Spanakopita or Spinach Pie

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Adapted from a recipe posted online–years ago–by Jack Roemer

14 Phyllo Pastry sheets

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 Tbsp olive oil + 4 Tbsp melted butter

spray olive oil

40 ounces frozen spinach, chopped  OR 2 – 16oz pack

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian(flat leaf) parsley

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

3  Tbsp fresh chopped dill

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup cottage cheese –I use lowfat

1 egg

6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

a light sprinkling of white wine vinegar- approx 2 tsp

Instructions:

Thaw and drain the 2- 16oz packages of spinach.

Crush the garlic and drop into the olive oil and butter. Set aside.

To make the filling, squeeze the spinach between your hands to remove most of
the liquid.   Place in a bowl or in a food processor.   Add the parsley, onions,
dill, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in the cottage cheese, egg and
feta.  –NOTE- I do it all in the processor except for the feta. — Combine well. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Lay one sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the dish and drape the edges overthe
sides of the dish. Spray lightly with cooking spray and cover with another sheet of phyllo dough.   Brush that sheet with the garlic-olive oil mixture.

Layer a total of four sheets, coating each alternately with nonstick cooking spray and olive oil. Spread half the filling over the prepared phyllo dough. Lay another sheet of dough over the filling and coat lightly with cooking spray.   Lay down another sheet and lightly coat with olive oil mixture. Continue alternating spray and olive oil for a total of four
sheets. Layer remaining spinach filling on dough.  Sprinkle on the vinegar-as evenly as possible.

Continue layering phyllo dough over the filling, spraying the first sheet and alternately brushing with olive oil and spraying subsequent sheets.  The last layer has 6 sheets.

When finished, brush the surface with olive oil mixture and roll the edges of the doughin ward to create an attractive rim around the outside.  Score the surface with a sharp knife into 12 portions.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake for 40 minutes until golden.  I turn on the broiler at this point for 1-2 minutes (keep pan in center of oven) WATCH IT,  or you will burn the top layer!  Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.  Makes 12 portions.

Test kitchen notes: Phyllo means “leaf” in Greek. The dough is usually available in the frozen food section of most supermarkets or in Greek or Middle Eastern markets. For best results, allow dough to defrost overnight in the refrigerator.   Keep it covered with wax paper and a damp towel while making pie.

The Gardens in April and Early May

I’ve decided to post my gardens once a month.  I want to document the stages of growth.

This is the time of year I start to get excited about gardening.   I love my flowers, but I especially love the vegetable and herb gardens.

That said, I planted an assortment of flowers from seed this year.  I rarely do this, but my cousin , MaryAnne, who lives in upstate New York, sent me seeds from her own flower gardens and a packet of Honey Bear Sunflower seeds, which means I might have a new passion.  I’ll post on those as soon as the seeds germinate.

The terracotta pot above is my husband’s great find.  It is from Mexico, and I thought a few coral colored begonias,  double pink impatiens, along with a few chicks from my Hens and Chicks plants, would look lovely in this pot.

The portable greenhouse is filled with starts and seedlings:

Tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, artichoke, basil,  and squash are waiting to go under the cloche of the front gardens.

Flowering seeds are in their little seed pots too.

As you can see, the backyard garden has plenty of cool weather plants:

lettuce, radish, beets, onions, spicy mixed lettuces, carrots, broccoli,  and several herbs.

Due to my health issues, the flower beds have suffered most.  They need some serious weeding and pruning, but look at that lavender!

I’ll be posting the front gardens in my next post.

I was fascinated by this lone yellow tulip.  I don’t know if it was mistakenly relocated or if I had never noticed how beautiful it looks up against the purple color flowers.

Next year, I’d like to have a spring bulb garden.

]]> http://angelninascottage.com/2010/05/02/spanakopita-and-gardening-in-aprilmay/feed/ 9 Angelnina spano2 spano mexpot gardenapr lavender1 mushroomgnome yellowtulip http://angelninascottage.com/2010/01/08/lavender-wine-jelly-cranberry-conserve-and-mandarin-jam/ http://angelninascottage.com/2010/01/08/lavender-wine-jelly-cranberry-conserve-and-mandarin-jam/#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:41:06 +0000 angelnina http://angelninascottage.com/?p=2227 ]]> I love to look into my pantry and freezer to find all the goodies I’ve stored from summer and fall.   I have to admit, the heat  in of summer and the physical demands of gardening can make it a bit exhausting to add canning to the list of things to do.   I have found winter canning is much easier because I don’t have the physical demands of the gardens and cooking actually warms a cool kitchen.

