SLURP IT UP

It’s Soup Season!  My latest Delivered Dish of the Week menus feature soups nearly every week. The great thing about soups — and all my autumn & winter dishes in general — is that you can freeze them in small containers to enjoy later. Furthermore, ziploc bags of soup, frozen flat, can be stored vertically to save freezer space.

You can order online right here for any weeks you wish.  Easy peasy.  If you’ve never ordered before, do please read the full description of Delivered Dish of the Week service first.

MENUS FOR DDOW OCT 27 – DEC 1ST

Week of Oct 27th

Beautiful Beet Soup (my photo)

Blood Red Beet & Lentil Soup w/ Ginger
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars. A satisfying fiber-rich soup for Halloween, to counteract any candy.  Very popular with beet-lovers plus a natural source of iron.

Fried Brown Rice w/ Shredded Cabbage & Carrots flavored with Coriander, Mustard & Fennel Seeds.
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars. One of a hundred easy variations on fried rice.  I add stronger spices here to spark up organic brown rice. A great way to use up left-over rice, too. Sauteed cabbage w/ fennel seed is a lovely, mild side dish by itself and, so easy to make at home –– try it.

Week of Nov 3rd
Squash Soup w/ Red Chile & Mint
Vegan GF, Paleo, soy-free, no added sugars. Spicy red chile & cooling fresh mint adds a nice twist on a classic autumnal soup. Dollop with queso fresco or yogurt to dress it up.

Butternut Squash Soup w/ Red Chile & Mint (Splendidtable.com)

Beans & Greens Tamale Casserole w/ Tomatillo Sauce
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars; contains corn. Clients voted this an all-time favorite!  I always add chopped dark greens to beans for added nutrition and fiber. The mild tangy sauce disguises the taste of greens, too, if you have fussy eaters. It comes in a mini-loaf foil pan.

Week of Nov 10th
Minestrone w/ Rice Pasta
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars, Paleo option. Rice elbow noodles, kidney beans, green beans and other veg in a light tomato broth. I like Tinkyada brand rice pasta. You can request no pasta & no beans for Paleo diets.

 Roast Ratatouille w/ Lentils
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars, Paleo option. I adore ratatouille. Period. Especially when made of garden-sourced veg. I roasted & froze this in Sept for a wonderful infusion of summer days gone by. And it’s incredibly versatile: plop it on mashed pots for shepherd’s pie, spread on pizza, fill burritos, add to pasta sauce, et al.  You can request no-beans for Paleo version.

Week of Nov 17th

Ripe, medium ripe and green plaintains (web photo). Called the pasta of the Caribbean.

Caribbean Coconut Curry
Vegan GF, Paleo, soy-free, no added sugars. From Isa Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction cookbook and featuring naturally sweet steamed plantains. Mildly spiced. Really yummy.

 Quinoa Pilaf w/ Spinach & Cilantro
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars. A nice green pilaf that complements the curry.

 Week of Nov 24th: Impress your guests! Terrific with turkey.
Polenta w/ Sage
GF, soy-free, no added sugars; contains corn and dairy unless you request no dairy. Smooth polenta makes a great gluten-free side. For a stuffing substitute, brush slices w/ olive oil and broil til crispy on top, then chunk it up. Yes, it’s fab with turkey & gravy on top.

Wilted Kale & Roasted Beet Salad in Tahini Dressing
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars, Paleo. Two super foods in one dish to complement (and dare I say, counteract) starchy holiday meals. Creamy tahini softens raw kale’s texture while sweet roast beets balance its flavor. Sprinkle seeds or nuts on top, and/or go more even gourmet w/ dollops of goat cheese.

Week of Dec 1st
Smoky Split Pea Soup
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars. I always add chopped collard greens and puree the whole thing to hide it. Sometimes I add nori seaweed as well for extra umami (savoriness); it melts away. Smoked paprika provides that “ham” flavor.

Puerto Rican Rice
Vegan GF, soy-free, no added sugars. Another easy variation on rice w/ green bell peppers, sweet peas , tomatoes and some tumeric for color. However, it won’t be exactly the national dish of Puerto Rico as I’m omitting the grandule verde (pigeon peas) and using brown basmati instead of white.

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

This week’s DDoW dishes were Spanish Shepherd’s Pie and Minestrone, both vegan, gluten-free and pretty low-fat, too. Hot comfort foods hit the spot during the Arctic weather we’re suffering through this week. BRRR.

Spanish Shepherd’s Pie: Mushroom & TVP filling, spiked w/ green olives & raisins, topped with Yukon Gold mashed pots (my photo).

