Category — Vegetables

The most typical excess in any summer garden is zucchini. At this time of year, you should be able to get your hands on some fresh, home grown zucchini for very little or even for free if you have nice neighbors. Here’s a recipe for how to use up that extra goodness in a delicious, unusual way. You can make this as a cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan if you prefer. You will need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini – takes about three medium-sized zucchinis
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup currants

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour muffin tins or cake pan. Wash the zucchini, cut off the stems and grate in a food processor.

In a medium size bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Mix thoroughly.

In another bowl beat eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the shredded zucchini, walnuts and currants. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. If fork comes out clean when poked in the center, take out to cool. If not, keep baking. Could take up to an hour to bake thoroughly if made in a 9 x 13 pan.

Feel free to experiment with this recipe. You could add coconut, cranberries or raisins or even try it with fresh fruit like blueberries. You also may try a topping like coffee cake crumble or icing. I tried it with a lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting which was good but my husband prefered it without saying it was “like taking a beautiful country road and putting a McDonald’s on it.” Simple sometimes is better and I plan to have my next muffin with a cup of Earl Grey and maybe the slightest bit of butter.

If there’s one thing a chef doesn’t like, it’s a picky eater. It seems like a battle that just can’t be won and many moms have already tried. Having picky children can leave you a bit worried about your kid’s health, but studies have shown that the diets of picky children weren’t too different from healthy-eating children – besides the fact that the picky eaters didn’t consume as much fiber and calcium.

For the moms who have a picky eater at home, there are some things you can do to ensure your kid eats. First off, when doing business with children, you need to learn some psychology. Make them feel like they’re getting their way when in reality you’re getting yours. A great example is serving them dessert for breakfast. The idea is to make them feel like they’re getting something yummy – this can be from fresh fruits, cottage cheese or even eggs and plain yogurt.

Then you can try sneaking in some healthy foods. For protein, you can serve peanut butter, nuts, egg salad, boiled eggs, rice pudding or chicken salad. Then for veggies you can give your kid a V8 Splash fruit juice, veggie lasagna or some carrots and cheese in tortilla bread. Other ideas include granola and yogurt (like the parfait) or veggies with ranch dip. If you have a blender, fruit smoothies are fun to make and drink. You can even get creative and let them create their own pizza.

Recipe for fruit smoothie (get creative with the fruits!):

1 banana, cut into chunks
4 strawberries, stemmed and cut into chunks
8 oz. milk
1 TBSP almond butter
2 tsp. maple syrup

Pour the fruits into the blender, pour in the milk, then add the almond butter and syrup. Turn on the blender until the contents are smooth.

Speaking of blenders, you can also try the smother attack; this is when you puree all types of foods with a food processor (the idea is to place veggies, fruits and other healthy foods into nonsuspecting items). You could blend veggies in foods like brownies and cakes or grind up broccoli and zucchinis in pasta or pizza. Get creative with your cooking skills!

As if I haven’t given you enough reasons to get out to your local farmer’s market and take advantage of all the fruits and vegetables that are in season right now, here’s another one.  It’s been scientifically proven that they help prevent and fight cancer.
These are the health-promoting compounds that occur naturally in foods:

• Anthocyanidins – Antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties.  Think purple: beets, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, red grapes and purple cabbage.

• Carotenoids – protect vital fatty acids and enhance immune response.  Good sources: apricots, carrots, dark leafy greens, yams, squash, and tomatoes.

• Lutein – an antioxidant that helps protect cells and maintains health of eyes, heart, skin, and breasts and cervix in women.  Go green: spinach, collard greens, kale, leeks, peas and romaine lettuce

• Lycopene – reduces risk of prostate cancer in men.  Overall, it’s also a potent antioxidant and prevents damage to DNA.  Tomatoes have the highest percentage of lycopene; other food sources include watermelon, pink grapefruit and guava juice.

• Sulfer compounds – may help remove cancer -causing agents from your body as well as improve estrogen balance.  Mr. Mustard Family: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard greens, radishes, and turnips

The easiest way to make sure you’re selecting a good mix of cancer-fighting fruits and vegetables is by observing the colors: purple, orange, dark green and pink/red.  A mix like this is not only pleasing to your body but also to your eye.

The chopped salad phenomon has taken over the urban American lunch scene and I’m not complaining. I find myself regularly choosing these cut up meals from a menu and I’ve noted that it’s not as much the ingredients that please me as it is the fact that’s it’s chopped. Does this mean I’m lazy? Is cutting food with a fork and knife such a huge stumbling block? Maybe it’s chewing food that’s the turn off.

I’m going to convince myself that these mixed salads just taste better. I feel like they do, don’t you? All the flavors come together in this perfect, evenly proportioned way. And the fact that you can spoon-feed yourself raw veggies is somehow comforting, I’ll admit it.

So, here’s my advice for your home: Buy a food chopper and get creative. Summer has so many fresh veggies to offer and almost all of them taste better in managable, bite-sized pieces. Picture these ingredients: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, egg, cheese bacon. Now picture them chopped. You feelin’ me now?

Have you noticed these delightfully odd tomatoes in your grocery yet?  I discovered these beauties last year and have become a faithful purchaser ever since.  Heirloom tomatoes have gained popularity recently, but why?  Where did they come from?

