Avgolemono Soup

Day #6 on protein shake, mashed potatoes and broth diet. Its so discouraging. I feel just fine when I don't eat any solid foods and to be honest, it almost feels even better than usual. However, I miss cooking. I miss trying new foods and recipes and being adventurous. I don't know when I should try something more solid, but I keep remembering last week when a bowl of rice had me in such pain for 3 hours. I don't want to feel like that, but at some point I am going to have to try.

Today was a good day because I saw that my sweet potato risotto recipe was on my favorite food site SeriousEat yesterday. I didn't even see it till today, and was so excited. I had to post another recipe, although the pictures aren't as nice. The funny thing is that picture was rejected by tastespotting.com and foodgawker.com but made it on a much bigger site!

The last thing that I made before I got really sick was avgolemono soup. I have seen different recipes for this soup online and in my soup books but never got around to making it. Then my husband got sick and I wanted to do something different than the traditional chicken noodle (which, unless I found gluten free soup noodles, I couldn't eat). I only got to eat a bowl full because of the lemon and my stomach, but it tasted really good.

Avgolemono Soup

7 cups of chicken broth

1 lb of chicken (I always use boneless, skinless breasts but legs or thighs would do also)

5 eggs

Juice for 4 lemons

1/2 cup of rice

Black pepper to taste

Put the chicken and broth into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Then turn to low and let simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or more until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken and skim off the surface scum. Ladle a 1 cup of the broth into a bowl on the side.

While cooking the chicken, cook the rice and put to the side.

Use a fork to pull the chicken and put back in the broth. Bring the broth back to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Then take the pot off of the burner.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, lemon juice, and pepper. While whisking drizzle in the broth that you had put to the side while beating constantly. Then whisk the egg mixture into the pot of soup, beating constantly. Turn the heat back on to low and stir constantly for around 2 minutes until the soup thickens but do not let the mixture bubble. Add the rice, take off of heat, and it is done.

Spicy Quinoa Salad

I hate gastroparesis. If you have it, you know why. I have a relatively mild case, my stomach is completely paralyzed but somehow I do not have the severe symptoms and can eat whole foods. I am grateful for that. But every few months I get a flareup that is debilitating. Monday I had so much pain that I could barely stand up and have had to take the last two days off of work (which for me, a type A personality, brings a whole lot of guilt and stress). One of the worse things is I also cannot eat anything I like. Last May it wasn't too bad because I didn't feel like cooking, but right now I feel like cooking new things and instead can only make plain rice, eggs, and pasta. Maybe I can use a little soy sauce but that is it. I do have a lot of recipes that I haven't posted yet, so I am going to have to go through them and wish I could eat something with flavor.

I saw this recipe as a post on Seriouseats. I was in the middle of reading Barbara Kingsolver's local food book and The Omnivore's Dilemma so I felt a bit guilty buying tomatoes and cucumbers at the beginning of October from the grocery store, but I wanted something healthy and light. I really like Quinoa. It doesn't have a strong taste and it is a great substitute for couscous. I used to make a similar couscous salad (Moroccan Couscous Salad) from Epicurious but couscous has gluten. Oh well.

Spicy Quinoa Salad

From SeriousEats

Ingredients
1 cup of dry quinoa
2 medium cucumbers
2 cups of tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
3 Tbs of olive oil
1 small red onion, minced
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs red wine vinegar
salt
ground black pepper


Cook the quinoa according to directions on box. While cooking quinoa, mix the cucumber, tomato, olive oil and a pinch of salt together. In a separate bowl combine the onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and vinegar. Let sit while the quinoa is cooking. Combine the sauce and vegetables and toss. Then stir in the quinoa. Add more salt, oil, ground black pepper or lime juice to taste.

Long Beans with Peanuts and Korean Glazed Potatoes

It is so weird. I just noticed today (or finally thought about it) that my garden is still green and it is November... November! Usually everything is cut down, packed up, and I am starting to winterize my windows by now. However, I feel bad cutting down all my green plants. My parent's gardens were dead and I cut and bagged 350 lbs of plant material on Saturday but I don't know if I can do the same to mine. My Black Eyed Susans are at full bloom. I just don't want to wait until too late and do it in the freezing cold...

I did, however, cut my herbs this weekend. Again, fresh herbs in November is nuts. In the city we haven't even gotten a frost yet. I had tons and tons of chives along with thai basil and some oregano left at the end of this season. I worked late last night washing them then combining the chives and then the thai basil with olive oil in the food processor and made herb ice cubes. Then I made more oregano pesto that my brother, who likes very very few foods, really likes.

