Heart of the Matter 30: Seeds, Nuts and Things (Round-up)

This month's theme for the Heart of the Matter monthly healthy eating round-up was Seeds, Nuts and Seed-like things and I'm very excited because we got a lot of entries! Thank you to everyone who participated!

The first entry came in from Aparna, over at My Diverse Kitchen: A Vegetarian Kitchen in India, who sent in her take on the theme with her Healthy Granola Squares. I just love the look of them - fat and beautiful and full of yummy seeds and nuts!

Next to come in were the Chocolate Almond Soft Caramel Muffins from Dhanggit's Kitchen. These sound so decadent and delicious! Plus, those caramels remind me of being a kid too!

Nathan Lau, whom I have had the great pleasure of meeting when he and his lovely wife, Annie, were here visiting in Hawaii, submitted his entry for Roasted, Salted Pumpkin Seeds, one of my favorite October snacks (and the best reason to carve up a Halloween pumpkin). Their blog, House of Annie, has lots of great recipes they make both with and for their family.

Johanna over at Green Gourmet Giraffe, whose banner for her blog title I completely adore, turned in her recipe for fabulous-sounding Chocolate Sesame Cookies, which are vegan and have loads of interesting ingredients like tahini, molasses and those gorgeous black sesame seeds. Mmmm....

Tigerfish sent in a recipe for Millet Congee. Millet is a grain that I wish I used more in my own kitchen and I think I will have to try this recipe soon because I just so happen to have some in the cupboard (and congee is something I have always wanted to try)! You can see the recipe for this perfect fall dish over at Tigerfish's blog, Teczcape - An Escape to Food.

The next entry came from Tasty Curry Leaf - healthy Banana Sunflower Seed Cookies! These light, fluffy cookies use bananas instead of eggs and I think they look like a smashing success! Since we have an abundance of bananas all the time here in Hawaii, I think these will be another dish that is made soon in my house.

Champa from the blog, Stories from an Indian Kitchen, is new to blogging but thankfully already participating in events. These Vegan Almond Cookies are full of yummy things like cardamom and almond butter - I love the thought of that combination!

Our last two entries come from the blog, Pan Gravy Kadai Curry. The first entry was this Pan-fried and Almond-crusted Salmon on a bed of sauteed spinach. Since we all know the benefits of eating fish for omega-3-fatty acids to help our hearts, I'm always on the lookout for a good salmon recipe!
I have a dream of eating roasted chestnuts in New York City around Christmastime, but since it will be a long time since I go to NYC, I can't wait to try Pan Gravy Kadai Curry's second entry for Oven Roasted Chestnuts at home!

See you all next month for HotM 31, where Ilva will be host!

Heart of the Matter (HotM) 30: Seeds and Things

This month for Heart of the Matter, my co-host Ilva and I are going with the theme of Nuts, Seeds and Nut-Like Things. "Things" being other nut- and seed-like ingredients such as peanuts, which are considered nuts by most people (hence, the name) but are actually a type of legume. We got only a few entries last month (all of them fabulous!), but we're hoping to see more of you this month! Nuts make perfect Fall snacks and appetizers, are great in salads and breads...seeds are perfect in things like granolas, muffins, breads and all sorts of things. We can't wait to see what you come up with! Right now, HotM is the only thing keeping my little blog alive, but I still have high hopes for coming back sometime in the future!

So this month, send in your entry for the most creative thing you can think of to do with Nuts, seeds or other nut-like things. And of course it has to be heart-healthy too: your entry should be low in saturated fats (lean meats and fish), be low in salt (sodium), and if you'd like, abundant with vegetables or fruit. If you want to get more information, check out our useful links in the right hand marginal on the HotM blog. Please only use your entry for this event so that we can keep things centred on heart-healthy recipes and please link to the event as well. Send your entries to me at phillipslayden AT gmail DOT com before (your) midnight Saturday the 31st of October, and please put "HotM" in your subject line so I can keep track of all the entries! ;)

See you then!
Michelle

A is for (Sea) Asparagus

For this month's Heart of the Matter, my co-host, Ilva, and I chose to go with the alphabet...and what better letter to begin a series of alphabetical themes than the letter, A? While you won't be seeing a complete series for some time (we want to change the themes up with all the holidays on the way), you'll be seeing different letters appear in the upcoming months.

So many of my favorite foods begin with the letter A: apples, almonds, artichokes, avocado and of course, asparagus. While asparagus is a year-round vegetable here in Hawaii, I know for many of you, it is only a short-lived springtime indulgence. And besides, I wanted to capitalize on some of Hawaii's bounty that maybe isn't so commonly known. For these reasons, I chose one of my new-found favorite vegetables here: sea asparagus. Despite it's name, sea asparagus is not very similar to the asparagus we typically think of. It's more like a seaweed, I guess...or better said, a sea-vegetable. Sort of a cross between a bean sprout and a sea weed...it's a little salty, a little juicy and adds a bit of fresh flavor to anything.

