Delicious Food And Beverage fan-Healthy Care And Tips

Day two of the new diet, I suddenly realise I can eat Tabbouleh, something I could gorge on until kingdom come and a perfect spring dish full of zest and fresh flavours! Based on bulgar wheat and parsley, the ideal proportions are 2 parts parsley to one part bulgar, but I need sustenance and am eating this as a main dish, so I've upped the quantity of bulgar wheat somewhat. You can play around and see which you prefer!

Walking home from work yesterday was miserable--it was cold and windy, and with the forecast of a wintry mix of rain and snow, I decided a hearty winter soup was in order.

I didn't feel like stopping to pick up any ingredients (I really didn't want to have to walk a second more in the wind than absolutely necessary) so I raided my pantry to come up with this white bean soup. I have listed a few fun additions at the bottom that I would have made had I had the ingredients around.

Winter White Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cans (about 28 oz total) white beans
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water

Directions:

1. Over medium flame, heat oil in soup pot and saute onion until soft and translucent, 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and carrots and cook 4-5 minutes more.
2. Add white beans, spices, and liquids; bring to a boil and simmer over low flame at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
3. Remove half of soup from pot and blend with an immersion blender (or do what I do and just stick the immersion blender in and give it a few revs :)); return to pot with rest of soup.
   

• Add 4 cups of cleaned, chopped kale or spinach in step 3.
  
• Cut 8 brussel sprouts into quarters; drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper then roast in the oven until soft and crispy. Add to soup in step 3.

One thing about my mandolin is I'm a little scared of it. Or at least, of cutting my fingers off. So when I made the shaved brussel sprout salad over the weekend, I was left with about half of each sprout because I didn't want my fingers to get too close to the blade and the sprouts were too small for the hang guard. What to do with those leftover halves? Why, roasted brussel sprouts of course!

I'm a believer that the only way to cook brussel sprouts is to roast them until they are crispy and just on this side of burnt. Simple flavors--olive oil, a few garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. The perfect winter side dish.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Some brussel sprouts
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice sprouts in half length-wise and place with garlic cloves in a baking pan.
3. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
4. Bake in the oven until sprouts are soft and the outer leaves are crispy and garlic cloves are soft and browned, stirring occasionally, 40-60 minutes.

I used to think that a tomato was a tomato, but the truth is different varieties can vary dramatically in taste and texture. I have become a big fan of heirloom tomatoes; they come in a myriad of colors, shapes, and sizes, and they always taste so fresh and delicious. They are a bit more expensive than regular tomatoes, but it's totally worth it.

I love combining tomatoes with basil; although it's more of a refreshing summer salad, I still like to make it year-round if I can find good basil.

Heirloom Tomato & Basil Salad

Ingredients:

1 container mini heirloom tomatoes (I like grape tomato size)
6-8 basil leaves
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Slice tomatoes in half, or if you are using larger tomatoes, into bite-sized pieces.
   
2. Wash and rough-chop the basil.
   
3. In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil and spices. Add tomatoes and basil and stir to coat.
4. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Yesterday was an unbelievably long day at work, so when I got home I knew I wanted to cook dinner but didn't want to put in too much effort. I had a block of tofu in my fridge so I decided on one of my fave tofu dishes that I actually hadn't made in quite a while. I couldn't exactly remember what I used to put in the marinade but it was still good :)

I like my sauce tangy, but if you prefer more sweetness than the ketchup provides, add 1 tsp of honey or brown sugar.

Note: I make my own bbq style sauce, but if you are caught in a time crunch you can definitely just use the bottled kind.

Warning: These baked tofu quadrangles are addictive; I'd eat the entire batch in one sitting if I let myself!

Baked BBQ Tofu

Ingredients:

1 block extra firm tofu
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp vinegar (I like rice wine)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
3 splashes hot sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut tofu into 3 flat sheets and press between paper towels to drain some of the internal liquid. Cut each sheet into 6 equal pieces.
   
3. Whisk all ingredients but tofu together; pour marinade over tofu and let sit 5-10 minutes, or longer if you like. Flip pieces to coat all over.
   
4. Remove tofu pieces, shaking lightly to remove excess sauce. Lay tofu on a baking sheet and bake 10-15 minutes or until edges are crispy, flipping halfway through cook time.

This is a play off of the fennel salad I made a few weeks ago. I haven't really used radish until recently, but now that I've started I can't seem to stop! It's crisp and fresh, and just bitter enough to wake your taste buds up. I've paired it here with a sweet & sour dressing to cut the bitterness just a bit.

Note: Radish can be very bitter; I like to buy ones that have been packaged rather than those still attached to the root because they have a milder flavor.

Cucumber & Radish Salad w/ Ginger-Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

12 radishes, cleaned
2 cucumbers, washed
2 scallions, chopped
zest of 1 lime
juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp honey
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice radishes and cucumbers thinly (I use my mandolin). Place in bowl with the scallions.
2. Blend remaining ingredients and pour over vegetables.
3. Sprinkle toasted walnuts over salad just before serving.

My friends BL and JK had a fantastically fun Friday night dinner for Shabbat this week. All of the food was amazing (BL, I still want that meatball recipe!), the wine was superb, and a good time was had by all.

I brought a salad to this meal--I wanted something classic with a bit of an edge (I wasn't sure who else was going to be at the meal so I didn't want to make something too out-of-the-box). I think I came up with a good combination :)

Baby Lettuce & Endive Salad w/ Spicy Lemon-Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:

10 oz baby lettuce mix
3 endives, sliced into strips
1 cucumber, sliced
1 pear, sliced thinly
3 scallions, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/2 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Toss lettuce, endive, cucumber and pear in a large salad bowl.
2. Blend remaining ingredients. Pour over salad and serve immediately.

• Toss in some candied pecans or walnuts.
• Instead of adding garlic to the dressing, slice a few garlic cloves very thinly, then fry in oil until crispy and toss into salad before serving.