Japanese Stir Fry Soup

Japanese soup is not complete without a soft boiled egg. The best part of these eggs is their creamy texture because they are still semi soft in the center. Prepare the soup first and then allow the egg to steam in the soup mixture before serving. For a soup closer to hot and sour texture, beat egg prior to stirring into soup. This soup is also very versitile. Use whatever veggies you have on hand.

Ingredients:

• Udon, soba, or whole wheat pasta
• Beef bouillon or chicken bouillon
• Soy sauce
• Chili oil or red pepper flakes
• Sesame oil
• Garlic
• Green onion
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Stir fry mix or green peppers, red peppers, water chestnuts, baby corn, broccoli, etc
• Edamame (s0y beans)
• Egg

Directions:

• Cook pasta in salted water
• Drain pasta
  
• Reserve some pasta water for soup
• Stir fry veggies or steam in pasta water
• Add veggies to enough pasta water for desired soup consistency (if not already in water)
• Add bouillon, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and sesame oil to veggie and pasta water
• Add basil, cilantro, and green onion
• Re-add pasta to mixture
• Break egg open on top of soup, making sure not to disrupt the yolk
• Steam until egg whites are cooked
• Serve in bowl with chopsticks

Serve with a side of steamed rice or dumplings if desired

Bleu-Feta Spinach Red Pepper Pizza

This is one of those last minute dishes that tastes great and can be prepared on the spot. Prep time is under 15 minutes if you use pre-made pizza dough or Mediterranean pita bread. For a thin and crispier pizza use a flatbread or pita pocket bread. Though make sure you toast both sides sufficiently before applying toppings. Due to the thinness of the pita pocket, they get soggy very quickly when sauce is added.

Ingredients:

• Mediteranean pita bread
• Sauce
• Fresh spinach
• Fresh basil
• Red Pepper strips
• Diced tomatoes (deseed)
• Olives
• Any other veggies you want
• Bleu cheese
• Feta
• Basalmic vinegar (optional)

Directions:

• Lightly saute peppers, tomato and spinach
• Heat the pita until crispy on one side
• Flip pita over in pan so crisp side is on top
• Add sauce
• Add veggies and chopped basil
• Add crumbled cheese
• Heat until cheese is slighly melted
• Drizzle with vinegar if desired

Enjoy!

Babaganoush

Babaganoush is another good summer favorite. It's basically a roasted eggplant hummus, and so it's perfect served cold for a hot summer day. I use japanese eggplant because they are mild and have less seeds but you can use any sort of italian eggplant. Remove the skin if desired, I prefer to keep it in for the fiber.

Ingredients:

• 2 japanese eggplant
• fresh basil
• tahini paste
• lemon juice
  
• roasted garlic or dried garlic granules
• salt
• pepper
• paprika
• dried onion flakes

Directions:

• Cut eggplant in half
• Spray with cooking spray or oil
• Roast eggplant in oven until tender
• Cut eggplant into pieces
• Use food processor to blend eggplant, basil, tahini and lemon juice
• Mix in spices
• Refridgerate

Use with veggie crudites such as carrots, celery and cucumbers.
Serve with warm pita bread or as a sandwich spread.

Enjoy!

Greek Salad

Greek salad is an easy and very tasty appetizer. The trick is getting good feta cheese and real olives, not the stuff from the can. Greek salads can be turned into a meal by adding pita bread or put into pita pockets. If using it as a meal, add in falafel, greek meatballs or souvlaki.

Ingredients:

• Leaf lettuce (arugula, mixed greens, baby spinach, romaine all work great)
• Roma tomatoes
• Red onion
• Cucumber
• Marinated olives
• Feta cheese (use firm tofu if you want to keep it vegan)
• Parsley
• Oil
• Balsamic or red wine vinegar

Directions:

• Wash and rip lettuce
• Dice tomatoes and deseed
• Cut onion, cucumber and parsley
• Mix tomatoes, onion, cucumber, olives and parsley with oil and vinegar to marinate
• Dress lettuce with marinated veggie mixture
• Crumble feta cheese on top of salad

Serve with warm pita bread or marinated chicken, pork, beef or lamb skewers.

Enjoy!

Curried Acorn Squash Soup

I'm always looking for new ways to use squash and decided to try to make a soup that can be served warm or cold. This soup is relatively easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for the squash to cook.

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
1/3-1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 crushed chicken boullion
curry
cinnamon
dried onion
dried garlic
salt
pepper

Directions:
Cook the squash in the microwave, oven or crock pot
Cut cooked squash open and remove seeds
Put squash meat in food processor with spices and coconut milk
Puree and add more or less coconut milk for desired consistency.