That’s a debatable subject as the definition of what makes a “heirloom” tomato is not agreed upon yet.  Some say it must be a seed that has a 100 year legacy, others say fifty years is enough to get the stamp of approval.  There are some who argue that the tomato comes from the end of World War Two.  And still others that define the seeds as ones which have been passed down through the family for generations.

None of those definitions interest me however as much as that fact that it is generally agreed that no genetically modified organisms can be considered heirloom cultivars.  That says a great deal about why these tomatoes taste better than other varieties.  And that fact that people are out there arguing about the bloodline of this tomato means somebody gives a crap about quality!

Rotisserie chicken and salad is one of the easiest and most satisfying meals you can make, or not make, since you can buy the chickens at almost any grocery store these days.  This meal will still satisfy and take advantage of all the fresh bounty summer has to offer.

Consider the recipe from Real Simple for chicken with grape and blue cheese salad.  Just looking at the picture is all the inspiration you’ll need to jump off you tail and whip that one up.  Or try roast chicken with The Rosenthal salad.  This gets the “tried and true” stamp from our household.  You could serve the chicken with fresh corn on the cob and sliced heirloom tomatoes.  It dosn’t get easier than that nor is there a better time of year to get the delicious produce!

My mom grew up on a farm in Indiana, the corn capital of the U.S. I grew up eating corn on the cob… ear after ear after delicious, buttery ear of it. I stuffed myself on it. There was none of this “one ear per person” business. That was probably because this treat came to us in late July and August only since that’s when it was ready in our garden. My mom thinks people are crazy to eat corn from the grocery store that’s out of season. Maybe you will too once you taste her recipe.

Here’s how it’s really supposed to go down. You take a big pot, fill it with water and put it on to boil. Then you go outside, pick the corn and shuck it. You put it in the boiling pot of water for one minute only and serve it hot. I thought it was fun to use corn holders as a child, but whatever you do, roll that sweet corn in butter and put salt on it. It’s the best!

I have my husband to thank for this helpful tip. For health reasons, he avoids using oil when cooking. He always cringes when he sees me making a stir fry and I’m like, “What up!? I’m only using a little oil and tons of vegetables. What’s your problem?”

But then the other day when I was making tofu scramble I couldn’t be bothered to steam the vegetables in advance (or wash the extra pots afterwards) so I thought, “I’ll use the old man’s trick.” I put the seasonings in the skillet like normal plus the veggies that needed steaming. I threw a little water on top, put the lid on and voila! Two minutes later I had perfectly steamed veggies. By taking the lid off again, the extra bit of water cooked away so it wasn’t soupy. You can use this method for Chinese stir-fries, scrambled eggs or anything else you want to make in a skillet with cooked veggies.

And, without the extra pots to wash, you’re conserving water too. With a single move I’ve made my husband three times happier!

Here’s another debatable topic. Once again, The PH Miracle and many other veg junkies claim that the secret to increased health and vitality is a diet of raw, plant-based foods. According to some, this type of menu can even cure diseases such as juvenile diabetes and cancer…

But according to others, lightly steamed vegetables are highly superior to raw vegetables. I first read this in Dr. Motha’s book The Gentle Birth Method. This comes from the guidelines of an aruvedic diet. Again I fell upon this advice when reading a book on Chinese medicine. The theory being that, yes, raw vegetables do have more vitamins but they are also harder for the body to digest. Lightly steamed vegetables are easier on our digestive system therefore the rate of absorption of vitamins is higher.

I’ll probably continue to eat both raw and steamed, that way I’m covered!

Continuing with my respect for vegetables theme, this week I’d like to talk about some lesser-known alkaline friends. Like Hollywood actors, these background players have a lot to offer. They just need that first break so they can become star names. Let’s give these extras a lead role in your next kitchen production!

• JICAMA – We all have Mexico to thank for introducing us to one of their star players: the crunchy, mild, sweet tasting, not weird at all, easy to use… jicama (pronounced hik-a-ma). This root vegetable is gaining popularity in North America and Asia and can be used in a variety of salads and stews. Once peeled, it’s reminiscent of a potato or apple and what makes this vegetable top notch on my favorite picks list is that when refrigerated, it can stay good for up to a month!

  

• SWISS CHARD – Now is the time to get your hands on this giant of green goodness. Available through out the year, the best season for it runs from June through August. You’ll recognize it by the tall stalk that may be white, yellow or red and it’s dark green, fan-like leaves. Don’t be scared by the greenness of it! I’ve got a recipe that will get you hooked on it like sugar sticks.



• CELERY ROOT – A star in France and Germany, this interesting root is not as well known in American cuisine. It can be used in salads, soups and gratins and it also gets major points for it’s long time storing freshness: up to three months if refrigerated!



• WATERCRESS – One of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings, watercress is a significant source of iron, calcium and folic acid. It also appears to have cancer-suppressing properties and is widely believed to help defend against lung cancer.

These vegetables aren’t just a pretty face. They’re packing loads vitamins. To check out a list of nutrition facts go to the Whole Foods siteand get the stats. Don’t let corporate America control what you eat. Employ an out-of-work vegetable today!