Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies so it’s only natural that I love to sample what I make. But this isn’t always a good habit, particular for the waist line. In fact, I have some extra weight I need to lose. So, I’ve come up with a plan:
- Only sample in small amounts, and only when necessary.
- Drink lots of water with lemon which is great for the liver.
- Drink a few cups of green tea a day.
- Take a multivitamin and extra vitamin C daily.
- Exercise on a regular basis. I like walking, tae kwon do, dancing, and lifting weights.
- Only eat when hungry (a seemingly obvious thing that is often hard to implement!)
- Avoid mindless eating while cooking.
- Cook only healthy foods - sweets are okay every once in a while.
You see, it is possible to still love food while dieting. View my progress at my online weight loss journal.
I’ve been enjoying the late summer harvest, particular the foods out of my dad’s garden. We’ve gotten a lot of rain this year so the cucumbers have been doing well. No bitterness as is the case with the cucumbers during near-drought years. The tomatoes are still tasty, but not as good as last year.
For me, that’s part of the fun of gardening, planting, and eating treats from the farm stand. What is going to be extra good this year? That’s what I ask when I shop or enjoy a home garden harvest.
My favorite way to eat garden veggies is to make a salad. Since cucumbers have been extra good, I’ve been making salads with tomato, cucumber, pepper, and garden herbs such as parsley and scallions. Add some feta cheese and Greek olives and I feel as if I’m visiting Greece all over again.
I also love making pasta sauces out of the fresh tomatoes. A good way is to take cherry tomaties and split them in half and toss them in with whole wheat penne, chopped garlic, and olive oil. A little garden parsley or basil acts as a fresh garnish. It’s quick and easy and rich with flavor because the ingredients are so fresh.
How do you enjoy your garden vegetables?
Some people are afraid to start cooking because they are afraid of failing. Most good cooks know that failure is how we learn. In fact, I’ve been cooking for most of my life. I am confident in the kitchen and things still go wrong. All the time. No one is immune to these mishaps.
It’s part of the growth process. The idea is to examine the situation and learn from it. In fact, it is possible to not only make the best of a potential disaster, but to also discover something completely unexpected.
Case in point: I am fond of chocolate chip cookies. For a while, I would mostly follow the Toll House recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag. One day, I started out by following the recipe but ended up partially following another recipe on the bag. I caught it, and continued making the cookies anyway to see what would happen.
The result? The best chocolate chip cookies I ever had. I wrote down what I did and changed a few things around. Now, my cookies are uniquely different and extremely tasty. All because I didn’t panic during the error. I am making those cookies now, in tribute.
I love discovering new ingredients to work with. But is there really anything new out there? I love ethnic food stores because it makes me realize that yes, there are a lot of things out there that I’ve never heard of. For example, I found out that there is something called “pistachio paste” that is slightly sweet. I can’t wait to find some and experiment with it in my baking and candy making.
Learning about something new always makes me wonder … what else have I been missing out on? My quest to broaden my culinary horizons leads me to search the globe for ingredients that are interesting and can really allow me to get more creative in the kitchen.
It’s also a good way for me to take a place home with me when I travel. Combing through the wine stores to find a Santorini white helps me remember the time I spent there in May. Making Schnitzel and Bratkartoffeln reminds me of Germany and the two years I lived there. The scent of baklava syrup bubbling on the stove, waiting to be poured over the pastry takes me back to my childhood and of the time I spent in Greece eating entirely too much of it.
In some cases, the dishes don’t include remarkable or even new ingredients. Sometimes they do. I’ve purchased spices such as saffron in my travels, combed ethnic stores for spices like Mahleb so I could make some traditional Greek dishes, and will go out of my way to purchase Greek oregano dried and still on the branches.
It is in these ways that I look to other cultures to find new ingredients, and to use ethnic cuisines to reinvent ingredients I know well.
I decided that I wanted to spice up my cream cheese today. I was craving celery and cream cheese but decided that unless I put more nutrients in the cheese, it would not be worth the calories. This recipe features some of my favorite flavors: roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, and scallions.
Ingredients:
1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
2 tablespoons finely chopped kalamata olives (pitted)
2 tablespoon finely chopped roasted red pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
pepper to taste
Instructions:
Place cream cheese in mixing bowl. Add other ingredients to the bowl. (Make sure everything is chopped fine enough before you put it in the bowl). Mix the ingredients into the cream cheese with a fork. I prefer a crunchy texture but if you want the spread to be smooth, you can pulverize it more in a food processor. Serve with crackers, vegetables, or pieces of toasted bread.
This recipe is always a crowd pleaser. This is my mom’s version. She uses dill and scallions to add flavor. We eat the low fat version most often but when we bring the dish to a party, it’s always full fat.