In the summer this soup is great cold but as it gets cooler it is definitely something worth serving hot. Garnish with toasted squash seeds if desired.

Enjoy!

My Custom Exercise Plans Article Published!

Here is my latest article on custom exercise plans. As you can see, these articles are very brief, 400-500 words but exciting to get them published none the less.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/177574-custom-exercise-plans/

Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce

I love this dish. However, it's usually fried in most restaurants and unfortunately eggplant absorbs so much oil that despite being vegetarian, is full of more calories than some of the meat dishes. Here is a quick and easy way to make it in less time than it takes for you to call and actually get your chinese delivery (and its 1/3 of the cost). I use my rice steamer to expedite the process.

Ingredients for steamer:
2 japanese eggplant
1 cup quick cooking brown rice
1 cup water

Ingredients for garlic sauce:
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili oil
1/2 chicken boullion
Garlic granuales
Onion flakes
Red pepper flakes
Sesame seeds
1/3 cup water

Directions rice and eggplant:
Put water and rice on bottom of microwavable rice steamer
Put diced eggplant on top of steamer separated by veg steaming platform
Microwave for 12 minutes

Directions sauce:
Heat the oil in the frying pan
Add all spices to sautee
Add water, crushed chicken bouillon, rice wine and soy sauce
Add brown sugar
When mixture starts to boil/sugar caramelize add steamed eggplant
Coat eggplant with sauce and let it cook until sauce becomes sticky (1-2) mins

Feel free to add other veggies, such as baby corn, carrots, onions and green peppers. Just make sure to add them to the steam with the eggplant to keep this ready in under 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

My Article on Hamstring Injuries Published!

My second article, regarding hamstring injuries, is published on Livestrong!

http://www.livestrong.com/article/176856-what-where-is-a-pulled-hamstring/

Vegetable Quiche

Since I diced up all the veggies earlier this week I have them on hand and ready to go for a quick meal. I stir fried them and put half in the fridge to use for vegetable fajitas as a meal for tomorrow. Today however I made quiche. It is crust-less, so you cut out a bunch of fat and calories, that you really won't even miss (trust me). This quiche is very good for you. It substitutes half the egg for silken tofu and is more vegetable than egg. If you have a spring form pan, use it. Crust-less dishes tend to absorb more oil and stick to the pan. I always use these for crust-less cheesecakes and they turn out great. If not, it might be better to line the pan with some sort of parchment paper.

Ingredients:

• Diced silken tofu
• Sauteed peppers
• Sauteed onions
• Sauteed tomatoes
• Sauteed zucchini
• Chopped arugula
• Fresh basil
• Eggs (I used 2 but you can use more if you want it more "eggy")
• Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

• Spray pan with cooking spray
• Mix veggies, crumbled tofu and herbs in a separate pan
• Pour into spring form pan
• Whisk eggs separately
  
• Pour over top of mixture making sure to coat the top
• Bake in oven for approx 30 mins at 350

The great thing about this quiche is that the veggies and the tofu hold a lot of moisture so you don't have to use a water bath for cooking and it won't get dry.

Enjoy!

Hard Peach Lemonade

I bought 2 peaches earlier this week and wanted to find something creative and tasty to use them for. And then, I thought about how much I love lemonade especially when it's homemade. So here is my recipe.

Ingredients:

• Lemons or lemon juice
• Peach brandy
• Water

Directions:

• Dice peaches and put into carafe
• Measure 1 shot of peach brandy for each serving (approx 2 per 1/2 carafe)
• Add equal amounts of lemon juice or more
• Fill 3/4 of the way full with water
• Mix and serve over ice

The peaches and the peach brandy are sweet so you don't need to add additional sugar to the drink

Enjoy!

My Garlic Consumption Article Published!

So I just started writing some wellness articles for Livestrong.com and got the first one published! This one is about the benefits of garlic consumption. It's more of a summary/overview of it more than anything, but here is the link:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/176598-is-garlic-recommended-for-detoxing-the-body/

Buying fresh vegetables

Buy assorted foods that are in season and be creative!

The easiest way to eat healthier is to buy the majority of your groceries at a fresh fruit and vegetable market. My rule of thumb is to always go to the market first, and buy 80% of my groceries. When you are on your way home, then go to the store. You are much less likely to buy prepackaged crap at the grocery store. Today for example I bought a bunch of fresh veggies, canned beans and instant oats for less than $11. Since I can buy things in small servings it makes cooking for one or two much easier without wasting or having too many leftovers.

