PEERtrainer Recipes

“Cream” of Swiss Chard Recipe!

Swiss Chard is one if the highest nutrient density food you can have.  It will fill you up, help you lose weight and the bonus is this:  it can taste great!  There’s not a bit of cream in this 3 ingredient ultra-creamy soup.   When you puree potatoes and Swiss chard that have been cooked together, the result is pure silk. 

This recipe is taken from the book Healthy 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold.  Rozanne Gold, who began her career at the age of 24 as first chef to New York's Mayor Ed Koch, is a three-time winner of the prestigious James Beard Book Award and winner of the IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award.

(***My side note:  Don't be embarrassed if you have no idea what swiss chard is.  I had no idea until last year!  just go to the supermarket and ask a produce person to help you.  They're usually happy to explain things and in my experience, no one has ever made me feel badly about not knowing what a vegetable is.)

Ingredients:

• 3 large potatoes, red or Yukon Gold, about 1 1/3 pounds.
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, about 1 ¼ pounds
• 2 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter
• kosher salt
  

*** (Another side note:  You can always substitute the butter for olive oil or unsweetened coconut milk.  I love the coconut because my husband can't eat dairy.  The recipe is so easy that you can experiment. I must admit that the butter tastes the best.)

In a 4 to 6 quart pot (****You always need a great pot in your kitchen.  I've seen people love this Creuset; it makes your kitchen feel so homey), bring 8 cups of water and ½ tablespoon kosher salt to a boil.

Peel potatoes. Halve the potatoes lengthwise and cut halves into ½-inch-thick slices.  Add to boiling water.  Lower heat to medium-high and cook, covered for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash Swiss chard thoroughly.  Cut off bottom 3 inches of stems and place in a small bowl for later.   Tear leaves into small pieces. Add leaves to pot after potatoes have cooked for 20 minutes.  Cook for 10 minutes longer.  Do not overcook or chard will lose its bright green color. 

Pour 3 cups cooking liquid from potato-chard mixture through a colander or course-mesh sieve.  Set aside.  Put potatoes, chard, and any remaining liquid in bowl of a food processor (****If you don't have a Cuisinart, you need one and here's a great one on Amazon. I don't know what I would do without my mini.)  Process until smooth.  Add butter and process for several minutes, until very smooth. 

Return blended mixture to pot.  Slowly add up to 3 cups of reserved broth, stirring, to make a smooth, thick, and creamy consistency.  Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Cook for several minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Blanch (***This just means throw into boiling water for a minute) reserved chard stems in a small amount of boiling salted water until tender, about 5 minutes.  Cut into small pieces and scatter over each serving of soup.  Serve hot. 

Makes 6.5 cup.  If you're on Weight Watchers, one serving has about 2 points.  This could be your soup for almost a week!

~Emily

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Acorn Squash Supreme

 

Who wouldn’t like a tasty acorn squash with fruit and nuts?  This comes from the Eat to Live cookbook by Joel Fuhman, M.D.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 large acorn squash
• 4 Tablespoons diced, dried apricots
• 2 Tablespoons chopped raw cashews
• 1 (15-oz) can unsweetened, crushed pineapple, juice reserved
• 2 Tablespoons raisins
• cinnamon

 

Cut squash in half, remove seeds, and bake face down in ½ inch of water for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

Cover the apricots in a bowl with some of the pineapple juice.  On top, add the pineapple, raisins, and cashews.  Let stand and soak while the squash is cooking.

 

After the squash has cooked, mix up the fruit in the bowl and scoop it into the squash’s center.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for an additional 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, then put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

 

 

~Emily

 

 

 

Black Bean Salsa

This is quick to fix, full of protein and good flavor, and goes well with any Mexican-style meal or by itself as a dip served with chips.  You can also add avocado to this recipe, or red pinto beans in place of the black beans. 

