apples- Baked apples stuffed

This is not an unlimited food. Eat in small portions.

I adapted a recipe from Mollie Katzan' The Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Mollie is famous for the Moosewood cookbooks and collaborated on the Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less book with Dr. Willet.

STUFFED BAKED APPLES

1/4 cup tart cooking apples

10/25/08 I used macintosh

1/4 cup Grape Nuts Cereal
1/4 cup finely minced walnuts

10/25/08 I used chopped

1/4 cup cinnamon

10/25/08 I used peach juice and forgot the cinnamon

a small handful of raisins or currants

10/25/08 I used chopped prunes

2 tbs hone

10/25/08 I used a bit of maple syrup

Still the idea was the same. Core the apples. (10/25/08 I used a long fillet like knife) Mix the stuffing in a bowl and push the stuffing in the apples tight. No baking setting was in the recipe. 10/25/08 I used 350 for 40 minutes and did them in Elizabeth's toaster oven. Next time I'll use the roaster and a bit deeper pan. Put a bit of water in the pan.

She recommends a dab of yogurt or a wedge of cheese.
10/25/08 I used neither.

10/25/08 The top burned a bit. Use the other roaster oven so the stuffing is not so close to the top burner. Otherwise just fine. Very sweet and good.

bananna smoothie

1 medium-size or large, ripe banana. Note: You can substitute frozen banana for the fresh. When your bananas begin to ripen and soften too much, peel, cut in chunks, and freeze in small resealable bags. Use in smoothies, and you won¹t need ice.

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

4 fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon honey

2 or 3 ice cubes if desired

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve right away.

Variation: Almond or rice beverage may be substituted for the milk.

Yield: One 16-ounce or two 8-ounce servings.

Advance preparation: Smoothies should be made and drunk right away. This will thicken and lose flavor if it sits.

Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com

beans black

I combined a can of black beans (drained and rinsed) with a can of collard greens (drained) and added Montreal Steak seasoning, powedered garlic. Cooked it in the microwave fast and had a fine supper. I added Cholula garlic and chili flavored hot sauce and it was really delightful.

I ate some of the salad I made yesterday, using fresh lime and Moderna balsalmic. I like this mix a lot. Now if I could only get the juices to stay in the salad. It did help to drizzle it over the salad and then not mix so much, but there was still a good bit in the bottom of the empty bowl.

As for canned beans and greens. I don't care what the purists say. I was so hungry after our shoppng and missed lunch at the Mexican place that closed that I wanted a fast, easy meal. Canned beans are all cooked. No soaking, planning, waiting. Canned collards require no large pan for cleanup. They are already cooked down so you get a full can in a can rather than getting a can from a shopping bag full.

When I prepare again for pandemic in the spring, I'll certainly stock up on canned beans and canned greens.

When no pandemic comes, they will be easy to eat up.

beans - red lentil curry

I heard part of a recipe on the radio this week that brought red lentils and other veggies into a curry form. The advantage of the lentils was that they don't require presoaking. So I bought some. I can't remember all the details. Actually, it called for prefrying the added ingredients in butter, but I won't do that. What I did like was that it talked about shredded spinach and said it should be added long after carrots and such had cooked, right at the end of the recipe.
Here is one note from a recipe with too much sugar for me:

Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear (this is very important or the lentils will get "scummy"), put the lentils in a pot with water to cover and simmer covered until lentils tender (add more water if necessary).
I want to start using more curry. Elizabeth loves it. Also, lacking great variety in foods, variety in spices is a great alternative.

For example, I used the spicy Montreal steak seasoning for a bowl of bean and eggplant soup and found it tasty.

beans Variety Bean soup

I wanted to use up the half package of already soaked 16 variety beans that I had put in the eggplant stew the last time I made it. This time I did not want to put beans in the eggplant stew, but to try to find the fine simple taste I managed with my first try.

I had a hambone and leeks I bought from Canajoharie farmers. So I boiled them all together with the beans for a while and it all made a really wonderful broth. I tossed in about a quarter cup of broth left from my meal of canned spinach. A bit of spinach was in the broth but just enough to mildly flavor.

I decided that the hambone was much too large and had too much good ham left on it for this small batch of soup. I was worried I'd have a ham soup flavored with beans rather than the other way around, so after it had flavored the broth, I pulled the bone out and refroze the it for the next split pea soup. While this is not the meatless goal of Fuhrman's diet, it sure stretches out the affects of meat in the diet.

