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Jumat, 05 November 2010

Kamis, 04 November 2010

Veggie Might: Easy Veganization

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

“So, are you a vegan now?” my bff, ACS, asked on my recent trip to NC. “You always post vegan recipes on the blog.”

“No,” I said, “I bake and mostly cook vegan, but I still eat eggs and some dairy.”

My diet is about 90% vegan, with the occasional spinach feta omelet and cheese pizza making their way in. I primarily share vegan recipes with the CHG audience because they most closely represent my diet and I love to show how accessible vegan cooking can be.

A common misconception about vegan cooking is that it requires lots of specialized ingredients, and that it’s boring and bland. Not true! So many of my favorite, everyday recipes are easy and made from vegetables and pantry staples found in the average American kitchen.

A common misconception about vegetarian and vegan cooking is that it’s heavy on the meat substitutes and tofu to replace the protein in meat. Also not true! I eat tofu about once a week and meat substitutes about twice a year—on the 4th of July and Thanksgiving when I have veggie hot dogs and fake turkey respectively.

Many of your favorite recipes are probably already vegan; they’re just not called vegan because they’re “normal” food: spaghetti with marinara sauce, guacamole and salsa, stir-fry veggies, beans and rice... It’s also easy to make everyday vegetarian recipes vegan.

Here are 3 quick tips:

1) Leave out the cheese.
Cheese is often sprinkled on a dish for extra flavor but not crucial to its success. Just leave out the cheese to make your dish instantly vegan. Unless you’re making a cheese sandwich.
Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca
Camp Stove Veggie Chili

2) Replace butter with oil or nonhydrogenated shortening/margarine.
Saute vegetables in olive oil or nonhydrogenated margarine instead of butter. Substitute nonhydrogenated shortening or margarine for butter in your baked goods. You’ll save on the trans- and saturated fats, as well.
Pindi Chana
Poached Radishes with Tarragon

3) Use plant milks.
“Plant milk” sounds bizarre, I know, but there are so many choices now: soy, rice, almond, coconut, hemp...the list goes on. Try them until you find one you like; then swap out cow’s milk for your plant-based favorite. (Look for unsweetened varieties if you’re counting calories.)
Whole Wheat Scones with Corn, Tomatoes, and Basil
Vegan Rice Pudding

Advanced veganization:

4) Ditch the eggs.
Baked goods don’t need eggs to be delicious. Sometimes, especially in cookies, eggs can merely be eliminated. Other times, you’ll want to substitute tofu, flax seeds, or powdered egg replacers. The Post Punk Kitchen offers a primo primer in vegan baking, so you never have to be afraid to try going eggless.
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Vegan Ginger Cookies

These tricks can apply to any number of recipes in your arsenal, especially if you’re planning a dinner party and are unsure of the dietary needs of your guests. Since plant oils contain no saturated fats, these tips can also help you get a handle on your blood pressure and cholesterol, if you need assistance in those areas.

