Eating Healthy

[ardaniel]

I'm not big on greens but I'm trying!

Kale, sauteed in a little olive oil, little sriracha sauce, some minced garlic? Life-changing, Sam, trust me.

The current household revelation at my place is Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's take on the WWII British rationing staple, the National Loaf. Base recipe here. *All* whole-wheat flour. Little bit of honey. Some salt, 450mL of water. Four or so hours to mix, proof, and bake. It accepts all manner of fruit, you can sub in fruit juices for the water, it's adaptable and damn tasty, and it's all ingredients you can pronounce. (Obviously, if you've got gluten issues, this is not really your thing, but if not, it's fantastic.)

(Talking about food and choice thereon: so much less angstful for me than, say, talking about weight or BMI.)

[samhumphries]

Kale, sauteed in a little olive oil, little sriracha sauce, some minced garlic? Life-changing, Sam, trust me.

You had me at sriracha.

This National Loaf dish is fascinating to me. Is it kind of like a base bread that you can customize endlessly? I imagine everyone would have had their own special recipe. You mention fruits, can it take savory ingredients too?

This contention from your linked article is fascinating as well: "During the rationing years it has been argued that people’s diets were the best they had ever been, but it didn’t stop people craving the foods that they couldn’t have..."

Kind of says it all I suppose.

[wedge]

This National Loaf dish is fascinating to me. Is it kind of like a base bread that you can customize endlessly? I imagine everyone would have had their own special recipe. You mention fruits, can it take savory ingredients too?

We haven't tried yet, though a kalamata variation is probably this weekend's project. So far we've added dried dates, golden raisins, and a date/dried cranberry mix. All have been tasty, though the latter has been the most successful so far.

The resulting bread is very dense, which lends itself to sweeter additions. I'll let you know how the olive version turns out.

[wedge]

Oh, we've also been using Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat flour from Whole Foods with pretty good effect.

[Kelly Sue]

I picked up some dried fava beans at the grocery tonight. Never made them before... thinking I'll try something along these lines. (Wondering how different dried will taste from fresh--my guess is "very.")

Also picked up these. Not the same thing as garlic scapes. Produce guy said to prepare them as if they were asparagus. Will report back if anyone's interested.

[EJFischer]

Def. want to know about the garlic spears. I'm in the very initial stages of becoming a person who sometimes cooks sometimes at all ever. Asparagus is one of the few healthyish things I can reliably make tasty.

[Kelly Sue]

Had to run HL to the emergency room (he's fine, but we had a little scare) this evening, so didn't get to make the garlic spears after all. Fava beans are on the stove, will probably have them for lunch tomorrow over Kashi pilaf.

Does anyone know what the deal is with "sprouted almonds"? They're super-spendy -- like $16/pound -- but they're absurdly delicious. Best almonds I've ever eaten.

[tomgastall]

Here's the recipe from my wife & I's dinner tonight:

Tumeric Chicken:
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
1 medium sized onion
sunflower oil
1 tsp Tumeric
sea salt
Cayenne pepper
Cinnamon
peas (optional)
2-3 cups brown rice

Brown some chicken. In a separate pan, saute Fry one chopped onion in sunflower oil until golden brown. In the last few minutes of frying, add 1tsp of Tumeric and sprinkles of the Sea Salt, Cayenne Pepper & Cinnamon. Stir well, then add pre-cooked brown rice to taste. Add the Chicken and Cook until the brown rice is totally heated up. Peas can be added at the beginning for extra taste & texture.

-Tom

[Terry.Tyson]

One of my favorite new old appliances is my pressure cooker. I've had this thing for a while and recently using it again. Very easy to cook without fats (or minimal) and fast. It does take some adjustment and experimentation to get it down (and not overcook stuff) but I'm liking it for mid-week, gotta get dinner on the table, eat healthier cooking. It's been easier for me to stay on program using this thing.

P.S. Glad to hear HL is okay.

[ardaniel]

Kalamata olive National Loaf: partial success? It's tasty but I think it needs something besides just olives in.