Portobello Mushrooms with Leeks, Spinach, and Cheese

If you are always on the look-out for a lovely, sophisticated, and easy side dish for Sunday dinner or for dinner parties, you will enjoy this. The recipe is for four portobello mushrooms, although I prepared only half of it, using my unbelievable math skills. Depending on the size of the portobellos, two mushrooms might be enough for four people. Still, one of my favorite cooks always said, "You eat with your eyes first." Serving these whole makes such a beautiful presentation, I was thinking of her while I served our Sunday dinner.
Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 leeks
4 Portobello mushroom caps
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Kosher or sea salt and black pepper
2 cups chopped fresh (preferably organic) spinach (about 2 ounces)
1 cup crumbled soft goat cheese, or Greek feta cheese (your preference)

Preparation:
Pre‐heat oven to 450 degrees
Leeks are sandy by nature. Their flavor is well worth the preparation. Here’s an easy way to clean them.
1) Trim dark‐green parts from leeks; slice leeks crosswise, and soak in cold water. Swish leeks to help loosen dirt. Repeat with fresh water until you no longer see any grit at bottom of bowl. Lift leek slices out of water, leaving grit behind; drain them thoroughly on paper towels.
2) Place mushroom caps, gill sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet; drizzle with oil and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until caps are just tender, about 20 - 25 minutes.
3) Top with leeks, spinach, and cheese; season again if desired.
4) Bake until spinach wilts and cheese starts to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Leek and White Asparagus Soup

This soup is comfort unlimited! The white asparagus are slightly sweeter than the green, and whenever I see them at the market, I just have to get at least one bunch of them for this soup. I usually cave in, though, and buy another bunch to grill up and then wrap with smoked wild salmon slices (an appetizer extraordinaire if I do say so myself).
But back to the soup. This recipe takes less than 30 minutes to prepare, and will make about 8 cups of soup, once you puree it. Because it is such an easy soup to drink, I love to divide it into 2 cup mason jars to take to school for lunch. Makes my day.
Enjoy.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 bunch of white asparagus (approximately 20-25 spears), chopped
3 leeks, whites only, cleaned and cut into rings (as shown)
5 to 6 cups organic chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 to 3 cups almond milk
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste See note.

Saute all the vegetables in the olive oil, adding the garlic last, for 2 to 3 minutes, just until soft. Add the stock, and bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the asparagus is cooked through.
Remove the soup from the heat, and let it cool slightly.
Transfer the soup into a blender, in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth.
Return the soup to the pot, add the almond milk and bring it back to heat.
Check for seasoning.
Note: Purists may want to use white pepper, because the soup is a very light color. This is entirely up to purists.

Zucchini Cake

A zucchini has as much potassium as a banana. This is big news for people like me who have given up the starchy, way-too-sweet banana in favor of feeling well. On the other hand, if you are not a fan of zucchini, the news probably doesn't shake up your world too much. However, when you recall that zucchini can be used in baked goods - well, that's another matter. I also love to make lame excuses for what I am eating, like, "it's not cake - - it's vegetables." But in this case, it is! There is nothing in this cake that is unhealthy in any way. Remember to use organic ingredients when possible, and to use cookware that is safe. There is more about cookware in an earlier blog and in GOOD FOOD.
I adapted this recipe from one in my son's book, "Maximized Living Nutrition Plan," and it is moist and delicious.
Enjoy.

2 cups almond Flour
1/2 cup ground flax meal
1 tablespoon aluminum free baking powder
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
¼ to ½ teaspoon cloves
¼ to ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1⁄4 to 1/2 teaspoon concentrated powdered stevia (such as KAL brand)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup organic milk or unsweetened almond milk
2 cups zucchini, grated, then squeezed in a clean towell to remove excess water


Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the chopped walnuts.
Lightly beat together all the moist ingredients (the eggs, vanilla, and milk).
Combine the wet mixture and the dry mixture. Add the zucchini and continue stirring until all ingredients are incorporated.

Place in a greased cake pan (see blog on cookware) and bake at 350º for 50 to 55 minutes.