Minestrone soup w/o noodles, and featuring green beans, broccoli, diced collards and carrots (my photo). Simple and “clean”.

I have to say, the vegan Shepherd’s Pie is yummy. The filling comprises sauteed mushrooms, celery, onions and TVP, plus green olives & raisins a la picadillo, which is why I named it “Spanish”. Picadillo is normally a savory ground beef mixture with green olives & raisins. I think I first had it inside an empanada at a nouveau Mexican place called Zona. I’ve since used it in tamales and combined it with rice.

Shepherd’s Pie is dead easy to make and freezes well. You could experiment with different kinds of filling, both meat and vegetarian/vegan. As long as there’s gravy!  To thicken the mushroom mixture, I used starchy potato water from the bottom of the pot. Btw, I mashed the pots with olive oil and plain soy milk. 

To make this totally Paleo, omit the TVP and add ground meat. For a church basement twist, use tater tots instead of mashed pots!  Variation: a Mexican flavored filling + mashed sweet potatoes.

Per my usual Bulk Cooking habit, I made twice the amount of filling necessary. As mentioned above, the mushroom mixture works very well tossed together with a whole grain, like “fried rice” type dish. I would add finely chopped green veg, too.  See more grain dish ideas.

Also, I made a different shepherd’s pie casserole with the left-over mashed pots and last week’s Lentil & Carrot Stew. Repurposing left-overs adds variety into your repertoire, reduces food waste and saves you money and time — hitting the trifecta with one blow. 

Designing with Food and Plants

This past Tue I was fortunate enough to meet the force of nature that is Richard Moody, local go-to fashion maven and man about town. I provided a light repast for the monthly meet & greet of the Twin Cities’ chapter of Fashion Group Int’l, a design networking association. Richard serves on its board.

Guests at FGI “Kick Off Your Heels and Come Into the Garden”  4-16-13. I’m way in the back, top left. Richard in green teeshirt is in front of me and Matt is next to him. Photo by Phillips Garden.

He brought the event to the gorgeous tropical-industrial office of Phillips Garden, winner of Minnesota Monthly magazine’s 2012 Best of the Twin Cities – Landscaping award, in the heart of Mpls’ Phillips neighborhood. [Full disclosure: I’ve been a close friend of Matt the general manager at Phillips for decades.]

The brightly colored marinated salads, full of oranges, reds and greens, perfectly complemented Phillips’ incredible table display. Photo by Phillips Garden.

Guests enjoyed some lovely herb-infused wine (courtesy of Phillips) and the gluten-free whole-foods spread I brought:  Kalamata Olive Polenta Squares, Roast Sweet Potato & Black Bean Salad in Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette, SuperFood Slaw in Grapefruit Ginger Vinaigrette, roast almonds, gluten-free crackers and fresh organic Pink Lady apples and navel oranges. I chose not to serve sweets or cookies this time. Feel free to use this menu for your next party!

Until I figure out how to snatch pix from Instagram, for close-ups of dishes, see Richard’s http://instagram.com/p/YLyfS8wXNX/  and  http://instagram.com/p/YLs5Q7QXGZ/ .

Incredibly lush, and partially edible table display. See how many edibles you can spot. Photo by Phillips Garden.

Phillips Garden staff discussed their aesthetic, their design process, and how its business is based on listening carefully to its clients. They also talked about how to bring the garden inside your home with terrariums and using herbs & veggies decoratively indoors, as well as in outdoor landscaping.

In fact, Phillips Garden and I make a great team. We share an aesthetic of ‘clean’, high-contrast and sustainable creations. We’re not into masking with embellishment, which often devolves into kitsch. (Sugar, cheese, and creamy dressings & sauces can all mask flavors & textures).

Tracy presenting at Phillips Garden 4-16-13.

When it was my turn to talk about One Dish at A Time, I related my mission to connect people to real food, my whole-foods & 5-senses aesthetic, and how I customize for clients with different needs. Since the theme was a look forward into summer, I recommended marinated salads as the perfect summer meal — fresh, locally available, inexpensive ingredients in endless combinations that are easy to make in bulk for the whole week. (Easy, that is, if you maintain a sharp knife. See below.)

Pretty in Pink: assembled salad of raw cauliflower, sliced cooked beets, kohlrabi marinated with beets and albacore tuna, on bed of romaine & spinach, drizzled with fresh mint vinaigrette (any vinaigrette will do.)

Designing with Food.  Every time you make a meal or a dish, you are designing.  What results depends on your goal and priorities: ease, quickness, comforting vs “new” tastes, nutritional value, and purpose (family dinner vs cocktail party). We’re not on a reality TV show, so don’t worry about being judged harshly.

