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You'll Never Miss the Meat: Conscious Cook Cookbook

FitSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:30:09 -0700

We know that eating less meat is a good thing - it reduces your carbon footprint, lowers your grocery bill, and makes sense for your heart. But does it taste good? Vegetarian diets are often associated with a bland menu of tofu, sprouts, and brown rice day after day. Chef to the stars Tal Ronnen sets out to bust this myth in his new cookbook, The Conscious Cook - Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat ($20).

The cookbook is divided into sections by meal courses that include starters, soups, entrées, and desserts. I'm most excited about the entire section devoted to sandwiches because of all the new lunches I get to try. There's a nice intro that covers Ronnen's must haves in the kitchen - from what items he always has in his pantry (agave nectar) to the chef tools he can't live without (food processor). Ronnen touches on the importance of a vegan diet but does it without making you feel like you're choking on someone else's politics. It's obvious the chef's main focus is making food that tastes exceptional.

To hear more about The Conscious Cook and see a killer quinoa recipe, read more.

Each of the 75 recipes features a protein and ranges from the comforting - free-form ravioli with tofu ricotta and arugula pesto - to the sophisticated - peppercorn-encrusted portobello fillets with yellow tomato bearnaise and mashed potatoes. And every recipe has an inspiring photo accompanying it.

What's great about this cookbook is its range and its approach to meatless cooking. No main dish ever feels like a side dish, which can happen a lot in vegan and vegetarian cooking. Instead, each meal is made to be complete and satisfying. There are recipes for a quick or casual meal, but if you want to pull out all the stops, there are recipes for that too. As an added nice touch, there are seasonally driven dinner menus included at the end.

Quinoa, Avocado, and Sweet Potato Timbale With Roasted Tomatillo Dressing
The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat

Ingredients

For the quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, cooked in vegetable stock according to the package directions and cooled to room temperature
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the sweet potatoes:
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the dressing:
2 tomatillos in olive oil, skins removed
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon light agave nectar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the tortilla strips:
Canola oil
2 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

To serve:
2 avocados, diced
Microgreens

You'll also need 4 salad plates, a food processor, and a 3-inch ring mold.

Directions
1. Make the quinoa: Place all the of the quinoa ingredients in a medium bowl and toss to combine.
2. Make the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, or until soft in the middle and lightly browned. Be careful not to let the sweet potatoes burn.
3. Make the dressing: Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, toss the tomatillos with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, add vinegar, cilantro, and agave nectar, and pulse to combine. With the motor running, pour in the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a thin stream. Continue blending until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Make the tortilla strips: Pour 2 inches of oil into a small, heavy pot and heat until the oil shimmers. Add the tortilla strips and fry until crisp and browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with the Cajun seasoning.
5. Assemble the salads: Place a 3-inch ring mold in the center of one of the 4 salad plates. Fill with 1/4 of the quinoa mixture and press down with a spoon to pack the mold, smoothing the top. Place 1/4 of the sweet potato pieces on top of the quinoa and press down gently. Top with 1/4 of the avocado and press down gently. Carefully remove the mold. Repeat on the remaining salad plates.
6. Carefully place 2 tortilla strips parallel to each other about 1 inch apart on top of each timbale. Place 2 more tortilla strips perpendicular on top of those. Top the timbales with the microgreens and drizzle the dressing around the timbales.

Makes 4 servings
Prep time: 45 minutes

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Tots Take a More Culinary Approach to Cooking

babysugar — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:00:53 -0700

Kids are no longer just mixing up sweet treats with mommy in the kitchen. A recent New York Times article reported that modern tots are taking a more culinary approach to cooking.

According to the article:

"In the last few years, the children’s cookbook market has moved beyond all-encompassing tomes from Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens. Increasingly customized by age, books now teach toddlers to make lettuce wraps and older children to make entire meals. Some predict that cookbooks for teenagers will be the next break-out category."

To see a few new children’s cookbooks and to learn about this trend, read more.

The popularity of bringing up babe as a sous chef is evidenced by the expanding line of goods for wee ones at Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table, where mini spatulas, safe peelers and attire can be purchased. It seems each seasonal catalog also highlights a pricey product for the under ten set.

We discussed the importance of inviting your children in the kitchen from educational and cultural standpoints. But, do you think it's worth the extra effort when it comes to your family? Check out a few of the newer cookbooks and let us know if you like sharing your chef's hat with your children.

Source

Interview with Annabel Karmel: Show Me the Veggies

LilSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0700

Recently, bookshelves have become inundated with cookbooks that are designed to hide healthy food in your child’s meals.

From Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious to Missy Chase Lapine’s The Sneaky Chef, the books advocate pureeing fruits and vegetables and mixing them into recipes to ensure that children get all of their nutrients.

As the author of 15 books on getting children to eat healthy, fresh food, we were sure to ask Annabel Karmel about this trend. To see what she said, read more.

While she says it's OK to hide healthy food on occasion, she believes that disguising food makes children think there is something wrong with it. So she opts for recipes that present the healthy ingredients in recipes children already like.

Annabel Karmel: Bringing Up Baby in the Kitchen

LilSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:00:12 -0700

If your kids are anything like mine, they love to offer their lil helping hands in the kitchen.

Cookbook author Annabel Karmel believes that introducing children to cooking helps them learn healthy food habits as well as counting, weighing, mixing and whisking.

Her recently released read, The Toddler Cookbook, provides parents with two-dozen fun and simple recipes to make with their offspring and features step-by-step instructions.

To hear Annabel’s thoughts on cooking with kids and get another tasty recipe, read more.

Weekend Reading: Skinny B*tch In the Kitch

FitSugar — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0700

You know how much I enjoyed reading Skinny Bitch, so I was happy to see that these spunky authors came out with a cookbook called Skinny Bitch In the Kitch ($13.45).

The first book gave us pointers on how not to eat crap so we can start looking fabulous, and now this book is showing us how to make foods that are good for us as well as being filling and oh-so tasty. These authors understand your cravings. They say that, "Life without lasagna isn't a life worth living; chocolate cake is vital to our survival; and no one can live without mac 'n cheese - no one." Their book includes recipes for every craving you can think of: Bitchin' Breakfasts, PMS (Pissy Mood Snacks), Comfort Cookin', Hearty Ass Sandwiches, Sassy Soups and Stews, and Happy Endings (Desserts). There are a ton of easy recipes in this book, so get your skinny butt to the bookstore and start cooking.

Winnie the Ewww

GiggleSugar — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:30:00 -0700

Authored by Freud?

Source

South Beach Diet: Taste of Summer Cookbook

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 03:00:00 -0700

Most diet cookbooks don't really appeal to me. The recipes seem to gimmicky, difficult to make or look as if they would produce tasteless food. The new South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook is definitely different. Its pages are filled with inspiring recipes, 150 of them to be exact. When flipping through it there were so many recipes I wanted to make and that is a good sign.

There are recipes for breakfast, soups (yes, soup is a great summer food), salads, sides, sea food and more. Dr. Agatston, creator of the South Beach Diet, writes in the introduction that since we have such easy access to "garden- and market fresh ingredients" during the summer months it is a great time to cook and healthy foods. All the fresh produce means nutritious phytonutrients that will protect your health.

I think this cookbook would be great not only for someone following the South Beach diet, but it's also great for people looking to cook healthy, low fat meals. Although the recipes are labeled according to the South Beach Phases, the majority of the recipes seem worthy of making, some even for guests. The only bone I have to pick with the content is in the dessert section. Some recipes call for "fat free whipped topping," and this essentially means some version of Cool Whip Free which contains partially hydrogenated palm oil which I avoid even in small doses. Other desserts, however, rely on sugar substitutes to provide sweetness which is not nearly as unhealthy and can satisfy one's sweet tooth.

Buy the "Taste of Summer Cookbook" for $19.11 from Amazon.

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats

YumSugar — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:01:18 -0700

Today is National Hunger Awareness Day and so I thought I'd tell you about this great book called Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. It's a fascinating coffee table book with portraits of families, surrounded by the food they eat during the course of a week. It's amazingly thought-provoking (compare the Californian family to say, the family in Bhutan or Chad) and wonderfully interesting. There are 30 families in 24 countries, and each of them are profiled with a small story, a full shopping list (with prices) and a family recipe. If you get a chance, I highly recommend that you spend some time with it. It's available for $40, but you can probably find it at your local library. I've included some of the photos in the book, click on each one for more information (including location and money spent on food per week).

View 8 Photos ›

Images from Hungry Planet courtesy of Time in Partnership with CNN

Biscotti with the Handstand Kids

YumSugar — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:28:19 -0700

A month or two ago, Yvette Garfield told me about a new cookbook she was (sorry for the pun, but wait for it...) "cooking up." It is a series of ethnic cookbooks aimed towards children called Handstand Kids.