Before you know it, you’ll be veganizing wildly and deliciously, and no one will be the wiser—unless you write about it in your blog.

~~~

If you dug this article, point your shovel toward:

Rabu, 03 November 2010

10 Steps to a Saner, Thriftier, Somewhat Healthier Thanksgiving

Are you tired of Thanksgivings when your entire family comes to visit, but you don’t have time to talk to any of them? Do you dream of serving fresh, home-prepared food instead of Stove Top and Potato Buds on Turkey Day? Come this holiday, do you wanna save a coupla bucks?

Sweet. We gotcha covered.

By following these steps and devoting an hour or two to planning ahead, you can cook up a wholesome, economically sound Thanksgiving feast without going completely insane. You’ll have time to actually interact with your loved ones, and no one will leave the house hungry.

Of course, if you’re not up for these strategies (and yo, it’s understood), A) do whatever works for you, or B) try a potluck. Roast some poultry and have each guest bring a side, a dessert, or some booze. No muss, no fuss, and no one can blame you if the green bean casserole came out a little weird this year.

In the meantime, behold! And if you have anything to add, fire away in the comment section.

Step #1: Start shopping now.
Supermarkets begin offering Thanksgiving bargains weeks before the actual holiday. So, if you know you need an item – say, unsalted butter or canned sweet potatoes – buy them on sale a.s.a.p. You’ll save cash AND get to check something off your list.

NOTE: Obviously, this doesn’t apply to perishable goods. If you know you’re making applesauce, wait until the week-of to pick up the fruit. Otherwise, Rot City.

Step #2: Get a headcount.
Is it just the immediate fam this year, or are your 16 second cousins from South Carolina stopping by for some big, juicy bird? Having an approximate attendance will help you plan and budget accordingly.

Step #3: Prep your recipes.
Once you have a headcount, research and start amassing the appropriate recipes based on number of attendees, dietary restrictions, taste preferences, and budget. (It’s easier than it sounds, since Thanksgiving tends to focus on a few traditional dishes.) Cut and paste them into a Word Document, so they’re easily searchable and referenced. My favorites include:

Don’t worry about appetizers, as people are going to stuff themselves at dinner. If you do opt for hors d’oeuvres, choose something light, like crudite and bean dip.

Ask guests to bring wine and desserts. Of course, you can prep a pie or two the night before, but letting family pitch in will A) make them feel validated/as if they contributed, B) ease your stress level, and C) save you a buck or two.

Step #4: Create a grocery list.
Now that you have all the recipes, make a big ol’ grocery list of their ingredients. (This is super easy if you’ve already compiled the recipes in a Word Document.)

Helpful hint: If two dishes call for the same ingredient, combine the quantities so you don’t overbuy. For example, if your mashed potatoes need 4 tablespoons of butter, and your stuffing needs 6 tablespoons of butter, combine them into a single line, reading “10 tablespoons of butter.” Shopping will be way less complicated.

Step #5: Check off what you already have.
Odds are, a few list items are already floating around your pantry. Olive oil? Check. Salt? Check. Sixteen-pound game bird? Che- … oh, wait.

Step #6: Spread the remaining shopping out over the next few weeks.
To reiterate, supermarkets tend to spread sales out in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Buy a little of your list each week, during your regular grocery shopping, using online circulars to check for deals. You’ll have to make a final trip, of course, but you’ll have already banked a bunch of money, and reduced your list by leaps and bounds.

Step #7: Create a schedule.
Okay. This one is where it gets a little nuts, but trust me – creating a schedule really, really helps. Why? It does four things:

Manages your time. Worried about what you’re supposed to be doing, and when? No longer. Also, you actually get to socialize.
Coordinates the stovetop and oven. If you’ve ever tried to cram stuffing, turkey, and sweet potatoes into the oven simultaneously, only to have nothing cook all the way through, you know what I’m talking about.
Ensures you remember everything. Have you ever blanked on the biscuits? Forgotten the beans in the fridge? This visual cue will stop it from happening.
Gets all the food to the table at the same time. Never again will your turkey be ready two hours after the mashed potatoes.

To make this magical document: Take each recipe, and working backwards from the time you’re serving dinner, assign each prep step a time slot. For example, if the stuffing needs to be served at 4pm, it should go in the oven at 3pm, be assembled about a half-hour earlier, at 2:30pm.

This is tough to explain, so here’s mine from last year. (Click to enlarge.)

Click to enlarge

I usually stick my schedule to the fridge, along with the recipes I’m making that day. This way, it’s convenient, accessible, and I won’t spill gravy on it.

Step #8: Enlist a Sous Chef, a Dish Doer, and a Table Setter.
Unless you’re Ina Garten, Superman, or SuperInaGartenMan (whom, I assure you, exists), you’re gonna need some help in the kitchen. Your Sous Chef can take care of potato mashing while you’re making the gravy. The Dish Doer will wash kitchen gear throughout the day, guaranteeing the appropriate equipment (whisk, measuring cup, etc.) is always clean. And heck, you know all about the Table Setter.

Fun fact: One person can cover the three jobs, if he/she is particularly talented. Last year, my sister’s boyfriend basically made Thanksgiving possible.

Step #9: Do as much as you can the night before.
The Night Before Thanksgiving 2009, my schedule read like this:

Make brine
Dunk turkey
Make applesauce
Make cranberry sauce
Make cornbread
Dice all gravy ingredients
Peel and cut carrots
Wash and cut green beans
Prep all remaining ingredients

It looks complicated, but only took a few hours, and allowed me tons of time to hang out on Thanksgiving Day. With a similar strategy, you’ll reduce potential stressors and eliminate last-minute trips to the grocery store for cranberry sauce.

Step #10: Stick to the gameplan.
Adhere to the schedule, and Thanksgiving Day will be a walk in the turkey park. (Yes, the turkey park.) You'll not only have plenty of quality time with family and friends, but they'll applaud your efforts for decades to come.

BONUS Step #11: Start drinking, but wait until AFTER you’re finished chopping.
Don’t ask me how I know this.

Readers, what think you? Does this seem crazy, or does a little time invested up front seem like a good trade-off for the day-of? What would you add or take away? The comment section, she is open.

