Category Archives: Vegetables & Salads

A to Z Challenge 2015, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Munching on Mung Beans

Well, not really. I haven’t actually seen a mung bean in my grocery store, so I suspect I will need to visit an Asian market to actually find the bean. But what I do find at the market is bean sprouts and the majority of those consumed in the United States are from the mung bean seed. Those are those delightfully crunchy sprouts that go so well in Chinese food and in salads. But as for the beans themselves, they are also mashed into a mung bean paste that is used in Asian and Indian cooking. What are we missing out on?

Actually, the bean is usually dried for use, then boiled until they are soft. The paste can be made by removing the outer hull, cooking and then pulverizing the beans until they are a dry paste. In some regions of India, the hulled beans are used to make mung dal.  Other areas of India season the whole beans with spices and fresh coconut to make sundal.

Chinese cuisine used the whole bean to make a dessert called lǜdòu tángshuǐ. Dehulled mung beans and mung bean paste are used in Hong Kong to make ice cream. Mung bean paste is used as a filling for mooncakes in East China and Taiwan. Boiled and shelled beans are used as filling in rice dumplings that are eaten during the dragon boat festival.They can also be blended into a sweetened beverage.

In Indonesia, the beans are cooked with coconut milk and ginger to make es kacang hijau, which is a porridge-like dessert. Monggó guisado or balatong is a Filipino stew of whole mung beans with prawns or fish. Again, mung bean paste is used to make a sweet pastry called a hopia that is popular in the Philippines, Indonesia and Guyana, where it is called a black eye cake.

History

Since ancient times, the mung bean has been grown in India and is now widely grown in southeast Asia, Africa, South America and Australia. It seems to have been cultivated in the United States as early as 1835 where it was known as the Chicksaw pea. Although the beans are widely grown for human consumption, they can also be used as a manure crop and as forage for livestock.Of the fifteen to twenty millions pounds of mung bean consumed annually in the US, nearly 75% is imported. The rest is primarily grown in Oklahoma.

The mung bean sprouts are what we see most often in groceries. They are high in protein, calcium, phosphorus and some vitamins as well as low calorie and low carb. This makes them very important for providing protein in areas where people don’t have many other sources.

1200px-Bean_sprouts_04
Mung Bean sprouts – Photo from WikiCommons – “Bean sprouts 04” by Anna Frodesiak – Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons

 

Nutrition information
Mung Beans 1 tablespoon
Calories: 45, Fat: 0.2 g,Net Carbs: 5.9 g, protein: 3.1 g

Bean sprouts 1 cup
Calories 31, Fat 0 g, Net Carbs: 4 g Protein: 3 g

Recipes

Asian fusion “Dirty” rice. Photo by R. Averett

Here’s a trio of recipes on Skinny Girl that use bean sprouts in them. I think I need to expand my use, although I do use them often in salads.

Egg Foo Yung
Orange Chicken
Asian Fusion “Dirty” Rice

 All comments relevant to my posts are welcome. SPAM is not.  If the post has nothing to do with my site content, it will not be posted.

Information for this article came from Purdue University – Alternative Field Crops Manual, Wikipedia, Food for Life, Food for Awakening

Top Photo from Wiki Commons, used with permission – “ചെറുപയർ മുളപ്പിച്ചത്” by Edukeralam, Navaneeth Krishnan S – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A to Z Challenge 2015, Vegetables & Salads

Love My Leeks

3 Comments

I have a long relationship with leeks. Must be that Celtic passion thing I have going because I’ve always loved leeks in my potato soup. So naturally when I stopped eating potatoes, I simply added leeks to my cauliflower soup and my casseroles and other dishes. They bring a mild onion taste that is uniquely their own. Usually, I use them as a complementary flavor to a dish, although you can eat leeks as the focal point in the dish. I recall reading that Saint David, in Welsh Dewi Sant, was said to have eaten only leeks during fasts. Okay, I don’t like them that much, but they are a great addition to many dishes from soups and stews to vegetable dishes.

Although the white bulb part is usually the big attraction for cooks, the green portion of the leek is also edible and cooks up very well. I cut up from two-thirds to three-quarters of the leeks when I clean and chop them.They do need to be cleaned very well though as those long leaves tend to hide soil within them. Once I cut them up, I run them under water in a colander and swish them around to make sure the dirt is off. They can then be put in plastic bags and kept in the crisper of the refrigerator for several weeks or frozen for three or more months.

