Fruit of the Month Club

Have you ever seen the Everybody Loves Raymond episode where he buys his parents Fruit of the Month Club? And, in typical Marie and Frank form, they act as though he has order stinkbugs to their house on a montly basis. "It's a club??!! Oh, my god! What do I do with all this fruit?"

In seems as though, at some point every summer, people turn into Marie and Frank Romano over their zucchini. I notice the prices on the zucchini get cheaper and cheaper as the summer gets on. Except no one is buying....because zucchini has taken over their gardens or their friends' gardens or their friends' friends' gardens and people can't seem to give it away fast enough. It can become so unweilding, that may parents decided to skip the whole zucchini craze in their garden this season.

Which I am sad about. Because I happen to love zucchini!

It also so happens that the only way people ever think of using zucchini is in a baked goods. Zucchini Bread. Zucchini Muffins.  Not so good for the diabetic.

Instead of producing muffin tray after muffin tray (which you know I'm totally down with too), I've started to use shredded zucchini as the main base for many of my salads. This has become my new favorite salad, complete with Pickled Red Onions (recipe to come)!

Shredded Zucchini & Kale Salad

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: raw salad avocado beans kale zucchini summer

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Ingredients (1 large lunchtime salad)

Shredded Zucchini and Kale Salad:

• 3/4 - 1 c shredded zucchini
• 1 cup shredded Tuscan Kale
• 2 medium-sized carrots, sliced
• 1 ear of corn, kernels removed from the cob (you can use leftovers!)
• 1/2 c garbanzo beans
• 1/4 - 1/2 cubed avocado (depending on your preferences)
• 1 - 2 spoonfuls of Pickled Red Onions (recipe to come), or raw red onions

Lemon Basil Dressing:

• 1/3 c rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 c olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp honey
• zest of half the lemon
• 1 large handful of basil
• 1 garlic clove
• water if needed for consistency

Instructions

1. Add all chopped veggies into a bowl.

2. Combine all salad dressing ingredients in a food processor or mini-blender, adding water if you prefer a thinner dressing.

3. Add dressing to salad, toss, and eat!

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No More Cookies....

I seriously think I experienced a Sugar Hangover last week. Seriously. I had a headache. I felt nauseous. Smelling chocolate chip cookies elicits the same response as when I smell cheap tequila. Ugh.

Between multiple cookie parties (when did this become a thing), Christmas Eve, Christmas, and then the left-overs the day after Christmas, I have had my fair share of all things gluttonous. What I havebeen fiending (word? maybe.) for is a salad. But not any limp lettuce, weak veggie salad. I wanted a REAL salad. A manly man's salad. One filled with delicious healthiness. 

I'm not sure if I ever would have considered anything from France as a "manly man" thing, but this Tuna Niçoise Salad hit the spot. In reading the directions, you're going to think that it seems like a lot of work for just a salad. But it's definitely worth it and you can throw this salad together in 25 to 30 minutes. 

If you multi-task like you're schizophrenic. But it can be done. 

Tuna Niçoise Salad

by Bonnie Graham

Prep Time: 25 - 30 minutes

Keywords: roast salad entree potato eggs tomato tuna

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Ingredients

• 1 bag of baby spinach
• 4 tuna steaks
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 bag frozen green beans
• 1 lb teeny tiny potatoes (or fingerlings)
• 4 tomatoes
• olives of your choice
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary
• 2 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp ground mustard
• salt and pepper
• 1 lemon
• olive oil

Instructions

1. Begin by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees and heating a medium pot of salted water on the stove.

2. Prep baby potatoes, rubbing them with olive oil and salt and pepper on a cookie sheet. Place them in the oven to roast for about 20 minutes or until tender.

3. While waiting for the water to boil, begin to season your tuna steaks with the rosemary, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper. Add olive oil to help the seasonings stick to the steaks. Place a skillet on the stove over medium high heat.