For FGI, I started with a goal of serving a healthful, light meal that is all gluten-free and mostly vegan, and, not too much work. 

 

My design tool box consists of 

1. Whole (unprocessed) foods: beans, grains, tubers, veggies, meats, nuts, fruits and a bit of dairy. Butter & small amounts of good cheese to enhance, but not to take main stage. Same with cream and sugars. (That’s what desserts are for.)
2. Palette of flavor, texture, color and seasonality. Velvety polenta and a crunchy slaw. Soft sweet potatoes, black beans and crisp bell peppers all spiked with tart lime juice offers sweet and savory in the same bite.  Deep green kale and bright orange carrot.
3. Nutritional factors: total complementary proteins, complex carbs, fiber, and good fats. Lots and lots of fiber.

Another marinated salad, Broccoli Edamame Salad, paired with Sesame Roasted Eggplant & Black Rice. (my photo)

The great thing about whole foods is that which pleases all our 5 senses also happens to be the most nutritious!  So just go for the color and texture and it will be fine.

 

I also talked about my literal tool box: sharp knives and wide wok spatulas (to toss those marinated salads). Brandishing my $5 Asian chef’s knife, I sliced a raw beet very thinly and peeled a grapefruit. Then, I told everybody to take those cheap coarse-grained tubular sharpeners that come in the block sets and STICK ’em… in the ground as stakes for straggly seedlings. Or tents. More about knives and sharpener recommendations in my post “Tools Make the Man (Person)”.

Demoing slaw at Moving Planet event 9-24-11

To see these me in action with knives, sharpeners and boldly colored vegetables, come to the Brooklyn Center EarthFest this Sat, 1-4pm, at Brooklyn Center High School; and at East-Side St Paul Neighborhood Green Fair on April 27, 12-4pm outside City Academy school.  I’ll be demoing and handing out samples of my famous superfood Firecracker Slaw (see recipe). More on my community demos.

Thanks again to Richard Moody & Hazel Matthys of FGI-Mpls and to Phillips Garden for a lovely evening. That greenery is balm for the soul — especially now that it’s snowing again.

Get A March on Spring

Ok, I’ve finally decided March’s menus for Delivered Dish of the Week!  You can order online — for all 5 weeks, if you wish.

And, I’m bringing back meat options, which will be offered every 3-4 weeks. March 11th is Paleo Week b/c all dishes are Paleo-friendly!  [The “Paleo” diet trend emphasizes animal protein, nuts & seeds, tubers and green veggies, while discouraging grains and sugars, and, to a lesser degree, beans.]

MARCH 4 – 10
1) Curried Oat Groat/Barley Salad with Veg & Craisins (vegan, soy-free, contains gluten)
2) Lentils & Collard Greens in Smoky Paprika Sauce (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)

Pureed Parsnip Parsley Soup

MARCH 11- 17  PALEO WEEK
1) Green Parsnip Celery Soup (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)
2)  Cabbage & Roast Beet Salad in Pink Horseradish Dressing (vegan, gluten-free, contains tofu in dressing but you can indicate a no-soy option)
3) Corned Beef w/ Sauteed Green Peppers (gluten-free, soy-free)

 

MARCH 18 – 24

1) Fava Bean Zahlouk w/ Chermoula Sauce (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)

2) Cajun Rice w/ Spicy TVP (vegan, gluten-free, the TVP is soy but is optional)

March 25 – 31
1) Thai Coconut Curry w/ Squash & Chickpeas (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)
2) Kale Salad in Avocado Lime Dressing (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, paleo-friendly)

Chicken Mafe Stew with sweet potatoes and spinach (photo Nicky Patnaude).

April 1 – 7
1) West African Mafe Stew w/ red beans and organic green beans (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free; contains peanut butter)
2) Quinoa & Carrot Salad in Citrus Ginger Vinaigrette (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)
3) PALEO OPTION:  Mafe Stew w/ Chicken, sweet potato and green beans (gluten-free, soy-free; contains peanut butter)

April  8 – 14
1) Spicy Potato Salad w/ Harissa Dressing (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, paleo-friendly)
2) TBA

 

If you’re curious about how I determine these menus, see last post. For a list of past DDoW menus, see the Menu Archive. 

 

 

 

 

Decisions, Decisions!

I’m working on March’s menus for Delivered Dish of the Week and having a hard time choosing only eight dishes! I guess I’ll move some into April, then.

My process is the same as how you might plan meals at home.

First, I look at what bulk items I have in stock and want to use up: garbanzo beans, fava beans, oat groats & barley, brown rice, quinoa, tofu and TVP; left-over beets, frozen organic green beans and butternut squash. I note that I haven’t featured collards or carrots in a while.