History

Since they look like an over-sized scallion (green onion), it’s no surprise that they’re related to onions, garlic, scallions and shallots. Leeks can be traced back in culinary history for thousands of years. Believed to originate in Asia, there is evidence for them all over the Middle East and Europe. The ancient Greeks and Romans used them extensively and the latter most likely introduced them to Great Britain where they thrived. Leeks took hold with the Welsh and eventually became the national symbol of Wales. Folklore records that the aforementioned Dewi Sant encourage Welsh warriors to wear leeks in their caps to make it easy to identify their comrades during a battle against the Saxons that proved successful for the Welsh.

Recipes

leeks-a-z

Here are a few recipes from Skinny Girl that use leeks:

Cennin gyda Thomato a Bacwn – Leeks with Tomatoes and Bacon
Smashed Turnips with Leeks
Asparagus Leek Cauli-risotto
Creamy Cock-a-Leekie Soup
Spring Time Pasta

Nutrition information for 124 grams (a little over 1 cup sliced)
Calories: 38 Fat: 0 Net Carbs: 8 g Protein: 1 g
Information for this article was gleaned from World’s Healthiest Foods,   Wikipedia, and Specialty Produce

Top photo from Wiki Commons, used with permission – “13-08-31-wien-redaktionstreffen-EuT-by-Bi-frie-031” by Bi-frie (talk) – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons –

 

A to Z Challenge 2015, Beef, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Iceberg is Ideal for Salads

1 Comment

Really, it is. Oh, sure, there are those that criticize, saying that it lacks in any real nutritional value and maybe there is truth to that. But Iceberg Lettuce has a clean, refreshing taste and keeps pretty well in your refrigerator for at least a week, which some other lettuces don’t do as well. Although it’s low in nutrition, it is only a little below Romaine lettuce, which is my other favorite lettuce. The Iceberg lettuce is largely water, but it has a sweet, clean taste where some of the other, more nutritious lettuces, can be a bit bitter and not as refreshing. The ideal, in my opinion, is a mix of the lettuces for variety.

Iceberg lettuce is the one you find most frequently in restaurant salads. The lettuce is also great on sandwiches or for making lettuce wraps because of its nicely cupped, large leaves. It is the primary lettuce used in the United States.

Lettuce Origins

All lettuces trace back to the Mediterranean area where lettuce was first cultivated for its leaves in ancient Egypt, with evidence of that dating to about 2680 BC. Originally, it was grown for the oil produced from its seeds. The Egyptians considered it the sacred plant of Min, their god of reproduction. The cultivated variety appeared to be about 30 inches tall and resembled a larger version of the modern romaine lettuce. The Egyptians passed the seeds along to the Greeks, who then shared with Romans and more varieties were developed. Writings by Joachim Camerarius in 1586 described the three basic varieties of modern lettuce, which are loose leaf, romaine and head lettuce, such as iceberg and butter.

Christopher Columbus brought the lettuce to America in the late 15th century. Meanwhile, more varieties were being developed in Europe. Many of these are still grown in gardens today. I grew a mixture of lettuce a couple of years ago, but pulling leaf by leaf didn’t seem very rewarding. I grew a butter lettuce last summer and that was good, but you only get one head per plant, although after I harvested it, the plant did continue to produce leaves. In the late 19th century, documentation indicates between 65 and 140 distinct varieties.

Because lettuce has a relatively short life span once it is harvested, it didn’t expand into wide spread use until the 1900’s when packing, storage and shipping technology improved. To ship the fresh vegetable long distances,in the 1920’s, crisp head lettuce was shipped in train cars, filled with crushed ice to keep the lettuce chilled. The crisp head lettuce shipped this way came to be known as iceberg lettuce since the ice resembled icebergs. Incidentally, prior to the advent of ice-making facilities, ice used to be harvested in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Donner lake and brought down by train to Sacramento for shipping fresh produce. In the 1950’s vacuum cooling revolutionized the industry. This allowed the lettuce to be cooled and packed in the field, which kept it fresher to market.

Lettuce Uses

Around 50 AD, the Romans cooked and served lettuce with an oil and vinegar dressing, although they sometimes ate them raw. Between 81 and 96 AD, the lettuce salad prior to a meal became a tradition. In China, salads were made primarily from cooked vegetables and the lettuce was worked into all kinds of dishes from wraps to stir-frys and in other meat dishes along the way. Now days, we use lettuce in salads, wraps, sandwiches, and other ways and occasionally still cook it.

Personally, I haven’t tried cooking iceberg lettuce, although some of the loose-leaf varieties seem like they would go well in a skillet of greens. However, I did find a recipe from OceanMist for Fire Charred Iceberg Salad. This just might tempt me to try it. If you do it first, report back, please.

