Microwaved Oats? Not Steel Cut

Instant oatmeal - the kind you add water to and microwave - meets expectations. Not high expectations; but that's the point. It's a last-resort convenience food, something to keep on hand for near-emergencies.

But steel cut oats are a slow-cook indulgence. I convenience-ize them by making a large pot on the weekend and reheating portions throughout the next week. That way the lovely slightly chewy texture and full flavor stay intact.

Recently I found a container of quick-cook steel cut oats, which seemed like a middle ground between the instant mush and the weekend cooking oatmeal option. The packaging gave two options: stovetop boiling for 5 to 7 minutes, or microwaving. The stovetop method yields a bowl of oats almost as nice as the traditional slow-cook variety, in about a third of the time. But the microwave method is another story.

Beware microwave directions that require stops and starts with stirring in between, and large vessels to prevent boiling over. I have tried this method several times now, in the name of emprical science, and only avoiding the big puddle of spouted oat mess once so far.

That's enough empiricism for me. By the time you follow the directions properly to avoid the mess, you might as well have pulled out a saucepan and boiled the oats. And if you don't have a stovetop available? Stick with a pouch of the actual instant variety.

PB Chocolate Chip Cookies, Take 2

Batch 2 in front of Batch 1

Batch 2 of the garbanzo bean-based peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies came out really well! This time we followed Texanerin's recipe, but with three modifications.

First, we upped the peanut butter to almost half a cup.
Second, we used a little gluten-free flour (1/8 cup coconut flour and 1/4 cup almond flour) to make them a little more cakey and a little less doughy. Even that small amount stiffened the batter up enough that the food processor strained to mix it.
So we added a 1/4 cup of water, which took care of that issue.

Overall, I preferred the flavor and texture of this batch to the first. (As a side benefit, the dough was also less sticky, easy to scoop and drop onto the cookie sheet.) My co-conspirator and fellow taster, however, preferred the first batch.

Next time, we'll skip the coconut flour and halve the water. But for now, I'm delighted.

Gluten-free PB and Chocolate Cookies, Take 1

Cookies make with a garbanzo bean base, and no flour?

My first batch - not so pretty, but just as tasty

Once again, Pinterest proves the power of the picture. If I hadn't seen the luscious-looking photo of gluten-free peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies there, I wouldn't have given the recipe a fair chance.  But I tracked back to the source, Texanerin Baking, and found not just instructions but also her notes and more yummy photos.

If you like your cookies to stay malleable and more 'doughy' when they've cooled, this recipe may meet all your needs. For me, next time I plan to up the peanut butter slightly, and add a little brown rice flour, to compensate for  the increased oil and also give them a slightly more 'cakey' feel.

But don't take my propensity to tinker as criticism - these are tasty treats that seem pretty healthy. (When I report on Take 2, I'll add my estimates for calories, fat, protein, sugar, and carbs.) Try 'em!

Let the Strawberry Bonanza Begin!

Frosty freezer strawberries

After years of living in the Bay Area, the start of strawberry season still takes me by surprise. April just seems so early. But the berries in my local farmers' markets are the real deal; and they are plentiful.
This weekend I bought a three-basket set of organics, and enjoyed passing them out to neighbors on the way home. Then I ate some more, froze a bunch, and well - snacked on some more.
The frozen ones make great ice cubes, as well as smoothie and yogurt parfait ingredients.
Best of all? From now until the seasons wanes in early fall (really! it's that long), they just get sweeter. This year, I pledge to find even more ways to enjoy them.

Tuscan Bean Dip

Cannellini, also known as white kidney beans, are the star of any Tuscan bean dip. They provide the creamy base, to which just about anything complementary can be added for spice or texture.
They are also remarkably healthy. One 15-oz can has 0 grams of fat, 35 grams of fiber, 28 grams of protein, and only 3.5 grams sugar. They are also rich in calcium and iron.

You won't want to eat a whole batch yourself - it's too filling - but you could, without guilt.

Key Ingredients

• 1 15-oz can of cannellini beans, partially drained
• 2 cloves garlic (or two cubes frozen, or 2 Tbsp from a jar)
• Cumin, to taste
• Italian herbs (fresh, if possible; otherwise dried) to taste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil (unless you use an option, below, that has oil in it)
• Salt, to taste
• Optional Ingredients:
• 6 to 8 good black olives (such as kalamatas)
• Roasted red peppers
• Dried tomatoes
• Parsley

Easy Prep Steps
Toss the key ingredients into a food processor, and blend til smooth.
Add any optional ingredients desired, and blend lightly to leave some small chunks for texture and color.
Taste and adjust.

