A new direction

Dear Friends,

After 9 years of blogging, I have decided to use a different medium to get “the word out” about healthy home cooking and have started a YouTube channel called.....wait for it....."Healthy Home Cooking”!!

I may still write a post from time to time. I have always loved to write, since I was a kid.  I have always done a better job expressing myself in written form. It allows me time to formulate my thoughts and edit as I go. I’ve never been one to think quickly on my feet and be able to get it all out there at the first go. I need time to craft a thoughtfully executed thought. Writing allows me all the time I need.

But people don’t read as much as they used to, and the younger generation is drawn more to the visual, so I may be better able to gain a wider audience by connecting with people through video. Plus, it’s a way for me to expand and grow, since I’ve always been a little fearful of putting myself “out there”  and being the center of attention. Continuing to hide behind the written word doesn’t help me conquer that fear because overcoming this fear is one of my Life Goals.

I will not take this blog down. It is a compendium of recipes that I love and often come back to it myself. It’s an easy way to quickly find the recipes I have enjoyed making over the years. And I might just reference a post now and then on the YouTube channel and send viewers here to get the recipe for something I’m making on video.

So, I hope that you’ll continue to come back here to look up the recipes you’ve made or always wanted to make, or to read the thoughts I’ve had over the years on cooking and health in general, but I also hope that you will join me on YouTube and watch me in action. Click over this text to access the channel here. Please consider subscribing to Healthy Home Cooking to see new videos when they are uploaded.

I thank you so very much for having spent the past 9 years with me here!

Bon Appetit!

In Health,
Christina

A Soup for Spring

It’s Spring and the weather is starting to warm up. Summer is not far behind. (Summer is coming! GOT fans, you know what I’m talking about). But before it comes, now is a great time to take advantage of the (still) cooler nights and make some spring-time soup.

I recently saw split peas at the grocery store and they looked so beautifully green, kind of like the hills around here, what with all the rain we’ve had! I just had to get them.

They were dried, of course, and in the bulk section, so that meant I’d have to soak them to make them more easily digestible, which wouldn’t be difficult considering they’d be made into soup anyhow! So I grabbed 2 cups of them. 

As with all legumes, split peas are not exactly low-carb, coming in at about 27g per cup. So if you’re on a LC diet you may want to avoid them, or save them for when you want/crave/need a few extra carbs. Not the worst thing you can eat, but plan accordingly!

The recipe I made is not vegetarian, but certainly could be with a few substitutions. I find this short list of ingredients really all you need to make great split pea soup. It’s even easier because this version is made in a slow cooker. Easy-peasy!

Ingredients:
2 cups dried split peas
1 ham hock or ham shank, preferably smoked
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 cups chicken stock (or water and/or veggie stock if you prefer)
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
Sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling on top, optional

Place the split peas in a bowl of water and allow anything foreign to float to the surface. Pick through, rinse, drain.

Place everything in the slow cooker with the exception of the salt. You never want to add salt to beans or legumes when they are cooking, as it makes them hard. Add the salt at the end just before eating.

Turn the slow cooker setting on low and let cook for 8-10 hours. Remove and discard the ham bone and break up the chunks of meat with a fork.

Add the salt, drizzle with a little olive oil, and enjoy!

Skillet-Braised Chicken

Braising. What does that mean?

Technically, it’s a cooking method that uses both wet and dry heat. First, you sear or saute the food at high temperature, then finish it in a covered pot at a lower temperature while sitting in some liquid, which adds flavor. Braising relies on heat, time and moisture to break down the connective tissue that binds together the muscle fibers of meat, making it an ideal way to cook tougher, less expensive cuts. Both pressure cooking and slow cooking are forms of braising.

Most braises follow the same basic steps. The food is first pan-seared to brown its surface and enhance its flavor (through the Maillard reaction). If the food will not produce enough liquid on its own, a certain amount of liquid that often includes an acidic element (for example tomatoes, beer, balsamic vinegar, wine) is added to the pot, often with stock. The dish is then covered and cooked at a low simmer until the meat becomes so tender that it can be “cut” with a fork.

Braising is ideal for beef, put you can also do it with chicken. This dish is adapted from “The Food Lab” cookbook. It looked delicious and it was!! It will take you about an hour to make and serves 4-6.

