In Praise of Freshly Made Vinaigrette

Food Snob wants to know:  Do you have bottled salad dressing in your refrigerator?  THROW IT OUT!  There is nothing more delicious than a freshly-made vinaigrette to dress your salads, enhance steamed or blanched vegetables, or sauce a favorite entree.

Food Snob often evaluates a restaurant based on the quality of the vinaigrettes used to dress the salads on the menu.  Have you ever had the perfect salad - expertly coated with just the right amount of vinaigrette -  not too much, not too little - with herbs and seasonings carefully selected to enhance the salad greens and other accompaniments?  When I find a delicious, perfectly-made salad when I eat out, I come back!

Learning to make and use vinaigrette in your cooking is key to a healthy, delicious diet.  The oils in vinaigrette, in contrast to thick or creamy dressings, are much lower in saturated fat, which all of us need to avoid.  Additionally, vinaigrette, with its slippery texture, stretches farther than a creamy dressing or sauce when coating a salad, vegetable, or entree.  Therefore, much less vinaigrette is needed, further reducing the calories and fat consumed.

The ingredients for a basic vinaigrette are simple:  a good quality oil (such as extra virgin olive oil), acid (for example, vinegar or fresh-squeezed lemon juice), salt, and pepper.  Most recipes recommend a proportion of at least two parts oil to one part acid, and if you follow that proportion, the results will be delicious.  However, the two-to-one proportion of oil and acid contains too much fat for my diet.  So, I have learned to make delicious vinaigrette using equal proportions of oil and acid.  I'll show you how below.

In Denver, we are fortunate to have a local gem:  John Broening, the executive chef at Duo and Olivea restaurants and special food writer for the Denver Post.  A few weeks ago, John's column included a recipe for Trout with Farro, Beets, and Walnut Vinaigrette.   The walnut vinaigrette is used to dress the fresh beet salad and to sauce the fish.  John, in his column, suggested that if the reader lacked time, he or she should at least try the walnut vinaigrette.  I made the recipe as written and John was right - the walnut vinaigrette was delicious - on the trout that night, and next day on my lunch salad.

John's recipe takes a bit of time to prepare (more than Food Snob's standard of one hour or less) so I've made some adjustments to simplify and shorten the preparation while reducing quite a bit of the fat.  I've reduced the butter and oil used in the recipes, and replaced the farro (an ancient, wheat-like grain) with a buckwheat pilaf.  I paid over $12 a pound for the farro at Whole Foods, and it took over an hour to cook it to al dente.   Buckwheat is inexpensive and buckwheat pilaf takes about 20 minutes to prepare.  I replaced the beet salad with a simple salad made with baby salad greens, scallions, and sliced radishes.  Equally delicious!!!

I usually make this recipe with steelhead trout, which is absolutely wonderful, but since the grocery store was out of steelhead trout tonight, I substituted a good quality wild-caught cod.  Any firm white fish can be used in this recipe, and the results will be fabulous.  Here is the recipe, which takes less than 45 minutes to prepare from start to finish.  Use the leftover vinaigrette for your salad, fish, or chicken tomorrow!

Trout or Firm White Fish with Buckwheat Pilaf, Salad, and Walnut Vinaigrette (serves 4)

Start by making sage oil.  You will need a little of this for the Walnut Vinaigrette and will have leftovers to use again.  If you decide you don't have the ingredients or time, you can omit the sage oil and the vinaigrette will still be delicious - definitely better than anything in a bottle of purchased at the store!  To make the sage oil, combine the following ingredients and heat over low heat until it simmers:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
a half-handful of fresh sage leaves
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed (place the peeled garlic on your cutting board, place the flat of a large knife over the garlic, and hit the side of the knife with your fist - easy!)