Fast forward to last week and a copy of Handstand Kids Italian Cookbook was waiting on my desk. Actually make that a decorative box with a smart spiral bound book (with a nice sealed cover) and a little chef's hat (shorter than the average chef's hat and meant for kids - although it did fit my rather large noggin). The concept was created by Yvette Garfield, a law school graduate with a background in international children's rights and is designed to introduce children to other cultures and volunteer opportunities. In general, I really like the concept and think it would make a great gift. The artwork is vibrant, the characters diverse (ethnicities and eating habits) and there is even a section that tells you the ingredients in both English and Italian. The recipes, however, seem a bit complex (mom & dad, get ready to help out!). Granted, there is a difficulty level on each recipe, but flavored popcorn and homemade biscotti get the same rating, so I'd take it with a grain of salt. I also question the font choice, it's "fun" but seems like it could be a little hard to read.

Overall, it's an interesting concept and a series worth keeping an eye on. This is the first book in the set and I'm sure there will be some tweaks along the way. Available now for $28 +S&H.

To check out the Handstand Kid's biscotti recipe, read more

Bella Biscotti Cookies
From Handstand Kids Italian Cookbook

Makes about 20 biscotti cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp of salt (sale)
2 tsps of baking powder
1 1/4 cups sugar (zucchero), plus more for sprinkling
5 eggs (uova)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 cup of toasted whole almonds
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of butter (burro)

Tools:
Baking Sheet
Cutting Board
Large Bowl
Measuring Cup and Spoon
Serrated Knife
Small Bowl
Wooden Spoon

Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Grease a large baking sheet with a light coat of burro and then sprinkle the sheet with flour.
Mix the flour, zucchero, baking powder and sale together in the large bowl and make a hole in the middle of the mixture.
Add the 4 uovo, cinnamon, and vanilla into the hole and use the wooden spoon to stir it thoroughly.
Add the almonds evenly throughout the dough and using your hands make the dough into 2 logs.
Place each log onto the baking sheet, leaving 4 inches between the edges and the dough.
Beat 1 uovo in the small bowl and use the pastry brush to coat the logs with the uovo.
Bake the logs in the oven for 15 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown color.
Allow the logs to cool for 10 minutes and place them on the cutting board and cut them diagonally into 2 inch slices.
Arrange the slices back onto the baking sheet so that the cut sides are facing up and bake for another 5 minutes.
Cool the slices and bite into the crunchy goodness!

Alternative: Add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the dough. Also, melt chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute and dip the ends of the cooled biscotti into the mixture. Refrigerate dipped biscotti for 1 hour and enjoy!

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It's a Fact - Indie Rock Hearts Food Too

YumSugar — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 06:58:31 -0700

I guess it's official, indie rock and food do go hand in hand.

Last month I told you about Dinner With the Band (a webshow featuring Sam Mason and touring indie bands) and now I'm telling you about a new book called I Like Food, Food Tastes Good by food writer Kara Zuaro. The book, which comes out today (and has got me and my gal BuzzSugar all excited), is a compilation of recipes from over 100 indie raaawwwk bands, including: Belle & Sebastian, Devendra Banhart, Interpol, The Mountain Goats, The Decemberists, They Might Be Giants and (my current favorite experimental folk quartet) Grizzly Bear (with a killer sounding pecan pie - recipe after the jump).

The best part is that Zuaro has left the recipes as the artists submitted them (I hear that Banhart's is exactly what you expect). Plus, the NYC release parties sound like they'd be a blast to check out too.

For those of us that can't make the release party, we'll have to make do with making the recipes on our own. To get started, have a look at Grizzly Bear's Pecan Pie, read more

Grizzly Bear Pecan Pie by Ed’s Droste’s Mom
From I Like Food, Food Tastes Good

Like heavily sedated woodland sprites, the three members of Grizzly Bear play forest folk that is as magical as it is mellow. In their spare compositions, breathy vocals and subtle electronic squeaks melt between clarinet tones and wind chimes. It’s fitting that lead singer Ed Droste submitted this simple and homey dessert, which turns out to be far greater than the sum of its parts.

1 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 cup corn syrup (look for the Karo brand-it has a blue label)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag of pecans
1 prepared pie shell (or graham-cracker crust)
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

1) Take dark brown sugar and stick of butter and melt in saucepan.
2) Take off heat and add syrup.
3) In a bowl, mix eggs with mixer or whisk, if need be.
4) Add eggs and vanilla to cooled butter mixture.
5) Pour into prepared pie shell and put pecans on top.
6) Bake in preheated 350° oven until center is not all gooey-about 45 minutes.

Vague instructions I know, but that is what my mom said, and every time I make it, it is so good. I get my mom to make it every time I come home. Haha. So yum. Needs vanilla ice cream on top.

Makes one pie.

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Source: Time Out New York