Eat Your Veggies

Yes, it is that time of year when pumpkins are plentiful. My family loves pumpkin, and not just in pie form, either. We have a few dishes featuring pumpkin that we enjoy. Before discussing our pumpkin recipes, however, I must qualify that we rarely use fresh pumpkin. Fresh pumpkins are difficult to prep and get ready for use in recipes. It is much easier to pick up a can of pumpkin puree at the grocery store. We tried it one fall and it took us 2 hours to get the thing ready. So, this is one of my canned food exceptions.

A dish surely guarnateed to put smiles on the faces of your family includes pancakes–pumpkin and chocolate chip rolled into one scrumptious breakfast item.

We also enjoy pumpkin muffins. And pumpkin soup. For our soup, we add cream and on the top go toasted almond slivers. We also often add curry spices to the pumpkin soup to make it full of savory goodness.

Tofu is made from soybeans, in case you don’t know. And, the other important thing to know about it is that it’s not yucky–at least not when it’s cooked properly. If you’ve had bad tasting tofu, it’s because the person who fixed it didn’t know how to cook it.

The first thing of which to be aware when thinking about having tofu is that tofu takes on the flavor of the items with which it is cooked. It has texture, but not flavor on its own. There are even several types of tofu each with a different texture. Tofu is categorized by amount of softness or firmness. The range is from soft to extra firm. The soft tofu is great for fruit smoothies or any other dish that calls for a puree. My husband and I even once made pumpkin pies with tofu. We used less pumpkin pie filling and replaced some of it with the pureed tofu. We fed it to several of our friends, none of whom suspected a thing.

Firm tofu is excellent for stir fry dishes. Just cut it into cubes and saute if first in a little oil. You can then take it out of the wok or frying pan and set it aside while you cook the vegetables. If you have ever had Szechuan Bean Curd at a Chinese restaurant, you have experienced one of the best uses for tofu, ever. In order to achieve the same texture as they do in the restaurants, you have to drain the tofu and then freeze it. When you thaw it back out and fry it in hot oil until brown, you will get a similar result as the restaurants.

My husband and I also like to slice firm tofu into thin rectangles, maybe about a 1/4″ thick. We then fry the tofu on both sides until golden brown. We serve it with our favorite vegetables (quite often asparagus spears and mashed potatoes with vegetarian brown gravy).

There are many ways to incorporate the protein of tofu into your cooking and still enjoy the food. If you are unfamiliar with cooking tofu, give it a try. There are a multitude of recipes available online if you get to the point of wanting to increase your tofu repertoire. Happy Tofuing!

There are two categories of leftovers. The first are eating leftovers and the second are cooking leftovers. Eating leftovers are just what you think of when you think about leftovers–what’s left after you eat that you didn’t finish. Many foods can even be better when they are leftovers, a good curry, for example. The time spent in the refrigerator overnight with all of the spices infusing the veggies creates a stronger and more delicious dish. Personally, I like to eat leftovers for breakfast. But then, I like to eat breakfast foods for my evening meal, too.

The second type of leftovers, the cooking ones, are slightly different. They are still leftovers, but they are leftover from when you do your cooking, rather than when you do your eating. For instance, you may be cutting an onion and you cut the whole thing, but you don’t need a whole onion for your recipe as the recipe calls for a cup and you have a cup and a quarter once you have finished chopping the onion. So, what do you do with that extra 1/4 cup of onions? Well, what I like to do is to put it into a container and place that container in the freezer. When I am in a hurry and need some onion, I can pull out the frozen onion or other vegetables and use them. It is also handy to pull out several containers with various leftover frozen veggies and put them in a pot with some vegetable broth or a tomato base and create a delicious veggie soup.

Whatever you do with your leftovers, try to eat them in some way to avoid waste. If you absolutely can’t eat them or have left them too long and they have spoiled, try composting them. If you are new to composting, check out this other today.com blog: http://suburbansharecroppers.today.com

Avocados are delectably rich and creamy. They are an excellent addition to several dishes. And, confession time, I even like to eat them by scooping them spoonful by spoonful out of their skins. As I work on this blog entry, I am currently eating a good plate of bean nachos. They would be even better if I had remembered to pick up a couple of avocados.

