Cranberries, Walnuts, and Brussels Sprouts

I am trying a few different ways to cook Brussels Sprouts.  I have roasted them with olive oil and garlic at 400*F for 20 - 25 minutes.  I made a recipe from American Institute of Cancer Research where it used raw Brussels Sprouts instead of cabbage in a slaw.  The slaw had dried cranberries, walnuts, and lemon juice.

I decided to try a similar recipe, but with cooking the Brussels Sprouts with fresh cranberries.  Instead of lemon juice, I used balsamic.  And I added blue cheese.  This can be served as a side dish, or as meal with rice or pasta.

What you need:
- 2 1/2 cups Brussels Sprouts
- 3/4 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper

What to do:
1.  Remove outer, loose leaves from the Brussels Sprouts.  Then, trim the stem off.  Next, use the point of a knife to cut a shallow 'X' in the bottom. Finally, cut each in half lengthwise.

2.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add Brussels Sprouts.  Stir and cook 2 minutes.  Add cranberries, vinegar, and water.  Bring heat to medium-high.  Cover with a lid for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove lid, lower heat to medium.  Cook 12 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.  Add honey, walnuts, cheese, salt, and pepper.  Cook 3 more minutes.

Zucchini Boats

I love pretty much everything that contains zucchini.  Stuffing zucchini just sounds like a delicious idea.  You can stuff it with veggies or with meat.  In this recipe I used only vegetables because I served it with with chicken parmesan.  You could also use a lean ground meat in the zucchini boat and serve with rice or pasta.  Or this could be the main component of a vegetarian meal.

Zucchini Boats

Recipe Makes 2 Servings

What you'll need:
- 2 excessively large zucchini
- 1/3 cup chopped white onion
- 1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
- 1/2 tbsp oil from sun dried tomato jar
- 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp shredded asiago cheese

What to do:
1.  Preheat oven to 375*F.  Cut zucchini in half lengthwise.  Use a small spoon or a melon baller to scoop out the inside.  Leave a little bit of the white flesh attached to the green skin.  Chop the parts of the zucchini that were removed.

2.  Heat oil from sun-dried tomato jar in a large saute pan.  When oil is hot, add chopped zucchini, onion, and sun-dried tomatoes.  Cook 4 minutes, while stirring.  Add paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, and cheese and combine.  Stuff mixture into zucchini boats.  Cook in oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until zucchini boats are softened.

Not-So-Loaded Baked Potato Appetizer

Loaded baked potatoes can be a calorie disaster.  Excuse me, Outback Steakhouse, did you just put butter on top of the sour cream?  Both are already covering the 1/3 cup of cheese and 2 or 3 slices chopped bacon.  And that potato, how much does it weight!?  I really don't know how a loaded baked potato and 12oz steak can physically fit into one stomach in one sitting.  Ok, think I got a little off track in an Outback rant.

This appetizer is meant to taste like loaded baked potatoes, but be in smaller, more appropriate portions.  This can be served at a party, or on the side of a lean meat and green veggies for dinner.

Not-So-Loaded Baked Potato Slices

What you'll need:
- 1 large russet potato
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- a pinch of cayenne (depending on how spicy you want it)
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 4 slices bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp
- 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
- salsa to top
- plain nonfat Greek yogurt to top

What to do:
1.  Preheat oven to 375*F.  Use a sharp knife to cut 1/4" thick round slices from each potato.  In a bowl, mix together the potato slices, and all ingredients through garlic powder.  Place potato slices in a single layer on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes.

2.  Remove potato slices and top each with a few pieces of bacon and a pinch of cheese.  Return to oven for 4 minutes.  Remove, top with green onions.  Serve with salsa and plain Greek yogurt to top. Recipe makes 30 - 35 potato slices.

Butternut Squash Risotto

This is another one of my all time favorite recipes.  If I were on that show 'The best thing I've ever made' this recipe and the green bean casserole would be on my top 5 list.  The green bean casserole I have only made once from scratch.  Risotto is something I have been making for many many.

When I went to college and I invited people over for risotto and their response was 'wow you can make that?' I was very confused because to me it seems simple.  I grew up with my mom making risotto fairly often. I don't mean every week, or even every single month, but over the years it adds up.  I wasn't so much trying to learn how to cook it, but just helping out in the kitchen.  From years of doing that I learned the proper technique.  I loved the taste of it, so of course I has my mother give me the recipe when I went off to college.


We usually ate it plain because I used to not like vegetables.  Once I started eating more vegetables, my mom started putting zucchini and yellow squash in it.  Years later, I started loving butternut squash soup.  I can't even pinpoint how exactly I decided to mix butternut squash puree with risotto.  I know I was living in Connecticut at the time...maybe one of my roommates gave me the idea.  All I know is I often made risotto and I often made butternut squash soup, and then one day I combined the ideas and now butternut squash risotto is my favorite kind of risotto!  It is so creamy and has a great sweet and savory combination.  It just melts in your mouth.  Though I shouldn't, I could eat it every day.

