Moroccan Chicken Soup

I had one last butternut squash in the kitchen waiting to be used and this soup had been calling my name for a while. The flavor is warm and inviting, perfect for a cold wintry day, and the soup is easy to put together and easy on the budget using widely available ingredients.  The recipe comes from one of my favorite everyday cookbooks, The Essential EatingWell Cookbook, which is full of healthy and mostly easy-to-prepare meals. Read more

Mexican Spiced Butternut Squash Soup with Beans and Corn

Michael isn’t a huge fan of butternut squash, but if you browse my archives you’ll see that I have quite a few butternut squash recipes. You might even think I am torturing my poor husband with all the butternut squash, but really I’m not. The sweetness of butternut squash just doesn’t appeal to him, so I try to find ways to spice it up and make it savory. Every once in a while another of my butternut squash soup experiments catches him by surprise and he’ll say he likes it and asks me to make it again. This soup is one those. Read more

Pomegranate-Ginger-Chile Nojito Cocktail

Pomegranates are one of the most festive fruits. The deep red color of the arils captures the eye, and the flavor of the juice is a wonder on its own and is very versatile. Though we’ve enjoyed pomegranate juice for a while, this year marks the very first time we ever purchased pomegranates, and as we munched on the arils we wondered how we ever managed without them. Read more

Cider Car Cocktail

As the snow fell and piled up during the now infamous blizzard of December ‘09, I stayed in the kitchen baking cookies and getting ready for Christmas with a mug of hot cider in hand. We like it spiked with spiced rum or cinnamon schnapps with a stick of cinnamon in the mug, but this hot cider cocktail is a variation on the classic sidecar cocktail and has apple brandy and triple sec. The orange flavor from the triple sec works well with the cider and we agreed the cinnamon sugar rimmer is perfect, though we used an orange wedge rather than lime to rim the mug. For a nonalcoholic variation, just add an ounce of orange juice to the hot cider. Read more

Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Bread

This whole wheat and flaxseed bread is one of our favorites we have made from the new Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (review). It truly is a whole grain bread, no all-purpose flour in the formula, just flaxseed and whole wheat flour. The flaxseed adds many important nutrients as well as flavor to this dense loaf. The vital wheat gluten is added to help the loaf maintain structure while rising and baking, otherwise the loaf could collapse under the weight of the ingredients.

We made the bread exactly as instructed the first time, then played around with it. The loaf with roasted garlic had some fabulous flavor and we’ll definitely make that variation again.

The method is easy, just stir together all the ingredients in a bucket, cover and let it rise, then refrigerate the dough until you are ready to bake. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days and makes up to four loaves, an easy way to keep dough on hand and get healthy quality bread on your family’s table.

WHOLE WHEAT AND FLAXSEED BREAD

Adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoë François. (review)

Makes 4 (16-ounce) loaves.

Equipment

dough bucket with lid (I use food service buckets.)
pizza peel or flat cookie sheet, dusted with flour
parchment paper (optional)
baking stone
small cast iron pan or roasting pan
serrated bread knife or lame

Ingredients

1/2 cup (52 g) ground flaxseed
7 cups (896 g) whole wheat flour
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (or 2 packets)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup (36 g) vital wheat gluten
3-3/4 cups (900 ml) lukewarm water

Preparation

1. MIX: Whisk together the flaxseed, flour, yeast, salt, and gluten in the bucket. Add the water and stir with a heavy wooden spoon. The dough is heavy (really, not kidding) and you might need to use your hands to incorporate the last bit of dry flour. (You can also do this in a heavy duty stand mixer with the paddle attachment.)

2. Cover the bucket (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, about 2 hours. Refrigerate for up to 10 days. (The dough works best when it’s had time to chill.)

3. SHAPE: Dust the surface of the chilled dough with flour. Cut off a 1-pound piece of dough (about the size of a large grapefruit). Dust it with more flour and quickly shape into a round ball or batard.

• Ball: Stretch the surface of the dough on all four sides, rotating one-quarter turn as you go.
• Batard: Shape into a ball then start elongating and stretching the dough until it has a diameter of about 3 inches. Roll the dough into a shape that tapers at the ends.

4. REST: Place the shaped dough on a pizza peel or unrimmed cookie sheet dusted with flour or covered with parchment. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 90 minutes (40 minutes if using fresh unrefrigerated dough).

5. BAKE: Thirty minutes before baking time, place baking stone on middle rack and preheat the oven to 450° F/230° C. Place the cast iron skillet or empty broiler pan on rack below. Just before baking, slash the dough in three diagonal 1/4-inch deep parallel cuts using the bread knife or lame. Slide dough directly onto the hot stone, or you can also slide the parchment onto the stone. Pour 1 cup tap water or ice cubes into the skillet or broiler pan and quickly close the door. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until richly browned and firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. (Trust me, waiting is the hardest part.)

Variation

Roast a head of garlic and mix the roasted cloves in with the dough. Refrigerate and bake as directed above.

More Bread With Whole Grains

More Healthy Bread in Five From Around the Blogs

Kalyn’s Kitchen – White Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil

Big Black Dog – Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest

Lor’s Lipsmacking Goodness – Ten Grain Bread

Carrots ‘n’ Cake – Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat Bread

Green Beans with Caramelized Red Onions

My grandmothers always made a big pot of Southern style green beans with a Virginia ham bone in it when we came to visit, and I would eat multiple helpings of those flavorful beans. The ham bone lent a smoky flavor to the beans that stuck in my memory and remains to this day. You could find them on the table amongst the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits.

These vegan green beans, while not my grandmother’s, are full of flavor with caramelized red onions and a light balsamic vinegar sauce. Read more

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