Dinner’s On The Table – Healthy Specialty Foods & Recipes

I just read in article in the Poughkeepsie Journal with ideas for your staycation.  I’m going to try to give some ideas that, with a little imagination, will make you feel like you’re at the shore, or the lake, or just not stuck at home!

We took a wonderful vacation a few years back on Cape Cod.  Reminded me of childhood vacations right down to the tent and the torrential downpour we experienced one night.  Ever since that wonderful week, my husband has been obsessed with whole belly clams.  We usually stay away from deep fried food, but there’s something amazing about a freshly shucked clam, coated in a batter and fried so perfectly that you can actually taste the clam and appreciate the contrast of the softness of the clam and the crispiness of the coating.   Fried clam strips just don’t cut it!

We were driving south on route 9 right around Easter and my eyes were drawn to a sign that I had driven by a few times.  This time, before we had a chance to think , we found the car turning into the parking lot for Joe Willy’s Fish Shack.  We really just wanted to see what they had to offer, so we went in.  The owners have done a good job trying to make you feel like you’re at the shore.  They offer everything you expect if you’re at the Cape.  Including Ipswich Clams.  Those golden morsels of yummy-ness also known as whole belly clams.  Now we had no choice but to eat here.  We ordered half orders of the fried oysters and the Ipswich clams after being told they shuck them to order.  How fresh is that?!?!?!

Joe Willy’s offers something for everyone!  Lobster rolls, fish and chips, steak and cheese, chicken, even a veggie burger!  You have the choice of fried, broiled, or grilled for many of the seafood selections.   Your kids will LOVE IT HERE!  They offer more selection on the children’s menu than many local restaurants do. 

The best part is that they are located right next to Splash Down Beach!

Don’t waste your summer at the Galleria Mall.  Find something fun to do!

Tune in next time for some fun in the Rhinebeck area…and have a great summer!

http://joewillysfishshack.com/

http://www.splashdownbeach.com/

• Leave a comment... (0)

     If you do a search for a Creamy Pinto Bean Soup online you will find dozens of recipes. As we usually do, we found a recipe that sounded good and tested it out. By itself it was an excellent soup. But we wanted to make it for dinner and have it be satisfying as well as a well-rounded meal.  

     The soup is a delightful, creamy soup without any chunks as it’s pureed in the blender, a food processor, Magic Bullet or trusty hand-blender. What we did to maximize the meal-worthiness of the soup is add a topping. Just as Campbell’s Soup suggests that you can top their Tomato Soup with anything you want, you can do the same with this Creamy Pinto Bean Soup.

First we’ll start with the Soup:

2 cups sodium-free vegetable broth or bean stock (Use Beef Stock for a heartier taste to go with the topping)
1 cup water
2/3 cup chopped onion
3-4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped (size depending on how hot you like it), or a pinch of Cayenne.
3 cups cooked pinto beans (You can use 2 cans of pinto beans, drained)
1 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped or use canned tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
3/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) 

1.  Pour stock in pot. On Medium heat, soften the onions, garlic and pepper in stock and water for 5-10 minutes. Prepare other ingredients.

2.  Add remaining ingredients except salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, mostly covered, 10-15 minutes.

3.  In 2 batches, puree the soup in a food processor until creamy. Add salt to taste, if desired.

4.  Return to pot and keep over low heat until ready to serve.

Now for the topping:

1/2 lb. Ground Beef
1/2 cup Diced Green and Red Peppers
1/2 cup Scallions, Diced or Onions
1/2 cup Canned Corn
1/2 cup Zucchini Squash or Fresh Tomatoes Diced
1/2 package of Taco Seasoning or make your own – or use Penzey’s Rojo Taco Seasoning (Our Favorite) 
 (If you prefer to use the whole package of taco seasoning just double the recipe and have leftovers!)

1.  Prepare the Beef according to seasoning packet.
2.  Add remaining ingredients and cook until the vegetables are the desired softness.

     Optional Ingredients: Sour Cream, Guacamole, Lime Juice, Chopped Cilantro Leaves, Cotija Cheese (Mexican Cheese like Romano) or Shredded Monterrey Jack or Cheddar.

