Roasted Artichokes with Lemon Mustard Remoulade

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Before I met my husband, my knowledge of artichokes was pretty small.  What I thought were artichokes were just the hearts, jarred and marinated in oil.  I don’t even remember seeing a fresh artichoke until one of my first visits to Colorado.

They were a staple in my husband’s home, served steamed with a dipping sauce of butter, lime and worcestershire sauce.  I would watch in awe as his family devoured these strange looking vegetables, butter dripping off their chins.

As they finished the leaves and got closer to the heart, things got a little dicey.  If you were sharing an artichoke, great care was taken to make sure each person got an equal share of the heart – the yummiest part.  If you had your own and couldn’t finish it, your leftovers would be quickly taken by the first person to call “dibs.”

I loved it – eating artichokes was not only a side dish, but a family activity.

And then I tried the grilled artichoke at the Cherry Creek Grill in Denver.  This sealed the deal for me with artichokes, and I was now a true fan.  The restaurant steamed the artichoke, then sliced it in half, basted it with a garlicky oil and grilled it over an open flame.  It was served with this creamy, tangy dipping sauce that was a perfect accent.

Since I don’t get out to restaurants much these days, I decided to try to recreate my favorite starter at home, with a few changes to make the process easier.  Instead of steaming and grilling, I roast the artichokes in the oven using this method I found a few years ago.  I love that the prep is simple and while the artichokes are in the oven, I can be doing other things.  If you wanted to go the extra step, these could easily be sliced in half and grilled after roasting.

The remoulade is so tasty, it could be used for a variety of other things.  Serve it with chicken, fish, shrimp or other roasted vegetables.  I think it would make a great base for chicken salad, too.

Print
Roasted Artichokes with Lemon Mustard Remoulade

Ingredients

    For the Artichokes:
  • 4 whole artichokes, washed and dried
  • 2 1/2 lemons, cut into halves
  • 2 - 4 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt
    • For the Remoulade:
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 Tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
  • 1 Tablespoon stone ground mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • freshly ground pepper
  • Optional: 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

Instructions

    For the Artichokes:
  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Trim your artichoke by cutting about 1 1/2 inches off the top and cutting off the stem at the base of the artichoke. A serrated knife is most helpful for this. Trim any other pointy leaves with kitchen shears.
  3. Rub the cut parts of the artichoke with a half lemon to stop any discoloration.
  4. Lay out four large squares of aluminum foil (about 12" square).
  5. An optional step is to use a small square of parchment paper on top of each foil (see picture above). I've had the acid from the lemon break down the foil before, and this offers a protective layer.
  6. Place the artichokes on the foil sheets and sprinkle with the salt, using 1/8-1/4 teaspoon per artichoke.
  7. Drizzle the artichokes with the olive oil, about 1/2 - 1 tablespoon each, then squeeze a half of a lemon over each artichoke.
  8. Gather the four corners of the foil together and fold each seam over to create a seal with the foil.
  9. Place in an oven safe dish or pan and bake in the oven for around 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  10. Allow the artichokes to rest for about 20 minutes before unwrapping.
  11. Serve with remoulade for dipping.
    12. For the Remoulade:
  12. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
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http://feedingmysunshine.com/roasted-artichokes-with-lemon-mustard-remoulade/

If you have never had a whole artichoke before, eating it is an experience.  Here is a helpful video – How to Eat an Artichoke.
Enjoy!
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Removing HFCS and Other Additives from our Kitchen

May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Moving one more step forward with our goal to eat Real Food, I decided to fully remove high fructose corn syrup(HFCS) from our kitchen.  There has been a lot of debate in recent years, with one side arguing that HFCS contributes to obesity and the other side claiming that it is just the same as table sugar.  The information out there is overwhelming, and while I know I don’t want to eat it anymore, I’ve been doing a bit of research to figure out why I don’t want to eat it anymore.

 HFCS is a sweetener that is made from corn and is used in a large amount of processed foods on the market.  While table sugar is comprised of 50% fructose and 50% glucose, HFCS is made up of approximately 55% fructose and 42% glucose, plus some other sugars.  Science is not a strength for me, so I understood little of what I was reading on Wikipedia.  Basically HFCS is close to table sugar, but not quite the same chemically.