This little sea vegetable grows wild in many places, but in Hawaii, Marine AgriFuture grows sea asparagus hydroponically on Kahuku shrimp farms, harvests it by hand, and sells it at Farmer's Markets and some of the grocery stores on the Island. So, while it's not a food product native to Hawaii (so many of them aren't), it is locally grown. And delicious.

Sea asparagus is very versatile, and good for you. It's full of vitamins A, B12 and B9, as well as folic acid and antioxidants. It's thought to be a good detoxification agent and good for your muscles. And it's a good source of iodine. Since LB and I eat a lot of dark, leafy greens, which also grow very well in Hawaii and are good for you, but tend to interfere with the uptake of the important mineral, iodine, sea asparagus is one way we get our weekly dose of iodine (we use kosher salt for cooking, which does not have iodine added to it the way "table" salt does).

While many people prefer to blanch the sea asparagus for a minute or so before using it, we've found that with the type of dishes we like to make with it, we like to maintain it's salty taste. While it is a bit bitter when eaten raw from the package, when mixed with oils (like the recipe below) it doesn't taste bitter at all. Below is my entry for HotM and a salad that is perfect for a potluck or a light dinner (with some crusty bread or even by itself). It's also easily cut in half. If you want to try it at home and don't have sea asparagus, this is still good with a bunch of regular asparagus - blanched first, cut into smallish pieces, and a little extra soy sauce or shoyu added.

Sea Asparagus and Tofu Salad, serves 8

1 package sea asparagus, roughly chopped
1 japanese or english cucumber, diced
1/2 block of extra firm tofu, diced
1 large heirloom tomato, diced
1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Dressing

2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. honey

Combine all the salad ingredients, except for the sesame seeds, in a large bowl. Add the dressing to a small jar with a tight-fitting lid. Close the lid and shake. When the dressing is mixed, pour it over the salad ingredients and then mix, gently. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds and then mix again gently. This is good fresh, or even after marinating over-night. Better still? I use the dressing for all kinds of things - lettuce salads, marinating chicken, just about any kind of anything that I want to add an "Asian" flavor to...try it!

HotM Change

Hi Everyone,
There has been a slight change in plans for Heart of the Matter this month, and I will not be able to do the round-up because I had to leave town unexpectedly. Please send your HotM entries to my co-host, Ilva, at Lucullian Delights. Her email is luculliandelights AT gmail DOT com. If you have already sent in your entry to me, please know that I have forwarded it on to her, so there is no need to re-send it if you have already. I apologize for the change and will see you next month.

Best,
Michelle

Heart of the Matter 28: Budget-Friendly Foods

If you’re in the U.S. or many other parts of the world, you’ve no doubt heard about The Recession for months now. Many people are tightening their belts and making changes in their lifestyle to try and conserve funds or prepare for uncertain times. But no matter where you are, it never hurts to be a bit frugal occasionally or to have a few meals in your repertoire that can stretch your pocketbook a bit further if needed. Thus, the theme for this month’s Heart of the Matter is “Budget-Friendly Foods.”

Your challenge this month is to come up with a meal that is budget-friendly AND heart healthy…either using ingredients that don’t cost much (or perhaps you grew yourself?) or even ingredients where a little goes a long way. Be creative and share with us how you save money when you cook! What’s your go-to meal at the end of the month or before payday comes? What do you make when you have a lot of people to feed but not a lot of money?

After the round-up, we’ll all have a suite of meals that we can use to help stretch our budget next month…And who knows, maybe that extra money you’ve saved could go towards a trip later on in the summer or spent on a bushel of extra juicy peaches while they’re in season?

After you’ve made your meal and blogged about it, send me the link before midnight on Friday, July 31 at phillipslayden AT gmail DOT com and stay tuned for the round-up a few days later.

Remember that your entry should be low in saturated fats (lean meats and fish), be low in salt (sodium), and that you can be abundant with vegetables or fruit. If you want to get more information, check out the useful links in the right hand marginal of the HotM website. Please only use your entry for this event so that we can keep things centered on heart-healthy recipes.

Lemony Summer Pasta Salad: HotM 27

While others around the country are just now beginning to see the bounty of summer’s first produce at their farmer’s markets – stone fruits, fava beans, baby lettuces, we’re on a little bit of a different schedule here. June in Hawaii means that mangoes, tomatoes, arugula, lychee and Kahuku sweet corn are back in force.

Yep, I said tomatoes. And I don’t mean the little cherry tomatoes that grow year-round here. I mean the big beauties that most of the rest of the US doesn’t see until late in the summer. And these aren’t Early Girls or Uglies either. They’re our own variety: Big Wave. But we also begin to get other heirloom varieties too, thanks to Jeanne Vana, our resident Island heirloom tomato grower. For a self-proclaimed tomato addict such as myself, this is heaven.

