Nice Healthy Lunch, Vegetables with Eggs

 

A half of a gorgeous orange squash had been staring at me for days from the top shelf of the refrigerator door. I felt inspiration. Did it really want to be the "nest" for an egg? 

I decided to give it a try. 

I cut up onion, squash and tomato and put it in a deep frying pan. Then on top I put two "rings" of the squash, added some oil, covered and cooked it until soft.

Finally, I put an egg in the hole, covered and cooked some more.

The rest is history.

Give it a try making it your own, different vegetables, some cheese on top.

Tell be how yours came out, your variations etc.

Enjoy

Red Lentil Mushroom Vegetable Soup

This Red Lentil Mushroom Vegetable Soup tastes unbelievably good, and I could say that I just threw a few things together. 

I served this soup to break the Tisha B'Av Fast on a very hot summer day. It was absolutely perfect and required relatively little cooking. I didn't measure all the ingredients, and one can be flexible and creative. It isn't some sort of chemistry formula.

You can see almost all of the ingredients here.

Ingredients:

• about half a cup of orange lentils (more can be used)
• 1 large onion
• 2 medium squash
• fresh garlic
• a can of mushroom pieces
• dehydrated parsley, fresh would be great
• a spoon or so of vegetable oil
• a bit of coarse salt and pepper

Directions:

• put the lentils in the pot and cover plus with boiling water. Leave covered for an hour or more
• dice up the vegetables, including garlic, then add to lentils, 
• put in pot with the mushrooms and liquid from can 
• top with the oil and some more water and parsley
• bring to boil, add salt and pepper, then simmer
• 40 minutes cooking time, unless you decide to add carrots or any other root vegetable you want in the soup. They take longer to cook.

That's it! ENJOY

Sauerkraut Beef Stew

 

We somehow found ourselves with a can of sauerkraut, and I'd been trying to figure out what to do with it. For some strange reason, I began to imagine it with beef. Just to make sure I wasn't totally crazy, I did some google searches to see if such recipes exist, not that I actually follow recipes...

The recipes I found, and there are many, weren't at all kosher. They also required "slow-cookers" which I don't have. But at last I got some reassurance that people do cook beef with canned sauerkraut. Then I asked in a facebook group that prides itself on "real world" recipes, not those awfully complicated ones. Some nice people answered. They gave recipes/cooking ideas that also use "slow-cookers" or "cover well and bake in the oven," which I didn't feel like doing. I generally simmer beef on the stove for a few hours.

Now, to be honest, we haven't eaten it yet, but it looks and smells delicious. 

Ingredients:

kilo plus of the least expensive frozen beef in the store, onion, celeriac, a few carrots, a couple of tomatoes, a can of sauerkraut, a bit of oil, coarse ground black pepper and a couple cups of water. 

Directions:

1. thaw beef
2. soak beef or awhile in water, and then throw out the water
3. put beef in pot with some oil, high heat
4. add the onions, and then turn the beef over so it browns a bit all around
5. add vegetables, sauerkraut, water and pepper, then cover
6. as soon as it starts to boil, turn down heat to slow simmer
7. simmer for at least two hours

That's it!

I plan on serving it with potatoes, cooked vegetables and salad.

"One Pot" Meal, Fish and Vegetables

There was a time when I planned on writing a cookbook. I thought of calling it "The Lazy Cook Cookbook," because I don't like complicated food preparation. This "One Pot" Meal of Fish and Vegetables served over simple cooked salad is so typical of the my sort of cooking.

This "One Pot" Meal of Fish and Vegetables can actually look quite impressive if you bake it in a nice dish. The colors can be stunning. Use any of the following ingredients or others. There's no real "right or wrong." Not all the ingredients are included in this version. Please let me know how your version came out, thanks.

Ingredients: 
fish, filet or whole fish
onion
sweet potato
squash
pumpkin
eggplant
potato
fresh garlic
cabbage
beets
zucchini
lemon or just some juice

Layer in your baking dish. To keep the fish moist, cover with onion or squash. Dribble a bit of vegetable oil before baking 190 Centigrade/380 Fahrenheit. 

