Washing does not remove Salmonella bacteria from tomatoes — Science Chronicle

IISc researchers have found that tomatoes get infected with Salmonella typhimurium, which cause gastroenteritis, when the bacteria enter the plant through tiny openings that form on the main root for the lateral roots to emerge. Hence, the bacteria are found inside tomatoes and cannot be removed by washing. As salinity increases the number of lateral roots […]

via Washing does not remove Salmonella bacteria from tomatoes, IISc team finds — Science Chronicle

Oops.

21 Cheap Family Meals – Healthy Vegetarian Budget Food — Hurry The Food Up

21 Cheap Family Meals – Healthy Vegetarian Budget Food It’s not always easy to cook for families, especially as a vegan or vegetarian. It often gets expensive, too. To help out, we’ve compiled a collection of our favourite cheap family meals. As well as being budget and wallet-friendly, each of these recipes does something else…

via 21 Cheap Family Meals – Healthy Vegetarian Budget Food — Hurry The Food Up

This article appeared in my WordPress reader and I thought it was worth sharing the link.  I have not made nor tested any of the recipes.  Yet.

I’m only two pounds heavier after two Thanksgiving meals.

But I have to wear my “fat” jeans because my “skinny” jeans are too tight.

Thus the search for veggie recipes.

Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad

Full disclaimer:

Neither of these vegetables are my favorites.  Kale is evil.  Brussels sprouts are like tiny cabbages with a very strong flavor and the potential for producing troublesome gas bubbles.  Favorite DIL made this salad this weekend.  I watched her prepare the dish while expecting the worst.  I figured I’d limit my salad to a small portion.  But life is full of surprises.

I loved this salad and had two helpings.

This recipe is from Bon Appetit and may or may not be the basis for the salad I ate.  It’s pretty close and I’m pretty sure the recipe will change once I start playing around with it.  The recipe (for now) is reproduced in its original form.  Source link follows after the recipe.

  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon minced shallot
  • 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large bunches of Tuscan kale (about 1 1/2 lb. total), center stem discarded, leaves thinly sliced
  • 12 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed, finely grated or shredded with a knife
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/3 cup almonds with skins, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup finely grated Pecorino
  • Combine lemon juice, Dijon mustard, shallot, garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a pinch of pepper in a small bowl. Stir to blend; set aside to let flavors meld. Mix thinly sliced kale and shredded brussels sprouts in a large bowl.

  • Measure 1/2 cup oil into a cup. Spoon 1 Tbsp. oil from cup into a small skillet; heat oil over medium-high heat. Add almonds to skillet and stir frequently until golden brown in spots, about 2 minutes. Transfer nuts to a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle almonds lightly with salt.

  • Slowly whisk remaining olive oil in cup into lemon-juice mixture. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

  • DO AHEAD: Dressing, kale mixture, and toasted almonds can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover dressing and kale mixture separately and chill. Cover almonds and let stand at room temperature.

  • Add dressing and cheese to kale mixture; toss to coat. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Garnish with almonds.

    Source:  bon appetit online at https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kale-and-brussels-sprout-salad.

Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan

What do you do when you want to surprise your friends with a new dish?  You think of something that they probably never had, never thought they would like, and make it.  You sneak it in as a side dish.  Serve it with something familiar like Maple Soy Roasted Salmon.  You make…

Hipster food.  And if you’re thinking to yourself that cauliflower can’t possibly be hip and trendy I actually found a restaurant that has whole head roasted on their menu for seven bucks.

Here’s what I made:

Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan

One head cauliflower
Extra virgin olive oil
Granulated garlic
Dried thyme
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Salt and black pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Remove the green outer leaves and stalks from the cauliflower head. Tear and cut the cauliflower into florets, removing any hard tiny stalks. Each piece should be about a US quarter in width. Golf ball size is too big.
  3. Place the florets into a baking/roasting pan with sides.
  4. Drizzle the cauliflower with olive oil. Toss with a wooden spoon. You want a nice thin coating of oil on each piece.
  5. Lightly salt and pepper and sprinkle with a hint of thyme.
  6. Generously sprinkle granulated garlic over all.
  7. Place in the oven and roast for approximately 35-40 minutes. Shake the pan every 10 minutes or so to ensure most of the surfaces of each floret get browned (this is why you want a pan with sides).
  8. When nicely browned add a handful of shredded Parmesan cheese over the cauliflower. Roast for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
  9. Transfer the cauliflower to a serving bowl and add more Parmesan.
  10. Eat.

 

Unfortunately this dish is Not Tiny Taste Tester Approved.  She was not present at the dinner.

“What is a Collie Flower?”