Opponents to HFCS say that while sugar is bad in any form, HFCS has contributed to a rise in obesity over the years, and can also contribute to heart disease, diabetes and chronic disease.  On the Corn Refiners Association website Sweet Surprise, an abundant amount of information is included advocating the use of HFCS.  After reading their list of the benefits of HFCS, I realized my stance on this debate.  Most of the benefits listed are not actual benefits at all, to me at least.  Many of the benefits would be the same with sugar, like better taste and increased flavor.  The other benefits they included were a reason why I’m moving to a Real Food diet.  Things like “moisture control,” “retards spoiling,” “stability” and “extends product freshness” are all creative ways for saying this can sit on your shelf for a long time.  Longer that it really should, which is great for food manufacturers, but probably not so good for me.

 So the other day I set out to remove HFCS from my kitchen.  I didn’t think this would be too bad, since I had done the same thing about 2 years ago.  Back then, I was able to do it pretty easily with the exception of a few items.  I haven’t been paying too close attention to food labels for a while, so I was interested to see what I would find.  As I started reading labels, I found some other food additives that I was wary of and I pulled those out too.  So the pictures throughout this post are of food that I removed that includes:

Most of it I was actually glad to see go.  The ramen, chicken noodle soup (both MSG) and the fruit bars (food dye) were from when my tonsils were removed and, honestly, I never want to revisit that stage of eating again.  The ranch dressing (MSG), Nilla Wafers and Hershey’s syrup (both HFCS) were for special events and we didn’t really eat them again.  The rest was a mix of random items that we never used and other items that were staples for us.  We use a lot of panko bread crumbs (partially hydrogenated oil) on chicken and fish, but it seems I can easily make my own version at home.

I don’t think I will miss these items, since I know I can either make my own version, or we weren’t really eating them to begin with.  You can also find products that don’t contain these ingredients, as long as you do a bit of reading at the grocery store.  I have found it easy to find bread and ketchup made without HFCS at conventional grocery stores, but it is harder for pickles and relish.  Some pickle brands were labeled “no sugar added” but that just meant they had artificial sweeteners.  I finally found some at a natural food store, and then recently found some in a conventional store in the organic section.

My husband wasn’t very happy to see all this food going to waste, but I wasn’t really interested in eating it anymore.  Any food that was unopened was set aside for the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive this weekend, where you can leave non-perishable food items by your mailbox for your letter carrier to collect.

This didn’t remove all of the processed food in our home, but it’s a good start.  What foods do you have in your kitchen that could be switched out?

 

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Pasta Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado & Shrimp

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I was introduced to this dish by my mother-in-law and it is one of my favorite dishes that she makes.  According to her, it was straight off the menu of the Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans when she worked there before having children.  I loved this dish so much that I asked her to make it for my wedding shower.  It was such a hit that she made it again for my baby shower 4 years later.

I’m convinced this is the perfect addition to any shower buffet or ladies lunch.  It is elegant and refreshing while also being hearty and satisfying.  And the pink and green color combo happened to perfectly match my wedding colors.  Haha!

My mother-in-law’s version uses bottled Thousand Island dressing and jarred grapefruit segments.  You could also purchase pre-cooked shrimp to make this one of the easiest dishes for a crowd ever.  Since I am working towards a real food diet, I decided to make my dressing from scratch.  After looking up recipes for Thousand Island, I was drawn to Ina Garten’s version.  I loved the addition of the capers – the brininess(yay, it’s a real word) from the capers complements the sweetness of the relish.  Many other recipes included chopped white onion, so I might add a small diced shallot next time.

Print
Pasta Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado & Shrimp

Ingredients

    For the Dressing
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced capers
  • 1 heaping Tablespoon sweet relish
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
    • For the Salad:
  • 1 lb penne pasta
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 lb medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, with the head and tail removed
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 red grapefruits, segmented and then cut into chunks
  • 1 1/2 ribs of celery, finely diced
  • 2 cups raw baby spinach
  • 2 avocados, cut into chunks

Instructions

    For the Dressing:
  1. Add the mayonnaise, ketchup, capers, sweet relish and lemon juice to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
    2. For the Pasta Salad:
  2. Cook the penne in a large pot of salted boiling water, according to package instructions. Drain and set aside to cool.
  3. In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil to med-high. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  4. Add the shrimp to the garlic and oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the shrimp is pink and has just turned opaque. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, shrimp, grapefruit, celery and spinach.
  6. Add 1/2 cup of the Thousand Island dressing and toss to coat. Add more dressing as needed to suit your taste (I used about 3/4 of a cup).
  7. Add the avocado and gently mix with the rest of the salad. Serve immediately.

Notes

Thousand Island Dressing recipe was adapted from Ina Garten

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http://feedingmysunshine.com/pasta-salad-with-grapefruit-avocado-shrimp/

You could easily prepare this dish in advance if you were entertaining.  I would prep all of the ingredients separately and then combine just before serving, though the avocado should be cut just before serving to avoid browning.  Any leftovers will last for a few days, though you may have to add more dressing since the pasta will soak it up.

