Superfoods Month: Salmon with fruit salsa by Maura Ammenheuser

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Today's Superfood: Salmon
Protein, omega-3, vitamin D, vitamin B12, tryptophan, selenium, vitamin B3

Erika says: Look at this gorgeous salmon! It's from Maura Ammenheuser, a stay-at-home mom of two, personal trainer and writer/editor. She currently leads the Momarama parenting blog for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.

Salmon is fish with benefits.

It’s packed with Omega-3 fatty acids, a scary-sounding term for very healthy fat. Omega-3s offer anti-inflammatory qualities that can help combat joint pain and osteoporosis, improve blood-sugar control and even reduce aspects of depression and bipolar disorder.

A 3-ounce portion has only about 140 calories, but a whopping 23 grams of protein. A hefty 6-ounce portion still contains only about 360 calories and 39 grams of protein. On the taste side, salmon’s a versatile fish that can be cooked many ways. And it boasts a beautiful orange-pink color, always pretty on the plate.

Because I’m a lazy cook, I gravitate toward food that’s easy and fast. Fish in general fits the bill. Salmon’s strong taste is an asset. Its intensity means it stands up to all kinds of seasonings, which means I can throw a salmon dinner together with whatever I have on hand and never worry about obscure ingredients or complicated preparation. I’ve cooked salmon with everything from lemon and dill to curry to bottled barbecue sauce. It all works.

My favorite way to prepare salmon, however, is topping it with fruit salsa. (The salsa can be made a day or two in advance, making this meal even faster.) I prefer grilling the fish with a generous dollop of fruit salsa, wrapping the whole thing in foil packets and sliding it onto the grill. But if you don’t own a grill, or it’s too unpleasant to cook outdoors in the winter snow or rain, this technique is easily tweaked for baking in the oven.

I follow recipes slavishly, but when I’m whipping up a dinner of my own inspiration I don’t bother measuring portions or taking notes. So this is more guideline than recipe. Alter ingredients and quantities according to taste. The only thing you should obsess about is making sure you don’t overcook the fish.

Click here for all the recipes in this Superfoods series

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Salmon with fruit salsa

by Maura Ammenheuser January-30-2012

A sweet-tart fruit salsa contrasts beautifully with the rich texture of salmon. Save any leftover salsa for tomorrow's chips.

Ingredients

• 4 4-ounce pieces salmon filet or steak, wild or farmed
• 2 fresh mangos, peeled and diced small
• 1/2 to 1 cup canned or fresh pineapple, diced small
• 1 fresh peach, peeled and diced small
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, juice and some of the pulp (do not substitute bottled lime juice)
• 1 fresh jalapeno, minced
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• dash of ground coriander (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a shallow baking dish with a thin layer of cooking spray.Place the fish flat in the pan in a single layer. Spray a mist of oil over the fish. Top with a thick dose of fruit salsa.Bake, keeping a close eye on the fish. Baking time varies with the thickness of the fish. My photo shows a very large, thick salmon steak (about two inches) that took 25 minutes to cook. Thinner slices could be done in less than 15 minutes. To judge whether the fish is done, poke its thickest portion with a fork. If the fish still appears dark pink and wet in the middle, it’s not ready. If it falls easily into tender flakes, it’s perfect; get it out of the oven right now. If the fish produces chalky white somewhat tough flakes, you’ve overcooked it. Make a note of how long it was in the oven and check on it sooner next time.If you prefer grilling, make this fish outdoors in a foil packet rather than in the oven. Tear a portion of foil large enough to accommodate a single piece of fish; spray the foil, place one piece of fish on it, spray the top of the fish, then add the salsa. Cover with a separate piece of foil and crimp the foil edges together to form a packet. Carefully place the packets on a preheated grill over medium-low heat, placing them top (salsa-side) down. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, then carefully turn them so the top/salsa side now faces up. Cook another 4 to 5 minutes, then use one packet as your test case.Remove one packet from the grill, partially open the foil packet and test the fish with a fork to see if it’s done. The moment the fish flakes easily, take it off the grill. Serve by placing one packet on each person’s plate. The fish inside will be a bit messy from the fruit juices so it’s easier to just plop the packets on the plates rather than trying to remove the fish from the packets and make them pretty on a serving platter. They’ll likely fall apart under the spatula, anyway.You can use this recipe with almost any type of fish. It’s especially good with halibut fillets. Just adjust the cooking time according to the thickness of the fish. Again, keep testing the fish with a fork and remove from the heat when it flakes easily. The fish-and-fruit-salsa combo pairs nicely with nearly any kind of rice plus blanched or lightly roasted green beans or asparagus.Note: Using mango, pineapple and peach is a best-case scenario. It’s perfectly okay to use only one or two of these fruits rather than all three; adjust the amount to get enough salsa. Tossing a teensy bit of chopped orange or grapefruit in there probably won’t hurt anything, either. The world won’t end if you skip the bell pepper or onion, either. But don’t expect this to taste like salsa if you omit the cilantro and jalapeno.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 4 servings

