2012 Whole Living Healthy Detox: Week 2

Well, week 2 is over, but it was much easier than week 1.  We made quite a few tasty meals.  We started  the week off with a family Christmas party - we brought baked salmon with chimichurri sauce.  We also revamped one of our favorites, lemon pepper shrimp, to be detox-friendly (and MUCH healthier).  Typically, this dish consists of whole wheat orzo and broccoli sauteed with garlic, topped with shrimp in a lemony, peppery, garlicky, buttery sauce.  We left out the orzo and we left out the butter, making the shrimp with only the lemon, pepper, garlic, and a bit of olive oil, so there wasn't much of a sauce.  We were very pleased with the results!

Throughout the week, we also ate our Dark Days meal of beans and cabbage, and I improved upon my favorite smoothie from last week, the Carrot Mango Smoothie, by adding some strawberries to it as well.  We used up the only soup in the freezer that we can eat, a veggie-filled base for Soup au Pistou, to which we added white beans and a cube of basil puree to give it flavor.  One day for lunch at work, I had half a bag of frozen edamame for lunch, which surprisingly filled me up a lot!

I also managed to squeeze in another recipe from Plenty, one of the two featured cookbooks for January.  The recipe is for Saffron Cauliflower, shown up above, which we ate as a side with salmon.  Because you cook the cauliflower, onions, and golden raisins in the oven, covered, the saffron flavor steams into them.  If you really like saffron (I find it overrated, but that's just me) you will probably like this dish.  I would have preferred if the cauliflower mix was left open to roast and crisp up a little, but it was an OK dish.  I probably won't make it again.

This week is week 3, the final week of the detox.  It's going to take all my willpower not to go straight back to sugar and coffee and bacon!  Wish me luck!

Quinoa with Roasted Chanterelles, Apples, and Squash

I have never tried chanterelle mushrooms before, so I thought this pretty quinoa bowl would be a great time to have them.  (Let's please ignore the price tag on these mushrooms - I don't even want to talk about it.)  All the ingredients appealed to me - I don't eat quinoa often enough, and winter squash, apples, and red onions are all super tasty.  Unfortunately, I found this to be just a little bit bland.  I used what I felt was a ton of thyme and just a splash more sherry vinegar than instructed, but it could have used a strong flavor that ties it all together.  If I make (something similar to but less pricey than) this again, I think I'll include some sherry vinegar when roasting the squash and apples.  A squeeze of lemon juice might also elevate the dish a bit.  This has inspired me to try to make up my own quinoa bowls to get more of that protein-packed "grain" into my diet.  If I feel the urge to buy chanterelles again, I want to try the Chanterelle Tacos from Super Natural Every Day.

Herbed Shrimp and White Bean Salad

We made this Herbed Shrimp and White Bean Salad for dinner down the shore this weekend.  We all agreed it was more of a lunch salad.  I loved the peppery arugula and the variety of herbs.  Shrimp is always good.  I could see using a bit more dressing next time.  The bean mixture and dressing would be so delicious tossed with a hearty grain for a different take on the salad.  What a delicious summer salad.  I'll be taking some inspiration from this for other fresh, light salads.

Grilled Vegetable Couscous

Last weekend, I made a whole bunch of grilled vegetables and had way too many left over.  After having the vegetables with pasta and in wraps with hummus, I wanted to do something a little different.  I toasted some pearl couscous and after cooking, mixed in chopped grilled vegetables and pesto (frozen without cheese).  Super quick, easy and tasty.

Ribollita

My soup making streak is far from over.  I can't get enough.  It also gives me a great deal of satisfaction to have so many soup options in my freezer, although every time I find a new favorite, like Ribollita, I know I would reach for that first.

This is my first chunky soup.  It's also my first soup with beans.  I found it while trying to figure out what to do with my lacinato kale.  And it's my new favorite.  The slightly spicy tomato flavor, creamy white beans (and here I thought that beans were always grainy - now I know you need to cook your own! forget cans!), and a great change in texture from the kale.  The torn up bread made little pockets of liquid that squish in your mouth.  The celery, carrots and onions were tiny nourishing bites.  I even liked the chopped oily black olives on top - I bought just a few at the olive bar, next time I need to see if they come already pitted, but they added a great saltiness and a contrasting flavor.  Are you hungry yet?

