Recipes | Be Nutritious

Pumpkin Muffins

In the middle of October pumpkin season is at its peak. No matter where you go, everything is decorated with a vibrant orange color and pumpkin lanterns glow in storefronts. Saying goodbye to summer can be quite depressing but Halloween season with its omnipresent pumpkin really soothes down pain associated with cold weather. Markets are full of delicious pumpkin treats such as pumpkin pie or muffins. Pumpkin muffins or cupcakes are probably the most common Halloween treats and definitely my favorite treats to make. Beautifully colored and spiced with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg make a fantastic after dinner snack or breakfast. As a matter of fact I like to eat my muffins either as an after breakfast snack or in the afternoon with a cup of hot latte. No matter what time of a day you like to treat yourself with sweets, you’ll be very rewarded because they taste and look scrumptious.

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Lentil Salad with Lime Cilantro Dressing

Lately I haven’t been cooking very much. We’ve been gong through some changes (read moving) and cooking definitely wasn’t on the top of my priorities. Also soon I am going home to visit my family in Poland. It will be a long visit, almost 2 months so you can expect me to be cooking a lot more often and it’s very likely that I will be focusing on regional cuisine. I hope together with my mommy and daddy, we will prepare some amazing Eastern European specialties. I can’t wait, I’m going to have a wonderful time

If you ever noticed, I often cook dishes from different parts of the world but what I actually like the most is to adjust my food habits to season and the region. Since I’m still in Miami my cooking is also very Miami like, cilantro, avocado and lime, ingredients that are ubiquitous in any tropical and sub tropical region. In addition to exotic flavors I often eat cold food in here. Most of the year it is so hot and humid that salads are just a perfect dish and if you’ll make salad with grains or beans it becomes a satisfying one course meal. I absolutely adore lentils so I used them in a salad recipe. Why not? Who said that lentils are good only in a soup or with a rice! They’re also great served cold. I used French lentils which are fabulous for salads because they hold their shape after cooking but if you can’t find them in your supermarket, use just regular brown lentils.

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Coconut Squash Curry

You know that Fall is in its fullest when you walk into the supermarket and you’re bombarded with pumpkins and winter squashes hiding in every corner. Not just supermarkets get carried away with pumpkins, cafeterias and bakeries offer all kinds of pumpkin products such as famous Starbucks pumpkin spiced latte or pumpkin muffins. I love that season and I absolutely adore all the fruits autumn has to offer. It would be such a waste not to feast on all of these delightful, colorful winter squashes.

Pumpkin, butternut and acorn squash are fantastic vegetables (or fruits, I’m not sure) that can be eaten either sweet or savory. They’re fabulous in desserts such as pies, as well as in savory soups or casseroles. My coconut squash curry is something in between savory and sweet. Both coconut milk and squash add sweetness while vegetable stock and spices such as ginger, garlic and chili add sharp flavor.

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Mushroom Pasta Bake

In many European countries, September is known as a mushroom month. Usually by the end of August, it gets slightly colder and rain falls much more often. That’s the time when forest becomes a charming place full of wild mushrooms. My parent’s house is in close proximity to the forest so sometimes I would wake up early in the morning and go into the woods to pick wild mushrooms and believe me, nothing can compare to the taste of fresh wild mushrooms. We would constantly be finding porcini, chanterelle and many more mushrooms which English names don’t even exist. It is probably one of those things that I miss the most in American kitchen, fresh wild mushrooms which are extremely hard to find in US supermarkets and generally cost fortune.

I wish my dish could be made with flavorful wild mushrooms but I am not willing to spend $100 just on mushrooms and to prepare this dish you definitely need a lot of them. I decided to compromise my taste buds a bit and used cremini mushrooms which are much cheaper than wild mushrooms but still have much more flavor than simple white, button mushroom. Eventually shitake might be used but I didn’t want any Asian flavors in my dish, I was aiming towards traditional American family meal.

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Rajas Veggie Tacos

Few weeks ago I went to this amazing Taqueria in Miami where they serve lovely tacos. The place is called Mercadito, it’s tiny and menu is very small but the food is scrumptious. They serve one of the best Guacamole I have ever had a chance to try and the tastiest veggie tacos. Veggie tacos are prepared with poblano peppers, onions and cream. Poblano peppers are first roasted, then peeled and sauted together with onions and creama Mexicana. Both peppers and onions are cut into strips hence the name rajas which in Spanish simply means strips. In my version I added yellow zucchini and roasted it with peppers. Zucchini adds a bit of sweetness and color. It also slightly lowers down the level of heat from poblano peppers. Even if you don’t want to eat vegetarian tacos, it might be a great base for any meat, fish or tofu tacos.

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Chakchouka (Shakshouka)

I saw this dish for the first time in some random cookbook I was browsing. It was named “Eggs Flamenco” and indeed, one might think that it’s a Spanish dish because it resembles Basque dish Piperade. However almost the same dish, known as Chakchouka is very popular in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Marroco and Middle East. The difference is that Piperade may or may not be prepared with an egg, while Chakchouka is always prepared with an egg. According to wikipedia, the dish is now also popular in Israel where it was brought by North African Jewish people. It is usually eaten for breakfast with a slice of bread but it might be also wonderful for lunch or supper.