Set sage oil aside to cool.  Strain later.  Meanwhile, prepare buckwheat pilaf.  Spray a medium saucepan with cooking spray, add a few drops of olive oil, and heat the pan over medium low heat.  Dice:

1/2 small yellow onion


Add to the saucepan and "sweat" the diced onion under parchment paper for about 5 minutes, until soft.  Stir occasionally.  (To learn how to "sweat" vegetables, see Food Snob's blog dated 1/5/2012).  Remove parchment paper and add:

1 cup organic buckwheat

Stir and cook for about a minute.  Then add:

1 can low-sodium, low-fat chicken broth with enough water added to make two cups of liquid


Stir and cover tightly; reduce to heat to low and allow pilaf to simmer until al dente, about 20 minutes.
While buckwheat pilaf simmers, prepare the walnut vinaigrette.  Combine in a jar with a tight lid:

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and then chopped
4 Tablespoons sherry vinegar (if you don't have sherry vinegar, try red wine vinegar)
1 Tablespoon honey
1 pinch red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoons sage oil
 seasalt and freshly ground pepper to taste (try about 1/4 teaspoon salt and then add more if needed)

Shake vinaigrette and set aside while preparing fish.  Spray a large, non-stick skillet with cooking spray and add about a 1/2 teaspoon olive oil.  Heat over medium high heat until very hot and smoking.  While skillet is heating, thoroughly dry with paper towels:

4 four-ounce steelhead trout fillets with skin (or substitute a firm white fish)


Sprinkle fish with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper; press the seasonings into the fish.  Add fish to hot skillet, skin-side down, and allow fish to brown and skin to crisp, about 3 - 5 minutes for trout, about 2 - 3 minutes for white fish, depending on thickness.  Flip the fish and add to the pan:

1 teaspoon of butter

Swirl the butter and squeeze on top of the fish:

1/2 lemon


Allow the fish to baste in the butter and lemon for about 2 more minutes, until done.  While fish is cooking, prepare the salad.  In a large salad bowl, combine:

One 5-ounce package of fresh baby salad greens
3 scallions, sliced
3 to 4 radishes, washed and sliced


Toss salad with just enough walnut vinaigrette to barely coat leaves.  Taste - you can always add a little more vinaigrette if you don't have enough.  To plate and serve, start by spooning pilaf onto the plate (you will have leftovers) and top with on trout fillet.  Drizzle walnut vinaigrette on top of the trout, garnish with parsley or chives.  Serve the salad on the side.  Prepare for culinary ecstasy!

Boeuf (Buffalo) Bourguignon a la Julia Child - in 60 minutes - I am not kidding!!

Today Food Snob went out to lunch and the food was disappointing, to say the least.  How is it that average restaurants can charge us for food that is full of fat and sodium and lacking in flavor and we pay for it? And, sometimes we come back again?

My disappointing lunch inspired me to cook tonight.  You know Food Snob's rule: dinner must be on the table in an hour or less (Food Snob prefers less; however, she felt inspired tonight to extend the preparation to an hour to make up for the awful lunch).

Last night I was watching "Julie and Julia" on TV, and it reminded me of how much I have enjoyed using Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" over the years.  Since Julia Child uses a lot of fat, butter, and cream in her recipes, I have made it my mission to retain the delicious flavor in her recipes while reducing the richness to ensure the food is healthy.  My version of Beef Bourguignon is no exception.

I decided to make Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon for dinner - which I have done many times over the years - only I usually make Buffalo Bourguignon. Buffalo is very lean, low in fat, and good for you.  Alternatively, you could substitute grass-fed beef. Buffalo in French (according to my online English to French translator) is Buffle or Bison.  So, I actually made Buffle Bourguignon.

Julia Child's recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon requires about 3 to 4 hours.  I'll be honest - if you have 3 to 4 hours, take the extra time and the food will be stupendous.  Food Snob rarely has 3 to 4 hours, however, unless it is the weekend.  So, with some alterations to the recipe, Food Snob got this meal on the table in exactly one hour.  Start time:  6:09 p.m.   Here's how to do it.

Buffalo (Buffle) Bourguignon a la Julia Child (4 to 6 servings)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a heavy dutch oven (with lid) with cooking spray.  Heat on top of stove over medium to medium high heat.  Add:

1 slice of lean turkey bacon (or regular bacon, if you wish), sliced in 1/4 inch pieces.


