Mint Condition

My last post this week will cover the versatile and mentha flavor of mint. You enjoy it with chocolate, you enjoy it with mojitos or tea, you can even enjoy it with garlic! Mint has been known to soothe an upset stomach or irritable bowels. Research also suggests that it has anti-cancer properties, as well as asthma- and allergy-alleviating qualities. If you have some fresh mint in your backyard or just picked up a bunch from the farmers market, but you don't want to steep it all as tea, here are some other easy suggestions:

Ice cubes. Freeze mint leaves in an ice cube tray to keep it fresh for later use, if you find yourself with an abundance. Mint ice cubes are also a great addition to a glass of water, lemonade, or iced/hot tea (or mojitos).

If you like shakes or smoothies, throw some mint leaves in the blender with your vanilla or chocolate ice cream or yogurt. If you're feeling ambitious.... homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream????

Mint is widely used especially in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Try using mint with tabouli or in a cous-cous salad: mix together with scallions, peppers of any kind, cherry tomatoes, avocado, rice vinegar and lemon juice. This is an extremely quick salad to put together and makes for a great side dish or lunch! You may also replace cous-cous with another grain; quinoa, orzo, or plain old brown rice.

Mixing mint with minced garlic and adding to plain yogurt makes a light but flavorful topping on almost anything, from meat to fish to roasted veggies. Especially good on grilled eggplant.

Surprise surprise: Mint Pesto!!! Use pesto recipes from older posts, but try adding walnuts, bread crumbs, olive oil and crushed red pepper. Spread on pita chips or bread or even chicken.

Are these pictures making you hungry? :) 

Happy herb-ing!

Dill

Like lots of other herbs, dill is easily maintained in a garden and you can wind up with a ton on your hands. Dill is said to help with digestion, insomnia, and strangely enough, hiccups. It is a relaxant and a diuretic, which can help release toxins through the urine more frequently.

What to do with dill?

For starters, here's an easy snack: a piece of toast, bagel, or crackers topped with cream cheese, dill, and cucumber slices. This is a fresh, tasty, energizing snack for people of all ages, at any time of the day!

You can throw dill in a yummy vegetable dip. Mix together mayo and sour cream, then add in lots of chopped green onions, fresh parsley and dill, and fresh minced garlic. Add a little celery salt for more flavor!

Dill makes a wonderful accent to fish, eggs, and potatoes (not unlike chives...). Garnish your smoked salmon with a little sour cream and dill, put dill in your potato salad, egg salad or tuna salad, and sprinkle on top of a baked potato or an omelette! So many options.....

When you're pickling cucumbers, green beans, asparagus, etc, you can toss in some dill for extra flavor.

Quit dill-y-dallying and go eat some dill!!  :)

Chives

Chives are the smallest species of the edible onion. They grow in bunches and can get fairly tall. You could find yourself with a lot more chives than you know what to do with. Although chives make a nice garnish to almost any savory dish, there are other ways to incorporate this mild and delicate herb into your meals and snacks.

Chives are popular as an accompaniment to sour cream. Often we throw chives onto a baked potato with sour cream, or a bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream on top. Mixing chives with sour cream or cream cheese makes for an excellent chip or veggie dip or spread.

Omelettes are the perfect home for chives. Add any other veggie or cheese you want - chives will be good with anything!

Chive pesto, like basil pesto below, makes for an excellent topper for potatoes, pasta, or bread. Essentially, you can use the basil pesto recipe, but replace the basil with chives. voila.

Chive butter: this is something worth making. You can make it in advance and keep it forever to use in ANY savory dish requiring or desiring butter. All you need is a softened stick of butter and plenty of finely chopped chives. Mix the two together until the chives are evenly distributed, then roll up in wax paper and refrigerate. Note: You can add any other herbs and spices you want! Garlic, thyme, parsley, rosemary...

Chives are easy to grow and maintain, and add a subtle oniony flavor (and a little color) to any dish. Good luck with your future chive endeavors!

Basil

I got a Genovese basil plant from Allen Street Farmers Market last week in hopes to spice up some of my cooking with fresh, homegrown herbs. My plant looks pretty on my kitchen windowsill and is producing lots of leaves already! For those of you who are interested in having some herbs in your kitchen or in your backyard, but may not know how to use them, I will post some cooking ideas this week.

Today, basil.

1. Throw basil on top of pizza or in a salad. Cutting basil into strips or chopping it before you eat it really brings out its flavor, but you can always leave the leaves (ha!) whole.

2. Add basil to any tomato or italian dish. Use it in spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, or a sauce to put on top of chicken.

3. Bruschetta is one of my favorite things to make (especially when tomatoes are in season and I don't have to buy them from the grocery store):
      -Dice a few tomatoes and put into a bowl. Add 1-2 cloves of minced garlic, and 2-3 finely chopped scallions. Add 4-5 leaves of chopped basil, and 2 Tbs of balsamic vinegar, juice from 1/2 lemon, a little salt and a little pepper. Mix well.
      -Slice a french baguette (or any bread you might otherwise have), brush with olive oil, and toast in the broiler for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let bread cool, then top with the bruschetta. I like to spread goat or mozzerella cheese on my bread as well.

