Macrobiotic, is it for me?

As I was perusing the Sunday paper, I saw the title of an article mentioning a macrobiotic diet. I then decided that was something I needed to try this week. Now, it was Steak Sunday so we could not start the macrobiotic diet yet. (It was also father's day and my husband, although not a father to a child, is a great dad to a kitty so we had to celebrate, with steak of course.) I did not have a clue exactly what a macrobiotic diet was but I assumed it was a vegetarian diet high in fiber and full of fruits and vegetables.
Monday came and....we had some leftover rib eye that I could not let go to waste so we had a steak salad. Not exactly the healthy vegetarian meal I had in mind but healthy enough. Tuesday, time to go macrobiotic. Now, I mentioned that I did not know what that was so I did some research and immediately saw several worrisome things, among them: everything I was eating for breakfast (including yogurt) was on the DO Not Eat list, each meal needed to include 'sea vegetables', and every recipe listed included unusual ingredients I had never heard of. It did not take me long to determine that the macrobiotic diet was not for me. That said, I did want to start a very healthy vegetarinish meal plan.
I stopped at Whole Foods, a store a frugal person would not generally shop at but they do have some really great things. Whole Foods also donates a lot of food to the food pantry that I volunteer at so I like to give them some business. The great deals one can find there are generally in the bulk section. The dried spices and herbs are a fabulous deal but I went to the dried beans area. I got some Adzuki beans and lentils. The lentils were on sale this week for $1.99 per pound.
I decided to combine the lentils with some spelt in a salad. Spelt is a whole grain that cooks up kind of chewy and flavorful. I cooked the spelt, the lentils, and sauteed some zucchini with some cumin. I added a lot of fresh oregano and the juice of two lemons. The salad turned out great with good texture and flavor. Here's the recipe.

Lentil and Spelt Salad

1 Cup Spelt, cooked according to directions
1 Cup French Green Lentils, cooked according to directions
1 Cup Oregano, chopped
2 Zucchinis, chopped
6 Green Onions, sliced thinly
2 Lemons, juiced
1 T Cumin
1 t Cayenne Pepper

Cook the spelt and the lentils according to the directions. Spelt should be soaked overnight and then simmered for about 1 hour until tender. Lentils cook pretty quickly. Bring them to a boil with water and then simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender.
Saute the zucchini and sprinkle with cumin and salt until just cooked - about 7 minutes.
Add all of the ingredients together, toss and and salt and pepper to taste.

In place of the spelt you can substitute wheat berries, quinoa, or whole wheat couscous.

Cold Cucumber Soup

Stanley's had some really great buys this week. Among them were pineapples for $.99 and cucumbers 10 for $1.00. I do not usually consume 10 cucumbers in a week but...I could not resist. So, I had to think of something to do with them and I thought I would make a cold cucumber soup which happens to be one of my husbands favorites. The really easy way to make this soup is to combine the cucs, some onions, some liquid like chicken stock, and an herb in the blender and blend them up with some yogurt. A much tastier way to do it that is a little more work is to cook some onions, add the cucumbers and then blend them. Here is the recipe.

Cold Cucumber Soup

6 cucumbers, leave skin on but take out seeds, coarsely diced
1 onion, diced
2 shallots, diced
2 Tablespoons butter
6 cups chicken stock (can use veggie stock)
2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon (can use dill but I love the tarragon flavor in this soup)
2 cups yogurt (yay, another yogurt plug!)

In a large sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat and add onions and shallots. Saute for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add chicken stock, cucumbers, and fresh tarragon and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Allow soup to cool, blend using a hand blender or regular blender, and add yogurt. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until soup is cold and readjust seasonings.

Rhubarb

I went to my first farmer's market yesterday, joy of joys! They do not have a whole lot of stuff yet but I did pick up some lovely rhubarb. Rhubarb is delicious in dessert like concoctions but I like to cook it as a savory side dish. It goes great with grilled or smoked meats and it just so happens that we were doing some smoking yesterday. We had smoked salmon, pork loin, and chicken. (I know that is a lot of meat but when we are going through the process of smoking meats, we make a lot of extras to eat for future meals.)
Rhubarb is very tart so even as a savory dish one must add a substantial amount of sugar. I cut it up, mixed it with some sugar, and baked it for about 30 minutes in a high oven. It really tasted great with the smoked pork.

Baked Rhubarb

5 stalks rhubarb, washed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400. Mixed rhubarb, salt, and sugar together in a over safe baking dish. Bake for about 30 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Taste and add more sugar if necessary.

