Healthy Isn’t Everything

In an obvious example of cooking schizophrenia, I tried two diametrically opposed recipes from Food and Wine yesterday. I was motivated and intrigued by the February article, “Healing Recipes to Fight Pain and Panic.” Yeah, I’ve been feeling more than my share of those two ailments lately. Yet, lurking in my head was a recipe I meant to try from the October 2009 issue, a Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake.

We have just about come down from our Christmas sweet-tooth high around here, so I baked the cake before I made dinner. The batter was easy to make, Nutella is a can’t-go-wrong ingredient (although it is a little expensive), and the cake turned out lusciously moist with a buttery-crispy little crust. Wow. My kids ate it like addicts, and with their mouths full demanded to know when I would make it again.

While it was in the oven, I worked on the also easy Salmon with Vodka Sauce and Parsley Salad. Parsley’s antioxidants prevents cancer and heart disease, salmon’s omega-3s protect our hearts, and the hot chile’s capsaicin (and maybe the vodka!) reduces pain. Man, I’d be feeling awesome by the time dinner was over. I have to say though, the kids weren’t psyched, and it certainly wasn’t my favorite salmon recipe I’ve ever tried. Unfortunately, the resultant vodka sauce measured a stingy 2 total tablespoons. On the plus side, I made it with Jasmine rice, and I loved the combined taste of the salmon flaked into the lime-juicy salad right over the rice. Mostly, I felt good about eating it, and it certainly tasted fresh and bright.

So I may not always benefit from those ingredients in parsley and salmon and chiles, but the rich dessert certainly relieves some pain and panic in this house. Maybe I could find a way to regularly work in the vodka….

Reality Check

Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake:
Taste ѵ+ Ease ѵ+ Affordability ѵ-

Salmon with Vodka Sauce and Parsley Salad:
Taste ѵ Ease ѵ+ Affordability ѵ

Post Girls' Weekend

One of my greatest blessings is the friends I have who enrich my life and support me through so much. And the ultimate celebration of such friendship is a girl’s weekend, which I was lucky enough to enjoy this weekend in Avalon. But I will be honest with you ... women throughout the land: you know this is the truth ... the girl’s weekend comes with its price. Even with a few prices.

I hope I’m not revealing some kind of sorority secret here, but the weekend can be known to promote unhealthy eating (and even drinking) habits. Second, there is some guilt involved in leaving the kids and husband (no fair using this against us, guys). And finally, the re-entry to the family can be daunting given the weekend-full of chores that did not get accomplished without us. That first Monday back can be a big buzz-kill.

With that in mind, I brought a healthy food with us this weekend, and my friends and I planned a week’s streamlined meals while we were away. (The rest of what we did is none of your damn business).

Granola, store-bought, is seldom a health food. But the recipe I make regularly is healthful, tasty, crunchy, fiber & flax-filled. We ate it all weekend, with yogurt in the morning, rationalizing any other unhealthy foods and beverages (reference: never-you-mind). I think this granola is nice enough to give as a gift.

GRANOLA
Preheat oven to 300.
Toss together in a large bowl:
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 ½ cups unsalted nuts and/or seeds (your choice. I used almonds and walnuts this time)
½ c. shredded coconut (optional)
½ c. wheat germ
¼ c. flax seed
Sprinkle with 1 tsp. cinnamon
Drizzle over top: scant ½ c. vegetable oil
scant ½ c. honey or real maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
Stir well to combine evenly. Spread on a large rimmed sheet pan. Bake for 30-40 min. until golden and toasted, stirring every 10 minutes. Watch carefully! Remove from oven and allow to cool. Then add 1 cup dried fruit of your choice. I used craisins this time.

Over our farewell lunch in a sunny frozen-sea-side pizzeria on Sunday afternoon, we all took out our notebooks and planned a week of meals that would redeem us with our kids, not exhaust us, and properly nourish all parties involved. (Not that we don’t think you fed them well, hubbies….)
Girl’s weekend lovers, unite. Partake of our first-week-back meal plan. No promises for next week; sorry.

Monday: Roast Chicken (warm, full meal, makes the entire house smell great, and involves very little last minute work)

Tuesday: Fish Packets (easy on clean-up, super healthy, personalizable to each person’s tastes) I serve these with rice. They are even better when also served with a tapenade or a chnky salsa. In each foil packet, layer a few thin slices of onion (red or yellow), 1 or 2 thin fish filets (about 5 oz.), various thinly sliced veggies like zucchini, carrots, sugar snap peas, snow peas, baby spinach, or bell peppers, sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs, 1 tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and one tbsp. olive oil. Seal the packets and place them on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes, or until wicked steam escapes the packet when opened, and the fish is no longer translucent.

