White Bean Sage Hummus

Why did I plant so much sage in my herb pots on the deck?  I have no clue.  And I usually associate sage with fall cooking, like with turkey, so I was a bit perplexed to figure out what to do with this beautiful abundance.  As I searched a bit on-line I was struck by the pairing of white beans with sage, especially in the form of a hummus.  So this is my adaptation of several recipes I found. I mixed some with a baked/mashed potato and thought it was delicious.  

Fresh sage in pot with parsley and rosemary

Most of the recipes I found used canned cannellini beans.  But Tom had just ordered and cooked some delicious corona beans, after listening to a show on The Splendid Table about these wonderful types of beans.  Corona beans are large white beans, also known as crown beans, and are a favorite in Italy's Piedmont region.  Tom ordered his through Purcell Mountain Farm.  He also ordered a few other types of dried beans from that source and I'll keep you posted if we find some other delectable ways to use them.  


Ingredients:

2 cups cooked beans (I used corona)
3 Tablespoons tahini
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 - 10 fresh sage leaves, chopped to about 3 Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons water

Preparation:
Puree it all together. ( I used my magic bullet when I made 1/2 batch.) Chill thoroughly before serving. 

Nutrition per serving:
Servings per recipe: 16
Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon
Calories: 45
Total Fat:  2 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium:  88 mg
Total Carbs: 6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 2 g

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Beans-Greens & Garlic Dip/Spread/Sauce

Healthy, quick and versatile, besides being yummy!  I made this recipe last fall when I had an abundance of Swiss chard from the garden.  Today, spinach was the green of choice.  Any leafy green would work well, I think.  The versatility also comes in the form of being able to use this as a dip for crackers (or raw vegetables for those of you who can eat them) or as a sauce for pasta, or as a spread on bread.  Pzazz!  It tastes so creamy that you will be convinced it is fat-laden, but not a bit of fat can be found in it.  

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed, but reserve the  fluid
  (the better alternative would be to cook your own beans and save the liquid. I was lazy.)
1 cup fresh spinach, torn into bite size pieces

1 clove garlic, minced
dash of salt and freshly ground pepper
splash of lemon juice

Preparation:
Put the beans, the spinach, and the garlic in the Magic Bullet.  To make it as a dip, put in about 1/4 cup of the reserved fluid. To use it as a pasta sauce, thin with about 1/4 cup more reserved liquid. Whirl away to desired consistency.  Add a dash of sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and splash of lemon juice.  

Other spices that might be good to try would be a dash of cayenne pepper, or rosemary, or let your imagination run wild.   Running wild sounds fun, doesn't it!! 


Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 5

Serving Size: 1/4 cup
Calories: 72
Total Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 103 mg
Total Carbs: 14 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 5 g

Spicy Pureed Vegetable Salsa

This is a recipe that I picked up at the Duluth Farmers Market several years ago.  And the recipe really does puree the final product.  I used onions, hot peppers, carrots, and tomatoes from Tom's vegetable garden.  The pepper I used was much hotter than I realized, so this pureed salsa was full of Pzazz! But it is fabulous used as a dip for mild corn chips, and I even put it on my scrambled egg whites one morning. And one day I mixed it with some baked winter squash.  Pzazz in so many ways.

The tomato crop this year was unbelievable!  We harvested more than 200 tomatoes and Tom made a roasted tomato salsa for himself that was great, too.  I also cooked tomatoes with garden onions and peppers, then pureed them and stuck them in the freezer to use for a variety of soups this winter.  I'm thinking a pureed black bean and tomato soup might be delish!  I'll experiment on that and get back to you.  As you can see from the photos below, we had an abundance of tomatoes.  Tom chose all heirloom seeds and had about 10 varieties. Nope, they aren't as pretty as store-purchased tomatoes, but the flavor can't be beat!   And remember the information I posted by Barry Estabrook about "Tomatoland".  Disgusting on many levels.  

Yellow tomatoes

Black tomatoes

Harvest from Sept 29 alone!

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced carrots

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped seeded hot pepper (more or less depending on the level of Pzazz you want!)

