Cooking

Did you know?

• Sometimes small scallops explode in the microwave after only 1 minute
• Swiss chard is one of the most healthy vegetables (source Nutrition Action Health Letter published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest). Red swiss chard is growing in my urban farm (OK, OK, it's just a suburban backyard). One of my favorite recipes for chard is sauteed and added to cooked lentils seasoned with cumin. You pour the chard and lentils over linguine and add chopped up bits of neufchatel cheese (aka light cream cheese). Quite yummy and had my loved one reminiscing for beef stroganoff. (He's a meatararian.) A good meal all seasons.
  
• I had to be convinced to eat my favorite meal the first time because I'm a pseudo vegetarian and it looked like beef stew. The protein is called seitan and it is so flavorful that my brother's wife (who turns up her nose to vegetarian food) actually asked for seconds when the team and I made if for our second holiday dinner in 2008. The cookbook Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley is awesome, so I'd recommend picking it up, but you can get an adapted recipe here for free to try it out. I have made it without onions (my loved one is adverse) and it's fine. And while I will continue going to Whole Foods for the seitan, I think I'm done buying the expensive onions for the onion loving crowd. I bet regular ones would be fine or sub mushrooms. Definitely make the mashed parsnips and potatoes to go with it. The seitan is so flavorful you need the mellowish complement. This strikes me as a winter meal, but if you made it for me in June, I'd eat a double serving. =)
  
• Sometimes pinto beans explode in the microwave after only 20 seconds (I had a rough relationship with the microwave for a few days there)

Happy healthy eating!