Skillet-Braised Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken leg quarters
Kosher salt and finely ground black pepper
1 Tbsp oil (avocado is good for high heat)
1 large onion, sliced finely
2 cloves or more of garlic, sliced finely
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 cup dry white wine (I used red)
One 28-oz can whole tomatoes, drained and crushed by hand
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup capers, drained and rinsed and chopped
1/4 cup chopped green or black olives
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2-3 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet over high heat and using tongs, carefully add the chicken pieces skin side down. Cover with a splatter screen and cook without moving it, until the chicken is deep golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until the second side is golden brown, about 3 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a large plate and set aside.

Reduce the heat under the pan to medium-high, add the onions, and cook, using a wooden spoon (I like to use the type that’s pictured to the right, with a flat edge) to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet and stir frequently, until completely soft and just starting to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Add the paprika and cumin and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add tomatoes, stock, capers, and olives and bring to a boil. Nestle the chicken pieces into the stock and vegetables so that only the skin is showing.

Cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Remove lid and cook another 20 minutes until meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.*

This would be delicious over egg noodles, creamy polenta or smashed potatoes to soak up the juices. Also serve alongside it any medium-bodied red wine, like a Grenache or Tempranillo.

*I found that the chicken skin does not stay very crispy when the lid is put on and if you don’t care, like me (who doesn’t eat skin) then by all means put the lid on. But if you want the skin crispy then I’d advise against the lid and cook the dish for 40 minutes without it. It will also help thicken the sauce a bit more. But then, it’s not technically braised chicken any longer!

A Show Review: Nancy Silverton on "Chef’s Table"

I recently looked for something new to watch on Netflix and rediscovered the series “Chef's Table". Scanning down the list of episodes available to watch, I landed on one featuring Nancy Silverton. It spoke to me because of the sourdough baking I’ve been doing lately. I felt like I could relate. 

For those of you who don’t know Nancy:

"Nancy Silverton is an American chef, baker, and author. The winner of the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef Award in 2014, Silverton is recognized for her role in popularizing sourdough and artisan breads in the United States.” (Wikipedia)

Wow. You had me at sourdough!


But it’s not just bread that she’s known for. Nancy is famous in Los Angeles for many things:

She got her start as the Pastry Chef at Wolfgang Puck’s “Spago” restaurant on Sunset Blvd.

She was on Julia Child’s cooking show and brought Julia to tears - her dessert was THAT good!

She travelled to Italy where she fell in love with the bread and decided to bring its deliciousness to L.A.. Her love for bread led to her opening La Brea Bakery where she’d sell out by mid-day. Eventually her little bakery turned ginormous and she started producing loaves commercially and were sold in supermarkets.

She ran a well-respected Italian restaurant in Los Angeles named Campanile with her husband. They later divorced and closed the restaurant.

She sold La Brea Bakery for about $60 million.

After selling La Brea Bakery, she went again to Italy to take a well-deserved break and probably figure out what would be next. While there she developed a love for cheese and upon her return to L.A. started making it in L.A., opening Osteria Mozza (short for mozzarella) and Pizzeria Mozza and several other cheese-themed restaurants through LA, Orange County and Singapore, collaborating with Chef Mario Batali.

This was a fascinating story about a woman who had a single-minded obsession with bread. In fact Mario said she had OCD. She tweaked and tweaked her recipes until they were perfect. Now she’s really into cheese.

I really enjoyed the episode.

If you’re a foodie and are looking for something to watch, check it out.

Here’s a link to the show:
https://www.netflix.com/title/80007945

Resources for the Digestively Impaired

Nobody likes talking about it.
But it affects nearly 10% of us.

IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It’s a term used to describe a number of symptoms of digestive distress. It’s used when your doctor has put you through a battery of tests, has found nothing abnormal and doesn't know what else to tell you. After all that poking and prodding the doctor says there's nothing wrong with you. Well, there definitely is something wrong because you feel horrible! If everything was ok, you wouldn’t feel so bad!

I went to several GI (gastrointestinal) doctors and underwent an endoscopy, a colonoscopy, a CT scan of the abdomen, was tested for SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth*), lactose intolerance, celiac disease and intestinal parasites, and all of them came back negative. I was diagnosed as having a “functional” problem. After months and months of tests and such, there was nothing else for them to do. It was now up to me to find solutions.

What I absolutely 100% knew was that I was not going to put myself on pharmaceutical drugs to mask symptoms. I was prepared to give up whatever offending foods and habits I needed to in order to get on top of this, naturally. I saw this as a wake-up call: a sign that I was not taking the best care of myself that I could. Changes would have to be made.

