Editor’s note: This post is a “Real Food” recipe that follows the core philosophy of this site: Eat Real Food in Moderation. The idea is to find delicious, practical, seasonal alternatives to industrial food products. Of course, the recipes do not focus on low fat/low carb dietary ideas, so the key as always is moderation. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

Green corn tamales are a seasonal favorite in the American southwest, various areas of Mexico including Sonora and Veracruz, and even a few islands in the Caribbean. If you’re unfamiliar with green corn tamales, one of the hallmarks is the texture: where a traditional, well-made tamale is moist and cake-like, a green corn tamale is generally a little “wetter”. Depending on the version, the texture can range from nearly a creamy corn salad to somewhat like a thick custard. They are best made when corn is in season, generally from May to October in northern regions.

After doing some digging, it’s clear that there are a variety of theories on why they’re called green corn tamales. I’ve read ideas ranging from the use of the green husks to wrap them, to the fact that some include a non-traditional whole green chile (I highly doubt the latter as the reason). The theory I find most likely however is the use of fresh corn straight off the cob. Where “traditional” tamales rely on corn flour (masa) as the primary ingredient for the dough, green corn tamales generally use fresh corn as the main ingredient. The physical difference is obviously the moisture content in fresh corn, but I’ve also found that the flavor is (usually) slightly sweeter (particularly if the corn is ripe). The flavor also has an “earthy” quality to it that I don’t seem to get as much of in corn flour tamales. I also tend to think that the use of fresh corn for the tamale probably predates corn flour, but I don’t have any proof – it’s just a hunch.

Are green corn tamales worth the effort?

When I decided to try to make green corn tamales for the first time, I received a variety of responses from folks I knew who had made tamales before. But mostly it seemed that each comment echoed two themes: a) It is a LOT of work, and b) what time should I come over for dinner? Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: Welcome to Almost Fit. As you may have noticed, I’ve been away from the site for a little while taking care of some personal matters. I’ll be writing a short post soon to explain, but in the mean time, this post is a recipe I just came up with for tonight’s dinner that I just had to share. Thanks for reading.

Since I’ve started making all of our own bread, having bread dough around has meant that pizza has become a staple for us. The great thing about homemade pizza is you are in control of the ingredients, meaning that you can eat very well using the pizza “format” for your meal.

Throwing a handful of fresh ingredients on homemade dough is not only simple, it is something everyone should know how to do. From start to finish, this meal takes no longer than ordering the delivery of an industrially produced pizza that generally includes ingredients that you can’t verify as being real food. At least, in my long, prior history of ordering pizza delivery, I do not believe I’ve ever asked the person who answers the phone whether their pepperoni has nitrates, which should probably be the least of my concerns.

In talking over dinner and evaluating the meal, my wife and I figure that in the last 6 months I’ve probably made over 100 pizzas at home, often as dinner for friends. The keys to this are the bread dough recipe from Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day, and a decent baking stone. That’s truly it. I generally make 2-3 smaller pizzas per meal, 1 for the kids (though I enjoy it too), and one that is a little more on the experimental side. I’ve made as many as 5 for one night of entertaining, serving them to guests as they came out of the oven.

For tonight’s dinner, the first pizza course was a classic tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza with artichoke hearts and olives. Believe it or not, that was the “kids” pizza; our kids love things like olives, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts – a fact that I attribute (science or not) to the fact that these elements are common in the food we eat, so our kids have developed a taste for them.

For the second pizza course, I took a few risks. Tonight’s pizza creation, the Ham and Creole Cream Cheese Pizza turned out exceptionally well – good enough that I thought I’d share it right away. Actually, given that I’ve been quiet on this site over the last couple of months (I will explain in an upcoming post), I’m going to call this December’s recipe. I’ll be returning to writing more soon, including a fresh batch of food suggestions, but for now you get pizza. There could be worse fates.

Recipe: Ham and Creole Cream Cheese Pizza

First things first: This pizza has nothing in common with low fat anything – and in my opinion, it’s probably best to let it stay that way. The key to enjoying this pizza is, as always, moderation. The richness of the ingredients makes this possible if you slow down a bit and listen to what your stomach (not your tongue) is telling you. That of course is easier said than done; but you will find that with a glass of wine and a salad, a couple of pieces will satisfy. And if after a 1/2 an hour you’re still hungry, have another piece! But if you play your cards right, you’ll have a great lunch of leftovers the following day. Or breakfast, if like me, you just can’t wait.

