Opinions: Proportion Control

I originally started this blog to help me plan meals for my family and keep track of the recipes. I'm thinking of trying something a little different now because 1. I'm quickly running out of meal ideas and 2. I'm being faced with a new challenge now.

My husband is by far the pickiest eater in the family. He says he wants to eat healthy, but when he is served a healthy meal he often turns up his nose. After some lengthy discussion (in Spanish the word discutir can mean discuss or argue, so lets just say we discussed in Spanish) he has conceded that he needs to learn about nutrition in order to appreciate the healthy meals, and I conceded that there is some room to consider individual tastes.

For now, I'll continue to post recipes, but I'll also give unsolicited advice about healthy eating habits. For the last six or seven years I have gradually (but apparently not gradually enough) made small changes to how our family eats as I have learned about nutrition from a variety of sources. My little brother has a t-shirt that says "Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion," and I would say that is the best description for what I am about to embark on. I have no authority or formal training for anything I say, but if you want to save yourself six or seven years of figuring this out for yourself, you are welcome to my random nutritional thoughts.

Here is the first thing I'm teaching my husband: proportions. We went to www.mypyramid.gov and plugged in his info and it spit out his daily and weekly nutrition needs. I personally consider this website to be very dummied down, but since he was resisting other things I was doing, I thought it would be a good place to start. It is not just whether or not something is healthy, it is how much of it you eat. He loves his meat, and of course he'll dutifully eat his vegetables, but his proportions were flipped. It reminds me of restaurant proportions (let's not even mention restaurant portions...) which are usually huge amounts of meat and simple carbs, with maybe a spoonful of vegetables. Drowned in butter or salad dressing.

What your proportions should be (roughly) are half your dinner plate full of vegetables. I try to serve a salad and cooked vegetable every dinner to get us there. One quarter of your plate should be a whole grain. One quarter of your plate should be lean protein.

Of course if you have a casserole or wraps or something, you won't actually divide the food this way, but as you are making the casserole, you should adjust the amounts of the ingredients to these proportions.

And since we have many sizes of people in our family, you can adjust the size of the dinner plate, but the proportions should be roughly the same no matter the age.

If you don't believe me, check out mypyramid for yourself.

White Bean and Kale Soup

If the name of this recipe turns you off, stop reading. There are only a few other ingredients besides the white beans and kale. I thought it was very good, even though I wasn't sure about the texture of the kale. Next time I think I'll put the kale in at the same time as the broth so it can get a little softer. Or use a different kind of greens, like maybe chard? Would that work better, or would it be about the same? I will also double the rosemary and the beans next time.

http://vegetarianation.blogspot.com/2009/03/kale-and-white-bean-soup.html

I didn't even offer it to anyone else in the family. (I think I'm feeling a little bitter lately at some people's uncooperativeness...) My sister was over and she had some. 2yo saw me eating it and asked for some, and he liked it, although I was afraid he'd choke on the kale so I steered around it except for the smallest pieces. I'm excited to eat the leftovers for lunch all week.

Black bean-smothered sweet potatoes

I can't remember where I got this recipe. I haven't made it in a long time because no one really liked it except me. But guess what folks, we're having it for dinner tonight because 1. it is easy, very very easy, and 2. there ain't much left in the fridge and I'm not going shopping.

This is a good meal to make in the summer because you can do the whole thing in the microwave.


2 medium sweet potatoes
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 medium tomato, diced
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places. Microwave on high until tender all the way to the center, 12 to 15 minutes.(Alternatively, place in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees untiltender all the way to the center, about 1 hour.)

Meanwhile, in a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine beans, tomato, oil, cumin, coriander and salt; microwave on high until just heatedthrough, 2 to 3 minutes. (Alternatively, heat in a small saucepan over medium heat.)

When just cool enough to handle, slash each sweet potato lengthwise,press open to make a well in the center and spoon bean mixture into the well. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Eggplant Parmesan

I bought an eggplant, but then didn't know what to do with it. So I went online, and just so you know there are WAY too many eggplant options. Most often is was as an addition to some kind of veggie dish, like pasta and vegetables, but where it stood on it's own was as eggplant parmesan. So that narrowed it down somewhat, but there are still about 49 bizillion versions of that. So I read several, then tried something to combine simplicity and healthiness. It wasn't bad.

1 eggplant, peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 slices bread


Optional step: Salt the eggplant to draw out moisture and bitterness. Salt both sides of eggplant slices and let sit in a colander for 20 min.-2 hours. Rinse and pat dry.