Throughout my journey I did a lot of reading on the subject of digestive health, getting as many ideas and opinions as possible. I was like a sponge, absorbing everything. Over time, I created my own little “pharmacy" of products that have helped me, books that have been a great resource and cookbooks to help navigate eating during the healing process. I still keep all of these on hand for when trouble strikes, as it inevitably will. Sometimes I eat perfectly but nevertheless something won't sit well and I'll have to reach for a product to get me through the night or through the work day so that I can function with minimal discomfort until the offending thing passes. It's clearly something I'll have to live with the rest of my life.

The problem with treating IBS is that everyone is different. We each have our own triggers. Could be foods, could be stress. I joined several Facebook user groups to see what other people were doing to cope and it helped tremendously! I got a lot of ideas for what foods could be triggers and what to take when trouble strikes, to relaxation techniques and what books to read and websites to visit.

While I have no idea what could be going on in your digestive tract, what I can share with you is what I've done in the hopes that something here might be of help to you. My advice is to keep trying different things until you find the combinations of things that work for you. I do encourage you to seek out a GI doctor that you feel comfortable with and work with them, go through the testing process to see if your symptoms can be pinpointed to something specific and a diagnosis made. Don’t guess, find out for sure what’s going on!

But while you’re doing that and are still uncomfortable, there are things you can do to help yourself.

The #1 thing that I would recommend you do is clean up your act! Remove as many toxins from your diet as you can. This means eliminating all processed foods, adopting a whole foods diet and switching to organic meats and wild-caught fish, and organic dairy, fruits and vegetables.

The next thing I would do is immediately cut down (and I mean drastically) the number of starches you consume. It seems, in the digestive literature, that almost all experts agree on this. Your intestines contain live bugs (bacteria), which is normal and necessary, but they love starches and with them present, they seem to proliferate. So the more you eat, the more the bad bugs take over, crowding out the good ones. Help achieve balance by reducing crappy carbs. Focus on protein, good fats (like organic or pastured butter, and avocados), fruits and vegetables (preferably cooked in the beginning, raw stuff is harder to digest) and minimize even the good carbs for a while, until you bring symptoms under control.

So, here’s my list of items to have in your arsenal.

What to take to ease symptoms right away
Pepto-Bismol (not exactly natural, but can help when you’re in pain and need relief now)
Iberogast - good for cramps and pain, bloating, gas (taken 3x a day). This stuff is nothing short of amazing. You can get it on Amazon.

Herbals for immediate but gentle soothing of symptoms
Peppermint in every form: capsules (these on the left from Heather’s Tummy Care are my faves), peppermint tea, and 100% pure peppermint essential oil applied to the abdomen as a compress or taken internally a little warm water (however, avoid peppermint if you have GERD)
Ginger tea - good for nausea
Fennel tea - good for bloating and gas

Supplements to aid digestion
Digestive enzymes (those I’ve found to work best are these from DigestGold)
Digestive bitters (I like these from Urban Moonshine)
Bromelain - an anti-inflammatory that aids in protein digestion
Turmeric - anti-inflammatory that aids in the digestion of fats and sugars
Activated charcoal - helps trap toxins and gas and eliminate them

What to drink and eat to support good digestion
Lots of pure filtered water, preferably with a little lemon in it
Homemade bone broth
Probiotics** in the form of yogurt and kefir (organic of course)
Kimchi or homemade sauerkraut
Gut Shots (I like the ginger beet!)
Fermented foods in general

Other modalities to help while you’re in pain 
Full-day or multi-day fasting - to give your system a chance to rest
Meditation and gentle, restorative yoga

Eating plans to look into
Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)
Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Diet
Low FODMAP Diet

What to read
Optimal Digestive Health - A Complete Guide (a FANTASTIC resource for all things digestion)
Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Cookbooks
Low FODMAP Diet
Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

*Resources for SIBO
SIBO and Dr. Pimentel

I hope this list helps you as you begin to navigate taking control of your digestive health. I won’t lie to you: it’s a daunting task. But it can be done. I find that staying open-minded, being willing to experiment on myself, and staying true to a course of eating with the long-term mindset that I was going to resolve this, helped tremendously.

Today, I have mostly good days and less bad days and I am happy with that. When my digestive problem flares up, I know what to do to bring it under control, naturally.

If I can help you in any way by sharing my experiences, please let me know.

**There is some controversy around probiotic supplements. Some can actually make things worse. Read up and experiment and see for yourself. I believe they are best taken once things are under control, as a preventative measure and not as a cure.