4. When the pot of water has boiled, quickly blanch your frozen greens, allowing for no more then a minute or two in the water. Remove green beans from pot.

5. Re-fill pot with water, placing the 4 eggs in the pot to make hard-boiled eggs. Place eggs in the water and allow pot to come to a boil. Boil for approximately 1 minute and allow eggs to sit in hot water with heat turned off until ready the salad is ready to be served. Then, crack and peel.

6. With your skillet heated, sear your tuna steaks, making sure there is enough room in the pan to have them heat evenly. Cook fish on each side for 7 - 8 minutes or until desired doneness.

7. Once all the ingredients are done cooking, plate each ingredient over baby spinach. Squeeze lemon over each plate and a swirl of olive oil. Salt and pepper as needed.

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Dirty Veggies, Part 6

I needed to go over budget at today's farmer's market.

No, really. I did.

And it wasn't one of those "I need as many golden beets and heads of red lettuce that I can squeeze into my eco-friendly shopping bag" kind of need. No, it was a "I have to feed 8 people a deliciously large, locally grown salad for lunch tomorrow...oh and dessert too" need.

My team at work are a bunch of fat kids. We love to get our eat on and try to work it into every single meeting we have. Potlucks are a frequent occurrence. And I love it.

For this week's potluck lunch, I wanted to re-create a salad from one of my favorite natural food blogs, 101 Cookbooks. The appeal of this salad was that it uses ingredients that I see every week at the farmer's market. Hence the reason for going over budget.

Notice my little wooden piggy in the background. 

This week's roundup:
6 avocados - $3.75*
2 zucchini - $2.00
1 gigantic head of kale - $2.00
1 bunch carrots - $1.75
1 bunch celery - $2.00
6 white peaches - $2.50
Total: $14.00

Recipe to follow.

*Okay, okay, I know these aren't locally grown, but if I can help a small farm stand help make a buck when it supplements its usual produce with some imports, then fine. At least that's how I justify it in my head.

Hunger Games

Apparently, when Jerry is unemployed, it turns into the Hunger Games over here! We've been foraging for our meals! I'm just waiting for my bow and arrows to arrive in the mail.

Yes. That is Jerry eating leaves off a plant.

Truth be told, foraging is actually something that we have had an interest in exploring for quite some time. I can't say it's an interest we share 100%, but still. I'll give you two guesses who is the more interested party of the two of us.

And again, eating what looks like dried grass, but is actually garlic seeds.

And again, eating what looks like dried grass, but is actually garlic seeds.

We signed up for a Foraging Tour in Inwood Park this past weekend with "Wildman" Steve Brill. Who referred to himself as "Wildman" Steve Brill every time he introduced himself. He was a character. But I guess you would have to be to eat leaves and twigs in your local park.

Overall, it was a really interesting experience. We definitely walked away knowing a few more things we can eat at our local park (which isn't hard since prior knowledge was...oh...zero) and with bagfuls of "produce" for dinner.

"Wildman" Steve Brill

On our foraging adventure, we collected:

• Burdock Root - a starchy root vegetable
• Lamb's Quarters - a type of leaf similar in flavor to spinach
• Sumac
• Birch Branches
• Field garlic seeds 
• Gout weed (I think)
• A variety of other greens that tasted good but couldn't tell you what they were

What we made:

• Cream of Burdock Root Soup
• Lamb's Quarters Two Ways - Sauteed with Garlic and Salad with Plums and Beets in a Walnut Dressing
• Gout weed Pesto made with Field Garlic Seeds
• Field Garlic Spice Rub for Swai (white fish)
• Birch and Sumac Tea

I would share our recipes for this particular meal, but let's be honest. You're not going out and eating from your front yard.

But Jerry will if you invite us over for dinner. 

Cream of Burdock Root Soup

Goutweed Pesto on Swai, Sauteed Lamb's Quarter, and Lamb's Quarter Salad with Golden Beets and Plums

Lamb's Quarters with Plums and Beets in a Walnut Dressing

To Carb or Not to Carb?