Here is an overview of what I bought, for yes, under $11:

• Red bell pepper
• Italian pepper
• Poblano pepper
• Roma tomatoes
• Red Onion
• Zucchini
• Chinese eggplant
  
• Cucumber
• Arugula
• Parsley
• Artichoke
• Peaches
  
• Large container of quick cooking oats
• Kidney, black and garbanzo beans

Obviously the biggest reason that people order to-go foods or prepackaged foods is the time and effort needed to prepare fresh foods. The trick is to buy most of your produce on Sunday or the day before you busiest week. Prepare all the veggies for optimal storage and quick cooking.



Directions:

• Slice onions into rings
• Cut peppers into strips
• Cut zucchini into strips
• De seed tomatoes and cut into chunks
• Wash and dry parsley
  
• Wash and chop arugula
  
  
  *Keep all cut veggies in airtight containers in fridge

**I would suggest leaving cucumbers whole, otherwise they will go bad much quicker

I will feature recipes with these foods for the week to give you and idea of how versitile they can be with the addition of a few additional kitchen staples.

Guacamole

Avocados are probably the most loved or hated vegetable of many. I happen to love the way they taste, and so I try to add them to salads, sandwiches or mexican food at every possible chance I can get. Avocados are full of good fats, so substituting guacamole in place of a cheese dip or a mayonnaise based dressing is actually going to be better for you.

Basic Guacamole Ingredients:

• 1-2 avocados
• fresh cilantro
• good olive oil
• 1 lime or lime juice
• fresh diced or dried garlic granules
• fresh chopped or dried onion flakes
• salt
• pepper
• tomatoes* optional

Directions:

• Half the avocado and remove the pit
• Cut avocado into cross sections and scope out of skin
• Put avocado squares in a bowl
• Add and mix ingredients
• Mash avocado to desired consistency

Serve with homemade tortilla chips or warm mediterranean pita bread as a snack
Serve on top of tacos, enchiladas, burritos or any other mexican foods
Serve with a homemade limeade or margarita

Enjoy!

Smörgåsbord Sandwiches

Smörgåsbord basically means a variety of foods to mix and match. I associate the word with with my fridge. I always cook more than I can actually eat at each meal, so I always have leftovers. You may have noticed that several of my recipes have included the same ingredients, like the use of the same cheeses throughout different postings. That is because this blog is about the home chef, who actually has leftovers and needs to be creative with their food. No one wants to eat the same thing every day, but the same ingredients can be used again and again for new and exciting meals. A recycled favorite is the sandwich. I present two that combine new ingredients with left over ingredients found from other recipes made this week.

Grilled Fig, Bleu-Cheddar, and Tofu Pita

Ingredients:
Tofu (ham or turkey would be a great replacement)
Figs
Bleu Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Whole Wheat Pita

Try pear and smoked gouda as another good sandwich combo

Directions:
Heat leftover tofu in frying pan or fry new container of tofu
Slice Figs, Bleu Cheese and Cheddar cheese into narrow strips
Grill Figs on both sides (they will grill quickly)
Melt cheese on top of Figs
Assemble in pita pocket and lightly heat on both sides
Serve with a side salad

Cheddar Apple Grilled Cheese on Poppyseed Brown Bread

Ingredients:
1 granny smith apple
Mild Cheddar cheese
Spring mix or arugula
Slices of brown bread

Directions:
Butter both sides of the bread
Assemble sandwich
Grill the sandwich until the cheese is melted

These sandwiches pack a lot of flavor and a lots of good nutrients.
Instead of another $20 wasted on takeout, explore your fridge and see what you can make.

Serve with a homemade black iced coffee.

Enjoy!

Multigrain brown bread

Having a bread maker, I do tend to eat a lot more carbohydrates than I should. But it is so good you can’t help it. And as long as you use recipes that are heart healthy, there is nothing wrong with enjoying carbs. Here is a recipe for a savory soda/yeast bread, as compared to the sweet chocolate banana one I made earlier this week. If you have a bread maker this one is best in the 88 minute quick cycle as opposed to the 58 minute one. For being dairy free, you will be impressed with how moist and chewy this bread is. The seeds give it a nice texture and the black strap molasses gives it a deep flavor. If I had quick oats on hand I would also add those to give an added texture. So if you happen to have the 5 minute cooking oats (not the just add water kind) go ahead and make this even more of a multigrain bread. Anytime I have oats available I usually add an additional ½ cup of oats to add dimension to my multigrain bread (if you do this increase the water to 1 1/2).

Ingredients:
1 cup bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1-1 1/2 cup(s) water
1-2 tbsp blackstrap molasses (great way to add iron, potassium and calcium to your diet)
1-2 tbsp flax seed
1-2 tbsp poppy seed
1-2 tbsp honey
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 pack yeast
1 tbsp oil

Directions:
Again having a bread maker is a time and lifesaver for making bread.
Put the bread mixture in the breadmaker
Bake according to directions

This bread is great fresh with butter or prepared as toast.