Second, I come up with a list of dishes that include those. Here I take care to choose a wide variety of flavors, balance the carbs between whole grains, beans and root veg, and balance cold dishes with hot. Third, I make sure vegetables are in all dishes. Some dishes are heavy on protein (beans), some are heavy on carbs, and some are mostly vegetable (therefore, paleo-friendly). 

Must-buy “Mediterranean Fresh” by Joyce Goldstein

Right now I find scads of inspiration from the drool-worthy and incredibly useful cookbook Mediterranean Fresh: A Compendium of One-Plate Salad Meals and Mix-and-Match Dressings, by Joyce Goldstein. I want to eat every single thing in it!  In fact, the mix-and-match method is exactly how I cook and eat. And, I adore her repertoire of Italian, Spanish, Tunisian, Moroccan, Turkish and French dishes. They are intense and authentic. Her Moroccan Chermoula Dressing has become a staple, and is reprinted on my Recipe page.

My cooking lesson students learn this mix-and-match method hands-on. For instance, with just brown rice, a pantry of spices & herbs, plus a few vegetables and/or beans, you could make a different hearty rice dish every night of the week (and still not have exhausted the possibilities).  See Nov 2012 post “Spice is the Variety of Life” for details.

How else would I be able to come up with 24 different vegan dishes for a 3-month seasonal menu?

OK, so back to March menu options list. It includes some of my tried-and-true, and recipes from Goldstein.

Blanched Carrot & Kale Salad in Orange Ginger Vinaigrette (my recipe). Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free.

• Garbanzo, Peppers & Capers salad w/ spicy Harissa dressing  GF, V
• Fava bean Zahlouk Salad (cauliflower, chermoula, moroccan olives) — a rice version was FAB. GF, V
• Potato, Cauliflower & Artichoke Salad w/ Harissa dressing  P, GF, V
• Potato & Green Bean Salad w/ Lemony Horseradish Vinaigrette  P, GF, V
• Curried Barley/Oat Groat & Veg Salad w/ craisins (very popular)  V
• Quinoa, Carrot & Kale Salad w/ Citrus Ginger dressing (see Recipe page) GF, V
• Hearty Kale Salad (avocados + Tahini dressing) — Superfood Kitchen by Julie Morris  P, GF, V
• Jambalaya w/ spiced TVP, Garbanzo and peppers  GF, V
• Butternut Fava Bean Thai Curry  GF, V  
  
• West African Mafe Stew w/ beans, turnip greens (tomato & peanut butter sauce)   P,GF, V
  
  

  Chicken & Sweet Potato Mafe Stew w/ Spinach. Sub beans for meat.

• Braised Collards w/ Raisins & Butternut Squash  P,GF, V
• Beets w/ either Harissa or Tarator dressing (tahini + nuts)   P, GF, V
• Cauliflower Squash Red Lentil Soup — thanks Denise!   P, GF, V
• Green Parsnip Soup  — b/c I love it   P, GF, V 

  And then there’s the Paleo list featuring animal protein: 

• Corned Beef and Roasted Cabbage P, GF, V
• Cauliflower, Collards & Bacon (pasture-fed)  P, GF, V
• Sweet Potato Frittata  P, GF, V
• Salad Nicoise w/ tuna mayo dressing P, GF, V   (first ate ‘tonnato” sauce on cold beef in Florence, sigh….)

P = Paleo-friendly, ie no grains or beans
GF = Gluten-free
V = Vegan

See what I mean?!  Decisions, decisions….!

Jump Off the [Carb] Cliff

We have met the enemy. And it is us. Whether that’s the reality-TV spectacle of Congress playing chicken on the “cliff” of another financial crisis, or our modern interpretation of “Holiday” which means indulgently surrounding ourselves with cheap carbs & sugar for an entire 6 weeks instead of say, an indulgent 3 days — it is still, and always, Us. Sigh.

MC Escher’s lithograph “House of Stairs” (from Wikipedia.com)

And so January rolls around, somehow always a little sooner than expected, like recycling day. Apparently the fiscal cliff will come around again in a couple months as well. It’s like we live inside an Escher print.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. We could have averted this course. We could have sliced up our credit cards. We could have not based a fat silo of the financial banking industry on easy paper profits as well as not creating actual, punitive deterrents. I could have graciously refused that box of lovely home-made Xmas cookies, or better yet, divvied it up and given it away. I could have walked away from the sale aisle and not ended up with bags of cheap and cheaply made stocking stuffer doo-dads, which I rationalized since they were ‘gifts’.

[Yes, I am confounding these rather different things, because I personally experience them similarly, as a form of psycho-emotional (spending/ buying/ eating) and physical (sugar & carbs) addiction.]

