Ropa Vieja

Since this is Latina Week, I wanted to repost my take on the Cuban specialty, ropa vieja.

I do not know the calories in a serving of this delicious slow cooker recipe, but it is compliant with those eating a gluten free, SugarBusters, diabetic, or Paleo eating plan.

Ropa Vieja -old clothes in Spanish- makes for a delicious dinner.  This traditional Cuban dish gets its name from the resemblance of the strips of succulent pork and peppers to strips of old clothes cut into rags.

1. Combine in a slow cooker set to 4 hours (high)...or slower, longer if you wish:
• a pork roast
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 Tablespoon cumin powder
• 5-7 bay leaves
• 8-10 green olives with pimientos
• 1 teaspoon diced garlic
• 2 large onions, cut into slices or diced
• 4 green/red/yellow peppers, cored, sliced and cleaned of seeds
• 1 can diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes diced
• 2 stalks of celery cut into 1 inch lengths
• 3 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (you can salt to taste more when serving)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• a dozen grapes (optional, adds a yummy hint of sweetness)
2. Enjoy by itself or serve over diced, roasted cauliflower as a rice substitution.  The traditional dish is served over rice, but the cauliflower is an improvement in my book for flavor.

This dish improves its flavor after resting awhile in the refrigerator.  Thus, it makes for great leftovers and savory lunches warmed up in the office microwave.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  no
Paleo:  yes
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  yes
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Under:  yes (especially if you do not eat the olives)

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Posole Stew

Chimayo, New Mexico

I discovered how to make posole stew while living in Medanales, NM, in the summer of 2011.  Posole or pozole is the Spanish word for hominy.  In New Mexico posole stew is traditionally prepared at New Years with the leftover Christmas ham.  In Lexington, KY, Mexican restaurants usually serve pozole only on weekends, and it consists of a similar but much spicier soup made with pork and ground red chile paste rather than with green chiles.  This is my favorite soup.

• 1 Tsp oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 can hominy, drained
• 1 large can chopped green chiles (or better fresh roasted chiles)
• 1 cup diced cooked ham
• 1 Tsp oregano
• 1 clove garlic

Sauté the onion in the oil in a large pan.  

When the onions are caramelized or translucent (depending upon your taste), add the broth, hominy, chiles, ham, oregano, and garlic.  Bring to boil.  

Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  

This dish often tastes better the next day after it has set and seasoned a bit in the refrigerator.

A small bowl of posole -especially if with limited amounts of hominy- can make for a 200 calorie lunch or dinner.  One cup of hominy has 119 calories by itself.  

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  yes* (but only if you leave out the green chiles)
Paleo:  yes* (but only if you leave out the main ingredient, hominy)
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  yes* (but only if you use vegetable broth and leave out the ham)
Vegetarian:  yes* (but only if you use vegetable broth and leave out the ham)
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Under:  yes

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Ode to the Pumpkin Seed

Photo courtesy of BradBeattie

One of my latest food obsessions are pumpkin seeds.  This obsession began at a recent pumpkin carving party at my friends Bernadette and Anna's house.  They roasted the fresh seeds from the pumpkins for about an hour with a splash of soy sauce on them.  Delicious, salty, and crunchy!

I had never realized you can eat the entire green, inner seed and outer white casing.  They offer a very satisfying texture and crunch.




Semillas tostada de calabaza, or roasted pumpkin seeds, are a popular Mexican snack.  If you want to try some pumpkin seeds and your regular grocery store does not carry them, check out your local Mexican specialty grocery store.

• Fresh, clean, raw pumpkin seeds
• Soy sauce or Bragg's Amino Acids
• Some oil (in a bottle or spray oil)

Pre-heat your oven to 300 F.

Spread out your pumpkin seeds as a single layer on a shallow baking sheet pan.  Coat with oil.  Add a light coating of soy sauce, Bragg's Amino Acids or simply salt.

Bake for 45 minutes to one hour while stirring the seeds occasionally.  

Enjoy!

Options:  You can also add other seasonings when roasting such as cayenne pepper, black pepper, or rosemary.

Caution:  1/3 cup of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds have 160 calories, so they are nutritious but fairly high calorie.  The  commercially roasted, salted version in grocery stores also is high in salt (about 49% of your recommended daily salt intake in only 1/3 cup).  Pumpkin seeds, however, are a rich source of manganese, zinc, magnesium, and tryptophan.  Folk medicine also says they kill and expel intestinal parasites so grab a bag and say goodbye to those tapeworms! ;)

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes...actually some nutritionists recommend for diabetics for the mineral content
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  yes...pumpkin is in the gourd family, not Nightshade
Paleo:  yes
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  yes
Vegetarian:  yes
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Less:  yes...but no more than 1/3 cup

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Dulce de Leche

Photo Courtesy of Audinou

What better than a sweet treat whose preparation can cause bodily harm?  Now there is an incentive for the adventurous risk-taker.  ;)  Seriously, this is an interesting recipe my late friend Michael told me about. Michael once worked at a popular 1970s Lexington restaurant and bar called the Bungalow.  The chef and owner, John, was largely self-taught and this technique was one he used in the restaurant.