KCSH69’s Nachos:

Layer tortilla chips onto a baking sheet. Scatter your favorite beans on top (I like pintos, but my husand likes black beans, so we often have both). Then add your favorite shredded cheese. Next add any veggies that do okay being baked, such as black olives, onions, strips of red pepper, etc. Add another layer of shredded cheese. If you want a lot or need to feed many people you can start the layers over again with a second layer of chips, followed by the beans, cheese and veggies.

Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-20 minutes. The baking time depends on your oven. You should probably hang out nearby while they cook to keep checking their progress. You can always clean the kitchen while you wait (or more fun, have a Mexican beer).  Oh, wait, you’ve got to fix those avocados!

Okay, do that while you have the beer. Cut your avocado in half. Then remove the pit. If you want just sliced avocado on top of your nachos after they come out of the oven, then you will need to remove the peel of the avocado without messing up the avocado. This can get tricky if the avocado is really ripe and overly soft. If you can get your thumb or finger under the peel, then you can actually peel it off of the avocado. Once you have the avocado out of the peel, then slice the avocado halves.

When the nachos are ready, take them out of the oven. You can let people use a spatula to serve themselves from the nacho pan. Then, let everyone add the avocados, salsa and sour cream to taste.

The only thing better might be to use the avocados to make delicious guacamole, but that recipe will have to wait for another blog. Happy Nachoing!

What is celery good for? I mean, it seems so bland and blah when you look at it, and in some cases it tastes that way, too. It is mostly made of water and just plain has little flavor, usually. At other times, if you are lucky to find a good bunch, it has a little bit of a bite to it and is a crunchy joy to munch. But, what are ways to use this enigma of vegetation?

• Use along with other vegetables to cook down into a broth.
• Cut into 3″ long pieces and fill with pimento cheese or cream cheese
• Add to stir fry dishes
• Add to vegetables soups
• Cut into various lengths and widths and, along with toothpicks, create scary celery people to entertain your kids (or, better yet, let them make the celery people).

Most of all, have fun trying out this plant in various ways.

Okay, so, I know that fruits aren’t vegetables, but they are healthy whole foods that are also not animals. So, I figure they are fair game for blogging material.

How do you know the difference between fruits and vegetables? I’ve heard two different explanations and, honestly, I am not sure which is correct. If there are any scientists out there, maybe you can help us out with this? The first explanation I have heard for years, since childhood, is that if a piece of vegetation has seeds inside of it, it is a fruit. Following this theory, tomatoes qualify as a fruit, not a vegetable. The second thing that I had not heard until recently is that it is all based on sugar content. Vegetation with higher sugar content qualify as fruits.

Well, whether or not a plant qualifies as a fruit or a vegetable, I don’t much care. I like to eat them all. But, the ones we often think of as fruits are usually portable and easy to eat. Bananas, apples and grapes are self-contained. All you have to do with the apples and grapes is to wash them before you eat them–no preparation required. This makes them handy dandy for taking with you as you walk out the door. When packing snacks for my family, I often try to put in a piece of fruit for each of us. The kids really like fruit and it’s easy to get them to eat it.

What are your favorite fruits to take along on your daily adventures?

Does your diet lack a sufficient amount of the color green? When you pass by that leafy green stuff in the produce section do you walk right past mistaking it for a pretty art installation? Do you run the other direction to the boxed and frozen meal section?

Well, fear no more! Get yourself on over to the greens and start munching like a little bunny (okay, you might want to pay for them first . . .). Here is a rundown of different kinds of greens and how to prepare them:

·        Spinach – yes, Popeye’s favorite. Raw spinach is excellent in salads along with other greens. Canned spinach tastes mushy, stringy and bitter. Instead of popping open that can, pick up a bag of raw spinach and when you get it home, steam it for 5-10 minutes instead.