I set out to find great deals on mandarins/clementines, pears, Meyer lemons, and other winter fruits.  I still have a list of more canning to complete this winter.

Although it is not a “winter” choice,  I had dried culinary lavender flowers leftover from this past summer.   While visiting Lavender Hills Farm in Marysville, Washington, I picked up a small amount of culinary lavender to bake in a cake.  I never got around to baking the lavender pound cake , but I did try my hand at some lavender wine jelly.  I’m very happy with the results!

ABOVE: Clockwise from left-  Lavender Chardonnay Jelly, Mandarin Jam, Cranberry Orange Conserve

My entire house smelled like lavender as the dried flowers steeped in hot water.  I had a free aromatherapy session as I cooked.

The recipe called for food coloring, but the pink color was so pretty, that after adding one small drop of purple food coloring, I stopped and decided to back off.

For recipes and more photos, please click below…

Lavender Chardonnay Jelly

I love this lavender jelly spread very thin over a fresh cheese on a crostini cracker.  The pink color looks lovely over the white fresh cheese and would be perfect at an afternoon tea on a delicate scone.

¼ cup dried lavender flowers
2 ½ cups water
4 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup chardonnay
1 drop purple liquid food coloring
½ bottle or 1 packet liquid pectin

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in lavender leaves, remove from heat, and let steep for 15 minutes.

Pour mixture through a fine-mesh strainer or a layer of cheesecloth, reserving the liquid. Measure 2 cups of the liquid and return to the saucepan.

Return to the stove and stir in sugar, chardonnay, and drop food coloring.   Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add pectin, return to a full boil, and continue boiling for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle lavender jelly into sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Wipe tops of jars and screw on sterilized lids. Process in a boiling water bath according to your canner’s instructions.

Yield: about 3 half-pints

Cranberry Orange Conserve

Fresh cranberries, dried golden raisins, walnuts, and oranges.

Cranberry Orange Conserve

Undeniably my favorite thing to serve beside a roasted chicken or turkey!  If you eat this you’ll never want to open a plain can of cranberry sauce again!

1 orange (unpeeled), seeded and finely chopped (Approx. 3/4 c to 1 cup)
2 c water
4 c cranberries
1/2 c raisins (i use golden)
3 c granulated sugar
1/2 c chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

Combine orange and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, partially cover, and boil until peel is tender, about 5 minutes. Add cranberries, raisins, and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Return to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Boil hard until mixture thickens, 10-15 minutes. Stir in nuts and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and test gel.

Skim foam and pack into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 15 minutes in BWB.

MANDARIN JAM

Can be found here,  at The Traveler’s Lunchbox, and it is a favorite of mine!  I made this after the boxes of clementines went on sale at the market.  Nothing better than slathering on a spoonful of this on toast, scones, biscuits, cornbread, you name it!

I’ve eaten a few poached pears in my life, but none like the one I ate in Napa Valley while on vacation with my husband.

The hotel we stayed in offered brunch every morning, and it was there where I discovered the beauty of fruit mixed in wine.

This is a simple recipe.   Play with it.

Next time, I will experiment with cloves.

I used a Merlot for the red wine.

Pears Poached in Red Wine

Adapted from “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman

Time: Overnight , largely unattended.

A light simple and classic dessert.  Use not-quite-fully-ripe Bosc Pears if at all possible.

4 Bosc pears, ripe but not mushy

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used Merlot)

3/4 cup sugar

1 lemon, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1-  Peel pears;  use a melon baller to remove the core from the blossom end, leave the stem on.  (I did not, I halved the pears and removed the cores.  I preferred halves to wholes.)

2-  In a medium saucepan. Bring water, wine, and sugar to a boil.  Turn heat to med-low and add the lemon slices, cinnamon stick, and pears.  Cover pan, simmer until pears are very tender, at least 20 minutes.