     Serve the soup in large shallow serving soup bowls. Spoon 1/2 cup or desired amount of topping in the middle of the soup. It will sink so pile it up. Top this with Sour Cream or Guacamole and a sprinkle of Cilantro. Then squeeze lime juice in the soup around the topping followed by a sprinkling of cheese. Serve with Nacho Chips or some Crusty Bread. Fantastic!!!

     Prep and cook time 30 minutes for soup/45 minutes overall. Serves 4-6.

• Leave a comment... (0)

     Helloooo Salad! As Norton from the Honeymooners would say if he were addressing his salad instead of a baseball. We always fall back on the tried and true salad to cut back on our calories and fat when we’re looking to drop a few pounds. Besides, a big hearty salad tastes really good every once in a while.

     But the best way to blow the salad ideal is overload it with toppings. Gobs of shredded cheese, too many croutons and who has the time to measure a serving size of dressing anyway. Grab the bottle and pour on the goopy goodness!

     For one, skip the croutons and go for a small dinner roll. Choose a lower fat cheese. And if you can, make your own salad dressing using light or extra virgin olive oil, fresh cheeses, low fat mayonnaise, low fat cream cheese, low fat milk, low fat sour cream or low fat yogurt. and don’t forget the herbs, spices and a conservative amount of salt – to taste. (Stay tuned for some awesome salad dressing recipes in future posts). By making them yourself you avoid all those wonderful chemicals and scientific food additives.

     If you don’t have the time to make your own salad dressings or we’re not there to make them for you, here are a couple of tricks you can use to fully enjoy salad using store-bought dressings.

1. One way to avoid using too much salad dressing is to dip your fork into the dressing and then attack your lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. The last thing to hit your lips and taste buds is the dressing that has been pushed to the top of the fork.

2. Find a large enough Tupperware or Rubbermaid container that will hold enough salad for the servings you want to serve. Add salad. Measure out the suggested serving size of salad dressing. Cover tightly and shake it up! Keep shaking until the salad is covered evenly with the salad dressing. You can leave the tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and other salad foods out of the container so you can arrange them appetizingly on the salad plate after plating the lettuce.

     Of course you could use those salad spritzers when you’re on the run, but you can over spritz yourself too!

• Leave a comment... (1)

     It’s cold and snowy outside. The wind chill is giving your goose bumps, goose bumps. You CRAVE soup! Soups are some of the most wonderful dishes to enjoy. They’re delicious, filling, and usually inexpensive to make. But they are time consuming to make as well.

     So, in the modern age we reach for a can of Progresso’s or Campbell’s. But they don’t always have the flavors you want and you may not have the right flavor in your pantry. Here is a quick solution for creating fantastic soup in only a few minutes using chicken broth you may already have waiting for you in your pantry when you don’t have the time and we haven’t cooked for you yet:

Spicy Chipotle Chicken Soup

16 oz of Chicken Broth or use Bouillon and Water (follow package directions)
1/2 – 3/4 cup of Vegetables and/or Beans
1/2 cup Cooked Chicken (optional)
1/4 cup Cooked Rice or 1/2 cup Uncooked Broken Angel Hair Pasta
1 tablespoon Chopped Cilantro (optional)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Chipotle Powder (Can substitute Ancho or Chili Powder)
Salt and Black Pepper to taste (be careful that you taste before adding salt)

     Bring broth just to a boil in a sauce pan, turn down to a simmer. Break the pasta into 1 inch or smaller pieces. Add in all the ingredients except Cilantro.  Heat through or until pasta is soft. Add half the cilantro and cook for 1 minute. Add a dollop of sour cream (optional) or crumble in some tortilla chips and garnish with remaining cilantro. Serves 4-6. For another twist, sauté 1/4 cup of onion and 3 chopped garlic cloves before adding broth to the pan.

     If you read my Improv In The Kitchen posts you’ve noticed I like to play around with spices and make my own recipes. Frozen vegetables and canned beans are always in my freezer and pantry. You can use any combination of veggies to beans here. I had a Mexican frozen vegetable blend that had broccoli, carrots, beans, green beans and peppers in it. You can use corn and black beans or any other vegetable you have on hand. I actually used a packet of Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup as the base when I first tested this recipe out. You can use any brand chicken broth (College Inn, Swanson’s, Trader Joe’s, Wolfgang Puck) or even your own.

For Vegetarians: Substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and firm tofu for chicken. Or simply add more beans.