Check that vegetables are soft and fish fully cooked before taking it out of the oven. Enjoy

"Sauerkraut Salad," Corona Lock-down Recipe #3

This is the third in the series of recipes I've been making with the goodies we've received in "care cartons" for senior citizens here in Shiloh during the Corona Lock-down. See, sample and share:

Cooking With Canned Beans, Corona Lock-down Recipe #1
Cooking With Canned Pineapple, "Apple-Pineapple Compote," Corona Lock-down Recipe #2

When I was putting away the cans, my head/mind kept trying to figure out what to do with them. Waste was not an option. Normally there's almost no canned food in my pantry, other than cans we received on Purim from others. But I believe that I must use these gifts, so I've been trying to figure out recipes.

Sauerkraut? Gevalt! That was never on our menu. Apparently sauerkraut is very healthy. Since simplicity is one of the hallmarks of my cooking or food preparation, I decided to add some to a salad. After half a century here in Israel, salad means minimally cucumbers and tomatoes. So I added  a few spoonfuls of sauerkraut. Yes, it's that simple.

Sauerkraut Salad

Yes, easy to prepare, healthy and surprisingly tasty, too.

Surprisingly Simple Low Carb Vegetable Soup

Today was a fast day according to the Jewish Calendar, the (delayed/postponed*) 17th of Tammuz. As is my custom, I made a vegetable soup for the fast-breaking meal. Personally, I feel better eating soup after a fast. Raw vegetables "burn" my mouth. I eat a few bowls of soup after drinking lots of water. Since the only lentils in the house were these quick-cooking orange lentils, that's what I used. They are perfect for soups, especially when you don't have much time, which was the case today. I slept away too much of the afternoon and started my cooking much later than usual. Orange lentils cook very quickly, barely ten minutes, which was perfect.

Ingredients, sorry but you don't need exact quantities

1/2 cup orange lentils
3 medium carrots
1 large onion
2 small squash (light zucchini)
generous handful of dehydrated dill
a bit of oil, coarse salt and pepper
water

Preparation

1. check lentils for stones, bugs whatever
2. cut onion rather small
3. add onion to pot with lentils and a bit of vegetable oil
4. heat on medium flame for a few minutes
5. add boiling water to cover
6. cover pot and lower flame to simmer
7. cut carrots and squash into bite size pieces
8. add to pot along with the dill, salt and pepper
9. add more water, but not too high in the pot
10. medium flame until boiling, then simmer
11. It should be ready in 15-20 minutes, though you can cook it longer. Just check if the vegetables are soft.

You can add more vegetables and seasoning in you want.

ENJOY!  And tell me how yours came out, how your varied it etcetera.

*The actual date 17th of Tammuz fell on Shabbat when we don't fast, with the exception of Yom Kippur. So the fasting took place on Sunday the 18th of Tammuz

Shavuot Menu, Keeping it Easy

Maybe someday I'll still do it. A number of years ago, I started writing a cookbook which I named:

The Lazy Cook Cookbook

For some strange reason, people told me that the title is awful. Am I the only person who looks for easy ways to prepare food? I don't like recipes that have too many steps and too many ingredients. Those of you who have seen my recipes already, must have noticed that they're pretty minimal.

Those of us who live very Jewish lives, according to halacha, Jewish Law, will be celebrating the Shavuot Holiday immediately after Shabbat. That means that since it's forbidden to do any preparation, whether cooking, setting the table or even cutting a salad on Shabbat for the Holiday, even the fanciest balabustas, Jewish housekeepers, should keep it pretty simple. The family and guests, if you have any, will want to eat as soon as possible, no doubt.

That's why I decided to serve me and my husband cream cheese, lox and salad. That's not something we have frequently or at all. I may serve a dairy vegetable kugel, which should heat up pretty easily, but I still have to make it today. With the added treat of ice cream for dessert, we should be ready on time to go to a Torah class. Neither of us learn all night anymore. We're not as young as we used to be.