Wednesday: Ravioli with Blush Sauce (a crowd-pleaser, creamy and comforting in winter) Serve this with a salad. Look for locally home-made ravioli in the freezer section. The sauce is prepared in the 12-15 minutes it takes the ravioli to boil and cook. Use the leftover sauce in a small baked pasta (add cubed mozzarella).
For the sauce: Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a medium saucepan. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and "melt" on low, but do not allow it to color. Then add one 28 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes. Cook on medium low until beginning to simmer, but don't let them boil -- they should taste very "fresh tomato-y", not thickened or cooked down like for meat sauce. Add 1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream (depending on how creamy you like it) and a palm-full of slivered fresh basil. (If the tomatoes are cooking too hot, it might curdle, so don't go crazy.) Warm this to simmering so it thickens a bit. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated Reggiano Parmigiano.

Thursday: Corn Chowder
This is a full meal with a loaf of crusty bread, either your own home-made, or a multigrain bakery loaf. I usually use the Silver Palate New Basics recipe which follows.
Defrost 4 c. frozen corn in the microwave and set aside.

Silver Palate Corn Chowder
In a large soup pot, cook 1/4 lb. bacon, cut into 1" pieces. Remove the bacon to a paper towel, add 2 tbsp. butter, and saute 2 cups chopped onion until tender. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp. flour and cook at medium heat, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add 4 cups chicken broth (I use Kitchen Basics -- it is very rich and lower in sodium) and 2 large potatoes cut in 1/4" dice. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, stirring frequently, 12-15 minutes. Then add the corn (drained), 1 cup half and half, and 1 large red pepper, cut in 1/4" dice. Cook on low for another 10 minutes. You can garnish the soup bowls with thinly sliced scallions and/or cilantro if you want to get fancy!

Friday: home made pizza (I am going to try to make this every Friday. With a bit of practice, it is actually quite quick, inexpensive, and very very yummy.)

Seven Fishes

I haven’t had Christmas in Albany for 21 years, the whole length of my marriage, but it was the perfect place for us this year. My first year separated seemed to require not only a little change of scenery for me and the kids, but also lots of family and comfort and familiarity.

We have spent every even year Christmas with my parents and sister and family, but there have been very few with my favorite Aunt Mary and my two cousins Andy and Dom, and now Dom’s lovely wife Jaime and their 9 month old William. A bonus this year was my two great uncles Dan and Dom, who always go to my Aunt’s for Christmas Eve dinner. We couldn’t have selected a more festive, family-rich, happy setting for me and the kids. It felt new enough for Christmas memories not to intrude too much, yet recognizable and traditional in all elements.

Like always, food is prominent in any of my family holidays. All of us make the seven fish Christmas Eve dinner, and this year’s was outstanding, with many cooks involved, and a happy festive table of diners. No matter at whose house we eat Christmas Eve, we make fried calamari using our grandmother’s batter recipe. My cousin Andy is the head chef at Christmas Eves eaten at his mom’s, and he did an awesome job. Each batch gets demolished by us before it can begin to cool on the serving dish.

The fish I love was prepared by Aunt Mary this year: delicate smelts, simply dredged in seasoned corn meal, and fried to a crisp.

And Andy brought a new recipe to the night this time: Baccala fritters. When he suggested making something with salt cod he set off waves of family dissent and a flurry of anxious emails. Some were up for tasting something new. Others had been put-off in years past by the strong salty over-whelming fish. Andy reassured us that it was just one course, and it would be whipped with potatoes and cheese. They were a surprise hit! I made a lemon-garlic aioli for dipping, and Andy shaped the mixture into little globes and fried them. Their globed shape spurred everyone to call them jokingly, Baccala Balls, a name I didn’t find at all appetizing. They disappeared from the platter.

Much lively conversation ensued in the kitchen and living room as we passed these appetizers and shared drinks. My two Great Uncles may be relied upon to fire up a political discussion, relive a famous family story, and sing the tune of a piece my kids say they are playing in orchestra. They provide classic live entertainment, like the Smothers Brothers or Abbot & Costello.

We eventually moved to the dining room table. My son Patrick and I had constructed two dishes of antipasto with cheeses, roasted peppers, marinated artichokes, olives, and three more fish: Italian tuna, anchovies, and sardines that melted in our mouths! And then my mom made her famous linguine with white clam sauce (which I was barely able to eat by then!)

All through dinner, my parents, my aunt and our uncles, made my cousins, the kids, and me laugh at their teasing and their stories. There was much happy and funny remembrance of our grandparents. Each time I glanced at my kids, they were laughing or eating with gusto. And I got to sit right between my two favorite uncles, discussing literature, music and life events.

We all professed to be too full for the cannoli and Christmas cookies, yet one by one we asked for “just a half”. I sat by the tray, cutting them as requested and passing them, watching until only two cannoli remained. The whole time, my cousins and I laughed at the non-stop and over-played assessment ensued by our parents on the merits of the cannoli filling and the crispiness of the shells, and whether they rivaled those made by the family bakery decades ago.

After the meal, my aunt started one of her “round table discussions” to much groaning by my Dad, her brother. But I love them. She asked each person to reveal what they are grateful for in the past year. And I knew just what to say. I am so blessed to have my parents, who have helped me through the most difficult event of my life, and for a family that spreads not just support, but encouragement, laughter, constructive help, and belief. Only one element was missing from that night, my wonderful sister and best friend who has supported me more than anyone. Happy New Year and thank you to my whole family.