3- Remove pears to a bowl and continue to cook the sauce, over med-high heat until it reduces by half and becomes syrupy.  Strain syrup over pears and refrigerate overnight.

4- Serve chilled pears whole, with little of the syrup poured over them.

These would be excellent for the holiday table.

]]> http://angelninascottage.com/2009/11/19/pears-poached-in-red-wine/feed/ 9 Angelnina pp4 ppdone http://angelninascottage.com/2009/10/02/pickled-peck-of-jalapeno-peppers/ http://angelninascottage.com/2009/10/02/pickled-peck-of-jalapeno-peppers/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:44:21 +0000 angelnina http://angelninascottage.com/?p=1867 ]]>

Remember the chile peppers from my last blog?    Well, I gathered up 2 pounds–I threw in a few cayenne to make it an even 2 pounds–and decided to pickle them.

Jalapenos can be green or red, or somewhere in between.  The red ones have simply ripened longer.

I highly recommending wearing gloves when working with hot chiles.  I used to think gloves were for scaredy cats–that is until I burned my fingers when I got hold of the hottest chile pepper north of  the Mexican border.

True story–I had white blisters under my fingernails!   Who knew blisters under finger nails are so painful they can keep you up at night?

Pickling liquid

Water Bath Canner (You can find these at most thrift shops!)

Pickled Jalapenos!

This is such a simple process.  I’ll be adding pickled peppers to my canning list every year now!

These are  HOT HOT HOT !

Mark used a few in chili last night, and they are just right!  Flavorful and spicy little chiles.

I found a wonderful recipe for Pickled Jalapeno Peppers.

PICKLED JALAPENO PEPPERS

2 lbs jalapenos, washed, and stems removed (most of my peppers were red off the vine)

2 cups vinegar ( I used white)

2 cups water

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp pickling spices

I like to cut a slit down the side of each pepper.

Next, pack your prepared peppers into the jar-leaving about 1-2″ from top

Bring remaining ingredients to a boil over med high heat-stirring to dissolve salt.

Pour boiling sauce over peppers–leaving at least 1/2″ head space

Place lids on and screw on bands tightly

Process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes

Remove bands when cool (I don’t)

Make sure jars seal, those that do not should be refrigerated immediatey.

Store several weeks before use.  (You can use them at any time, but they are more “pickled” weeks later)

Recipe says it makes 3 pints,  but I ended up with 4 pints

NOTE: If you’ve never canned before, I  recommend reading the Ball Canning Recipe Book.  Follow instructions closely for safety purposes.

I have a million recipes to post.  I apologize, as I know my recipes are not all listed on the RECIPE page.  I need to get on it pronto.

I’ve been cooking and baking my tail off.  I ended up shopping at Costco–which is extremely dangerous for me.  I beeline it straight to the kitchenware, and the book section, where I proceed to load up the cart with my, “Only an idiot would pass up this deal!”, mentality.

After the old man loads up the cart with his Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements, we head toward the cheese section.  HUGE mistake. For one thing, there are only 2 of us, and Costco sells packages that serve 800.  Apparently, that didn’t frighten us.

I loaded up on fresh mozzarella, and a number of other “must haves”.

After unloading our stuffed car trunk, we had to think about what to do with all the food.   After packing the freezer, the fridge, and the pantry, I set a plan into motion.

MOZZARELLA

ABOVE: Stuffed Shells

Stuffed

Ready to eat!

Stuffed Shells

box of pasta shells (12 oz)

3-4 cups of marinara or here-- or meat sauce

4 cups ricotta 2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan (Plus a few Tbsp for topping)

2 eggs

Tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Follow package cooking instructions on box of pasta shells.  When al dente (or less), strain and prepare to stuff.

Mix together remaining ingredients–reserving a little mozzarella and parmesan for topping.

Pour and spread about 1 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of the baking pan.

Stuff each shell with cheese mixture.

Layer shells in a baking dish.  Pour remaining marinara sauce over top, sprinkle on reserved cheeses.

35 minutes.  Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!

AND

Click to see more…

Tired of the same old boring grilled cheese sandwich? (Who am kidding?  Does anybody get tired of a grilled cheese sandwich? I think not.)