The theme for Heart of the Matter this month is the Best of June’s Produce, so I couldn’t resist a dish that had a few of the tomatoes I picked out at Jeanne’s farm out in the North Shore last weekend. And I had to add in a few of the other vegetables that are plentiful these days too: peppery arugula, crisp cucumbers, sweet sugar snap peas, and local asparagus (available year round here). Summer also means we’re back to hot days and muggy nights, which means that I don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen because anything simmering on the stove or roasting in the oven also means we’re roasting in our skin it’s so hot inside the house.

Here’s the dish I came up with – it’s a pasta salad that’s great for a light, summer evening meal or a hearty lunch – it's healthy, packed with veggies, lightly scented with lemon zest, and it would be perfectly complimented by a slice of grilled bread and a glass of refreshing Riesling on the side. Play around with it! Use your favorite early summer produce or what you have on hand. If you prefer a non-vegetarian salad, this would also be delicious with a can of good-quality tuna in olive oil and some capers added. We’ve also been making our own cheese, which I would add next time to replace the feta – stay tuned for that recipe sometime next month when I’m back to blogging regularly (teaching ends after today!!).


Lemony Summer Pasta Salad, serves 6

6 oz. shaped pasta
1 bunch asparagus, the woody ends snapped off
2-3 large tomatoes, chopped or ~15 small cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 small cucumber, peeled
1 large handful of sugar-snap peas, trimmed and cut in half
2 scallions, thinly sliced
4 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
zest of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup feta cheese
2 tbsp. thinly sliced basil (chiffonade)
1 bunch of baby arugula

Bring a large pot of boiling, salted water to boil. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. When the water begins to boil, add the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes, then remove the asparagus using tongs and transfer it to the ice water bath. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook it until it is al dente, then drain. Rinse the pasta with cold water, drain and return to the pan.

While the pasta is cooking, remove the asparagus and put it on a towel to dry. When dry, you can chop it into 1 – 2 inch lengths. Pour the ice bath out and add the cut asparagus back to the bowl, along with the chopped tomatoes.

Add the cucumber, sugar snap peas, and scallions to the cooled pasta. Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon zest and salt and pepper in a small bowl until it emulsifies, then mix this with the pasta and vegetables. Add the feta cheese and basil. Add the asparagus and tomatoes and mix very gently with a large spoon or better yet, your hands.

Just before serving, mix in the arugula. If you plan to eat this as leftovers, only add the arugula to what you will be eating at one time – it tends to wilt too fast for my taste if it’s added early.

Heart of the Matter 26: The Locavore (Round-Up)

The theme for Heart of the Matter 26 was "The Locavore" or using local foods - using an ingredient, or several ingredients, from near your home. I hope it encouraged at least some people out there to seek out some kind of local food or be inspired to start growing something of your own! I'm sad to say though that only two of you out there were able to join us for this round-up and I hope it's only because May and June, that transition from Spring into Summer is always a busy one. I know I was crazy busy and waited until the last minute to make my dish and try and take pictures, only to find out my camera wouldn't work! So my actual post is in this round-up because I have just now gotten my camera back to working. I know my co-host Ilva also ran into some computer issues and was unable to participate this time as well.

Hopefully we'll see some of our regulars - and maybe a few new bloggers? - back here for June's theme next month!

But without further adieu, here are our three entries - the two ladies who stuck it out and sent in their entry, and myself!

Our first entry came from Soma, at eCurry. She used some beautiful little greens that were right outside in her backyard to make her Stir Fried "Pui" with Poppy Seeds - which is, as she describes it "a very simple recipe that my mom & my grandmom would make. It is a stir fry with a lot of flavor of garlic, almost caramelized onions and a sprinkle of poppy seeds." Sounds lovely, doesn't it? And it's so inspiring to me that she grew it herself!

Our second entry came from Zabeena, who writes the blog, A Lot On My Plate. It has a very simple name, Pink Green, but you'll see while its name is simple, there are some incredible and interesting flavor combinations going on in this single dish - consisting of asparagus with three pink dipping sauces (and thus, the name!). She's also got a lot of interesting info about the food, the place she lives and how this dish came about - go check it out!

Lastly, my own dish is super simple, but made with all local ingredients...a Sweet Corn, Mint and Feta Salad. Well, that's not exactly true. It is all local except for one ingredient...which could well have been local too but when I sent my husband to the grocery store for me he came home with the non-local version of the feta. Oh well! Kahuku sweet corn is available for most of the year here and is in full swing right now, so I simply paired it with feta, fresh mint, a bit of lime juice and some olive oil, salt and pepper. It turned out a wonderful, simple dish that I'm sure we'll be eating again this summer with various types of grilled fish and maybe even bring to a potluck or two!

A big thanks to Soma and Zabeena for participating! Hope to see you next month too!