IMG_1265

High-protein Ricotta Pancakes — Hurry The Food Up

High-protein ricotta pancakes. Even just writing that sentence makes me happy. We love pancakes, and when they’re simple, tasty and packed with protein we love them even more. Protein is important, and many people don’t get enough. If you’re not sure exactly how much protein you need then there’s a free guide and meal plan…

via High-protein Ricotta Pancakes — Hurry The Food Up

I thought I’d re-post this post from Hurry The Food Up featuring several ricotta pancake recipes.  When I mentioned to a friend I gave a sample of my Ricotta Buttermilk Pancakes to the Tiny Taste Tester I got the following response:

“Ricotta what?

PANCAKES!  You have to start them young.  Hopefully if you raise ’em right they get to the peanut butter and pancake pinnacle of pancake heaven.

Frenchy’s Citrus Gazpacho

“Send pictures of the Tiny Human.”

“Only if you send me your Citrus Gazpacho recipe.”

The exchange was made and Frenchy’s recipe follows:


CITRUS GAZPACHO

For 6 Cups


  • 4 large ripe tomatoes
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 TBLS white wine vinegar
  • 2 1/2 cups orange juice
  • zest and fruit of 1 orange-remove the peel and pith
  • zest and fruit of 1 pink grapefruit-remove the peel and pith
  • 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
  • 1/4 medium red onion, diced
  • 1/2 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced
  • 1 TBLS olive oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • Cayenne pepper to your taste


Instead of using fresh tomatoes which you must boil for 20 seconds, then dunk in ice water to stop the cooking, cool, peel, then dice-you can use a can of diced tomatoes.
Use an immersion blender or container blender to mix the tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, orange juice, orange and grapefruit zest. Puree.  Pour over the cucumbers, peppers, onion, orange and grapefruit, olive oil and seasonings.
This is best when it has been refrigerated overnight.  Top with fresh cut basil before serving.  A few pomegranate seeds in each serving for color.
Beautiful in martini or cocktail glasses as a starter.
Historical Note for Family and Friends
Frenchy is a real person and our friendship predates my marriage to The Boss.  When the Doctor and the Architect were tiny humans themselves we would have wonderful meals at Frenchy’s.  I’m positive I’ve had this gazpacho but at my age I can’t remember when.  Enjoy!

 

Eggs Are OK

The skeptical cardiologist pointed out in 2013 that there was no good evidence supporting limiting dietary cholesterol to 300 mg per day. I exulted, therefore, in 2016 , when this long-standing dietary recommendation came out of the US dietary guidelines. Recognizing that dietary cholesterol doesn’t need to be limited means that eggs and egg yolks […]

via The Eggsoneration Continues: Why Does Anyone Eat Egg Whites? — The Skeptical Cardiologist

For the majority of my adult life I’ve limited my egg consumption.  In case you’ve not followed the science you might have missed the most recent studies on the connection between dietary cholesterol and heart disease.

Go ahead and eat those yolks.

Never Been to Peru Potato and Bean Stew

In the bookstore the other day I could hardly contain my excitement.  I found a used copy of Mollie Katzen’s 2013 cookbook The Heart of the Plate for six dollars!  Middle and Early Boomers might remember  her Moosewood cookbook.  I still have a copy of that cookbook in my collection.  There are a few recipes from The Heart of the Plate I want to try.  The first one was Peruvian Potato-Bean Stew.  But immediately I saw a problem.

There are over 4,000 edible varieties of potato, mostly found in the Andes of South America.!

“If you can’t get blue potatoes…”

I’m not in Peru.  4000 to pick from and the recipe calls for the blue one.  Since I wasn’t going to find blue potatoes I figured I might as well just mess with the rest of the recipe too.  So here’s my version inspired by Mollie.

Adapted from The Heart of Plate by Mollie Katzen

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground red chili
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
  • 1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, 1/2 inch dice
  • 3 cups cooked Mayocabo beans with cooking liquid
  • 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with roasted garlic and onion
  • freshly squeezed lime juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.
  2. Add oil, onions, chili powder, ground chili, oregano and cumin .  Gently saute for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the bell pepper,  garlic, and salt.  Saute for another 5 minutes.
  4. Add the potatoes.. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the bean cooking liquid, canned tomatoes, cover again, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
  5. Add the beans, reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are warmed through.
  6. Season individual servings with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Yum

Random Thoughts

If you like chili you’ll like this recipe.  It’s basically a potato and bean chili, no meat.  If you cannot find Mayocabo beans use pintos.  It won’t taste the same but will still be excellent, kind of like using yellow potatoes instead of the blue ones.  Pinto beans will hold their shape better whereas the Mayocabo is creamier and tends to fall apart with prolonged cooking.

For the beans I used a pound dried, rinsed multiple times and soaked overnight.  The next day I tossed the beans into a pot, added water to one inch above the beans with about a teaspoon each of cumin, Mexican oregano, garlic powder and a bay leaf.