The ingredients are only for one person (me of course), but the dish can easily be cooked in a larger skillet with more ingredients. Just make two, three or four wells for the egg, separated from each other so the eggs won’t be touching one another.

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Quinoa with Roasted Peppers and Onions

Roasted peppers have been one of my favorite things to eat ever since I remember. I think it’s absolutely amazing how the flavor of peppers changes from raw state to roasted. It becomes completely different vegetable. I was never fond of raw peppers but sauteing and even more roasting, changes their flavor and texture into a tender, heavenly deliciousness that melts in your mouth. In my home we never used to buy these popular roasted peppers in a jar. My parents always used to make their own, with a garlic clove which is a fabulously matching component for roasted peppers. We would simply eat them on a rustic bread or in a salad, and the flavored olive oil from roasted peppers was perfect to use in salad dressings.

I love using roasted peppers in my recipes. They add so much flavor, like in the similar recipe I made some time ago for orzo with roasted peppers and arugula. Today I made my salad with quinoa, because quinoa is excellent in grain salads but it can be easily substituted for rice or any small pasta type.

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Tempeh Masala

I have to admit, that even though I don’t eat meat, I don’t really eat much of vegetarian protein such as tempeh. I prefer eggs, beans and my favorite lentils. Today however I wanted to do an exception and make an Indian curry dish with tempeh. Tempeh fits perfectly to that type of dishes because it absorbs all the flavors and masala is a very flavorful dish with slightly sweet undertone and creamy sauce. The addition of potatoes is a perfect match because they don’t overpower the taste and the starch from potatoes makes the sauce even creamier.

Masala usually is made with chicken breast and is extremely popular in Britain where Indian cuisine became widespread. Some sources claim that it actually originated in England not India and is the most known Indian dish in the West. I make my masala witha spice mix known as garam masala. You can buy ready mix in most of the supermarkets or make your own. To make your own garam masala spice mix, simply grind and mix spices such as cinnamon, ground ginger, peppercorns, cardamon, coriander seeds, cumin, nutmeg, cloves and/or star anise. In this recipe I’m using many other spices besides garam masala but if you don’t have all of these spices, don’t worry, you can simply add more garam masala mixed with turmeric or curry powder (turmeric is one of the ingredients in curry powder). There is no one, single recipe for masala, every chef makes it differently and adds different spices. Just remember to always add chili or chili powder and ginger which is ubiquitous in Indian cooking. Another thing is that masala is often made with coconut milk, so if you wish you can omit the sugar and substitute heavy cream for coconut milk.

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Swiss Chard Tart

Swiss chard is such a marvelous vegetable. Not only it looks beautiful with its colorful stalks but it also is extraordinarily healthy. Just one cup of raw, uncooked chard gives you 4 g of fiber, over 700% of daily requirement for vitamin K, 100% for vitamin A, 50% for vitamin C, almost 40% for magnesium, 27% for potassium and 23% for Iron. It really is exceptionally lot for just 1 cup. It also gives you a decent 15% of Calcium but since it contains oxalic acid, the nutrient is not as easily accessible because oxalic acid binds to Calcium preventing it from being fully absorbed. It is the case for most of the green, leafy vegetables like spinach and collard greens and when eaten in excess, it might cause kidney stones so you should watch your intake of green leafy vegetables if you think you’re prone to kidney stones. One school says that cooking helps neutralize oxalic acid but there really is no definite answer to that. Oxalic acid also binds to Iron preventing it from being absorbed but by consuming vitamin C together with chard, you greatly improve Iron absorption. It is especially very important for vegetarians to take vitamin C every time we eat non-heme Iron from vegetables, because we usually get less Iron than meat eaters and we are more prone to anemia.

Ok, that’s enough of the scientific talk. Lets get to the cooking part. The tart I made is with whole wheat flour but if you want to achieve smoother texture, use regular all-purpose or pastry flour. I used whole wheat because I wanted my tart to have more fiber, besides I never had tart on a whole wheat dough and wanted to give it a try.

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Polenta with Crispy Tofu Milanese

Isn’t this funny that people often think that just because you’re vegetarian, you can’t have a “normal” meal? They assume that all you eat is lettuce, fruits and beans. Well not exactly, there’s much more to that especially today when every supermarket offers a wide array of vegetarian products such as textured meat and soy burgers. I never was a big fan of textured, fake meat and the only products of that type I buy, are veggie burgers and soy sausages. I rather buy plain, firm tofu and add to my recipes. It comes out much cheaper and you can make almost anything out of tofu. It’s extremely versatile. It can be used it in stir-fries, stews, burgers or as an egg replacer in egg dishes.

Today I prepared an all Italian dish, polenta with crispy tofu Milanese which obviously mimics veal Milanese. My version is vegan but if you’re not on a vegan diet, feel free to add grated parmesan to breadcrumbs and cream or butter to polenta. Also you might be concerned that I used 1/2 Tbsp of salt but trust me, it’s mixed with flour for breading so you end up with no more than 1/2 tsp of salt per portion. Remember that tofu needs either salt or soy sauce, otherwise it will taste awfully bland.

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