Tempted

Need help creating healthy, energizing breakfasts?

From Chicagoist, my thoughts (and Michelle Obama’s) on the subject.

Alison Parker, of Radical Root Farm, wrote this resonating essay, A Radical Change of Heart (click on  Contents, then “Life, Etc”), for the current issue of Mindful Metropolis. Have you ever felt that life-sucking feeling of dread before heading off to work Monday morning?  If so (I know I certainly have), I think you’ll appreciate what Alison has to say.  Rather than accept the “daily grind” as a fact of life, Alison reminds us it is possible to love what you do and do what you love.

Food Labels: Facts Behind the Health Claims
http://chicagoist.com/2010/03/18/food_labels_the_fact_behind_the_hea.php

Tofu: The Top 5 Myths Dispelled:
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Food/Tools-Tips/The-Truth-About-Tofu-Top-5-Myths-Dispelled.html

Today while perusing the Family Farmed expo, I stumbled upon an exciting new television program called “Fooditude”. The show teaches “Tweens” (children between 8 and 12) all about cooking, nutrition, gardening, environmental awareness, and cultural appreciation in a fun, relevant and age appropriate way.  Check it out for yourself. They managed to get kids to eat ETHIOPIAN food…amazing!

This recipe was given to me by my friend Angda.  The result is so good it provoked her husband to officially declare, after six years of marriage, “NOW you know how to make Indian chicken.”  I’ve always loved the spices and scents of Indian food, but felt it may be too complicated to prepare well in my own kitchen.  But I’ve been proven wrong.  This recipe was quite simple, requiring only a quick stop at a local Indian market, and is truly amazing.  Between mouthwatering bites, Jason just could not stop gushing about how delicious it was. I recommend you try it for yourself.

Methi Chicken

Prep time and cooking time combined, 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless chicken, cut in large pieces

1 cup plain yogurt, whisked in bowl

0.5 tsp cardamom seeds

3-4 cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

1.5 cups chopped red onion

1-2 hot chili peppers, chopped finely

1 inch ginger, chopped finely

1 inch ginger, julienned

1 tsp garlic, chopped

1 cup chopped tomatoes

3 tbsp Kasthoori Methi [dried fenugreek leaves available in Indian grocery stores]

salt and chili powder to taste

1 cup water

To Prepare:

Marinate chicken pieces in yogurt and set aside while you prepare gravy. In a large saucepan, heat oil and add cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Heat until roasted, but do not burn. Add chopped ginger, chili peppers, garlic and onion. Saute on medium heat until onions are clear and browned. Add add tomatoes and 2 tbsp methi leaves. Add 0.5 tsp salt and sprinkle some chili powder in, adding more later as needed. Cook mixture until tomatoes are roasted through and mixture begins to separate from oil. Add chicken and yogurt to mixture and cook for a few minutes. Add 1 cup water to pan, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally. When chicken is properly cooked through, transfer contents of pan to an oven-safe baking pan or pyrex dish. Sprinkle julienned ginger, remaining tbsp methi, and cilantro on top of pan, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Enjoy with naan, roti, or rice. Serve plain yogurt on the side to off-set heat if dish is too spicy.

Last night I had the enormous pleasure of donating and serving up a pot of homemade Chickpea Lentil stew for “Soup and Bread“, a free weekly soup dinner organized by Martha Bayne at the Hideout in Chicago. Both soup and bread are free, but donations are  collected to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository and other local food pantries.

From the Soup and Bread website, here’s the basic gist of the event:

“Each week we round up a handful of Hideout staff and regulars, plus local musicians, writers, artists, and — yes — professional cooks to donate pots of homemade soup. We heat them up in crock pots and serve them in the finest thrift-store china, along with fresh bread and the occasional muffins, pie, or cookies baked by enterprising participants. All are welcome, and we serve till the soup runs out or the late-night jazz guys kick us out. It was designed to be an easy, low-key way to get folks out of the house and socializing in the dead of darkest winter — because, seriously, have you been to Chicago in January? Not to mention, when we started this up in 2009 our friends were losing their jobs left and right. At times this past year it’s seemed the entire city could use a nice hot bowl of soup.”