Serving Tips
As a dip:
* Pretzel chips, pita chips and thin bread slices all work well.

As a sandwich spread:
* Toast slices of a good bread (an artisanal olive or rosemary, for instance)
* Spead a layer on, as thin or thick as you prefer
* Top with raw or roasted veggies, such as sweet red peppers
* Enjoy open-faced, or with a top.

What are Grocery Lists For?

Earlier this year, I reviewed Living the Savvy Life from a green perspective (Does Savvy = Green?).  To the extent that being savvy means investing your time, energy and money on what matters to you, rather than just accumulating stuff, I found a close correlation of underlying values. And where food is concerned, the concept of keeping the kitchen a well-organized, clean, and joyful place to spend quality time making what you enjoy eating would resonate with most foodies, including the slow food-ists and locavores.

When I started to work through implementing the good advice from Chapter 10: Food, however, I hit a stumbling block right away. As I detailed in Kitchen Inventory Confessions, getting a handle on what's in my cupboards, fridge and freezer was both daunting and humbling. Loving food as I do, I'm prone to fall into the more-is-better trap here. While doing the inventory exercise helped me pare down a bit, it's got to become an ongoing task.

Hopefully the next step, creating a master shopping list, will help with that maintenance.  It should at a minimum keep me from ever winding up again with two open jars of peanut butter in the fridge, and one waiting in the cupboard. If I can find a really good smart phone app to move the items onto, that will really tip the scales in the battle against overstocking.

To simply the process, I skipped the recommended step of dividing staples by the best stores to acquire them from, meant to help reduce running-around time and increase trip consolidation (green points for driving less). Since 90% of my groceries come from Trader Joes on my commute home from work, the occasional Costco or Whole Foods item is easy to catalog mentally.

Looking over the list I came up with, some patterns are clear, and not always consistent with how I picture myself as an eater.  Most notably, lots of dairy. Half and half for tea, low-fat organic milk for nightly cocoa, nonfat yogurt for fruit smoothies, favorite cheeses, and eggs are always in stock. Breakfast and snack foods get replenished frequently; so they make the buy-now list regularly. In contrast, meat rarely makes the list, coming home occasionally almost as an incidental.  And with the exception of spinach for salads and favorite fresh fruits for snacks, produce comes home without being summoned by a list. Whatever's in season and looks good hops into the basket (then the trick is to make sure to use it quickly, before it wilts or goes fuzzy in the crisper). As farmers market season ramps up here, it will be interesting to see if we use the master grocery list more or less than during the winter.

The flip side of the list's usefulness, once you've gotten good at avoiding waste from accidental over-buying, is making sure to keep key foods in stock. For me the biggest key to eating well is having the right ingredients on hand when I need them. That includes healthy snacks, fresh fish and produce, gluten-free staples, and basic ingredients for quick dishes made from scratch. If I run out of the good stuff, I'll default to whatever else may be handy, including all the processed packaged foods that shouldn't be in stock at home anyway. So I'm arming myself with a good list to help me make good decisions between runs to the store.

If you've tried an app you really like to help take this tip paperless, please tell us about it!

Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic is served many ways - spread on bread, added to homemade salad dressings, and mixed into any dish that calls for garlic but needs a creamier texture and milder flavor. Especially popular in recipes from Spain, France, and Italy. As a condiment or ingredient, the cloves add very few calories, no saturated fats, and both dietary fiber and phytonutrients.

Cooking Tip:

Image: Simple Daily Recipes

Prepare ahead and keep some on hand. Stores well for a week or more in the fridge.

To Prepare:

• Start with 2 to 4 whole heads of garlic.
• Remove a bit of skin, but not so much the cloves separate.
• Cut the top half-inch off of each head.
• Place in the oven on aluminum foil or a baking dish.
• Add 1 Tbsp water and seal the foil pouch or cover the dish.
• Bake 45 to 60 minutes at 375 degrees. (longer if temp lower)
• Test for doneness - they should be very soft to the touch.
• Cool and serve by squeezing cloves out.

Bonus Points: Try making roasted garlic in a solar oven.

Homemade Hummus Among Us

If you usually buy hummus at the grocery store, you may be surprised to find how easy and inexpensive this healthy snack can be to make yourself.

This Mediterranean food can be found in Greece, Turkey, and throughout the Middle East. I first tried it from the original Moosewood - the vegetarian cooking Bible at that time. More recently, it's become popular as a convenience food, and can be found or made in a wide variety of flavor combinations.