Spray a pie plate or 8" square pan with nonstick spray. Spoon a couple spoonfuls of sauce on bottom of pan. Layer eggplant, sauce, and cheeses until gone. (You can cut up some of the slices to fit in between gaps.) Put bread slices in the blender and pulse until it is all crumbs. Sprinkle on top. Bake covered at 350 for 20 minutes, then uncover for 20 minutes more, until bubbly and bread crumbs are toasted.

I am disliking jarred spaghetti sauce these days. The kind I used for this wasn't the best, and that basically ruined the whole thing for me. It tastes so processed and fake. I just like simple fresh sauces, with lots of garlic. That would have been way yummier, even if an extra step. Also, for any recipe that calls for bread crumbs, I keep the heels of the bread that no one will eat in a bag in the freezer. When a recipe calls for bread crumbs, I pop a couple in the blender.

Toasted Cumin Chicken with Broccoli and Curried Cashews

This is another recipe from Poor Girl Eats Well. It turned out so good, although next time I'd make a couple modifications.

http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/2009/03/recipe-toasted-cumin-chicken-with.html

I didn't have whole cumin, so I used ground. I'm sure it would be even better with the toasted cumin seed.

There were like three different spice combinations, one for the cashews, one for the chicken, and one for the sauce, but then you mix everything together and they don't hold their own flavor separately. I am never one to go to a lot of extra effort, especially considering my picky audience, so I think that you could simplify the steps (and end up with less bowls to wash) if you just put all the spices in one, like the sauce. Everything else gets covered in the sauce, so I don't think it would make a huge difference in the taste. Also, she says to mix the sauce with the pan juices from the chicken, I think I would prefer to drain the juices and have a thicker sauce.

For the recipe, I wouldn't bother spicing the cashews separately, but I think I might make the cashews just for a fun snack to have around. I put the 1/4 cup in the recipe as directed, and the next time I turned around, my 6yo had eaten the rest of them off the cookie sheet. They were really tasty. She definitely knows how to mix her spices, I never would have thought that nutmeg would go in these.

Chilied Pork and Cilantro Sauce

This is another recipe from my sister's cookbook. It reminds me of the flavor of Turkey and Hominy, but it is really very different. I don't know why, but I almost always overcook pork, so I'll either have to exercise restraint when I make this, or use chicken as my sister suggests.

1 lb. pasta (I use Barilla Plus or the store brand equivalent--multigrain and healthier than regular pasta)
2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 lb. boneless pork chop, in 1 inch cubes
3/4 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1 t chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c diced tomato, canned or fresh
3 T chopped cilantro

Cook pasta according to package directions. While it is cooking, heat oil in a skillet. Add onion and pork and cook for about 5 minutes. Add spices and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato and cook for 1 minute. Add cilantro and simmer for 1 minute. Toss with pasta.

Black Beans and Sausage (Feijoada)

I cook with beans often enough, but to be honest I don't have much variety with what I do with my beans. They all kind of end up some version of latin flavors and usually end up in a tortilla, so this recipe caught my eye because of the orange. Although still latin, it definitely has a different flavor and it went over well with the adults and the kids.

I found the recipe in one of my cookbooks, "How to Cook Everything," by Mark Bittman (a very nice cookbook to have around). He says it is a liberal adaptation of Brazilian feijoada, which I'm not familiar with, but contains things like tongue and pig's feet. His version has friendlier types of meat, but after making his version I would adapt it even more. So here is my version, by now perhaps it doesn't even resemble the original dish, but we enjoyed it. By the way, this is a giant recipe. He says eight servings, I say at least 10 or 12.

3 1/2 c dried black beans (or 8 c drained cooked beans)
2 c bean cooking liquid, or broth
1 T cumin
salt and pepper
1 orange
1 lb. Italian sausage, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, preferably red or yellow, chopped
2 T garlic, minced
1 1/2 c orange juice, divided
cilantro, minced

Put the beans in a large pot with plenty of water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until soft. Drain, reserving 2 cups of cooking liquid if using. Return the beans and cooking liquid to the pot over warm heat. Add cumin, salt and pepper. Zest the orange and add to the beans, then peel and dice the orange, set aside. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until browned on all sides. Add to the beans. Add the onions and peppers to the skillet and cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add to beans. Turn the heat under the skillet to high and add 1 cup of the orange juice. Cook, stirring and scraping to deglaze the pan for about 5 minutes. Add to the beans with the remaining 1/2 cup of orange juice. Garnish with cilantro and chopped orange pieces. Serve with brown rice.