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Cook This: Easy Taco Dinner (Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On March 25, 2012

I’m not much of a prepackaged mix kind of cook but for tacos I’m all about that package. When I was growing up we had tacos often and when I found a health food-ish version of the mix my mom used, I added tacos to my grown-up comfort food list (along with hot dogs and beans with melted “cheese” but that’s another post.)

There are several brands of taco mix available at the health food store and I have settled on Bearitos (wow, that may be one of the most dated websites I’ve seen in ages) as my favorite. Again, it might not actually be the best one but it is the one that most approximates my childhood favorite.

The great thing about this dinner is it’s easy. And it can be quick depending upon how many different toppings you want to have available. I also offer my boys a choice of taco meat on salad greens (low carb), baked corn chips, soft corn tortillas or fried taco shells. Usually  it ends up being some combination for my kid, soft tacos for me, and salad for my husband.

There are a few options for what kind of meat to use. We tend to do buffalo, but I also recommend grass fed and finished beef, or you can even use chicken or turkey. When we ate soy I used to use half beef and half firm tofu that had either been frozen/crumbled or had the water squeezed out with a cheese cloth. You could probably also cut the meat with tempeh but that is an acquired taste so go for it if you know what you’re getting into. The package will have directions and I usually use about 3/4 of the package instead of the whole thing because it’s pretty salty.

Toppings: shredded romaine hearts, fresh or drained canned OG tomatoes, avocado, marinated onions, jalapeños, sliced olives, or whatever strikes your fancy. We don’t eat cheese but there is a non-dairy non-soy cheese called Daiya that we really like and sometimes I’ll melt this over the chips or meat before  I serve it.

The really fun thing about this meal is that everyone can build their own dinner. Oh, and don’t forget to serve it with a side vegetable. Always a side vegetable.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

Cook This: Rosemary Chard Frittata

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On March 12, 2012

A recent research article was published with the finding that the scent of rosemary improves brain performance. Since I’ve got a lovely old rosemary bush in the back yard I figured why not set my sights on developing some recipes that incorporate this lovely and aromatic herb? I mean, who can’t use a little bit of extra brain power, right?

My first thought- frittata. A quick Google search “rosemary frittata” led me to the website of an ND turned recipe developer/food photographer/health blogger, Winnie Abramson. Her blog Healthy Green Kitchen is absolutely lovely through and through. I recommend you check it out. Her frittata was similar to the one I usually make so although I didn’t use her recipe I’ll link it here as I’m sure it’s absolutely fabulous.

Ingredients 

• 3/4 to 1 lb of very thinly sliced red potatoes
• 1 cup of diced onion
• 5 cloves sliced garlic
• 3 cups tightly packed chard cut into fine strips (this was a whole head for me)
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP minced rosemary
• 6 farm fresh eggs beaten and mixed with ½ cup cool water

Instructions 

1. In a large oven safe skillet (I used a giant cast iron pan) over medium-high heat sauté potatoes 3 TBSP olive oil until lightly golden brown and cooked through.
2. At the same time in a smaller skillet, also over medium-high heat, sauté the onions and garlic slices in the remaining TBSP of olive oil. Once the onions are cooked through and lightly browned add rosemary and toss for about 30 seconds.
3. Add the chard to the onions mixture and sauté until well wilted.
4. Once both the potatoes and the vegetables are done add the veggie mixture to the potatoes and lightly toss.
5. Turn on broiler.
6. Pour eggs over vegetables in large skillet and leave over medium heat until the eggs set well around the edges.
7. Put the frittata under broiler until eggs are completely set and the top is lightly browned. Should set in 8-10 minutes.

This fed the three of us for dinner with enough left over for my kid to take to school for lunch tomorrow. And the house smells divine.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

Cook This: Massaged Kale with Almond Butter Dressing

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On February 27, 2012

I’ve been cooking healthy food for 20+ years. I’ve worked in a macrobiotic restaurant. I’ve worked at the deli at a health food store. I’ve worked catering gigs. And I’ve taken countless classes in vegetarian cooking. But I have never, ever, heard of massaging kale.