Ingredients

• 1 15-oz can (425 g) of garbanzo beans (or chickpeas)
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup tahini (pureed sesame seeds)
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh if possible - use more if Meyer lemon)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic (fresh if possible, or the equivalent amount from a jar or freezer cube)
• 1/2 parsley, chopped
• A pinch of cumin
• Salt to taste
• Options for twists on flavoring (see below)

Preparation

1. Drain the beans, peel the garlic, and roughly chop the parsley.
2. Throw all the ingredients together into a food processor (a blender will do, in a pinch).
3. Blend until creamy. This may require stopping to scrape mix off the bowl sides a few times.

Makes about half a quart.

Variations for the Adventurous
Add any one (maybe two) of these to a batch, to acheive a new taste sensation:

• Black olives (pitted, of course) or tapenade
• Roasted red peppers
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Fresh basil or a dab of pesto

Served As a Dip:
Place in a bowl, with a large plate underneath.
Surround the bowl with cut vegetables - carrots, cucumbers, bell pepper slices, jicama.
You can also offer pita bread sliced into wedges on a side plate.

Hummus as a Sandwich Spread:
Spread onto a slice of good bread, and top with an heirloom tomato layer, cucumbers, or sprouts.
Eat open-faced.

Fruit Smoothies - Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

This December, I'm thankful for the farmers market strawberries in the freezer. Without them, making fruit smoothies in the winter just wouldn't feel right. Although half the fun of smoothies is the free rein to experiment, to 'customize the food creation experience' (also known as playing with your food), I played around with ingredients just until I found my favorite combination, then stuck with it.

My Fruit Smoothie Blend:

• One nice, ripe banana
• A few chunks of frozen mango
• A few frozen organic strawberries
• Several dollops of plain, nonfat yogurt
• Some not-too-sweet juice, like pomegranate or limeade

Do I measure? No. Every batch comes out a little different, letting me sample and comment as if I had actually been innovative.
I throw all these into a Vita Mix or a regular blender, let them sit to temper a bit, then blend til it's soup. Mmm . . . cool, smooth and sweet like a milkshake, with less of a sugar rush, and ever so much more virtuous. Refreshing in the summer, and a little dose of summer in the depths of winter.

Servings
My version, as described above, serves two. You can also make the whole batch and freeze half, to serve one person twice. Just let it thaw sufficiently to stir all ice crystals in and get the lovely creamy consistency back.

Calories
About 100 per serving, if you use just fruit and non-fat yogurt.

Fat
Zero grams! But considerably higher if you substitute ice cream or a creamier yogurt (really not necessary, if you use a good brand).

Fiber
About 3 grams per serving. Mostly that's soluble fiber, plus a wee bit of insoluble (you need both for a high-fiber diet ). To work more in, try a sprinkle of ground flax seed.

Carbs and Sugar
Some people are worried about all the sugar in a fruit smoothie, either because of diabetes, the candida diet, or a low-carb diet like Atkins.
Bear in mind the sugars in the yogurt are low, and you are having a half banana, 2-3 strawberries, a few mango chunks, and a splash of juice in one serving. If your diet allows that, you are not only ok but also getting the benefit of the calcium, phyto-nutrients, and fiber. Pairing it with some low-fat protein might make it a healthy breakfast food, even with health concerns to watch. And a half-serving, frozen, would make a nice treat when you crave ice cream.

Is there any protein?
Yes! Fruits and vegetables do have protein; and dairy can be a vegetarian protein source, too. Most Americans get too much protein, not too little; but if you are a vegetarian body builder or other type of athlete, try adding some of your favorite protein powder.

Can you make a vegan fruit smoothie?
Yes. With yogurt, the standard version fits well into a lacto vegetarian diet (ie, no meat, but dairy is allowed). In that way, it is like a mango lassi at an Indian restaurant.
To skip the lactose, try a soy substitute, or almond milk or rice milk (plus ice). If your substitute comes pre-sweetened, be aware of issues with candida and diabetes. On the plus side, this version would have no cholesterol.

Save me, Oatmeal!

That candy jar on the counter. Those leftover meeting treats in the lunch room. The bag of Cornnuts lurking in my cupboard. It’s just too darn easy to graze all day without thinking.

Steel-cut oats with apple chunks

In the late morning and the afternoons during the cool months, I see more and more co-workers leaving our shared kitchen with a steaming bowl of oats. Some are pre-cinnamon and sugared, some plain from a tin of instant, some cooked at home and re-heated in the microwave.

My oatmeal snack is always steel-cut oats, slow cooked at home on the weekend and ready on demand at the office. Since I buy the organic oats in bulk at the grocery, each serving costs less than a nickel. The cooked oats themselves have no sugar and no fat but quite a bit of fiber and vitamins. A cheap, convenient, super food.