 

This recipe comes from the book, The Gluten-Free Vegan: 150 Delicious Gluten-Free, Animal-Free Recipes by Susan O'Brien

 

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely
• 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 cups diced or chopped tomatoes
• ¼ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup lime juice, freshly squeezed if possible

 

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend everything together.  Place, covered, in the refrigerator until chilled.

 

-Emily

Jicama, Papaya and Avocado Salad

A simple salad with 3 primary ingredients and lettuce.  How pure and beautiful is this.  From the book Dining Al Fresco, The Wolf Trap Picnic Cookbook.  I’m thinking of adding  some halved walnuts for variety.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 large leaves lettuce
• 1 small jicama (about 1 pound)    
• 1 papaya
• 2 avocados
• ¼ Cup walnut (or olive) oil
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• White pepper

Arrange lettuce leaves on four salad plates.  Peel the jicama and slice thin, then cut slices in half.  Divide slices amount the four plates.

 

Peel papaya and cut into quarters, discarding the seeds.  Cut in ¼ inch slices, keeping its shape as well as possible.  Place slices over jicama.

 

Peel and split the avocados in half and place next to the papaya.  If not serving immediately, brush avocado with a little lemon juice to keep it from discoloring.  Mix oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper and spoon over each of the salads.  Serves 4

 

-Emily

Favorite Hot Chocolate

 

This is a recipe from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen.   Mollie Katzen has over 6 million books in print and is listed by the New York Times as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. A 2007 inductee into the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, and largely credited with moving healthful vegetarian food from the "fringe" to the center of the American dinner plate, Ms. Katzen has been named by Health Magazine as one of "The Five Women Who Changed the Way We Eat."

There are some days—and some moods—when hot chocolate is just simply the answer. And there might not even have been a question! This recipe hits that indescribable spot.

Yield: 2 servings (easily multiplied)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 cups milk
• A pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS

• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon

Directions

1. Combine the chocolate chips and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Pour in the milk, then add the salt and vanilla.

2. Place the saucepan over medium heat, stirring slowly as the mixture heats up and the chocolate melts. Don’t let it boil.

3. Serve hot, topped with whipped cream and a light sprinkling of cinnamon, if desired.

Notes

Soy milk–or a combination of milk and cream–can be substituted for the milk.

Mollie Katzen is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking classics Moosewood Cookbook

-Emily

Shrimp, Grapefruit, and Avocado Salad

This is a  tangy salad to satisfy seafood lovers.  It’s simple enough for a weekend brunch, but special enough to serve to dinner guests.  It comes from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible by Brigitte Hafner and Victoria Blashford-Snell

Yield: makes 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 mins

Ingredients for the Dressing:

• 3 tbsp Asian fish sauce
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

Ingredients for the Salad:

• 30 large shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined
• 2 large pink grapefruit, segmented
• 3 red radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks or slices
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 6 oz (175g) baby salad greens (mesclun)
• bunch of watercress, thick stems discarded
• 6 sprigs of mint leaves, stems discarded, leaves torn

Directions:

1. Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients together in a jar, and shake until blended.  (The dressing can be made several days in advance and refrigerated.)

2. Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels, and place in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp of the dressing and toss.

3. Toss the grapefruit, radishes, avocados, scallions, greens, watercress, and mint leaves in a large bowl. Divide among 6 dinner plates. Arrange 5 shrimp on top of each, and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve immediately.

- Emily

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

This recipe which received 5 out of 5 stars from people rating the cookbook Top Chef The Cookbook by The Creators of Top Chef and Tom Colicchio is an extremely attractive salad and very healthy too.  This cookbook is currently on the best seller's list, along with the hit TV show, Top Chef.

