May 2012 Recipes

All of the recipes this month were developed by Tiffany Hobson.  Tiffany is becoming a very creative cook and we have had many brainstorming sessions about food and recipes lately.  Hope you enjoy these recent recipes from her and look forward to more in the future.  Mary

Tiffany is the executive assistant to the McDougall’s.  She heads operations for all McDougall Programs, is the tour director for McDougall Adventures, and oversees the Nursing Continuing Education.  Tiffany has a BA in Rhetoric from University of California, Berkeley and is nationally certified as a Pharmacy Technician.  She has the pleasure of assisting Dr. McDougall when seeing patients.  Tiffany also helps Mary with recipe development.  

Macro Bowl with Ginger Miso Dressing

The clean and simple flavors of Japanese cooking inspired this recipe.

Preparation Time:  25 minutes
Cooking Time:  30-45 minutes
Servings:  6-8

4 cups brown rice, cooked
6-10 potatoes (fingerling, new or blue potatoes work well), chopped
2 yams , peeled and chopped
6-8 carrots, peeled and chopped
1   15 ounce can white beans (butter, cannellini, or garbanzos), drained and rinsed
2 bunches of kale, stripped from its vein and chopped
1 package extra firm tofu, sliced (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Clean the root vegetables and chop into bite size pieces.  Place vegetables on a baking  sheet (you may want to use parchment paper for easier clean up) and cook for 30-40 minutes.  When you can easily pierce the vegetables with a fork, they are done.  Remove from oven and set aside.

While the root vegetables are cooking, steam kale over boiling water for 2 minutes.  Remove from steaming basket, place kale in a colander, rinse with cold water and allow to drain.  Add the beans to the steamer basket and warm them for 5 minutes.  Remove from steaming basket, rinse with cold water and drain.   To prepare tofu, place sliced tofu in a non-stick pan over medium heat.  Cook the tofu dry (adding no liquid to the pan) for 5-9 minutes on each side.  The tofu should have a nice golden brown color.  Remove from pan and cut into bite-size pieces.  Set aside.

Ginger Miso Dressing

1 cup vegetable broth
4 tablespoons white miso soybean paste
6 teaspoons ginger, microplaned (grated)
3-4 small cloves of garlic, minced

Place dressing ingredients in a saucepan, over medium heat.  Continuously whisk the ingredients together until the white miso paste has dissolved, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.

To assemble bowls; in each bowl place ½ - ¾ cup brown rice, equal amounts of each vegetable, ¼ cup beans, and a few pieces of tofu.  Add some of the Ginger Miso Dressing, toss ingredients together and serve.

Note:  White miso soybean paste may be found in the refrigerated section at natural food stores. 

Shirazi

This delightful salad (pronounced she-raw-zee) is a staple in the hot summer months in Iran because of its light, cool and refreshing taste. 

Preparation Time:  20 minutes assembling, 2 hours to chill
Cooking Time:  None
Servings:  4-6

6 large firm tomatoes, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 large cucumbers, peeled and diced
6 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley, diced (optional)
2 teaspoons white or red wine vinegar (optional)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  Mix ingredients again and salt to taste before serving, if desired.  This dish tastes even better when its been refrigerated for 24 hours.  

Roasted Garlic Croutons/Bread Crumbs

The amount of garlic you decide to use for this dish depends on two things: how much do you love garlic and how long do you want to smell like garlic!  The first time I made this, I used 12 heads of roasted garlic.  It took about a week for the smell to dissipate!  I do love the taste of roasted garlic, and it keeps well in the refrigerator.  I tend to make a lot at once and it usually lasts about a week in my house before I need to make more.

Preparation Time:  25 minutes, plus 1-3 days to dry out bread
Cooking Time:  1 ½ hours for garlic, 25-45 minutes for croutons
Servings:  20

1 loaf of bread, cubed and placed in a bowl to dry for 1-3 days
12-14 heads of garlic, tops cut off exposing garlic with excess paper removed
2 ½ cups vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place the heads of garlic in a large Pyrex baking dish with the exposed garlic facing down.  Add the vegetable broth and soak for 5-10 minutes.  Turn over the garlic and cover with aluminum foil, placing parchment paper in between the garlic and foil.  Cook the garlic for 1 ½ hours, or until the garlic has become golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow the garlic to cool before handling, about 10-20 minutes.  At this point, you may invert the whole heads over a bowl and squeeze hard with your hands to remove as much of the roasted garlic from the cloves.  Either remove as much as you need for this recipe, and reserve the remaining heads whole, covered, in the refrigerator.  Or squeeze all of it into a covered bowl, use what you need for this recipe and save the rest in the bowl in the refrigerator for other uses.