Allow the bacon to brown; remove the bacon to paper towel.  Retain the drippings (there won't be much) in the pan; add a little cooking spray.  Add to the dutch oven:

One carrot, peeled and sliced
One onion, sliced

Allow the vegetables to brown lightly, stirring occasionally.  Adjust heat so the vegetables do not burn.  Remove vegetables to a plate; keep dutch oven on the heat.  While vegetables are cooking, prepare:

a 1 and 1/2 pound (24 ounces) buffalo pot roast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes


Keeping the cubes small is important for reducing the cooking time.  Dry the cubes thoroughly on paper towels.  Spray the dutch oven with more cooking spray, if needed, and add the buffalo cubes to the dutch oven.  Allow the cubes to brown thoroughly.  When the meat is brown, add the vegetables and bacon back to the dutch oven.  Add:


a generous amount of white pepper
1 Tablespoon flour 


Stir the mixture and put in the 450 degree oven for 4 minutes.  Remove buffalo from the oven an stir.  Return to oven for 4 more minutes. The flour coats the meat with a crust and thickens the sauce.  Remove from oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees.  Add:

2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 heaping teaspoon minced fresh garlic (1 to 2 cloves)
leaves from 4 to 5 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 crushed bay leaf
1 and 1/2 cups red wine
1 cup low sodium beef broth (or one beef bouillon cube and one cup water)


Stir mixture and add just enough water to barely cover the meat (about 1/4 cup). Bring the mixture to a simmer on top of the stove, cover, and then transfer to the stove.  Bake for the remainder of the hour (for me, it was about 25 minutes).

While buffalo cubes are in the oven, begin preparing mushrooms and any side dishes you wish to serve with the buffalo.  To prepare mushrooms, heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.  Add to the pan:

5 oz shitake mushrooms (asian mushrooms reduce inflammation, according to Dr. Andrew Weil), washed, sliced, and dried throughly with paper towels

Allow mushrooms to brown, spraying the mushrooms with cooking spray if they begin to get dry.  Turn occasionally.  When mushroom are light brown, add:

2 sliced green onions
1 small clove minced garlic

Cook another 2 to 3 minutes until onions and garlic soften.  Add:

sea salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper
a very small amount of butter (about 1/2 teaspoon or less - the point here is to add flavor, not fat)
1 Tablespoon dried bread crumbs (optional)


Set mixture aside until the Buffle Bourguignon is done.  Remove the Buffle Bourguignon from the oven and put the dutch oven on top of the stove at medium high heat for a few minutes to reduce the sauce so that it is thick enough to lightly coat a spoon (if your Buffle Bourguignon is thick enough after removal from the oven, you can omit this step).  Stir in the prepared mushrooms.  Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.  Allow to heat through and serve.  Garnish with parsley or fresh thyme sprigs.  I served my Buffle Bourguignon with winter squash and sautéed sliced okra, as you can see in the photo below.  Serving time:  7:09 p.m. or 60 minutes start to finish!!!!

It's No Sweat--Learn to "Sweat" Your Vegetables!

Low fat or low sodium cooking requires the cook to get the maximum possible flavor power from the ingredients used.  This past summer, I took a wonderful cooking class at Denver's Cook Street and learned some great tricks for "sweating" vegetables to gain fantastic flavor.

Lots of recipes ask the cook to "saute" vegetables (usually a combination of onions, garlic, celery, and root vegetables) until tender.  In most cases, the recipe is actually asking the cook to "sweat" the vegetables so that they release moisture and become soft and tender.

In cooking class, we started the sweating process with a generous amount of canola oil or butter. To reduce fat and calories, I start by coating my pan with cooking spray and using a modest amount of canola or olive oil (a teaspoon or two).  Heat your pan to medium and dice all of your vegetables so that they are the same size.  Making the vegetables the same size helps them cook evenly.  When the pan and oil has come to temperature, add your vegetables and stir.  You can spray the vegetables with cooking spray, or add a little more oil, if necessary.  Adjust your heat so that the vegetables are cooking gently, but not browning.

In cooking class, our chef taught us this fantastic tip:  take a piece of parchment paper about the size of the circumference of the pan you are using to sweat vegetables and fold it in quarters.  (You don't have any parchment paper?  BUY SOME!  Food Snob went without parchment paper for years until someone gave her some; now she can't cook without it!) Use a scissors or tear the parchment paper so that when you unfold it, you have a circle shape that is just slightly smaller than the circumference of the pot or pan you are using.  Lay the parchment paper on top of the vegetables that you are sweating.  The paper lets just the right amount of steam to escape, but keeps the moisture in.  Below is a photo of onion, celery, and green pepper sweating in my stock pot under a piece of parchment paper.