My husband, who can barely cook his way out of a paper bag (ok, with the exception of whole grain scratch pancakes- he can totally rock those suckers), came home from visiting a friend of ours in Seattle and announced that he had learned a great new way to prepare raw kale. I was suspicious at best. He explained that she had him massage the kale for 10-15 minutes, squeezing it as hard as he could and the result was soft and yummy kale salad.

Within 24 hours I was set up in my kitchen to give it a try, partly because it seemed so ridiculous. But sure enough cowboy, it worked! And even better, I suspected it would go more quickly and easily if you actually massaged oil into it. Bingo!

Now to decide how to dress it. I remembered a pretty decent dish that I learned how to make about 25 years ago when I was following some absurd detox program. It was shredded carrots and celery with a dressing of almond butter and apple juice. But I don’t particularly like celery so the recipe settled into the recesses of my mind, until now. The dressing would work well here, I was certain.

The first time I made it I used regular kale, boxed OG apple juice and roasted almond butter. The second time I made it I used lacinato kale, raw almond butter and unpasteurized apple juice. The second round was tastier but I’m not sure if it was the different kale or the quality of the ingredients that made the difference. I’ll see if I can work that out. Please give me your feedback if you try it both ways.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized head of kale
• 4 medium carrots
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup apple juice
• Optional one inch piece of ginger
• Pinch or two of salt if your almond butter was unsalted

Instructions

1. Clean kale, remove tough center rib and rip into pieces.
2. Grate 4 carrots.
3. Pour oil on kale and massage it for about five minutes as if you’re kneading dough or giving someone a really deep back massage. You can add a little more oil here if you like. The pile should reduce in size by about 50% by the time you’re done.
4. Add grated carrots to kale.
5. Mix apple juice, almond butter and salt together with a fork. If you want the dressing a little thinner you can add some water. Here is where you would grate (on a ginger grater) ginger and squeeze the juice in if you go for the ginger part.
6. Pour dressing over kale and carrots and toss well.

I’m on a kick to eat a head of kale every 2-3 days. This is helping.

 

Enjoy!

Dr. Samantha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cook This: Ling Cod Fish Tacos

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On February 19, 2012

I originally found the recipe for Scrumptious Halibut Fish Tacos on Epicurious about 4 years ago. I bookmarked it and have gone back at least a dozen times. This time though, I wanted a slightly less expensive fish for a weekday meal so I asked Lyf at Flying Fish Co what he thought would work well. It took him about 5 seconds to choose Pacific ling cod. It was fresh, never frozen, about half the price of halibut, and Lyf was 100% sure. And really, who am I to doubt the fishmonger?

There are a few other changes I made because I didn’t want to buy pre-julienned carrots or non-organic broccoli slaw. And next time I’m going to make my own tortillas. I bought a tortilladora about a year ago (I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets) and my first try was a disaster but I really need to get back on that.

I served the tacos as shown with a side of refried black beans. My five year old came up with that idea and was thrilled it helped everything “stick” so well inside the tortilla. And if you wanted to make this even lower in carbs you really could serve the fish over the slaw and skip the tortilla.

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb Pacific ling cod (these fish are actually unrelated to cod) or other mild but meaty fish cut into pieces about 1 x 3 inches.
• 1-2 T Olive oil
• Flour for dredging fillets. I’ve used whole spelt flour for this and last night tried a coconut flour to make it GF. It didn’t work great. I’ll use corn meal next time.
• 1 bag of corn tortillas

SLAW DRESSING

• 1/2 C fresh lime juice
• 1/3 C honey
• 2 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. cumin powder (better fresh ground from seeds but not necessary)

SLAW

• 1 1/2 C thinly sliced red cabbage
• 1 C shredded carrots
• 1/2 med. red onion slivered
• 3 T rough chopped cilantro (on the topic of kitchen gadgets, just bought these- love!)

