Photos..Food Glorious Food! Delivery Prep

The menu for tomorrow's deliveries is under the heading Greens, not a side dish any more ( 2 blogs back)..enjoy the photos...

Blanched Swiss chard..cook the stems in boiling water then pour the whole thing over the leaves in colander and allow to drain

Very thick mushroom soup, base of milk and potatoes, nutmeg, garlic, vegetable stock and Portobello's

Sweet Potato(yam) & Swiss Chard soup

Caldo Verde,,hearty soup with chickpeas, kale and potatoes

The vegetable and chard filling for the strudels

Sauteing kale stems and garlic for the kale and dried tomato gratin

own dried and packed in olive oil tomatoes, chopped for kale gratin

own grown ripe heirloom dwarf eggplants for the lasagne

previous 2 the kale and tomato gratin base with added sherry and sour cream to be baked at clients home,after addition of grated cheese and fresh breadcrumbs

The eggplant lasagne to be baked at client's home

Tomato-kale Gratin to be completed tomorrow

PHOTO'S :The secret to a long and happy life..might be in Your pantry now

If they were priced at $30-$50 per pound and people understood the health benefits they would be "flying off the shelves" at markets worldwide.

As it is they are at most $1-5 per pound and are found everywhere in the world..even stored in the Arctics.
They are Beans, Legumes, Pulses, seeds from pods......

The humble bean is the most sustainable way of producing digestible protein without harmful fat; tons of complex B vitamins, and minerals inc. iron, manganese & zinc, that the body especially brain & nervous system need; soluble fiber for successful body evacuation; they also target and remove toxins from the body naturally.

They are a potent medicine in lowering cholesterol, 1/2 cup cooked beans reduces cholesterol by 10%, regulate blood sugar levels so they are great for any diabetic diet.

They are found and used on every continent.

They helped feed  the migration of the masses across America and in Europe during the Rome invasion.
During the mid 19th century The American Cavalry and most cowboys lived on a diet made of beans and some meat and vegetables 


But not used or taken advantage of enough...they are great to eat and properly prepared can be easy to digest.
They have the the one food group that mankind has relied on in every world farming crisis and wars...for good reason!

 Ideally they should be eaten at least 2 times a week, and eaten in larger portions  than the animal protein in any meal.


Although they are dried, they do not keep well forever, and depending on the age of your beans, they may need to be soaked & cooked a little longer than any recipe says. ( Black eyed peas and in some recipes, lentils do not need to be pre-soaked..whole orange lentils DO need soaking).

The best bet is to sort out the beans..look for broken beans and small pebbles which should be removed..then wash well in running cold water, and soak for 12 hours ( overnight)..next day rinse well, and place in a pot of cold water, bring to boil and strain off..then proceed to any recipe..this will cut out the uncomfortable GAS element almost 75%.!
Do not salt or season the beans during this process or it will toughen the skins.

it is more economical and nutritionally wise to soak & cook your own beans, rather than buying canned as then one controls the whole process and knows what is in them.

1 cup of dried beans = 2 cups cooked beans

Some ideas to change up your BEAN intake:
Beans can be used whole in soups, stews; mashed into pancakes, "burgers", "meat loaves"; processed into dips, sauces, spreads, drinks, dressings.

I make some really great Chickpea pancakes just using roasted chickpea flour imported from India,( Ideally it has to be the roasted chickpea flour for the depth of flavor..and once mixed has to be left for 4 hours before use to allow to "bloom") with spices, seeds and just plain fresh cold water..they are wonderful.

Garlic, cooked chickpeas, sea salt, tahini, olive oil,( cumin -optional) lemon juice = hommus, tahini sauce, tahini dressing, falafal.


Cooked lentils ( French-blue green, beige, green), walnuts, mushrooms, garlic, onions,carrots, parsley, breadcrumbs, sherry = Pate, spread, stuffing for vegetables, "burgers","meatloaf"

Cooked broad beans, fava beans, butter beans, lemon juice, olive oil, olives, fresh herbs, onions, garlic, = salad, appetizers, topping for sandwiches, pasta

Red & Black beans..these cannot be sprouted/eaten raw as they contain toxins that are poisonous to humans, and must be soaked and cooked well, onions, carrots, root veggies, sherry/red wine/nutritional yeast, celery, = sauces, soups, stews, chili's, tortilla fillings, wrap fillings, pasta sauces.

Green peas( whole or split), onions, garlic, celery, carrots, fresh peas, avocado, mint =  a soothing cool weather soup that can be finished with cream or yogurt,and economical too as 1 avocado feeds 4-6,  can also made more concentrated into patties.

