Semi-Sweet » Sides

Get Your Greens

Sarah — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:50:20 +0000

I’m sure you’ve read the news: Dark, leafy-green veggies are great for you. I’ve heard them described as the “LBD of the vegetable world” (that’s “little black dress,” as in, they go with EVERYTHING). Dark green leafies are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available. They’re a super source of several minerals, including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium as well as vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. In addition, leafy greens provide a number of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin and also contain small amounts of fatty acids. They’re low in carbs, and high in fiber. WHAT is not to love about them?

Well, one issue is that they can take time to prepare . . . and that’s where my new find comes in. Olivia’s Organics has put out a new line of “cooking greens” - these babies are pre-trimmed and triple washed, so you can literally open the box and dump them into whatever recipe you’re prepping. They apparently come in 5 varieties, although I’ve only seen the baby collards at my local Whole Foods.

Last night, I prepped an entire 11 oz. box of these for me and D. and we nommed them all up. So while the recipe serves 4, if you’re a greens lover, buckle in and eat up!

Baby Collards With Bacon & Onion

1 (11 oz.) box of pre-washed, pre-trimmed baby collard greens (such as Olivia’s Organics)

3 slices thick cut, hickory smoked bacon (ours is preservative free), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

Splash of sherry vinegar

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Set a medium-sized Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and fry until crispy and brown. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon bits and place them on a paper-towel-lined plate, reserving the bacon grease in the pan. Add the onion to the pan and lower the heat to low. Fry the onion until it’s translucent. Add the collards and toss until wilted (using tongs helps here – the volume will decrease dramatically as you toss the greens with the hot oil). Add a splash of the sherry vinegar, stir, add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the bacon over the top, stir gently to incorporate, and serve!

Technically serves 4 . . . but like I said, you might love this so much you and your dining companion will eat it all . . . .

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Corn You’ll Want to Bathe In

Sarah — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:00:40 +0000

Oh, my goodness. Run – don’t walk – to your local farmstand and grab some sweet corn before it’s too late. You must, must try this recipe. It’s sweet and spicy and a little bit salty . . . has great depth of flavor from bacon. It’s worth every second it takes you to cut corn off the cob (more on that in a second). I whipped this up in very little time and served it alongside simple seared chicken breasts. D. and I both went for seconds of this stuff – don’t even trouble yourself making another side dish. A great green salad would be a great accompaniment, but really, you’re just gonna want the corn.

Sauteed Corn with Bacon and Scallions (adapted from Everyday Food)

4 slices bacon (preferably thick-cut), cut into 1-inch pieces
4 c. fresh corn kernels
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
2 to 3 scallions, sliced thinly

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until browned. Add corn; season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in scallions and serve.

Supposedly serves 4, but this served 2 chowhounds with a little leftover for the mama for lunch tomorrow.

Freakin’ about getting corn off the cob? Don’t. It’s really pretty easy and once you do it, you’ll never want to buy frozen when you can get fresh in season. Shuck the corn and get as much silk off as possible. Then cut the bottom end off the corn to make it flat. Get a large bowl and place the flat end in the bowl, take a paring knife and just slice downward . . . your kernels will go willy-nilly off the cob, but they’ll land in the bowl, so you’ll be A-OK. Voila! You can use it uncooked in salads, or saute it up.

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Citrusy Chicken Quinoa Salad

Sarah — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:00:08 +0000

Today’s recipe is a simple, hearty and healthy dinner salad that boasts high protein and high fiber. If you skip the added chicken, you could serve this as a pretty and creative side dish. Or sub tofu for chicken, and create a vegan one-dish meal. In any case, this’ll cost you only 30 minutes of your time, counter to table.

Orange Chicken Quinoa

1 c. quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Kosher salt

1 bunch scallions (approximately 12 scallions)

1 large navel orange

Juice of 1 lemon

3 T. plus 1 t. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4 c. baby lettuce

1/4 c. unsalted pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped

Boil 1 1/4 c. water in a small saucepan. Add rinsed quinoa, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for approximately 12 minutes, or until the water is absorbed by the quinoa. Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes and then fluff.

While the quinoa is cooking, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Trim the scallions and cut into 1-inch pieces. Saute the chicken and scallions in a skillet with 1 t. of olive oil, until the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Cut 1 inch off each end of the orange. Squeeze the orange ends into a small bowl, to get about 2 T. of juice. Whisk together the orange juice, the lemon juice, 3 T. olive oil, salt and pepper. Peel the remainder of the orange and slice it very thinly.