Earlier on in the day, I decided to cook Asian. I love this Asian market, that is around 20 miles away, because it had fun vegetables that I cant find any where else. Case in point, long beans. I really don't like green beans, but I love long beans. Does that make any sense? I don't know what the difference in the taste is. For me I feel like the long beans are dryer. I also found some more Korean corn syrup, which unlike all the clear corn syrups I find in the regular grocery store, does not contain vanilla flavoring. So, I decided to make these awesome potatoes that I experimented with on a picnic during the summer. Enjoy!

Spicy Stir Fried Long Beans With Peanuts

(Pa-O Long Beans)

From Epicurious.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb long beans

1/2 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

2 tsp soy sauce

2 to 3 small fresh Thai chiles or 1 Tbs chili paste

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbs oil

1 Tbs chopped garlic

1/2 cup of green onions, chopped

2 tsp lime juice

Cook the beans, untrimmed, in a pot of boiled salted water. Stir and remove when tender, around 4 minutes. Put in bowl of ice water to stop cooking then drain and pat dry. Trim the ends and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.

Use your food processor to grind 1/2 of the peanuts into small pieces, leaving the rest to be large.

Mix soy sauce, chiles or chili paste and salt together in small bowl.

If you have a wok (I don't, my kitchen can't fit anything more) make sure it is on high heat. Same thing for large pan. Oil the pan and add garlic until it turns pale golden. Then add the peanuts and stir fry until they are golden. Add the beans and stir fry until hot, around 2 minutes. Take off of the burner and combine in soy sauce and green onions. Add in lime juice and salt to taste.

Korean Glazed Potatoes (GamJa JoRim)

From Aeri's Kitchen

Ingredients

2 cups of potatoes (I use small golden ones) diced in 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup water

2 Tbs oil

2 1/2 Tbs soy sauce

2 Tbs clear corn syrup

1 1/2 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs minced garlic

1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds

In pan on medium heat add in the oil and let heat. Then add in the potatoes. Fry the potatoes for until they are half cooked. Then add the water, soy sauce, sugar, corn syrup, and garlic. Cook for 5 more minutes on medium heat. Add salt to taste and continue to cook until the liquid is a paste (be careful, it can turn into paste quickly without you noticing it)

Reduce the temperature and fry until the potatoes are cooked. Add sesame seeds and serve!

Meringues

Sugar Attack! I don't know what it is about October that makes me crave sugar. Last year I had a candy corn obsession and ate about a bag every 3 days... seriously, it was bad. This year I have stayed far away from the candy aisle, but other sweets have just been invading my life. How about the fresh cider doughnuts sitting at the apple orchard on my way home from Effingham or the brownies that are sitting on the counter at my school.... they make me want to eat gluten, and get sick.

So, this week I have had two things to help me through my sugar craze days. The first are Sprinkles cupcakes. I have always wanted to try these, and they finally came to Chicago. They only have one gluten free flavor, red velvet, but they were soooooo good! The cupcake part was really moist, different from many store/restaurant gluten free baked goods. The cream cheese frosting? Well, I could have eating a gallon if it on its own.

The second thing was meringues. These are so dangerous to make. I probably ate 4 or 5 when they were hot and then a bunch more when they were dry (and was up till 3 in the morning on a sugar high). My dad was feeling sick and I wanted to make something that both he and I could eat. In 1 day 30 of them were gone between the two of us!

Meringues

Ingredients

2 large egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

1 tsp almond, vanilla, or lemon extract

(lemon extract makes yummy meringues but they are much less stiff during mixing and flat when you bake)

Preheat oven at 200 degrees. In a large bowl, put in the egg whites, cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. With a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for a minute or two until soft peaks form. Then gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat on high speed until the mixture is stiff and glossy.

Put parchment paper on baking sheets and drop the meringues by large teaspoonfuls onto the sheet. Depending on how large you make the cookies, you should have around 3 dozen. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and leave in the oven for another hour to dry.

Sweet Potato Risotto

Right now I am in Effingham, IL at a transition conference and got to go to the most awesome restaurant. It is called the Firefly Grill. This is the second day I've been here and thought that I was stuck with the restaurants surrounding the Walmart (along with the convention center which seems as if it is in the Walmart parking lot). But, thanks to Yelp, I found the restaurant just behind some trees across the street. It has been named the 2nd best eco-friendly restaurant in the country by Bon Appetit. I didn't know about its accolades, or the fact that it is local food, until I walked in with my local food book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. I felt like a bit of a dork reading about local food and then eating it (the menu says where each dish came from) but the bangers and mash were awesome (expensive, but really good). Unfortunately most of the things I wanted to try had gluten and I had to turn away the bread that looked delectable, but it was great.

