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!

Heart of the Matter 26: The Locavore

Eating locally is big these days - the closer to home your food comes from, the more economical, carbon-friendly and overall good-for-everyone it can be. People who eat mostly local foods have even garnered their own title: locavores. Locavores are people who eat mostly food that has been grown or produced near their home (sometimes a radius of 100 miles - or even their own back yard). Many farmer's markets are beginning this month (or on their way), the first spring lettuces, asparagus and rhubarb are peeking their way out of the ground and ready to grace our plates after a long winter, and the idea of supporting your local economy couldn't be more prudent...what better way to enjoy all of these things than to cook up something at home, made with fresh, spring ingredients that have traveled a minimal distance to your plate?

Since we're as big of supporters of being good to our bodies (especially our hearts) as we are of being good to the Earth, we thought a theme of Local Foods, or "The Locavore" for Heart of the Matter this month would be fitting. So go ahead - forage, grow or shop your way to a heart-healthy dish made mostly with foods from the area where you live, then share it with all of us!

Here's the rules:

Make something that is heart healthy (low in saturated fats - ie. lean meats and fish, low in sodium and abundant in vegetables or fruit), using mostly ingredients that are grown or produced within 150 miles of your home (or heck, at least from your state/region). If you're growing something in your garden and it's ready to use, that's even better! If you can find only a few ingredients locally, then use one of them as the centerpiece for your dish! We're not strict, we just think it will be a great way to start the summer off - thinking about what might be grown in your community, or what you could be growing by the time September rolls around and Fall is here (for instance, tomatoes are best towards the end of summer...there's still time to get seedlings and start growing your own - everybody knows there's nothing as tasty as a home-grown tomato!). Just think of all the participants of HotM from around the world and all the possible climates and different types of things that can be grown in all those different places!

Once you've blogged about your local foods dish, submit to me by email at phillipslayden AT gmail DOT com by midnight on Thursday, May 28 (please put "HotM" in the subject line). Then stay tuned for the round-up and see what everyone else made from ingredients that were local to them. If you're still unsure what "heart-healthy" means, check out the HotM blog, and the many useful links in the right hand sidebar. Please only use your entry for this event so that we can keep things centered on heart-healthy recipes. We're excited to see the diversity of heart-healthy and local dishes that you produce this month and can't wait to read about them!

Drink your Way to a Healthy Heart: Hibiscus-Ginger Cooler

The theme for Heart of the Matter (HotM) this month - hosted by Ilva at Lucullian Delights - was Flowers. In Hawaii, hibiscus grows wild and is commonly found in home gardens and as an ornamental plant, but this little beauty is also extremely high in vitamin C (maybe that's what gives it its beautifully rich color?) and preliminary studies show promising results that it may lower high blood pressure and even cholesterol when steeped and enjoyed as a drink. Sounds like the perfect heart-healthy drink to me!

Hibiscus has been used as a health "tonic" of sorts in cultures all over the world for centuries, and I think it's high time we bring it back! I've been taking some herbal classes lately, learning about the herbs, flowers and plants that are both native and invasive in Hawaii that can be used for tinctures, salves and more to improve health and reduce reliance on contemporary medicine. For my entry for HotM this month, I steeped dried hibiscus flowers with ginger, a rhizome known to be great for stomach problems, but which also has cholesterol-lowering properties. For a little kick, I added a bit of peppermint to the steeping liquid and then sweetened it slightly with honey. It came out great! I can imagine it as an extremely refreshing drink for the dog-days of summer, but it's been nice for the nice days this spring too, when you get a warm day. Add an umbrella and some sparkling water (or hey, rum if you are so inclined) and you've got yourself a fruity, tropical drink that can be made with completely local ingredients. We'll be drinking much more of this in the days to come!

While the flowers themselves are much more beautiful when they are not dried, the dried ones keep well in an airtight container and impart a gorgeous, ruby color to your steeping liquid. Hibiscus has its own distinct flavor...which is actually really difficult to describe, but good! And you don't need very many! I used 15 dried blossoms (I got these at the farmer's market some time ago, but you can also dry your own to about) but you could use the same amount of blossoms in a larger amount of water I think and not lose any flavor...I had a bunch, so I didn't mind using them because I wanted the hibiscus flavor to come through.

Hibiscus-Ginger Cooler, makes 4 cups.

4 cups filtered water
15 dried hibiscus blossoms
1 inch ginger root, organic and unpeeled - sliced into 1/4" slices
1 small sprig of mint
raw honey, to taste

Bring the water to a boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the hibiscus, ginger root and mint. Let steep for at least an hour or up to 4. Strain the mixture with a sieve (or cheese cloth if you want a clearer liquid). You could sweeten it with the honey at this point, or you can sweeten each glass as you want to drink it depending on your preference and who will be drinking it later.

Don't Forget to Vote for your Favorite HotM Recipes!

Don't forget to vote for your Favorite Recipe and the entry with the Best Presentation from this month's round-up for Finger Foods for our 2 year Birthday Bash! You needn't have entered the actual event to vote for your favorite entries! There are prizes for each category: the winner of the favorite recipe category will win a special box coming all the way from Ilva's home country, Italy, packed with goodies, including black rice from Veneto, a small bottle with White Truffle Scented Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar Jelly and Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans from Slitti! The winner of the presentation category will be sent a box from Michelle's state, Hawaii, full of delicious tropical treats, including Waialua Estate Single Origin Hawaiian dark chocolate, Red Alaea Salt, and Hawaiian grown macadamia nuts and Planted by the River Guava curd (this is one of the last remaining bottles of these special curds - the couple running the company has decided to stop selling them and they are no longer available, which is really a very sad thing because they are amazing! see Heidi's review here and here)!