Add the chicken mixture, the dressing, sliced orange and the pistachios to the quinoa and toss. Taste for seasoning – add more lemon juice, salt and/or pepper if desired. Arrange 1 c. of salad greens on each of four plates, garnish each with 1/4 of the chicken mixture.

Serves 4.

Adapted from the Nutrition Action Healthletter, April 2009

Tip: Are you using non-stick cookware? It’s more than suspect from a health-standpoint, it could be downright dangerous. Did you know that a properly seasoned cast iron frying pan is virtually non-stick? The secret is to heat it up before you begin cooking your food. The 1 teaspoon of oil in this recipe more than coated my cast iron frying pan and created a non-stick surface for my chicken – all for only 10 extra calories per serving. And bonus! If you use cast iron cookware, you’ll get a little extra iron in your diet.

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Expandable Side Dish: Kale & Chard with Tomato and Garlic

Sarah — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:00:27 +0000

Like I said a week or so ago, I’m trying harder with the cooked veg. This recipe showed up in the January Everyday Food magazine and I knew at once I’d have to try it. I’ve been trying for a while to get D. to eat kale. He’ll eat Swiss chard and other greens, and enjoys kale in soups (um, with sausage, and really who can blame him?), but he’s not a fan of kale for kale’s sake. I, on the other hand, can’t get enough of the stuff. An aside: If you’re like me, you might wanna check out this clever site – I proudly sport one of his t-shirts.

I digress. I’ve altered this recipe to include chard – mostly because I had a bunch of it that needed eating and also because this was going to be our only veg with a roast chicken. The greens here are soft and tender and the tomatoes create this syrupy, garlicky sauce that is so delicious – it tastes like it has a lot more oil in it than it does. It received one thumb up from D., which, if you know D., is a very big deal.

Kale & Chard with Tomato and Garlic (adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

1 bunch lacinato kale (AKA dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale – and you can use regular old kale if that’s what you want to do), tough stems removed and roughly chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard, tough stems removed and roughly chopped

2-4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (I used 4, but we love garlic)

2 c. cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the kale and chard until tender, about 4 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

In a large skillet (or that same pot you boiled the greens in, wiped out), heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they start to break down, 2-3 minutes. Add the greens and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4 (or two people who love veg and aren’t eating starch).

Why is this expandable? If you toss this with 12-16 oz. of your favorite pasta, you’ll have a nice meal. If you choose whole wheat pasta, you’ll get an extra dose of fiber and protein to go along with it . . . or you could, of course, serve this with Italian sausages alongside (or oooh – cut up and mixed in with the greens!). The saucy tomatoes will coat your pasta and the colors will be gorgeous.

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Quickie Side: Broccoli With Toasted Cashews

Sarah — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:00:22 +0000

I’m back on the healthy – finally got rid of the myriad viruses I was fighting, finally rid the house of buttery, sugary treats and now I’m back to clean, sensible eating. And you know what? Despite the pang of longing I still get for my old friend, Sugary Dessert, after dinner, I feel so much better. I always tell people, and I’ll say it to you here – if you can get yourself off the hooch for a week or two, you’ll stop craving the hooch, and the uptick in energy and sheer pleasure of feeling your body run more smoothly will start to reinforce your healthy eating habits. Really. Trust me. Don’t even get me started on how you can be addicted (in a healthy way) to exercise as well. I was smiling as I ran on the Arc trainer the other day at the gym. It’s great to be back.

Anyway. “Back on the healthy” means LOTS of veg. 2 veg for dinner most nights – a tossed salad with a low-calorie dressing (homemade please) and a cooked vegetable as well. I have to admit that after dreaming up a meal and preparing it, plus a salad, my cooked veg side often gets short-shrift. So a goal for 2011 is to jazz up the steamed vegetables around here, and this recipe’s moving that ball forward. It’s fast, fresh, and would be a great compliment to any sort of Asian-inspired meal, or with a plain piece of protein when you just don’t have the energy for razzle-dazzle.

