Roasted New Potatoes with Garden Herbs and Garlic

You should smell my kitchen when these potatoes are cooking! Our continuing yield of new potatoes has me inspired to revisit good ole tried and true recipes.  This particular adaptation comes from one of our regional favourite cookbooks, Annie Somerville's Fields of Greens. Published in 1993, this is one of those books that continues to provide insipiration for cooking vegetarian.  Annie's restaurant, Greens, is still celebrated in San Francisco for innovative cuisine.  Located in Fort Mason, Greens restaurant is situated right on the bay and the views are exquisite!  Let's see, amazing food and amazing views....  this restaurant is a precious gem.

Cut potatoes are seasoned with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss with your hands.  Place ten or so unpeeled garlic cloves around the potatoes and top with fresh herbs.  This roast pan includes fresh rosemary, sage, and oregano.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Even before baking, this smells yummy.

Fresh thyme is also a great herb to add to this mix.

The finished product.  

With fresh new potatoes, a dollop of olive oil, fresh herbs, and dashes of salt and pepper, there is nothing artificial.  Remove the roasted garlic and herbs before serving.  Top with fresh herbs for presentation.

This recipe features just over two pounds of potatoes.  Adding in about two tablespoons of olive oil, the entire recipe contains approximately 1050 calories.  Divide by six and that is 175 calories per serving.  Divide the recipe by eight servings, and that is only 130 calories each.  This recipe provides a substantial source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, copper, and niacin.

- Kim Fielding

White Beans with Bacon

Our same white bean recipe with a little added bonus!

In our previous post, I outlined the basics of making white beans.  To jazz them up for a second or third meal, we add bacon and shallots to this version.  Granted there are already onions in the basic recipe, they melt away during cooking for the most part.

Serves:  8
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  20 minutes

4 cups pre-cooked white beans
4 slabs bacon, preferably organic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped

Cook the bacon and set aside.  Keep the residual fat in the pan.

Pat as much grease off as possible.

In the same skillet, add the chopped shallots and cook in the bacon fat. 

Sautee until tender and slightly golden.

Add cooked bacon and shallots to 4 cups Basic White Beans.  Voila!  That is it.

Nutritionally speaking, bacon adds sodium and fat to the recipe so if you are salt-sensitive, forgo this recipe.  Flavor-wise, this is a yummy way to extend the beans and adds more protein to make a meal.  Left-over vegetables may be added such as cooked chopped zucchini, peppers, fennel, eggplant, root vegetables, and tomatoes to name a few.  Use what is fresh and in season.   Per serving, bacon adds about 40 calories to the Basic White Bean Recipe. 

Don't waste food.  Beans act as a wonderful camoflage for using up left-over veggies.

- Kim Fielding

Quick Carrots with Parsley

A colorful addition to any meal.

Carrots, with their year-round availability, are a versatile vegetable in any chef's repertoire.  Added as a base to soups and stews, served raw, or as a salad or side dish, they compliment every season's cuisine.  On this particularly warm day, I briefly simmered the carrot coins until crisp tender in the morning then refrigerated them.  Later that day, I added a simple vinaigrette and topped with fresh chopped parsley.  Cilantro would do nicely as well.  That is it!

serves:  5               prep and cook time:  15 minutes

5 large carrots, cut into coins across the diagonal
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley, chopped

Cook the carrots until just tender, about 2-3 minutes.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Whisk together oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to make a light vinaigrette.  Just before serving, toss the carrots with the dressing and top with parsley.

Calories per serving is approximately 100 calories with 2 g fiber and almost 100% RDA of vitamin A.

The carrots complimented a menu consisting of grilled chicken, quinoa salad, and a tossed green salad.

Note:  a teaspoon of Dijon mustard may be added to the dressing to give it a thicker texture and a little bit of zip!

- Kim Fielding

Chicken Broth

Freshly made chicken broth in this version has no salt,
and is flavored with our favorite herbs and vegetables.