Ingredients:
1 lb. fillo, defrosted in refrigerator if frozen
3, 10 oz. packages of spinach, washed and thoroughly dried
7 large eggs
1 bunch scallions, sliced thin (should yield about 1 cup)
1 lb. feta cheese, crumbled
1 tsp. dried dill or 1 tbs. fresh, chopped dill
½ pound butter, melted
Instructions:
Note: I use a 15 inch round pan. If you want to use something rectangular, use a 10×16 pan or something comparable.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean spinach and cut off the stems. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Whisk eggs together in a medium mixing bowl and add to the spinach. Add scallions, crumbled feta, and dill. Toss with your hands or a pair of tongs until all the ingredients are well blended. Melt butter in the microwave or stove top (don’t burn it!). Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom of the pan with a layer of butter. Place two sheets of fillo on the pan so that the bottom is completely covered and brush with butter. Place two more sheets of fillo down on the pan and brush with butter. Repeat two more times until eight sheets line the bottom. Spread spinach mixture evenly over the fillo. If the fillo is going over the sides of the pan, fold it over the spinach mixture. Place two sheets of fillo on top of the spinach and brush with butter. Repeat until there is no more fillo left. Pour remaining butter over the top. Cut three diagonal slits across the top and bake uncovered for an hour until golden brown on the top.
Low fat substitutions. You could use less butter, light butter. You could use half fat free cottage cheese and ½ lb. of feta instead of all feta.
As a child, I knew Easter was fast approaching when we started making the koulouria. Spit-roasted lamb and these tasty rolls are the two things I tend to associate with Easter. My grandmother and her family started the tradition. She’s passed on but my mom and I continue it. We’ve learned that we can’t make them too far in advance because they’re usually gone!
Ingredients:
3 packets active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (108 – 112 degrees)
1 ½ c. whole milk
¾ stick of butter
1 ½ T shortening
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 ½ t. cinnamon
2 ½ - 3 lb flour
Instructions:
Dissolve yeast in 1 c. warm water. While yeast is dissolving, heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add butter and shortening and let it melt. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved. Stir in cinnamon. Set aside. Beat three eggs in a separate mixing bowl vigorously with a whisk or for thirty seconds with the electric mixer. Slowly add the eggs to the milk mixture, whisking vigorously. Test the milk and egg mixture with a thermometer, making sure it’s 108-112 degrees. If not, let it cool down. When it’s at the right temperature, whisk in the dissolved yeast. Slowly add the flour until regular bread texture is achieved. Knead it for a minute or two until the dough gets firm. Form into a ball, cover the bowl with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until it doubles in size.
After the dough is done rising, punch it down. Form the dough into small donut shapes and line on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise again until doubled (about one hour).
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the koulouria with egg wash (1 beaten egg mixed with a little water) and bake for around twenty minutes, or until tops are golden.
One of the best cooking tips that I know is to always keep a container of pesto in the house. You can either make your own or buy it - I get mine from either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s - both are excellent. There’s so much you can do with pesto. I love making salad dressings or last minute pasta dishes out of it. So, I thought I’d share with all of you some of the many things you can do with pesto.
- Make salad dressing. Stir together 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tbs vinegar, and one teaspoon of pesto for a delicious salad dressing.
- Use it as a marinade. You can prepare the dressing, above, and actually use it to marinate meat or chicken. You can also spread the pesto on chicken, seafood such as salmon, or steak before grilling or baking.
- Quick pasta dish. Toss pesto in with some pasta. I like using ziti or rotini but you can use anything. Sometimes I mix in a small amount of tomato sauce and cream.
- Roasted vegetables. Roast vegetables such zucchini and eggplant. (Sprinkle vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them out on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes.) When vegetables are done, transfer to a serving bowl and toss with pesto.
- Spread for crackers and bread. This is much tastier than butter! I like to spread the pesto directly onto those Wasa crackers or on a piece of whole wheat bread.
- Pesto Cheese Dip. You can mix 2 tbs of pesto with 8 ounces cream cheese for a quick cheese dip.
Do you have any ideas for things you can do with pesto? Share them in the comments!
I just purchased some watermelon from the store and it’s delicious! I don’t think it’s quite in season here in Massachusetts. But it’s in season somewhere close. During my walk today I started to think about how I wanted to eat a slice. And then I realized that watermelon is a perfect compliment to pomegranate juice and oh ya, why not throw in some rum and turn it into a cocktail?
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped watermelon flesh, seeds removed
1 cup pomegranate juice
3 shots white rum (you can substitute tequila for something different)
1/2 cup ice (you can use 1/2 cup frozen strawberries instead if you want)
Fresh mint leaves for a garnish
Instructions:
Add watermelon, pomegranate juice, rum, and ice cubes (or frozen strawberries) to a blender. Cover and blend until mixture is smooth and all the ingredients are well incorporated. Pour into glasses and garnish with fresh mint leaves. Serves 2.
You can freeze the glasses until they are frosty. This will keep the drink extra cold. You can also make this in larger batches if you’re serving it to a crowd.
I thought these looked so interesting, I had to share with you - Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookes . Before you judge them - hear me out. I just found this recipe on a blog called “Ooh, You Tasty Little Things.” Intriguing name, I know. The post talks about how “everything is better with bacon”. Yes, bacon really does improve things. But the blogger was unprepared for how tasty the cookies really were.
Nevertheless, I can’t wait to try them. Have you ever had the urge to eat some potato chips after eating chocolate? For some reason, chocolaty things make me crave salty foods. So why not put the salt right in the cookie? The blogger said that her husband was skeptical and thought it sounded odd. But right away, I knew the cookies were going to be good.