The winners will be announced on March 25th, so you have until tomorrow night at midnight (Hawaii time, which is probably well into Wednesday for many of you) to vote for your favorites. Send your votes to me at phillipslayden AT gmail DOT com.

Heart of the Matter Birthday Bash Roundup

Aloha! And thanks for joining us for the Birthday Bash Round-up for the Heart of the Matter. We're 2 years old now and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to celebrate! We had so many great entries this time - bloggers who have been with us since the beginning, some who have been showing up steadily since they first heard about us, and new bloggers who wanted to help out. Remember to keep your eye out for entries that stand out - we're looking for the entry with the best recipe (who will win an Italian goodie box!) and best presentation (who will win a Hawaiian goody box!). The winners will be announced on March 25th, so there is one week to vote for your favorites. You needn't have entered the actual event to vote for your favorite entries! Send your votes to me at phillipslayden AT gmail DOT com. Well, without further adieu, here are the entries...

Our first entry came from the Green Gourmet Giraffe, with Johanna's Strawberry and Passionfruit Icy Poles. If you're looking for a heart healthy and colorful treat for you, your guests or your kids that is full of freshly squeezed juices and fruit, then these are definitely it!

I love Brussels sprouts and my co-host, Ilva, from the blog Lucullian Delights, made some delicious looking (and beautiful) Chestnut, Parmesan and Rosemary-Filled Brussels Sprouts for her first entry. I can just imagine plucking them up with my fingers and eating them!

Our friend Labelga, from the blog Leafy Cooking, made these tasty little Marinated Arabian Cheese Balls with joghurt, which was something I hadn't heard of prior to now, but certainly look like they would be amazing!

Ever-faithful participants, Bee and Jai from the blog Jugalbandi, brought these unique Spicy Nut and Seed Clusters with all manner of wonderful flavors (including cayenne, fenugreek and pumpkin seeds!) to the party. I can just imagine myself standing by the refreshment table and gobbling these up by the handful...

From the blog, eCurry, arrived these dainty Savory Layered & Nut Stuffed Chickpea Swirls. Soma, author of the blog, says they are khandvis, another type of food that was new to me, but when I heard what was in them - mint & coriander chutney & coarsely ground lightly toasted almonds - I'm certain that I would fall in love with them!

They say for the prevention of heart disease you should eat your omega-3s and salmon is one of the healthiest sources for these essential nutrients. Tigerfish, from the blog, Teczcape - An Escape to Food, brought these lovely and healthy Salmon Cakes with Mango Salsa on them and I just love the splash of color that mango salsa lends to these little beauties. I wish the mangoes were ready to eat here!

If I saw this Fig and Red Onion Confit at a party, I'd definitely have to hunt down the maker - it happens to be Suganya, from the blog Tasty Palettes. I've always imagined confit being complicated and thought it was only made from meat...Suganya shows us it's easy, beautiful and can be healthy and vegetarian at the same time! Delicious!

While Marla from the blog Bella Baita View confessed that this birthday celebration was "only" her second time participating, I'm glad she decided to join us once again because her entry, Red Lentil Crostini, topped with thin, dried apple slices, sounds truly irresistable. We hope to see you again sometime soon, Marla!

I've been secretly hoping that Tanna (from My Kitchen in Half Cups) could participate in HotM for ages, but she's always got so many projects and other events she participates in that she hasn't had the time, so it made my heart beam when she sent in her entry for these scrumptous-looking Small Bite Bean and Tuna Pizzas. She shares these with neighbors on her rooftop with a bottle of wine - sounds like a perfect party to me!

One of my favorite greens is arugula, but I almost always eat it raw. I see now that I've been sorely missing out after hearing about these Saucy Chicken and Arugula Meatballs from More Than Burnt Toast...plus, she was lucky enough to eat them wild when she was only a child! These little babies seem to me that they're like the perfect little black dress - they can go from pasta dinner to party food (on toothpicks) in a snap!

From TastyCurryLeaf in India, we have this decadent Walnut Vegetable Pate, served on toasted whole wheat bread (and I can just imagine it would be equally delightful in wraps or scooped up with fresh vegetables!). It's filled with hearty-healthy walnuts and sounds like a wonderfully healthy version of this exquisite food that looks and sounds fancy, but is simple to make - perfect for impressing any guests!

Laura, from Tiramisu', brought these dainty Shrimp Marinated with Lime and Herbs to share at the party and I just absolutely love the little skewers! Elegant, yet simple, I bet these would make the perfect dinner party appetizer too. Not only are they good for you, but they're beautiful to boot!

My co-host, Ilva at Lucullian Delights was thinking of our friends who have trouble with gluten and made gluten-free Mediterranean Rice Balls for the party as her second entry. She declared her love for finger food and described it as: "The little 5 year old girl in me, sitting there in her pink tutu and her fairy wand, raging to get out and run havoc in my adult life." What's a party without a few children running around in the background, right?

Lastly, I made Spiced Macadamia Nut Granola Bars over at my site, The Accidental Scientist. These bars are full of my favorite granola ingredients - whole grains, lots of dried fruit, coconut, macadamia nuts, maple syrup and honey!

Thanks to everyone who pariticipated this month and celebrated right along with us!! Don't forget to vote for your favorites by March 25th so that we can send out the birthday bash prizes!!