But wait! We still can!  Let’s just jump off the cliff of addictive consumption and start over. The Carbohydrate Cliff, the Consumption Cliff, the Fiscal Cliff, you pick. 

Jumping not your thing? Use scaffolds, which works better for some. (I like scaffolds. They are a good way to reach the ground without hurting oneself as much.)

Portabello, Lentils & Spinach. GF, DF, no grain, good carbs. Dish of the Week for Jan 28th.

Focusing on the Carbohydrate Cliff, this means reducing and avoiding processed carbs & refined sugars. As my coaching/catering/ delivery clients know, I’ve been touting the path of Low & Good Carbs since I started this venture and have wholly based my menus on whole unprocessed grains, beans and veggies. Hence, I never offer any kind of pasta. And, as I meet more people interested in the Paleo diet and learn about it myself, I will be including more non-grain options.

Now to the plug. “How shall I start, Tracy?”, you are asking. Well, you can make things easier on yourself and start ordering Delivered Dish of the Week!  Healthful, slow-food vegan dishes at your doorstep!  Order online at this website.

You can also sign up for one of my hands-on, super-fun Cooking Classes. I’m teaching a Soup class on Jan 10th at Harvest Moon Co-op, classes at Valley Natural Foods in Feb & March, and, I’ll be launching classes at GIA Kitchen (dates TBA). You’ll get practice, recipes and tips galore, plus food to take home. See “Nourishing Soups” post for the link to register.

Like One Dish at A Time on Facebook!

In the meantime, I invite you to subscribe to this blog and follow my “One Dish” Facebook postings for a steady flow of inspiration and tips.

Best wishes for 2013!

Start Fresh: New Year’s and January Menus

Hoppin’ John, a traditional Southern dish served on New Year’s Day. Photo from Lanascooking.com. See her recipe/instructions.

Of course, being a fan of Black-eyed Peas the legume (not the band), I’m dishing up Hoppin’ John for New Year’s. This will be a vegan version of the ‘john’ traditionally served throughout the American South. It’s good luck to eat BEP on the first day of the New Year, therefore any kind of BEP is a MUST on New Year’s tables, from BEP salsa, “Texas caviar” or whatever. I’ll be making chef Bryant Terry’s take, from his fab book “Vegan Soul Kitchen” (his first book is The Inspired Vegan).

It’s also de rigueur to serve greens with BEP on New Year’s — and for me, on any day. [Search previous posts on Beans & Greens.] Instead of my favorite standard Sauteed Collards with Red Peppers & Raisins, I’ve decided to do a Lacinato Kale & Pomegranate Salad, a very simple dish from “SuperFood Kitchen” by Julie Morris. Why? Simply because I was able to order a lot of organic Lacinato Kale and pomegranates and want to take advantage of the texture of fresh Lacinato. I’ll serve the collards another day, very soon.

These two cookbooks provide inspiration for my upcoming winter menus, along with “Appetite for Reduction” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (The Post-punk Kitchen, Veganomicon) and “Everyday Paleo Family”by Sarah Fragoso (Everyday Paleo book and blog).

 Lots and lots of wonderful dishes and beautiful photos. For instance, from Amazon.com blurb on Vegan Soul Kitchen: “Reinterpreting popular dishes from African and Caribbean countries as well as his favorite childhood dishes, Terry reinvents African-American and Southern cuisine—capitalizing on the complex flavors of the tradition…”.

So without further ado, here are Delivered Dish of the Week (DDoW) menus for the next several weeks.

DEC 31:
1) Hoppin’ John (vegan, GF, soy-free)
2) Lacinato Kale & Pomegranate Salad (vegan, GF, soy-free)

JAN 7 DETOX WEEK:
1) Super Green Split Pea Soup (vegan, GF, soy-free). Includes collards and a secret ingredient, nori, which lends a savoriness that replaces traditional ham hock.

2) Roast Celeriac, Beets and Cabbage Salad w/ Borscht Dressing (vegan, GF; dressing contains tofu). Let me know if you wish a soy-free dressing.

Gado-gado salad with peanut dressing (photo from http://www.minaina.com)

JAN 14:
1) Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice) with or without tofu. (vegan, GF)
2) Gado Gado. Indonesian steamed vegetable salad with peanut dressing (vegan, GF, soy-free)

JAN 21:
1) Millet with Roast Rutabaga & Sweet Potatoes (vegan, GF, soy-free). Tinged with cinnamon so you can eat it for breakfast or whatever. And you should cuz it will fuel you for the day.
2) Chipotle Red Beans (vegan, GF, soy-free). Thick and hearty.

