Citrusy, Minty Rhubarb Sorbet

A generous coworker gave me a stash of rhubarb from her fruit CSA.  I had no idea what to do with it but I knew it wasn't going to be strawberry-rhubarb pie.  The last pie I made wilted into mush in the fridge with to takers.

Enter Google and Deborah Madison's recipe for Cooking Light.  So easy and no complicated ingredients.  (of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't swap or alter at least one ingredient.)

When it was finished, the kid looked at green flecks in something I called "It's like ice cream." and gave me the eye.  "I need a taste before you give me a bowl."  I gave him a taste, half-hoping he would hate it so I could keep all this minty, citrusy yum for myself.  Verdict: Arms straight up in a V with the declaration: You should open a super yummy sorbet store and just sell this. *gush* I love this kid.

Citrusy Rhubarb Sorbet

Ingredients

·   

·         4 cups chopped rhubarb (about 1 1/4 pounds)

·         1 cup water

·         2/3 cup sugar 

·         *** I added ¼ cup of almond milk ***

·         1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 large oranges)  *** I used grapefruit juice ***

·         Mint sprigs (optional) *** I put a handful of mint into the blender ***

·         Orange rind strips (optional) 

Preparation

1.     1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Cool slightly. Place rhubarb mixture in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour into a bowl, and refrigerate for 2 hours or until thoroughly chilled. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Place a freezer-safe bowl in a freezer for 10 minutes. Spoon sorbet into bowl; cover and freeze for 4 hours or until firm. Garnish with mint and rind, if desired.

Note:

You can vary this simple dessert by using fresh tangerine, red grapefruit, or blood orange juice in place of the orange juice.

Original recipe Deborah Madison, Cooking Light 
MAY 2008

*****This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Vegan Bean Loaf

Vegan Bean Loaf

Submitted by: HEYBEEPBEEP on Spark People

Minutes to Prepare: 15

Minutes to Cook: 45

Ingredients

2 TB water or broth for steam-frying
One onion, diced
One large garlic clove, minced
One large carrot, peeled and grated
2 cups cooked black beans
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed
1/2 cup cooked oatmeal
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 TB soy sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).

Grind the into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sauté any vegetables you've chosen in the water or broth for steam-frying until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.

Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.

Cold leftover slices of make a great sandwich filling.


Number of Servings: 6

I threw red peppers in as well. 

What the Farmer Brought, First CSA 2014

What the Farmer Brought

First CSA of the 2014 season.  I joined a new CSA this summer.  This one has a drop off at work eliminating my beautiful veggies from sitting in a hot car trunk on over scheduled weekends. 

This year my veggies are coming from Katchkie Farms in Kinderhook, NY.  They are a year-round organic farm owned by a NYC based catering company (Great Performances). 

http://katchkiefarm.com And the farm manager is Farmer Bob which reminds me of my own Uncle Bob who owns the family farm in PA. 

The first haul is gorgeously green.  Red Russian Kale, Red Radishes, White Turnips, Two heads of lettuce, and a big bunch of bok choi.  The site listed broccoli rabe as sometimes happens with CSA I got two heads of lettuce and no rabe. (No complaints here! The lettuce is lovely.) 

A coworker who belonged last year said this farm produces a lot of leafy greens.  I am excited for the salads of summer! First salad of the summer: lettuce, red pepper and thousand island with chick'n sliders and a couple of Alex's onion rings baked.  I burnt my hand on the cast iron pan for those rings but they were almost worth the pain. 

Breakfast got a dose of veggies as well. 

Toasted English Muffin with lightly sautéed beet greens and a go veggie slice with spicy mayo. 

I would post a picture but the go veggie slices don't melt very well and have a very plastic sheen to them. They were still tasty! 

Big Changes

I started this blog when because something felt off in my life. I did not intend my Big Do Over to be filled with big changes. But through a series of small life adjustments, I  have found myself living a very different life than the one that I started here. Over the last two years the following has happened:

I took a master composting class and learned a ton about healthy worm bins and composting. I have maintained a mostly vegan relationship with food. I survived the very painful process of selling a house I never loved. I developed an unhealthy hatred of real estate agents. I lost 45 pounds.  I ended a 13 year marriage in with the most amicable, grown-up divorce imaginable.  I broke-up with my best friend of 18 years; she was the first friend I made when I moved to NYC. I gained 30 pounds. 

At times I feel unrecognizable and at times I feel more authentically me than ever. I hope to start writing more as a way to find me more and drop the not-me habits I have picked up over the years. If you are reading this, wish me luck. 

Chew, chew, chew your food

In the "what did I google today?" front, chewing your food.

"Nigel, don't you chew your food?" is one of my favorite lines from a mid-90s movie obsession called "Sleep with Me".  For years, I would quote that movie to which no one....No One....knew what the heck I was talking about.  So here I am again, decades later, thinking: Nigel, don't you chew your food?

But I am not the only one thinking about chewing my food these days. 

The nutritionist on quick and dirty tips says the average person chews each bite, 5-7 times. 
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/how-chewing-affects-nutrition  The recommendations is somewhere between 20-50. 

I have been aiming for 40 chews per bite. (Warning: TMI to follow) I have noticed that the closer I get to 40, the more homogeneous the texture the food becomes.  The yummy market fresh salad from Pret that I love?  When I chew more thoroughly, I am no longer swallowing: red onions, beets, chickpeas and arugula? Instead of counting, because really:  That is just annoying, I am aiming for that mushy texture before I swallow. 

I would love if this extra level of consciousness helped me lose a pants size.  But even more: I am hoping that my iron levels will go up. 

Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS wrote this:

How Chewing Affects Digestion

Digestion does not begin in the stomach but in your mouth—and chewing your food more thoroughly can improve digestion.  First, digestive enzymes in your saliva break down starches into simple sugars.  In fact, if you chew on a saltine cracker or a bit of bread long enough, it will actually start to taste sweet.  By chewing for one minute, up to half of the starch may be digested before you even swallow! 

Your saliva also contains some fat digesting enzymes that help begin the process of breaking down the fats in your food. The act of chewing food—including the stimulation of your taste and smell receptors—also triggers the production of stomach acid and pancreatic juices further along the digestive tract, so that the system is primed for the whole digestive sequence.

Finally, chewing well breaks the food down into smaller pieces, so when you swallow the food, it mixes more thoroughly with stomach acid. Stomach acid starts to break down food proteins into smaller, more digestible molecules and also kills bacteria and other pathogens that may be in your food. The more surface area is exposed to stomach acid, the more effectively it can do its job.  

- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/how-chewing-affects-nutrition#sthash.PXGkZKum.dpuf

There is also an awesome article about it here:

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/an-overachieving-underchewer

It is working

January 27, 2012...it is really starting to work! There are very few identifiable scraps left in here.  It is still really moist but it is very much "dirt-like". 

I am posting this much later....but this is about 4 weeks into the bin...with additions each week. 

I was really amazed at this point...but I didn't know what was to come...

Spring in February!

First bulbs in 2012....wonder what they will look like next year after a layer of compost has worked its way into the soil.