makes would have been not enough to see me through to dinner. As it was, by 5:00 I was so hungry, even with my snack of an apple and almonds, that I could have eaten the "arse end out of a skunk", as a dear friend says.

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MIXED GREENS WITH CRANBERRIES AND WALNUTS

2 servings

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Salad Ingredients:

3 cups packed mixed mesclun or spring greens

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled farmer’s cheese

Combine oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic and soy sauce; mix well. Season to

taste with salt and pepper if desired. Toss dressing with greens,

cranberries and walnuts. Arrange on serving plates; top with cheese.

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We ate boxed pizza for dinner (my no cooking on Friday nights rule still rules). I couldn't find a gourmet, thin-crust pizza made with a whole wheat crust at the Co-op, but it was one of those pizzas that didn't have a lot of cheese and the crust was very thin. I have no idea if it's any better than other kinds, but I like it with a glass of wine, better than a fully loaded pizza. One day I will make my own, but probably not on a Friday night, because rules are rules :-)

And last night, Saturday, we went out for dinner. We rarely eat red meat, but last night I had a steak, vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. I've definitely satisfied the beast that is my inner carnivore, at least for a while.

Where do I go from here? I don't know, quite honestly, but I do know that what I eat on a daily basis does not a public blog make. That disappoints me the most. I wanted it to be fun, sometimes funny, but always interesting. I'm certainly glad I said I was going to stop posting my blog to my facebook account and that I was going to stop emailing it. I realize now that sustaining a blog for public consumption is not an easy task, especially when you should be spending your time building your business rather than blogging. And, in all honesty, I'd rather go offline than be hopelessly boring.

So, I guess, continue checking in if you want. I will make postings here and there. I still love my Eating the Rainbow idea. I still want to make delicious and healthful meals, try new foods and recipes, and I will blog about it.

I wish you health and good eating.

Kathy

Going Rogue

Ever since I made the recipe for Apple Oatmeal Crème Brûlée I've wanted to try again, because there was a good idea in there somewhere. I'm not sure if the person who made the recipe actually tasted it, or the Oprah.com food division tests their recipes before posting because it was sickeningly sweet, even without the brown sugar. Maybe it's because I used long cooking steel cut oats. Anyway, I think I perfected it.

I made it again, this time with only about 1 cup of the 9 cups of water substituted for apple juice, and four apples for 2 cups of oats. I simply followed the instructions on the package, adding apples to the recipe (also leaving the peel on the apples for an extra hit of health). I made it in the slow cooker again and added cinnamon and vanilla after cooking. It's extremely tasty with a bit of brown sugar. So there you go. Never mind the broiling disaster waiting to happen, this is a recipe worth keeping, and oh so simple.

Here is what was in store for today's YOU: On a Diet plan:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup cooked oat cereal with 4 ounces of skim milk, with 1 fistful of blueberries
Morning Snack: 6 ounces probiotic low-fat yogurt with 1 fistful of raisins
Lunch: Spicy Lentil Soup with a Hearts of Palm Salad
Afternoon Snack: None
Dinner: Lemon Caper Chicken with Sweet Potato Puree
Dessert: 1 ounce of dark chocolate (made with real cocoa)
Evening Snack: Simon’s Popcorn

I had the apple oatmeal without milk for breakfast, but I had a meeting that I didn't get back from until about 2:30, so I was absolutely lightheaded. I ate the lentil soup, without the salad and was fine until dinner.

I wasn't going to bother to make dinner tonight, but I'm so glad I did. The recipe for Lemon Caper Chicken is really good. I made enough chicken for two nights, and thinking it would be a waste to turn on the oven for an hour for just two little sweet potatoes, I took a whole bunch of vegetables that I had in the fridge (leftover beets, fennel, onion, carrots and a sweet yellow pepper) and tossed them in a tablespoon of olive oil, a bit of natural salt and some rosemary (dried this time for some reason even though I have the fresh stuff in the fridge), then roasted them with the whole sweet potatoes.

The combination of the tangy lemony chicken and the sweet roasted veggies (with a glass of red wine, of course) is quite spectacular. I can hardly wait until tomorrow, because that's what's on the dinner menu again. I can't believe I thought roasting vegetables was too much work. I am here to tell you, they are worth every tiny bit of work you have to do. Simply divine! I didn't actually dress up the sweet potatoes, just added some pepper and it was great. I only ate half because there were so many other vegetables.