Stuffed Cabbage

Stuffed cabbage is one of those dishes not very many Americans are familiar with, unless you had an immigrant mother. Since mine came from Europe, specifically Germany, where it’s called Krautwickel (or cabbage wrap), it was often on the menu at my house.  Stuffed cabbage is fairly common to the cuisines of the Balkans, Central, Northern Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan and Iran as well as West Asia and Northern China. I think it’s a shame that many people are unfamiliar with it because it’s good!

As with most dishes, the sauces, fillings and ingredients vary by region. Meat fillings are traditional in Europe. Often beef, lamb or pork are seasoned with garlic, onion and spices. Grains such as rice or barley, eggs, mushrooms and vegetables are also commonly included as filling. Vegetarian versions are most often found in Egypt.

The way they are typically made, and as the name implies, cabbage leaves are stuffed with a filling and then baked or simmered in a covered pot and eaten warm, often accompanied by a sauce. The sauce varies widely by culture. In Sweden and sometimes in Finland, stuffed cabbage is served with
lingonberry jam. In Eastern Europe, tomato sauces or plain sour cream are typical.

I will have to ask my mother for her recipe. I’m fairly certain she used ground beef and I know there was rice in there and we definitely had a tomato sauce with it. But other than that, I am not exactly sure how she made the sauce and what seasonings she incorporated. So, I was interested in making it recently and decided to see what recipes I could find that intrigued me.

Stuffed cabbage is described to have entered Jewish cooking some 2,000 years ago. Recipes there also vary depending on region: Romanians and Northern Poles prefer a savory sauce while Galicia (Northern Spain, I looked it up) and the Ukraine favor sweet and sour sauces.

I figured I couldn’t go wrong with Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, so I pulled up her recipe. She uses a sweet and sour sauce that involves brown sugar and raisins that she says is typically Jewish.
Although I couldn’t imagine liking a sweet and sour sauce over cabbage and meat, I decided to make it anyway, and sure enough I was not a huge fan of it. But what I did like was the meat part. So the next time I made it, I modified it to not be sweet because here is where I think the savory version is better. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. good quality olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
2 (28-oz) cans crushed tomatoes and their juice
4 cloves minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 large head Savoy or green cabbage

For the filling:
2-1/2 lbs ground meat (I used a combination of ground turkey and pork but you could use all ground beef if you like)
3 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup plain dried breadcrumbs (see note below*)
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the core of the cabbage and immerse it into the water (that should be boiling by now) for a few minutes, peeling off each leaf with tongs as soon as it's flexible. Set the leaves aside. Depending on the size of each leaf, you will need at least 14 leaves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the filling, combine the ground meat with the rest of the filling ingredients. Add 1 cup of your homemade tomato sauce to the mixture and combine it all with a fork.

To assemble, place 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Remove the hard triangular rib from the base of each cabbage leaf with a small paring knife. Place 1/3 cup of filling in an oval shape near the rib edge of each leaf and roll up toward the outer edge, tucking the sides in as you roll. Place half the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce.

Alternately add more sauce and more cabbage rolls until you’ve placed all the cabbage rolls in the pot. Pour the remaining sauce over the rolls. Cover dish tightly with the lid and bake for 45 minutes, maybe an hour, until meat is cooked. Serve hot.

This dish is good with a salad to start it off with, and a glass of red wine.

Bon Appetit!

Salad Dressings

If you eat salads, there is nothing like a homemade dressing to toss it with. While there are countless dressings on the market to choose from, if you care about your health and are into quality ingredients like I am, you will avoid the vast majority of them.

What’s wrong with them? So many things! Most importantly, the oils they contain. They also usually have preservatives, thickeners that might not be ideal for people with digestive issues, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, soy lecithin, and far too much sodium.

Let’s start with the most important. Industrial vegetable oils, despite what you hear about canola and sunflower, are NOT good for you. These oils are mostly genetically-modified, over abundant in Omega-6 fatty acids, and chemically processed during the manufacturing process, and you should never consume them. Unfortunately, they creep up in so many processed foods on the market, like crackers and baked goods as well...another reason to be vigilant about reading food labels. One of my favorite health blogs, Wellness Mama, has perhaps one of the best articles I’ve read on why these oils should be avoided. Another good one comparing most of the common oils on the market today is this one from Mark Sisson. And Dr. Catherine Shanahan, nutrition consultant to the LA Lakers, has a handy chart to help identify which are good and which are to be avoided.