4. Pesto: Basil's famous antipasto.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

5. Ice cubes: If you're finding that you have way too much basil to deal with at the moment, you can freeze the leaves in ice trays. Put 1 leaf in each ice slot, fill with water, and stick in the freezer. This will keep basil fresh for as long as you want it.

Vitamin Awesome

People always say that eating carrots help your vision. Or they turn your skin orange. There is some truth to both of these statements, but let's look more into it.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it gets absorbed along with fat in your body and gets stored in your liver. As I mentioned a few posts back, fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) can reach a toxic level in your body and can result in adverse reactions (like turning your skin orange). This is why, if you are considering a vitamin A supplement, please consult a nutritionist or physician beforehand.

Vitamin A comes in two forms: plant and animal. The vitamin A in plant sources is called carotenes, and can be found in high concentrations in carrots, winter squash, apricots, peaches, red pepper spinach, kale, and broccoli (think deep orange, red, and green veggies). In animal sources, the vitamin is called retinol. Retinol is associated with the fat in the animal sources, and can be found in whole milk, butter, egg yolk, liver, and fatty fish. Retinol is the active form of vitamin A, but carotenes can be converted into retinol in your body.

Retinol provides us with lots of benefits. We need it for our vision, cell differentiation, and bone growth. It helps create white blood cells to fight off infection and strengthen the immune system. It also keeps the mucous linings in our bodies (eyes, intestines, respiratory, urinary) moist and more effective at keeping bacteria from seeping through and causing infection.

Let's hear it for vitamin A. It truly is awesome. Here is an easy lasagna recipe to help you get a good portion of the stuff. (Psst: Farmers markets are beginning to open, and there is lots of fresh local spinach to be gobbled!!)

Spinach Lasagna with White Sauce

Ingredients:
10 oz fresh spinach (about 6 cups)
29 oz jar of alfredo-style sauce
1/2 cup milk
1 package of lasagna noodles
1 pint ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 10x15 baking pan.
2. Place spinach in a medium bowl. Mix in ricotta cheese. Beat egg with wire whisk and add to the bowl. Stir well.
3. Combine pasta sauce and milk in a medium bowl.
4. Spread about 1/2 cup pasta sauce mixture evenly in the bottom of the dish. Place 3 uncooked noodles over the sauce. Spread half of the spinach mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle with half of the carrots and half of the mushrooms. Place 3 more noodles over the vegetable mixture. Pour 1 1/2 cups sauce over the noodles. Spread the remaining spinach mixture over the sauce, followed by layers of the remaining carrots and mushrooms. Place 3 more noodles over the vegetables. Pour remaining sauce evenly on top. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil, spray side down.
5. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover, and spoon some sauce over the exposed top noodles. Turn the oven off, and place the uncovered dish back into the warm oven for 15 more minutes. Serve at once, or let rest until ready to serve.

Why does my pee smell funny....?

In light of the current season, here are some of my favorite ways to prepare asparagus.

Roast it! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse asparagus and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the stalks and mix to coat evenly. Sprinkle with as much salt and pepper as you wish, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are crispy (but not burned). You can also throw it on the grill!

(Feeling ambitious? After roasting the asparagus above, allow to cool and then wrap 2-3 stalks in paper-thin slices of prosciutto.)

Throw it in a quiche! Check this recipe out from the Food Network.

Make asparagus soup. Asparagus goes great with leeks and shallots. In a large soup pot, saute some leeks and/or shallots in olive oil. Throw in some minced garlic, salt, pepper, (and if you love spicy, cayenne!) and saute a little longer. Add 4 cups of chicken or veggie broth and a bunch of asparagus (chopped into 1-inch pieces). Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes or until asparagus is tender. If you have a food processor, the soup can even be pureed... if not, it will still taste great. This is a basic recipe, so feel free to add anything you might like to spice it up. (Hint: Goat cheese and basil make for a great garnish for this soup.)

Asparagus is a great souce of potassium, vitamin A, folate, and vitamin K. This means that asparagus has the uncanny ability to protect you against cancer, reduce inflammation and pain, reduce the risk of heart disease, and prevent birth defects (if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant).

Asparagus is unique in that it produces a very funny smell in your urine as soon as 15 minutes after you eat the stuff. There is a sulfurous amino acid in asparagus that breaks down in your body into a stinky chemical. This happens in every body, but only some people have the gene to be able to smell the chemical.

What's in season? Check out this calendar from the Lansing City Market!

The Beauty of Omega-3s

4 Diet Mistakes that Age You.

I found this article this morning on Yahoo. A good reference for those of  you who are vegetarian or vegan, for those with joint pain, and for everyone who doesn't get enough omega-3 fats - which is 99% of the population!!!!

In fact, let me delve into the beauty of omega-3 fatty acids today. I did a couple of research projects on those little buggers in college and discovered how vital they truly are for your health.