I had two square of my delicious chocolate for dessert. A little tummy warming slice of heaven. It's almost 9:00 here, but I still may make Simon's popcorn. If I do, I'll report tomorrow.

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Recipes

LEMON CAPER CHICKEN WITH SWEET POTATO PUREE

2 servings

Chicken Ingredients:

2 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, minced

1 tablespoon drained capers

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Sweet Potato Ingredients:

2 hot cooked sweet potatoes (microwaved

or baked)

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

For chicken, preheat broiler. Place chicken in a shallow roasting pan. Combine remaining chicken ingredients and pour over chicken. Broil 6 inches from heat source 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. For potatoes, scoop hot sweet potato pulp into bowl. Add remaining ingredients except salt and pepper; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with chicken.

Once again, I didn't broil the chicken, I roasted it at 400ºF at the same time as the vegetables. Easy peasy!

I forgot to mention that if you decide to sign up for the YOU: On a Diet challenge, most of the recipes have nutritional information with them. It's very handy.
What's In It for You

(per serving)

Daily calories 374.44

Total fat (g) 9.89

Saturated fat (g) 1.74

Healthy fats (g) 7.44

Fiber (g) 5.44

Carbohydrates (g) 45.33

Sugar (g) 25.04

Protein (g) 26.41

Sodium (mg) 293.1

Calcium (mg) 83.66

Magnesium (mg) 59.12

Selenium (mcg) 20.79

Potassium (mg) 986.59

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I must say that even for me working from home, it is too much to cook two new meals a day (never mind dessert too) even if the recipes are quite simple to prepare. I guess you could remedy that by making the soups and stuff for lunch on the weekend and freezing it, but even making a salad that you haven't made before can be too much when you're in a hurry. I don't want to stop, because I'm enjoying trying all the new recipes, but I will probably have to make lunches just a few times a week and eat leftover soups on the other days.

Well, that's it for tonight. 

Have a yummy night!

Kathy

P.S. Don't forget I'm going to stop emailing my blog out by the end of the week. I'm also going to stop advertising it on my facebook page, so if you want to subscribe to my blog by following it, I would appreciate it.

Today is the first day of the rest of my two weeks

Having said all that about diets in my last blog, even though I jumped right in and wasn't prepared, I managed to get through the day. We had some serious left-overs in the fridge, so I didn't really eat what was on my YOU: On a Diet Day 1 menu, except for breakfast, but I did limit my portions. The 3 snacks a day are a life-saver, even if they are a simple fruit and nuts, yogurt and berries and dry whole-grain cereal (but since I don't eat my oatmeal with milk I had it on my cereal :-). Not really much different from what I normally eat, come to think of it. So, new day, minus the teenaged angst rebellion.

So, here's my Day 2 Menu:

Breakfast: 1 cup Kashi high fiber (GoLean®) cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk, with 1 fistful of raspberries

Morning Snack: 1 apple

Lunch: Quick Black Bean Soup with a Greek salad

Afternoon Snack: 1/2 ounce of raw nuts with 1 banana

Dinner: Broiled Trout or Branzini with Rosemary

Dessert: Roasted Pears with Raspberry Coulis, Chocolate, and Pistachios

Evening Snack: 6 ounces probiotic low-fat yogurt with 1/2 cup of canned unsweetened

tangerines or mandarin oranges

In order to be ready for today I had to do some cooking yesterday. I made the Spicy Lentil Soup and Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad, which are actually meals from yesterday, but they sounded soooo good, I just had to make them for today. Hey, it's my menu!

The soup is easy to make and does make a fairly large batch, so I will freeze most of it. It tasted pretty bland until I added salt and pepper. For a "spicy" lentil soup, there is nary a spice or a bit of heat in it, so I added Italian herbs and some chili flakes.

Verdict: It's delicious! I love any soup with tomatoes, but this one is also garlicky and the lentils give it substance. I think adding the balsamic vinegar was genius.

I normally wouldn't have given the Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad a thought, because I find cauliflower bland, but this recipe has capers and lemon and garlic in it, so was bound to be flavourful. And, it also has anchovies. Given my queasiness over sardines, you would think I'd feel the same about anchovies, right? That's where you'd be wrong. Along with lots of garlic, anchovies are the secret to a good caesar salad and add a lovely saltiness to anything you make them with – without a fishy taste. So bland cauliflower no more! I think I might add some cherry tomatoes for colour next time though, and maybe something green. The more the Mediterranean I always say! Oh, and I steamed the cauliflower whole, rather than blanching it, because I thought boiling veggies was how you took nutrients out?