The result tastes wonderful.
I am still unsure how long to cook the beans. I like the taste just as they are, but one lima bean was underdone probably because it was so much larger than the others. A few bits of ham were left in the broth and I fished them out and cut them into very tiny pieces.

beans- field peas with greens

Today's harvest all natural no preservatives
frozen field peas with snaps
great mix. Mixed with a bit bit of brown rice, turkey soup broth (3 tsp) and some Montreal steak seasoning.

www.greystonefoods.com

beans- fried fava not healthy

Okay, another one not so healthy.

1. In a bowl, cover the dried beans with water and refrigerate them
for 4 days. Drain and remove the skins, which peel off easily.
Separate each fava bean into two lobes. Dry the beans on towels.

2. In a wok or deep skillet, heat the oil. Fry the fava beans a few
at a time over moderate heat until brown, about 3 minutes. Using a
slotted spoon, remove the beans from the oil and drain them on paper
towels. Sprinkle the beans with salt if desired.

Store the fried fava beans in glass jars with tight covers.

A traditional street-corner appetizer, easy to prepare as nibbles or
to serve with drinks.

note: I found that cutting them in half made them easier to cook into a crunchy snack. Not too healthy I suspect, but finally I used up these beans I bought on a whim at the Italian import store.

bean- lentil soup - Elizabeth

from NY Times. Not yet tried

2 tablespoons canola oil or peanut oil

1 medium or large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground

2 teaspoons coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground

2 teaspoons hot curry powder

1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes with juice

1 pound red lentils (about 2 1/8 cups), washed and picked over

2 quarts water or chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (more to taste)

Cayenne to taste (optional)

Juice of 1/2 lime

For garnish:

Chopped fresh cilantro

Thickened yogurt

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the cumin, coriander, and curry powder. Stir together for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant, and stir in the tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly. Add salt to taste.

2. Stir in the lentils and water or chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and continue to simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, until the lentils have fallen apart and thickened the soup. Using the back of your spoon, mash the lentils against the side of the pot to thicken the soup further. Add the pepper, taste, and add cayenne if you want more spice. Taste and adjust salt. Stir in the lime juice.

3. If you wish, puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender, holding a towel over the lid to prevent hot soup from splashing out, and return to the pot. Heat through and serve, topping each bowl with a dollop of yogurt and a generous sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

Note: When I was developing this soup, I served it two ways: as a rustic, thick lentil and tomato soup, and as a puree. My 10-year-old son liked it better as a thick lentil soup, and I preferred the texture and especially the look of the puree. You can try it both ways.

Yield: Serves 6

pea soup with smoked chicken

I took the last of the chicken carcass from the local smoker and cooked it up with split green peas I had soaked over night.  I guess the soaking was not necessary, but it seemed to help.  I put in two large carcass pieces and over flavored the soup so that in the end it needed to be diluted as it was too "rich". I might better have used just one.  I added in a can of vegetable broth. I scopped out the peas once they were tender and blended about half to add a thickening smooth pea broth.  I did not add any spices except pepper.
When it was done, I put it in the refrigerator and before eating, I added a half can of chicken broth to my bowl.  Elizabeth liked it richer and added less.
That was very good.
I need a bigger pot down here.  They I could have doubled the recipe and used all the chicken.

15 BEAN SOUP

This started in Florida.  I brought from Averill Park a large can of spinach, a package of 15 beans, and a large can of diced tomato with basil and oregano.  I used the fast soak method for the beans, boiling them and then letting them stand for an hour, then draining them and tossing them in the spinach and the tomato with a good bit of Bruce's organic garlic, a little Italian spice.
Well, it was fine except it was overpowered with the spiniach.  Too much.
Gradually, I made bowls that were combined with vegetable broth from the market.
That was good.
I added in Indian spice and that was good too, although I liked the Patak's tika marsala in a jar rather than the powdered spices for tika marsala I brought with me.

Really good was adding some cream of mushroom soup and the Patak's to the soup and that made a delicious, well balanced taste.  Elizabeth put hers in a blender and the made a smooth soup, like pea soup only with all the beans.
January 2012 in Florida.
This one is well worth cooking on purpose.

Breads and crackers

12-08

Tried Cracklebread by Natural Nectar. Maybe I got this in Guido's. sun dried tomato and oregano flavor. The texture was much like pigskin. Good stuff. 3 crackers- 52 calories. Made of rice and corn.