Dulce de Leche translates from Spanish as milk candy.  This recipe basically creates a delicious caramel.

• Take a can of sweetened condensed milk
• Remove the label and poke two holes in the top with a can opener
• Place the can in a pot and fill to near the top of the can with water
• Bring the water to a simmer
• Simmer the can for three hours being careful to make sure the water is kept filled to near the top of the can

After three hours of simmering, the sugar and milk in the sweetened condensed milk with transform into a thick caramel.  Longer simmering will make the dulce de leche firmer.

CAUTION:  Without the holes on the top of the can and care to keep the pot filled with water, the stove's heat can cause the can to explode!  Be careful.

Option:  You can also make dulce de leche the old fashioned way by slowly simmering milk and sugar for hours on the stove in a double boiler.  This technique require careful monitoring and stirring to keep the mixture from scalding, but the advantage is that you can add vanilla, cinnamon, or other flavors.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  no
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  yes
Paleo:  no
SugarBusters:  no
Sugar Free:  no
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  yes
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Less:  no

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Pico de Gallo Beans

Medanales, New Mexico

This simple dish can be served cold as a salad or heated as a side dish.  When my garden overflowed with tomatoes and green onions, I invented this dish after seeing similar dishes over the years.

• 1 can blackeyed peas
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 1 tomato, remove the seeds and juicy parts and then chop
• cilantro, chopped, add as much as you enjoy to your own particular taste
• salt & pepper

Combine and enjoy!

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  no (has tomatoes)
Paleo:  no (has beans)
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  yes
Vegetarian:  yes
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Less:  yes

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Latino Heritage Month

Angelina's Restaurant, Espanola, NM

To celebrate Latino Heritage Month -which begins today-this week and next I'm focusing on recipes from Mexico, other parts of Latin America, or dishes inspired by these cultures.  I love, love, love Mexican food.  Growing up in Arkansas, my mother would make tacos, and they were my favorite foods.  Later I came to enjoy many other dishes with Latin flavors from Cuba, New Mexico, Ecuador, Spain, etc.  This week I'm going to share some of these with you.

Chipotle Addict's Burrito Bowl

Medanales, New Mexico

Nathan loves Chipotle, so when we were eating a low calorie eating plan, he really missed the restaurant.  Here is my response for an approximately 200 calorie alternative to the burrito bowls at Chipotle.

• About a cup of a stiff lettuce/green such as Romaine, spinach, or arugula
• 2 chicken breasts
• Salt & pepper
• Pico de Gallo Beans (see yesterday's post for the recipe)
• 1 large onion
• Canola or coconut oil in the spray can

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts.  Cube the chicken.  Peel and slice the onion. 

Make your Pico de Gallo Beans.  Heat the beans.

Heat a saute pan.  Spray with some oil into the pan.  Put the onions in the pan and give them a small spritz of oil.  Cook the onions until translucent.

Add the cubed chicken breast.  Spritz it with a small amount of the oil.

When the chicken and onions are deliciously done into grilled goodness, assemble your burrito bowl in this order:

• a generous bed of greens (the heat from the other food will tenderize the greens)
• add 1/2 cup of Pico de Gallo Beans (more if you are not concerned with a 200 calorie meal)
• add the grilled onions and chicken breasts

Serve and enjoy.  You can also add various hot sauces and substitute flank steak for the chicken.   Most of the calories for this meal are in the beans.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  no (has tomatoes)
Paleo:  no (has beans)
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  no
Wheat Free:  yes

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Rotisserie Chicken: Getting the Most from that Bird!

Source:  Joe Schneid, Wikipedia Commons

I love roasted chicken.  Sometimes I make my own, but lately I find I cannot beat Costco's $4.99 rotisserie chicken.  I'm not sure how they season their birds, but they are incredibly yummy.

This next series of posts are for chicken recipes. These are some of my favorite dishes, AND these recipes are great ways to stretch your food dollar in inventive and delicious ways.  And it all starts with that yummy rotisserie chicken.





Dinner 1:  Rotisserie Chicken
OK.  You've bought your yummy rotisserie chicken.  Serve it warm with some yummy green vegetables like Choux de Bruxelles aux Lardons et Radis or a nice salad.

When dinner is over, pull the remaining meat off the chicken.  Be sure to keep the richer, dark meat separated from the white meat.  We are going to make different dishes with each.

Lunch/Dinner 2:  Chicken Salad

Dinner 3:  Chicken Manicotti

Dinner 4:  Green Chili Enchiladas

Lunch/Dinner 5:  Homemade Chicken Soup

Lunch/Dinner 6:  Cream Soup

Autumn Salmon

This delicious dish is super simple and gives a big bang in terms of taste and presentation.  It's also a great -and healthy- way to celebrate autumn and the flavors of the season.