One other thing: The Creole cream cheese is important in this dish because it is lighter in flavor (and a different texture) than typical cream cheese. We were lucky this week because our raw milk supplier was also selling homemade Creole cream cheese, so that is where we found it. If you can’t find Creole cream cheese, Mascarpone is a good substitute, and is that much richer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: Welcome to Almost Fit. This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing. Thanks.

With fall finally here, in many parts of the country it’s time to start pawning off garden-grown squash as fast as is humanly possible. Growing up in a squash-friendly growing zone, it was not uncommon to open our front door in the morning and find a paper bag full of homeless squash having been randomly delivered by a mysterious, mythical creature under cover of darkness.

These days, while we rarely have a visit from the Great Pumpkin or his lesser-known comrade, the Squash Fairy, we do seem to have an awful lot of squash growing, and have to act fast.

So other than carving faces in them or dropping bags of them off in the middle of the night on  neighborhood porches, what do you do with all that squash?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: Welcome to Almost Fit. This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

In case you haven’t guessed from the title of this post, I have a very long and fragmented relationship with beets that has always teetered between love(occasionally) and hate (mostly), good and evil, starvation-if-that’s-all-there-is and, well, ok-I’ll-try-it-again-but-I-KNOW-I-won’t-like-it. I have never been a beet fan; I mean it’s pretty amusing from a geek standpoint that eating beets does all kinds of weird things to color your vital organs and their perfunctory processes (as in the next morning, groggily shouting, “HOLY CRAP! Why am I bleeding internally?!? Oh. Nevermind.”), but other than that, I’ve always felt that beets taste rather like, well, dirt.

Who knew I would develop a taste for dirt?
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Editor’s note: This post marks the return of the weekly Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article on Almost Fit, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

I have been anxiously waiting for something to happen, and in the last few weeks, it did.

Our tomatoes have begun to ripen. (The photo above was taken this morning in our backyard.)

Tomatoes may sound like a pretty mundane thing to anticipate, but believe me, when you’ve shoveled a dozen tons of dirt into a large garden space and gone to the trouble of tending to them through the odd summer we’ve had, getting a few beautiful round red, green, and yellow orbs to spring from the ground is a welcome reward. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

With the school year coming to a close, we had the end of the year picnic last weekend complete with a parachute, hula hoops, and a pot luck lunch spread. In addition to being a great time for the kids, one of the best things about such events is to see the variety in familial food culture. Our instructions were to bring a dish to share, and to bring our own plates, glasses, and utensils, so as to cut down on the waste. It was a great plan, and left very little to clean up.

In our case, we brought sandwiches using some of my freshly made loaves of bread (Can you make artisan bread like this? In only 5 minutes?). Other offerings included Asian noodles, enchiladas, and pizza, all of which quickly disappeared. There were simply too many good things to try, but by the end it was very clear that the quinoa salad in particular was a huge favorite.

Quinoa – the often forgotten grain

In a recent blog post by Lisa over at Iowa Avenue (What is Quinoa?), quinoa was featured as a great alternative to some of the grains most of us are more familiar with. Quinoa is a popular gluten-free alternative for folks that are sensitive to wheat, and has a better nutritional profile than many of the more common grains.

Here’s a quote from Lisa’s article that really got my attention:

“Health bonus: Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete food. This means it takes less quinoa protein to meet one’s needs than wheat protein. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest.”

Lisa’s post at Iowa Avenue is an excellent primer on the benefits of quinoa and it’s history. It also includes a great Minestrone recipe. Well worth a visit.

Friday Fit Recipe #10: Gluten-free Summer Quinoa Salad

This recipe is a customized version of the salad we had at the picnic. Thanks to our friends C. and W. for the great recipe – it went particularly well with a salad made with organic greens from our garden, a light vinaigrette, and a roasted free range chicken, which was our dinner last night. It was excellent.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked red quinoa
2 cups water
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 avocados, diced
1 cup artichoke hearts
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons of capers, to taste

Caramelized onions:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 thinly sliced red onion

Basic vinaigrette dressing:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice, with zest
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Preparation

Bring the quinoa and water to boil. When the water boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the water is absorbed, approximately 10 minutes. When cooked, quinoa has a texture similar to perfectly cooked pasta, or rice. Strain and rinse well under cold water.

While the quinoa is cooking, in a skillet heat olive oil over medium heat and saute the onions until transparent.

Prepare the vinaigrette by combining the ingredients and whisking.

In a large salad bowl, toss all of the ingredients together, including caramelized onions and the vinaigrette.