·        Kale – despite the funny name, kale is a great dark green leaf that is great when sautéed to a medium brown along with garlic and/or onions. This is our favorite as our greens for our New Year’s Day meal.

·        Mustard Greens – these are the only greens that I really like when boiled. But, I still don’t like to boil them for too long, just until tender. It helps to chop them before boiling. You also want to take off any hard stems before cooking.

·        Turnip Greens – are great steamed with small pieces of turnip. The turnip pieces need to be small so that they will cook to being tender before the greens get too mushy. I like to shred the turnip and steam the shredded strips with the greens.

For lunch today, I had asparagus in a vegetarian sushi roll along with tofu. It was really yummy. The asparagus was cooked and tender, yet not mushy–in other words, perfect. I must admit that many times I have cooked asparagus too long, to the point that it was falling apart. When that happens, it looses the great texture that makes asparagus a delicious vegetable. Steaming asparagus is probably the easiest and most common way of preparing it. You can also boil it in a pot of water. I have also added it to vegetable roasts quite successfully. Here’s how:

Get out an oven safe pan and line it with aluminum foil. Turn on the oven and set to about 425 degrees.

Wash and then cut red potatoes (about 2 per person)  in halves or quarters, and cut sweet onions (one medium sized per two people) into rings. Wash your asparagus and cut off the hard ends about an inch or so (not the pretty textured ends, but the other ends where you can see they were cut when harvested).

Place the potatoes, onions and asparagus into the pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil (enough to coat with a light layer of oil–you may need to turn the vegetables so that all sides are covered with the oil). Sprinkle with your favorite seasonings. Personally, I like rosemary or dill, but your tastes may be different.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake until vegetables are tender (you need to check them after about 20 minutes and then every few minutes, until done). If you would like a more brown coating to the veggies, switch the oven to broil the last few minutes until the veggies have the color that you desire.

Remove the pan from the oven, spoon the veggies onto a plate and eat up!

There are a couple of different meanings to the term “farmer co-ops.” One is referring to farmers’ offering shares of their produce. By buying a share or half share in the late winter or early spring (basically paying a flat fee up front) you can receive produce all growing season long. The farmer will bring you an agreed upon amount of produce each week, which is often determined by a set number of pounds. You get several kinds of vegetables each week. Some co-ops even offer eggs and other items in addition to vegetables.

If you think you are interested in participating in a local farm share, you need to start doing research now as many of these plans sell out quickly each year. If you go to your favorite search engine and search the term “shares in produce per week” you get several options from all over the country. In order to find local options, which is the only way this really works well, you need to add your location name to the search–”shares in produce per week Anytown State.” Another good search term is “community share agriculture.” You can also call your local extension office or college/university for information. Many colleges/university’s agriculture departments offer these services or may know of local farms’ offerings.

Buying a share in a local, small farm is an excellent way to support your local economy, help the environment and improve your health by eating a variety of fresh produce on a regular basis.

Packing a lunch to take to work or school can be a challenge and when you try to make it a healthy lunch, it can become downright daunting. Here are a few suggestions to help out.

One of my favorite lunches is a tomato sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise. I forgot about that when writing the tomato entry a few days ago. But, as I started pondering what makes a good lunch with veggies, I remembered. The white bread is nostalgic and rare for me these days. I tend to eat whole grain bread instead, but once in a while I like to have white bread.

Other vegetable sandwiches can be good as well.  Try stuffing a pita pocket with cucumbers and hummus (a Mediterranean chick pea spread usually found in the deli section–it can also be made, but the recipe is a whole blog entry unto itself). You can also add alfalfa sprouts to the pita, if you like. A little ranch dressing drizzled over the alfalfa and cucumbers is a nice touch.

An easy way to add veggies to your lunch is to eat them raw in conveniently sized pieces. Baby carrots are already in a good size without needing preparation. You can also pack snow peas, celery, radishes (if you like a little spice), squash or any other veggies that you like. If you aren’t sure about eating them plain, also pack a small container of your favorite salad dressing in which to dip the veggies.