That is (most often) the question.

On my home from work the other night, as I sat in two hours of traffic because some jackhole in a tractor trailer decided to take on an overpass on the Bronx River Parkway, I thought about what I would make myself for dinner. I ran through the list of ingredients in our fridge, playing with the different, satisfying combinations that could be my meal. I remembered that we had flour tortillas.

Hmm...flour tortillas, flour tortillas....I can make a burrito! Yes, a veggie/bean burrito with sour cream and melted cheddar cheese. Sold, my friends!

Then, the question that almost always comes next...how well did I eat today and is it worth the carbs?

Sometimes, yes, it really is worth the carbs. That piece of cake? That cup of fro-yo? Definitely worth it.
That whole wheat and flax tortilla? Meh, not so much.

Having already decided on a Mexican-American style meal, I needed to re-group....focus...plan out my other options. Making dinner is serious business in these parts! That's when I decided on the Burrito Bowl Salad. Basically, I was taking everything that I would have stuffed into my burrito, tossed it into a bowl, and ate it with a fork instead of my grubby, little hands.

It worked out quite well. No additional insulin required. Yay me!

Burrito Bowl Salad

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: salad vegetarian beans tempeh tomato

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Ingredients (1 big-ass salad)

• 1 1/2 c black beans
• 1 c fresh corn kernels
• 1/2 c red scallions, sliced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 c low fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• handful of mint (or cilantro or parsley), chopped
• 1/2 package of tempeh, sliced into 1/4' pieces
• 3 tbsp of taco seasoning, divided (preferred Trader Joe's)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 c sour cream

Instructions

1. Toss your sliced tempeh with a little bit of oil and 2 tbsp of taco seasoning, or enough to coat. Heat frying pan over medium heat and add tempeh slices.

2. Toss all ingredients, except for the remaining taco seasoning and sour cream, into a bowl.

3. Pan fry tempeh until a light golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together sour cream and remaining taco seasoning. Use this as your dressing.

5. Add cooled tempeh and enjoy your "burrito."

* Indicates that produce was grown locally throughout NY, NJ, and PA.

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Dirty Veggies, Part 1

With reusable, eco-friendly bags in hand and a $10 budget, I make my way to the White Plains Farmer's Market each Wednesday. Have I mentioned my recent obsession with the farmer's market?

Oh, I haven't...well then.

I'm soooo in love with my farmer's market. In fact, I'm so smitten that I've decided that you need to be too! With that, I'm going to be posting a weekly installment of all my fresh veg buys as a way of maybe convincing you to go and check out your local market too!

This week's rundown:

1 bunch fresh carrots - $1.75

1 bunch radishes - $1

1 bunch cilantro - $1.50 (so fragrant)

1 bunch parsley - $1

1 head green leaf lettuce - $1.25

5 vine-ripened tomatoes - $3.75 (my splurge)

garlic scape - $.60

Total: $10.85....just $.85 over budget, not too shabby. 

At one point or another, all those veggies will be in my salad...and then in my belly! I have something wonderfully delicious in store for you with the cilantro and parsley.

Aren't you excited?!

Dirt Eater

I love when there's dirt still on my vegetables! It excites me to think that it was not so long ago that they were in the ground at someone's family farm. It reminds me of where my food comes from, the people who grow it, and the health/environmental/financial benefits of shopping at my local farmer's market.

With the market in full swing, I have made it my mission to attend the White Plains Farmer's Market every Wednesday. This market is small, but convenient to my job and has some good deals on dirty but awesome produce. Just wait until garlic is back in season! Oh. My. Lord. So good.

I usually leave the market with a big, fat bag of produce and delicious lunch/dinner ideas swirling around my head. However, once that bag of produce enters my apartment, it is in danger zone, fighting to get out of the abyss that is my vegetable drawer!

Thank goodness that my obsession with the farmer's market also happens to coincide with my obsession for all things salad. Almost every single veggie in the recipe was grown in the Tri-state area and Pennsylvania.