Greek Chicken Florentine Soup

16 oz Chicken Broth or use Bouillon and Water (follow package directions)
3/4 cup Chopped Spinach
1/2 cup Cooked Chicken (optional)
1/4 cup Cooked Rice or 1/2 cup Uncooked Broken Angel Hair Pasta
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram or 1/2 teaspoon marjoram leaves
1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (adjust to your tastes)
Feta Cheese, crumbled
Black Pepper and Salt to taste

     Add broth to sauce pan. Stir in oregano, marjoram and garlic powder and bring just to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Break the pasta into 1 inch or smaller pieces. Add in all the ingredients except Lemon Juice and Feta Cheese. Heat through or until pasta is soft. Add lemon juice and stir just before serving. Crumble feta on top when serving.

     For Vegetarians: Substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and firm tofu or cannellini beans for chicken.     

     These soups are perfect for a quick dinner or taken to school or work for lunch the next day. Please note: Dinner’s On The Table, when cooking for clients, makes all soups from scratch. 
 

• Leave a comment... (6)

We were asked the question whether hummus was healthier than mayonnaise. Hummus wins hands down. Here are the facts:

     Sabras Hummus, which is by far our favorite store bought hummus, has 6g fat, 1g saturated fat, and 130mg sodium for a 2 tablespoon serving.

     Regular Mayonnaise has 11g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 10mg cholesterol and 85mg sodium for just a 1 tablespoon serving!

     Low Fat Mayonnaise has 5g fat, .8g saturated fat, 5mg cholesterol and 101mg sodium for a 1 tablespoon serving.

We went to Calorieking.com for our mayonnaise information.

And if you make the hummus yourself you can control the fat and sodium even more. And you can make as many flavors of hummus as you can think of. Just use your imagination!

• Leave a comment... (0)

     Both Jill and I were snow bound, sick bunnies last night. The first time in years we hadn’t spent New Year’s Eve with friends. And we found ourselves without a store-bought onion soup mix to make a dip with. (Shutter to think of it!)

     So, I hit the pantry. We keep brown gravy mix on hand when we get lazy and don’t want to make gravy from scratch for ourselves, check. We have dehydrated onion flakes on hand for many uses, particularly when making tuna salad. Why? Because you get all the delicious onion flavor without the strong onion taste that can overwhelm the salad.  Check. A little fresh cracked pepper, check. And my secret ingredient – mustard oil. Just a drop. It adds a cool little bite and an unusually interesting flavor.

     You don’t need any extra salt because the brown gravy mix has it already.

16 oz Sour Cream
3 Tablespoons Onion flakes, Dehydrated
1 Tablespoon Brown Gravy Mix (Or Powdered Vegetable Bouillon if vegetarian)
Pepper to Taste
1 Teaspoon Mustard Oil (optional)

     Always taste the recipe. If you feel you want more brown gravy mix, add a teaspoon, mix and taste. If you think it needs more, repeat. If you want to explore, look for other ingredients in your spice cabinet. Cajun? Dry Mustard?Chili Powder? Have fun with it. Now grab your chips and veggies and your set!

• Leave a comment... (0)

My husband and I are on a hummus kick.  It's one of the healthiest dips out there.  What could be bad about chick peas, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and tahini?  Add some roasted garlic, olives, roasted red peppers or pine nuts and it's even better.  There are so many things you can do with hummus. 

Making it is easy.  If you have a blender or a Magic Bullet, now is the time to break them in if you haven’t used them lately.  The easiest way to make a batch is to drain and rinse a can of chick peas.  Put the chick peas into the blender with a few teaspoons of tahini, the juice of half a lemon, a few teaspoons of olive oil, a few cloves of garlic, a bit of cumin and add enough water to almost cover the chick peas.  Then blend them until you have a nice smooth paste.  Taste it to see if you have enough tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and to see if you need salt.  You can add just about anything to the blender for additional flavor.  Once you like the flavor, pour it onto a plate and stir it with the back of a spoon to make a groove.  Sprinkle your toppings, additional chick peas, pine nuts, roasted red peppers, carmelized onions, sun dried tomatoes, spices, you get the idea, then drizzle with really good olive oil.  It’s now ready to devour.  (If you don’t have the 5 minutes it takes to make a basic batch of hummus, Cedars is good, Sabra is great, but yours will be the best ever!)