For Shavuot "lunch," after synagogue, I'll make a version of my "one pot baked fish and vegetables" in advance. We don't have any guests for that meal either, so I can cook exactly what we need to eat.

Ever since we both began to "diet," I try to serve us only what we need. The only "unlimited" foods I have on the table are salad and low carbohydrate vegetables. We've never been on "starvation diets." Just the thought of one makes me gorge on forbidden foods. When we have guests, I put out more food, but many of our guests are "repeats" and have the same food preferences as we do.

I bought a couple of special cheeses as Shavuot treats, besides the ice cream. We won't starve for sure.

Soon I'll go to our local swimming pool, and then after breakfast I'll cook, Gd willing.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Shavuot Sameach To All

Diet's Not Doing Well, Lost Self-Control

This week I've barely had one day when I've stuck to my "diet," better eating regime. When offered temptation, I just can't say no.



One day a week eating what I shouldn't can work and still keep my weight down.  But this past week or so, it seems like every single day there's some sort of special/joyous occasion, irresistible food...or drink.

Even worse, my "at home pick me up" somehow morphed from cashews/dates to chocolate chips. They're all stored in the freezer. It hasn't helped that I read one of those "doubtful facts" on facebook that chocolate is a good cure for coughs. A few tiny chips are a lot less fat/sugar than squares of chocolate, but still...

Considering that I've been following the low carbohydrate eating regime for about a decade, I guess that these "little rebellions" are pretty normal. I must get myself back on the wagon, now, soon, tomorrow, after Shabbat.... whenever. I guess it will be whenever I can recharge my motivation, soon, Gd willing.



After all... tomorrow is another day

Appetite in Flux, Suddenly Needing Carbs

About a decade ago, I radically changed my eating habits, reducing carbs and grains drastically. The result was a fifteen 15 kilo, thirty 30 pound weight loss, which, I've pretty much kept off all this time. The key was to increase cooked vegetables, especially, squash, cabbage and carrots. I found them most satisfying. I made this change, which I tried not to call a "diet," because diets are temporary and I knew that the weight would pile back on with interest if I reverted back to my old eating habits.

At the time, we weren't at all in a good place financially, so I also had to find low cost foods. That's when I discovered that a couple of spoons of sesame paste, the stuff you use to make techina at home, is a fantastic and filling low-cost protein. It also keeps well for meals to go, when paired with cooked vegetables. That was my "take to work meal," sauteed onion, carrot and squash topped with sesame paste.

Recently, maybe because I have fewer scheduled things to do this year, I've begun to crave carbohydrates. I still stay away from pasta, which has always been a "control" problem with me. When I need something quick and easy to "fill" me, I take oats, not the super instant, and just add some boiling water and cover, until they are edible. I don't add anything to it, no milk, sugar, cinnamon nada. And shockingly, I've even started buying/eating the rice crackers, though I had always considered them terribly addictive. When I eat them, I follow the rule of never eating from a package. I set up a plate and only take out one or two at a time. When I need a very filling snack, I'll spread some of my sesame paste on a couple of them.

The most difficult thing in recent months, or longer, is that I can't find a breakfast that satisfies me. No matter what I prepare, whether it's a muesli of oats, goat yogurt and fruit, or an omelette with lots of vegetables, I want something more.

I used to eat the same exact breakfast pretty much every day for years, and now that just doesn't work for me. Maybe I just have to schedule in variety and have my breakfast suit pre-breakfast activities and also where I am. I usually sleep out once a week.

The Diet Saga is never over. For those of us who have been obese, or very overweight, keeping control of our weight is a lifetime sentence/job.

