Green with Envy

Hello Friday! Today was my last day with Public Health, which was a bit sad. I really loved working with them and all the projects I got to do. The director even said she would want to hire me! That's always nice to hear. Who knows, I could be the face of the new Alabama Public Health Department ; ).

In reality, my next rotation starts the Foodservice Management, where I'll be working as a Foodservice worker (nice version of a lunch lady) at Dalraida Elementary. I have to say I am looking forward to start working in the schools and with the kids.

In the food world I've had another Southern experience. I found a new grocery store, Food Outlet that is cheaper than the regular chains, but still has a great variety. And that's where I found the gem of green tomata's. Yes, that is how you have to say it. Not tomatOES! Tomata's. Rule I just invented. You're welcome.

I've been dying to try fried green tomatoes as well as fried okra. Seeing as the word "fried" is a jab in the heart of a nutritionist, I of course took the latter course of oven "frying". I found a great recipe on FatFree Vegan, and I have to say they turned out quite tasty. I even got approval from the Southern roomie!

Green tomatoes, as expected have a firmer texture, and a milder flavor. They almost taste creamy and aren't as acidic as red tomatoes. Well don't I sound like such a foodie. They're just darn tootin' good! Unfortunetly I only bought one, just in case I wasn't a fan, so the recipe to follow doesn't serve a lot. The original post is for 4 tomatoes, so if you would like to make more, I would go with that one. That is if my northerners can even find green tomatoes : )

Oven Fried Green Tomata's
~about 6 slices
adapted from FatFree Vegan

1 green tomato, sliced
1 egg white
3 T cornmeal
2 T Whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp Cornstarch
pinch salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. My trick to crispy oven frying is to line a baking sheet with a metal cooling rack. This allows the heat to get on all sides and prevents the side touching the baking sheet from getting soggy or sticking. If you don't have an metal cooling rack, I'm sure spraying a baking sheet liberally will do.

Combine the dry ingredients in a shallow dish, and beat the egg white in a seperate bowl. Dip each slice in the egg, allowing the excess to drip off.

Then coat with the cornmeal mixture, making sure both sides are evenly coated.

Place on the baking sheet, and bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. If you're using just the baking sheet, I would flip the slices about halfway through baking.

I topped off a homemade bean burger with one of these bad boys, and paid tribute to one of my favorite summer sandwiches. Tomato with mayo. I used half light mayo and half yogurt for a healthier version, but so good.

Hope you can find some green tomatoes this weekend, and give this a try!

Grape What?!

Grape nuts. Love 'em. Hate 'em. Don't know 'em. I've never actually ate a bowl of grape nuts for my morning breakfast before, but recently bought them for a recipe. Every Christmas and birthday, I make my dad homemade ice cream. Usually it's unique flavors from the ice cream stand we routinely go to in the summer called Dr. Davis', aka Doc Davis'. Some of the flavors i replicate include indian pudding, graham cracker, and for the first time this past Christmas, Grape nut. The sounds of it are reminiscent of an "old-time" favorite (if you get my drift) grape nut pudding. I tried it once, and think I'll wait a few 50 years to try it again.

Dr. Davis' Ice Cream in Pepperell, MA

Anyway, having bought a whole box of the crunchy stuff, and only needing about 1/2 a cup, lead me to some creative uses for it. I discovered that when it is reconstituted, grape nuts resemble fine ground beef. It sounds weird but, I tried it as a beef replacer in a taco recipe, and it was amazing! I'll post a recipe later on. I thought, well if it works in tacos..what else could it be good in?? A million possibilities came to mind of recipes to try, but I settled on chili, mostly because it is -2 degrees outside and seemed fitting for the weather. I made the chili this afternoon, and was impressed by the stick to your ribs filling factor this chili had. The grape nuts don't add any flavor, but to the unknown eye it could easily be mistaken for ground beef. It reminds me of the chili often put on chili dogs, but with added veggies and beans. I didn't have any cornmeal to make the all fitting cornbread side, but made some easy Bisquick Heart smart biscuits instead. I don't have a picture tutorial for this recipe, but I feel the final product and my vows are reason enough to make this recipe