I’ve heard several people say a panini grill is a waste of money.  They may be right.  I’m not a purist-I like gadgets and appliances that I will actually use.  I use this.   Sure you can use a skillet and a brick or flip it with a spatula, but it won’t be done in 3 minutes, and you just might end up with tomatoes on the side.  I love my panini grill.  I bought this one at Target about five years ago, and it still grills perfectly.

I used homemade farmer’s white bread, but the Artisan bread works good too.

A few slices of a ripe tomato, slices of fresh mozzarella, olive oil, salt, a little garlic, and a drizzling of balsamico.

Mmm. Mmm.  Seriously.

Other ideas for using up mozzarella?

PIZZA!  (Click here for my recipe). Need I say more?

By the way, I just pulled a loaf of the Artisan bread out of the oven.  I added the Herbs de Provence like a friend suggested, plus I added chopped garlic in olive oil–which I brushed all over the top before baking.  It looks and smells like Heaven in my house!

More food to come…

]]> http://angelninascottage.com/2009/04/14/shopping-in-bulkfresh-mozzarella-stuffed-shells-and-paninis/feed/ 2 Angelnina stuffed-shells shells shells-sauce1 dsc_0219 dsc_0224 dsc_02321 dsc_0234 http://angelninascottage.com/2009/03/20/seattle-mexican-pottery-and-angel-hair-pasta/ http://angelninascottage.com/2009/03/20/seattle-mexican-pottery-and-angel-hair-pasta/#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:46:17 +0000 angelnina http://angelnina.wordpress.com/?p=1075 ]]>

I took this photo at Alki Beach in West Seattle.

Alki is one of my favorite places to go and hang out.   The views are amazing.

When my son was a teenager, we used to drive here, do homework at the Alki Bakery and talk for hours.  He was 16 and we were both in college.  He remained in college, and I left after a year.   I miss those days.

ABOVE:  Western Avenue in Seattle, sits just beneath Pike Place Market

I just love the artwork on this building.  Driving by it I am reminded of the wildlife we have so close to the city. I’m also reminded of all the wonderful artists who live among us.

Mark and I were lucky enough to see a pod of beautiful Orca Whales on a visit to the San Juan Islands.  It’s about an hours drive, plus a ferry ride, from home.    On this winter day, I was satisfied with the Orca painting.

I was in the city to visit the market, World Spice Merchant, and The Spanish Table.

If you love to cook, the Seattle area is a great place to live.

I am grateful to live in Western Washington, for many reasons, and near the top of my list, is the fact that we have so many wonderful second hand shops, estate sales, and antique stores.  I can usually find whatever I need, and it’s always good to know I’m recycling at the same time.

The Mexican pottery serving bowl, above, screamed out to me when I spotted it a few weeks ago.  I have been searching for Mexican pottery, unleaded of course, to serve my Mexican or Spanish dishes in.    I was inspired by the cookbook “Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo” (which I scored at a second hand store!)

I’ve been enjoying reading through this cookbook.  The recipes all sound unique, and the photographs are amazing.  I have made the Mexican Red Rice, and it is a favorite now.  Simple too.

ABOVE: Angelnina’s Version of Karen’s Angel Hair Pasta

After a day of shopping, I wanted to make a flavorful, but quick, dinner.  We didn’t stick to the Spanish theme, but I love this Angel Hair Pasta dish.   It is adapted from a recipe emailed to me by a woman in San Francisco, and I think it was called: Karen’s Pasta. I’ve since changed the recipe quite a bit, so for now, it remains nameless.

For the recipe and a a few of my gardening notes, please click to keep reading…

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 Tbsp fresh chopped garlic

pinch red crushed pepper (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 cup fresh basil

* 1 lg can plum tomatoes (buy whole and chop them yourself) *-SEE NOTE

2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes,packed in oil, chopped

1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped

6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

12 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked al dente

1/4 cup grated parmesan reggiano

1 Tbsp fresh Italian parsely, finely chopped

Heat olive oil and garlic with optional pinch of dried crushed red pepper.  Don’t let your garlic brown–as soon as you see sizzling garlic–move on to next step.