Postcard from Oregon: Truffle cooking class with chef Rocky Maselli

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Chef Rocky Maselli's polpettone (Italian meatloaf) with black Oregon truffles. The chef mixed ground veal, ground pork, diced mortadella and diced black Oregon truffles, then wrapped the mixture around soft-boiled eggs. The whole thing was wrapped in parchment paper, baked, then sliced so each piece had egg in the center. Shaved white Oregon truffles finished off each serving.

The cooking class was part of the Oregon Truffle Festival in Eugene.

Superfoods Month: Veggie cilantro mint quinoa pilaf from Yumkid

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Today's Superfood: Quinoa
Protein, iron, manganese, magnesium, folate, phosphorus


Erika says: I can't wait to make this delicious quinoa pilaf from Rashmi Nigam. Rashmi started Yumkid.com to chronicle her experiences feeding her children healthy, flavorful meals.

"How are you doing on rice? How often are you eating it now?” are questions my doctor always asks. After hearing my response she always says, “You know you need to cut rice down or the ‘insulin storage bins’ along with belly fat will never go away. ” My response has always been “It is my comfort food! Asking me to give up rice is like asking an Italian to give up pasta!”

Over the years I have cut down my consumption of white rice both in terms of frequency and quantity. I now eat it once every other day instead of at every meal. That’s been a big adjustment for me. I struggled because I love my Indian lentils and curries and they taste PERFECT with white rice. There’s something soulful about eating ‘dal-chawal’ (lentils and rice) as the Indian folks say it.

This struggle became easier a few months ago when I started adding quinoa to my diet. Quinoa is high in protein, calcium, and iron, and is a great source of omega acids. The first time I made quinoa, it was a disaster. I didn’t wash it properly and it tasted so soapy. Yes, definitely wash your quinoa properly to remove the saponin, a resin-like substance that is extremely bitter. After several attempts, I have come to embrace quinoa in our home.

This recipe is one of my favorite ways to eat quinoa. I love the green color of this healthy dish! It is perfect for any meal, and a great addition to your school lunch repertoire. It is mildly fragrant but full of flavor. Both the quinoa and the vegetables are crunchy. It is my family’s favorite way to eat quinoa!

Click here to see all the recipes in this Superfoods Month series

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Veggie cilantro mint quinoa pilaf

by Rashmi Nigam January-25-2012

A tasty, healthy mix of vegetables and quinoa with Indian spices. Cilantro and mint add bright, fresh notes.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves (stems included)
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger
• 3 clove
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 4 Tbsp grapeseed or canola oil, divided
• 2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 green chili, whole (jalapeno, serrano, etc.)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 black peppercorns
• 2 cups mixed frozen vegetables (e.g. edamame, carrots, peas, corn, carrots)
• 2 cups quinoa, cooked according to package directions (about 1/2 cup dry)
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Instructions

Make the green paste by combining the cilantro, mint, garlic, ginger, 1 clove, 2 cardamom pods and cinnamon stick in the food processor. Grind the ingredients to a paste.Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 3/4 of the sliced onions and saute until they are browned. Set aside.In a large skillet or wok, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp oil. Add the remaining onions, chile, bay leaves, peppercorns, remaining 2 cloves and remaining 1 cardamom pod and saute about 2 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the green paste and saute another 2 minutes.Add the frozen vegetables to the pan and cook 2-3 minutes until they are warmed through. Add the cooked quinoa and the salt, stirring to make sure the grains are coated with the green paste. Taste and add more salt if needed.Remove the bay leaves and, if you wish, the cloves, peppercorns and cardamom pods. Turn the pilaf into a serving dish and garnish with the caramelized onions. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Yield: 4 servings

Superfoods Month: Smoky roasted kale chip-tomato quinoa salad from Cooking on the Weekends

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Today's Superfood: Kale
Vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, fiber

Erika says: Say hi to a lovely guest post and recipe from certified chef and food writer Valentina Kenney Wein. Valentina spends her weekends in her "kitchen retreat," creating delicious, hearty, comforting food to nourish her family and share with her readers. Her blog is named, appropriately enough, Cooking on the Weekends. P.S. Funny how everyone wanted to write about kale, right?

When I am craving a snack - not just something to tide me over until my next meal, but a true snack - I want something that is full of flavor and at least a little bit salty.

As a teenager, that salty snack might have been a bag of potato chips or - yes, I can admit it - a bunch of Doritos. The downside to these indulgences, other than the obvious lack of nutritional value, were feelings of guilt along with unnaturally colored fingertips (bright orange).