GARNISHES

• 1 sliced avocado
• 3 scallions diced
• fresh diced jalapenos (optional)

I serve with lime wedges, avo, refried black beans (amy’s are my favorite), scallions and fresh jalapenos.

 

Enjoy!

Dr Samantha

Cook This: Meatoaf Muffins- Gluten and dairy free goodness

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On February 14, 2012

A patient recently told me she made up a recipe for “buffaluffins.” Buffalo meat muffins. Brilliant, I thought. And look what was sitting in my fridge- a pound of grass fed grass finished beef waiting to be made into burgers. Forget it! Muffins it is. The first round was good. Not great. I tweaked the recipe a bit to add more veggies and took out a few things I threw in there that didn’t work (flax seeds for one- not sure what I was thinking.) Bingo.

Note: this recipe includes cooked quinoa which I would recommend making the night before so it will be cool for mixing into the meatloaf. Here is a great link for instructions on cooking it. I take a simpler approach and just go 2:1 (ish) with water to quinoa but her instructions lead to a better result texturally.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb grass fed/grass finished ground beef
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 medium onion: minced
• 2 medium or one large carrot: minced
• 2-3 cups of chard cut into tiny strips- packed tightly into measuring cup
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 egg
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• ¼ tsp salt
• pepper grinder with whole pepper

Instructions

1. If you haven’t cooked quinoa, do so now. See above.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. While quinoa is cooking heat 1 TBSP oil in sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot add minced onion. Sauté about 5 minutes or until onion is soft and starting to brown. Add carrots. Cook until just soft. Add chard and cook until soft. Please note at any time if you need a little more olive oil, feel free to add it.
4. Remove from heat and put in large bowl to cool. When it’s slightly cool add quinoa, tomato paste, egg, salt and a few turns of pepper to the bowl. Mix well. I use my hands.
5. Add meat. Mix.
6. Add egg. Mix.
7. Roll into balls and drop into muffin tin. This recipe made 8 muffins for me.
8. Cook 15-20 min until cooked through.

You can serve with red sauce or ketchup. A good side dish with this is sautéed spinach or kale. And a salad. Of course.

Here’s a nutritional breakdown per muffin. Calories: 179, Carbs: 9g, Protein 13g, Fiber 2g, Fat 11g.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

 

Cook This: Squash, Yam, and Bacon Soup.

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On November 18, 2011

Hot soup on a cold fall day, nothing like it. There are quite a few steps in this recipe but it is very easy to make. You can most likely do it while you’ve got other things going on in the kitchen unless you’re a really poor multi-tasker.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 lb butternut squash
• 1.5 lb garnet yam
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 lb bacon
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 cups simply stock (or homemade stock)
• 3 cups water
• 1 dried ancho chile
• ground chili molido
• fresh cilantro for garnish

Prep squash and yams

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash in half lengthwise, take out seeds.
2. Paint or rub the face of squash with olive oil. Place face down on a baking sheet.
3. Stab yams with a fork a few times, wrap in foil and place on baking sheet with the squash.
4. Place sheet in oven.
5. They are done when fork tender typically 45-60 minutes.
6. Scoop insides into a bowl to reserve.

Prep bacon

1. Cook bacon until crispy.
2. Cool and dice.
3. Place 2 TBSP bacon fat in a soup pot. I used my cast-iron enamel Dutch oven for this job.

Assemble soup

1. Cut onion into medium dice.
2. Mince 3-4 garlic cloves.
3. Turn stove to medium heat and add onion and garlic to bacon fat.
4. Sauté until soft.
5. Add squash and yam, water, and stock to pot.
6. Cut one dried ancho chile into thin strips over soup.
7. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes.

Finishing touches

1. Blend with hand blender or remove to blender, blend, and return to pot.
2. Add bacon.
3. Sprinkle with chile molido to taste. I add mine per each bowl because I like it really spicy and my five year old only likes it a little spicy.
4. Garnish with a sprinkle and a sprig of fresh cilantro.

I’m not sure if this soup freezes well but we couldn’t try this time- we ate it all.

Serve with a protein and a green vegetable for a complete, well-rounded meal.