JAN 28:
1) Basil Quinoa w/ Sun-dried Tomatoes & Spinach (vegan, GF, soy-free)
2) Puttanesca Portabello & Lentils (vegan, GF, soy-free)

FEB 4:
1) Coconut Red Lentil Soup w/ Cardamom (vegan, GF, soy-free)
2) Cumin Kasha w/ Cabbage and Spiced Walnuts (vegan, GF, soy-free). Kasha is another name for Buckwheat Groats (berries). One of my favorite GF grain dishes.

FEB 11 (Chinese New Year):
1) Sesame Eggplant & Rice (vegan, GF, soy-free)
2) Spicy Broccoli & Edamame Salad (vegan, GF, contains soy)

 

ORDERING DDOW: 
You order, I deliver. I’ll be posting links to the online forms in the next couple days. See DDoW page. Btw, you can freeze all these dishes to “bank” up meals for later.

Why Didn’t the Chicken Cross the Road?

Because its feet were in China.

Last month I shared Grandma Wong’s simple pork & corn cob consomme. Like all Chinese grandmothers, she also made an excellent chicken version with chicken feet. UGH, you North Americans are thinking!  But that’s what chicken feet are good for — very good in fact.  You don’t eat them. You just boil out all the chicken essence, then discard, just like you will do with your Christmas turkey carcass.

“Using chicken feet produces a rich, bold, flavorful broth” with [nutrient-rich] gelatin” says Lori Molski of Pure Fresh Daily.com, whose soup photo I have ‘borrowed’ here below; see her recipe, among many others on the web.

Plus, Grandma Yue would add, chicken feet are cheap (she had six kids). You can get a whole bagful at the butcher counter for $2 dollars. They come frozen in bags at the Asian & Latino groceries. I’ve bought frozen chicken feet from local organic vendors too. It’s even on their product list.

Frank’s Red Hot wings eating contest (web photo).

What, I ask you, is the difference between wings and feet?! 

Other than people LOVE chicken wings and will over-pay for them routinely, especially if they come covered in bottled spicy sauce?  Chicken wings consist of bone, cartilage and nice moist bits of tendon and dark meat, covered in skin. Chicken feet consist of bone, cartilage and tendons covered in slightly thicker skin. People devour wings, gladly tearing those little proto-limbs apart with hands and teeth — the only way to eat wings, after all. And yet, they want mostly de-boned* chicken these days — dry chalky breast meat, at that — ostensibly because they can’t deal with bones…. Huh??  Enter a new creation, ‘boneless wings’, ie white breast meat processed and molded into a wing shape. (Eye roll.)

In fact, there has been such an explosion of demand for chicken wings in America that chicken producers can hardly keep up!

TIME magazine reported last February a steep rise in demand for chicken wings started three years ago.

USA Today continued:

Wings “used to be a throwaway item,” says Andy Howard, head of purchasing and product development for the Texas-based Wingstop chain. “The poultry guys couldn’t even give it away. Now prices have gone through the roof.” The primary factor driving up wing prices is the growing number of restaurants, including many national chains, that are adding wings to their offerings, says Richard Lobb, spokesman for the Washington-based chicken industry trade group the National Chicken Council.  ….  Other than for wings, the recession has slowed demand, and the overall price for chicken has been soft. “As expensive as wings are, they cannot carry the entire bird,” he says.

To offset wing prices, numerous restaurants are adding “boneless chicken wings” made of breast meat, [Larry Schaefer, founder of the Wisconsin restaurant chain Legend Larry’s] says. “The boneless wing is a much higher profit margin and it also attracts a lot more people who don’t care to eat things on bones,” he says.

TIME magazine also pointed out,

“Peak season for chicken wings is, by no small coincidence, also peak season for many sports lovers. It’s January through March, a span when the NFL Playoffs, the Super Bowl and March Madness take place. The National Chicken Council estimated that 1.25 billion chicken wings were eaten on Super Bowl Sunday, and that 23% of people who watched the game ate wings — a few, or perhaps a few dozen, each.

One interviewee I heard on NPR practically bemoaned the fact that chickens come with only 2 wings. I suppose if the GMO trend continues unopposed and hybridizing becomes ever more acceptable, eventually scientists will implant a chicken with salamander genes — which tastes like chicken anyway — to get a bird which can grow a new wing whenever it loses one. I’ll stop there.

Well, so where do all those unwanted chicken feet end up?  According to The New York Post,

The dark meat generally deemed undesirable stateside will be parceled out to countries in Asia, along with Russia and Mexico. “Most of the world actually prefers the dark meat,” said Tom Super, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council. …“The chicken feet are exported in large portions to China, where they fry and eat them with beer,” Super said.