Add chopped can tomatoes (with some or all juice).  Let simmer about 20 minutes or less.

Add  fresh chopped tomato, salt, pepper, basil, and sun dried tomatoes.

Cook over medium high heat until fresh tomatoes begin to wilt.

Add spinach and pine nuts.  Cook until spinach wilts.

Add feta cheese and cooked pasta.  Toss well.

Transfer to a serving plate and top with parmesan and fresh chopped Italian parsley.

Make a nice dinner salad, and pour yourself a glass of wine– enjoy!

*NOTE:  You may cook this dish without the canned tomatoes–just add 1/2 cup olive oil, rather than 1/3 cup and skip this step if you prefer your pasta with an oil sauce for a night.

ALSO, you may add the canned tomatoes, chopped, with half the liquid or all the liquid–suit your taste.

Gardening Notes:

The Spring gardens should be in by the end of this weekend.  I’ll take some photographs to share.  I see shallots, garlic, chives, artichokes, fava beans, and collards are all up–alive and well.  I will need to move the vegetables, that aren’t ready to eat,  to a more permanent perennial garden.  My raised beds need compost, and I didn’t plan the garden as well as I could have.  I’m still finding my way as I go.

I planted rhubard, given to me by my step-sister.  I don’t think it will produce this year, but I really don’t know.  I just love a fresh rhubarb and strawberry pie.   Speaking of strawberries, my plants have sure multiplied, and it looks like I’ll have to move those too.   The raspberries all grew buds before I had the chance to move them to my backyard.  I think I’ll leave them sit again for this summer.  I just don’t want to risk losing a single berry.   If I don’t act fast, I’m going to have a raspbery patch blocking the front of my house.

If any of you wonderful gardeners have suggestions, please pass them along.  I have learned more from word of mouth than from any gardening book I’ve read.

Well, these zucchini pancakes gave me one of those responses.

I have always loved zucchini pancakes, but these aren’t just any old zucchini pancake–these are Turkish.  I know, I know, every Turkish grandmother has her own way of making these wonderful little treats, and I know this recipe cannot hold a candle to her’s, BUT it has to be the next best thing.

I read the reviews on Epicurious.com–many people eliminated the nuts, but I’m pleading, unless you have a nut allergy (God love ya!),  add the nuts to this recipe.

ABOVE: Turkish Zucchini Pancakes

I added a dallop of plain yogurt for garnish, but you can add sour cream if you want to.

Turkish Zucchini Pancakes (with my adjustments)

ABOVE:  Fog in settling over the tree in my backyard.

It’s been a rough winter.  Snow, ice, fog, freezing temperatures, and our usual–rain.

I’ll tell ya, I’ve struggled with the overcast skies for years.  At some point, the wise Western Washingtonian finds a way to turn the weather into a positive.  For the past ten years, I’ve referred to our weather as “romantic”.   I now realize romance is a bit over rated.  Enough with the romance already.

I do believe my love of cooking and baking is directly related to Seattle weather.   Can you think of anything more enjoyable than cooking or baking on a rainy, overcast day?  I didn’t think so.

After reading Mark  Bittman’s “Food Matters”, I’ve challenged myself to eat more vegetables and fruits.   As I write this post, I’m snacking on a mixture of chopped oranges, apples, pecans, unsweetened coconut, sliced and bananas.  It tastes like I’m eating dessert.  Granted, fruit is full of sugar, but this has got to be good for me.

I could make a smoothie, but they seldom fill me up.  I’m sure it’s all in my head, but I only have the one head, so I tend to believe it.

I made Mark Bittman’s granola recipe a few weeks ago. It has to be better for me than boxed cereal. It certainly tastes better!

I did manage to buy most of my ingredients in bulk, and that saved a bit.

I added my nuts whole, and coarsely chopped–for a heartier bite. You might prefer smaller pieces.