~~~

If you like this article, you’ll surely enjoy:

Selasa, 02 November 2010

Green Kitchen: Golden Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.

Dear readers, for those of you not living in the Northeast, let me tell you something I just learned: it is FALL! Sure, Utah was having snowstorms two weeks ago, but whatever. In my little world, the seasons just started changing, and hard.

When I told my boyfriend that I could see my breath this morning he was like, “Why are you so excited about it being freezing out?”

“I don’t know.” I thought for a moment. “I guess I really like November?”

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Two weekends ago I texted a few friends a picture of the fall’s first Brussels sprouts at the farmers market, along with the word, “first!”

I know that summer is the season of produce bounty or whatever, and I have enjoyed it. I ate sweet cherry tomatoes like grapes, munched on every color of bell pepper, enjoyed berries and peaches and plums. It was great.

But fall is my favorite season for produce. The first few apples I saw just reminded me of late-winter apple fatigue, but now I’ve been making batches of spicy apple sauce that I’m frankly addicted to. I’m roasting sweet potatoes and sautéing broccoli and there’s a butternut squash on my kitchen table with a date with a (hopefully) sharp knife.

And then there are Brussels sprouts. O, Brussels sprouts, I love them so. I can’t tell how far into the popular consciousness their adoration has spread. It’s like a rumor, passed friend to friend, or admission to the Secret Brussels Sprouts Appreciation Society. “Have you tried roasted Brussels sprouts?” “If you brown them in a pan, they’re better than bacon.” “My mother used to steam them and they smelled like trash, but cooked hot and salty they’re— Oh, sorry, I’m drooling down my shirt.”

So, I want to make sure you’ve heard. When steamed or boiled, Brussels sprouts are gross, deserving of their putrid reputation. But roasted or sautéed, browned and salted just right, they’re— Oh, sorry, I’m drooling down my shirt again.

Beyond that, Brussels sprouts are also a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Thiamine, Folate, Iron, and fiber. They come into season (at least in the Northeast and other similarly climated regions) in mid-October, and last past the frost. Their relatives include cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, and kale, and they do indeed look like tiny cabbages (or brains). They grow on stalks, and sometimes you can buy them that way at the farmers market, and it looks CRAZY.
And that was Brussels sprouts fact-time! Yay!

My go-to Brussels sprout recipe, and what originally converted me to their cult, is Heidi Swansson’s Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts. The cheese is superfluous but the method is perfection – cook halved sprouts with oil and salt, sautéing until they’re carmelized and browned. Crispy outsides, melty insides, addictive throughout. I served them as a side dish when I cooked Thanksgiving at my mom’s house a couple of years ago (everything but the bird), and converted my family in one go.

Sometimes, though, I just don’t have the patience to make sure the cut sides are browned, to find the right balance between thorough cooking inside and out. (Cooking Brussels sprouts too slowly lets the insides steam, giving you that nasty, almost horseradishey flavor.)

(You can also roast these babies in the oven – tossed with oil and salt, laid out on a baking sheet, shaken around once in a while, until browned and delicious. But I’m still living in the land of No Gas to the Kitchen, and a meager few toaster oven-roasted Brussels sprouts is just not enough for my fix.)

So here’s my new favorite way to cook Brussels sprouts – it gives you the pan-sautéed flavor without any of the finicky work.

You shred some sprouts. You heat oil in a pan. You sautee them until they’re done.