To Serve

Serve cold or at room temperature. With very little to spoil, this would make an excellent accompaniment on a picnic. Couple this salad with fresh greens, chicken or fish for protein, and your wine of choice, and you have an excellent, healthy meal.

Options

The original recipe did not include the artichoke hearts, but we found that it was a very flavorful addition.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it through Digg or StumbleUpon, or subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

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Editor’s note: This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

For many of us, Friday night means either one of two things: Ordering takeout so that you don’t have to cook, or going out to eat – so that again, you don’t have to cook. However, with two kids, in our home sometimes even just getting out of the house is more than we want to do at the end of the work week. And where we live, the delivery options are limited to $20 bucks for a warmed cardboard pizza box full of questionably preserved meats, a random mushroom or two, and some packets of powdered cheese to soak up the orange-ish grease.

(Granted, a few years ago, that would have sounded appetizing.)

Really, on Friday nights it comes down to having something easy, and increasingly these days, cheap.

With that in mind, there are a handful of low cost essential dishes that I think everyone should know how to make more or less from scratch: a simple vegetable (or chicken) soup, a basic vinaigrette, and a quick and easy homemade pasta sauce. If you stock the ingredients for these items in your pantry or refrigerator, you can cover just about any impromptu dinner gathering or simple, end of the week meal at home with very little effort. Of course, if you have room on that Visa card you can also cover it, but this is a lot more fun, and interest-free (please note the restraint in not using the word “priceless” in that description). Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

This week’s recipe is a relatively new one for us – Sautéed chicken in a late harvest Moscato sauce. We don’t buy sweet wines very often, but we had an open bottle from a recent visit with friends, so April decided to experiment. The preparation was simple, and the results were outstanding.

Late harvest dessert wines are also sometimes referred to as Icewine. Dessert wines tend to be sweeter (the obvious) and are often slightly thicker in consistency. I’ve read elsewhere the term, “viscous,” which is a good way to describe it, and is one of the keys to the success of this dish.

Dessert wines are kind of a breed of their own, and range widely in price. Our late harvest Moscato came from Trader Joe’s – not particularly expensive by any means, but very drinkable. For cooking purposes, I wouldn’t use “the good stuff” – meaning expensive imported sipping dessert wines. A lower priced American dessert wine is more than reasonable. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: This post is standing in for the weekly Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. The usual format will resume next week, but as a reminder, if you enjoy Almost Fit, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

The Downtown Portland Farmer’s Market at Portland State University has opened this year, so rather than focusing on a recipe for the weekend I’m going to be documenting our visit on Saturday to the market via photo report. So in lieu of the weekly recipe, I am posting a video of one of my favorite podcasts: Good Food with Evan Kleiman.

In this episode, Evan presents a very simple but absolutely delicious recipe for Mushroom Soup.

Evan’s format typically starts at the Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica, CA, to see what’s fresh each week. However, in this episode she is cooking from her restaurant, Angeli. Her self-described theme for this recipe is “Cooking from Trader Joe’s.” It is well worth watching, and trying!

Who is Evan?

Evan Kleiman is a successful food maven and restaurateur in the Los Angeles area. She is also the very gracious and knowledgeable host of the Public Radio program, Good Food which is presented by one of the most influential Public Radio stations in the country, KCRW. She’s also got an atypical background for such a successful and respected chef. For an interesting (and inspiring) read on what it takes to become a chef without following the traditional route, check her bio out, here.

http://www.angelicaffe.com/allAboutEvan.html

And now, on with the show

Almost Fit’s Friday Fit recipe will return to the usual format next week. In the mean time, keep an eye open for the Farmer’s Market report that I’m writing this weekend!

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it through Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook, or any social media site you follow. Thanks.

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Editor’s note: This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed, or joining the email mailing list. Thanks.

One of our favorite branches of cuisine is Indian food. Although the traditional foods vary widely from region to region, in my experiences so far nearly all Indian dishes are comfort food for me, and are generally centered around the use of real food as their main ingredients. There are exceptions as always, but I’ve found that the emphasis on the intricate balance of spices combined with basic meats and vegetables leads to dishes that are not only beautiful, but offer an incredibly wide range of sensory experience on the tongue.

This week’s Friday Fit recipe is a variation on the Indian yogurt-based drink, lassi. Mango lassi is probably the most common version served at Indian restaurants here in the States, but this week’s recipe for rose and cardamom lassi is extremely popular when we entertain at home. It might be just a tad bit early in the year to see rose petals in the garden, but I’m excited for summer to arrive – so it doesn’t hurt to indulge the warm weather imagination just a bit. Read the rest of this entry »

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