This recipe gave me 8 cups frozen, plus a full quart for the fridge, and that's not including the bowl I ate for dinner.  And I'm going to make it again.  :)

Cashew Curry

I got a head of cauliflower in this week's CSA share, and while I was looking for something to do with it I came across this Cashew Curry recipe on 101 Cookbooks.  It looked like an easy enough lunch, and Ken recently decided he likes curry, so I figured I would make it soon.  I have green beans from last week's CSA share that are pretty beastly, but holding up very well, so I even went with the same vegetables used in the recipe.  For the protein, we added shrimp instead of tofu.  Now having made this recipe, I know that I can adapt it to whatever I have on hand.  The second time I made it I added some thin shreds of carrot, which added a nice color, and I figured it's always good to get some extra veg in there.  I want to try slices of onion instead of chopped - while chopping them is easier, I really like cooked onions.  The cashews are essential as well - they add a nice crunch that contrasts with the softness of the veg.

A funny note: we ate the first bowl of this without the cashews.  I had put them in the oven to toast up along with some acorn squash seeds, and I completely forgot about them until well after they were done.  Fortunately I remembered at exactly the right moment and they were deeply toasted without being burned.  I did laugh, though, when I realized that this recipe is called "Cashew Curry" and I didn't put any cashews in it :)

Moroccan Eggplant and Couscous Salad

Something struck me about this Moroccan-inspired eggplant recipe, but I wasn't sure what it was.  I knew I wanted to eat it but I didn't know why.  When I tasted it, though, it all made sense!  It was delicious.  I was skeptical, especially because instead of amounts of seasoning it's "go with what smells good," but it turned out good.

This is made of several components: roasted eggplant cubes, roasted chickpeas (roasted separately from the eggplant), couscous, and a dressing with white balsamic and cilantro.  The spices (cumin and cinnamon) are key.  I left out the golden raisins, because I didn't see them at the store, and I also hate raisins, but when I made it a second time I added some currants - yum!  I also left out the chickpeas the second time around, as we didn't really like them.  They did not get crunchy at all!  So sad.  Luckily it's just as delicious without them, and the leftovers are fantastic too.  This would still be fine at room temperature so it could make a great picnic food or packed in a lunch.

Salsa Verde

I've gotten to try some interesting new things thanks to our CSA membership.  Beets - I hated those.  Kale - now one of my favorites.  And this week, tomatillos.
I have never really heard of doing anything with them other than salsa, so I decided to look for a salsa verde recipe.  I found this recipe on the Food Network website, from famous chef Rick Bayless.  I made an adjustment based on the comments - I added a clove of garlic.  I also broiled the tomatillos for only a minute or two less.  I used one jalapeno, since I'm afraid of heat, and this recipe had none - next time I'll use several.  (After this, I made a tomato salsa - more like a sauce, since it pretty much liquified in the food processor - and used three serrano chiles before I was happy with the level of heat.  Guess I like it after all!)  I also excluded the 1/4 cup of water called for.  I found that simply scraping down the food processor was enough to ensure it mixed properly, and I had read in the comments that it becomes more liquidy as it sits.  This didn't happen, but I do like a thick salsa.  It would be worth experimenting with adding a tablespoon or so of water at a time.

This made an interesting condiment for our tacos and I think will make a nice snack with tortilla chips as well.  I don't know what else to do with the tomatillos, so I'm sure I will be making this again.  One advantage of the recipe is that it calls for only 8 ounces of tomatillos.  I'm sure you could multiply it, but since we only received a small quantity it was perfect.  The recipe includes instructions for both a roasted version and a raw version, so maybe next time I'll try it raw instead!

Cantaloupe Salsa

I have been getting cantaloupe from the market every Friday and when I saw this Cantaloupe Salsa recipe, I was so excited!  It was nice to finally have something to actually DO with cantaloupe besides just eating it by itself or with cottage cheese.

The recipe is simple: cantaloupe, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice.  I thought this might be kind of weird, but it was actually better than the tomato salsa with all the same ingredients!  It worked really well.  I thought it looked cool with the blue corn chips, too.  I will be making this again soon!