Now that I've eaten it, I can say this is really tasty! I'm sure I reek of garlic, but since we're having it tonight with our fish, hubby will be fine. Although I served it cold, I think it would also be excellent served warm as a side dish. I won't do that tonight because it will get too mushy – next time.

Yay, two keepers in one day!

 Kashi Go Lean is surprisingly good. It has a hint of cane sugar, so it doesn't taste like cardboard. A cup seemed to be a pretty good amount for me. It has heaps of protein in it, so it lasted well until lunch. Mind you, since I didn't have enough milk for both coffee and cereal, I ate it with yogurt (I must do a blog about yogurt one day).

Since I don't eat trout and have no idea what Branzini is, but just happen to have yummy halibut in the freezer, I modified the recipe to allow for baking fillets (broiling kind of scares me after my mishap with the Apple Oatmeal Crème Brûlée) by baking them in foil for about 15 minutes at 400°F. I'm excited to say that I used fresh rosemary for the first time ever. Two of my sisters have cooked with fresh herbs for years, but I'm only just starting, and yes, there is a huge difference. I guess I should have listened to my big sisters in the first place.

Verdict: Wow for something so simple, this was pretty tasty! The rosemary taste was strong, but I've grown to like it. I'm sure you could just use dried rosemary, but hey, now I know what fresh rosemary is like.

The one thing that I didn't think of was that both my fish and my cauliflower were white, so talk about a nearly colourless meal! I added some cherry tomatoes to the cauliflower salad, which also helped. I guess you gotta think these things through before you serve them... I think I could also have used salmon quite nicely, but that's my prejudice showing.

And finally, I actually didn't make dessert tonight because what was on the menu wasn't very appealing, but I did make it last night. Cinnamon Apple Sauté was surprisingly good, even though I substituted the only jam I had (strawberry rhubarb) for the apple butter and used vanilla yogurt instead of frozen (I find frozen yogurt way too sweet). It was so delicious we gobbled it down before taking pictures. Definitely take the time to toast the walnuts – they taste way better. They almost give the dessert a crumble feeling.

Four, no five keepers (if I include the Kashi Go Lean) – all in one day!

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Recipes
SPICY LENTIL SOUP

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

5 cloves garlic, sliced

2 quarts (8 cups) water

1 cup dried lentils

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes, undrained

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil, then onion; cook

5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in carrot, bell pepper, and garlic;

cook 3 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients except salt and pepper;

bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 18 to 20

minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender. Season to taste with

salt and pepper if desired. Remove bay leaves before serving.


MEDITERRANEAN CAULIFLOWER SALAD

4 servings

1 head cauliflower, blanched for 5 minutes

1 small can anchovies, drained, chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon drained capers

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried (I used Italian herbs instead)

Drain cauliflower and break into small pieces. Combine cauliflower, anchovies if desired and capers in a

medium bowl. Combine remaining ingredients; toss with cauliflower mixture.

BROILED TROUT OR BRANZINI WITH ROSEMARY

2 servings

2 whole fish (trout, orata, or branzini) (I used halibut)

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 lemon – sliced

2 cloves of garlic – sliced

Salt and Pepper

Preheat broiler. Open trout like a book; season to taste with salt and pepper if desired. Arrange garlic, rosemary and lemon slices on one side of each trout; close other side and transfer trout to greased rack of broiler pan. Broil 5 to 6 inches from heat source 5 minutes. Turn trout over; continue to broil 4 to 5 minutes or until fish is opaque throughout. (Because I was baking, I wrapped the fish in foil.)

CINNAMON APPLE SAUTÉ

2 servings

2 small apples, such as Jonagold or Ambrosia

1 tablespoon apple butter

1 tablespoon unsweetened apple juice or cider, preferably organic

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 walnut halves, toasted, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup nonfat or low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt (I used regular vanilla yogurt instead)

Cut apples into quarters; discard stems, core, and seeds. Cut apple quarters into thin slices. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add apples; cook until apples begin to brown, about 4 minutes, tossing occasionally. Stir in apple butter, apple juice, and cinnamon; continue to cook 5 to 8 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce thickens, tossing frequently. Transfer to serving plates; top with nuts. Serve with frozen yogurt.