Traditionally ( French Classic) bay laurel leaves are cooked with any beans, in South America a wild herb called epizote ( episote) is used and is thought to prevent gas..this can be purchased dry, but is very twig like and should be put in a sachet ( cheese cloth and tied with long piece of string) so it can be removed at end of cooking.

Also for all you trying to lose or maintain your weight and you are avoiding carbohydrates, do not ignore beans they are packed with complex carbs that your body needs, and you will LOSE weight by eating more beans, and  experience far less mood swings.

Because of all the recent conflicting negative health reports I prefer NOT to use soy beans, there are better beans  to choose, that are not as expensive nor controversial.


Enjoy having a GOOD LIFE

Sprouted over 5 days beans..sprouting increases nutritional benefit 100%

split peas, orange lentils and split green peas

dried whole green peas

beige lentils

black eyed peas, do not need soaking

Cranberry beans..named for color of the skins, when cooked they turn pink

Fava beans

Adzuki beans..good for weightloss

Split fava  beas good for thickening soups and stews

Black eyed pea stew

Chickpea pancake mix with added paprkia

the cooked chickpea pancake..gluten, egg and dairy free

mixed beans soaking before sprouting

soaked and rinsed yellow split peas

Dosas..fermented lentils and brown rice panckes

cooked Lima beans also known as Butter Beans

cooked chickpeas

these 2 various dips using cooked beans..top one is Lima Bean  & fresh mint, lower is traditional hommus  with chickpeas and lemon juice, tahini

Greens not just a side vegetable anymore...Happy World Vegetarian Day!

For generations we, in the West have been serving Greens as "just another vegetable" alongside our slab of protein with a starch.
Coming into the 21st Century we are learning to better appreciate the wealth of goodness, health and nutrition that these "Wonder" vegetables posses.

They are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals..and when consumed in Season..are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.

Buy your greens as fresh as possible...the stalks on kale and chard should be crisp & crunchy; the heads of cabbages should be tight and firm, and the outer leaves pliable, not dry., broccoli should be dark green without any signs of yellowing with tight flower heads..cauliflower  should be tight and the green leaves are edible (did you know cauliflower are naturally green but the growers cover the heads with the leaves to keep the sun out and therby maintain the white vegetables?).
Bring home your vegetables and immediately plunge them into cold fresh water, using a weight if necessary ( a dinner plate with an unopened can should be enough to weight them down), leave them covered for 30 mins.
Rinse and well drain, the either use or allow to air dry in a cool dark room.
Store in the bottom of a refrigerator ( do not cut up until you are ready to cook them as some vitamins/minerals will be lost)

This week I am preparing greens in 3 ways:
1) In a glorious Portuguese soup..Caldo Verde...rich vegetable stock with garlic & smoked paprika, chickpeas, red potatoes & kale..one of the original "meal in a bowl" soups
A sweet potato and Swiss chard soup, this version hails from the Old American South and probably originated from Africa ( and came to America via the slave trade) -it would then have been made then with field greens, okra, peanuts, hot chilies, sweet potatoes).

2) A Kale and sun dried tomato Gratin...blanched tender kale sauteed with onions, own grown sun dried tomatoes, fresh rosemary and basil, fresh tomatoes, layered between grated Cheddar cheese and topped with bread crumbs..to be baked at the client's home..very deep flavorful dish.


3) Swiss Chard and Cheese strudels ...blanched chard (stems and leaves) with potatoes and carrots, grated cheese baked in puff pastry...reminds me so much of the markets in France.


Greens blanched,
 do not chop until they have been blanched and drained well, this helps prevent loss of  vitamins and minerals (wilted quickly in boiling salted water, for a few minutes, then plunged into cold, fresh  water and drained well) added to any dish make that dish far more nutritious and filling and more experimenting with recipes I think is called for.
They are fantastic, wilted and drained then added to olive oil &/or butter and sauteed with garlic or spices, then tossed with fresh cooked pasta..top with grated cheese &/or grated nutmeg.

Add sauteed wilted greens to omelette's, or to any pot pie

Also, in California I don't see cauliflower used to it's full advantage and will be showcasing this fantastic vegetable in upcoming months..again it is NOT just for covering in a cheese sauce and baking.

Several local stores/restaurants have been offering kale raw as a salad, but I know that curly kale is quite tough ( & defeats the purpose of encouraging one to eat more greens, raw) and in this dish it is better to use the more tender dinosaur kale which is almost purple-green.

I hope this info helps you introduce more dark green veggies into your diet..they are coming  into season now in the West and are at their Nutritional Best..take advantage of this fact!
With tougher greens like Curly Kale, their addition to vegetable dishes almost adds the texture of meat.