Routine Oatmeal

Sounds boring, doesn't it?

But I really enjoy my morning oatmeal--it satisfies and sticks with me to a late lunch.  Here's what I've been doing lately--give it a try!

Basic Plan
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 fruit, diced
2/3 cup water, give or take, depending on the moisture in the fruit
1/2 oz nuts, chopped and lightly toasted (I use my toaster oven and the chopper I keep right beside it)
spices to complement the fruit
(sweetening if needed -- I keep it to about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar with sour fruits, but dates or other sweeteners will do the job if you prefer those. Taste it first, then try the least sweetening possible.)

Combine the oats and fruit and water in a large bowl and microwave for one minute. Stir, add spices, and microwave for one additional minute. Top with toasted nuts and enjoy!

Variations
Apple with walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg
Apple with almonds, ginger, and cardamom
Pear with almonds and cardamom
Peach** with pecans and allspice
Banana (added for only the second minute) with walnuts and cinnamon
Sour cherry** with pecans (definitely needs some sweetening, perhaps with apple)
Blueberry (added AFTER the oatmeal is cooked) with almonds and nutmeg

Do you have an oatmeal favorite combo?  

** I use peaches and cherries from our trees that I dehydrated with my Excalibur last summer--no additives!

"A Quiet Soup" from Orangette

A very pretty but mostly-retired blog, Orangette, had a post the other day for a "quiet soup" I had just the ingredients to do myself.

The link above will take you there. It features red lentils (really orange), lemon, tomato paste, chicken broth, onions and garlic, a bit of heat, and cilantro.  It can probably take further nutritarian adjustments (like veggie broth instead of chicken, and dry or wet sauteing of the onions instead of with oil), but I increased the lentil content a bit to use up the amount I had on hand, and I used only two tablespoons of olive oil instead of the four called for. It is very nice, excellent, even, and I think it will be even better tomorrow.


To the left is the cookbook it comes from.

In other news, I haven't posted much lately, but I've been doing a lot of nutritarian-friendly things in the kitchen, mostly dehydrating tomatoes, with this:

The romas are the prettiest. I peel them by plunging them into boiling water for about two minutes, then into cold water, then slipping the skins off. I then slice them into pretty rounds and arrange them on the trays. They take a good 18 or more hours to dry.

Beefsteak tomatoes work, too, but they need a good squeezing after peeling to get out the excess liquid and seeds before arranging the pieces on the dehydrator trays.  A better technique with the beefsteaks is just cooking them down for hours on a low burner in a big pot, stirring occasionally so they don't stick to the bottom.  The result is something between a puree and tomato paste, intensely flavored and sweet, with a kind of smokiness, perhaps from caramelization in the long, slow cooking.  I used some of this "reduced puree" in place of the tomato paste in the lentil soup recipe, and it is lovely.

Healthy Foods Myths?

Here is a good, sane article on the health effects of Raw Food Vegan Diets.  Too often I see folks in a vegan-type health lifestyle who fall prey to superstitions and pursue (usually expensive) purist paths of one sort or another.  In that light, I have a few questions. (Caveat: I am setting aside the "ethical vegetarian" concern about avoiding animal foods. That's a discussion of another sort--I'm thinking mostly about health.)

How are liquid aminos nutritionally superior to traditional soy sauce? I realize the sodium content is lower, but equivalent to lower-sodium soy sauce. Where do these aminos come from, besides the high-priced health-food store?

The article discusses raw food enzymes, but I wonder about how the process of long dehydration (even at low temperatures) really preserves any nutritional content better than other methods of cooking.

Are the fats in nuts and avocado SO superior to the fats in oils that a free hand with nut purees and such is really better for us than a bit of olive oil or other oil (or even butter!)?

The same goes for cheeses--recently I've seen on at least one blog that folks are excited about a new vegan cheez (great spelling!) that will make their meals look and taste just as cheesy as the SAD meals, but with nutritional superiority (I assume).  I wonder whether the intensive processing that goes into making such a product results in something that is inherently nutritionally superior to regular old cheese (or a lower-fat version)?

It seems to me that creating vegan versions of omni foods sometimes goes to the point of ridiculousness, especially for those vegans who aren't really watching the calories. It reminds me of the tradition I once heard of whereby strictly-vegetarian Buddhists create mostly tofu-based foods that mimic animal foods to the point of looking just like a fish on the plate, for example.

Is it REALLY that important to substitute stevia or a pureed date for a tiny half-teaspoon of sugar in my fresh-picked blackberries from the garden?

How much of the "current practice" of many vegans and vegetarians is powered by the marketing power of product manufacturers?

I won't even get into the "organic" thing, but that's a particular interest of those who really focus on whole foods. Seems like some marketing gets in there, too! My husband the scientist (with work in toxicology and DNA damage and repair) is not impressed with the superiority of organics in many cases, though he's happy to avoid treating things in our garden when possible!

I'm trying to eat nutritarian for health reasons, so my recipes often include small amounts of things many purists eschew (what a great word!) when I don't see a real advantage to the vegan alternative, though it's certainly others' prerogative to make those substitutions.  And I feel like a bit of a slacker when I post those ingredients, too! :-)

Zucchagna!

My husband estimates he's picked about 200 pounds so far of summer squashes, mostly zucchini, with more to come, so I'm trying to find various ways to use it.  A couple of weeks ago I dehydrated some thin longitudinal slices to emulate lasagna noodles, hoping to create something that would not have the wateriness that regular zucchini would lend to such a dish. My thought was that if the dry slices could absorb flavored moisture from the sauce, the whole thing would turn out nicely.

I was right!


Because I had some cheeses for traditional lasagna, this recipe is not as "clean" as I would like to try later, but it's a good start for the experiment. Try it with tofu filling, non-dairy cheeses, etc., if you like.

ZUCCHAGNA

Makes a 9x13 and a 7x11 dish

5-6 cups marinara sauce (I used the 43-oz. jar of Ragu from Costco)
Dehydrated longitudinal slices of zucchini to make two layers in each dish (I didn't count!)
48-oz. carton lowfat ricotta cheese
48-oz. carton lowfat cottage cheese
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
handful of freshly-picked basil, oregano, and rosemary (or smaller amounts of dried--about 2 tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups mozzarella shreds

Spread enough marinara sauce to cover the bottom of each dish, then arrange dried zucchini in a single layer. Combine ricotta and cottage cheese with parmesan, garlic powder, and herbs and divide between the two dishes. Sprinkle with about 1/3 of the mozzarella (divided between the dishes). Arrange another layer of zucchini slices in each dish and top with the remaining sauce.  Seal with foil and bake at 360 for about 30-40 minutes (large dish), then remove foil, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and bake until bubbly, about ten minutes.

Verdict: Excellent! Everybody liked this, and now I think I can dial back the dairy and try some other variations. The zucchini was chewy and satisfying, with a sweet flavor that I think would lend itself to some Middle Eastern variations.

Now I'm dehydrating another load of zucchini with a lot more to go after that!