Keep in mind that the flax and poppyseed will add extra fat calories to the bread but they are healthy fats and are a good source of added fiber

Also because of the added fats, please refrigerate this bread if it is not to be eaten within the day. The oils could cause it to go rancid quickly, especially in hot weather!

Easy Bleu Cheese Ravioli for Those Lazy Weekends

I ran a 6.2 mile race this morning at Central Park and then went to an overly satisfying brunch. Unfortunately I was starving 2 hours after we left the restaurant, so I needed to make something easy. It's only partly homemade. I did not make this particular ravioli, though it is certainly easy enough to make and I will post a recipe in the future. For a super easy and quick meal, you only need 2 real ingredients in addition to your ravioli/pasta and then you can supplement with what ever spices you have on hand. The time to make this is the equivalent to boiling the ravioli plus 2-3 minutes prep time.

You don't need to add too much oil or bleu cheese, just enough for a taste. The garlic and basil should be the stronger flavors with the oil and cheese merely complimenting it.

Ingredients:

• Ravioli
• Blue cheese
• Fresh Basil Leaves
• Good olive oil
• Garlic granules or powder
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

• Cook ravioli as directed
• Crumble and melt bleu cheese over ravioli
• Rip fresh basil and dress ravioli mixture
• Add olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper
• Toss mixture together and reheat if necessary
  
  

If you want to add a bit of pasta water for a more creamy sauce, add a tsp or two to the bleu cheese while melting

Add a splash of balsamic vinegar for added flavor

I prefer meat ravioli, but if you want to use cheese and spinach, cheese and mushroom, or a butternut squash mixture those would be good too.

Don't just limit this to ravioli. Tortellini, stuffed shells, and even plain pasta will taste great with this sauce.

Enjoy!

Potato and Kale Chips with Onion Dip

There is this restaurant called Vynl in NY that I'm in love with, if you are in the area check it out. They make great food and have fun drinks but the best part is it's record theme. Now I can't replicate the decor, but I can make the homemade potato chips.

In the past I have made kale chips, which are insanely easy and delicious and wanted to actually try to make potato chips without all that nonsense of frying and adding preservatives. They also turned out to be pretty easy.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes
• Kale
• Olive oil or butter spray
• Garlic salt or other dried herbs of your choice

Directions:

• First step is making sure both of the veggies are dry, water will not allow for crisping
• For kale, rip into chip size pieces (Collard greens would probably work well too, but I tried this with spinach and it is just too thin to hold up)
• For potatoes, slice very very thin (I used a paring knife but a thin cheese slicer may be better)
• Spray or coat the bottom of a pan with oil or oil substitute
• Lay veggies flat and try not to overlap
• Spray veggies or use a basting brush to olive oil the top*
• Sprinkle with garlic salt and other seasonings
• Bake around 375 until starting to crisp**
• Then flip over to crisp the other side

*Brushes are good to evenly coat small amounts of oil and save calories
**Potatoes especially may cook at different rates if your chips aren't evenly sliced so be prepared to pull out the thinner ones before thicker cuts are done

Obviously kale chips do not look like potato chips but they have the same crunch with less starch and added nutrients

Eat still warm, the kale especially will get soggy after a few hours
If potato or kale chips start to get soggy, just reheat them in the oven until crispy again
Eat within the day because of freshness

These can be served with a homemade onion dip or hummus

Onion dip:

• greek yogurt
• dried onions
• garlic powder
• crumbled veg or beef bouillon (or you can cheat and use store bought onion soup mix)

Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Brown Bread

Brown bread is an Irish favorite that can be sweet or savory. For breakfast I like to use a sweet recipe. This bread is extremely moist and doesn't even need butter to be enjoyed, though it is definitely welcomed.

I used the quick setting on the bread maker, the 58 minute cycle. Yeast breads do not rise well in such a short period of time, so I primarily use this setting for a yeast/soda bread combo. The bonus is you have hot delicious bread with very little prep time in under an hour.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet fast rising yeast
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp backing powder
• 1/2-2/3 tsp salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1/4 cup flax seed
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp black strap molasses
• 1-2 mashed over ripe bananas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2-1 2/3 cups whey (use water, milk or buttermilk as substitutes)*
  

*The whey was left over from when I made cheese. Whey lasts in the fridge for several weeks and works well adding subtle flavor in bread

Tips:

• If you want a stronger flavored bread with a higher nutrient content add more black strap molasses and less brown sugar
• You can also use 3 cups of whole wheat flour but the bread will be more dense and will not rise as much as with bread flour

Bread maker directions:

• According to the bread maker, put all liquids in first
• Add dry ingredients
• Make a well for the yeast in the center
• Bake in quick bread setting

Oven directions:

• Mix ingredients by hand
• Allow mixture to rise for 20 minutes in a warm place
• Bake in oven at 375 for around 30 minutes or until done

Slice and enjoy!