I bet there’s a spike in fried chicken feet sales during Shanghai Sharks’ b-ball games and national badminton and football (soccer to you and me) tourneys. Well, at least they’re not being ground up and fed to herbivore cows.

Chicken Vegetable Soup made with Chicken Feet Stock (photo Lori Molski, purefreshdaily.com)

So here’s a modest proposal. Given the increasing rate of poverty and food insecurity right here in MN, maybe I should start a campaign to popularize chicken feet soup. Waste not, want not. Think demos at food banks, meals at shelters. I could get Martha Stewart to sponsor me. She grew up solidly working-middle class and spent a year in jail, so she’s likely sympathetic to the plight of tired, poor, huddling masses, yearning for nourishing home-made soup. Plus, Martha would SURELY approve of such resourcefulness. Superstar chef Mario Batali, too, since he’s responsible for reviving (pun intended) the trend of organ meats, pig jowls and such served in haute cuisine fine dining establishments.

Give chicken feet soup a try!  You have nothing to lose and only nice chicken broth to gain. Add a corn cob or two. Both my Chinese grandmas would approve.

Note: I have restrained myself from including a photo of you-know-what. You’re welcome.

* Chicken parts are de-boned. A breast or thigh is not really ‘bone-less’, as if it never had one. This language disassociates food from where it comes from, ie animals. The Chinese words for pork, beef and chicken are “pig meat”, “cow meat” and ‘chicken meat”.

Random Cooking Tips

I post daily on One Dish’s Facebook page about dishes and little tips from my teaching and cooking activities. Here are some recent ones.

RANDOM COOKING TIPS 

Teens mix a simple salad dressing into cabbage & apple slaw. (photo Nicky Patnaude)

1) At my class at Boys & Girls Club (early Nov), we made a quick salad dressing of mayo + bottled Italian vinaigrette. I decided that my usual straight vinaigrette might be too different for these teens, and besides, those two condiments were in the Boys & Girls Club refrigerator. It was fine and, at least it wasn’t sweet like typical coleslaw dressing. One could scaffold  down the fat / dairy by reducing the ratio of mayo gradually so they don’t notice so much. One could blend vinaigrette with buttermilk which has less fat than mayo (and no egg). I usually skip dairy altogether and blend vinaigrette with silken tofu for a lovely creamy VEGAN dressing or dip. People don’t even notice it has no dairy. See recipe page and scroll to the bottom for Vegan Dill /Cilantro Dressing.

Chicken Mafe Stew with sweet potatoes and spinach (photo Nicky Patnaude).

2) Two great ways to make stews thick & creamy is to add nut butter and/or a little mashed potato or squash. This is especially nice with vegan gluten-free stews, in place of dairy and flour, since the nut butters add a rich creaminess. That’s what the teens and I did with the Chicken Mafë Stew and Lentil Mafë Stew. Mafë is a simple West African sauce of tomato sauce mixed with peanut butter. We added boiled cubed sweet potatoes and frozen chopped greens (spinach or collards) to both versions.

Lentil Sweet Potato Mafe Soup (my photo).

The next day, I added water to the Lentil stew and enjoyed it as comforting hearty soup along with a big bowl of slaw, for a filling, low-carb meal. This soup will inevitably appear on Delivered Dish of the Week menus quite soon.

If you’re sensitive to peanuts, you could use almond, cashew or soy nut butter. I was given samples of soy nut butter at the Food Allergy Resource Fair last Sat, which I’m eager to try.

3) When you make a long-simmered soup, throw in frozen corn cobs to enhance and sweeten the broth. Works great for both meat and vegetarian soups. My grandma used to make a very simple consomme of pork & corn cobs (all Chinese savory soups are consommes). All she did was simmer a cheap lean cut of pork shoulder with 2 frozen corn cobs. I don’t even remember any onions in it. Hours later, we enjoyed a clear low-fat broth with wonderful flavor. Per Chinese custom, we took out the pork and corn and served that separately from the broth. White rice and a green vegetable or two rounded out this meal. We dipped small pieces of tender pork in soy sauce and ate with rice. She liked to eat the niblets off the cob, but I disdained because I found the niblets had no flavor. All the corn essence and most of the pork flavor was in the broth.

This simple soup is perfect for a crockpot. If making a vegetarian soup, use veggie broth/bouillon and add onions, carrots etc. Ten minutes before you’re ready to eat, remove the cobs and throw in frozen corn niblets and frozen or fresh spinach.

I particularly like to use sweet corn broth as stock for thick White Bean Soup with Dill.