Maybe now you'll let me forget that whole banana thing?

Farmer's Market Salad

by Bonnie Graham

Keywords: salad low-carb salmon

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Ingredients (Enough for two large salads)

• 2 salmon fillets, preferred size

Marinade ingredients:

• 1 tbsp liquid smoke
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Salad ingredients:

• 1 head red lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 bunch radishes, halved and roasted (recipe to come)
• 1 bunch baby carrots or 2 - 3 regular carrots, halved and roasted
• 6 - 7 strawberries, sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Place salmon in a ziplock bag with all of the marinade ingredients. Let sit for at least 20 minutes or several hours.

2. Prepare all of your veggies and add whatever ones you like/have on hand.

3. Cook your salmon over medium high heat, skin-side down, until desired doneness is reached. You should try to get a crispy bottom. It may help to put a lid on the pan to help the fish cook all the way through.

4. Dress your salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, or a dressing of your choice.

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Desperately Waiting....

In Week 3, I am able to add gluten-free grains and dairy back into my diet. I have know idea what grains are gluten-free and which aren't, so I'm taking my ignorance to mean that I can eat whatever grains I want. That logic works, right? Your lack of response tells me you agree.

 If I thought that gluten was a problem in my life, then I would be a more conscious about not adding it back in. That whole "Never want to stop eating" thing is really my life's problem.

Either way, I have been desperately waiting for Week 3 so I could make this dish for lunch!

I've changed some of the ingredients slightly to fit what I had in my kitchen, to be more diabetic-friendly (more veg then carbs), and what is in season. I found vine-ripened tomatoes grown in MA at Whole Foods!


And, by the way, the dressing for this recipe is fucking amazing!

Protein Power Bowl

Ingredients

3/4 cup uncooked green lentils

3/4 cup uncooked farro

1/2 tbsp olive oil, for sautéing

1/2 large red onion (~1 & 1/3 cups), chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, chopped (not seasonal, I know!)

2 tomatoes, diced
3 cups spinach or kale, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

1 batch of Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing (recipe below)

salt & black pepper, to taste

lemon Wedges & lemon zest, to garnish

Method
1. Cook lentils and farro (or grain of choice). I did this the night before to save time.
2. Prepare the Tahini-Lemon dressing in food processor (see below for recipe).
3. In a large skillet over low-medium heat, add your olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes, being careful not to burn.
4. Add in the chopped red pepper and tomato and sauté for another 7-8 minutes.
5. Stir in the chopped kale or spinach and sauté for another few minutes, just until tender.
6. Stir in the full batch of tahini-Lemon dressing, the cooked & drained grains and lentils, and simmer on low for another few minutes.
7. Remove from heat and stir in the minced parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with lemon wedges and zest.

Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Ingredients

1/4 cup tahini

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup Nutritional yeast or a bit more, to taste

2-4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, to taste

1 tsp kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

3 tbsp water, or as needed

Method
1. In a food processor, add all ingredients and process until smooth.

Baited Breathe

Are you hanging in suspense? Waiting with baited breath to see what I ate for lunch this week? 

I know you are! Here it goes.

Red Lentil and Pumpkin Dal

5-minute Naan

Tofu Vegetable Pie

Winter Beet Salad

Every once in a while, I'll really crave beets! It is sort of a random thing to crave. I don't know if it's the deep earthy flavors or just the purple poo. It's a toss-up, really. Don't know what I'm talking about? Eat this salad. You'll figure it out. 

I love the combination of beets with fruit too. This salad is similar to my summer salad of beets and grapefruit, only more seasonally appropriate with the use of apple! So simple, but so good!