Broccoli with Toasted Cashews (originally from Everyday Food Magazine)

2 heads broccoli, trimmed and cut into florets

4 t. fresh lime juice

1 t. sugar

2 t. low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cashews, toasted and coarsely chopped

Kosher salt

Steam the broccoli until tender – either by using a steamer basket in a saucepan or in a covered glass container in the microwave. Meanwhile, whisk together the lime juice, sugar and soy sauce until the sugar dissolves. Add the broccoli and toss lightly. Season with salt to taste and top with the cashews.

Serves 4.

*Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Greens & Ricotta Salata

Sarah — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:42:01 +0000

I got a lovely head of Swiss chard in my CSA box last week, and since I was closing in on my next share, I had to think up a way to use it . . . I’m done with soups for now, done with the sausage/greens combo – I needed a fresh take. This recipe is it . . . buttery braised chard, onions, salty ricotta salata all make a fab side dish, or, if you’re like me, your main course!

Greens & Ricotta Salata (adapted from the Food Network)

1 bunch Swiss chard

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth

2 T. reduced-sodium soy sauce

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 oz. ricotta salata cheese

Wash the chard and pat it dry (leave some water clinging to the leaves). Coarsely chop the stems and leaves and set them aside.

Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute longer. Add the greens, broth, soy sauce, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the greens have wilted, the stems become tender and most of the liquid has cooked off, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the cooked greens to a serving plate and crumble the cheese over the top. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

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Brown Rice Salad With Pesto & Cherry Tomatoes

Sarah — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:00:42 +0000

Two posts in as many days? Starting to feel like my old self again!

This “recipe” originally appeared in Body + Soul magazine in a piece on using up leftovers . . . it’s good enough, though, to purchase ingredients for – or to use up what’s in your pantry. I always keep a package of Whole Food’s frozen pre-cooked brown rice handy, and there is always basil pesto base in the fridge. This goes together in a is infinitely customizable – no brown rice? Try farro or wheat berries. Don’t have Parmesan? Romano or an Italian blend would be great. This makes a great side dish for almost any protein . . . we noshed on leftover rotisserie chicken, but it’d be tasty with Italian chicken sausages, tofu, chicken, burgers (veggie, beef and/or turkey), etc. etc.!

Brown Rice Salad With Pesto & Cherry Tomatoes (adapted from Body + Soul)

Cooked brown rice

Prepared pesto

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Halved cherry or grape tomatoes

Parmesan cheese, grated

Fresh basil, shredded

Stir pesto into the rice and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the tomatoes, Parmesan and basil and serve! This is great leftover – try some in your lunch the next day . . . .

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The Yummiest Bulgur Pilaf

Sarah — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:00:59 +0000

Oh friends, today’s recipe’s a treat. A healthy, tasty treat brought to you by another blogger I follow. Her real name’s Dara Michalski, but she goes by the moniker “Cookin’ Canuck” – she’s originally from Canada, you see.

Dara adopted this from Deborah Madison’s bible Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and I tweaked Dara’s take yet again. Serve this flavorful pilaf alongside a nice piece of broiled fish (brush it with olive oil and dust it with cumin and salt and pepper too, if you like) or a piece of grilled chicken. Just be forewarned – the side dish might steal the show at supper.

Spiced Bulgur Pilaf With Dried Cherries & Pine Nuts (adapted from the Cookin’ Cunuck’s recipe)

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 t. ground coriander

1 t. ground cumin

1 c. bulgur

Kosher salt to taste

1 ¼ c. low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you wish)

1/3 c. dried cherries, coarsely chopped

2 scallions, sliced thinly

1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, garlic, coriander, cumin and a sprinkle of salt. Sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the bulgur and the broth, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and mix in the cherries. Let stand for 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the green onions and pine nuts, fluffing the pilaf as you go.

Serves 4.

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Chili-Lime Cod With Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli

Sarah — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:00:20 +0000

The only downer to trying to eat more fish is the fact that you have to buy your fish the day you’re going to prepare it. And for many of us, that’s hard. The best work-around I’ve come up with is to buy flash-frozen fillets from either Trader Joe’s or from Whole Foods. These are fresh-tasting and can be kept around and defrosted when you’re hankering for fish, but I think the freezing changes the texture a bit in a way I don’t love. I think that baking garners the best results from flash-frozen fish, so if you have some hanging around your freezer, you might want to give this recipe a whirl with those.

This chili-lime cod recipe is adapted from one in Real Simple that I found on-line. It’s a departure from how I usually prepare cod – either steamed Asian-style or else baked with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The spice combo here is simple, yet adds zingy flavor to the fish without overpowering it.