• 3 oz. salmon fillet  (177 calories)
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce (9 calories)...you won't use it all
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup (52 calories)...you won't use it all
• 1/2 cup whole, fresh cranberries (25 calories)
• Spray of cooking oil (I use coconut or canola.)  (4 calories)

TOTAL Calories:  less than 263 calories (This dish has about 200 calories more than likely.  When cooking I end up using only a coating of the soy sauce and maple syrup.

Put the soy sauce and maple syrup in a bowl.  Place the salmon in the sauce bowl and coat the fish with the sauce.

Coat a non-stick pan with a quick spray of cooking oil and heat the pan to medium-high.

Place the salmon in the pan and toss in the whole cranberries.

Cook the salmon for one minute.  Flip.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Flip.  Cook for another 3 minutes.

Serve the salmon with the colorful and tangy sauteed cranberries.  It makes for quite an impressive and colorful presentation.

OPTIONS:  Use walnut oil rather than the cooking spray.  Frankly, I don't taste the difference when the fish is done, but the walnut oil at least sounds more autumn-like.  I also often substitute Bragg's Amino Acids for soy sauce.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes* (does contain some maple syrup)
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  yes
Paleo:  yes* (if you allow yourself to have maple syrup)
SugarBusters:  no
Sugar Free:  no
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  no
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Under:  no (fatty salmon has 400 calories in a 200g half fillet)

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Crockpot BBQ Chicken or Pork

Photo courtesy of Down Home with the Neelys

• 4-6 chicken breasts with bones in
• 1 bottle of your choice of BBQ sauce (made with sugar rather than corn syrup)
• ¼ c vinegar
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• ¼ c brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Place the meat in the crockpot.  Mix together the other ingredients and cook for 4-6 hours on low. 

Adapted from Mike Ames’ Sweet Baby Ray’s Crockpot Chicken, Facebook. 2013.

Note:  This recipe can be rather unhealthy if you use a BBQ sauce containing corn syrup.  Most commercial sauces actually do use corn syrup rather than sugar, honey, etc.  Sweet Baby Ray's brand includes corn syrup.  To make this healthier, you can make your own sauce and substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar.  I post this one as a delicious and easy way to make BBQ chicken.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  no
Gluten Free:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  no
Paleo:  no
SugarBusters:  no
Sugar Free:  no
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  no
Wheat Free:  yes
200 Calories or Under:  no

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Sausage and Okra Gumbo

New Orleans, August 2014

Legend says Louisiana cooks invented the spicy delicacy that is gumbo as a summer soup to cause diners to sweat and cool off. So it unusually is a summer soup.

A lot of restaurants serve either a nasty gelatinous mess or tasteless, tomato-based vegetable soup which they call gumbo. A real gumbo always starts with a good roux.  And usually gumbo is thickened a bit with either okra or filé powder.  Never use both in the same gumbo:  you'll end up with a gelatinous mess.

This particular version is one Nathan and I created in August 2014 for a yummy summertime treat. 

1 package smoked sausage

2 cups fresh okra, chopped with tops removed

1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes or diced fresh tomatoes

1 large onion

3 stalks of celery
5 bay leaves

1/2 cup flour

2 cups rice

In a bowl or container where you can store for later uses also, mix:

3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
3 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon thyme

Gumbo is usually a one pot dish but is cooked in stages;

Stage 1:  Cut the sausage into 1/4" slices. Sauté in a small amount of olive oil. Remove sausage from the pot. 

Stage 2:  Chop the onions, okra and celery.  Sauté in the pot. You may need to add more olive oil. Remove from the pot.

Stage 3:  Add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup butter to the pot and stir for 5-10 minutes over a medium heat to make your roux base. The roux is essential and transforms this vegetable soup to sheer deliciousness.  A roux (pronounced "roo") can be blond, brown, or black depending on how long you cook it. For our gumbo we want a nice brown roux about the color of coffee with cream or chocolate milk. Don't rush the cooking. Start on a low heat and adjust up to medium.  Stir continuously so it doesn't burn. 

Stage 4:  Once the roux is a beautiful brown color, add the sausage, sautéed vegetables, stock, bay leaves, and 1 heaping Tablespoon of the seasoning mix (more or less to taste).  Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium/low for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile cook two cups of white rice. 

Serve by filling a bowl about half way with the gumbo.  Using a 1 cup measuring cup, scoop a cup of cooked, warm rice and put on top of the soup.  

This dish heats up well for leftovers. Keep the rice separate from the soup until serving. This gumbo does get saltier if it is stored for a day or two probably from the sausage. If cooking for another day, reduce the salt a bit.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes* (if eat little rice or a high glycemic rice like brown or Basmati)
Gluten Free:  no
Mediterranean: yes
Nightshade Family Free: no
Paleo:  no
SugarBusters:  no
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  yes* (leave out the sausage)
Vegetarian:  yes* (leave out the sausage)
Wheat Free: no
200 Calories or Under:  no

Notice: Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you. Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post. Some calories are estimates based on packaging.