Note: If you use dairy products make sure to refrigerate this bread!
Or eat it within the day.

Udon Pad Thai

Udon noodles are the ultimate japanese comfort food. They are chewy and great served hot or cold. Keeping with the cold food theme of the week, here is a simple udon with peanut sauce recipe. Add whatever veggies you have on hand.

I chose to keep it vegetarian and pretty simple.

Ingredients:

• udon noodles
• fresh basil
• fresh cilantro
• baby bok choy
• podded peas
• cornmeal fried tofu
• peanut sauce

Directions:

• Soak tofu in marinade and bread in cornmeal
• Stir fry tofu in cast iron pan and set on papertowel to blot excess oil
• Steam peas and bok choy while udon is cooking
• Chop up herbs
• Drain udon and toss with herbs and peanut sauce
• Top with veggies and tofu

Peanut Sauce:

• peanut butter
• honey
  
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• rice vinegar
• lime juice
• minced garlic
• dried onion
• toasted sesame seeds

If you'd rather buy your own, there are many commercialized products that are pretty tasty

Serve with a side salad and a cold cocktail of plum wine and seltzer or gingerale

Light Summer Salad with Fig and Bleu Cheese

When it's super hot out you don't want to keep the oven on. Cold and luke warm foods are the way to go. Here is a quick and easy summer lunch or dinner for those muggy days. I choose figs because I always see fresh ones at the market and never quite know what to do with them but see them paired with cheeses and crackers all the time. I'm not so much a snack person and wanted to make something that can be used as an appetizer to a 3 course meal or in a larger portion as the main entree.

Fresh figs are not as sweet as the dried version but offer a nice subtle sweetness and texture when added to salads. You don't have to cook them if you are in a hurry, they are a fruit and can be eaten raw. This is a good idea if you want to keep the oven completely off. However, I suggest lightly browning them to give them a creamier texture and caramelize the honey.

Ingredients:

• Fresh figs
• Blue cheese
• Mixed greens (arugula also works well)
• Honey
• Olive Oil

Directions:

• Cut off the tips of the figs and then cut them in half
• Thread them on to skewers or chop sticks
• Drizzle with olive oil and place face down in pan
• Flip skewers over and while grilling place a dollop of honey in the center of each fig
• Flip skewer one final time to caramelize honey
• While figs are grilling assemble salad
• Crumble or chop blue cheese and add to salad
• Garnish with fig skewers
• Serve with a drizzle of lemon and olive oil or a light citrus vinaigrette

This literally takes under 5 minutes to make including the grilling time of figs

Enjoy!

Lemon & Limeade

Lemon/Limeade is really refreshing, especially on days like today when the thermometer hits 102 or higher. If you want it super tart, don't use too much sugar. I prefer using agave syrup but any sort of sweetener works.

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• agave syrup
• water

Agave syrup is great because you don't need to heat the mixture to sweeten it. Using sugar is fine but you will first have to boil the sugar/water mixture

Great idea: For a nice treat, mix it with some bombay sapphire. Gin and lemonade is an undiscovered secret of many cocktail drinkers.

Post 4th of July Treats

For most people 4th of July usually means lots of bbq and beer. However if you are like me you strongly dislike beer. And since I just spent the weekend in Atlantic City, I'm going to pass on the alcohol in general. This meal can be personalized for both meat eaters and non. It's hearty, American and delicious!

The secret to an amazing bbq sauce ingredients:

• ketchup
• brown sugar
• spicy mustard
• vinegar (use minimally)

Ingredients for the sausage and peppers:

• Chicken sausage or another kielbasa (can be sweet or spicy depending on your taste)
  
• Green and red peppers
• Spanish Onion
• Garlic
• Olive oil

*if you want to keep it meatless use tofu but make sure you press it well first to allow it to brown properly

Directions:

• Saute the peppers and onions in the pan
• Add chopped sausage and garlic once the peppers have browned
• Add sauce mixture to meat and pepper mix until it thickens and starts to caramelized
• Add brown sugar to desired sweetness

Tada!
Serve with whole wheat pita bread or over brown rice

For a nice and not too sweet finish, top off the meal with some watermelon pieces a homemade lemonade.

Enjoy!