So what can we use and feel good about? Most of the ancestral health nutritionists agree on the following oils you can use without worry:

Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Macadamia nut oil

Coconut oil, while great for high heat cooking, doesn’t work well in dressings because it needs to stay over 76 degrees to remain fluid. Coconut oil gets hard below that temperature, so unless you are leaving your dressing out at room temperature and your room is warm, it’s going to be a solid mass if you store it in the fridge. Not ideal for pouring over a salad!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Macadamia nut oil is also super good for you, but can be a little pricey. It is a delicious oil and one that would work really well on salads. Let your pocketbook decide.

So price-wise, avocado oil and olive oil are your best choices. If you can find a dressing, like from Primal Kitchen, that uses one of these 2, then fine. But they are pricey at $6 a bottle and honestly you can make these yourself for much, much less because you probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry already anyway.

Now, if you think you’re better off avoiding oils to begin with, you’re not. Studies have shown that fats - the healthy ones - are actually necessary on salads in order to fully absorb the nutrients in the vegetables. Plus, who wants to eat salad without oil? The mouthfeel of the oil really helps give the salad some “oomph”. It’s like the Emperor with no clothes. It’s naked without it!

While I’m not going to give you an actual recipe here, I am going to give you the basic formula for a well-constructed dressing so that you can make your own creation. The French, with their vinaigrettes, have the balance right:

Acid - 1 part (I usually start with 1/2-3/4 cup)
Oil - 2-3 parts
Good quality sea salt (I like pink Himalayan) and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Additional ingredients I nearly always add:
Herbs - 1/2 to 1 tsp of this or that, like dried oregano, basil, or thyme
Herbs - fresh, like parsley, chives or dill (just a little)
1 tsp. minced fresh garlic (or dried garlic powder if I’m in a rush)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Honey or a few drops of Stevia Glycerite

Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing

So I’ve talked about the oil. What do we mean by acid? It’s what helps round out the fat, giving the dressing a little edge. It could be lemon juice (a personal favorite), apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar or any other flavored vinegar. You pick. In the spring and summer, I like lemon. In the fall, I usually reach for apple cider or red wine vinegar. Or you could mix them.

Either way, here’s how to make one:
Grab a glass or stainless steel bowl and a whisk. Start with the acid and add that to the bowl. Now the  salt and pepper and herbs, the garlic, Dijon and honey and whisk that together. Lastly, the oil: add it in a slow, steady stream, while whisking the whole time. Maybe get someone else in the house to slowly pour it in while you hold the bowl with 1 hand and the whisk in the other! The Dijon will help emulsify the dressing, perfectly incorporating all the ingredients. The honey/stevia will take a little of the acidic edge off, smoothing out the flavors. The herbs add a fresh component (speaking of which, fresh dill is really lovely in dressings) which the garlic gives it a little punch. All around, a perfect combination for your lovely greens.

Another quick option is to use a glass jar with a lid, something you’ve recycled, like a jam jar or small Mason jar or something. Put everything in and shake it! That’s handy to take to work.

Alternative additions:
Instead of oil, you could use an avocado.
Instead of oil, you could use organic, full-fat yogurt, or buttermilk with a little sour cream.
Instead of the acids listed above, you could use a roasted tomato (with a little balsamic for a little extra boost).
In addition to the items above, you could add a Tbsp of grated Parmesan.

The sky’s the limit. Experiment and see what you like best. The important thing is that you use whole, unprocessed, real ingredients! No need to ever buy bottled dressings again.

Roasted Pork Loin with Root Veggies

As I become more and more concerned about the quality of the food I eat and where it comes from, I find I am eating less pork and beef and more wild caught seafood and organic vegetables. Organic pork is difficult to find unless you get it from a local producer, and by local, I mean within a 200 mile radius of L.A./Orange County, and I honestly don’t love grass-fed beef. I am so glad to see the stores carrying more grass-fed options. Clearly that means that there is a demand for it. That people are asking for it and the stores are sourcing it for us. It’s easier with beef, but I’m still having trouble finding pork that I am ok with.

That said, last week I found a brand of pork at the market that’s (supposedly) humanely and ethically raised, so I bought it, thinking “now’s my chance”. I do want to do further fact-checking into this company to find out exactly how “natural”, “humanely and ethically raised” their products really are.

Since it was sort of an impulse purchase, I hadn’t thought a recipe through yet, so I improvised when I got home, thinking of what I had on hand and how I wanted the final product to taste. I love pork with fruit or something sweet. Things like maple syrup, apricots, prunes, cherries, even sweet veggies like carrots and squashes go particularly well with pork.  I had some of these things at home and this is what I came up with. It’s perfect for cold evenings when you want comfort food. We loved it.