Simple and Delicious Baked/Roasted Chicken

Usually I buy whole fresh chickens in Rami Levi (discount supermarket) every few weeks and put them in the freezer. I really find that they taste better than frozen ones sold locally. But when I went there to stock up on Monday morning, the whole chicken had a "last day to sell" for the same day I was there. I don't buy on "last day," since there's too much a chance that they just aren't fresh enough. The worker behind the counter refused to give me fresher ones from the back, so I checked out the chicken parts and discovered that the "bottoms," which are most popular in my family, were discounted, so that's what I bought. An additional advantage was that I didn't have to cut up the whole chicken into parts. I just separated/cut the leg/drumstick of the really large ones.

Now for my Simple and Delicious Baked/Roasted Chicken recipe:
 Seasonings:

lemon slices, ground pepper, sweet paprika, garlic and cuzbara (Coriander, also known as cilantro or Chinese parsley)

Chicken, best cut into serving-size pieces, though you can use the same seasonings on a whole chicken or one cut "butterfly" or spatchcocking aka in half.

Bake uncovered in the oven about 220 degrees Centigrade (220°C × 9/5) + 32 = 428°F) with turbo fan going until it begins to look cooked, then lower to about 190 for another 10-15 minutes. It takes longer if you don't have a turbo oven. Remember that every oven is different, and different sorts of baking pans also affect temperature and cooking time.

Yes, it's that simple, and I don't add salt or any oils. Since I prepare my chicken in advance, I store the cooked chicken in containers in the refrigerator and include all of the natural juices/fats in the pan along with the chicken. I heat the chicken with the natural juices/fats, which have a lot of the flavor and richness.

Enjoy!

PS you can certainly vary the seasonings and add fresh ones, like onion, too.

Impressive, Easy Stuffed Vegetables

 One of the best and easiest dishes to prepare, if you want something "impressive," healthy and even limited in serving size is Stuffed Vegetables.

There was some chopped meat (about half a kilo, or over a pound) in the freezer I wanted to use, and I saw that some of the peppers in the fridge were getting soft, so I made a "shidduch."

I mixed the thawed meat with chopped onion, an egg, the "inside" of a couple of round squashes, about a half a cup of canned diced tomatoes and some garlic.

Then I filled/stuffed the waiting vegetables. I dabbed more diced tomatoes on top, added a bit of water and oil, covered it with foil and baked it in a hot oven. I considered it "ready" when the top looked cooked and there was liquid boiling on the bottom.

It was a great success and popular with everyone at the table.

Baked Vegetable Omelet

On Friday I had a Baked Vegetable Omelet. Since I had the oven going it seemed like a good idea to bake lunch, instead of using the stove top.

It's one of those things I couldn't even imagine doing before having my kitchen redone/renovated. I had spent the previous year without a functioning oven. Now, thank Gd, I have two turbo ovens, one for meat and the other parve, in which I can bake more than one thing at a time. Having two ovens makes a kosher kitchen very easy to cook in. We hardly eat anything dairy, so the second oven has remained parve, meaning neither meat nor dairy. I make lots of side dishes, fish, cakes and challot in it.

While vegetables for Shabbat were baking in the oven I took a smaller oven pan, covered it with baking paper, and then cut onion, squash, pumpkin, cabbage, tomato and two eggs. I topped it with a bit of vegetable oil, and then into the oven it went. Once I could see that the eggs looked cooked, I checked the vegetables with a fork, to see if they were soft. I don't pretime my cooking, since there are too many variables.

My lunch, Baked Vegetable Omelet, was delicious, and the pan didn't even get dirty.

Easy and Healthy Cucumber Salad

We ended up with too many cucumbers, so, before they could go bad, I quickly made a "Cucumber Salad." Of course I had never made one before, so I had some research to do. Cucumber Salads used to be mainstays of Israeli summers, and I started googling "Cucumber Salad."  I was surprised to discover that Google claims it's a German dish.

I read a couple of recipes, internalized the general idea and got to work.

