Mark Bittman on Brown Rice

I know my posts have been a little on the heavy side lately. Sorry, I went off on a tangent that I had to get out of my system. This quick video is a great way to cook brown rice. Also, the great thing about brown rice is that (besides being a whole grain) you can cook a ton of it at once, keep it in the refrigerator, and mix it a bunch of different ways.

I think we may have a 5 ways here:

• w/ black beans, chopped raw onions, curry powder, paprika, & turmeric
• w/ chopped carrots, onions, and peas, salt & pepper (like in the video)
• w/ chopped tomato, basil, cucumber, feta cheese, salt & pepper
• w/ sweet potato, black beans, butter, & garamasala spice
• w/ olive oil and chopped herbs de provence (marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage & fennel)

Happy Weekend!

5 Ways: Fruit Salad

Its been a little while since I've written a 5 ways. I just realized that its been a while since I've cooked/prepared much of anything. Since I decided to increase the amount of raw food I'm eating, and Lisa has been preparing my food, I haven't really needed to prepare much. The one thing that I have been making though is fruit salad.

I always remember having fruit salad around when we were growing up. It's actually a brilliantly simple way to get kids to eat more fruit. Cut it up! And it doesn't just work on kids it works on adults too. If you don't believe me, put a bowl of whole fruit on your kitchen table/counter and right next to it put a bowl of fruit salad. Just watch and see which one gets eaten out of. It's quite amazing actually.

This morning I made a salad with pineapple, mango, banana, and fresh orange juice. It was delicious! Here's another great thing about fruit salad. You can make a huge batch and divie it up into Tupperware so you can bring it with you to work. Each of the fruit salads below make's 4 good sized servings.

• 1 pineapple
• 2 mango
• 4 bananas
• juice of 1 orange

• 1 pkt blueberries
• 1 pkt black berries
• 1 pkt strawberries
• 1 pkt raspberries
• 4 bananas

• 2 oranges
• 2 grapefruit
• 1 pineapple
• optional: shredded coconut 

• 8 kiwi
• 1 bunch green grapes
• 1 pkt blueberries

• 1 cantaloupe melon
• 1 honeydew melon
• 1 bunch green grapes
• mint leaves, chopped

You can add in toppings too like sliced almonds, toasted oats, shredded coconut, fresh herbs, or chia seeds. Just make it as easy as possible to get the fruit into your mouth. Your body will thank you. Fruit salad is a great way to start the morning because it is super light yet filling, full of fiber, and highly nutritious.

What are your favorite fruit salad combos?

5 Ways: Pizza

I don't know about where you live, but here in New Jersey we are fortunate enough to have THE BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD!! Unfortunately, that means we are eating white flour and loads of cheese. So I decided to make my own "healthy" pizza. Instead of loads of cheese, I used a variety of veggies and even one with fruit!

Pizza Dough:

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. organic bread flour
• 1 pkt. yeast
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1/4 c. water + enough to make a ball of dough

1. Put the water, sugar, and yeast in bowl and mix.
2. After 5 minutes, add in flour, salt, and start mixing.
3. Add in water until a firm ball is formed. (shouldn't need more than 1 cup)
4. Let rise for 45 min.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
6. Sprinkle pan or stone with cornmeal.
7. Roll out out dough and brush with olive oil.
8. Add toppings & bake for 30 minutes.

Toppings 5 Ways:

• goat cheese, sliced green apples, onions, and rosemary (pictured above)
• fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, eggplant & fresh basil
• feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, bacon, & fresh thyme
• shredded mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, onions, artichokes & sun-dried tomatoes
• Muenster cheese, tomatoes, diced Brussels sprouts, broccoli, & garlic

After brushing the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and layer on the cheese and/or tomatoes, then the toppings, then more cheese! By adding all of the vegetable toppings on you will find that you will use less cheese. Enjoy!!!

What is your favorite way to eat pizza?

5 Ways: Oatmeal

There is nothing better on a cold morning than a warm bowl of oatmeal. Since I am naturally such a cold person (by cold I mean constantly freezing where my leg hairs grow back extra fast after I shave), it pains me to eat cold cereal during the winter. I don't eat the junky flavored kinds that are loaded with sugar and chemicals either...I make it myself with Irish or steel-cut oats which cook equally as fast.

Oatmeal is also great because you can literally make it like 1000 different ways. These are some of my favorites:

1. almonds & shredded coconut
2. bananas & crushed walnuts
3. garamasala spice & raisins (or just plain cinnamon)
4. apples, brown sugar, & pecans
5. pumpkin puree & chopped Medjool dates

A quick word about Medjool dates. I like regular dates (you can buy them at most food stores) but last night I tried a Medjool date at my father's house and it was like a completely different experience. Medjool dates are softer and have a smoother texture...it was like a flavor explosion in my mouth! I just don't know why people eat the regular kind.

Anyway, back to oatmeal. It is a whole grain. It's quick. It's cheap. Eat it!

5 Ways: Quiche

One of my goals this year is to complete my book. I started with the idea of writing a book a little over a year ago. Last year I spent a lot of time researching, cooking, and cleaning up what I ate. Throughout this process, the scope of what I want to turn into a book changed a few times because I wasn't satisfied. I always felt like my idea wasn't complete. Well nothing is ever really complete because everyday I learn something new, however, I feel now that I have a "mostly complete" idea.

In a nutshell, I am going to be putting together a step-by-step guide on how to de-junk your diet while still being able to eat very tasty, healthy, and seasonal food. It is about what to throw away, what to buy when, and how to make easy, relatively fast meals. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are the basis of this (and the newest addition) which is why I think it is so important to write a guide. How many of you can take butternut squash and turn it into 5 completely different tasting meals? How many of you know what to do with cranberries (besides cranberry sauce)? How many of you know why apples are so abundant in the fall? and why it is so important that we eat tons of them while they are ripe?

Working out weekly meal plans including mostly seasonal fruits and vegetables is what I am going to be working on, because fruits and vegetables are available at certain times of the year for a reason, and that is when we should be eating them- when they are in season. Plus it is cheaper to eat seasonally, and easier to eat locally because farmer's markets are becoming more and more popular.

So expect a lot of 5 Ways in the future.

This first one is quiche. This is just as easy as making an omelet, but tastier. The key is to either find a pie shell with healthy ingredients or make your own. Last weekend I had to make 3 of them for my BF's sister-in-law's baby shower so I bought some at Whole Foods.

Pre-made pie crusts should be made with real ingredients, unbleached flour (whole wheat would be best), and butter or palm shortening. If it is made with "vegetable shortening" it's no good- it's made with soy shortening.


Pie Crust (makes 2 shells or a shell w/ a top)

• 2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 stick organic butter, room temp.
• 1/2 cold water

1. In food processor (or with a pastry blender or fork), put dry ingredients & butter.
2. Slowly add in cold water until mix turns into a dough ball. Then stop even if you have water left over.
3. TIP: wiping the counter top with a wet sponge will prevent the wax paper from slipping.
4. Roll the dough in between flowered wax paper sheets. 

pastry blender

Making a quiche is simple...buy or make the shells, beat 8-9 eggs per shell, add the toppings to the eggs, fill shells, bake in 350 degree oven for 55 minutes. That's it!

Asparagus 

Spinach & Feta

The BF's Sun-dried Tomato & Eggplant

Broccoli & Cheddar

(source)

Goat Cheese & Artichoke

(Source)

What is your favorite quiche to make?