What to do with those little packets they give you when you get Pho takeout.

I'm somewhat of a pho purist. I don't like to taint my perfectly seasoned broth with more than the requisite thai basil, sprouts, and hearty dose of lime juice. You'll never see me grab for the squeezy bottles of hoisin and chili sauce. So, when I get pho takeout, those individual ketchup-sized packets of hoisin and chili sauces just get thrown into the "take-out junk drawer" alongside flimsy plastic knives that can cut through stuff as well as elementary school scissors.

As I've been really into the joys of Chinese cooking (and my new 12" omelette pan), I had an epiphany to saucing up a recent stir-fry experience: use the damn take-out sauces! That's right, I took one hoisin packet and one chili sauce packet (that they give you with Le Saigon pho takeout), snipped off the tops, and squeezed those suckers right into my stir-fry. A couple of quick pan flips et voila! Tastes just like kung pao! (click on photo for an up close and personal look)



"Take out drawer" Kung Pao
1 lb chicken breast tenders, chopped, lightly floured and doused in soy sauce
sliced red bell peppers
1/2 sliced onion
chopped snow peas
1 sliced red chili (for extra heat if needed... I felt like going extra spicy here)
roasted peanuts
1 packet each: hoisin sauce, chili sauce

It's stir-fry, so I did this all over high-high heat with some grapeseed oil. Chicken went in first to get a quick glaze, quickly followed by the peppers and onions. Snow peas need a bit less time to cook, so they went in about a minute later. Last 20 seconds of cooking, I threw in the peanuts and sauces, gave the whole thing a couple of quick pan flips, and moved to the serving dish (after snapping a quick photo). Serve over rice, of course.

Helloooooo June Gloom.

I really don't get why people are so confused at LA weather. We get some clouds and a sprinkling of rain in early June, and people are facebooking like there's no tomorrow. Where the hell is summer?, they ask. Well... summer in LA starts in July, runs through September, maybe 3 weeks in October, then hits a week in November, two weeks spanning January and February, part of April, and most of May. See? Perfectly not confusing.

Alas, good ol' June gloom hits like clockwork. Definitely need that sweater in the morning, especially if you're in classrooms in Santa Monica.

Here's my June gloom soup. Also known as my Get Well Soon soup.


chicken broth
dehydrated shiitake mushrooms
sliced ginger
shredded chicken breast
a dash of soy sauce, salt, and chili oil

Toss it all together in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 min.

Post-chavasana fuel.

Just got home from a nice lil' power yoga session at Bodies in Motion. It's late, I'm all namaste'd out, so I'm keeping it light and healthy. Plus, I didn't do justice to the daily recommended vegetable intake, so I'm making up for that by going overboard now.

Let me introduce you to... the best salad in the whole freakin' world.


Organic Arugula (of the Trader Joe's just snip open the bag variety)
Red Bell Pepper
Persian Cucumber
String Cheese (I would've LOVED some manchego here, but I only had string in the fridge)
Reduced Sodium Turkey Breast
Grapes

Slice stuff that needs to be sliced (which is everything except the arugula) and hand toss with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeezie squeeze of lemon, and a light dusting of salt.

Then, stuff mouth and chew loudly since no one is watching and you can.

Cookies?

 

My first attempt at no sugar added baking. I had been avoiding this like the plague because really, baking just does not work the same without good ol' granulated sugar. It's like the sugar in sweet baked recipes adds the caramelization and some sort of invisible culinary magic that sugar substitutes can't even come close to mimicking.

As I was stimulating the economy by shopping at Whole Foods, I came across this sweetener in the baking aisle that had the words "organic zero" on the front. I figured, if it's sold at Whole Foods, it can't be bad for you, at least according to the FDA and the healthy folk who stock Whole Foods shelves. "Organic Zero" is apparently organic erythritol, which, though it sounds like an antibiotic, is a naturally fermented and crystallized sugar alcohol. I think I read somewhere that the fermentation process is similar to how they make kombucha, but I can't really cite that as I am blogging, except as "the internet". Anyway, I thought I'd give this no-calorie sweetener a whirl, even though "sugar alcohol" usually means an unpleasant after-effect on your digestive tract. Fortunately, I did read up on a few sites that erythritol is the least irritating to your digestive tract, and Tyson and I can attest to that after sharing a batch.