The possibilities are endless as to how to eat hummus.  You can scoop it up with fresh pita, baked pita chips, tortilla chips, baby carrots, sliced veggies, a spoon,  your fingers.  Just don’t double dip!  You can make a sandwich by placing lettuce, tomato, cucumber and whatever other veggies you have on hand into a pita pocket.  Spoon some hummus in and enjoy.  If you have any leftover, spread it on bread instead of mayo for a roast beef or turkey sandwich.  I haven’t tried it for breakfast yet, but that veggie hummus sandwich sure sounds good.

We haven’t tried brushing our teeth with it, but the Zohan seems to like it.  (If you haven’t seen Don’t Mess With The Zohan with Adam Sandler, check it out.  He does some really strange things with hummus.) 

• Leave a comment... (1)

About a year ago, we decided to try out a new restaurant in Hyde Park.  Rocco’s opened across from the Culinary Institute a few months earlier and we hadn’t tried it yet, so we stopped in for a slice of pizza.  They had a great selection of pies along with my husbands favorite, rice balls.  Over the course of the next year we’ve had pizza or appetizers there a few times and enjoyed our meals.  Then they opened up the fine dining room downstairs.  They offer just about every Italian dish you could possibly want, and the prices are great!  The dining room is lovely, and they also have an outside terrace with tables for a romantic evening meal. 

If you go on a Tuesday or Wednesday, check out the special menu they have.  You can get a complete meal for $10.95 – $12.95!  Last week, we ordered Cappelini Puttanesca and Pasta Carbonara which both come with a salad and garlic knots.  We usually order dressing on the side since you either don’t get enough, or you can’t find the salad under the globs of dressing.  I can’t tell you the last time I got a salad properly dressed in a restaurant, but ours came with just the right amount of creamy blue cheese dressing coating every leaf of lettuce evenly.  Not too much, not too little.  The lettuce was a nice assortment of greens, the tomato was ripe, and the onions were sliced paper thin.  It’s a good thing we’re both addicted to garlic, as the garlic knots were awesome!  Our meals came out piping hot and totally yummy!  As hard as we tried to save some to take home, we couldn’t help ourselves.  The biggest problem with finishing our meals is we never manage to save room for dessert!

One of these days!

There are many good restaurants in the area that you’ve tried over and over again.  Do yourself a favor and give Rocco’s a try.  You won’t be sorry!

www.roccospizza.net

• Leave a comment... (0)

Don’t you just crave that wonderfully crunchy, creamy, shrimp toast that you can order at your favorite Chinese Restaurant? We don’t want to know what’s in them. Nope.

But there is hope for shrimp toast lovers who are on a strict diet. Here’s a recipe that is baked, not fried, and we can contest is VERY GOOD. This has been adapted from an AARP recipe. Instead of using white bread we chose to use pita or Indian naan. The higher the dietary fiber the better. The recipe has a more satisfying crunch with Pita or naan flatbread…and it’s healthier. Why did we use naan instead of white bread? We actually don’t keep it in the house!

The taste is very close to the fried version and should definitely fill your craving.

• 12 ounces pre-cooked shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 thin slices white bread 2-3 Pita or Indian Naan
• tablespoons melted butter
• Fresh cilantro leaves and toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the shrimp until finely chopped. Add egg white, cilantro, scallion, cornstarch, ginger, and salt. Pulse several more times until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

2. Lightly brush both sides of each flatbread with melted butter. Cut each flatbread into 8 triangles like a pizza. If your naan is oval you’ll need to be creative making wedges. Spread shrimp mixture over each of the triangles, distributing evenly. (You can skip the butter and it will still come out fine.)

3. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until light golden brown. Note: The top of the shrimp toast may not turn golden brown due to the cilantro. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired.

Make-ahead tip: Make shrimp toast topping up to a day in advance and refrigerate until ready to use.

Nutrients per serving (1 toast). Will vary if using flat bread and skipping the butter.

• Calories 42
• Protein 4g
• Carbohydrate 3g
• Fat 2g
• Dietary fiber 0g
• Cholesterol 31mg
• Sodium 118mg

Baked shrimp toast makes a great appetizer, snack or even a light lunch, i.e. finger sandwiches. Ask Chef Jill to add them to your next cookdate!

• Leave a comment... (0)