August 2011
1 post
6 tags
QCT: Round Two.
It’s been a delicious summer. Perhaps a little too delicious. Sounds like a good reason to revisit The Rules, and what better day to do it than at the start of a month. The #1 on a calendar is a chance for a fresh start, and since I appear to have gained back a few of the pounds that I lost in the first half of the year, I think it’s time to hunker down (or something equivalent to...
May 2011
3 posts
10 tags
I Made Sorbet with Beets... details inside!
This evening, I rescued several items from my fridge and counter from certain death and ended up making a pretty impressive menu in the process… Some of my best creations have come about by just working with the stuff that is on its last night of freshness before becoming ‘questionable…
The ingredients for this impromptu dinner spread included yams, leftover quinoa, fresh...
9 tags
Iron Chef at Home: Battle Squid
Several months ago, I bought a 2.5 lb block of frozen, cleaned squid to use as a new ingredient. I opted to go with the whole squids, since precut rings seemed to limit what I could do with the ingredient. I finally decided to defrost the batch and get creative.
After starting the defrosting process in the fridge a day or two before, I started thinking about creative recipes. However, when I...
8 tags
Non-Dairy New England Clam Chowder! Seriously!
A few weeks ago, my wife found a vegan recipe for potato leek soup that we really liked a lot. I was surprised that such a creamy soup can be made without any actual cream. When I posted about it, I mentioned that I thought it might make a great base for a no-cream New England Clam Chowder, so I gave it a try. I am going to go ahead and call this one a winner.
I modified the potato leek recipe,...
April 2011
8 posts
8 tags
Thai-Style Pork with Mustard Greens
I’ve been curious about mustard greens because I read that they have a very pepperry (mustardy-even) taste to them. So, I grabbed a large bunch at the store yesterday, and also picked up some ground pork for another idea. I had no intention of using them together, but creativity struck and I decided to try something that used both at once. I still have half the bunch of greens left, so look...
8 tags
Oven-Steamed Pollack with Spinach and Salsa
Another easy to prepare, delicious meal… I love making “tin-foil fish” as my wife calls it, because it is easy to throw together. It is also usually is easy to clean up, provided you keep the tin foil intact on the baking pan… We didn’t serve this with a starch b/c we were not that hungry (or maybe it was because I ate a piece of sprouted grain toast...
9 tags
"Quick-and-Dirty" Rice
A meal put together with creatively used healthy leftovers is the perfect ‘poster child’ for the Quit Cold Turkey diet. So on Monday night when I came home to a fridge full of weekend leftovers and unused ingredients, I had all that I needed to pull together a spontaneous creation.
In the fridge, cabinet, and freezer, I found:
About two cups cooked brown rice
An Aneheim chili
1/2...
7 tags
Irish Oats with Prunes, Almonds and Flax
Don’t you love when a recipe is basically just everything that appears in the name of the thing you’re making?
Oatmeal is a great addition to the QCT diet plan. It is filling, slow-burning carbs, it is easy to make, and it keeps in your cabinet for a while. Irish oats take much longer to cook but they make for a nice alternative to the traditional quick oats.
I prepared these...
7 tags
WikiLeeks! (Broiled Leaks with Sea Salt and...
Last week we made some delicious Potato Leek soup, so had a bunch of leeks leftover. I whipped up a side with them that was easier than falling out of a chair.
Slice the leeks lengthwise and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
On a baking pan, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper (not sea pepper) to taste.
Turn on the broiler and place the leeks into the oven away from the heat source, letting...
7 tags
Sometimes all you need is a salad...
We had a pretty full day and just wanted a light dinner, so I whipped up a great salad with some fresh and leftover ingredients. This is not a groundbreaking concoction by any means, but I’m posting it because I think the picture came pretty good and might make you want to eat a salad… My salad included:
Baby arugula
Baby carrots, diced
Cucumber, diced
Celery, diced
Grape...
7 tags
Pan-Seared Tuna Steaks
I picked up some frozen albacore tuna steaks from Trader Joe’s and prepared them with a simple marindade of olive oil, salt and pepper. Once defrosted, these were simple to make:
Coat the steaks in the salt/pepper/oo mixture and set in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight if you want)…
Heat a little additional olive oil in a pan. Add the tuna steaks to the hot pan and sear on...
7 tags
Five-Spice Boneless Pork Ribs
I’m a huge fan of PF Chang’s Northern Style Ribs, which have a really sweet and spicy dry rub. I wasn’t able to create an exact match, but came fairly close and enjoyed my creation.
I had a frozen pork loin that I’ve been waiting to use, so I sliced it into ‘rib’-sized portions and gave it a healthy rubdown with (you choose the ratios; I was heavy on the...
