foodluv.net

You can click the image above and read the Wikipedia page about broccolini but my math is all you need to know. The tender, slender form of asparagus combined with a slightly subtler flavor of broccoli equals my new favorite veggie! I was hoping that it would make every dish delectable but our second recipe turned out only “pretty good”. The best thing we’ve done so far was to simply blanch for a few minutes to get it nice and green (and hot) and then cover with salt, pepper, “butter” and a little lemon juice. Delicious all on its own!

It looks like broccolini has been around in the States since the mid-90′s but I’d only heard of it recently. It also doesn’t help that broccolini is a trademarked name and most grocers label it generically as “baby broccoli”. But whatever you want to call it, try it!

This cucumber kimchi recipe was so easy to make especially since I already had the Korean brand red chili flakes (handy in cooking in general).  We had a bunch of cucumbers from Farm Fresh Delivery that were starting to go bad.  I was thinking I wanted to make dill pickles out of them, but then kimchi popped into my head instead.  The thing about kimchi versus dill pickles, for me at least, is kimchi almost always sounds good, but dill pickles I need to be in the mood for.  I swear I should’ve been born Korean My mp3 player thinks I was!

So first step was googling since I was at work, I also checked one of my Korean cookbooks when I got home, but I ended up sticking with the one I found online for a reason i have since forgotten.  I have made a cabbage kimchi before and this was a lot easier in my opinion.

Cucumber Kimchi recipe

What I did differently

• used non-Asian cucumbers
• Let them sit out with salt longer just because I didn’t get back around to them when they specified
• cut the green onion up thinly instead of big pieces like the recipe photos show
• I missed the part about letting the jar sit out 24 hours before refrigerating until I reread it as I made this post. oops! still yummy!

If you make some please share!  I plan to make more tomorrow!

We got avocados & tomatoes in last week’s Farm Fresh delivery bin (they should sponsor us haha) so I decided to make guacamole.  The recipe book that came with our Vita-mix had a recipe which we followed other than  leaving out the cilantro.  It turned out great, yet slightly bland, but not knowing what it needed, we left it alone.  I take that back, we added some Korean red pepper to spice it up.  We bought the makings for the next salsa attempt, but since it’s all canned I’m waiting.

Here’s the recipe

Guacamole
Yield: 1 1/2 cups (360 g)

Speed: Variable
Time: 15-20 seconds

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
1/4 cup (40 g) chopped onion
1 medium tomato, halved
1/2 cup (10 g) fresh cilantro leaves

1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to 3.
4. Blend for 15-20 seconds, using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades.
5. You may need to stop the machine and run a spatula around the inside of the container to integrate ingredients.
6. Do not over mix. Leave chunky. Serve with tortilla chips.

Optional:Garnish with diced tomatoes and parsley.
Health Classification: Diabetic Friendly, Low Carb, Low Cholesterol, Heart Healthy, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw
Meal Type: Appetizers

Perhaps it would’ve been best to post the actual packages side by side but this isn’t a technical briefing about ingredients and hydrogenation, this is about taste. Also, the packages and all the important info is right here at Tofutti’s site. Basically, I liked the taste of the vegetarian “Better than Cream Cheese” because it’s much closer to the product it’s trying to mimic but the vegan kind has slowly grown on my taste buds over the past few months.

The major difference between the two is that the vegetarian version (blue label) uses hydrogenated ingredients and the vegan one (yellow label) doesn’t. This exponentially increases the healthiness but it also pushes the flavor farther away from that of “real” cream cheese. It’s taken quite a while to get used to it but I finally don’t mind the vegan stuff, as long as I don’t have it on my bagel every single day. Peanut butter, pumpkin butter, cream cheese, repeat.  Oddly, the vegan version seems to be more readily available as well so keep an eye out for the yellow-labeled tub if you’re on the lookout for dairy free cream cheese.

Shawn sent me a cool link about eating Dunkin Donuts if you’re vegetarian or vegan.  I thought I’d share for him here!

The Subtle Vegetarian

Burgundy Stew ala "Vegan Dad"

This afternoon I made Burgundy Stew from the recipe at Vegan Dad. Other than a few hiccups, it turned out great!  The recipe is as follows:

INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 leek, white and light green part, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 15 whole pearl onions
- 3 turnips, cubed
- 2 parsnips, sliced
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 2 large potatoes, cubed
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups veggie broth (more, if needed)
- 1 19oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup tomato paste

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute leeks and garlic for 5-7 mins, until softened and beginning to brown. Add onions, turnips, parsnips, potatoes and fry for 2 mins.
2. Add wine to deglaze the pan, then add veggie broth, beans, and basil. Season to taste, then bring to bubbling. Reduce heat, loosely cover, and simmer for about 20 mins, until veggies are cooked. Add more broth if stew gets too dry.
3. Mix tomato paste into the stew, adding more broth if needed to get a nice thick consistency. Add spinach to the pot and cook for a min or so, until spinach wilts but is still a vibrant green. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

My only problems were, either my pan was considerably smaller than his (he doesn’t specify) or the potatoes and turnips were considerably larger than his.  What I ended up doing is, after I did step 1 part 2 and saw that I couldn’t remotely stir the contents, I dished back out lots of the turnips and potatoes into a bowl.  That bowl is now in the fridge and possibly will be boiled to make some sort of mash later. Also, he doesn’t mention when to add the carrots.  I added them with the onions, turnips, parsnips, potatoes in part 1 and it worked fine.