I really love to have granola in my yogurt too, so this will be both a cereal and a topper for me.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA Food Matters, by Mark Bittman

5 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant), or other rolled grains

3 cups mixed nuts and seeds, like sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, and sesame seeds

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1 tsp ground cinnamon, or other spices to taste

1/2 to 1 cup honey, or maple syrup to taste

salt

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

1-1 1/2 cups raisins or chopped dried fruit

Heat oven to 350. In a lg bowl combine oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, cinnamon, sweetener, and vanilla. Sprinkle with a little salt (not too much!). Toss well to thoroughly distribute ingredients. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet, bake for 30 minutes ,or a little longer, stirring occasionally.
The granola should brown evenly. The darker it gets, without burning, the crunchier it will be.
Remove pan from oven and add raisins. Cool on a rack, stirring now and then until the granola reaches room temperature. Put in a sealed container and keep in fridge. It will keep indefinitely.

WHAT I USED:
-5 cups rolled oats
-3/4 cup thick chopped almonds, 1/2 cup whole almonds, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds, 1/3 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
-1 cup large shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 tsp cinnamon
-3/4 cup blackberry honey
-about 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
-1 tsp vanilla (I stirred it into the honey)
-1 cup of dried blueberries

DON’T forget to stir in oven as it gradually turns golden
I thought it was browning too fast, so immediately after removing from oven I poured it onto another sheet to stop the cooking. It browns, but as you stir, the unbrowned surfaces. It was done in 25-30 minutes.

Let it cool completely before storing. I use 1/3- 1/2 cup per serving.

To see the steps, click below for more..

Start with your oats, nuts, seeds, coconut

Add your honey, seasoning, and vanilla

Find the strongest person in the house, and get them to stir it all up for ya.

Spread it out on a baking sheet

Pour the dried fruit on after it is finished baking.

That’s it! You have breakfast!

..or granola topping, or a great snack.

Stay out of the rain!

I finally did just that.

I used my strawberry sorbet from the freezer that I had made a few months back.  I simply let it melt and poured it over like syrup.  This cake is simply divine.

Since it took 13 egg whites to make the angel food, I decided to make another cake that used the egg yolks.

Yellow Butter Cake w/

Dark Chocolate Frosting

We dug into this cake before I had the chance to take a prettier photo.  It was just too good to wait!

There is nothing better than a good old fashioned homemade cake.  It tastes different than the box cakes.  I like box cakes, but this cake doesn’t have that”candy” sweet taste that many box cakes have.

My intention was to freeze this cake,  but between Mark and I a few guests, there wasn’t a crumb leftover!

Speaking of FOOD, I went to see Mark Bittman speak at the University of Washington. He really gave me a lot of food for thought- pun intended.

Mark Bittman talks about many of the things that I’ve been thinking about in recent years–especially with the push toward high protein, low carb diets.   I have always believed I need to eat more vegetables and fruits, and less meat.   I’m also not into extreme diets that involve elimination (except for medical reasons), and I find Bittman’s views more balanced.   It sounds like common sense to me.

In his latest book, “Food Matters”,  Bittman is talking about eating less meat  (he is not a vegetarian), more vegetables and fruit, and cut out overly processed foods.  I’m in! (except where homemade cakes are concerned!)

He also writes:  We are finally starting to acknowledge the threat carbon emissions pose to our ozone layer, but few people have focused on the extent to which our consumption of meat contributes to global warming. Think about it this way: In terms of energy consumption, serving a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.

Tonight I made up a recipe for a dinner of brown basmati rice, chopped organic brocolli, and homemade lemon tahini sauce.  I sprinkled toasted pine nuts over the top.  I served an organic garnet yam on the side with a little maple syrup and butter.    It was healthy, tasty, easy to make, and very filling.   We still had a slice of homemade cake for dessert.  I’m not interested in elimination–I’m simply learning balance.

In the past few days I’ve consumed more chard, beets, brown basmati rice, legumes, apples, oranges, pears, spinach, and nuts, than I’ve eaten in a week.  I think it is giving me more energy.  Who knew?

I am now considering using less meat in the meals I cook, and/or adding two-three vegetarian dinners to our weekly menu.    I think it will be more challenging for Mark.   Mark grew up with heavy meat and potato dinners.   I’m so happy he wants to make this change too.  I like the fact that we don’t have to feel like we’re giving something up.   As a flexitarian, if we want steak, we’ll eat steak!  We just won’t eat as much of it.

I can hear the vegans laughing at me now.