March 2011
8 posts
10 tags
Roasted Roots with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme-Spiced...
The other day I grabbed a bunch of parsley root at the store. When I initially saw it I thought it was a miniature parsnip but the little tag informed me otherwise. So, I grabbed it, took it home and figured I’d get something done with it. I had ideas about some sort of dish that used both the root and the parsley greens as well, but these greens were looking pretty weak so I just went with...
8 tags
Creamy Potato Leek Soup (Without Cream!)
I did not take a picture of tonight’s dinner because 1) I could not find the camera, and 2) the picture would look like a bowl of a uniform beige creamy soup.
(Interesting, as I typed this, I was looking off to the left and staring at the camera. But now I’ve eaten, and as per The Rules, I’m not having seconds.)
However, I wanted to share the link to an amazing vegan potato...
9 tags
Chicken Pozole (the other dark meat)
We’ve been in the mood for pozole so I decided to try it with chicken this time around. We had it made with chicken at a restaurant once, and although it is not traditional, I figured, whatever, if it tastes good, then might as well go for it.
My pozole recipe is at the following link here on QuitColdTurkey:
...
8 tags
Green Eggs (sans Ham)
I’ve decided that a good Sunday tradition is to take leftover stuff and make an omelet out of it.
So today when I opened the fridge to find a sorry bunch of fresh parsley left for dead, I gave it a rinse, minced it, and sauteed it quickly with garlic and olive oil. I added three well-beaten eggs, a dash of cumin, salt, and red pepper, and finished with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
The...
8 tags
Cabbage Rolls Stuffed with Lamb and Brown Rice
With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, running into cabbage in a supermarket is like running into a frat boy in Hoboken. Since a head of cabbage costs about a nickel this week, I grabbed one and decided to change the menu for the week. I had purchased some ground lamb to make lamb meatballs, but decided to make stuffed cabbage in a sweet and sour tomato sauce, like the kind we get from a kosher...
7 tags
Veal Stew with Brown Rice and Steamed Veggies
The chilly weather this week made for a good excuse to cook some hearty stew. This veal recipe is proof that sometimes less is more when it comes to ingredients.
This is very quick and easy dish to put together and can be served with basically any veggies you like. We went with steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, and a heap of brown rice. The recipe below was halved for dinner for...
11 tags
Chipotle Salmon w/ Daikon & Carrot Quinoa and...
I fell off the wagon over the last couple of weeks and didn’t do anything new and exciting. I’ve started to integrate a few processed foods back into my diet, mainly for the carbs so I don’t bonk on my long runs. Otherwise, I’ve repeated a number of recipes or made some very basic things that didn’t warrant a post.
I also entered a stretch of birthday parties since...
9 tags
Smokey Collard Greens and Turnips
By buying a new or rarely-used ingredient each week, I’ve been able to get creative in the kitchen and try a lot of interesting new things. Last week, I cooked with beets for the first time, and decided to go back to that section of produce and see what else looked good. There are some interesting root veggies and greens that don’t require a lot to cook up, so I grabbed a couple of...
February 2011
12 posts
10 tags
This week's ingredient: Asparagus (with a cameo...
It is the end of a long, busy week, which meant no blogging because no spare time. However, the cooking went off as planned, and this week, I made a few simple dishes using a bunch of asparagus that I bought. With spring approaching (thankfully) quickly, asparagus will be coming into its peak season… As I was leaving the produce section, I spied a large bunch of beets with the greens still...
8 tags
Orange Sesame Chicken and Broccoli
I needed to recover quickly from last night’s curry train-wreck, so I played the hot hand and took a different approach to a quick and healthy chicken and broccoli stir fry. I love sesame chicken but I don’t care for the breading, so I decided to go with a lighter version that still had lots of flavor.
While I was prepping, I saw a perfectly good orange sitting right on the counter...
8 tags
Epic Curry Fail: Broccoli and Yam Curry
In order to protect the innocent, I am not going to post a full recipe for the wily food experiment that I attempted yesterday. However, I am not documenting my efforts to Quit Cold Turkey only to highlight my triumphs in the kitchen. In the War Against Boring Food, some battles will be lost. These culinary setbacks are teeming with lessons to be learned and applied in the future.
With that, I...
8 tags
Lemon Pepper Chicken with Broccoli and Okra
This week my dear wife challenged me to make broccoli taste good. I’m really not a fan of broccoli, so it was good to have to try to be creative with it. I picked up four large crowns of the evil vegetable last night and got to work on two creations at once.