Chocolate Truffles

O.K., so we managed to make a Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving without poisoning ourselves with sugar and white flour. What now?

Christmas will be here before we know it. Some stores ridiculously display their Christmas trimmings right along side the Halloween decorations. Here is a recipe for Chocolate Truffles which will compliment your Maximized Christmas table without killing you. The recipe is also in GOOD FOOD, listed as Chocolate Ganache, since it can also be used as a frosting for the Chocolate Cupcakes in GOOD FOOD. If that's not enough sweet treats for Christmas, your problems are probably more far reaching than I am professionally capable of handling.
Enjoy.

Ingredients:

· 8 oz. (squares) unsweetened baker’s chocolate chopped into tiny pieces
· 1 cup organic heavy cream
· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla (no sugar – check the ingredients)
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· Stevia equivalent to approximately 1 cup sugar
· 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional) Note: If you use the espresso powder, you may have to add extra stevia. Taste it.

Preparation:

1) Heat the cream, vanilla, stevia, espresso powder (optional) and salt until bubbles form.
2) Remove from heat. Add chocolate pieces and let melt, stirring occasionally.
3) Let the mixture cool to room temperature, and then chill slightly in the refrigerator. At this point it can be rolled into truffles, which you can then roll in chopped raw nuts, unsweetened shredded coconut, or unsweetened cocoa powder.

The Truth About Corn

When I was a little girl, the only vegetable I would look at was corn. I thought it was delicious, and when I added butter and salt to it, my love for this golden nuggett deepened. In fairness, the corn I grew up eating 50 years ago, does not exist now. I ate corn that grew only during the summer near my house. If corn was available at the grocery store, it came in a kind of small tactor wagon load right from the local farm. Yum.

Fifty years later - I have changed, and so has corn. The corn we eat now (by the way, corn is a grain, not a vegetable) has been genetically modified to resist chemical pesitcides (one, in particular called Round-Up, by Monsanto Corporation) and fertilizers. No one knows for sure yet, what all the consequences of eating genetically modified foods might be. What we do know, among other things, is that one of the by-products of this genetically modified corn, high-fructose corn syrup, is everywhere, and it seems to be playing a huge part in the obesity epidemic that is sweeping North America. There is a wonderful film, King Korn, that I highly recommend to educate yourself about corn and the "modern" methods and motives for farming it. And, of course, I have recommended Food, Inc. in the past. I encourage you to find a way to see these films, to continue to learn about the North American food supply.

But now, another film has come along that takes the investigation a step further. If genetically modified foods are not healthy to consume, isn't that bad enough? Apparently not.

I am posting a link here to a trailer for a brand new film, Big River, which looks at the underbelly of agribusiness, and follows the run-off from the planting of one acre of corn, and tracks the soil, fertilizer and pesticides downstream, through cancer clusters in Iowa to a Louisiana "dead zone."


The problems with mainstream mass marketing of the North American food supply go far beyond making our bellies fat. Perhaps, until now, we didn't know the long-term problems this system has been causing. With the help of film makers like Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, now we know. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the malnourishment of our children, grandchildren, and beyond, for the sake of our mealtime convenience. Nor can we exchange quick meal solutions for an unhealthy ecology. This simply can not go on without dire consequences to our health and the health of the rest of the planet.

When I wrote GOOD FOOD, I thought long and hard about the title. Food, I thought, must be good in three ways. It has to look good, it has to taste good, and it has to be good for me. I have now added a 4th "good" criteria. The food I prepare, eat, and feed my family, has to be good for the generations of my family who follow me here.

Please see these films. Pleade with your local video store to stock them if they don't already.

Just think. If enough of us demand real, organically grown, healthy food, maybe someday our children or grandchildren, or at least their children or grandchildren, might enjoy a healthy and delicious ear of corn in the summertime.

