Healthy Cooking for Twelve

My family has a great tradition of getting together every year in North Carolina between Christmas and New Year’s. We catch up on the year’s activities, go for walks, read books that we were given for Christmas, and swim in my grandparents’ pool. But mostly, we eat.

We talk about what we’ll be eating next, we shop for the next meal, we plan for when the next meal will take place, we clean up from the last meal. In the past we would pile into cars and descend upon local restaurants but with mobility becoming more of an issue, these days we mostly take turns cooking. This is made especially challenging by a variety of food allergies, tastes, preferences, and dietary restrictions. There’s a shellfish allergy so severe that it rules out all seafood, several people who don’t eat beef, even more who don’t eat pork, a strong aversion to onions, a person with type 1 diabetes, a low-salt restriction, and a most-of-the-time vegan.

Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms, and Greens

This year I decided to make an exclusively vegetarian meal and used my roommate’s inspiration to go all red and green for the holiday. I started out with this Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms, and Greens recipe from Epicurious (kale! whole grains!), which I doubled, then served stuffed peppers with a side of whole-wheat bread. I love making these peppers because they’re easy to make for a crowd, they’re healthy, and they make a good presentation.

Red and Green Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Whole Grains

Serves 12

Ingredients:

1/2 package whole-wheat orzo (they sell this at Whole Foods but I haven’t seen it anywhere else)

6 large bell peppers, a variety of red and green

2 cucumbers, chopped into tiny cubes

2 containers of grape tomatoes sliced in half

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained

1 container feta cheese

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Salt and pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Boil water and cook the entire package of whole-wheat orzo according to package directions (you can use the rest for leftovers).

Cut peppers in half vertically and remove seeds and white parts. Fill a large dish with a thin layer of water and put peppers facedown in the water. Cover and microwave for 3-4 minutes. You may have to do this in batches depending on how big your microwave is. The peppers should still be firm but soft to the touch. Place steamed peppers face up in a large baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl combine 1/2 of the cooked orzo, all of the chopped tomatoes, the chopped cucumbers, garbanzo beans, and feta. Douse with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper (if your guests will tolerate it) and mix. Fill peppers with the stuffing mixture and bake for 15 minutes. There will be a bowl of the orzo mixture left; place either in the oven or microwave to heat, then place on table so that people can add more orzo mixture to their plate.

Red and Green Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Whole Grains

This recipe is easily customizable; you can add or remove vegetables depending on guests’ preferences, you can change the type of cheese or the grain. How about Southwestern Stuffed Peppers? Just replace the garbanzo beans with black beans, replace the orzo with brown rice, replace the feta with shredded cheddar, and mix some taco seasoning in with the stuffing. Or Greek Stuffed Peppers with feta, Kalamata olives, and couscous? The sky is the limit for this healthy main course.

Healthy, Cheap, Easy Last-Minute Gift Idea!

Tis the season for finding last minute presents that are fast, cheap, and leave a lasting impression. I’m sure that the Internet is rife with homemade gift ideas, and here’s another one that fits the above criteria – plus it’s healthy! I got this idea after I made muffins for a brunch on Sunday that called for cornmeal. I got to thinking that I don’t have much use for cornmeal and worried that it might sit unused, like my large bag of white whole-wheat flour has been for a few months. Growing up, we used to sell cookie mixes in my parent’s gift shop that had all of the dry ingredients – just add a few specific things and voila! Cookies. They were sort of like cake mix in really nice packaging.

Homemade Muffin Mix

So this year I decided to make my own muffin mixes to give out as last-minute presents. At a locally-owned hardware store I bought a package of 12 wide-mouth quart-sized Ball canning jars for $9.99. I used the cornmeal and other dry goods I had on hand, and bought some extra cranberries at the grocery store. Here is what to do if you want to make your own:

Mix 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Mix well with a whisk. Pour into a clean quart-sized canning jar. Put 1 1/2 cups of cranberries into a zip-lock bag and place on top of flour mixture in the jar. Close the lid and decorate as desired! Make sure to attach this label so that the recipient knows what to do when they get the gift:

Cranberry Lemon Muffins

Adapted from a recipe from Eating Well.

Ingredients not provided are in bold.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt, 1/3 cup canola oil, 1 egg, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a medium bowl.

3. Add yogurt mixture to the provided dry ingredients and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in chopped up cranberries.

4. Divide the batter among 24 mini muffin cups. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon zest in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the tops of the muffins.

5. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Let cool then serve.

Per mini muffin: 93 calories, 3.5g fat, 2g protein, 1.5g fiber.

Whole Grains for Life

If you pay attention to current nutrition recommendations, you may have heard that you should be eating more whole grains. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released this past winter, say that at least half of the grains that you eat should be whole. I personally attempt to do this by cooking and eating only whole grains when I'm at home. It can be such a challenge to find whole grains in a restaurant (save for the occasional offer of brown rice, which will often cost you extra money) that I figure whole grains at home is a good attempt to balance that out. My friend and teammate Stephanie recently passed along this article where Michael Pollan answers reader's questions. Someone asked "what is the single best food we all should be eating every day?" and he responded (in more words than this): "whole grains." So why should you want to eat more whole grains? In brief, they're less processed than refined grains and contain healthy fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They've been shown to help with weight maintenance and provide a lowered risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of attending a gluten-free culinary summit where a woman from the Whole Grains Council spoke. I was surprised to hear that there was such a thing, and even more surprised to learn about a bunch of whole grains I'd never even heard of! (Teff anyone?) The council has lots of information and recipes on their website, and they make it easier for consumers to purchase products that contain whole grains by putting this stamp onto products:

Yes, there are products out there that are whole grain that don't have the stamp, but it's a good place to start if you're unsure (click here for a full list of stamped products). Also, when purchasing wheat products, be careful - it needs to say in the ingredient list "whole wheat flour" not just "wheat flour." It might be brown and it might say "wheat bread" but if the first ingredient is "unbleached enriched wheat flour" then it's not made from whole grains.

Lest you think that whole grains are limited to brown rice and whole-wheat flour, here's a list of whole grains (the gluten-free grains have an *):
Amaranth*
Barley
Buckwheat*
Bulgur
Corn*
Farro
Kamut
Millet*
Oats* (gluten-free when certified that they have not been cross-contaminated)
Quinoa*
Rice (brown)*
Rye
Sorghum*
Spelt
Teff*
Triticale
Wheat
Wild Rice*

So, go whip up a batch of buckwheat pancakes, have a snack of rye crackers with low-fat cheese, enjoy a lunch of quinoa salad with beets and goat cheese, and finish the day off with a bowl of mushroom barley soup and a berry crumble made with oats and you'll be well on your way to living a healthy, whole-grain lifestyle!