Sweating vegetables takes about 10 minutes or so, but the fabulous flavor is worth it.  Remove the parchment paper once in a while and stir the mixture so that it cooks evenly.  When the vegetables are soft, you are ready to add other ingredients, including liquids.  Below is a photo of my onion, celery, and green pepper mixture after "sweating."  Notice that none of the vegetables are "brown."

Below is a recipe for a simple, italian-themed vegetable soup that begins with sweating vegetables.  The soup is low in fat and can be ready to eat in about 45 minutes (although it will be better if you simmer it for awhile).  I first had this soup at a potluck about 30 years ago, asked for the recipe, and have made it ever since.  The essential ingredients, other than the herbs and spices, are green peppers (red, orange, or yellow work, too), red wine, onion, garlic, and tomatoes.  Everything else can be adjusted.  I often use this recipe to clean out vegetables from my refrigerator that need to be eaten before spoiling. It's a tasty, healthy soup for cold winter days and it reheats well for lunch the next day or dinner on another night.  It can also be made meatless.

Italian Vegetable Soup with Red Wine

In a large stock pot on medium high heat brown:

1/2 pound reduced fat turkey italian sausage or vegan chorizo, chopped

Break up the sausage with a fork while browning, and when done, dump the sausage into a colander; run hot water over the sausage (this washes off any fat); drain well.  (If using vegan chorizo, you do not need to rinse).  While sausage drains, wipe out the stock pot, coat with cooking spray and add:

1 to 2 teaspoons canola or olive oil

While heating oil, chop to an even dice:

1 yellow onion

3 large stalks celery

1 to 2 green peppers (red, yellow, or orange peppers are fine, too)

Add vegetables to stock pot and "sweat" them under parchment paper, as described above.  Toward the end of the sweating period, add:

3 to 4 cloves minced garlic (a generous Tablespoon)

If you add the garlic earlier, it will brown or burn.  So, add it at the last minute, stir it in, and let it get soft but not brown.  When all of the vegetables are soft and moist, add the turkey italian sausage or vegan chorizo to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine.  Then add:

2 cups red wine 
28 ounces canned or jarred diced tomatoes
2 15-ounce cans white cannellini, garbanzo, or other white bean (reduced sodium)
2 cups beef or vegetable broth (reduced sodium)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fennel seed (or more, to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 sprig fresh basil, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil)
one large pinch red pepper flakes

Allow mixture to come to boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.  Simmer about 20 minutes.  If you have a lot of time, let it simmer for a while.  Toward the end of the cooking time, add vegetables of your choice.  I've used:

Frozen italian green beans; or
Fresh zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced in 1/4 inch slices; or
Kale, chopped (add this earlier, it needs to cook for a while); or
Spinach (add this at the very last minute)

Taste and season with:

Kosher salt

Ladle into bowls and feel free to garnish with chopped scallions, fresh parsley, or any other garnish of your choice.  I serve this soup with a good french bread and a dry italian red wine.  Good for body and soul!

Give Your Fresh Herbs Staying Power!!!

When cooking with reduced fat or lower sodium, fresh herbs are a crucial ingredient for your healthy cooking arsenal.  Fat, especially butter, adds flavor, so when you use less of it, add fresh herbs to punch up your dish.

For years, I had difficulty using up fresh herbs before they wilted or spoiled, until my father, an organic farmer, taught me this trick:  put your fresh herbs in water in a jar or glass - like you would do with fresh flowers!  If you grow your own herbs, cut your sprigs before they bloom, put them in water, set them on your counter top, and use them at your leisure.  So easy!  Hearty herbs, like basil, will start to root if stored long enough.  Be sure to change the water every few days and trim stems if needed.  Below is a photo of glass filled with fresh spearmint - ready to be used for a mojito!

Certain tender herbs, like cilantro and italian parsley, will not keep long even when stored in water on your countertop.  However, I have found that putting cilantro or italian parsley in a jar of water, and then storing the jars in my refrigerator, does the trick.  Below is a photo of cilantro that I have stored in my refrigerator for three weeks! (Yes, it is time to use it up!)

