Let's talk greens

Hi my friends,

We all know that dark leafy greens are oh so good for us, yet most of us don't eat enough of them.  I find that I really don't know what to do with them - except for spinach.  I found a wonderful recipe for collard greens that I'd like to share.  The great thing about collards right now is that they are cheap, cheap, cheap.  You can get them for $1 a bag at Publix this week.  The recipe as stated serves many as a side dish (8 or so) and costs about $2 to make.  This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen.

Ingredient list

• 1/2 lb smoked meat (I used ham hocks)  You can leave the meat out if you are vegetarian
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp hot sauce (adjust to taste)
• 1 bag collard greens - or one large bunch
• 1 tbsp butter (I don't use this)

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add the smoked meat, all seasonings, and hot sauce.  Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.  If you are not using the meat - you can probably just simmer for 10 minutes or so.
If using bagged greens, you don't need to do anything to them but remove the larger stem pieces.  If using fresh unpackaged greens you will have to strip the leaves off the stems (expect for the tender leaves in the middle of the bunch - those don't need to be stripped).  Stack the greens, roll them together, and slice them.
Add the greens to your pot and add the butter.  Cook for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste before serving and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Happy eatting
K

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Hi my friends,

I hope you are enjoying your holiday.  My friend, Cindy, gave this recipe to me today and I made it for lunch.  It is so good and inexpensive to make.  As the recipe is stated below - it cost about $12.  It serves 8 as a full meal and can stretch to 10-12 if you serve a salad and bread on the side.  I used low fat or fat free soups (where available) and 50% reduced sodium chicken stock.  I don't normally cook with canned soups but this sounded so delish, I had to try it.

Your ingredient list:

• 10.5 oz cans of each of the following; cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, cream of celery, and cheddar cheese soups.
• 15 oz reduced sodium or homemade chicken broth (I actually used about one cup more than that).
• 7 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes (low sodium if you can).
• 1/2 cup chunky salsa
• 4 1/2 oz can diced green chilies
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste (since you are using canned soup - you really won't need any additional salt)
• 2 chicken breast halves cooked and chopped (I bought a ready made rotisserie chicken and used 1/2 of it).

Place all of your ingredients (except for the chicken) in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.  Add the chopped chicken and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.  I cut flour tortillas into strips and briefly fried them for garnish.  I served the soup this way; spoon soup into bowls, top with a tsp of sour cream, lay some fried tortilla strips on top of the sour cream, and then sprinkle the top with shredded cheddar.

It looks good and tastes great.

Happy eating.
K

Portion control

Hi my fellow foodies,

Sorry for my long absence, as many of you know I was sick for a while.  Today I want to share a little bit of information regarding serving sizes.  We live in a country where obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are on the rise.  A good part of the reason for that is lack of portion control.  I'm not scolding - I'm guilty of it.  I am overweight and have heart disease.

Today, I began looking up some "special" holiday recipes. In particular, I was looking up steak and eggs for brunch on Christmas and Rib Roast for New Year's.  Here are just 2 examples of what I found.  They are both from extremely trusted (by everyone) recipe sources.

One of the steak and egg recipes I look at included (2) 10-14 oz T-bone steaks - this was meant to serve 2.  Really???  A serving of beef is 3 oz.  So this recipe should really serve 7-9 people (at least the steak portion).

Right this moment I am looking at a recipe in a magazine.  It is a recipe for garlic and herb crusted prime rib with brown butter sauce.  It sounds really yummy - but their serving size with eventually kill you.  It calls for an 8 lb bone-in prime rib roast (serves 8).  Okay - even when taking away the weight of the bones - according to the 3 oz rule - this should really serve something like 25.

I don't know about you, but I think that when we go to internationally trusted sources for recipes - we should not have to do a bunch of homework in order to make it "real". 

Happy holidays and happy eating.
K