 

 

Beet Salad:

4 large red beets

4 large yellow beets

Drizzle of olive oil

A few caps balsamic

Salt and pepper to taste

Chives to taste

A few leaves tarragon

1/2 log Boucheron goat cheese

A few tiny leaves basil stem

A few bunches chervil

A few tangles yellow frisee

1 knob ginger root, crushed

 

 

 

Ras El Hanout Spices with Honey:

1/2 cup mustard seeds, toasted

Cumin to taste

Fennel to taste

Coriander to taste

Drizzle of honey

 

 

Directions: 

Roast beets (reserve 1 quart reduced beet juice), dice and mix with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper, chives and tarragon. Slice cheese and dress with beets. Toss basil, chervil and frisee with olive oil and serve. Drizzle on reduced beet juice with ginger.

 

 

Ras El Hanout Spices with Honey:

Blend mustard seeds in spices and honey

 

 

-Emily

Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs

This is a perfect dish for parents and kids to make together.   Let the little ones roll the meat mixture into tiny balls while you sauté each batch and do the knife work. At the end everyone can help stir the pasta, meatballs, and cheese and tomatoes together.   This recipe is taken from Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada De Laurentiis

                   

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound orecchiette pasta

• 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 tablespoon whole milk

• 1 tablespoon ketchup

• 3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 pound ground chicken

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 11/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• 8 ounces bocconcini (small mozzarella balls), halved

• 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

 

 

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.

 

 

In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken and combine well. Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure) to scoop up the mixture, roll the seasoned chicken into ¾-inch mini meatballs.

 

 

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs and brown the tops, about 2 minutes longer. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the tomatoes are soft and the meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

 

 

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl and add ½ cup of the Parmesan. Toss to coat the orecchiette lightly, adding some of the reserved pasta water to help make a sauce. Add the meatball mixture, bocconcini, and ½ cup of the basil and combine. Garnish with the remaining ½ cup of Parmesan and the remaining basil.   Makes 4 to 6 servings

 

 

 

-Emily

Easy Sticky Buns

I can’t say that this recipe looks low calorie, but there are times when you need a treat and this looks quick and easy and FABULOUS just like all of  Ina Garten’s recipes.  No wonder her cookbooks are on every newspaper’s top 10 best seller’s list.  This wonderful recipe for sticky buns comes from the book Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten.        12 tablespoons (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces 1 package (17.3 ounces/ 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted     FOR THE FILLING: 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 cup raisins     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.     In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.     Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1½ teaspoons of the cinnamon, and ½ cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about ½ inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1½ inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.     Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.   (makes 12)   -Emily

-Emily

Lemon Spinach with Toasted Pistachios

A touch of lemon-laced olive oil brightens the grassy flavor of spinach, and a quick sauté preserves the integrity of the leaves.  A handful of pistachios adds some vitamins, minerals, and a little healthy fat and all in five minutes.  This recipe is found in the book Healthy 1-2-3 :  The Ultimate Three-Ingredient Cookbook, Fat-Free, Low Fat, Low Calorie by Rozanne Gold.

 

2 pounds curly spinach

1 ounce shelled pistachio nuts, about ½ packed cup

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon olive oil (available in many specialty food stores) *

 

 

Remove stems from spinach and discard.  

Wash leaves thoroughly and pat dry. 

 

In a small nonstick skillet, toast pistachios over medium heat until they begin to turn brown and their aroma rises.  Transfer to a cutting board and chop coarsely.  Set aside.

 

In a large nonstick skillet, heat lemon olive oil.  When hot, add spinach and cook over high heat until it wilts, stirring constantly.  Add fine sea salt and freshly ground black papper to taste. 

 

Scatter nuts over spinach.  Serve immediately.

 

Serves 4

 

*In case you can’t find the lemon olive oil you can make it yourself:

Place 1 Cup olive oil in a small saucepan.  Grate rind of 2 lemons to yield 1 Tablespoon grated zest.  Add to the oil.  Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, or until tiny bubbles begin to appear, and oil comes just to a boil.  Stir often.  Remove from heat.  Add a pinch of kosher salt and stir.  Let stand for 6 hours.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean jar.  Cover and refrigerate.  Keeps for 2 weeks and makes 1 Cup.

 

-Emily