Take the bowl of cubed bread and add the squeezed out (as above) insides of 3 to 6 heads of roasted garlic.  Mix the bread and garlic with your hands.  You want to make sure the bread has been coated with the garlic.  Place the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread it evenly.  Bake the bread, checking it every 10 minutes.  Once the bread has started to turn golden brown (about 20-25 minutes), turn off the oven.  Taste is the best way to see if it’s done.  Bread may not be extremely hard at first, but will continue to harden as it cools.

For croutons:  Place in a container and use when needed.
For breadcrumbs:  Place in a sealed zip lock bag, and place that in another sealed zip lock bag.  Pound it until you have breadcrumbs.

Note:  One thing I did not expect from making this was how much this mimics the flavor of parmesan cheese.  This has less fat than my nutty parmesan cheese recipe (walnuts vs. bread) and I tend not to need to use much of the croutons or breadcrumbs in recipes. 

Easy Croutons/Bread Crumbs

Preparation Time:  25 minutes, plus 1-3 days to dry out bread
Cooking Time:  20-30 minutes
Servings:  20

1 loaf of bread, cubed and placed in a bowl to dry for 1-3 days
¼ - ½ cup vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Add ¼ cup vegetable broth to the bread, making sure you coat the bread.  You do not want to turn your bread into mush; you just want to coat it.  Using your hands, mix well.  If needed, slowly add more vegetable broth a little at a time.  Mix well.  Place the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread evenly.  Bake the bread, checking it every 10 minutes.  When the bread has started to turn golden brown (about 20 minutes), turn off the oven.  Taste is the best way to see if it’s done.  Bread should be crispy, but not rock hard.

For croutons:  Place in a container and use when needed.
For breadcrumbs:  Place in a sealed zip lock bag, and place that in another sealed zip lock bag.  Pound it until you have breadcrumbs.

Beans and Braised Kale

My new favorite dish!  Not only is it easy to prepare, you can refrigerate the leftovers and it still tastes great!

Preparation Time:  10-15 minutes
Cooking Time:  10-15 minutes
Servings:  4-6

1 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1  15 ounce can cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
3 bunches lacinato kale, stripped from its vein and chopped
¼ cup Roasted Garlic Breadcrumbs (optional)
Salt to taste

Place vegetable broth, garlic and red pepper flakes in a non-stick pan over medium high heat.  Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.  When the broth begins to boil, add beans and stir.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, until the broth starts to boil again.  Reduce to medium heat and add kale.  Continuously stir the kale.  The kale will cook down and the liquid will almost completely evaporate.  Remove from heat.  Serve with a few tablespoons of Roasted Garlic Breadcrumbs and salt to taste, if desired.

Note:  This recipe does not need the Roasted Garlic Breadcrumbs.  I’ve added this option in here because it adds a different texture to the cooked ingredients with a bit of parmesan cheese flavor.

Absolutely Fabulous No-Butter Sauce

Preparation Time:  5-10 minutes
Cooking Time:  None
Servings:  About 2 cups

½ cup cashews
1 cup vegetable broth
½ cup water

Place the ingredients in a blender.  If you have a Vitamix:  turn it on to the highest speed possible and allow it to blend for 5 minutes.  If you have a blender:  puree the ingredients at a high speed for about 7-10 minutes.  You want to make sure the mixture is not grainy.  Strain the sauce to make sure all chunks of cashews are removed.  Transfer sauce to a bowl.

Note:  To cut down on the fat content of this recipe, try adding another ¼-½ cup of water and vegetable broth.  The sauce with be a bit thinner, but still very tasty. 

Linguine with English Peas

Growing up there were only 3 things my mother ever cooked.  One of them was pasta with a cube of butter (no joke) and parmesan cheese.  I have always wondered if there was a way to turn that into a McDougall recipe.  Hope you enjoy!