Chopped Miso Salad

I wanted to try more recipes with miso and came across this Chopped Miso Salad.  I happened to have a green cabbage on hand and almost all the other ingredients, so I brought everything down to the beach and made it for my family.

This recipe was definitely a hit - it's variable and easy to make.  I used sunflower seeds instead of almonds, added carrots, and made the dressing in a blender instead of just whisking it together.  Everyone loved it, and we have already made it again.  (It's very aesthetically pleasing with a mix of red and green cabbage also.)  It's probably going to be a staple in our fridge down the shore this summer, at least as long as the cabbage is in season.

Turkey Couscous Meatloaves

For dinner I made Turkey Couscous Meatloaves.  This is one of many recipes that I find when perusing the vast depths of the internet instead of doing various relatively productive things.  I don't typically have an interest in anything named "meatloaf," or anything that is made primarily of meat, or anything that is made of turkey meat, but something about this appealed to me (probably the bacon and the glaze... more the fact that there IS a glaze rather than what the glaze is...) and for some reason, I happened to have a pound of ground turkey in the freezer, although I can't remember what possessed me to buy such a thing.

This was easy to make.  Granted, I did not shape any meatloaves, nor did I even defrost the meat.  That is not something I want to stick my hands in.  But that is why I have a live-in sous chef.  (Come to think of it, I did not chop the onions, I did not chop the sage... hmm, what DID I do?)

The cooked couscous helped to give the loaf more substance while the zucchini kept it very moist.  The bacon and glaze (essentially a barbecue sauce) gave it flavor, which ground turkey does not really possess on its own.

In an effort to make eating a pile of meat more appealing to me, I roasted some asparagus with a spray of olive oil, plus salt and pepper.  My oven was happy to multitask and waste less energy.  The asparagus was pretty good although it has been sitting in my fridge for several days.  I am sure looking forward to some fresh asparagus from a closer location than Mexico.

This recipe makes 4 loaves, and as there are only two of us, and I don't eat piles of meat often, I froze the other two.  I expect that they can be reheated in the oven and with a thermometer it would be easy to determine when they were done.  It will be nice to reach in and pull those out on a busy, exhausting day.  That is what the freezer is for.  After those two are gone, I might make this again, or maybe down the shore this summer for the family.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Farro

I bought some butternut squash at the farmers' market because I have never tried it before and I wanted to try something new. I finally got to making this recipe from 101 Cookbooks. I picked this one because it was simple enough to make, and simple enough for me to be able to appreciate the taste of the squash, without it actually being plain.

Although it was pretty good, I would recommend feta instead of goat cheese. The goat cheese was a little too sweet on top of the already sweet butternut squash and red onions. I might also try to make some kind of sauce to go with this as the farro was kind of plain. However, I have never had farro before either, and I really liked it, so I want to try to use it more often. It is somewhat like barley, and Ken thought it tasted kind of like oatmeal.

This recipe made way more than I really needed for 2 people. Too many vegetables can't hurt though, so I would just halve the farro instead, unless you have a need for cooked farro in something else. I liked the squash, so I will definitely be trying some more butternut squash recipes in the next few weeks.

I still can't find my camera charger, but I am in the process of cleaning my house so it should find its way to me soon and I will start posting pictures again. For now I am just catching up on my posts since I am very behind...

Leftovers Fried Rice

Today, after having a reasonably bad day, I came home ready to make something yummy for dinner. I somehow ended up talking to my mom on the phone for over an hour and when we finally hung up it was well after 8pm already and I was ready to eat right then. It was time to come up with something quick and easy (and of course, tasty).

Last night I had takeout from my favorite Thai restaurant, and I had some white rice left over. I poked around the fridge and found some red onions already sliced. I grabbed an egg and some soy sauce. I found my tiniest pan which happened to be the only clean thing in the kitchen, and I made a quick omelette with the egg, adding just a little salt and pepper. I took it out of the pan and cut it up on a plate. Meanwhile, I put the onions in the pan with toasted sesame oil (I didn't mind using it for this since I discovered that "blend" means blended with canola oil, not different sesame oils) and let them cook on their own for a minute or two. Then I dumped in the rice and mixed it all around and let it fry up a bit. After a few minutes when it had very slightly changed color, I added two glugs of soy sauce, mixing in between, then added some salt and pepper (note for next time: the pepper was a good idea, the salt was not. soy sauce - duh!). At the very end, I turned the heat way down and put the cut up omelette back in just to heat up a bit.