1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 

1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

3 cups finely chopped fresh tomatoes (I used a mixed variety of types)

1/4 cup wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preparation:
Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onions celery, carrots, garlic and peppers. Saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add parsley, cilantro, tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar. Simmer for 45 minutes.Allow to cool slightly. Then blend to a smooth puree in a food processor or blender or use an immersion stick if the pan is deep enough. Return to saucepan and simmer for another 30 minutes. 

Nutrition  per serving:

Golden Tomato

Servings per recipe: 16
Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
Calories: 24
Total Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 76 mg
Total Carbs: 3 g
Dietary Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 1 g

Tarragon Swiss Chard

Starting my morning with a healthy dose of vegetables for breakfast helps put me on the right track. I have posted other recipes for filled egg white omelets using a variety of vegetables.  But laziness prevailed this morning and I took the easy route and made a simple puree of Swiss chard and tarragon and plopped it on my scrambled egg whites.  Easy and much less work than an omelet.   Maybe not as pretty, but my taste buds were just as happy.  I haven't figured out what to call it yet, though.  Any ideas?   I even spread a bit of it on a piece of toast and loved that, too. 

The pairing of tarragon and chard was inspired by my friend, Tahirih.  I had shared some tarragon from my herb garden with her and she had stir fried it with beet greens and raved about it.  If you aren't familiar with tarragon, it has a flavor similar to anise.  I have had it in my perennial herb garden for several years,  but hadn't used it for anything other than with a vinegar/oil dressing for potato salad. So I was pleasantly surprised at how well it complimented the chard. You could certainly substitute dried tarragon for the fresh if you don't have any fresh tarragon available.  Do taste the fresh herb before you decide how much you want to use, as it can be overpowering if anise isn't your favorite herb.  

The Swiss chard, kale, beets, peppers and tomatoes in Tom's raised vegetable bins are vibrant and hearty. This photo gives you an idea those bins.  Yes, we already have a few ripe tomatoes in the bin on the left.  

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 large bunch Swiss chard
(yields about 1/2 cup chopped stems and 4 cups chopped leaves)
1 small sprig fresh tarragon, minced
1/4 teaspoon Nature's Seasons
1/4 - 1/2 cup water, approximately

Preparation:
Heat the coconut oil over medium heat and saute the chopped chard stems until tender.  Add the chopped leaves, and fresh tarragon, and saute until wilted.  You may need to add about 1 -2 Tablespoons of the water to make them tender.   Transfer to a Magic Bullet or similar device and add just enough water to make the Bullet do its job and get the desired consistency you want. Put it on top of scrambled egg whites, or in an omelet, or spread it on toast. Any of those ways, you are certain to have Summer Garden Pzazz!

Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 1 cup
Serving Size: About 1/2 - 3/4 cup              
Calories: 68
Total Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol:0  mg
Sodium: 698 mg
Total Carbs:  4 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 4 g

Swiss Chard Sauce or Dip

Garden Swiss chard

The Swiss chard in Tom's raised garden bins is prolific and delicious! Our son, Sam, even loves it.  A couple of mornings ago, he asked me to scramble some eggs with Swiss chard, onions, garlic and peppers to put into a wrap for a breakfast burrito of sorts.  I started by sauteing the onions, peppers and garlic and then added the Swiss chard.  As he looked at how much I made, he said he only needed about half of it.  So I saved half of it for me to use in some way.  

That "some way" came today, as I put the Swiss Chard mixture with canned Great Northern Beans into the Magic Bullet to make a dip to spread on crackers.  Then later, I thinned it with some of the reserved liquid from the beans, and warmed it up with a small amount of pasta and topped it with reduced-fat feta cheese.  I savored it both ways. 

Whenever I cook Swiss chard, I am amazed at how the large quantity of it raw shrinks down to the tiny amount in the pan.  When I made it for Sam's burrito, I think it was a bit more than four cups of chopped chard, though I didn't measure it exactly, and then I saved half of the finished product for my creation today.  So the list of ingredients below is more of an approximation than an exact recipe.  Next time, I will cook a large quantity of this to use in a variety of ways.  Have fun making your own Pzazzed version!