Nutrition Information for iceberg lettuce – 1 cup
Calories:10 Fat: 0 g Net Carbs: 1 g Protein: 1 g

Here are a couple of my quick and easy recipes for lettuce cups, which are really great for a low carb lifestyle.

Taco Lettuce Cups

4 large leaves Iceberg or Butter lettuce
1/2 lb Ground Beef
1/4 lb Chorizo
1 tablespoon Taco Seasoning
1/4 cup Pico de Gallo
1/2 cup chopped Baby Corn
2 tablespoons Black Beans
1/4 cup Butternut or Acorn Squash, cubed
1/4 cup Salsa
1/2 cup Cheddar Jack Cheese, shredded
1 small Avocado

Precook squash in the microwave or in a suacepan with a little water until it is fork tender. Cut into samller pieces.

Cook ground beef and chorizo in a skillet until lightly browned. Add taco seasoning, squash and a little water to make a moist filling. Stir in the baby corn and beans. Cook about three to five minutes to heat the corn and beans.

Put the lettuce leaf on a salad plate, spoon 1/4 of the ground meat on it, then top with Pico de Gallo and 1 tablespoon of Salsa. Add about two tablespoons of jack cheese over the top, and crown with slices of avocado. Fold the lettuce over and serve with sour cream.

Makes 4 tacos.

Nutrition Info per taco:
Calories: 424.8 Fat: 33.3 g Net Carbs:6.1 g Protein: 22.3 g

All comments relevant to my posts are welcome. SPAM is not.  If the post has nothing to do with my site content, it will not be posted.

Information for this article was helped by these pages:  Wikipedia, About Health, Livestrong.com and Oceanmist.com

All photos are by R. Averett, Copyright Skinny Girl Bistro

A to Z Challenge 2015, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Eggplant is an Egg-cellent Choice

5 Comments

Sorry about that!  The demon eggplant made me do it.   Read on…

You might think that eggplant originated in the Mediterranean region since it is a very popular vegetable in Italy, but this vegetable grew wild in India. The Chinese began cultivating it in the 5th century B.C. and from there it spread to Africa some time before the Middle Ages then migrated to Italy. Because the early variety was very bitter, the plant didn’t gain a lot of popularity and some people blamed their ills on eating it, even suggesting that it caused insanity, leprosy and cancer. As the vegetable became more cultured and lost much of its bitterness thanks to modified varieties in the 18th century, it grew into favor with chefs and from them on it was all Eggplant Parmesan and Moussaka. These days, the top growers are Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China and Japan.

An early variety of the plant was white and resembled a hen or goose egg prompting the name “eggplant”. A variety of nightshade, the fruit is white, green or purple and only the fruit is eaten. Since it is a nightshade, the leaves may be toxic and can certainly affect allergies. In England and other parts of Europe, the eggplant is known as aubergine, in Asia, it is called brinjal and other common names include melongene, garden egg and guinea squash. Whatever you call it, the eggplant is a much more diversified vegetable than just the uses you might expect. It is used in all types of cooking and reading about it has certainly inspired me to want to expand the way I use it.

I planted an Asian variety in my garden two years ago and it produced about four eggplants that were very good and mild-flavored. I think I’ll try it again this year if we have enough water to actually plant a garden.  The drought affects Nevada also.

Try out this recipe on Skinny Girl that is both low carb and delicious.

Italian Style Stuffed Low Carb Eggplant

And here’s my recipe for…

Eggplant Pizza

by Rene Averett

1/2 Eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2″ rounds
1 Egg,
2 tablespoons Almond Flour
2 tablespoon Bread Crumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon ground Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 lb. Seasoned Sausage
1/4 cup Bell Pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons Onion, chopped
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup  Pasta Sauce

Peel about 2 1/2 inches of the large part of the eggplant. Cut off bottom of the eggplant, then slice off four 1/2 inch thick rounds. Lightly salt the eggplant slices.

Preheat oven to 365 degrees.  Prepare a baking pan by spraying with cooking spray or put a silicone mat or parchment paper on it.

Put the egg and salt and pepper to taste in a shallow bowl or pan and beat. Put the bread crumbs and almond flour in another bowl and add the Parmesan Cheese and oregano. Dip an eggplant slice into the egg, then dredge in the flour/bread crumbs mixture, pressing it into the eggplant. Place on the prepared pan. Repeat with each slice of eggplant.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned. Raise the temperature to 385 degrees.