Here is a delicious recipe for roasted almonds using fresh rosemary.  Almonds, when eaten in moderation (about 2 tablespoons a day) are very good for you and have been shown to help reduce LDL cholesterol.  This recipe uses no added fat and is adapted from one I found in Bon Appetit about 8 years ago.  I've made it frequently ever since, served the almonds as snacks with drinks when guests arrive, and given tins of the nuts as gifts.

Rosemary Almonds with Sea Salt

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Line a 10 by 15 inch baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, combine:

1 egg white, beaten until foamy
1 Tablespoon sugar

Whisk together until mixture thickens a bit.  Add:

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, crushed
1 and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how much heat you want)

Fold in:

2 cups raw almonds

Stir and transfer to baking sheet.  Be sure to spread the nuts evenly.  Bake about 10 minutes, spray top with cooking spray, and flip nuts with a spatula, breaking them up and spreading them evenly.  Roast another 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Store in a tin in freezer until ready to use.
Allow nuts to return to room temperature before serving.

Cooking for Ahhh's, Moans, and Sighs

There is no greater joy to any cook than preparing food that people love to eat.  I LIVE for those moans and sighs of pure pleasure at every bite. . . especially when the food is both delicious and GOOD for you.  About ten years ago, we had a couple over for dinner for a business meeting - the gentlemen - I'll call him Steve - was one of those folks that loved delicious food.  We started with a made-from-scratch pumpkin bisque (low fat - no cream!) seasoned with curry spices.  We followed with grilled salmon atop baby salad greens, sauced with a toasted sesame vinaigrette.  We served everything with a good bread and a great bottle of wine.  We finished the meal with small chocolate lava cakes and vanilla ice cream (back when lava cakes were the latest thing).  All the while, "Steve" was doting over the food.  "What's the spice in this delicious soup?" he quipped.  He asked me how long I was going to leave the salmon on the grill.  "Don't overcook it!" he worried.  "What are you putting in the oven?" he asked me when I put the lava cakes in to bake.  I knew we had nailed the meal when "Steve" took his first bite of salmon, moaned with pleasure, and said, "Oh my God, oh my God . . . " I would cook for "Steve" any day of the week!  And while he was enjoying his meal, I am pretty sure he had no idea that he was eating food low in fat and calories (except for the lava cakes, of course!).  Yes, healthy food can be drop dead delicious!

When my college student daughter comes home from school, I try out my latest new concoction on her.  When she takes her first bite and says, "Oh . . . My. . . Gosh . . . Mom . . . this is why I come home!" the pleasure in cooking her a from-scratch, healthy meal just increased exponentially.

Here is the recipe for the grilled salmon salad with toasted sesame vinaigrette - it can easily be prepared in about 15 minutes if you have all the ingredients ready to go.  It is adapted from a higher-fat version created by Chris Schlesinger and John Willloughby in their cookbook, Thrill of the Grill.

Grilled Salmon Salad with Toasted Sesame Vinaigrette (serves 4)

Combine in a large bowl:

5oz. baby salad greens, washed

6 scallions, sliced or about 1/3 red onion, sliced thinly

Toast:

2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
in oven or toaster oven at 350 degrees for about 2 minutes, till light brown.  Set aside.

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat; spray with cooking spray (or heat your grill and spray).  Coat:
4 wild-caught salmon fillets (about 4 to 6 ounces each) with olive oil (about one teaspoon per fillet).  Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper.

When skillet or grill are hot, place salmon fillets in pan to sear golden brown.  Wait about 3 to 4 minutes (depending on thickness) to flip fillets; cook another 2 minutes until most of transparent color has left (I put my finger inside the fillet to test - it should be warm, not cool).  Meanwhile, make vinaigrette by thoroughly combining:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar, splenda, honey, or truvia
2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Presentation:
Toss salad greens with just enough vinaigrette to coat salad lightly - but not drench.  You should have extra vinaigrette.  Distribute salad greens on four serving plates.  Place one salmon fillet on each plate, positioning toward one edge of the salad.  Drizzle vinaigrette over salmon fillet; top salad and fillets with toasted sesame seeds and serve.