Preparation Time:  20 minutes
Cooking Time:  20 minutes
Servings:  6-8

12 ounces linguine
3 cups of shelled English peas, rinsed
1   15 ounce can butter beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups Absolutely Fabulous No Butter Sauce
2 tablespoons bouquet garni
2-4 cups Roasted Garlic Croutons
3 bunches frisee salad, cleaned and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add linguine and cook until the pasta becomes al dente, approximately 6-10 minutes.  Transfer to a strainer and rinse linguine with cold water to stop it from cooking.  Place the pasta back in the pot, adding ½ cup of the No Butter Sauce and toss to keep the noodles from sticking together. 

Over medium high heat, place the remaining 1 ½ cups of No Butter Sauce, English peas and butter beans in a non-stick pan.  Stirring occasionally, allow the sauce to come to a boil.  Add bouquet garni and mix well.  After about 7-10 minutes, the peas should be cooked but not mushy.  Remove from heat.  Add the bean and pea mixture to the pasta and toss.  Serve with Roasted Garlic Croutons and some fresh frisee salad on top.  If desired, salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Bouquet garni is an herb mixture that can be purchased in most markets.  It is usually a mixture of dried parsley, thyme, bay leaves and rosemary.  Or use your own favorite herb/spice mixture in this recipe instead.

Roasted Red Bell Peppers

Fresh roasted red bell peppers are a treat, but take a bit of work.  You may opt to buy them already prepared at your local store.

Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cooking Time:  5-10 minutes per pepper or 30-40 minutes in oven
Servings:  6

6 whole red bell peppers, washed

There are two ways you may cook these:

Place the roasted peppers in a brown paper bag for 10-15 minutes.  This will allow them to cool quickly.  Remove the skin and seeds with your hands (they will easily come off).  Cut these into lengthwise strips and store them in your refrigerator until needed. 

Breaded Oyster Mushrooms with Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Roma Tomatoes

Preparation Time:  20-25 minutes
Cooking Time:  20 minutes
Servings:  4-8

3-6 cups Easy Bread Crumbs
1-2 cups Absolutely Fabulous No Butter Sauce
3-4 bunches Oyster mushrooms, cleaned
1 roasted red bell pepper, diced
1 roma tomato, diced
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Oyster mushrooms are very delicate, and you do not want them to get water logged.  To clean: cut them from their stalks and use a wet paper towel to clean off any dirt.  You may also use a paring knife to help clean off any debris that is hard to get in the gills. 

Place 1 cup of No Butter Sauce in a bowl.  Place the breadcrumbs in a shallow pan.  Dip each individual oyster mushroom in the sauce, then transfer it to the shallow pan and coat completely with breadcrumbs.  Depending on how many oyster mushrooms you are making, you may need to add more No Butter Sauce to the bowl.  Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 20 minutes.

In a separate bowl, add the bell pepper, tomato and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.  Mix well.  The lemon juice should not over-power the other flavors.  Depending on the flavor of your bell pepper, you might need to add a bit more of the lemon juice. 

Serve the roasted red bell pepper and roma tomato mixture with the oyster mushrooms.  I do not feel you need it, but you may salt and pepper to taste if desired.

I Cannot Believe this is NOT Clam Chowder

What to do with the remaining Absolutely Fabulous No Butter Sauce and breadcrumbs?  I’m glad you asked…

This is not a low fat meal.  However, if you really miss the days of eating clam chowder and it happens to be a special occasion in your life…why not!  I repeat:  This is not low fat and should not be apart of your everyday, or every week, menu plan.

Preparation Time:  3 minutes
Cooking Time:  None
Servings:  4-6

Remaining Absolutely Fabulous No Butter Sauce
Remaining Breadcrumbs (if you have croutons on hand, add them as well)
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the breadcrumbs/croutons in a bowl.  Slowly add the No Butter Sauce to the bread.  You do NOT want to drown the bread in sauce; you want the bread to soak it up.  The consistency should not be soupy, rather like a hearty wet bread look.  The flavor of dipping the oyster mushrooms in the sauce gives this recipe its clam chowder taste.  If desired, salt and pepper to taste.

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