Meanwhile, lightly brown the sausage. Don’t overcook as it will cook a little in the oven. When the eggplant slices are done, spread two tablespoons of pasta sauce on each slice, then top with sausage, onions and peppers. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and add a dash of crushed chili peppers, if desired. Return to oven and bake another 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is lightly toasted.

Serve with a salad to complete your meal.

Makes 4 slices.

Nutrition Info per slice
Calories: 250 Fat: 17.0 g Net Carbs: 6.6 g Protein: 15.1 g

 Learn more from my references for this blog, which include Wikipedia, The World’s Healthiest Foods and Care2.com

Top Photo Credit:  “Three Types of Eggplant” by J.E. Fee – originally posted to Flickr as Three Types of Eggplant. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – 

A to Z Challenge 2015, Vegetables & Salads

Championing Celeriac

2 Comments

I only discovered celery root in the past few years and it truly is a wonderful and under-appreciated vegetable. Yes, it looks weird and has an ugly-looking skin that harbors dirt when you get it. But it cleans up nicely and it is delicious in so many ways. It’s one of three vegetables that people frequently ask me about when I check out at the grocery. The other two are Daikon radish and kohlrabi, both of which I’ll cover in this series. These vegetables seriously need a publicist!

Once again, this is an old world vegetable that dates back to the classic times. It was called selinon when it was mentioned in Homer’s “Odyssey”. Also known as celery root, knob celery and turnip root celery, this knarly-looking vegetable originated from wild celery. Unlike the usual celery with its trim green stalks, celery roots grow thicker stalks with lush green leaves and a large bulb root below the ground. The entire vegetable, excepting the string roots off the bulb, is edible, although the stalks tend to be a little tuff. When I’m fortunate enough to find a celery root bulb with the greens still attached at the grocery store, I buy it. The leaves are easily dried in a food drier or out on a sheet of waxed paper in a sunny place for a few hours.

Describing a flavor isn’t always easy, but the root portion has a mild celery flavor with a bit of nuttiness — it’s amazing how many food are described as having a nutty flavor. It is crisp when freshly cut and can be used raw in salads. But when it’s cooked, it becomes creamy and it is the closest vegetable in texture that I’ve found to the potato. I often use it as a potato substitute, particularly when making French fries. It’s great in soups, stews, stir fry dishes and other places where you would use potatoes. It can be roasted and baked.

The leaves and stalks also have a celery taste, but the stalks I’ve encountered tend to be woodier than normal celery. The leaves are nice for garnishes or adding to soups and stews or in with cooked greens. Dried, they can be added to many dishes whenever you want to add a hint of celery to flavor.

Cleaning and Preparing

I admit it’s a bit of a challenge to clean and trim the celery root. Use warm running water and a scrub brush to clean up the skin as much as possible. There are many little cracks in the root’s surface where dirt can hide. Once clean, dry it off, then cut the knobs off with a chef’s knife or a sharp paring knife.

Peel the outer skin off and dig in where the exterior skin may have made a crevice in the vegetable. It’s like a potato eye, just take the paring knife and cut in under it to remove. Then cut the root into cubes or planks, depending on how you want to use it. The bigger roots can be difficult to cut through and it may take a lot of muscle to get the knife through the whole root.

Once you’ve trimmed the root, parboil it in a pan of boiling water with a splash of lemon juice for about 3 minutes. This will help prevent browning. If you aren’t going to use the cubes or planks right away, then put in freezer bags, press out as much air as possible, label with the date and put in the freezer. If you’re using it soon, just put in a plastic bag until ready to use.

Celery root cleaned and cut into quarters to bake.

If you want to bake the celery root, you can just clean the exterior as much as possible, poke with knife a few times, rub a little oil and seasoning on it, then put in the oven at 375 degrees (F.) to bake for about 45 minutes to an hour. This will vary with the size of the celery root. Once done, peel off the outside skin and serve the creamy insides like you would a baked potato.  It’s great with butter, sour cream and bacon bits.

Baked celery root is creamy and delicious with a texture similar to a baked potato.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nutrition Info for 1 cup Celery root
   Calories: 66 Fat: 0.5 Net Carbs: 11.9 g Protein: 2.3 g

Recipes

I use celery root frequently as a replacement for potatoes and just as a delicious vegetable on its own. Here are a couple of recipes from this site that use celery root.

Quick Roasted Celery Root (mid-way down the page)
Warming Beef Stew for Fall
Corned Beef Hash
Celery Root Fries (near the bottom of the page)

My references for this article include the following web sites: Wikipedia, Eat the Seasons and The Vegetable World’s Ugly Duckling