| | Healthy Recipes: Introduction to Seasonal Menu Plan and Recipes - by Eleonora Manzolini | |
Miso/tahini is also a basic condiment that keeps well. Just blend miso and tahini with a little rice vinegar and water. You can add garlic, ginger, or mustard to it to make it different every time, and use it as a salad dressing by adding more water, and as a dip or creamy sauce over grains if you keep it thicker.
Flavored oils add zest to any dish. Being Italian, I am partial to olive oil, but you can use any oil you like. Make small bottles and add a different herb to each, i.e. garlic, hot chili pepper, tarragon, sage, rosemary, thyme, etc.
If you do not have time to marinate things, here is a way to quick marinate. Bring your marinade to a boil and drop whatever you want to marinate into it for a few minutes.
Instant pizza can be made by using tortillas or pita bread. Place them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp, spoon on some tomato sauce, your favorite toppings, and a little grated cheese, and put them into the oven again for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
Quick-cooking grains are couscous, millet, quinoa, and polenta.
Frozen grapes and cherries make wonderful alternatives to candy, or as "ice cubes" for drinks.
Almost any juices, fresh or bottled, can be placed in popsicle containers and frozen to make warm weather treats for children of all ages.
For thickening sauces and gravies, there are many substitutes for wheat flour. Equivalents to one tablespoon of wheat flour include half tablespoons of arrow root powder, rice or potato flour, or cornstarch.
For those avoiding salt, lower sodium substitutes include kelp, regular or low sodium tamari, light miso, lemon juice, ume vinegar, celery salt, various vegetable "salts," and the seasoning mix just mentioned in Kitchen Basics.
For Those Who Wish to Avoid Fats
- Substitute fish, chicken, or vegetable stock for half or for the whole amount of oil called for in a recipe.
- Water-sauté food instead of stir-frying it in oil. Put about H to 1 cup of water or stock into a wok or skillet and bring it to a rapid boil. Quickly add vegetables and keep stirring over a high flame until done.
- Onions sautéed in their own juice and pureed with light miso make a wonderful onion butter which is great on toast or bread instead of using real butter. The same thing can be done with most vegetables.
- Apple butter is a great no-fat spread for those with a sweet tooth.
- Puree a very loose oatmeal (about 1 cup of rolled oats to 4 cups of water). Use instead of milk to make cream soups, gravies, and any dish which calls for milk.
- Tofu pureed with lemon juice makes a great mock sour cream.
About Storing
- Cooked grains may be kept in a porcelain or wooden bowl in a cool place but out of the refrigerator. Covered with a napkin, they will keep for about 3 Day s. In the refrigerator they should be stored in airtight containers or they will absorb the flavor of other foods.
- Beans can be kept in jars on shelves or inside a cupboard. Cooked beans are best stored in the freezer in small containers.
- Mushrooms should be kept in a brown paper bag in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.
- Fresh herbs keep best in a glass of water in the refrigerator.
(Excerpted from Staying Healthy with Nutrition ISBN: 1587611791)
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 | Elson M. Haas, MD is founder & Director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin (since 1984), an Integrated Health Care Facility in San Rafael, CA and author of many books on Health and Nutrition, including ...more |
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