Oh, you wanted an actual recipe? Okay. Enjoy. Welcome to the club.

~~~

If you think this looks good, yer gonna love:

~~~

Golden Shredded Brussels Sprouts
serves 2-3

1 lb Brussels sprouts (3-4 cups shredded)
1/8-1/4 t salt
dash of red pepper flakes (optional)

Note: if increasing recipe, cook in batches – an overfull pan of sprouts will steam rather than brown.

1) Trim ends and loose leaves off of sprouts. Cut (lengthwise) into thin shreds.

2) Heat olive oil in a wide sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add sprouts and toss with salt and red pepper.

3) Sauté until sprouts are browned in places, about ten minutes.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
129 calories, 7.5g fat, 5.6g fiber, 5.2g protein, $1.51

Calculations
1 lb Brussels sprouts: 132 calories, 0.9g fat, 11.7g fiber, 10.4g protein, $3.00
1/8-1/4 t salt: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.01
dash of red pepper flakes: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.01
TOTALS: 258 calories, 14.9g fat, 11.7g fiber, 10.4g protein, $3.02
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 129 calories, 7.5g fat, 5.6g fiber, 5.2g protein, $1.51
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 86 calories, 5g fat, 3.9g fiber, 3.5g protein, $1.00

Ask the Internet: Favorite Thanksgiving Sides?

Before I head out to vote, it's a quickie (but a toughie) that'll help guide the blog over the next few weeks:

Q: Straight up, what are your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes?

A: Last week, we covered portable sides. This week, we're throwing our arms around the whole shebang. They don’t have to be inexpensive, they don’t have to be remotely healthy – that’s our job, to adapt them as such. Mine are:

Ma’s Sweet Potatoes. Uh. Muh. Guh.
Dad’s stuffing. He got it out of a 1984 article in Newsday, and it uses about four pounds of butter, every ounce of which is pure delight.
Giada DeLaurentiis’ Turkey Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing. It costs approximately a bagillion dollars to make (jarred chestnuts, anyone?), but it's so rich and awesome, you won't mind bankruptcy.

Fire away, folks! I’ve already commenced drooling. I mean it. It's getting on my shirt.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Senin, 01 November 2010

Best of CHG October 2010

Oh, sweet readers. Remember October? Looking back, it was a good month, wasn't it? We laughed. We cried. We had a crazy hailstorm that punched monster holes in all our hydrangeas. (Or maybe that was just us?) Let's reminisce together.

OCTOBER RECIPES
Kale and Balsamic Tofu Salad
Low-Fat Apple Coffee Cake
Malt Vinegar Oven Fries
Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage, and Pine Nuts
Pumpkin Butter
Savory Squash Pie

OCTOBER ARTICLES

We named The #1 Rule of Personal Finance, and were wondering if, frankly, you agree.

Leigh declared, “As for Me and My House, We’ll Serve the Veggies!” And we liked it.

She also created a neat little spreadsheet to help you with Converting Those Pesky Weights and Measures.

Serving Sizes and Portion Control: A Primer ... uh … primed you … about stuff.

I got to yammer about good pasta and vicious chickens in What I Learned About Food in Italy.

We got all zen with When NOT to Eat Cheap, Healthy, and Good (Er, Well).

Winter Squash 101 (Plus 18 Recipes!) discussed everything you always wanted to know about said vegetables, but were too tremulous to ask. (Yes, tremulous!)

And rounding out the month, we Asked the Internet about:

For more Cheap Healthy Goodness…

1) Have your say!
We love reading creative comments and participating in thought-provoking discussions. There’s even a fabulous new Ask the Internet column, where readers can write in with various inquiries and/or offer helpful suggestions. Sweet.

2) Spread the word!
Like us? Link to us! Refer us to a bookmarking site! (We have StumbleUpon and Digg buttons now!) Or just talk us up to your mom. That’s nice, too.

3) Behold our social networking!
Subscribe to our feed, join our Facebook page, or check out our Twitter … thing. They’re super fun ways to kill time, without any accompanying not-so-fresh feeling.

4) Buy from our Amazon Store!
If you click on the Amazon widget (lower left hand corner) and buy anything from Amazon (not just what we’re advertising on CHG), we get a small commission. And that’s always nice.