I adapted an old peanut butter/chocolate chip/oatmeal cookie recipe that I came up with years ago. I've only brought myself to make two tiny batches since this "Organic Zero" crap is, like, $12.99 for a 12 oz. bag. So I can label this post "no sugar added", "healthy", but definitely NOT "budget".

Organic Zero Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 egg
1/4 cup TJ's natural salted crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup Organic Zero (plus an extra hefty sprinkling, about 2 tbsp?)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder (the baking soda and baking powder are just thrown in for good measure since they're expected to be used for baking.I really have no clue what they would do to this recipe.)
1/2 cup Sunspire Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips

Ah yes, grain sweetened chocolate chips. They're like ordinary semi-sweets, but instead of being sweetened by refined sugars, they're sweetened with malted grains. They fit into Tyson's arbitrary rules.

Bake for however long cookies should bake. My oven is broken so I can only set it at 400 and turn it off to hit temps in the 300's. I think I baked them for 15 min.

I'd have to say, these taste just so-so when you first take a bite, but throw in an ice cold glass of Fat-Free Milk and the cookies do disappear quite quickly.

Shrimp + Baby Artichokes

Boiled some baby artichokes with outer leaves removed for 10 min. Quartered them. Then I sauteed the following over high heat:

thawed frozen shrimp
2 cloves chopped garlic
a swirl of grapeseed oil
dash of salt
artichokes

When the shrimp pinked up, I took it off the heat, finished with a generous squeeze of lemon and some cracked pepper.

Yummy dinner.

I call it the "Healthy Bachelor"

Tyson and I are feeling a bit, um, generous around the midsection. In other words, we're tired of our guts and can't wait to get rid of them. So, it's Body for Life time. 6 small meals a day, balanced lean protein and good carbs, and throw in some veggies too.

So I threw this together after a quick TJ's run:

The Healthy Bachelor
1 lb ground turkey breast, 98% fat free
a swirl of grapeseed oil
about a cup of low sodium chicken broth
Southern Greens Blend (1/2 bag)
a handful of grape tomatoes
crimini mushrooms, whole, because I didn't feel like chopping them
and some leftover frozen cut sweet white corn

Toss is all together and simmer on med heat.

Topped it off with some "Napa Valley Grill Seasoning" that Tyson given me as a Northern California souvenir, and here we go. One healthy mo-fo of a meal.

I think of it as a bachelor meal because it requires zero prep (except open packages), zero babysitting at the stove, and only one pot/pan to clean. Tyson claims that no single guy would ever cook with these ingredients. So maybe I should call it the Healthy Bachelorette. Or just the Healthy Ang.

Tom Yumminess

When I'm under the weather, or in this case, whining like a baby because of a reflared back injury, I totally crave really tangy, clear broth. Lately it's been visiting the pho place on a multi-weekly basis. But this time, I wasn't about to hobble down to the car and off road to my pho (you can pick up in this back alley, which is really nice because you don't have to get out of the car, but you do have to drive over some potholes so cavernous they really should be considered man-made lakes).

So I raided my fridge. My week old basil caught my eye, and in a stroke of creative genius, somehow thought I could do a makeshift Tom Yum in 10 minutes or less. So here are the ingredients I tossed together, then brought to a boil, and lowered to a simmer for like 30 seconds. Then it was in a bowl and in my mouth. Not quite tom yum, but I'd have to say, it hit the spot.

 

Fuel your ski legs on a budget.

Some friends and I just took an awesomely awesome trip to Mammoth. Seriously, awesomely awesome. And throw in the words ridiculous, epic, and booyah, and that pretty much sums up the trip.

I, of course, loved being executive chef on the trip, and planned the meals around a hearty and tasty, but definitely on a budget since we're spending so much money on the slopes theme.

Friday night dinner:

Chili a la TVP (adapted from my friend TVP's recipe)
1 lb lean ground beef ($2 frozen from costco)
1 lb ground turkey breast ($7 from TJ's)
2 packets Lawry's chili seasoning ($2.50)
1/2 diced onion ($.50)
1/4 jar Pepperoncinis, with brine ($.75)
3 cans diced tomatoes ($3)
1 can pinto beans ($1)

Total: $16.75

served 5 hungry skiers as main course, coupled with some of those DIY biscuits, crackers, and shredded chedder.