 

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

 

Product Review: Oregon Cracker Company’s Harvest Bounty Multigrain Crackers.

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On August 13, 2011

Little so likely to be disappointing as a new gluten-free cracker. But alas, Oregon Cracker has beaten the odds! These new crackers carried by our local coop are actually delicious. So delicious, as a matter of fact, that I’ve been sitting at my computer dipping them in Earth Balance soy-free spread (we’re out of real butter) for the better part of the last half an hour. They’re not mealy, not too sweet, and best of all no nasty after taste. Gluten, soy, dairy, and corn-free to boot. My kid is allergic to rice, oddly, so he can’t eat them but the more the merrier for mom and dad.

I’d pair them with a hard cheese if I ate cheese. Ooh, a hard cheese and some quince paste. Hmmmm…

It would have made me a little happier if they had a bit more fiber but that’s a common problem with gluten-free crackers. But that is my only complaint. They’re available at People’s coop, Food Front coop and Alberta coop all in Portland. Oh, they’re locally made, in Corvalis. Bonus.

Cook This: Homemade Granola.

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On July 10, 2011

 

The granola at the market is always a bit too expensive and a bit too sweet for my taste. I started making my own just last year and then it fell out of rotation. My almost-five year old has been asking for granola of late so I decided to make it again tonight. I always forget how easy it is.

Ingredients

• 3 cups organic rolled oats- gluten free if you choose not to do gluten
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ³/₄ tsp sea salt
• ¹/₃ cup honey
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 6 TBSP canola oil* or coconut oil
• ¹/₂ cup any old chopped nuts
• ¹/₂ cup any old chopped nuts of another sort
• ¹/₂ cup raisins or other dried fruit, less if you want less sugar
• ¹/₄ cup flax seeds

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (we get recycled parchment paper from the local coop.)

3. In large bowl mix oats, cinnamon and salt.

4. In medium bowl mix honey, vanilla and oil.

5. Slowly mix the honey mixture into the oats. I like to use my hands to make sure that all the oats are coated well with the liquid.

6. Pour the mixture onto the two baking sheets and arrange in a thin layer. Bake for 7 minutes or until just golden brown.  Pull the trays out and sprinkle nuts on the oat mixture then toss with a spatula and rearrange into a thin layer again. Bake another 3-5 minutes and pull out when golden brown.

7. Let cool then sprinkle on the raisins and flax seeds.

We store ours in a canning jar, though it is usually gone in a few days! Although we don’t eat dairy I would recommend sprinkling a bit on plain goat milk yogurt if you do.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

*Please note you should ALWAYS keep vegetable oils in the fridge. If you have any in the cabinet throw it away. Now.

 

Cook This: Lemon Walnut Green Beans v2.1

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On April 18, 2011

I had another lemon-walnut green bean recipe up a few months back but the original poster took the recipe down. I decided to make some changes and ended up with this deliciousness. Please note there is no accompanying photo because when I tried to take one it looked awful. Trust me though, they are delicious and don’t look that bad. Really. (Edited to add: I made this again this week because I wanted to try to figure out how to make it look better! The first time I didn’t use an ice water bath for them and this time I did. Night and day. The color is stunning so I added the photo.)

• 1 ½ lb organic green beans with tips trimmed
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 TBSP lemon juice (usually 1-2 lemons)
• 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2+ TBSP minced shallots
• 1 TBSP finely minced chives
• 1 cup toasted walnuts

Beans:

• Steam or boil green beans to desired tenderness. I like them slightly al dente.
• As soon as they are done either rinse in cold water or if you want to bother, you can drop them into a bowl of ice water to quickly blanch them. The color of the green beans is much more vibrant if you do this.
• Drain them in a colander and pour out onto a dish cloth to let them dry off a bit before you mix them with the dressing.