Everyone says that unsaturated fats are much better for you than saturated fats, right? This is nothing less than true. However, a lesser known fact is that there are 2 types of unsaturated fats: Omega-3, or Linolenic fats, and Omega-6, or Linoleic fats. Omega-3s and Omega-6s compete with eachother for a place in your cells. While Omega-6s are essential in the diet, they promote inflammation and constriction. Omega-3s have the opposite effect, decreasing inflammation and promoting dilation. If we eat lots more omega-6s than we do omega-3s, our cells are more susceptible to inflammation, which can lead to cell death and higher incidence of heart diseases and certain cancers.

The average Western diet has an omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 10:1 or higher. This is because omega-6 fats are more widely distributed in the foods we eat: poultry, eggs, whole grains, most vegetable oils, cereals, avocados. Omega-3s are a little bit harder to find... the highest sources include salmon, tuna, flaxseed, and walnuts. The ratio for these fats should be closer to 4:1 to prevent diseases.

My point of this whole rant is that we all need more omega-3 fats in our diet. An easy way to get those fats is to have salmon or tuna at least once a week. Try grinding up flaxseed (store it in a dry cupboard space) and sprinkling it on top of salads, sandwiches, other grain dishes or add it to muffins, cookies, and homemade breads. Have a constant supply of walnuts and almonds on hand, so you can snack on them when you need a little energizer.


Many people swear by fish oil supplements, but I am skeptical. I'm not totally against them, but it is complicated to shop around for the right supplement.

1. If the product doesn't specify what kind of fish oil you're taking (salmon, cod, sardine?), then you don't know the source of it, or if it contains harmful chemicals or mercury.

2. The supplements will also contain other ingredients or preservatives to keep the supplements from going rancid, and we all know how I feel about consuming ingredients that I've not heard of or can't pronounce.

3. Finally, too much omega-3 supplementation can be a bad thing. Often, the "recommended dosage" of Fish Oil pills is far higher than the necessary daily intake. This can lead to problems in the body's natural inflammation response as well as preventing blood clotting and promoting hemorrhagic stroke.

I hope this is helpful! Go home and eat some salmon on the grill!

http://www.scottsfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Salmon.jpg

Impossible Taco Pie

Yesterday was the last day of my cooking class series. It was sad to leave all those ambitious amateur chefs! One of the ladies crocheted a pot holder for me! What a great bunch of people to collaborate with, share recipe ideas and have some fun with in the kitchen.

We made Impossible Taco Pie, courtesy of the Michigan State University Extensions cookbook. It is easy, fast, and cheap!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb lean ground meat
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/4 cups low-fat milk
3/4 cup Master Mix (Bisquick, Jiffy, etc)
3 eggs
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
vegetable oil or spray
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil or spray a pie pan.
2. cook and stir ground meat and onion over medium heat until meat is brown; drain excess fat.
3. Combine spices (the last 5 ingredients), stir into the meat and onions. Spread the mixture into the pie pan.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat milk, Master Mix and eggs until smooth using a wire whisk or a fork. Pour into pie plate.
5. Bake 25 minutes at 400 degrees F.
6. Top pie with tomato slices and cheese. Bake until knife insterted between center and edge comes out clean (about 8 to 10 minutes longer). Cool 5 minutes before serving.

**Variations: To reduce fat and cholesterol, substitute 1 can of red kidney beans for the lean ground meat. Ground turkey may also be subsitituted.

I hope to start a new series of cooking classes soon. I'll keep you posted when I have more information! Enjoy the weekend!

Magnesium

I know I talked about Manganese in an older post, so don't get confused. Magnesium is an essential mineral that is vital for many functions in our bodies. It helps the body absorb calcium and therefore keeps bones strong. If you are at risk for osteoporosis, magnesium would be a great way to prevent that. It also helps maintain a proper rhythm in the heart and keeps blood from clotting in the heart. A diet with sufficient magnesium can significantly lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and keep the muscles relaxed.

Its really easy to get your daily amount of magnesium. Foods with lots of magnesium include halibut and tuna, almonds and cashews, black beans, artichokes, spinach, barley, and buckwheat flour. Try searing some tuna for dinner tonight, snacking on some almonds between classes, or making buckwheat pancakes for your mom this Sunday morning for Mother's Day!

Here's a great recipe to try for buckwheat pancakes. Instead of maple syrup you may top with sliced fruit such as strawberries or bananas!

Ingredients

2 egg whites 1 tablespoon canola oil 1/2 cup fat-free milk 1/2 cup all-purpose (plain) flour 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup sparkling water 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, canola oil and milk.

In another bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and sugar. Add the egg white mixture and the sparkling water and stir until slightly moistened.

Place a nonstick frying pan or griddle over medium heat. When a drop of water sizzles as it hits the pan, spoon 1/2 cup pancake batter into the pan. Cook until the top surface of the pancake is covered with bubbles and the edges are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook until the bottom is well browned and the pancake is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter.
Transfer the pancakes to individual plates. Top each with 1/2 cup sliced strawberries and serve immediately.