Ingredients:
cucumbers, sliced relatively thin
red onion, also sliced relatively thin
dehydrated dill, fresh is better but I didn't have any
barely a teaspoon of light brown sugar
a couple of tablespoons of vinegar
1 tablespoon of tamari sauce
freshly squeezed lemon juice from a quarter of a lemon

Instructions:
put cucumbers, onion and dill in a bowl
add sugar and then the rest of the ingredients
let it "sit" for a few hours
eat and enjoy

The recipes I saw online were a bit more complicated. I've simplified it. You can also spice it up a bit more. 

Low-Tech "Blended" Vegetable Soup

I don't have a stick blender. I did have one many years ago, and since I didn't use it, I passed it on to one of my daughters. She loves it, and I'm pretty sure that by now, that cheap one I got as a bonus, when buying something else, has been replaced at least once.


To be honest, I can't even remember when I last used the potato-masher. It may have been decades ago.

Yesterday's Vegetable Soup was very easy to make. It's my basic one-pot recipe, which I've made before. I don't measure; there's no need to.

Ingredients

• dried peas
• onion
• garlic
• carrot
• squash
• pumpkin
• dehydrated parsley
• whatever vegetable oil you like
• coarse salt and pepper to taste
• boiling water, time-saver rather than tap

Directions

1. Check peas, put in pot, add boiling water to cover plus.
2. Cover and leave for at least an hour.
3. Cut vegetables.
4. Add vegetables and oil to pot.
5. Start cooking on high flame/heat until boiling, then lower to simmer
6. Add more boiling water, no higher than 2", two inches from top of pot. 
7. After half an hour add parsley, salt and pepper. 
8. Cook for at least 10 minutes more. Turn off flame, and let it "sit" for another 10 minutes.
9. Mash optional, and serve.

PS You can always add more vegetables or leave out the pumpkin or squash. And of course you can cook with fresh parsley. I almost added some sweet potato but wanted to cut our the carbohydrates, so added an additional squash. If you want a heartier soup, then add barley or rice to the peas.

Healthy Lunch at Herzog

Even though I usually "brown bag it," bring my own food when out, I don't when I sign up for a day of studying at Michlelet Herzog's legendary Tanach summer program during the 9 Days.

Their lunch is perfectly healthy and diet-friendly. You serve yourself and can choose fish and lots of salads. The dessert is fruit, and on the table there's water to drink.

There are a selection of pastries in various hallways, corners etc throughout the buildings along with coffee, tea and cold drinks, too. And there was fruit, too, in some of the snack places. They are included in the price. The lunch is a separate payment when you register. I consider the lunch a very good investment. The food is tasty, and the diningroom cool and comfortable. A friend and I met up to eat together since we were in the same "sitting," though taking mostly different classes.

Salad Could be a Meal

This salad could be a complete meal, if you're trying to cut down on carbohydrates. The seeds have protein. It can also be a side dish, served with any sort of meal.

The ingredients:
shredded raw beet
pumpkin seeds
fresh parsley
mushrooms
cucumber
tomato

The dressing:
olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice

This colorful and tasty salad was my contribution to our book club's pot luck dinner meeting. This month we read Rebecca. I find that the best way to make sure that there's something low carb at the meal is to bring it myself.

Easy Chicken "Fricassee"

What's Fricassee? It's generally chicken cooked in a sauce, frequently a white sauce, but Chef Google showed me links to definitions that say any sauce makes it a Fricassee.

I had a package of chicken wings and a package of chicken breast I needed to cook/use up before Passover.  So first I made a very simple sauce. I don't use/buy ready-made sauces.

Sauce Ingredients 

Photo by Y. Medad

• diced onion
• fresh garlic
• a few ripe tomatoes. OK in Israel they aren't expensive, so you can buy a can of diced tomatoes.
• 1/2 cup of wine I needed to get rid of
• a few peppercorns
• a couple of Tablespoons of Tamari sauce
• a couple of Tablespoons vegetable oil of your choice

Instructions

• saute the vegetables in the oil
• cover pan
• When the sauce is boiling strongly, add the wings and cut pieces of chicken breast.
• Cover again, and cook until chicken has become white and well cooked.