Grape nut Chili:
Serves about 8-1 cup servings


1 tsp oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped
1 1/2 T Chili powder
1 tsp Ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes, no salt added
1-28 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup grape nut cereal
1/2-3/4 cup water

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add carrots, onion, and garlic, and saute until tender. About 5 minutes.
Stir in spices and cook another 30 seconds.
Add beans, tomatoes, grape nuts, and about 1/2 cup water.
Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add additional water and/or spices to desired taste and texture.

I like to use cinnamon in a lot of my recipes. I feel it gives just a little sweetness to a dish, and I'm a cinnamon fanatic. I also liked using crushed tomatoes in this recipe. It gave the chili a thicker consistency which I am a fan of. Feel free to swap diced tomatoes instead.

Look out for new recipes using grape nuts, since I still have about half a box left! Enjoy this chili on a cold day like today!

What's your favorite thing to eat on a cold day?

What a Wonderful World.

So I couldn't think of a clever title, so since good ol' Louis was playing in the background, I decided he was appropriate enough. I have made quite a few recipes since my last post, but my computer is in an out of commission on a daily basis, so I haven't found the time where it decided to work to post any. What a wonderful world.

Here's the recipe for the Black Bean and Barley Chili I threw together, appropriately named "Black N' Barley Chili". I thought it was a little salty for my tastes, but others thought it was delicious as is. If you are not one for a lot of salt, I would suggest buying low sodium tomato juice, or replacing half with water. Also, you could buy no salt added beans or diced tomatoes to cut the salt back as well.


Black N' Barley Chili - Serves 9 (1 cup per serving)

Ingredients:
2 medium red bell peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 summer squash, chopped (you could swap an ear of corn, or any other veggie you have)
1 1/2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup quick-cooking barley
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups Tomato juice
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
2 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

First off, you wanna chop all your veggies. I highly suggest getting all the ingredients ready to go before you start cooking. It makes the process and clean up MUCH easier and faster. So while you're at it, open up the beans, drain and rinse, open up the tomatoes, and measure out the barley

Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat, then add the veggies. Add the spices, and stir together. If I were to make this again, I would add more cayenne, since it wasn't hot enough for my tastes. That's another thing, taste, taste, taste! Taste as you go, and adjust the flavor according to what YOU like. I always think recipes are guidelines, where you get to fill it in or take out what you don't like. PLEASE experiment and tell me about it! This is how new and delicious recipes are formed. Anyway, back tom cooking. Cook until the veggies start to soften. I found it took about 5 minutes.

Next, add the can of tomatoes, and tomato juice.

Then, add the barley, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once it starts to boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes, or barley is tender. I added barley to replace ground beef, to make it vegetarian as well as adding some heart healthy grains! It makes the chili more hearty and filling as opposed to just adding beans,

Now you can add the beans. I wait to add them so they don't turn into mush, since they are already pretty soft. Feel free to add more beans, I only had black beans on hand, but kidney or red beans make for a great chili as well. As far as cooking goes you're about done! I found that the barley soaked up a lot of the tomato juice during cooking, so i opted to add additional water. If you like a thick, hearty chili, you could probably go without it, but it all depends on your likes.

Now just simmer until ready to serve, or transfer to a serving dish and store. I did make some healthy cornbread muffins to accompany the chili, since I find it hard to eat chili any other way, but I was not satisfied with the results, so I decided not to post the recipe, but one day I will find one to meet my standards!

I hope you enjoy, and as always experiment. I know summer isn't exactly the setting for a hot bowl of chili, but I'll find any excuse to eat chili! Each serving has about 150 calories, and not sure how much, but since the only fat added is a tablespoon of oil, I can assure it is low in fat. I kinda wish I had more chili now, but it didn't last long in my house.

What's your favorite thing to have with chili?