Saturday night's dinner was a bit more elaborate with 9 hungry mouths, so I'll just post the winning risotto recipe:

Mushroom risotto
arborio rice ($2)
1/2 diced onion ($.50)
1 1/2 boxes chicken broth ($3)
1/2 pkg chopped crimini mushrooms ($.75)
1 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese ($3)

Total: $9.25

served 9 hungry skiers as one dish among many

yum! and look how cheap!

I could eat this every morning.

This morning I geared up for a morning hike up to Parker Mesa Overlook. After staying out late last night, and not wanting to look out of shape to my friends, I decided I needed a hearty breakfast that wouldn't weigh me down. I absolutely cannot do physically strenuous activity with a lot of high fat food in my system. So, in comes the protein pancake. It's a take on a Body For Life recipe, and honestly, I could eat this every morning. I guess I could call it my morning crack.

The premise of Body For Life is eating 6 small meals a day that balance lean protein and good carbs, so this recipe fits that formula pretty perfectly. At first taste, I think the texture can throw people off, because of its density, but once you get past that, you learn to love the wonder of this breakfast staple. And hey, you definitely shed that belly softness on this eating plan.

Protein Pancake, serving for 1 person
1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup rolled oats
3 egg whites
stevia, cinnamon, vanilla to taste
hearty sprinkle of flaxseeds for added nuttiness and all the good fat you get from flax

stick all of it in your blender and hit blend. it's quite thick, so you'll have to stir it around and pulse it. cook like a pancake, but you'll have to keep it on the heat much longer.

enjoy!

I should just call it crack.

My newest dish was originally inspired by the idea of paella, but the more I think about it, really has very little to do with paella anymore. Except that I could probably eat both dishes non-stop, to the absolute extreme of fullness, and then possibly one bite more. Tyson calls it the "Spicy Chicken Sausage Barley Peas Thing".

My recipe for SCSBPT.

Pearl barley
chicken breast, chopped
spicy andouille chicken sausage
frozen peas
italian parsley
chicken broth
dash of white wine
cayenne, paprika, cumin, salt, saffron

Chop sausage, saute on high heat in a little oil to get a nice char. Set aside. Brown chicken in the same yummy sausage oil drippings pan. Coat with cayenne, paprika, cumin, salt. Set aside. Using the same pan, toss in the pearl barley and a dash of white wine to deglaze pan. Add chicken broth and let barley cook as long as it needs to (I like my barley nice and firm, usually a 3:1 ratio of liquid to barley, cooked for about 25 min?) When there's just a little simmering liquid left in the pan, toss back in the sausage and chicken, along with chopped italian parsley, peas, and a few saffron threads. Cook down the rest of the liquid. Season/spice to taste-- in my case, I went a little overboard with the cayenne, and it was awesome.

Warning, I ate it for dinner and breakfast, and Tyson ate it for lunch, so luckily it's gone and I don't need to eat any more of it now.

(btw- a previous version of this had a couple of scallops thrown in, and mostly arborio rice, which made me think of paella... this is a healthier, cheaper version)

(and another btw- made that Indian dish from yesterday's post again... this time, just a couple of heaping spoonfuls of 2% fage greek yogurt. awesomeness.)

chicken saag yogurt something or other

I thought it would be fun to cook some Indian food. Tyson's downstairs neighbor is an amazing cook, so his apt oft smells like all sorts of yummy Indian flavors. So I thought I'd give it a whirl. (mind you, I know nothing about cooking Indian food)

Ingredients:
Trader Joe's curry simmer sauce
boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
frozen spinach, thawed and drained
greek gods plain nonfat greek yogurt

So I threw it all together (you know, browned the chicken first in a bit of grapeseed oil, simmered in the sauce and spinach, and then added the yogurt at the end). The yogurt tartness was way overpowering (I was sort of just trying to get rid of it), so I mixed in some Stevia (my go to natural no calorie sweeter, a post in itself), some cayenne for heat, a dash of cumin for smokiness, and tumeric because, well, everything has tumeric in it. Not great, but better.

So there you go. My version of chicken saag yogurt something or other. I think in the future I would try a smaller dose of lowfat yogurt. Or even, gasp, full fat stuff. Other suggestions?

Oh yeah, served over TJ's Garlic Naan aka toasty heavenliness.