I've made it with meatballs, instead of the chicken breast. You can also add more vegetables to the sauce. We enjoyed it very much. If you try it, please tell me how it came out and how you changed it.

Nu, And How's The Diet Going?

It's certainly no secret that I have been struggling with my weight for a very log time. A number of years ago, I made it a very public diet which you can find by using the search engine of this blog by asking for "public diet," "diet saga," "low carbohydrate" and other labels.

I did manage to rid myself of about fifteen 15 kilo or thirty plus 30+ pounds, most of which has stayed off ever since, but about a third, five kilo found their way back about a year ago. When that unwanted weight had reached three kilo, I went to war, but lost the battle and gained another two kilo. But about six months ago, after the pool closed, I tried a few different tricks, about some of which I have blogged.

Over 12,000 steps is pretty rare for me.
12,000 is now very common.

The first thing I did was to make more time to walk, since the pool had closed. Three months of water exercise hadn't reduced much, except that my body looked and felt better. And even the experts say that walking is better for weight reduction than swimming. I increased my daily steps, as I could see on the pedometer.

The second thing I did to lose weight was to change my breakfast. For years I had been eating a large vegetable omelet, but not that long ago I felt terrible sugar/fruit cravings as soon as I finished it. I took that as a hint. Maybe I need to eat fruit for breakfast, since the omelets and vegetables weren't satisfying my hunger.

Now, for the past few months, I have fruit, fresh ginger and goat yogurt for breakfast. I must admit that there are days when I crave cashews afterwards, so I eat a few. It's clear that I need more protein early in the day in addition to the sugar/fructose.

Another thing I've noticed, and I do weigh myself almost daily on the same scale, is that the fewer restaurant or catered meals I eat, the lower my weight is. It goes up a bit when I've eaten out. And it's lowest when all the food I've eaten has been my own home cooking.

My weight seems to have stabilized close to where it was post-big diet, bli eyin haraa, let's not tempt the "evil eye." I do have days when I eat things I "shouldn't," but there are diet mavins who actually  say that once a week or two it is good to go off the restrictions. It stimulates the metabolism to work harder and burn calories more quickly. Also, it makes the "diet" easier to live with, and that is a major trick/technique. If you adopt a diet you find impossible to live with, you won't be able to stick to it very long.

And how is your diet going?

Fat, Fat Go Away

I guess that my diet saga will never truly end. I have very slowly gotten off about five kilo, 11 pounds after they had been vanished in a rather successful diet a few years ago. But I know well that they can return in an instant. Because it has happened.

Walking has helped. I've raised my weekly step count. That is until the flu stopped me. But at least I didn't gain weight with the flu. I still haven't returned to my pre-flu walking.

I caught the pedometer stop count davka at such a crazy number.

The hardest thing is to get a nicer looking body. I lost a bit of weight, but I am still very overweight and growing older. OK good news that I'm still alive. Thank Gd

Yummy Cauliflower Casserole/Kugel

Last week at our Book Bliss/Book Club meeting, one of my friends brought a totally irresistible Cauliflower Casserole/Kugel for our potluck dinner. I asked her for the recipe. She told me that she makes two versions, one dairy and the other parve, which is lactose free and good for vegetarians who eat eggs. The photos here are of the parve (lactose free) version, which she made a couple of days later.

She very kindly sent me her recipe. It is like many of mine; you don't have to be exact over every quantity.

Parve Cauliflower Casserole

1 800 gram bag frozen cauliflower, defrosted or lightly steamed, (I would use fresh)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbl. flour

2 Tbl. oil

1/2 Tbl. salt

some pepper

1/2 cup mayonaise

3-4 eggs

Mix all together. Place in baking pan. Can sprinkle garlic powder or granules on top. Bake at 180 degrees C for around 45 minutes.

FOR DAIRY VERSION:

Double amount of flour and oil, use between 500 to 750 grams cottage cheese instead of mayonnaise. Can add a handful of grated yellow cheese to filling and sprinkled on top.