The rest of the recipe stayed the same and the stew was quite good and very hearty as stated on his site.  Shawn and I both liked it, but Shawn would have liked a fake beef-ish product in it with it being a stew.  I have gotten to the point where some fake, heavy wheat derived products make me sick, so I’m cool as is.

Side note, the white beans came in 15 ounce cans, so less of those.  Spinach came in a 6 ounce bag, so I have more than 4 cups, but I could see adding more, and I have more, so YAY!  I used a generic cooking wine for the red wine since I did my shopping before 11 am on a Sunday and couldn’t buy real red wine.  It was good enough, I would’ve bought some cheap-ass red wine anyway haha!

If you make this, please take a photo and let me know…let Vegan Dad know too while you’re at it ^_^

Google must’ve been testing out a new telepathic search routine because all I put in was “550cc into cups” and the very first search result was for the exact same Korean noodles we were making! Spooky! The Samyang Instant Noodle Soup turned out quite tasty and was one of only three kinds we spotted at the sprawling international market that is Jungle Jim’s that didn’t have MSG. The noodles cooked up softer than any old Maruchan ramen I’ve ever had and the soup and vegetable packets combined to make a surprisingly flavorful and spicy bowl of yum.

We’ll have to go back and buy a box or two so they don’t shuffle them out of inventory any time soon. I’m thrilled to find a noodle packet we can eat without getting sick, we just have to make sure we don’t get hooked on ‘em.

Yes, soybeans have found yet another use in our everyday foods. Not only can they stand in for meat or be served up a thousand different ways as tofu, a lecithin can be isolated from soybeans to create, you guessed it, Soy Lecithin. The lecithin is derived by degumming the soybean’s oil either through a mechanical process or chemically with the use of Hexane. Don’t worry, Hexane is only dangerous in immensely concentrated form (i.e. chronic glue huffing).

Once you’ve got Soy Lecithin you can use it in a myriad of products as an emulsifier and lubricant. Standing in once again (this time taking the place of margarine, butter, or eggs) Soy Lecithin helps keep food products consistent and not all clumpy. You’ll regularly see it listed as ‘Soy Lecithin (emulsifier)’ on ingredient labels.

Beyond keeping the P’s and Q’s in your granola bar in order Soy Lecithin has a few things going for it. For starters its low solubility in water means it is easily, completely, and non-toxically absorbable by the body. There are also some studies that show it can help reduce cholesterol and triglycerides while encouraging production of HDL (the “good” cholesterol).

Where you need to be careful is when the ingredient label simply reads Lecithin. Lecithin can be derived from animal and plant tissues as well as egg yolks. Making things harder to sort out is a new movement towards sunflower-derived lecithin which may be labeled only as lecithin since soy must be listed as an allergen and may be genetically modified.

Soy Lecithin is OK, just be sure it says Soy (or sunflower, though I have yet to see it labeled as such myself). Those gravely concerned over genetically modified goods will also want to make sure the product is as organic as possible.

~ I have no scientific or medical training. The advice I post here could be completely wrong. My information comes from searching the internet (largely Wikipedia) and my recommendations are based upon personal opinion. Make of it what you will. ~

Image via Wikipedia

A food additive that got its start in Asia, Japan’s Ajinomoto corporation quickly patented the processed formula for Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in 1909. From there it spread through asian cuisine, across the seas and into our cheap asian food, and has wound up as a cheap “flavor enhancer” in thousands of products we consume every day.

Once dissolved in your body it tricks your taste buds and brain into thinking that food tastes better than it actually does. That’s the basic philosophy that has led the world to produce such poor quality foods. Why take the time to make it right when you can skimp and load up on chemical additives real quick? Not only is it a sleazy alternative to wholesome ingredients, it can cause allergic reactions bringing on headaches or full blown skin outbreaks.

To be clear, we’re not just talking about Ramen Noodle packets here, MSG is now included in practically all canned soups, bouillon stocks, fast foods, frozen dinners, most snack chips (especially cheese or BBQ flavor), and instant meals. What’s worse is that FDA labeling requirements are easily subverted as listings may simply read “flavoring”, “spices” or “natural flavor” while still including MSG. Keep an eye out for the food additives disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate. If they’re on the label, chances are MSG is lurking inside as well.

Monosodium Glutamate is no good! Even if you don’t believe in the health risks you’ve gotta admit that pumping in a chemical to make sub-par food seem to taste better is pretty underhanded. The more we eat, the more we’re telling them we don’t mind paying for their cheap junk. If you change your diet in any way, make cutting out MSG your first step.

~ I have no scientific or medical training. The advice I post here could be completely wrong. My information comes from searching the internet (largely Wikipedia) and my recommendations are based upon personal opinion. Make of it what you will. ~