And wow! Normally I wouldn't post some crap that I just tossed together to quiet my stomach, but this was surprisingly delicious. I'm not sure exactly what made it good - I suspect the oil had something to do with it, and that I actually let the rice fry up before sprinkling it with soy sauce instead of drenching it like I have in the past. The red onions were interesting, I would probably use white or yellow next time, and chopped smaller, but not bad for such an impromptu mix of ingredients.

The point of this is not to actually make it again - but as a reminder of what you can do to clean out your fridge. There is quite a bit of stuff I would have added had I wanted to spend more than ten minutes on this endeavor. If I had a little more time I probably would have found some vegetables in the freezer to add as well, and if I hadn't had the leftover white rice I would have used brown rice. And if I had more time I would have defrosted tofu and used that instead of egg. But these were the things I had easily accessible and all ready to go, so that's what I used - and it worked. Sometimes when I make some of the more complicated recipes, like on 101 Cookbooks, I end up with weird little bits of already chopped things that I throw away in tiny amounts. Something like this might be a fun and interesting way to use up those little chopped up bits instead of tossing them in the trash.

Final notes: the key was just letting the rice fry up and leaving it alone, just giving it a few splashes of soy sauce instead of cups and cups of the stuff, and possibly the toasted sesame oil. I might try a million variations, but I will definitely be having fried rice again soon.

Spinach Rice Gratin

Ken requested something hot for dinner last night, and I had just seen a recipe for Spinach Rice Gratin while browsing 101 Cookbooks. It looked delicious and I wanted to try it.

I used Lundberg Countrywild rice blend instead of plain brown rice. It has three types of rice in it so it gave it a little extra flavor and texture. Cooking the rice took the longest - other than that, the recipe was pretty quick and easy. It calls for pre-cooked rice, so I had to make it myself, but I think next time I make rice for something I will probably make extra so that I can make this again.


This is basically a rice casserole, and it was delicious. It held together really well, which is probably due to the 3 eggs in it. It also contained tofu, but since it is crumbled and mixed it with everything else, you can't even really tell unless you know what you are looking for. This is a great way to sneak tofu into someone who refuses to eat it.


This was a delicious, warm comfort food kind of meal. I think it would be great for fall or winter, and maybe even Thanksgiving. I will definitely be making this again. I would love to try baking it in a muffin tin instead of a casserole dish to make individual and freezer-ready servings. It held up really well in the freezer so I think it would be a perfect go-to lunch.

Broccoli Crunch

For our cooking date, Haley picked out Broccoli Crunch as an entree. We had planned to add some shrimp to make it more of an entree, but we totally forgot about it and didn't even notice until we were having seconds. This recipe, although it was a bit of work, was absolutely delicious.

The crunchy shallots were one of my favorite parts. They got a little lost in the salad because of the red onions, but they were so fun to make and yummy little crisps. These can be made in advance, which I would recommend since I was constantly running back and forth to check them. I guess I am not the type of person who can handle more than one thing on the stove at a time.

One sad part was that I cooked the broccoli a little more than I wanted to. The salad is called "Broccoli Crunch" for a reason - everything is supposed to crunch. I cooked the broccoli in boiling water as per the directions, but left it for a few minutes rather than a few seconds. It wasn't mushy or bad, just not crunchy enough. The broccoli also was unfortunately not that great quality either. I would like to try again when I see some better broccoli at the market in the coming weeks.

We used Pink apples and Fuji apples (or so said the sign at the store). Both were delicious, but I particularly liked the Pink apples. We sliced them thinly, which was fine, but I would also cut the apples into bite-size pieces next time in keeping with the rest of the salad being crunchy bite-size pieces.

The almond butter dressing was amazing, and we used sliced almonds instead of walnuts to complement the dressing. It was so good, and I know it would lend itself to shrimp as well, even though we forgot them. They would be perfect in this bite-size salad. I think some tofu croutons (see How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) might be yummy as well. I also want to note that I left out the optional chives. I think the salad was oniony enough without them, and after the sad green bean experience yesterday, I didn't want to use them in case they were part of the problem.

