It's a Miracle

I saw this recipe on Zonya's Health Bites on my local PBS station. And I totally loved the idea behind eating a food that is considered a negative calorie food. Zonya's Miracle Soup is just that food. Then I made it and loved it even more. Although I have to say I didn't quite follow her recipe, but there ya have it.

Here's my version.
 
Vegetables:
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, 1 orange pepper and 1 red pepper, chopped
5-10 mushrooms, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
5 carrots, chopped
5 celery stalks, chopped
Any vegetables found in the refrigerator can be cut up and added to the pot.
Shred 1 head of cabbage.  

Liquids:
6 C Water or stock (vegetable or chicken)
4 C V-8 or Tomato Juice  

Prepared Food:
2 Cans of diced tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 jar of salsa
1 T coconut oil (or Olive oil)

 Seasonings:
couple of Bay Leaves
¼ c fresh parsley chopped
cracked pepper

First we want to gather our vegetables and cut them into pieces no bigger than 1 inch. Next we’ll want to heat 1 Tbs of olive oil, or coconut oil into a large pot. Then simply start adding your cut vegetables to the pot and stir so they don’t burn.. As the onions become translucent we will want to add the liquids and bring the heat up to medium high. Now you can add the cabbage, and canned tomatoes. Continue to stir and bring just to a boil. Add the herbs, and cover reducing heat to med-low, allowing the soup to simmer until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.

The final step is to salt to taste, but not too much, just before serving. I like to ladle soup into a mug and heat in the microwave for lunch and/or as a first course for dinner.

Additional: I also am inclined to add black beans to the soup for added protein.

Best Foods pt 3

Next on the list in Best Foods we're not eating is:

Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.

 Now to be honest I've never had swiss chard so I have no ideas to add to the suggestion here. I hope someone will come along and help with their favorite ways of eating this leafy vegetable. (please, pretty please?)

 I suppose you could use this veggie as you would spinach (although a longer cook time) or kale or any of the other leafy greens.

Best Foods pt 2

The second food item listed in Best Foods we're not eating is: 

Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.

 Well this one is an easy one for me, as I have cabbage in the frig throughout most of the year. I use cabbage to make egg rolls, or Chinese salad, or boiled, or baked and microwaved. I'm not a big coleslaw fan, but cooked, I love cabbage. However, that said, I do like Chinese salad which is raw cabbage, so I guess I'm not the figurehead of consistency.

Chinese Salad
shredded cabbage
thinly sliced onion
shredded carrot
cooked chicken, cubed (or turkey, or tofu)
1 pkg of raman noodle soup
soy sauce
sesame oil (or olive oil)
rice wine vinegar
chopped garlic (opt)
toasted sesame seeds
green onion chopped

In a small bowl combine oil, vinegar, garlic and spice packet from raman soup. I like to soak the meat in soy sauce or you can also add part of oil/vinegar to marinade the meat. Mix all the veggies, and pour the oil/vinegar/spice over the salad and toss liberally. (If you have the time, allow these to marinade together for a couple hours in the frig) Add the meat, and crunched up dry raman noodles and toss again and sprinkle the top with sesame seeds and green onion.

I didn't add measurements because, frankly, I don't know them. I tend to cook without measuring. I made this last night to see what measurements I used and blast if I didn't forget to measure again. So I'm afraid in that regard you're on your own. Sorry about that.

I also like cabbage steamed (or cooked in the microwave) with onions and carrots with some butter melted on top. I tend to use onions and carrots with most things I make with cabbage. This same combination is what I use for egg rolls. I stir fry the cabbage, onions and carrots (sometimes I add other veggies or leftover meat) and when tender I put in a bowl with 1 beaten egg. Then I put a tablespoon or so in a wonton wrapper, roll up and fry for egg rolls. I use the leftover egg roll fixings to rice in a fry pan to make stir fried rice (add soy sauce and turmeric). For the stir fried rice I like the steam in bag rice with peas and carrots in it....makes for a quick meal.

Best Foods pt 1

Todays entry was inspired from the article 11 best foods you aren't eating

According to this article Beets are one of the best foods we aren't eating.

Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.

So I figured today I'd post some things to do with beets to expand on the "how to eat" section.

My favorite way to use beets is to puree the beets and add to chocolate cake as a replacement for some of the oil, egg and water. You can cut 1 egg from the box ingredients and half the oil using pureed beet in it's place.

And this one from Living Foods sounds so good to me, but I've not yet tried it. I'll share it anyway.

Souper Beet Soup

by Paul Benhaim
1 beetroot
1 carrot
1 tomato
2 cups of water
3 strawberries (optional)
1 small spring onion (optional)
Blend all in your mixer. If required, add water to desired consistency.
Swirl in a generous helping of Macadamia crème.

Macadmia Crème

15 raw macadamia nuts
1 tsp hemp oil
1 orange, juiced
3 fresh pitted dates
Blend and serve.

More:
A few entries from Chowhound
Beet recipes for a hater
And
Beet recipes other than roasted or in a salad