FOOD, INC.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! It is my sincere hope that you and your loved ones enjoyed each other's company over a wonderful dinner made of healthy, nutritious food. I feel as though I cooked (and ate) for two days straight! But it was both a pleasure and a blessing that I was able to do so with beautiful, high quality organically grown chickens and vegetables. I even made the Pumpkin Pie we all associate with Thanksgiving Dinner - but mine was the Maximized version. My only mistake was making the pie on Saturday morning - it was all but gone by Saturday night. Yes, I did. I made another one Sunday afternoon for our big dinner Sunday night.
Before dinner, our family went to a local independent film house to see the movie, Food, Inc.
This is, perhaps, one of the most important films of our day. I urge you to see it. I have included a short summary of the film, written by Thom Powers of the Toronto International Film Festival. Here's what he had to say:

FOOD, INC.
You are what you eat. It is a simple expression that bears scary implications as you watch Food, Inc. Director Robert Kenner draws upon the searing reportage of authors Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) to explore how modern developments in food production pose grave risks to our health and environment. These writers aren’t radicals or even vegetarians (Schlosser admits that his favourite meal is a hamburger and fries), but they are crusaders when it comes to exposing problems and naming offenders. Food, Inc. makes their critiques vivid by taking us into the lives of people who are fighting back. The documentary never resorts to stunts to make its point – just solid journalism, including hidden cameras that reveal unseemly practices. Food, Inc. cogently explains how unfettered corporations exploited laws and subsidies to create shocking monopolies. In one example, we learn how the food conglomerate Monsanto expanded its control over soybeans from two per cent of the American market to ninety per cent in the last dozen years. Monsanto has the legal backing of a Supreme Court decision, enabling them to litigate aggressively against small farmers. The decision was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, who happens to be a former Monsanto lawyer.
Food, Inc. carefully dissects the cozy relationships between business and government in both political parties. In opposition to these powerful interests, we meet people from all walks of life, from a Republican mother, whose two-year-old son died of E. coli poisoning, to the founder of Stonyfield Farm Organic Yogurt, who flouts conventional left-wing dogma by seeing a positive side to Wal-Mart. . . . . Along the way, we hear stories of heartbreak and outrage, but the film carefully channels these emotions towards opportunities for activism. Watching Food, Inc. gives you a strong appetite for better meals.
– Thom Powers, Toronto International Film Festival

Butternut Squash and Green Apple Soup

For those of you who enjoy the tastes of fall, and the aroma of fall spices, this soup really fills the bill. I particularly liked the distinctive, slightly sweet taste. The recipe is so simple. The most difficult part is peeling and seeding the butternut squash. Once that's done, you are 15 minutes to a delightful first course.

Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped


• 1 tablespoon organic butter


• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped


• 1 or 2 tart green apples, peeled, cored, chopped (squash and apple should be a 3 to 1 ratio)


• 3 to 4 cups organic chicken broth (or organic vegetable broth)


• 1/4 teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepper


• pinch of nutmeg (to taste - freshly grated is best)


• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1 cup unsweetened Almond Milk (original or vanilla flavor)

Preparation:

• Combine butter and onion, saute gently for 5 minutes.


• Add squash, apple, and broth. Bring to a boil.


• Simmer for 10 minutes, or until squash is tender.


• Puree.


• Stir in Almond Milk and spices to taste.

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving and Christmas are back! Here is a pumpkin pie you can really enjoy without complications (to your health or your waistline). It is sugar free and grain free, and tastes delicious. Sometimes, I impress myself.

Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (no sugar or other additives, check the label)
¾ cup “Spoonable” brand stevia or equivalent OR 2/3 cup xylitol (See blog about Stevia)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
4 oz. organic cream
8 oz. unsweetened almond milk, original or vanilla flavor
1 almond pie crust (see recipe)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
1) Combine all the ingredients.
2) Pour into a cooled almond pie crust.
3) Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
4) Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes.
5) Cool and garnish with whipped (organic) cream, flavored with cinnamon and stevia.

Almond Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups almond meal or almond flour
3 tablespoons “Spoonable” brand stevia, or equivalent, or 2 tablespoons Xylitol
3 tablespoons melted organic butter

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

1) Melt the butter.
2) Mix the melted butter with the almond meal and stevia.
3) Pat into a glass pie plate with your fingertips.
4) Gently heat in the oven for about 8 minutes. Do not let the crust go brown.