Ingredients:
2 cups chopped Swiss Chard
2 Tablespoons chopped red onion
2 Tablespoons diced green pepper
1/2 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/4 cup cooked, drained Great Northern Beans  (but save some liquid)

Preparation:
Saute the onion, green pepper, and garlic in the coconut oil on medium heat until tender.  Add the Swiss chard with a bit of salt and pepper and saute until tender. You will have about 1/4  - 1/3 cup of the mixture when the chard cooks down.  Put this mixture with the Great Northern Beans in a Magic Bullet or similar device. Puree to desired consistency.  You might need to add just a bit of the reserved liquid from the beans to get the Magic Bullet to do its job and to get the desired consistency.  




Nutrition per serving:
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: About 1/2 cup      
Calories: 121
Total Fat: 5 g
Cholesterol:  0 mg
Sodium: 261 mg
Total Carbs: 15 g
Dietary Fiber: 6 g
Protein: 6 g

Green Awakening Kale Puree

Green Awakening Kale Puree with Quinoa

Galactic green and outstanding! This simple puree is as versatile as it is nutritious.  Toss it with pasta.  Drizzle it on chicken or fish.  Mix it with quinoa.  Drench your eggs with it. Toss it with sauteed tofu. Mix it with goat yogurt to create a cold soup.  I have had it all of these ways in the past week.  Think of it as a sauce, or a dressing, or a dollop. Think of it as your Green Awakening. It will keep for 3 - 4 days in the refrigerator, waiting for you to discover a new way to ramp up your green vibes.   Washing and de-stemming the kale required enough of my energy, so I used onion powder and garlic powder rather than expending any more energy on chopping onions and garlic.  But maybe after a week of two or three servings of kale daily, I'll have energy to spare! 

The photograph above is the Green Awakening Kale Puree mixed with quinoa with a bit of white balsamic vinegar added for Pzazz!

Red Russian kale from Tom's garden 

Ingredients:
4 cups rinsed,chopped kale leaves
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon onion powder                            
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
sea salt to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon or less)

Preparation:
Remove kale leaves from the tough stems.  Rinse thoroughly and chop.  Place in a large saucepan with the water and seasoning and put the lid on the pot. Cook over medium heat until tender, adding more water if needed.  When slightly cooled, puree till smooth and creamy.   When making a double or triple batch, I use the VitaMix to puree it.   To make a single batch, the Magic Bullet will do the trick.

Nutrition:  (for the puree only)  
Servings per recipe: 4
Serving Size: 1/4 cup (approx.,  depending on how much liquid you add)
Calories: 39
Total Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 175  mg
Total Carbs: 8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 3 g

Asparagus-Zucchini-Spinach Puree

As a spread on a sandwich 

The New Scenic Cafe north of Duluth wowed me once again on Tuesday!  Not only do they cheerfully accommodate my need for pureed food, but the chef willingly shares the approximate measurements of the ingredients he uses to make the new creation so that I can try to replicate it. He views it as a fun challenge, using whatever ingredients he has available.  He pureed asparagus, zucchini and spinach together with shallots and garlic to create a thin spread to put on shredded roasted chicken atop a toasted baguette.  Using the information he provided, today I made a puree that tasted quite close to what he had made.  I made a much larger batch than he did, so that I can have more another day.  This puree could be used in a variety of ways - as a spread on a sandwich, as a sauce for pasta, or thinned with broth to make a soup.  The possibilities are as vast as your Pzazz. 

Making this puree was doubly fun today.  First, because my friend was here to join me.  Second, because she brought her VitaMix for me to try.  I was skeptical that it couldn't do anything that the appliances I already have couldn't do.  Well, I was wrong. WOWZA!  It was fast, it was quiet, it was efficient pulverizing the vegetables to the desired consistency, and it was easy to clean.   Tom had purchased one for me at Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't even taken it out of the box yet, thinking it was incredibly indulgent to buy it and had planned to return it. My friend offered to let me try hers before I returned mine.  Hmmmmm.... our 30 year old food processor has only one feature that still works and our blender needs more liquid than desirable to easily make spreads or pureed dips, limiting how I can use it.  Hmmmmmmm....pureed food is my required diet.  Time to rethink my initial decision.  Sam (our 18 year old son) does love to make fruit smoothies in the summer and neither our blender or food processor can chop ice.  So I wouldn't be entirely selfish, would I?   