Walnuts:

You can either lay the nuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them under the broiler for a few minutes (tossing when they begin to turn golden-brown.) Or, you can cook them in a dry pan over medium heat also tossing as they start to brown. Either way you have to pay close attention that they don’t burn. I always go with the pan technique due to a still-fresh memory of one unfortunate incident a few years back that involved my oven, a few cups of crushed hazelnuts and an expired fire extinguisher. Oh, and if you cut them up before you toast them you will find that little skin bits burn. I like the slightly burned taste so I do it this way but if that’s not your preference, toast them whole then chopthem up.

Dressing:

• Zest one large lemon and put aside.
• Whisk together lemon juice, mustard, olive oil and shallots.

Putting it together:

• Toss the beans with the dressing.
• Add zest.
• If you are eating it all right away go ahead and add the nuts and then sprinkle chives on each serving. Otherwise, put aside the part you want now, add the appropriate amount of nuts and chives (proportionally) and store the rest in the fridge in separate containers until you’re going for the leftovers. If the nuts sit in there they get pretty soggy…ick.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

 

Cook This: Grilled Monster Pork Chops with Tomatillo and Green Apple Sauce (not to be confused with applesauce.)

By Dr. Samantha Brody, On March 21, 2011

We had a few double cut pork chops in our freezer from, oh, about 9 months ago. Even though we had used the Seal-a-Meal Food Saver I was worried they’d be too old. Not so! They didn’t even smell a little bit like freezer. I have to add here that the Food Saver is a fabulous investment. For us it has been great not only for keeping food fresh a little longer but also allowing us to always have a healthy meal or two on hand, a must for a full-time doctor mama whose part-time architect husband isn’t exactly independent in the kitch.

But back to the pork chops. I honestly haven’t enjoyed a meal this much in ages. It was hit for everyone. I even got a double thumbs up from my 4 year-old. He reserves this for only the most “abominable” (phenomenal) dishes.

The most complicated part of this dish by far was cooking the pork chops on the grill- and I won’t take credit for that, my husband is the family grill master. This makes me very happy (both of the above.)

We served the chops with Romaine, Avocado and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle Dressing and quinoa. I’ll post the salad recipe later this week if I can get to it. And for the record the boy piled up the sauce and quinoa on the slices of pork. He also helped himself to several spoonfuls of the sauce (twice) which he ate as a side dish.

The recipe is from epicurious.com

As past visitors know, I usually mess with recipes but I did this one almost verbatim (cut and pasted below with my changes in parentheses.)

For pork chops

• 3 tablespoons ground coriander
• 3 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (2-inch-thick) loin pork chops (each about 1 lb)- we had 2 in the freezer, so that’s what I used

For tomatillo and green apple sauce

• 1/2 lb fresh tomatillos (about 5), husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed  (I used 3/4 lb.)
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon mild honey
• 1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo (I used a little less because we were serving this to our 4 year old. It was still spicy, just-right spicy.)

Marinate chops:
Stir together coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil and stir until combined well. Rub spice mixture all over chops. Let chops marinate while making sauce and preparing grill.

Make sauce:
Simmer tomatillos and 3 cups water in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatillos are just soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool 15 minutes.

While tomatillos are cooling, core apples and cut into 1/4-inch dice (I cut them smaller than that). Purée tomatillos with remaining sauce ingredients except apples in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and stir in apples.

To cook pork using a charcoal grill:
Open vents on bottom of grill. Light charcoal (80 to 100 briquettes) in chimney starter. Leaving about one quarter of grill free of charcoal, bank lit charcoal across rest of grill so that coals are about three times higher on opposite side.

Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack over area where coals are piled highest for 3 to 4 seconds. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack directly over hottest part of coals, uncovered, turning over once and, if necessary, moving around grill to avoid flare-ups, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Move pork to coolest part of grill, then cover with inverted roasting pan and grill, turning pork over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).

To cook pork using a gas grill:
Preheat all burners on high, covered, 10 minutes. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack, covered with lid, turning over once, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put pork above shut off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).

Serve pork:
Cut pork away from bone, then thinly slice and serve with sauce.

Enjoy!

Dr Samantha

 

 

 

 

• Samantha Brody, ND LAc

  

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