Luckily, with age comes wisdom. Nowadays when I need a snack, I eat foods that feature actual nutritional value and way better, more fulfilling flavors!

There - have I done it? Have I made aging sound acceptable and almost desirable? Regardless, the kale chips here are an incredibly delicious and satisfying snack. 

And when they star in this dish, kale chips make for a unique and memorable entree salad. You can serve it as a main course or a side dish, for lunch, dinner, or even brunch!  

Make this delicious salad this weekend and invite some friends! Your guests will leave feeling quite contented and super impressed. And what's more, they will not leave with bright orange fingertips!

Click here for all the recipes in this Superfoods Month series

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Smoky roasted kale chip-tomato quinoa salad

by Valentina Kenney Wein January-24-2012

A healthy salad with the crunch of roasted kale. Smoked sea salt is available at gourmet grocery stores and Whole Foods.

Ingredients

• 2 medium-sized vine-ripened tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
• 2 large leaves black kale, washed and dried
• olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• 4 Tbsp oil from sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.Cut each tomato into 1/4-inch slices. Drizzle olive oil on a baking sheet and put the tomato slices on top. Sprinkle them with the smoked sea salt. Place the kale leaves on another baking sheet, drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with the sea salt.Put both baking sheets in the preheated oven. Roast the kale until the leaves become crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. The edges will be a bit darker than the center. Remove them from the oven as soon as you see this, otherwise the chips will become too dark and a bit bitter. Set the kale leaves aside to cool. The tomatoes should roast until they are sizzling and their bottoms become slightly brown, about 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and set them aside with the kale chips.While the kale and tomatoes are cooling, add the sun-dried tomatoes with their oil and the balsamic vinegar to the quinoa. Stir to blend and season to taste with salt and pepper. Break the kale leaves into bite-sized chips and compose them on each serving plate, stacking the quinoa, kale chips and tomatoes in a pretty arrangement. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 4 servings

Superfoods Month: Paula Deen and creamy kale soup

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Today's Superfood: Kale
Vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, fiber

There's been a lot of talk about Paula Deen's announcement that she's had type II diabetes for three years.

Three years during which she's peddled butter, cream, cheese, sugar, fried foods and other health-conscious no-no's to the American public in shocking amounts and with remarkable consistency.

Why did she do it? For the ratings. People like that kind of food. Even if they know it's not good for them, they like hearing about it, they salivate over it, and most important, they'll watch her make it on TV week after week.

Paula Deen is getting a lot of criticism. She's being accused of feeding poison to the American people even as she knew it had caused grave health issues for her and had radically changed her own eating habits.

I'm not going to be too hard on Paula Deen. She's got a living to make, just like the rest of us. People make their own choices about what goes into their mouths. Paula Deen made her own choices about what kind of food she wanted to showcase on TV in order to maintain her personal brand and her ratings (or the Food Network made them for her, or they made the decisions together).

But it's caused me to take a long, hard look at the food I've been writing about for the past three years. And I realized something:

Unlike Paula Deen, I write about the food I eat, and my family eats, day in and day out. And most food bloggers I know do the same.

Mine is not an "always" or "never" family when it comes to food. We eat vegetables and we eat pasta. We eat salad and we eat dessert.

When I compiled my recipe index, there were more recipes in the "Vegetables" category than in the "Desserts" category. That surprised me, actually. But I realized that's truly a reflection of the way we eat.

We have "often" foods and "sometimes" foods. If this blog is truly a reflection of the way we eat as a family, then meat is a "sometimes" food and vegetables are an "often" food. That's a good thing for our health, and it's the way I want to be seen by you, my readers.

This Superfoods Month series started as a way to keep me on track with my New Year's resolution to eat healthier foods. But it hasn't been a stretch. This, today, is the way my family eats.

I hope you like this kale soup. It's easy to prepare and turned out the color of pine trees. And yes, this is what my family ate yesterday.

Click here for all the recipes in this Superfoods Month series

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Creamy kale soup

by Erika Kerekes January-22-2012

A simple soup packed with vitamins and fiber. If you find kale too bitter, substitute chard, spinach or another milder green, or use a mixture.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large bunch Tuscan or curly kale, leaves stripped from stems and roughly chopped
• 1 small potato, unpeeled, diced
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute about 4 minutes, until the onion is softened and turning translucent. Add the garlic and stir another 30 seconds - don't let the garlic burn.Now add the kale, potato and stock. The liquid will not be enough to cover the kale; that's okay. Bring the pot to a boil, turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup about 20 minutes, until the kale is soft and the potatoes are cooked through. Transfer the soup to the blender and puree, or use a hand-held immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 4-6 servings