But I don’t gravitate towards a bowl of bland virtue, ever. What attracts me so many mornings and afternoons is the lovely texture – a mix of creamy and chewy – and the blank canvas for flavor. Often I am satisfied with just butter and a touch of salt. Or a drizzle of honey, with chunks of fresh apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Or a dollop of jam. Or a spoonful of peanut butter. Sweet or savory, only imagination and available ingredients limit the options.

However I serve myself, I’m always grateful for the satisfied taste buds and nice level blood sugar. Best of all, my bowl of comfort keeps me safe from the mindless snacks I don’t actually want but can fall prey to if they sneak up on me when I’m hungry and unprepared.

Popping Corn

Ever wonder how corn goes from juicy and crunchy on the cob to hard, dry kernels ready to pop? It doesn't!

Popcorn on the cob, drying

Popcorn, a variety of flint corn, is hard when you harvest it. It lacks the soft starch that makes sweet corn such a treat to eat fresh.

If you buy a cob of popping corn freshly picked, it will need at least 2 months of drying time, even though it seems like the kernels are dry and hard already. On the plus side, as long as you store it in a dry place, it will last as long as you like.

When your kernels are ready, you can make gourmet popcorn in the microwave, on the stove-top, or in an  air popper.

Samovar Tea Lounge

The samovar at Samovar Tea Lounge

Samovar Tea Lounge, on the upper level of Yerba Buena Gardens, is a lovely spot for a pot of tea and a snack. The atmosphere is tranquil, and the staff know the tea selection the way a sommelier knows her wine cellar. For the tea connoisseur, just reading the beverage menu is a treat, with offerings not normally found outside a fancy tea shop.

Enjoying the brief heat wave in San Francisco, I ordered a glass of iced chai. Unlike the sweetened syrup mixed with hot milk that many corner coffee shops serve, real chai is simmered in a pot to allow the tea, spices, and milk to meld together. Samovar's was just to my liking, spicy but not sharp with only a hint of sweetness. It perfectly complemented the bowl of coconut milk rice pudding that held me over between lunch and dinner.

Snack Defense

Last weekend, I spent way too many hours in a row indoors on the computer (reading submissions to the Global eBook Awards). The later it got on Friday night, the more I scavenged the cupboards for anything crunchy to nibble while I read. Everything I found came from a bag, in some form of a chip, with salt.

The next morning, I set aside my giant digital stack of books and headed to the farmer's market for some snack self defense.  Tiny seedless green organic grapes and giant Sweet Nantes carrots would see me through the weekend. The grapes were perfect for the mindless eating I tend to do while staring at a screen. And the carrots made excellent chips for dipping into a bowl of hummus. The only corn chips that passed my lips came with creamy guacamole, and went away again when that snack was finished, at the table.

Frozen Yogurt

Speaking of frozen yogurt, I only recently noticed how prevalent shops for the allegedly healthy treat are in the Bay Area.  Somehow, I just assumed that fro-yo had faded away with the arrival of the 90's, like leg warmers (What?! They're back now, too?)

While visiting Oahu recently, we stumbled upon a place called Menchie's, which offers a rotating selection of self-serve options.  Sold by the ounce, it taught me just how many ounces of the low-fat concoction I can handle on a given day. We used the scientific method to craft the perfect make-it-yourself sundae before the vacation was over.

Back home, I started to notice the plethora of fro-yo chains and one-off shops. It was hard to find the self-serve style I had become so fond of, however.  While hunting, I found Harmony Organic in San Carlos and Fraiche in Palo Alto. In addition, I tried out a couple local self-serve shops.

So far, all the self-serve shops lack some of the quality found in the high-end scoop shops. The self-servers use mixes that often taste a bit chemically, while the fancier places boast all-natural ingredients and organic yogurt from regional dairies (Harmony has some flavors from Strauss Family Creamery, while Fraiche sources exclusively from Clover Farms.)

Which is best? Well, fresh and organic win hands down on principle.  But it's hard to beat the pop-in-and-help-yourself option.  When I find a place that combines the two, I'll go steady with it. 'Til then, I'm still playing the field.

Oscars v. Superbowl

Every year, the Academy Awards follow the Superbowl by a few weeks. In the lead-up to the big ball game, print and TV ads are saturated with snacks heavy on saturated fats.  And while not all of them are tempting, the cumulatively they make me want my own occasion to gather around the TV, eating dips with beer, rooting for my favorites.  In sweats (as Ani di Franco says, "I don't wear anything I can't wipe my hands on.") Not your typical Oscars night party, where folks usually emulate red carpet attire and Wolfgang Puck's style of cuisine.