The amazing thing about buying a whole chicken is all the ways that you can use it.  This five-pound bird gave me eight cups of delicious broth and eight cups of shredded chicken which I promptly froze in airtight containers for later suppers.  Previously, I published a chicken noodle soup recipe which is an obvious way to use the broth and chicken.  Son #3 is a whiz at making crepes so that is one way to use up the chicken.  Enchiladas is another.  Martha Stewart has an amazing chicken enchilada recipe with spinach, onions, herbs, and sour cream that is to die for.  Chicken salad made a variety of ways such as curried, Waldorf style, or for a sandwich, offers another option.  Boil up some pasta and toss in cooked chicken and jack cheese for a quick meal for kids.  You get the idea.  Versatile and inexpensive, boiling an entire chicken is something every cook should know about.  In the following recipe, all ingredients are approximate.  Use your judgement.  For example, if you don't like carrots, don't add them in.

prep and cook time:  about 1-1/2 hours

10-12 cups water, to cover chicken in the pot
2 large celery stalks, rinsed and sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 shallots, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1 whole chicken
Big handful of rinsed and crudely chopped parsley
A couple twists of ground pepper
Salt to taste, optional

a mix of chopped vegetables is the beginning

Add all ingredients to a large stockpot. If you are salt sensitive, don't add the salt.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for at least an hour or until the chicken is cooked through.  I don't usually cover this while it is cooking and add more water as needed to cover the chicken.  However, other friends put a lid on their pot and the cooking time seems to move along faster.  It is your choice.  The smells in the kitchen are very homey either way.

not exactly pretty, but underneath it all is tender, moist chicken meat

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the broth and let cool.  When cool enough to handle, discard the bones and skin and package the chicken for future meals.

I purchased this mesh sieve from Target, but any similar one will do

Pour the broth through a fine sieve into a large bowl to remove remaining small chicken pieces and vegetable debris.  If you prefer a clear broth, pour it through cook's gauze to filter out the finer residues.

Freeze portions of the broth as you desire and use up fresh broth within five days. 

If anyone has ideas for using left-over chicken, let us know! 

- Kim Fielding

Hot and Sour Broth with Mushrooms

Aromatic broth, mushrooms, and green onions enhance
tofu, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots.

I love hot and sour soup.  Whenever we eat Chinese food, I end up finishing everyone's soup off for them.  After taking a look at a variety of recipes over the years, I never quite found one that was easy or quick enough to prepare.  Until recently.  Fellow blogger Stephanie O'Dea has a slow cooker website that features her version of Hot and Sour Soup.  The men all liked it as do I.  Even with a couple of variations, this is a super simple recipe.

serves:  6                     prep time:  10 minute
cook time:  4-5 hours on high, 8-9 hours on low

I bought this crockpot at Costco decades ago.  Nowadays,
they are more sophisticated.  But this one still works great.

4 - 5 cups water
8 ounces firm tofu, cubed
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
7-8 fresh shitakes, stems removed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons low sodium Tamari (soy sauce)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Better than Boullion broth base
1 can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
1 can sliced water chestnuts. drained
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Green onion, sliced, for garnish

Place all ingredients in a crockpot except the green onions.  Put the lid on and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.  If you like soup that is more sour, add more rice wine vinegar.  If you like hot, then add more hot peppers.  This soup can accomodate other ingredients if you wish to experiment - egg, seaweed, Scriacha sauce or Sambal Oleek, and even shredded chicken.  Serve with sliced scallions on top.

Each cup of soup provides approximately 85 calories, 20% of your daily requirement for riboflavin, 18% of iron needs, about 40% for copper, and about 295 g sodium.

- Kim Fielding

Egg in a Green Nest

A slice of whole grain toast or a side of roasted potatoes
would compliment this meal nicely.  Earthy greens with an egg -
talk about power foods!

Dark leafy greens are a regular part of our diet.  My men all like them as does Zub the tortoise.  The three sons in college are all about quick, easy, and filling foods whenever they decide to spend time in the kitchen.  This meal was crafted on the fly with them in mind and what was available in the garden and in the fridge.

For each serving, start with a handful of greens - in this instance we used about a cup each of garden arugula and baby spinach.  Saute the greens with a small amount of olive oil (teaspoon or two) in a skillet until barely tender.

Once the greens soften, pile them in the middle of your pan and create a well to crack your egg into.  Cover the skillet with a lid so that the egg can cook through to your liking.  When done, scoop out with a spatula and plate.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Hubby likes hot sauce on his which is delicious.  You can also add a hint of garlic powder to the greens when cooking.

Calories for one egg with greens is about 160 and is a great start on your day's requirements for most vitamins.

- Kim Fielding