5) “I lost my mood ring. I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Hee.

Sweet Potato Fritters With Apples: Thanksgiving Begins

For the first time in years, I’m not making Thanksgiving dinner for my family. Instead, we’re heading off to Ohio, the homeland of HOTUS (formerly Husband-Elect), for a holiday with his extended brood. This is simultaneously super exciting and somewhat disorienting.

Here’s why: I’m fairly laid-back in general, but on Turkey Day (and I freely admit this), I’m a Type A, micromanaging battleaxe. There are week-long searches for appropriate recipes. There are minute-by-minute schedules. There are dozens of papers taped to the kitchen cabinets. I barely tolerate myself on Thanksgiving, so I’m not sure how my parents have held up.

And this year, I’ll have no control whatsoever. Ack.

Instead, Imma take it out on CHG. Ha! Prepare yourself, sweet readers, for an onslaught of Thanksgivingy blogginess like you’ve never seen before. There will be appetizers. There will be side dishes. There will be main dishes. There will probably be an unrelated recipe, because not everything works like we plan sometimes. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Today’s recipe, Sweet Potato Fritters with Apples, is an inexpensive, fairly nutritional dish suitable for either Thanksgiving breakfast or a dinner side. Crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside, they're sweet without being cloying. HOTUS loved them for dinner last night, which is good, because he’s getting them for lunch again today.

If you should make them yourself, know two things:

1) The calculations in the source material felt a little off, so I did my own numbers using Calorie King. And – yoinks - they were significantly different. Mine are the ones posted, though, because that’s how we roll

2) Any decent cooking apple should work here. I used MacIntosh, because they’re good all-around varieties, but y’know, go crazy.

And so it begins. Readers, do you have a solid Turkey Day recipe for us? Do tell. We’d love to give it a shot.

~~~

If you like the looks of this, later, yer gonna wanna avert your gaze to:

~~~

Sweet Potato Fritters With Apples
Makes 16 fritters.
Adapted from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating on a Budget.

1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced small (I used a MacIntosh - Kris)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (I used 1% Friendship – Kris)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Honey, maple syrup, or powdered sugar for serving

NOTE: If you don’t have any cooked, mashed sweet potato hanging around, buy a large spud, scrub the outside, prick it a few times with a fork, and cook for 50 or 60 minutes at 375°F. Remove from oven, let it cool, peel, scoop, and mash.

1) In a mixing bowl, stir together sweet potato, apple, cottage cheese, flour, sugar, egg, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Divide the dough in half.

2) In a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Divide half the dough into eight rounded tablespoons. Drop each tablespoon into skillet, taking care not to crowd. Flatten dough balls with spoon, until about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side, until browned. Remove to a paper towel-covered plate.

3) Repeat Step #2 with the remaining half of butter and dough.

4) Serve warm with honey, maple syrup, or powdered sugar.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
67 calories, 1.8 g fat, 0.7 g fiber, 2 g protein, $0.13

Calculations
1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed: 180 calories, 0.4 g fat, 6.6 g fiber, 4 g protein, $0.43
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced small: 61 calories, 0.1 g fat, 1.7 g fiber, 0.3 g protein. $0.28
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (1% Friendship): 90 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g fiber, 16 g protein, $0.75
1/2 cup all-purpose flour: 228 calories, 0.6 g fat, 1.7 g fiber, 6.5 g protein, $0.05
1/4 cup sugar: 194 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.06
1 large egg: 54 calories, 3.7 g fat, 0 g fiber, 4.7 g protein, $0.33
1 teaspoon cinnamon: 6 calories, 0.1 g fat, 1.2 g fiber, 0.1 g protein, $0.04
1 teaspoon baking powder: 2 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.02
1/4 teaspoon salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, and protein, $0.01
2 tablespoons butter: 204 calories, 23 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0.2 g protein, $0.12
TOTAL: 1019 calories, 28.9 g fat, 11.2 g fiber, 31.8 g protein, $2.09
PER SERVING (TOTAL/16): 67 calories, 1.8 g fat, 0.7 g fiber, 2 g protein, $0.13