Homemade Viniagrette

The front page article in the Chicago Tribune today featured several recipes for making vinaigrette. (It was actually the front page of the Good Eating section but to me, on a Wednesday, that is the front page.) I make my own vinaigrette all the time. It is a great way to save money and get a fresh, great tasting, preservative free salad dressing that tastes so much better than any bottled dressing.
There are so many different varieties of vinaigrette one can make. Just changing the vinegar or adding an herb makes a new dressing. I even made my own herb vinegars by purchasing bulk vinegar and flavoring it with herbs from my garden but one has to wait until the end of summer when the herbs are plentiful to do that so I'll save that for another time.
To make it, I start with some vinegar (balsamic, white wine, red wine, Champagne, sherry...the options are endless), add Dijon mustard, chopped shallots, garlic, or onions, a chopped herb if I am using one, salt & pepper, and combine. Then I whisk in some oil. I almost always use a canola oil as it has a very neutral flavor and as I usually make extra to have in the fridge, it does not solidify like olive oil would. The standard ratio is one part vinegar to 3-4 parts oil. Many times I use less oil than that to make it a little healthier. This does make it pretty acidic but it also forces me to use less - even healthier.
The dijon and shallot, garlic or onion act as emulsifiers. Adding those will help your vinegar and oil from separating. It is not necessary to add either of them but they add a lot of flavor also.
Some other additions that I like are lemon, lime or orange juice, chipotle, blue cheese, avocado, yogurt, and black olives.

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Vinegar (any good quality vinegar will work: balsamic, white or red wine, sherry, Champagne)
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon Shallots, Onions, or Garlic, chopped (you may want to use less garlic)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh herbs (optional) - My favorites are tarragon or rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups canola oil (can use less if desired)

Mix all ingredients except oil together. Slowly whisk in oil and continue whisking until mixture is emulsified (totally combined). Taste and make any necessary adjustments. Let stand for 1/2 hour for flavors to mix. Can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.
Any other additions can be added. For example, whisking in some blue cheese and yogurt makes a creamy blue cheese vinaigrette. If you add the citrus juice, you will not need as much vinegar.

Roasted Corn Salad

I just got some really good corn from Stanley's for $.20 and also saw the same price at Jewel this weekend. So, I decided to make a roasted corn salad. I boiled the corn for a minute, threw it on the grill to caramelize a little, and then cut it off of the cob. I mixed it with some cilantro, lime juice, red pepper, red onion, cumin, and salt and pepper. It turned out great and went along well with the grilled flank steak and spicy shrimp we were also having.

Roasted Corn Salad

6 Ears of Corn on the Cobb, shucked
1/2 Cup Cilantro, chopped
2 Limes, juiced
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place the corn in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for one minute. Remove corn and grill it for a couple minutes until it just starts to caramelize and darken. Let corn cool and cut off of the cobb. Mix together with the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
This recipe can easily be doubled of halved.
You can omit the grilling step to make it easier but will loose some of the added flavor.

Seasonal Produce

Eating seasonal food is one of the best ways to save money. Food, primarily produce, that is in season is less expensive, tastes much better, and depending on where you live may be grown locally. Things that I've mentioned recently like strawberries and artichokes are harvested in the spring which is why one can get them for a good price now.
Some other great spring seasonal things that are on sale right now are asparagus, peas, apricots, and morel mushrooms. One of my favorite ways to get seasonal produce is going to farmer's markets. The first in Chicago are just around the corner and I cannot wait. Just a couple weeks away...

Fresh herb vinaigrette

When things come out of hibernation and start growing in my garden it makes me happy. In particular I love my herb garden. Growing fresh herbs is so easy and is a great way to save money. I try to grow a large variety every year. There is not much action yet but a few of the perennials (those that come back every year) are back in full swing - the chives and oregano. I decided to use these two herbs in an olive vinaigrette to put over a whole roasted red snapper.
A great place to buy fresh fish is Isaacson & Stein Fish Co. on Halsted and Fulton. They have a great selection of very fresh seafood and their prices are good. Last time I was there a couple weeks ago they had a special on frozen whole red snappers for $4 a pound so I stocked up on a couple of them. Fresh is always better than frozen but it is very convenient to have some fish in the freezer that I can defrost whenever.
Roasting a whole fish is so easy and delicious. All you have to do is heat up the oven to a high temperature, add a little salt and optional herbs to the fish, and roast it in the oven for about 20 minutes. That's it.
Here is the recipe:

Whole Roasted Red Snapper with Fresh Herb Olive Vinaigrette

For Fish
1 whole red snapper
salt & pepper
fresh herbs for stuffing fish (optional)

For Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs - Chives and Oregano are great
6 black olives, pitted and chopped
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar (can also use red or white wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper (optional - taste first)

For fish, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash fish, dry, and place on baking sheet (I put it on tin foil so the fish skin does not stick to the baking sheet). If using fresh herbs for stuffing, put them in the fish and salt and pepper the outside of the fish generously.
Roast the fish in the oven for about 20 minutes. The fish should fall from the bone easily when it is done.
For vinaigrette, combine all ingredients and let sit for 20 minutes to 2 hours.
When the fish is done, spoon vinaigrette over it and it is ready to eat.