Winter Beet Salad

4 small beets, peeled

1 large apple

1/2 c red onion, diced

1 handful of parsley

1/4 c walnuts

Lemon-Mustard Dressing

1 tbsp whole grain mustard

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 c red wine vinegar

1/4 c olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

1. Peel beets and add them to a steamer. Steam for 15 minutes or until soft. 

2. While beets are cooking, prep the rest of the ingredients (apples, onions, etc.) The parsley leaves are used as salad greens here, so don't chop them up. 

3. Place all the dressing ingredients into a blender. Season to taste. 

4. Allow beets to cool, then slice. 

5. Add all the salad ingredients and toss with dressing to taste. 

Picnicking.

I have been very into picnics lately. I think it is because I have this cool backpack that has dishes and forks and cups and a cutting board and other cool stuff for picnic in it. I have had this cool, exciting backpack for about 2 years now and haven't actually used it. Until this summer, that is.

This recipe has been one that I have been making for our many (really two) picnics. I like it because it's light, easy, and won't make me have to unexpectedly crap my pants because it went bad sitting in the sun too long.

Not that that has ever happened to me. Ahem, Jerry. :)

Beet, Grapefruit and Goat Cheese Salad

4 - 5 medium sized beets or one package of prepared beets (from TJ's)
1 large grapefruit
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 - 1/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 small log goat cheese
1 small handful chopped fresh parsley
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Prepare beets (which is a friggin' pain in the ass!) or remove from package. Quarter beets.
2. Cut bottom and top of grapefruit off so that it sits flat on the counter. With a sharp knife, cut off the peel and pith, but begin careful not to take off too much of the flesh. Remove any left over pith. Then slice into the segments of the grapefruit. (There's videos on youtube for this).
3. Add beets, grapefruit, thinly slice onion, and walnuts to a bowl. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and stir. You could also make a vinegarette with the left over grapefruit juice and mix it in. See recipe below.
4. After the beet mixture is combined, then add the goat cheese and parsley. You don't want to add the goat cheese before tossing because the beet will take over and everything will be hot pink!


Grapefruit Vingerette
Juice of one large grapefruit
1 tsp sweetner of choice
1/4 cup rice wine or white wine vinegar
1 chopped garlic clove
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Add all ingredients to a blender or small food processor. Blend until well combined and the mixture almost looks creamy.

You Forgot the Shrimps!

Though I really love Puerto Rican food, I had my fill a few days into my trip. By our third day, I was craving a salad like a diabetic craves cake. Since coming home, I have definitely had the urge to eat lighter. Not only to lose the Puerto Rican food baby I developed while gone, but also because I likes light, summery dishes in warm weather!

I was dreaming of this salad on the airplane on the way home. When it came to me actually putting it together, I suddenly had this ridiculous need to add shrimp. Now, I don't really eat shrimp. I had one summer where we got a bad batch of shrimp and I haven't really liked it since. But this salad needed to have shrimp, damn it! Even if the shrimp is $15.99/lb! What?! I know!

But it was a nice addition to the dish.  

Zucchini-Bulgur Salad with Lemon-Mint Dressing


Ingredients
1 cup bulgur
1 medium zucchini
1/2 red onion, diced in 1/4 inch pieces
1/3 - 1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup feta
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 - 2 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 lb jumbo shrimp, shelled and cleaned

Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 handful fresh mint
1 tsp of your choice of sweetener
1 - 2 garlic cloves
1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil

Method
1. Boil 1 1/2 cups of water. Add 1 cup of bulgur, turn off heat, and leave covered for 30 minutes.
2. Dress the shrimp with salt, pepper, chopped garlic cloves, and olive oil. Heat a small pan and cook shrimp until they turn pink and curl in a tight "C", only a few minutes.
3. Chop zucchini in 1/4 dice as well as the red onion while shrimp cools.
4. Add zucchini, red onions, and walnuts to cooked bulgur.
5. Grate the zest of the lemon directly into the salad, careful not to get the white pith which is bitter.
6. Add all the ingredients on the dressing list and blend until combined, leaving mints into small flecks.
7. Add shrimp and dress salad with lemon-mint dressing. Then, add the feta as the last ingredient.