Heart Healthy Fun!!!

This week, I got two pieces of big news from one of my college roommates. First, was that she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and second, was that she has some rare condition that landed her in the Cardiac ICU. Otherwise healthy 28 year old women are not supposed to have heart attacks-- especially when they have a tiny newborn to hold and love waiting at home for them, so this was obviously incredibly distressing. While Rachel, her lovely husband, and adorably sweet little one are now at home in St. Louis surrounded by an incredible support system of family and friends, I want to do my part to help out. Rachel is being put on a preventative heart-healthy diet and asked for some yummy recipe ideas. I'm taking this request completely overboard and putting together an entire cook book for her. I'm asking my mom, who cooked for my step-father after his heart attack, my aunt Julie who suffered a mini-stroke a few years ago, and all of my food-loving friends for recipes to include. I'm really excited about the project, and have spent the weekend testing and re-creating recipes that I want to put in the book.


Spicy Broccoli and Potato Stir-fry

Friday night, I made a spicy broccoli and potato stir-fry that was a stand-by in my house when I was growing up. My mom used to include marinated tofu in the mix, but I wasn't sure how excited Tim would be about tofu (it's all about baby steps with him), so I left it out, and instead served the stir-fry next to a piece of salmon that I marinated in the orange-soy glaze and broiled for seven minutes. It was juicy and delicious! It was a nice contrast to the crisp and spicy vegetables.

serves 4 as a side, or 2 as a main dish.

• 1 head broccoli-- chopped into same-size florets
• 4 B sized red potatoes, thinly sliced and half way cooked (micro or parboiled; enough so the potatoes will finish cooking at the same time as the broccoli)
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 3 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
• 3 cloves of garlic (more or less, to taste), minced
• zest and juice from one orange
• 1 tsp ground ginger (I might play around with this in the future, either using more, or using fresh ginger instead)
• red pepper flakes to taste

In a small sauce pan over low heat, add the soy sauce, orange juice and zest, and ginger. Bring to a simmer so the mixture reduces enough to thicken. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium high heat; be careful to stir enough that the garlic does not burn. When the oil is hot, throw in the potatoes and broccoli allowing vegetables to quickly sear before tossing. Once seared, pour glaze over vegetables, add red pepper flakes to taste, and toss.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Fritatta

Saturday morning, I continued the heart healthy trend with a breakfast that was high in both protein and fiber. This was another giant risk for my (formerly?) picky eater boyfriend. He loves eggs, but he wants them plain and scrambled. I have ever-so-slowly been adding things (like Penzey's garlic powder, salt and pepper, fresh herbs, or cheese- really crazy stuff)  to his eggs over the past two years, and he has been incredibly receptive of this, but I knew that changing adding a vegetable was going to be pretty epic. Luckily, he is a great sport and ate it all-- spinach and goat cheese included! I was very happy. Fritattas are great because you can really add anything to them. I picked the ingredients that I did merely because they were on hand.

serves two

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• (1 TBSP water)
• 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, beaten (I like to beat the two whites separately for more fluff, then fold back in to other eggs)
• 1 oz goat cheese (I normally would probably use two oz. but I only had one in the fridge)
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Preheat the broiler. Heat oil and garlic in small saute pan until garlic is softened. Add spinach to pan and toss to wilt. If necessary, add up to a TBSP of water to the pan to quickly steam the spinach; this is not necessary, but helps speed the process along. Pour egg over wilted spinach (make sure all water is gone) and garlic and crumble goat cheese evenly across top. If you are me, this is also where you added a ton of fresh cracked black pepper. Cook on stove top for 2-3 minutes, and then put under the broiler for 3-4 minutes more. If your pan's handle is not oven safe, wrap it in aluminum foil before putting it under the broiler. When you take it out, you should be able to slide the fritatta right out of the pan onto your plate. Enjoy!


Roasted Garlic on Crusty Whole Grain Bread 

• 1 head garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil

Yep, there are really only two ingredients in this yummy little treat! (Well, I suppose three if you include some whole grain bread to spread it on.) Roasting garlic is insanely simple, but you end up with something complex in flavor and incredibly elegant-- it is only reminiscent of what the garlic used to be. While roasted garlic is great for adding to mashed potatoes, sauces, or soups, it is also a fantastic spread on its own. When it spends long enough in the oven, it completely softens to the point that you can spread it right onto bread or a cracker and enjoy it's spicy sweetness as a finger food.

right out of the oven

The steps for roasting garlic are easy. First, you cut the garlic open so that some of the flesh is exposed. Side note-- most people say to cut the top off of the garlic, but I have found that cutting the roots off works way better. When you go to squeeze the gooey cloves out later, they aren't stuck to any roots and pop right out! Second, you drizzle olive oil onto the garlic and rub it in. Third, you wrap it up in aluminum foil, and then you pop it in the oven (I did 325 degrees for 40 minutes, and then let it sit in the foil once I took it out of the oven).

after I squeezed 'em out; they spread like buttah!

Once you are ready to serve it, you can either leave the bulb whole, or you can squeeze out all the cloves (see below). I usually squeeze them out because I'm typically throwing them into a pot of mashed taters, and I did that without thinking this weekend. 

Anyway, with barely any olive oil and all of the nutritional benefits of garlic, this is a tasty appetizer that is 100% heart healthy! Just make sure to brush your teeth before smooching your special someone...



Apple Latkes
Sunday I had book club. I love book club (you can see my other blog for proof). Not only do we discuss books, but we have incredible pot lucks. This Sunday was no exception. I made apple latkes, using the recipe found at Smitten Kitchen. I didn't take any photos, because everything was eaten too quickly (read: I forgot), but competing with the photography on Smitten Kitchen would be silly anyway. I followed the recipe for these little cuties exactly, and they were.... just okay. I think that my apples must have been too juicy, because the end result was a bit chewy for my taste. Next time I will either wring them out more (though I did so much that I got almost 2/3 a cup of juice!!) or add a bit more flour. Anyway, any sort of desserty item that includes no fat (animal or otherwise) and barely any added sugar is worth noting!

Monday night fail

Tonight I made Cajun tilapia with a side of lemon scented orzo and broccoli. I still think it sounds like it should taste good, but it just... didn't. The pasta was okay, but could have used even more lemon... or lime actually. The garnishes were nice (cilantro and red onion), but they needed more of that fresh citrus burst. Granted, I am only a few steps away from my kitchen and could easily fix this, but I'm too lazy (fail again!)

For the fish, I just used a mix of Cajun seasoning, dried parsley, black pepper and -- here is the bad part-- salt. I forgot that Cajun seasoning is already salted. I cooked the fish in 1 TBSP of vegetable oil over medium heat. The texture is really nice, but it's just too darn salty. It makes it taste so gross. Next time I will just make my own seasons with cayenne and paprika and control the amount of salt.