Spice is the Variety of Life

Herbs & spices for sale in Provencal, France. (Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos)

And herbs, too. Basing my weekly offerings on our northern seasonal harvest means, yes, repeatedly using the same seasonal veg  presented in as wide a variety as I can manage. See my blog’s Menu Archive of weekly Delivered Dish of the Week for a list of dishes cooked over past 2 yrs and those dishes coming up. I try hard to keep it interesting and not repeat within 3-4 months.

2 dishes x 10 weeks =30.  Thirty. Different. Vegetarian. Utilitarian. Dishes. And not one pasta among them. (I don’t do pasta or couscous.)

How?

1) By relying on many different spices & herbs versus using many ingredients, which is expensive. I include condiments in this spice category.

2) By relying on the 40-some kinds of whole grains and beans that I have ready access to here.

(Thank you large chain, co-op and ethnic grocery stores in our fair Twin Cities!)

After all, what’s the difference between Cajun dirty rice, Mexican arrozo, Spanish paella, Chinese fried rice, Indian biryani or pulao, Middle Eastern rice pilafs, and Southeast Asian nasi goreng? The spices. Otherwise, they’re all technically the same: gluten-free, dairy-free rice dishes.

So, along with dried herbs & spices, I stock my pantry/refrigerator with interesting, intense condiments from around the world. In particular, sauces, pastes and spice mixes that I can’t or don’t want to make the effort to replicate. These make it very easy to add much variety to your repertoire. (Think curry powder and meat rubs). I don’t use them on top of finished dish, like ketchup atop a plain hotdog. I use them to flavor sauces & marinades for grains, beans, vegetables and meats. More like cooking the hotdog in ketchup & relish.

Romesco Beans ‘n Rice. Romesco is a nut and red pepper-based sauce from Catalan, Spain. (my photo). 

Jamaican Jerk-spiced Millet & Beans  (my photo).

Case in point, I have jerk seasoning mix. Therefore, a dish this week is Jamaican Jerk Beans & Rice.  Counting those examples above, that’s 8 different, cheap rice dishes I can whip together with stuff in my pantry. That’s not even including meals with plain rice, which I do actually make now and then for Chinese/Japanese/Korean entrees.

Then, substitute different whole grains or noodles for rice. Add different kinds of beans and various vegetables — we’re still talking about just the one dish, not even the whole meal. We’re still talking cheap ingredients. We’re not even yet factoring in meats! Now, DO THE MATH. 

You know you know this. I’m just reminding you.  And, since you may be free to use dairy, meat & seafood, you can make an even greater variety  than DDoW offers!

 

This week, make a trip to a co-op and get tiny bags of spices and herbs from the bulk aisle. This is much cheaper than buying bottles especially if you just want to test-drive a new one. Next, pick up 3 bottles of  sauces/pastes. Besides your local big box, Trader Joe’s and Asian grocery shops are good places for inexpensive and interesting condiments and sauces. Pastes are concentrated and therefore are a better value.

Swad brand Mint Chutney, a tangy mildly spicy Indian condiment. Try this in a sandwich or mix into plain pasta!

In my pantry: 

• bottled Dijon and grainy mustards
• tahini and peanut butter (yes, nut butters are a condiment)
• orange marmalade (also a condiment)
• bottled lemon and lime juice (must-haves)
• black molasses (great in marinades, sauces)
• mixed peppercorns
• mushroom, veggie, beef & chicken bouillon
• herb pastes /pestos (see recipe for Cilantro pistou)
• miso paste
• pureed ginger paste
• tomato paste
• Korean red pepper paste  (sweeter than you’d think)
• Moroccan Chermoula paste (see recipe)
• 

  Mint or cilantro chutney sauce

  ground Indian curry and garam masala mixes

  Chinese Black bean sauce

  Chinese hoisin sauce

  • teriyaki sauce
• Cajun spice mix
• Jamaican Jerk spice mix (bottled sauce also)Chinese black bean sauce
• Thai curry pastes (Mae-ploy brand is good-value and has more varieties, while Thai Kitchen brand’s 2 kinds are gluten-free.)
• mango chutney (a jam, really)
• Indian mint and cilantro ‘chutneys’ (those tangy green sauces served with samosas)
• peanut sauce (the one served with Vietnamese egg & spring rolls)
• sweet chilli sauce (ditto)
• Tabasco (red & green)
• Sriracha “Rooster” hot sauce
• Plus basics to make sauce or soup like veggie broth, chicken broth and coconut milk.

Now, GO FORTH and Multiply … your meals.

“I have my mother who is an Irish-Italian, and my father who is African, so I have the taste buds of an Italian and the spice of an African.” ~ musician Alicia Keys (explains why I like her)