Protein Power

Dan and I have observed that it is difficult for me to get enough protein following traditional Orthodox fasting rules, and I usually end up becoming somewhat sickly when fasting properly. Lunch, which I don't share with Dan, helps me make up for the largely lower-protein foods I have been making for dinner that more closely approximate fasting-appropriate choices. Today is no exception. Lunch features a chicken Caesar salad with fresh croûtons (making the bread portion of the lunch) and a sprinkling of freshly-grated Parmesan atop a bed of romaine hearts. Instead of my now-traditional soup, I opted for a small serving of Cuban-style beans garnished with a small fresh tomato. I chose the beans both because I then need to be eaten before they spoil and because of the nice protein content.

Dinner? Well... we're going out!

Hey... that looks familiar!

While I really enjoy making fresh things, I have to be realistic about food spoilage. So, today and for a few days I am likely to have variations on a very familiar theme. Lunch is chilled Parsley soup - refreshing since it is 100 degrees out - a whole wheat bread muffin and a green salad with cucumber, tomato and homemade light blue cheese dressing.

Dinner is a bit more adventurous. I aimed to stay mostly within fasting limitations for Dan, so I made baked sweet potato with a sprinkle of olive oil, sugar and cinnamon; marinated cucumbers from the local farmer's market; fresh organic broccoli with a bit of olive oil for flavor; and one of our meat- and dairy-less staples, mushrooms (oyster, shitake and baby "bellas") sauteed with garlic and onion in olive oil and then simmered in white wine. This dish has the advantage of giving someone accustomed to eating meat the feeling of a meatier, heavier food (not to mention a bit of protein) when meat is not a dietary option. I garnished the plate with strawberries for that finishing touch.

Chilled Soup and Rustic Pasta

For lunch is a chilled parsley soup made from ingredients we purchased from the farmer's market in town and from a recipe from the beautiful book 12 Months of Monastery Soups. The book is simple and lovely and focuses on using fresh, affordable seasonal foods. The recipes seem to take one back to the earth. We actually made the parsley soup for a weekend gathering with people from our local OCA parish. It was very well received. We served it hot for the potluck, but I have been eating it chilled since. I seem to require a fair amount of protein in my diet, and since I am attempting to make more or less fasting-appropriate foods for Daniel in the evening, I have been eating more protein at lunch time. So, the chilled parsley soup was paired with a salad of spinach, red onion, ham, hard-cooked eggs, grape tomatoes and light ranch dressing. To that was added one of the muffins I made last week.

Dinner was fasting-friendly with the exception of olive oil. I made a pasta dish inspired loosely by one of Dan's favorites at a restaurant near our first apartment in Tustin. I lightly browned in oil some red onion, shallots and fresh garlic. I then added bits of eggplant and sweet red Italian pepper. I added to that fresh varietal tomatoes, kalamata olives and artichoke hearts. Finally, just before serving, I added fresh minced rosemary, basil and Italian parsley from our garden. The sauteed vegetables were added to a small portion of whole wheat pasta, and olive oil was added to coat the pasta so it wouldn't become sticky. I served this with a rosemary bread from Trader Joe's and fresh dipping oil and vinegar with reserved fresh herbs.

In Praise of Stilton Cheese

We bought some lovely white Stilton with blueberries at the local "boutique" grocery store last evening. For me, a nice Stilton evokes images and memories of meals scraped-together from Marks & Spencers convenience stores while we traveled in London. Stilton was a staple... and what a lovely staple it is! I have since learned that Port, my after-dinner drink of choice (well, one of two, with Moscato coming in a close second), is the traditional pairing. I shall have to become a traditionalist, it seems!

Sonnet to a Stilton Cheese:

Stilton, thou shouldst be living at this hour
And so thou art. Nor losest grace thereby;
England has need of thee, and so have I--
She is a Fen. Far as the eye can scour,
League after grassy league from Lincoln tower
To Stilton in the fields, she is a Fen.
Yet this high cheese, by choice of fenland men,
Like a tall green volcano rose in power.
Plain living and long drinking are no more,
And pure religion reading "Household Words",
And sturdy manhood sitting still all day
Shrink, like this cheese that crumbles to its core;
While my digestion, like the House of Lords,
The heaviest burdens on herself doth lay.

- G.K. Chesterton

Stilton Fact:
A 2005 study carried out by the British Cheese Board discovered that when it came to dream types, Stilton cheese seemed to cause odd dreams, with 75% of men and 85% of women experiencing bizarre and vivid dreams after eating a 20g piece of the cheese 30 minutes before going to sleep.

Doing Ricky Ricardo Proud

Lunch today? A green salad topped with pear, caramelized walnuts, blue cheese and some red wine vinegar and olive oil. I used demerara sugar to caramelize the walnuts since it is less refined than brown sugar and is therefore a bit more natural. Today's soup is organic tomato bisque, to which I added a little bit of fresh spinach. I also decided it was time to bake some bread again, so I made some whole wheat and oat muffins. I started with a recipe for a whole wheat and oat loaf from AllRecipes.com and modified away. The recipe called for honey. I didn't have any, so I chose to use molasses instead. I also substituted olive oil for vegetable oil in order to use healthier fat. Given the darker, fuller flavor profile of molasses and olive oil, I chose to throw in a little bit of crushed fennel seed--one of the under-utilized spices in my cabinet. I only managed to squeeze 11 muffins out of the recipe, and I cooked them less time than suggested (15 minutes at 400), but they came out very nicely. Each one is about 120 calories and I think the nutritional value is somewhat improved.