I enjoyed this for lunch on a beautiful spring day and, as you can see, Sophie was really hoping something would drop off my fork for her.

Enjoy!  What is your favorite dish to serve for your girlfriends?

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On Our Table: What Exactly is “Real Food”?

April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Before I delve into this new series, it is probably best that I explain “real food” in a little more detail.  You may be thinking, “Umm… I eat everyday.  Isn’t the food I eat real?”  The short answer –  not necessarily.

Once science technologies joined forces with the food industry decades ago, what we think of as food has drastically changed right before our unassuming eyes.  A slice of bread that used to be made of yeast, flour, water and salt now includes things like chemical preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring.

According to who you ask, the definition of Real Food can actually be pretty broad.  For my purposes, I have simplified the definition into five main points.

Real food is:

  • Unprocessed, or as close to its natural state as possible
  • Free of chemicals, pesticides and antibiotics
  • Free of  genetically modified products
  • Sustainable, with as little environmental impact as possible
  • Humane, offering the animals we consume a greater quality of life

When you look at the way the current majority of our population eats, it seems that getting back to a real food diet can be a pretty tall order.  If I were to immediately rid our kitchen of everything that I didn’t consider to be “real”, our family would start out pretty hungry and I would be completely overwhelmed.  So as I mentioned before, we are going to start with baby steps.  By going slowly, every change we make will be easier to accomplish and have more of a change to stick.

Initially I will focus on the first point I mentioned above – unprocessed.  This should be the easiest for me, since I have a culinary background and I already make many things from scratch.  This will be fun to include my children in also.  For example, I had gotten into the habit of frozen waffles for a quick breakfast for my son and he is obsessed with them.  Last week we spent the morning making waffles from scratch to eat that morning and freeze for later.  Our breakfast was an hour late, but we had so much fun cooking together that I am looking forward to making it a regular thing for a relaxed morning ritual.

By making foods from scratch, I will be removing chemicals from our diet.  From there I will look at purchasing organic food and produce, which will remove the pesticides, antibiotics and GMO’s…   See – little by little.

Real Food Resources

Have I peaked your interest?  Want to join me in changing to a real food way of life?  Here are some helpful resources to get you on your way.

Michael Pollan – I read The Omnivore’s Dilemna years ago and it planted the seed for my change of thought.  Hearing him speak here in Denver a few months ago really got motivated to do this for my family.  For a quick read, Food Rules is a perfect introduction.

Mark Bittman – I just started reading his books and enjoy the mix of information and recipes.

Food, Inc. – A must watch movie that will make you sad and angry that you have supported the mainstream food industry for so long.

100 Days of Real Food – I recently found this blog and it is full of resources on changing to a real food diet, including a Real Food Challenge.  I can see myself checking out this site often.

So now that you know what real food is about, stay tuned to see how we do.  Next week, I will start with getting rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup in my home.

 

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How to Segment Citrus

April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For the longest time, I rarely ate citrus.  It’s not that I didn’t enjoy oranges or grapefruit, but I really disliked peeling them.  So much effort and stained fingers…then once they were peeled, there was still all this white stuff around.  I could never get the fruit clean enough from all of that bitter pith.

Then I learned how to segment citrus into “supremes.”  It seems silly to call it life changing, but in a way it was.  I now eat citrus on a regular basis and love it.  If it is a weekend morning, you can rest assured that we will be eating eggs, bacon and grapefruit supremes when in season.

If you have never cut your citrus like this, get ready – you’ll love it too.

1. Using a sharp paring knife, begin by cutting off the top and bottom of your fruit to show the flesh (about a 1/2 inch in on each side).

2.  Turn the fruit so that one cut side is flat on the cutting board and stable.  Starting at top of the other side, use your paring knife to remove the peel and white pith from the fruit.

3.  Continue around the entire fruit until all of the peel and pith is removed.  Be careful to cut off as little fruit as possible.  When complete, your fruit should look like this:

4.  Using the white lines of the citrus membrane as your guide, cut along the edge of the membrane down to the center of the fruit.

5.  Repeat on the other side of the segment, cutting out a wedge of fruit.  Continue this process for the rest of the citrus segments.

6.  When done, all that remains are the membrane and a whole lot of juice.  Squeeze the membrane by hand and reserve the juice for a recipe or just a refreshing drink.

7. Enjoy your fancy schmancy citrus supremes- so pretty!

How easy was that?  Now grab some citrus and start practicing – I’ve got a tasty recipe featuring grapefruit coming up soon…

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