One creation went into the slow cooker, to be discussed tomorrow evening… the other was a quick, light stir fry of sorts that I...
10 tags
Sweet and Spicy Fried-Rice-Style Quinoa with...
Today for lunch I did a variation on my fried-rice-style quinoa, using what remained of my pineapple pepper salsa and a few fresh add ins… no measurements for this one. However I did count six shrimp going into this one… as for the rest, just combine in whatever ratios look appealing!
I now frequently keep a tupperware full of cooked quinoa in my fridge and use it for a few days as a...
8 tags
Chipotle Chicken and Plantain Stuffed Poblano...
“Good concept, bad execution” just about sums up tonight’s meal. I will definitely be giving this a try again, so for tonight I will not blog it as a true recipe, but will at least document it for posterity… After all, it sounds good on paper.
I grabbed a plantain at the store the other day and thought about different savory recipes I could make. I had bought the poblanos...
10 tags
Steamed Crab and Black Bean Kale Dumplings with...
I decided to try using the remaining kale as a wrap for a steamed dumpling tonight. Having found a couple of cans of crabmeat in the cabinet, as well as an opened can of black beans in the fridge, I felt I had the perfect base. I winged it with this recipe, and it turned out pretty good! I will probably mess with the seasonings a bit though, and try with some different proteins…
I...
10 tags
Kale-wrapped Pollack with Pineapple Pepper Salsa...
Wow, it really took a long time to type the name of tonight’s meal. This week’s special ingredient is kale, and tonight’s dinner was my second venture with the leafy green.
Last night we roasted up some salty kale chips and enjoyed the third quarter of the game. All you need to do is tear up the kale into bite-sized pieces, toss with a bit of olive oil and salt, and bake at 350...
9 tags
A Super Bowl... of Pineapple Pepper Salsa!
I love combining sweet and spicy flavors, so today for a pre-game event at a friend’s I whipped up a batch of my very own salsa made with colorful peppers and sweet and tart pinapple. The addition of serrano chilies made the perfect kicker!
Making this salsa is easier than falling down, and it is really healthy! Follow everything in the list with “Diced well”:
1 red pepper
1...
8 tags
Poached Flounder with Braised Baby Artichokes
I managed to kill the whole container of baby artichokes in two meals. If you told me a month ago I’d even know what to do with them I would have been surprised. Artichokes have always intimidated me and seemed like they had no ROI. Now I can’t wait to try making some new things with them!
My second approach to the baby ‘chokes was to simply braise them in a little white wine...
8 tags
This Week's Ingredient: Baby Artichokes (with...
A fun part of the “Quitting Cold Turkey Experiment” is proactively trying new ingredients. So as I wandered through produce on my usual course from the carrots to the oranges, I decided to stop and take a look at the baby artichokes that I usually walk right past.
Artichokes intimidate me. Cooked wrong, they are a lot like eating tree bark. As for those larger Globe artichokes that...
8 tags
One month done!: Aloo Gobi (Spiced Cauliflower and...
The first month of Quitting Cold Turkey is now complete. I hereby declare it a success! Due to changes in my eating habits and my commitment to regular exercsise, I have lost between 8-10 pounds. I was never a scale-monger, so the exact figure escapes me.
In addition, I’ve managed to transition about 50% of my meals to vegetarian dishes, and the 50% that includes meat is mostly fish and...
January 2011
15 posts
7 tags
Tandoori-style Baked Chicken
I had three leftover legs from a package or chicken quarters used to make Chicken Barley soup a couple of weeks ago. I had been thinking about trying to whip up a tandoori chicken of sorts, and being snowed in today made it a good day to work the spice rack.
Our simple and easy-to-prepare dinner tonight consisted of tandoori-style baked chicken drumsticks with a side of seasoned veggies and brown...
8 tags
Red Beans and Brown Rice
Just sharing an old standby that we make every once in a while. The original recipe calls for ham hock, but I try to not put anything called ‘hock’ in my food. We make this vegetarian and serve it as one of the main courses at our annual Mardi Gras party.
I subbed out traditional white rice with the more nutritious and filling brown variety, and served with a nice large spring mix...
8 tags
It's all that and a bag of fish! (Oven-steamed...
Keeping a bag of frozen fish on hand is a no-brainer for healthy eating. I’m always leary about getting fish at the supermarket, mostly because I’ve been burned too many times with fish that was less than fresh when I got it home. The market freezer is often stocked with wild-caught options frozen right on the boat and vaccum packed; which is a great alternative to running to the...
9 tags
Curried Chickpeas in Roasted Acorn Squash with...
