When Two World's Collide

It’s true; I haven’t always been the fountain of good health. As a matter of fact, for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to bake. As a pre-teen, one of my first successes in the dessert arena was butterscotch pie, a wonderful concoction of butterscotch pudding and classic pie dough. Cakes and cookies and pies fed my sugar addiction. Thankfully, I’ve recently been able to “healthify” some of my all time favorite baked goods. Though possible, it seems somewhat sacrilege to do so with the following signature formula.  

My eldest daughter was fourteen or fifteen when I discovered a most wonderful cookie recipe. Found on the back of a package of Imperial Margarine, “Regal Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies” quickly became a family favorite. The year was approximately 2003. Erin was a freshman in high school; her friends were a bevy of boy craziness. I write this confidently remembering the batches of cookies that were made to soothe the boyfriend break-ups. After a time of offering such solace, the need arose to put certain limits on my generosity: Only one batch per boy and only one batch every other month. It seemed as though perhaps these young women were discarding relationships in order to receive the goodies!

While I’m not sure how it happened, this also became the cookie of choice to honor the birthday of the teenager's friends. To this day, if one notes his or her birthday on my kitchen calendar, I will make a batch of what are now known as “Momma Bear Cookies”.

This particular cookie has also become "famous" amongst the choristers at TC West High School. My last choir member is a senior this year, and as I move into what will be the last season as a volunteer for the school musical, I feel it very important to pass along the recipe to those up and coming- parents and choir members alike.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups uncooked oatmeal (I prefer old fashioned, but quick oats work just fine)

12 oz. chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter until light. Add sugars; beat until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips until thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet (I like to line mine with parchment paper for easy clean up). Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are just set. Do not overbake. Makes about 5 dozen.

Marvelous Minestrone

One of the wonderful perks of being involved with “The Biggest Winner” program in the Fall of 2010 was that we participants received weekly recipes via email. These were fabulous clean-eating recipes that, for the most part, required just rudimentary knowledge of the kitchen. Lifted from Clean Eating magazine, this recipe continues to be one of my favorites. Incredibly versatile, I’ve used this soup pot as the perfect landing place for those less than savory veggies left in the produce drawer of the fridge. It’s also through this formula that I learned about that wonderful, protein-packed pseudo-grain, quinoa. I put this soup together just about every other week. Made on either the stove top, or in the slow cooker, it sits well in the fridge and is the perfect after yoga meal.

For the first few months, I used canned tomatoes and cannelloni beans when making this soup. Recently, however, I’ve learned to take the time to start with fresh veggies and dry beans- the result, both taste and health wise, is well worth the effort.

[See a report on recent research at:  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/bpa-lurks-in-canned-soups-and-drinks]

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 medium carrots, diced (approx 1 cup)

1 cup fennel

6 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if making a vegetarian option)

1 cup red onion diced

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 bay leaves

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

¼ tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1 ½ cups cooked cannelloni beans (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained

2 cups fresh plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

1/3 cup uncooked quinoa

kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 cup fresh spinach, cut chiffonade

tbsp basil, thinly sliced

2 oz. Parmigianino Reggiano, finely grated (about ½ cup), optional

Directions

§         In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat.

§         Add carrots, fennel, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and fennel seeds, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

(If using a slow cooker, a large skillet can be used for these first two steps. Vegetables should be transferred to the cooker when tender.)

§         Add 6 cups low sodium chicken (or vegetable) broth, beans, tomatoes and quinoa.

§         Heat to boiling then reduce heat to low and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

§         Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.

Oh Green Soup, how I love thee!

I was first introduced to the concept of green soup by my nutritional counselor. Now, I know how that sounds- kind of “hoity, toity”- but honestly, nutritional counseling has been one of the best investments in me that I’ve ever made. I tend toward “know-it-all-ness” and generally need a good kick in the pants to come back to reality. Dr. Julie has a rather gentle, yet direct foot.

About 80 days into a 60 day yoga challenge, I walked into Dr. Julie’s office with complaints of feeling lethargic and having a tough time getting through yoga class. (You may note that I didn’t say work day; you need to know that yoga takes priority over almost everything else. It’s true. I’m an addict) I was completely baffled by the way my body was acting; Dr. Julie however would have rolled her eyes at me if she had allowed herself. “What are you eating, Becky?” -she started with the questions. “And you’ve done one Bikram yoga class per day for approximately 2 ½ months?”; “What makes you think that you’re fueling your body well?” (Ouch, that one hurt). “I want you to go to the grocery store and pick up every green vegetable you find. Then go home and throw them all into a soup pot together. You are severely low in minerals and need to get your body back up to speed pronto.” (No, these weren’t her actual words, but this is the way I heard them).

I’m no dummy, so I did as I was told. Not only did I create the most fantastic tasting soup, I felt the effects immediately. What a panacea!

Fast forward about six months. I was reading through the October 2011 issue of Eating Well magazine. There on page 78 is an article entitled, “The Soup for Life” by Anna Thomas. The article contains five wonderful green soup recipes; the one you’ll find below is for Basic Green Soup.

The concept of green soup is very simple- use any and as many green vegetables as you like. Puree it if you want a creamy soup (I always do). I like to use rice or potatoes to thicken.

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil

2 large yellow onions chopped

1 tsp salt divided

2 tbs plus 3 cups water

1 yam (smallish)

1 bunch kale

approx 14 cups spinach

4 cups vegetable broth

big pinch cayenne pepper

lemon juice to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onions and 1/4 tsp salt; cook, stirring frequently until onions start turning brown (about 5 min). Reduce heat and add 2 tbs water. Cook, stirring occasionally (cover between stirs) until onions are reduced and have a deep caramel color- 25-30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine 3 cups water and ¾ tsp salt in a soup pot; add the diced yam. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Trim the white ribs out of the kale; coarsely chop kale and spinach.
3. When yam is soft, add the kale. Cook for 10 minutes. When the onions are caramelized, stir them into the soup pot with spinach, broth and cayenne. Return to simmer, cover and cook until spinach is tender but still bright green- about 5 minutes more.
4. Puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender until smooth or in a regular blender in batches (return to pot). Stir in 1 tbs lemon. Taste and add more if desired.