Roasted Pork Loin with Root Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 375F.

What you’ll need:
Pork Loin about 3-4 lbs.

Quantities of the following are approximate. Use more or less of an item as you see fit.

Make a paste out of the following:
2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dry mustard
2-3 Tbsp. maple syrup

Rub this paste all over the pork.

Grab a Dutch oven or large covered casserole type dish that you can both use on the stovetop as well as place inside the oven. Turn on the heat to medium high and warm up on your stove top for about a minute. Now add some fat, in the form of bacon fat, butter, or olive oil. Sear both sides of the pork loin until nicely browned all over.

Remove the pork but leave the pot on the heat and add 1 large sliced onion, getting it nice and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the following veggies, all chopped into medium-sized chunks, to the onion:
1 sweet potato
1-2 apples depending on size
3 carrots

Give it all a good stir for about a minute and then make a little well for the pork in the center. Return the pork back into the pot nestling it in between the veggies and cover. Place pot in preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes. Starting at the 30 min mark, remove lid and insert a meat thermometer. Continue cooking until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 145-150F. Do not overcook! A little hint of pink is ok. We want it to be juicy. Keep cooking uncovered for the next 10 minutes or so, or however long you need until the meat reaches the appropriate temperature. The veggies are going to be pretty soft, almost mashable.

Recent find: serve with Trader Joe’s apple cider jam, if they still have it. Last time I checked they were out. If it’s a seasonal thing and they are permanently out, not to worry, the dish has plenty of flavor so you don’t need it, but it’s pretty awesome with a little bit of this on the side.

Wine recommendation: your favorite red. Pinot Noir is mine. It’s lighter and therefore goes well with the fruity nature of the vegetables.

A Book Review and Asian Meatballs

So, part of my plan to lower my carb intake come the first of the year involved becoming more familiar with the Keto, or ketogenic, Diet. I mentioned this to a co-worker back in December, and she promptly went out and bought me a keto cookbook for Christmas (she is so sweet like that)! The book is entitled “The Ketogenic Cookbook - Nutritious Low-Carb, High Fat, Paleo Meals to Heal your Body” by Jimmy Moore and Maria Emmerich and is, or at least was, available at Costco around the holidays. 

The book begins with the introduction of the 2 authors and their personal health journeys. Then it does a fairly good job explaining what the Keto Diet is and what it does to the body and why you would want to eat this way. Ketones were discovered in the 1920’s to help treat patients suffering from epileptic seizures. This style of eating was actually quite popular until the 1950s when researcher Ancel Keyes published a study examining the diets of middle-aged men in the US, Europe and Japan that claimed cholesterol was directly related to a risk of heart attack and stroke. Unfortunately, his research has since been discovered to have been quite flawed, but nevertheless, his study created the low-fat, high-carb diet that most of us have followed our entire lives. 

And many in the health and nutrition field today wonder if it wasn’t this way of eating that brought us where many people find themselves now.  Obesity affects nearly 40% and diabetes nearly 10% of the American population and people are looking for ways to reduce these numbers and gain back control of their weight and blood sugar. Following a low-carb, moderate-protein, high-fat diet can possibly be one way to do it. That’s what the Keto lifestyle is all about. Since I follow a low-carb style of eating, when I hear testimonials of people that have not only shed tremendous amounts of weight, but have also gotten all sorts of ailments under control eating Keto, it sparks my interest.

After the obligatory introduction and explanation of the diet, the book then launches into the recipes which are broken down by section: Condiments/Dressings/etc., Breakfast, Appetizers, Meats, Fish and Seafood, Vegetarian Dishes, Sides and Treats. I haven’t read it cover to cover, but I have perused the recipes and overall do find some of the ingredients to be pricey. Many of the recipes call for things like MCT oil, erythritol, stevia glycerine and egg white protein, which can be costly. But then again, if you’re focused and determined to improve your health and lose significant amounts of weight, it might well be worth the investment!

The Keto Diet claims that it’s low-carb, “moderate” protein, and high in fat, and while I do find the recipes in this book to be low-carb and high-fat, I do not find them to be “moderate” protein; in fact, many recipes are significantly full of protein. I suppose you can control this by eating less meat and adding more vegetables, if you wish.