For dinner, I decided to experiment with the dish I came to know as Moros y Cristianos when I was in Cuba; That's Moors and Christians for those who may not be proficient in Spanish -- and it refers to black beans and rice. And for the rest of the meal, I decided to stick with a Caribbean theme. So, tonight we have fried plantain (tostones) and a mango/avocado side. However, my approach to this fare is not entirely traditional. For starters, I made the beans in a mixture of tomato paste, vegetable broth, red onion, tomatillos (mainly because they were in the house and needed using), garlic, vegetable boullion, white wine, lime juice, crushed red pepper, black pepper, fresh thyme and hand-ground cumin. The mango-avocado side is not really entirely in the Carribean spirit, but it gave me an excuse to use mangoes and avocados -- both favorites of mine. The tostones are pretty traditional... salted and fried and flattened and fried platano coins. I must say I really love foods that give me a reason to use my kitchen mallet!

Leftovers

I have been taking photographic evidence of meals for a few days now. Mainly this was an exercise in self-discipline, but I have decided that it may serve to create a sort of photographic food diary. Hence putting them here. These meals are what I will refer to as "leftovers" -- that is, the food we have already eaten some time in the recent past. I wish to add that I don't aim to post recipes, because most of the time I don't use them, either!

I've put myself on a planned small breakfast, a soup, salad and bread lunch, small snacks when I get hungry and a larger and more substantial dinner. This isn't due to any science... In fact, it may run contrary to science. For me, it's a matter of practicality. It's the meal Dan and I share, and it is the meal I have more time to plan and prepare, so why not make it a bit more special?



Here's a typical soup lunch. This week I didn't have time or motivation to bake bread, so I went with a high-fiber whole wheat bread from Trader Joe's. I paired it with a lovely tomato and roasted garlic soup, also from TJ's and a green salad with cucumbers, feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs, varietal tomatoes, purple basil from our garden, roasted bell peppers and a fat-free balsamic vinaigrette.




This lunch also featured the TJ's bread and soup duo, but the salad was changed up a bit. I used a fresh cucumber given to us by a woman from the church we visited on Sunday, purple basil, grape tomatoes, tiny pearls of mozzarella cheese and the balsamic dressing.






It was time for a change of pace. Today's soup was split pea (also from TJ's... did I mention how much I love TJ's?) with a bit of ham, and a green salad with fresh apricot, crumbled stilton cheese with dried apricot and the nonfat balsamic.






Turkey chili with a tiny bit of light sour cream formed the centerpiece of this lunch. I threw in a green salad with spinach, hard-boiled egg, roasted peppers, cucumber, orange tomatoes and balsamic dressing.













Dinner is served! On the menu tonight is a one-pan chicken and rice supper. I basically started with a tiny bit of olive oil, in which I briefly browned a clove of garlic and some red onion. Then I added strips of boneless skinless chicken breast, and sauteed until they were mostly cooked through. I then added pre-cooked brown rice, kalamata olives, halved small tomatoes of various colors, marinated artichoke hearts and a few tablespoons of a dry white wine. After a few minutes, I threw in a handful or two of fresh spinach, marjoram, Italian parsley and purple basil. Once the spinach was wilted, I added a few tablespoons of feta cheese. The chicken dish was pared with a simple fruit salad of blueberries, cherries, apricot and white peach.





Tonight it is salmon baked with red onion, lemon, tomato and garlic chives fresh from the garden. The fish was paired with lightly cooked broccoli and red onion, brown rice and an apricot.








Next up, roasted Cornish game hen stuffed with shallots and rubbed with olive oil, parsley, garlic and basil. Skipping the skin when eating it cuts the fat, but the small bird retains a lot of flavor. The hens were accompanied by deviled eggs made with light mayonnaise, parmesan mashed potato with garlic chives and sauteed fresh squash (also from a garden) with shallots and bell peppers.

Feeding My Inner Foodie

So... why a second blog when it is unlikely I will keep up adequately with one? Well... for the present, at least, I am undertaking efforts to really think about what I am eating and serving each day and to put into practice some of what I have known for a very long time about nutrition. This blog is the intersection of my desire for some accountability, my irrepressible urge to write and my creative side. I am no chef. I am no nutritionist. I am no photographer. However, I am a foodie who needs to create order where there has been none for several years.

I should preface this by saying I in no means wish to give offense to those who may find foods here that are inappropriate to, say, fasting seasons. With my husband's blessing I am trying to cook in a thoughtful, careful way, which may not always be in line with seasonal restrictions. I aspire to developing a more mindful approach to both the spiritual and material matters of food... but for now I am taking baby steps and hope you will either choose not to read or will choose to forgive my weakness if you care to look at this blog.

So, what's the plan? Well, I know that diets don't work. Lifestyle changes do. So, I am not following any diet plan, I am just trying to use good sense when it comes to food and what my lifestyle can support. What does that mean?

1. I don't think any food should be off-limits, though some should be enjoyed sparingly.
2. I want to focus on minimally-processed foods.
3. I want to use fresh foods and locally-grown foods whenever practical.
4. I don't want to count calories. Instead, I want to create balance in each meal.
5. I want to be wise about the fat, sodium and sugar content of the food. I want to use only as much as is absolutely required for good taste.
6. I want to use the fresh herbs in our small container garden to liven up the color and flavor of foods I cook.
and, finally,
7. The foodie in me loves the richness and color and texture of food. If I can make food that is tasty and beautiful, my love for food and my need for better health can coexist!

How well I will succeed remains to be seen... here!