When an acorn squash mysteriously showed up in my kitchen last week, I started thinking of creative ways to use it. I found a few interesting recipes on the net and was trying to decide to go with either a stew or a soup. However by the time I was done thinking about ingredients, I had my own idea in mind and decided to call it an original.
With only one squash, I didn’t have enough to make...
8 tags
Portabellas Stuffed with Fresh Black Bean Salsa
To finish off some leftover canned black beans that I found in the fridge, I decided to make a fresh bean salsa and serve it stuffed in portabella mushroom caps. I had grabbed the caps at the grocery yesterday and didn’t really know what I was going to do with them, but by the time I left the store, I had this idea in my head.
I whipped up a side of orzo with garlic and romano as a small...
7 tags
Chicken and Root Veggies in Balsamic Red Wine...
Looking to clear out as many leftovers as I can today, I made two pretty sweet meals for lunch and dinner using things sitting all week in my fridge as inspiration. A quick trip to the grocery last night rounded out my ingredients list. These meals were quick, easy, and very healthy.
The photo of today’s lunch doesn’t look great because I had to use the Blackberry camera, but the...
9 tags
Pozole (or Posole if you're in New Mexico)
On a trip to New Mexico in 2007, I asked a local what one food captures the ‘flavor’ of New Mexico. I make a point to do this on every trip to a new place, because food is a reflection of culture. His response: Posole, which can basically be described as braised pork and hominy. The dish is Mexican in origin but has taken a special place in the cuisine of New Mexico. I was referred to...
9 tags
Cilantro-Infused Black-Eyed Peas (and a freakin'...
Since we’re trying to take the focus off of meats as the main course in our meals, it stands to reason that some days will be ‘vegetarian’ days. Today was one of those days, and surprisingly, I didn’t miss the meat at all. On day’s like this, finding interesting protein sources becomes a means to discovering foods that we don’t normally eat.
Today’s main...
9 tags
Tastes Great! Less Cyanide!
Looking for a nice, subtle side to complement tonight’s main course, I grabbed a yuca root at the supermarket. I’ve boiled up yuca a few times in the past as a side, usually just with a little salt and nothing more. But tonight I thought I’d try a recipe that I came across on the net.
My only concern was that when searching for a recipe, I read that yuca apparently contains some...
6 tags
What, the Pho? Spicy Vietnamese-Style Pork Ramen
Occasionally we get a craving for Pho. (pronounced, fhuh, if that helps, and if you don’t believe me, click this link: http://www.lovingpho.com/pho-opinion-editorial/how-to-pronounce-pho/)
Since our old-standby Vietnamese place is about a half-hour away, and we already dined out this weekend, I decided to try my hand at a simple adaptation myself. This wasn’t exactly a ‘raid the...
9 tags
A yam, what a yam! (but that's not what I am!)
Actually, this was a sweet potato, and yes, they are different things. Quite different actually. Many of us have possibly never actually eaten yams but think that we have. Frankly don’t know if I have or not…
What I do know is that you don’t have to do a lot to this sweet potato to make it taste great. The only reason I did anything was to make use of leftovers and add some...
6 tags
A lesson in leftovers, parsnips and portion...
Out of fresh ingredients to prepare for tonight’s dinner, we tapped into the stash of prepared and frozen foods still lingering in the house. We also used some of the extras left over from other recipes. Finally, my vegatable du jour was parsnip.
While this is not the most photogenic meal, it was a good chance to put something together that met my criteria in The Rules, and was really easy...
8 tags
Roasted Poblanos Stuffed with Chipotle-Spiced...
I started with a similar recipe from a friend a long time ago, and eventually subbed out half of the ingredients and added some of my own. I usually make this with broiled salmon mixed into the stuffing, but we went vegetarian this go-round.
This was served with salt-and-pepper broiled blue-and-red potatoes and mixed seasoned veggies. The potatoes were boiled the previous night, tossed in a very...
8 tags
Fried-Rice Style Quinoa with Shrimp and Veggies
Created using ingredients in our cabinet and fridge:
I have estimated ingredients, as exact measurements are unknown. When I cook I mix things up until the ratios look right on the plate. This yielded two-plus servings, enough to enjoy a good meal and have enough for lunch the next day.
1/2 - 2/3 cup cooked quinoa (two servings)
8 large shrimp, diced
1/2 - 2/3 cup diced snow-peas
1/2- 2/3 cup...
6 tags
Quitting Cold Turkey: The Rules
After reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and follow-up In Defense of Food this past fall, I was inspired to take a closer look at how I eat and make some decisions to improve my diet. As a result, I’ve developed a few rules for eating that I am going to stick with and see how it works for me.
I’m not trying to give up meat, becoming a vegan, or renouncing...