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as my family does. Happy Thanksgiving!

My friend Chantal's Roasted Cauliflower, Leek, and Garlic Soup

If you have been looking at the beautiful leeks in the grocery store, and wondering what you might do with them, here is one of my favourite fall soups. I have been having a giant cup of it for lunch every day at school, and it makes me feel so warm and full, although the actual calorie load is extremely light. Thanks to my friend Chantal for this delicious recipe.
Enjoy.

Ingredients:
· 3 Leeks – white ends only (To clean the leeks, which can be quite sandy, slice them half way through, lengthwise, and open them out slightly under running water. You are going to put them through the blender later anyway, so don't worry too much about the shape they're in when you roast them.)
· 1 Head Cauliflower
· 1 Head Garlic
· Olive oil
· Nutmeg to taste
· Salt and pepper to taste
· 3 cups organic chicken stock
· 1 cup organic milk, or unsweetened almond milk


Directions:

1) Clean, prep & place all ingredients on a baking sheet. Spray or drizzle with some olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a bit of freshly grated nutmeg.
2) Roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.
3) Remove vegetables from oven and put into 3 cups of organic chicken stock.
4) Simmer another 30 minutes.
5) Puree in a blender - or by using an immersion blender.
6) Add 1 cup organic milk, or unsweetened almond milk.
7) Bring back to heat and serve.

One of my Favorite Lunches - Avocado Halves Stuffed With Tomato and Feta

This is one of my favorite lunches from GOOD FOOD. The presentation makes it beautiful enough for company, and the taste is lovely. The trick is to use just ready avocados. I like to buy them when they are under ripe and very firm, and leave them on the kitchen counter for a day or two until they are just giving way to the touch. I also sometimes substitute a handful of diced grape tomatoes for the whole roma variety.

Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 small ripe roma tomato, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon snipped fresh parsley, or basil, or chives (to your taste)
2 teaspoons raw pumpkin seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1) Halve avocado lengthwise, and remove the pit.
2) Top each half with tomato and feta.
3) Drizzle with lemon juice, and garnish with chives and pumpkin seeds.
4) Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Serves 2

Garden Fresh Basil Pesto

This recipe is so simple and so delicious. Right now, before the weather changes, you will want to harvest your beautiful basil and make up a giant batch of pesto. It will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks (if it lasts that long), or you can freeze it in ice cube trays and use little amounts later. (See below for more on freezing.)

All you do to make a big batch of Basil Pesto is this:
Put two to three cups of basil leaves in a food processor with 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, about 1/2 cup of pine nuts, olive oil (the amount of olive oil depends on the texture you desire - so more or less depending on how thick you want the pesto to be), and approximately 1/2 cup grated quality Italian parmesan cheese, and YUM!

Note: If you intend to freeze some of the pesto in ice cube trays or small containers, this is easily done, and works very well. However, it is wise to omit the Parmesan cheese from the recipe, and add it when you thaw the pesto for use within a week or two.

Pesto is wonderful as a side sauce over an otherwise ordinary grilled chicken breast, or, for you grain eaters, it is always a wonderful pasta sauce or pizza topping (used in place of tomato sauce).
I am making myself hungry.

Enjoy.

Cookware and Kitchen Tools

Every recipe in GOOD FOOD has been tested. This has meant a lot of cooking, and a lot of eating. Much of the testing was done while I was on sabbatical in a rented apartment where the owners obviously did no cooking, judging by the kitchen tools available to me.

I had brought along my own sauté pans (Earth Chef ceramic coated cookware), my own $11.00 travel blender, and my own “on-it’s-last-legs” Black and Decker $39.00 food processor. I had to buy an inexpensive stainless steel sauce pot, cupcake papers, and parchment paper to line the “suspicious” baking pans available in the apartment. This taught me a great lesson about the “Maximized” kitchen. I came to realize that you actually need very little special equipment to live a “Maximized” life. But I do recommend that you invest in:
· A food processor
· A blender
· One heavy bottomed soup pot (I recommend cast iron, followed by stainless steel.)
· One heavy bottomed 2Litre pot (I recommend cast iron, followed by stainless steel.)