Another thing that is great.... is sweet potato risotto! I had extra sweet potatoes and I was thinking of what I could do with them, and then thought of the idea of sweet potato rissoto. You would think there would be more recipes out there, but the best one I could find was from Betty Crocker. Now I usualy like stronger seasoned dishes, and not the kind that are usually in the Betty Crocker cookbook, but this dish was sooooooo good. The rosemary really stood out with the sweet potato and I am definitely making this for my Aunt's thanksgiving (with water instead of chicken broth) so that my mom can enjoy vegetarian fare and still feel festive.

Sweet Potato Risotto

(from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients

1/4 cup of white wine

1 Tbsp of olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 cup of uncooked Arborio rice

3 small mashed roasted sweet potatoes (around 1/2 cup)

4 cups or more of chicken broth

Parmesan cheese to taste

1/2 tsp of chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg

Salt to taste

Roast your sweet potatoes. I put them in the oven at 450 degrees for around 35 to 45 minutes until they are soft. Take them out and mash them.

Heat olive oil in saucepan and cook onion and garlic 3 to 4 minutes until tender. Stir in rice and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add in white wine and stir until soaked in. Stir in mashed sweet potatoes and 1/2 cup of the broth. (I know that people usually heat the broth on the side, and most of the time I do too, but it worked without using the extra pans so it is up to you). Cook and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding in broth 1/2 cup at a time, when the rice has soaked in the previous additions, and stop when the rice is just tender. Add in the cheese, rosemary, nutmeg and salt and enjoy!

Apple Jellies

More apples you say? Yes, 8 more pounds of apples from our 2 apple trees at my parents house. By now we are sick of apple sauce, and our freezers are full of it, so I turned to a recipe that I tried once before...with dismal results.

This recipe and I have a love/hate relationship. On the love side, the apple jellies taste great (even when they haven't firmed up) and are a great alternative to more apple sauce for someone with 8 pounds of apples (this year, since I am not up to making gluten free bread each week, I am not making apple butter). On the hate side... they are horrible, horrible to make! Although the recipe (which I am going to send a link to below because both people somehow made it successfully) says that you only have to simmer over low heat for an hour. I did 6 hours with drops of hot apple napalm spiriting out of my pots. Then I put it in the oven for 4 hours. Did I also mention I put in two packets of pectin and separated the liquid into three different pots and later pans to try to reduce the amount of sauce I was trying to firm up. Wow. One small pan did firm up... AFTER 10 HOURS... but the other was still too liquid to cut. However, I ate it all (well I did send home a bit to my dad) and am trying to talk myself out of doing this again next year.

If you choose to attempt this recipe, I think one of the main things is the type of apples. I used red and golden delicious. Maybe their pectin content is too low because I followed the recipe step by step. Good luck and let me know if anyone actually makes it (in under 10 hours!)

Apple Jellies

Recipes at Lottie and Doof and at Supper In Stereo

Asian Tofu Salad with Seasoned Spinach

I just spent 4 days in Kansas City on a BBQ trip. Great trip, one that 4 years ago I would have talked about for weeks, but for me and my gastroparesis... rough. 4 days of meat 2x a day. Meat that tasted great but made me very sick, oh well. We went to Arthur Bryants, Oklahoma Joes, Gates and Jack Stack.

So back home and back to veggies. I have been waiting for them. The best I could do in KC was baked beans, which I think are absolutely the best. I dont know what they do in KC but their baked beans, especially at Gates and Zarda, but they are unbelievable. My first meal back is from the Moosewood Restaurant's Low-Fat Favorites. It has a crisp taste. However, next time I would press the tofu first so it was less watery. I wanted some spinach also so I made my favorite korean spinach for the bottom.

Asian Tofu Salad

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant's Low-Fat Favorites

Ingredients

Salad

2 cakes of tofu

1/2 cup of diced red bell peppers

1/2 cup of diced scallions

Dressing

4 minced garlic cloves

4 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon chili paste

4 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Put the tofu on a plate that is lined with paper towels. Place some paper towels on top of the tofu and then another plate. If it is balanced, you can place a bowl or something heavier on top. Let sit for 1/2 hour. While letting the tofu sit, create the dressing. Combine all the items in the dressing and whisk it together.

Crumble the tofu into a bowl using your fingers or a fork. Combine with green onions, red bell paper, and the dressing. Serve at warm temperature or cold.

Seasoned Spinach

1 pound of baby leaf spinach

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons of sugar

Blanch the spinach in a pot or in microwave. Rince spinach in cold water and squeeze to remove water. Mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and sugar and mix into spinach.