Butternut Squash Risotto

What you'll need:
-1 butternut squash (you will not need the whole squash)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-1 cup arborio rice
- 4 1/4 - 4 3/4 cups chicken stock, low sodium, heated
- 1 tsp pepper
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

What to do:
1.  Heat the oven to 375*F.  To prepare the squash, carefully cut in half lengthwise.  Then spoon out the seeds.  Pour enough water into the sided baking pan so the water is ~ 1/4" deep.   Lay one half of the squash on a sided baking pan with the hard skin facing up.  When the oven is ready, put the pan in the oven. Cook until the skin bubbles and starts browning, which should take about 30 - 40 minutes.  Remove and let cool when done.

2. Heat oil in a large tall-sided skillet or risotto pan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and saute for ~ 5 minutes; do not color the onions or garlic.  Add rice and stir for ~3 minutes.  Add in 1 cup hot stock and stir often.  Do not boil, but keep at a low simmer.  When the liquid is mostly absorbed into the rice, add 1/2 cup stock.  Continue this process until most of the liquid is gone and you have tasted the rice for doneness (there should be no crunch or hardness).

3. Remove the skin from the squash.  The skin should easily peel off with your hands or using a fork to get between the skin and the squash.  Then mash squash with a fork or puree in a machine.  Add 1 1/2 cups squash puree to the risotto mixture, reduce head to low, and stir in completely.  Add cheese, pepper and salt.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.  Recipe makes 4 - 6 portions.


Nutrition remarks:
Arborio rice is a white, short-grain rice.  It is high in carbohydrates, low in fiber, low in fat, and fairly low in protein.  Unless it is enriched, it does not provide much vitamins or minerals.  Even when it is enriched, the amounts are still pretty low. So by itself, it is not the healthiest food nor is it the most unhealthy food.  When you add high-sodium  stock to it, its a little less healthy because of the large amount of stock you use.  That is why I recommend using low-sodium stock.  When you add in some vegetables, then you are getting more fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  So a big plate of plain risotto is not a nutritious meal, but it can be a component of one.

Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole has become my favorite food at Thanksgiving dinner and one of my favorite dishes ever.  My family has started serving it with Christmas dinner, Easter dinner, and birthday dinners because there are a couple of us who just love it so much!

Cream of mushroom soup was one of the first soups I learned to make when I started culinary school.  It was delicious!  I was surprised by how little cream we used in the soup.  You actually get the creamy color from the addition of flour early on in the cooking process.  You get the creamy consistency partly from pureeing the food, and partly because of the flour.  The cream is the last thing you add, so the amount can be altered or left out depending on your preference.

My recipe is a little different than the one we made at school only because I have limited supplies and equipment.  So I will tell you what I did, and how it differed from the recipe we learned at school.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

What you'll need:
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (~2/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup chopped leek
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 (8oz) container white button mushrooms
- 1/2 (8oz) container Shitake mushrooms
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 - 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

What to do:
1.  Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat; add onion, leek, and garlic and stir.  Be careful not to color or burn this mixture.
2.  While the onion mixture is cooking, prepare the mushrooms.  Remove the stems and discard.  Use a damp paper towel to clean the top and bottom of the mushrooms.  Never rinse mushrooms because they will get soggy.  Then chop them up.  When the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms and stir for ~3 minutes.
3.  Add the flour and stir it into the mushrooms mixture completely.  Remove from heat and let cool for ~ 5 minutes.  While this is cool, heat the stock on the stove.  When the mushroom mixture has cooled slightly and the stock is hot, slowly pour the stock into the mushroom pan while stirring continuously.  Add seasonings.
4.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer 15 - 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Add heavy cream and stir.  Taste and adjust seasonings. Use an immersion blender, blender, or Cuisinart  to blend the soup until it is fully pureed. (I do not have any of those in Dubai, so my recipe is more chunky than pureed).  Pass the mixture through a strainer into a casserole dish.

Green Bean Casserole

What you'll need:
- Emily's mushroom soup
-2 (12oz) cans green beans, drained and rinsed (fresh can be used but in Dubai the fresh green beans are terrible!)
-1/2 cup onion slices
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

What to do:
1.  Make the mushroom soup recipe
2.  Heat the oil in a very small sauce pan so that oil reaches ~ 1/2 inch high on the wall of the pan (use more oil if necessary).  Wait until this oil is very very hot.  Test the oil by adding in 1 slice of onion.  If it does not immediately sizzle, then the oil is not hot enough.
3.  When the oil is hot enough, add in the onion slices and fry until golden brown.  When done, remove from oil and lay on a paper towel.
4.  Mix the green beans with the mushroom soup in the casserole dish.  Top with fried onions.  Recipe makes 5 servings.


How this is different from the recipe in my school book:  1- they used butter instead of olive oil to cook the onion and leek; 2- they also cooked celery with the onion and leek; 3- they did not use garlic; 4- instead of all the spices I listed, they use a 'bouquet garni' which is thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and parsley sprigs wrapped in a leak leaf and soaked in the mixture and removed before pureeing.  Both recipes were delicious and easy to make, so take your pick.


Nutrition remarks:
When making this recipe with canned cream of mushroom soup, the sodium content is much higher as well as the saturated fat content.  Adding the fried onions also does not help.  My recipe, even with the cream, is much lower in saturated fat and sodium compared to the Campbell's recipe.  I didn't bother trying to make a large amount of fried onions because they were not very likely to come out the way they are supposed to.  But the recipe was so delicious without it.  So the recipe I made is fairly healthy, especially when you leave out the cream.  This recipe would also be a good alternative to the Campbells recipe because it is on the healthier side, but not too far from the original product.