Here, I give you the roadmap for a complete meal: Fish, sweet potato and steamed broccoli on the side. My adaptation calls for doubling the sauce recipe so that you can drizzle it over the broccoli too . . . . deeee-licious and super-speedy. This entire meal can be ready in 20-30 minutes!

Chili-Lime Cod With Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli (adapted from Real Simple)

1.5 pounds cod fillets

½ t. chili powder

½ t. dried oregano

3 T. unsalted butter

1 t. ground cumin

Juice of 4 limes

Kosher salt to taste

4 small sweet potatoes (organic if you can swing it)

Little bit of extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

1 lb. broccoli florets

Heat the oven to 450. Coat a oven-safe baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange the fillets in the pan and sprinkle with chili powder, oregano and salt. Bake 5-7 minutes or until the cod is opaque and flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Meanwhile, scrub the sweet potatoes and prick each several times with a fork. Arrange them on a paper towel in the microwave and microwave them in 2-minute intervals until they’re tender to the touch.

Place the broccoli in a microwave-safe covered dish and microwave in 1-minute intervals, stirring in between, until broccoli is bright green and tender.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter begins to brown. Add the cumin and the lime juice and continue to cook (keep stirring!) about one minute more.

Remove the fish from the oven, drizzle ½ the butter mixture over the top of the fish and ½ over the steamed broccoli. Serve the sweet potatoes with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a little salt sprinkled over the top.

Serves 4.

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Homemade Salad Dressings

Sarah — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:12:17 +0000

We’re getting into salad season here, folks – I can feel it! It was in the 50′s this weekend around Boston and you’d think it was a tropical heat-wave. People poured out of their homes to get some sun and fresh air. It’s inspiring. Big salads are a great way to get a number of your daily veggie servings in one meal . . . add a protein source and you’re good to go. Easy, healthful and if you play your cards right, tasty.

In honor of the upcoming season of big salads, I’m trying an experiment here. I’m winnowing down the odds and ends of pre-made salad dressings in the fridge, and I’m going 100% homemade for a while. Even if “homemade” means drizzling a little EVOO and then a little vinegar (we have sherry, red wine, white, champagne, fig and raspberry in the house right now) over the top. I have been enjoying the fresh taste of homemade dressings so much lately, and finding the store-bought ones to be too . . . too . . . dunno. Gloppy? Heavily seasoned? Unimaginative? Just not good.

So along these lines, last night I made a super salad dressing – adapted from one Joanne Chang shared in the November issue of Food & Wine. D. and I drizzled this over a bed of baby spinach leaves, shredded rotisserie chicken, grated carrots, navel orange slices and chopped peanuts and it was deeelicious. Sweet and spicy and a little bit creamy. I can’t wait for lunch today when I’m going to use more on another salad, this time with romaine lettuce*.

This stuff would be so tasty on cold noodles, tossed with thinly sliced scallions and sprinkled with chopped peanuts. Or on a cold broccoli salad (blanch the florets before so they’re intensely green and a little softer). For whatever reason, grilled romaine lettuce with a little of this drizzled sounds out-of-the-ordinary and fun – on the list for when grilling season opens. Really, any combo of salad ingredients would be great – Chang’s F&W recipe includes the fixings for Chinese Chicken Salad, but I was too lazy to go all the way last night. Whatever you do, I think it’s important to have a little crunch going on . . . so think sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, fried wontons, etc. sprinkled over the finished product.

“Chinese” Salad Dressing (adapted from Joanne Chang)

¼ c. low-fat mayonnaise

¼ c. unseasoned rice wine vinegar

3 T. sugar

¼ c. low-sodium soy sauce

2 T. toasted sesame oil

1 t. Tabasco sauce

1 t. minced ginger

1 small clove of garlic, minced

Whisk all the ingredients in a large bowl. Makes enough to dress 4 servings of salad.

*Update! I had an early lunch today – I think I liked this salad even more than last night’s! Chopped crisp romaine lettuce, topped with and orange-worth of halved wedges, grated carrots, 1/2 c. of edamame, this dressing and chopped lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts. It was crunchier and sweeter than last night’s, and the romaine let the flavors shine a bit more (spinach is great, but a stronger flavor). Protein + fiber from the edamame + all those greens and some fruit to boot = a full meal in your bowl. Highly recommended!

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