Nonetheless, that's what I want. Jalapeno pepper poppers, seven-layer dip, potato chips, beer, vegetarian chili, and gluten-free cornbread. No cakes in the shape of a football - maybe chocolates in shiny wrappers, instead, with a champagne toast. Making sure to share those deep-fried peppers stuffed with cream cheese among the whole crowd, and overall our intake will stay pretty healthy.  But it will feel decadent enough to honor a night where the players uniforms are tuxes and gowns.

Second Breakfast

For me, the time between a light breakfast (tea and a Clif bar) while booting up the computer and a real, sit-down lunch break is simply too long.  Around ten a.m., I start to feel restless and distracted, a sure sign of dropping blood sugar.  Whatever lunch awaits me, it starts to whisper from the fridge. But if I give in to its siren call, how will I make it through the rest of the day without bottoming out?

The answer, for me (and Winnie the Pooh, and all the Brits who still nibble on Elevenses) is "second breakfast." Lately, my best choice for a tide-me-over morning snack is oatmeal.  It only takes a minute to heat up, and satisfies without being too sweet or too salty. At about 100 calories, it also wears off by the time I need the real break that lunch provides. And it goes well with a second cup of tea, if the first didn't offer enough caffeine.

Now that I've worked that break snack out, what's best in the late afternoon, between lunch and dinner? And what do I call it, if I've cut off the tea portion of the Afternoon Tea?

Apples and Cheddar

My grandfather Paul was a Wisconsin farm boy, who loved many things dairy.  One of his favorite snacks was a sliced apple with chunks of cheddar.  On my homebound stop at Trader Joe's today, I enjoyed a sample of the very same (served in little paper cups, rather than off a plate).  Took me right back to my grandparents' kitchen. Autumn and nostalgia, an excellent pairing.

Strawberry Toast

Who says dessert requires chocolate? Strawberry toast works equally well as breakfast, a snack, or a sweet treat in lieu of cookies, pastry or ice cream. All it requires is bread (home-made gluten-free shown here), a little cinnamon sugar, and fresh strawberries sliced on top.  Butter doesn't hurt, but can be skipped unless the bread is very dry.  Opinions vary about whether to toast the bread before topping it, or warm the berries as part of the toasting process.  I myself opt to toast, then butter, sprinkle, and garnish with strawberry slices. Anyway you do it, fresh ripe berries are the key.

Nosh

Grazing accommodates my metabolism - I get hungry every few hours, so I keep my meals small. But noshing provides the self-defense I often need against junk food cravings. Tonight, for instance, I walked downtown for a concert on the square. Too early for supper beforehand, instead I noshed.  A carrot sliced to scoop a little hummus, plus a half of a small avocado's worth of creamy guacamole, vaccinated me against the lure of street food.  Had I too rushed for that little bit of food prep, I'd have grabbed an apple and a handful of nuts to munch as I walked, instead.  But that would have been a snack . . .

Homemade Yogurt

After making 30-minute mozzarella last summer, I was sure that Ricki Carroll's Home Cheesemaking could lead me through any dairy magic I dared. All the hard cheeses still seem a bit too involved for my liking; but yogurt was so obvious I couldn't ignore it.

At least once a week, I bring home a quart of non-fat plain yogurt, in a plastic quart container. These are very handy for storage; but now I have a life-time supply. Sure, they are recyclable; but do I have to keep generating more?

My first attempt at yogurt gave me enough anxiety that I consulted the book and bought a commercial starter (YoGourmet packets, from the grocery store). The instructions didn't match exactly, but were close enough to let me know where the wiggle room lies. In short:

• Heat a quart of milk on the stove to 180 degree Fahrenheit.


• Let it cool to between 105 - 115 degrees.


• Mix in the starter.


• Pour into a Pyrex quart measuring cup.


• Keep warm (incubate at about 110 degrees), covered, for 4 - 6 hours.


• Chill, covered, in the fridge.

Notes:
You can use a couple tablespoons yogurt as your starter, instead of buying it.
My milk thermometer is a little espresso temp stick; any thermometer for liquids will do.
On my first batch, I incubated in the oven, which over-heated the yogurt. Tasted great - don't know if the heat killed the active cultures, though.
On the second batch, I wrapped the container in towels and kept in an unheated microwave. Maintained about 100 degrees, and tasted great. Set up fine, not quite so firm.
My whole milk batch was really rich, creamy and high-calorie.
My 2% fat milk batch was tangier, and a little thinner.
I used Pyrex for heat resistance and insulation. Other materials are probably fine, too.
* Good, fresh milk really helps. I use Clover, because it is local to me and humane-certified. Never, ever use ultra-high pasteurized - everything good has been cooked out.