Some recipes in this book are a little strange. They use egg white protein to make pizza crust and “bread”. I guess when you don’t eat carbs you miss things like bread, but to  think that egg white protein would come anywhere close to tasting good and acting as a carb substitute is really asking too much of me. I cannot imagine this would actually taste good! I think I’d rather make an almond flour or cauliflower crust instead, which are also both low-carb. (BTW, we recently tried the cauliflower crust pizza at California Pizza Kitchen and it was quite good and not at all too cauliflowery. I asked what was in it and other than the obvious veg, they add a generous amount of cheese to the crust to get it to crisp up. Delicious.)

Despite these small complaints I have of the book, overall I think the recipes are doable and look good.

I am looking forward to trying some of their omelets, their “frico” cups which are essentially baked Parmesan crisps shaped into a cup to hold a filling, Spring Rolls wrapped in cabbage; and their Grilled Trout looks amazing, as do their BBQ Short Ribs. For dessert, I’m going to have to try their Dark Chocolate Raspberry Fat Bombs at some point, and maybe the Tiramisu Fudge or Lemon Curd Ice Cream!  

For the recipes I’ve actually made, the Herb and Ricotta Rotolo were tasty, as were the Smoky Pork Chops with Apple Glaze we made on Sunday (yummy)!

But this is the recipe I wanted to share with you. Maybe it was the picture that caught my eye, but there was something about it that said “try me”, so I did. And I loved it! I did make one modification to it - I do not use sugar alcohols, so I used 1/4 cup of honey instead. If you want to be 100% Keto, then by all means do it as listed below.

Asian Meatballs over Bok Choy

Ingredients
2 pounds grass-fed ground beef or ground turkey
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms
4 Tbsp finely chopped green onions
2 Tbsp coconut aminos or wheat-free tamari sauce
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced

For the sauce
1/4 cup bone broth (preferably homemade)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut aminos
1/3 cup powdered erythritol*
2 Tbsp chopped green onions
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp guar gum (if using store-bought broth)**
Black or white sesame seeds

Bok choy, chopped for steaming

Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together the ground meat, eggs, mushroom, green onions, coconut aminos, ginger and garlic. Mix until well-combined. Shape into 1-1/2” meatballs and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: in a small saucepan, combine the broth, coconut oil, coconut aminos, green onions, ginger and garlic. Heat over medium-high heat until bubbling, stirring well to combine. Remove from the heat.  If using store-bought stock, sift in the guar gum and let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Add a pinch more guar gum if you would like a thicker sauce. If you’re using homemade bone broth and you’re following my directions, you are going to have a broth with plenty of gelatin in it, so the guar gum is not necessary. 

Wash, chop and saute the bok choy in a little coconut oil or just water (on medium low) for 7-8 minutes.

Remove the meatballs from the oven, place sauteed bok choy on your plate, then the meatballs over them and serve with the sauce. Garnish with black or white sesame seeds if desired.

* Some of the sugar alcohols, like erythritol and xylitol, can cause digestive distress in people that are sensitive, like me. So I avoid them. Instead, I would just use a little honey.
** Some gums can also cause digestive upset in sensitive types. Since I use homemade bone broth, which is beautifully gelatinous and therefore thick enough on its own, I would not use the guar gum.

Pulled Pork for Cold Weather

When colder weather hits, it’s only natural for us to want to make dishes that are warm, hearty and satisfying. Soups, stews, braised meats and vegetables are all good this time of year. The kind of food that “sticks to your ribs”, as my mother would say.

One of my favorite things is pulled pork. I don’t eat it very often because it’s higher in sugar than I like, so it’s a cheat meal we enjoy now and again. Best of all, it’s rich and warming on a crisp, cool evening.

The recipe I originally started with was a lot spicier than my version, calling for an entire can of chipotle peppers! Little did I know how immensely hot that was going to be. My husband and I could barely get it down, our esophaguses engulfed in flames. Unfortunately, we had to toss it. The next time I made it I made modifications, using barbecue sauce instead, but it lacked a bit of punch and all we tasted was the cloyingly sweet taste of BBQ sauce. The third time I made it (this is sounding like a Goldilocks story) I used chipotle BBQ sauce, combining, I hoped, the best of both worlds. Sure enough this added just enough spice without torching our lips and intestines. I think it’s just right the way it is now.

It’s a super simple recipe to make. All you need is time, as in all afternoon (5 hours) so it’s best made on the weekend. You could try it in a slow cooker and therefore have it during the week, but it won’t be the same. You could brown the meat before adding it to the slow cooker, but still you won’t end up with the caramelization you can achieve in the oven. Slow-roasting the meat in the oven is key.