One more note about leftovers... I might make this again on a weekend, keeping all the ingredients separate and combining them only for individual portions. I might cook the broccoli each time too, since my slightly overcooked broccoli didn't hold up too well in the leftovers. But it would be easy to throw together during the week with everything already prepared and ready to go. I found that it worked well to keep the thinly sliced apples in a tupperware with water and the juice of one lemon. They seem to be keeping really well.

This is definitely something I will be making again, especially as more apples come in season. According to this map on Epicurious, broccoli will be in season through October, so I will have plenty of chances to perfect this recipe. If I am lucky, broccoli will stick around for Thanksgiving so I can make this for the big meal... I am already plotting to cook lots, although I won't be able to have it at my house, so hopefully my mom will host and take care of the meat and things. But that is a topic for another time...

Peach Caprese Salad

I am working from home today so I decided to make myself something interesting for lunch. Based on the success of yesterday's lunch, I wanted to make a more classic caprese salad. But I also wanted to put a twist on it. I decided to add peaches so I could get that different kind of fruit taste that I liked so much yesterday.

Here is my "recipe":
1 1/2 tomatoes, sliced
a few rings of red onion
6-8 basil leaves
a few slices of fresh mozzarella
1 peach, sliced

Directions: Layer on a plate in order of ingredients. Top with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

This salad was pretty delicious. The peach was a nice touch. I would recommend saving the peach for absolute last - drizzle the olive oil and season with salt and pepper, THEN add the peaches on top. It is just a little weird to have your peaches covered with oil and salt and pepper. I will probably be having this again this week if my basil will survive long enough!

Layered Salad

One of the recipes that stood out to me from Food Matters was the Layered Salad. Mark Bittman gives a recipe, but each ingredient line has different choices. So for the bottom layer you would choose tomato or orange, etc. This is his twist on the classic tomato/mozzarella layering which you probably see quite frequently. In this salad there are several layers, and only one of them is cheese, which makes the idea of a layered salad more in line with his plan for "sane" eating - consuming less animal products. I really like this "diet" because you don't have to deny yourself anything; you only have to learn how to enjoy things in moderation.

For this salad, I layered (from bottom to top): oranges, red onions, feta cheese, peaches, and granny smith apples. The dressing (for which he offers a few variations) is lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and two chopped basil leaves. I made this in a small square tupperware to take with me to work. This is just one of many possible combinations for the salad.

In Food Matters, Mark Bittman suggests spending a little extra time when you have it to do prep work like washing and slicing. This way you always have stuff on hand and ready to go, whether it is for snacking or cooking with. These things will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, or you can freeze them. I should have considered that, because I underestimated how long this salad would take me. I did it while getting ready for work, and it took me at least 20 minutes. (If you know me, you know this threw me into a panic and made me almost miss the train... and you also know I prioritized this salad over my hair, putting work clothes on, etc.) Another negative effect of the time crunch was that the top layer, the apple, was supposed to be either chopped finely or grated. I would have liked to grate the apple, but I unfortunately did not have time and had to put small slices on instead.

The combination of ingredients was surprisingly good. The slight saltiness of the feta, plus the salt and pepper in the dressing and the red onion, gives a different taste to this otherwise being a fruit salad. Next time I would cut everything into smaller pieces to get more variety in each bite. The apple definitely needs to be grated and maybe tossed in the dressing to coat it up with lemon so it doesn't brown. I might also use crumbled feta rather than the slices since it was falling apart with each bite anyway. I would also like to try mint instead of basil - I think that would be a very interesting flavor.

I know it doesn't look too pretty in the picture, since it's in a tupperware and there isn't great lighting, but the mix of colors is beautiful and the red onion especially adds to the aesthetically pleasing dish. This could be a great picnic or barbecue salad.

I also have tomato and mozzarella, so I might try another variation of the salad with the more vegetable-y ingredient choices for tomorrow's lunch. But you don't even really need to follow the recipe to make this - you can easily just make up your own stuff. The idea to keep in mind is that you want the bulk of the salad to come from plants, not animals.