Last night our soup spread garnered record-setting donations for the Lakeview Pantry.   If you live in the neighborhood, Soup and Bread will continue to run every Wednesday from 5:30pm-8pm through March 31st 2010. Kids are welcome! If you’re not local, be sure to check out the official Soup and Bread Cookbook here. It’s a sweet, and very useful, collection of 52 soup recipes and 8 bread and baked good recipes from the 2009 run of Soup and Bread at the Hideout.

Below, here we are serving up our hot soup last night. Such a great time! From left to right…Tamiz Haiderali, chef/owner of the fantastic restaurant Treat at North & Kedzie (where I’ve eaten the most amazing curried gnocchi on earth), Chicagoist Food and Drink Editor Chuck Sudo, Lost in the Supermarket’s Allison Stout, the multi-talented Luke Joyner, and myself.

photo by Sofia Marcovici

Last night I stayed in and whipped this up in my kitchen.  After a long week of work, I find many Friday’s are best spent (for me) at home making some food, sipping some wine, with my dog Ned waiting patiently at my feet.  Aaah, the things that change as I get older! Can’t fight it, as much as I try.

This is a very easy, healthy pasta dish that’s not at all heavy.  I used clams and shrimp, but you could also throw in some scallops. We received a bunch of fresh watercress in our Fresh Picks box, which was perfect in this dish – but spinach, chopped chard or arugula would do fine. Watercress is super nutritious – it’s full of vitamin C, calcium, Vitamin A and iron. If you haven’t tried some, it’s a versatile, delicate green you can easily toss in a salad, soup or pasta.

Ingredients:

~4 servings of dry spiral pasta (about a 350g bag)

1 dozen clams

3/4-1 lb peeled and de-veined shrimp

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1  fresh red chili pepper, chopped, with seeds removed

Watercress (2 heaping handfuls) – rinsed

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup dry white wine

Juice of 1/2 lemon

To prepare:

Rinse the shrimp and clams. In a large thick skillet, heat a 3 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the garlic until it softens. Add the clams and wine, cover and cook on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until the clams open up. Throw out any clams that don’t open on their own. Add the shrimp, watercress,&  red chili pepper – cover and let the shrimp slowly cook and the watercress wilt.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water. Drain the cooked pasta well and then throw it in the skillet with everything else. Drizzle with lemon juice, a sprinkle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Serve with fresh grated Parmesan.

Bon appetit…..

I recently shared a recipe  “Post Holiday Detox Tea” on Chicagoist.  Why would one want to drink this tea?  The simple concoction is made with ginger, cayenne and lemon juice, which are known for their medicinal properties.  Ginger stimulates gastric secretions and supports healthy digestion and nutrient absorption. Cayenne encourages good circulation by making our blood less “sticky” and strengthens our immune system to ward off cold and flu. The addition of lemon juice makes the tea more palatable but also, according to traditional Chinese medicine, stimulates the liver to promote blood detoxification.

Now I’ve decided to add turmeric to the mix, making this tea even more healthy and medicinal.  Turmeric contains a phytochemical called curcumin that, over several decades of research, has been shown to promote cancer cell death.  In fact, studies have linked curcumin to the inhibition of several forms of cancer, including pancreatic, liver and multiple myeloma. Curcumin is also believed to lessen inflammation,suggesting its potential to help prevent conditions like cardiovascular disease and arthritis. Drink this tea often.  In Okinawa, the island with the world’s longest average life span, the locals drink turmeric tea daily.

Lemon Ginger Turmeric Tea

You’ll need: 4 cups water, ¼ cup peeled, grated fresh ginger root, 1 tsp ground turmeric (or fresh grated turmeric root if you can find it!), 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, juice of one lemon, sweetener (preferably agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup)

To prepare the tea: In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Toss in the grated ginger, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, then add the lemon juice. Strain the tea into a pitcher. Sweeten to taste and enjoy.