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I think I feel better today about the word DIET. I've had plenty to eat and the cravings for whatever I can get my hands on have subsided. Hopefully I can keep it that way.

Happy Dieting folks!

Kathy

P.S. Don't forget I'm going to stop emailing my blog out by the end of the week. I'm also going to stop advertising it on my facebook page, so if you want to subscribe to my blog by following it, I would appreciate it.

The Psychology of "No"

Okay, that was strange. Yesterday all I could think about was food, and not in the good way as I was thinking about it all through January. Put the word DIET in there and all I can think about is "what I really want to eat is", "what am I going to make for my next meal", and "when am I going to eat it".

I know I have some work to do on portion control, but I also know that part of me is hungry because I'm following a plan and limiting myself. It's the very act of limitation that does it to me. Well, that and the teenage rebellion thing about being told what to do, which I apparently never got over.

As I was trying new recipes made with Superfoods nearly every night, and I was so busy blogging about it,  I rarely ate anything after dinner, which is my trouble time.

Maybe things will change as I get further into this week, but I find it very interesting the dynamic of how I respond to anything that says DIET. Maybe the plan's name should be – YOU: On a Health Kick!

Yours in wonderment,
Kathy


P.S.  I'm going to stop emailing my blog out by the end of the week. I'm also going to stop advertising it on my facebook page, so if you want to subscribe to my blog by following it, I would appreciate it.

New look, new focus – new me?

Welcome back! I like things to look pretty and need to feel comfortable in my surroundings (can you tell I'm a Taurus?), so once I had a month of blogging under my belt, I knew I needed to present something that is more "me".  I love the idea of "Eating the Rainbow" because it represents me on my quest: to eat healthier, eat more variety of foods and try more recipes from different cultures.

The past month's focus on fresh and from scratch has surprisingly done wonders for my nighttime snacking. There have been a lot of changes in my life in the past month and being busy is one of them. A by-product benefit of being busy is that I don't think about eating bad for me food as much. It's interesting when you think about it, because I think more about food than ever – but healthful foods.

So, I've been promising a more hardcore healthy eating style and I've found one. It is actually a diet, but it focuses on foods made fresh, rather than heat and serve entrées. It's called YOU: On a Diet and it's from the Real Age website I've referred to from time to time.

What I like about it is that you get to plan your menu, it doesn't plan you. So, I've planned a menu that is to my tastes (not too much meat, in fact no red meat in the first two weeks [I think]).

I also like that dark chocolate is one of the snacks.

I don't know any woman who doesn't occasionally crave chocolate. Dark chocolate does wonders. I think I may have mentioned before that my current favourite is Lindt Chili Chocolate. I love the little bit of heat that warms my tummy. Since I'm not really a dark chocolate person, it works for me because I don't overindulge (can you tell I'm a Taurus?)

Another thing I like is that this diet is offered at no cost. I am hoping it's because Drs. Oz and Roizen have made enough millions from their books and TV shows and that they genuinely want North Americans to be healthy. You can buy their books on the site, but it isn't a requirement. I appreciate that.

But what I REALLY like the best is that the YOU Docs say "throw away the scale and bring out the measuring tape". It may be a still be a numbers game, but let your belly fat be the number you care about. And as a woman who is getting ever-closer to menopause, I only have so many more years of hormonal protection. The belly fat is definitely creeping on.

So, I'll give this a try for two weeks. I will likely make some changes here and there because I'm NOT giving up my Saturday brunch with hubby and in all honesty, since I wasn't home this weekend I probably don't have all the groceries. I also want to stay focussed on fresh foods, and I think I noticed that there is deli turkey in one of the recipes. I'll be switching that out with one of those pre-roasted chickens (skin removed of course!).

I wish I could find a way to attach PDFs to this blog (argh!), but I guess I'll just have to cut and paste recipes each day. Anyone out there know how?

Is there anyone else out there willing to give it a try with me? You may have to fill out the Real Age health profile, but it might be worthwhile. If you need a bit of time, why not join me on week two?

Let me know what you think about my new blog style and what I'm doing, but please make your comments below, rather than sending them to me directly. That way everyone who reads this will know what you think.

Here's to a healthy February!

Kathy