Pulled Pork

Ingredients
1 large or 2 small onions, peeled and sliced
1 pork butt (pork shoulder roast), bone-in, about 4-5 lbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 can real cola with sugar (not diet)*
1/2 bottle chipotle barbecue sauce

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Place the onion slices in the bottom of a roasting pan with a lid. Trim roast of some of the fat but leave it whole and if it has a bone, be sure to leave that in. Sprinkle the roast all over with salt and pepper, and then placed it on tope of the onions. Your in just enough of the cola so that the liquid comes up to about 1/4 -1/3 up the sides of the roast. You don’t want it to swim in too much liquid. The add the BBQ sauce over the roast, rubbing it over the top and sides.

Cover the pot, put it in the oven and cook for at least 5 hours, depending on the size of your roast, For a 4-pounder, this is enough time. Turn the meat 2 or 3 times during the cooking process. The last time you turn it, leave the lid partially off in order to get that caramelization I was talking about. If you don’t want the caramelization (what is wrong with you?), put the lid fully back on.

When it’s done, the meat should be fork-tender and easy to shred. Do so completely with 2 forks while the roast is still in the pot. Leave the meat in the juice until you serve it. 

This is super easy and again, all it takes is time. Time you’re going to be spending watching a movie or reading a good book anyway. Maybe doing chores or taking a nap.

Pulled pork would go quite well with a bottle of Grenache. This lighter red wine would be perfect with the sweetness of the pork and its sauce. I’ll usually service this with coleslaw, but you could drain some of the liquid or maybe reduce it to a thicker consistency and serve it as a pulled pork sandwich. Or you can serve it stew-like along with the juice and put it over some boiled and slightly mashed potatoes to soak up the liquid. Yum!

*Note: you need the sugar in the cola to help with the caramelization process. 

A Tomato Basil Soup to die for

The holidays are behind us, we’ve eaten a lot of things we normally wouldn’t, and our pants are tighter. It’s the new year, which probably means you’re looking to clean up your act and make healthier choices.

For me, and probably most of you, that means refocusing on vegetables. The one universal rule of all diets has got to be that there is no vegetable off limits. I think no matter which diet you’re on, we can all agree that veggies are good and need to be eaten daily.

A great way to get your veggies in, while staying warm on these cold winter evenings, is to turn them into soup. It’s also a good opportunity to get some nutritious broth in us. Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to make your own every chance you get. Homemade bone broth is high in nutrients, heals the gut, and tastes better than anything you can buy in the store. Bone broths (as opposed to just “broth" or “stock") can be purchased at health and other food stores now, but they are pricey and some are not all that great tasting. Please read my post about making your own. It’s really easy, especially if you own a slow cooker and/or roast a chicken every now and again. It’s so totally worth it.

This is perhaps the best Tomato Basil Soup I’ve ever had. Even though it’s a simple recipe, the quality of the ingredients, just like in everything, matters. Get your canned tomatoes organic and in a non-BPA-lined can. They are thankfully becoming increasingly easier to find. I like the Muir Glen brand.

Tomato Basil Soup isn’t really the same without cream and here again look for organic, whole fat (not low fat or, good Lord, nonfat) cream or sour cream. Creme fraiche works too, if you can find it. You don’t have to add a lot, but without it, the soup lacks the mouthfeel that makes it both delicious and satisfying.

This recipe is also a little bit different in that there are some surprise ingredients. It’s also not going to take long to make. You could have it done in 25 minutes. Without further ado, on to the recipe.

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter or ghee
1 onion, diced
3 pint sized cans of diced tomatoes (preferably organic and in a BPA-free can)
1 qt. chicken broth (preferably homemade)
salt, to taste
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil (about 15-20 leaves)
1.5-2 cups heavy cream or sour cream
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Melt butter in a 2-3 qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until they turn translucent. Add tomatoes and broth, cover, raise the heat, and bring to a boil.

When boiling, reduce heat to medium, uncover, add salt, vinegar and honey. Stir. If still bubbling too vigorously, turn to low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Just before serving, remove from heat, add basil and cream and a little pepper. Blend soup with an immersion blender (or by transferring to a regular blender).

Enjoy!

Notes: Now, the quintessential pairing of this soup would of course be with a grilled cheese sandwich (I would go sourdough with cheddar), which would could whip up in the 20 minutes the soup is simmering. If you’re particularly hungry, add a small green salad. Or you could serve the soup at the beginning of a meal, like before Chicken with Pesto Sauce.

Leftover soup makes a great lunch the following day at work, where your co-workers will likely look over at your food with some jealousy.