The last thing I recommend is the purchase of a new generation of non-stick cookware.

I am frightened to use Teflon non-stick pans. Do some research on teflon, and you will want to throw out all your teflon pans and replace them with one or two sizes of either “Green Pan” (available at Target in the U.S.) or “Earth Chef” (available at Zellers in Canada) sauté pans. I specifically recommend these pans because, while they are non-stick surfaces, they are not coated with Teflon or other toxic non-stick materials. These pans are inexpensive and will be a giant first step in removing toxins from your kitchen tools and techniques.
The picture above of the two non-stick sauté pans I use may help you recognize the “Earth Chef” or “Green Pan” ceramic powder coated non-stick pans you should look for.

Glass cookware, such as Corning Ware, is also acceptable. I like to use Pyrex or Corning Ware for oven dishes of all sorts, from cakes and pies to Lemon Chicken.

A word about Stevia - Life is Sweet. Sugar is not.

The more people who begin to eliminate sugar from their diets, the more questions I get about Stevia, the all natural, herbal sweetener. Recipes call for varying amounts of stevia, and, depending on the source of the recipe, a disaster may be imminent if you are inexperienced with the varities of stevia on the market.

If you can find “Spoonable” brand Stevia, equivalencies are not an issue. Just use the “Spoonable” brand measure for measure with the amount of sugar or "sweetening power" called for in your recipes. It is still important to taste your recipe and adjust the amount of stevia accordingly. Too much Stevia may taste bitter. Cinnamon is a helpful addition to reduce bitterness or aftertaste, especially as your tastes change.

I can no longer recommend using xylitol of any kind for any recipe. Here are some frightening insights from Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist:

"While it is true that xylitol is a naturally occurring substance, manufactured xylitol is another matter entirely.   Commercially available xylitol is produced by the industrialized process of sugar hydrogenation.   In order to hydrogenate anything, a catalyst is needed, and in the case of xylitol, Raney nickel is used which is a powdered nickel-aluminum alloy.Can we say heavy metal residue?  Xylitol doesn’t seem quite so warm and fuzzy anymore, does it?  . . . .While there is currently no literature on any detrimental health effects of consuming hydrogenated sugar, it is important to note that hydrogenated fats and oils were used for many years before the very damaging effects to health became widely known. . . . Given the violent industrialized process that is required to produce a hydrogenated sugar like xylitol, it would seem wise to avoid it based on the very poor track record of hydrogenated foods in general!"

I like KAL stevia, a concentrated powder brand which has one of those teeney-tiny spoons in the jar . . . Each of those teeney tiny spoons is equal to about 1 (real) Tablespoon of sugar. When a recipe calls for a cup of sweetening power or 1 cup of sugar, I add about ¾ of a REAL teaspoon of the KAL powdered Stevia. KAL brand is available online or at Whole Foods. It also comes in liquid form, where 5 drops equals approximately one Tablespoon of sugar.  In Canada, the "NOW" brand is nearly the exact equivalent, and also comes in powdered or liquid form.

Too much stevia in a recipe is never tasty. What I usually do when I am preparing a recipe for the first time is this:
I mix the dry ingredients together (i.e., the almond flour and/or flax meal, the baking powder, the flavourings such as cinnamon, and the stevia, going easy on the stevia if I am not sure. (You can always add stevia, but you can't take it out once it's in there.) Then I taste the dry mix, and add stevia if I think it's necessary.

The bottom line:  Read, taste, and adjust your recipes to suit yourself and your family.

Stevia is often sold as a nutritional supplement and not as a sweetener or food additive. Look for it at Wal-Mart, GNC, Whole Foods, and other health food stores. Check the ingredients.

Do NOT use stevia which contains maltodextrin (a corn product, which will, as you know turn to sugar once you begin to digest it).

I look forward to all your comments and questions.

Life is sweet. Sugar is not.