Ingredients:
1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)

As a soup

4 Tablespoons chopped shallot                    
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 cup chopped asparagus
2 cups chopped zucchini
1 1/3 cup fresh spinach
1/2  Tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)
Sea salt and pepper to taste


Preparation:
Heat the 1/2 tablespoon of oil over medium heat and saute the shallot, garlic, asparagus and zucchini until tender.  Put it all in the VitaMix and add the fresh spinach and remaining oil and be amazed as you watch it turn a vibrant, silky green!

Nutrition:  (using coconut oil rather than olive oil)
Servings per recipe: 3
Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Calories: 84
Total Fat: 5 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 17 mg
Total Carbs: 10 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 3 g

Kale-Collards-Broccoli Puree

After a medical appointment last week, my husband and I stopped at the Duluth Whole Foods

Co-op, which is only a few blocks from the medical complex. As I surveyed the hot deli bar, I spied a chafing pan filled with a mixture of sauteed kale, collards and broccoli.  The appeal of those dark, leafy greens and broccoli was tantalizing.  It's reassuring to know that at least sometimes I really crave incredibly healthy food.  I purchased a small portion of these green jewels and brought them home and simmered them in just a bit of vegetable broth, then pureed them with an immersion blender.  I hadn't used very much broth, so a thick consistency was the result, and I refrigerated it.  The next day for lunch,  I spread it on a slice of sourdough bread and topped it with feta cheese and a squeeze of tomato paste. The added benefit of sourdough bread is that it contains healthy probiotics, besides being soft and yummy. I decided the spread would also be great a substitute for lettuce on a sandwich sometime in the future.   

If you are wondering why I can eat bread, but not raw lettuce or even cooked kale or broccoli, it's because the bread will dissolve in my gastric juices, but the greens won't. My gastroenterologist's "rule of thumb" for me is if the food won't dissolve in my gastric juices, then it needs to be able to squeeze through a tube of toothpaste.  Otherwise, it will likely create an obstruction.   See my Food Challenges tab for more information about my dietary challenges, if you haven't already looked at it.  I use coconut oil frequently because, as a medium-chain triglyceride, it doesn't require as many pancreatic enzymes to digest as most fats, which makes it a great choice for people with pancreatic insufficiency. 

When I purchased the sauteed greens, I noted the listed ingredients and the next day I called the Co-op to ask about the proportions of the ingredients.  While the Whole Foods Co-op will not share their recipes, the kitchen chef I spoke with was extraordinarily gracious and friendly and told me that they used an equal portion of kale, collards, and broccoli and sauteed them in olive oil with garlic.  Based on what the cook told me, I made my own version of this today.   This time, I used it as a base for steamed flounder, and again used a garnish of a squeeze of tomato paste from the tube. The taste contrasts were splendid.  I think this greens mixture would also be a healthy sauce for pasta.  Move over pesto!

The convenience of purchasing the cooked greens at the Co-op  last week was most helpful after a long morning of medical appointments, and also provided inspiration for new creations for me.  Yes, I do love the Duluth Whole Foods Co-op!




Steamed Flounder on Kale-Collards-Broccoli Puree

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped kale, thick stems removed
1 cup chopped collard greens
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup vegetable broth
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to desired taste            


Preparation:

Heat coconut oil in pan over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and saute until golden.  Add chopped vegetables and saute until tender, adding vegetable broth a bit at a time, being careful not to create a mixture that is too thin.   Puree with an immersion blender.  To use as a spread, refrigerate overnight.   To use as a base for something like fish, keep it warm. 

Nutrition: (does not include salt, pepper, feta cheese or tomato paste)
Servings per recipe: 3


Chopped greens and broccoli

Serving Size:  1/2 cup                              

Calories: 109

Total Fat: 9 g                                              

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 56 mg

Total Carbs: 6 g

Dietary Fiber: 3 g

Protein: 2 g