Veggie Might: Atomic Pink Food Can Be Good for You

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a regular Thursday feature about all things Vegetarian.

There are some unholy colors out there in processed food land thanks to Red #3, Yellow #6, and Blue #2. But there is naturally occurring neon that will light up the dinner table and set off your mineral and vitamin meters.

Beets, in all their pink/purple, betacyanin glory, kick cancer’s arse and taste amazing too. Beets are a pretty recent discovery for me. Growing up, they were only offered in pickled form, which grossed me out. As an adult, I’ve only had them in salads with nuts and goat cheese. And while that’s a great combo, I knew there must be some other way to use them.

Luckily, I found a recipe with a flavor intensity to match the out-of-this-world color.

At the farmers’ market, I had picked up a bunch of beets with their tops, plus an extra bunch of greens. (Yes, Kris, we love our greens!) I wanted a recipe that could incorporate both. Once again, I visited with my imaginary mentor, Madhur Jaffrey, via World Vegetarian, making her Beet Curry with Mushrooms with a few renovations.

Essentially, I made it fit my market haul, and the results were eye- and mouth-popping. It takes a little bit of time, but it’s worth the effort. The earthy, sweet beets bounce off the slightly bitter greens and spicy ginger and chilies. Chickpeas make it a hearty almost-one-pot-meal in a skillet. (I served it with rice cooked separately.)

Speaking of chickpeas, I am a new convert to dried beans. I finally mastered the soak, boil, cook process, and wow! The difference is outstanding. I may never buy canned beans again. Organic dried chickpeas from the bulk bin were even cheaper than the conventional my local natural food store.

An economic side note, dried beans are the best deal in town. My only argument with Food Inc. was the moment Michael Pollan (I think) claimed it was cheaper to feed a family with fast food or processed food.

I understand the point he was trying to make—that farm subsidies have skewed the market in favor of the meat industry—but I wanted to raise my hand and offer to feed the movie theater with a bag of dried beans, a bunch of spinach, a bulb of garlic, and my spice cabinet. It would have been a liberal New Yorker version of the loaves and fishes.

Sorry, back-to-back digressions. Back to the beets. Seriously, this recipe is rockin’, and as you can see, it comes out a gorgeous shade of ‘80s hot pink with nary a food additive in sight. If your only experience with beets is a jar of pickles, give this a try and bask in the glow of your good health.

The beets, the greens...They’re atomic!

Beets and Greens Curry with Chickpeas


1 bunch of small to medium beets (about 9 oz.), peeled and cubed
6 cups beet greens, chopped
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp whole mustard seeds
1 tbsp + 1 tsp ginger, peeled and grated
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 dried red chilies, whole
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 cups chickpeas
2 tsp salt

1) Heat oil in large cast iron skillet or pan of your choice. When the oil is hot, add cumin and mustard seeds. Stir occasionally.

2) When mustard seeds pop, add the beets and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

3) Add ginger, garlic, and chilies. Stir and fry for another 2 minutes.

4) Add the beet* greens, chopped tomatoes, plus 1 cup of water, and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer.

5) After 10 minutes, toss in chick peas.

6) Simmer for 30 more minutes.

7) Serve with basmati rice. Dig in and radiate.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
227.75 calories, 5.5g fat, $1.36

Calculations
9 oz beets: 108 calories, 0g fat, $2.00
6 cups beet greens: 48 calories, 0g fat, $1.00
1 tbsp canola oil: 120 calories, 14g fat, $.08
1 tsp whole cumin seeds: negligible calories and fat, $.02
1 tsp whole mustard seeds: negligible calories and fat, $.02
1 tbsp + 1 tsp ginger: 14 calories, 0g fat, $.06
4 large garlic cloves: 17 calories, 0g fat, $.05
3 dried red chilies: negligible calories and fat, $.02
2 fresh tomatoes: 66 calories, 0g fat, $1.33
2 cups chickpeas: 538 calories, 8g fat, $.86
2 tsp salt: negligible calories and fat, $.02
Totals: 911 calories, 22g fat, $5.46
Per Serving (totals/4): 227.75 calories, 5.5g fat, $1.36

*correction

Feeding a Group on Vacation

When you’re on holiday with family and friends, there are few worse things than having to leave your luxurious and remote mountain cabin to pick up another pack of hot dogs. Or cooking chili for eight people, only to find out you needed to make it for 16. Or wondering how you blew $400 on food over three days you mostly spent at the beach.

Feeding a vacationing group is tough. And if you’re staying in one place and cooking for yourselves over any length of time, it gets much harder. There are dietary restrictions to account for, shopping lists to write, menus to plan, and most of all, money to consider. But whether you’re in a rental home or a secluded yurt in Eastern West Virginia, there are ways to make everything a billion times easier.

First, plan ahead of time. The earlier you begin, the better prepared you’ll be when the time rolls around.

Second, keep meal prep and planning as simple as humanly possible. It will save you 15 gajillion headaches in the long run.

Third, give these guidelines a shot. In the past, they’ve helped me feed two large groups handily, inexpensively, and somewhat healthily. And if you have anything to add in the comment section, go crazy.

Pick someone to take the lead.
It will make life much, much, much easier if a single person acts as the go-to for everyone. This lovely individual will compile menus, devise lists, collect money, and possibly do the shopping, but WON’T prepare the actual meals. Foodies are always bizarrely up for this kind of challenge, but if no one wants the responsibility, promise a volunteer they won’t have to do dishes the entire vacation. As God is my witness, there is no greater incentive.

Check allergies and dietary restrictions.
You obviously can’t cater to everyone, but you can make sure you buy tofu for Cousin Chloe the Blossoming Vegetarian and avoid peanut products if they’ll kill Johnny Jr. Keeping a running e-mail thread is an easy way to do this, and a great method of keeping tabs on planning in general.

Find out what your vacation destination provides.
Often, rental homes and condos will have cleaning products, toilet paper, coffee, salt, pepper, sugar, and other basic staples already there for you. A quick call to your agent/the owner should nail you down a list, and then you don’t have to buy that stuff.

If you can swing it, bring a few food items with you.This makes sense for expensive products everyone might use (olive oil, coffee, etc.) instead of condiments purchased cheaply (mustard, ketchup, etc.). If you're camping, it may not be feasible, but if you're taking a minivan, see if they fit.

Get an approximate headcount, then multiply it by the number of days in your vacation.
The result is the number of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and desserts needed for the duration of your stay. Your final drink number is all those added together. In other words:

13 people x 3 days = 39

39 breakfasts
39 lunches
39 dinners
39 snacks
39 desserts
195 drinks (1 drink per meal, snack, & dessert)

A few notes on meals:

• Unless you’re gigantic breakfast fans, this is your easiest meal, and should be prepped by each vacationer as his or her schedule dictates. A few dozen eggs, some fruit, a bag of bagels, and monster box of cereal will do the trick.
• Lunches are similar to breakfasts in that they should involve simple preparation performed by singular people. Sandwiches and grilled items are good options, and don’t forget leftovers from the previous night’s dinner.
• Dinner is a doozy. To avoid anarchy, we designate one or two people per night to cook for the whole group. Make-your-own bars and easily multiplied recipes are best here, including chili, pasta, macaroni and cheese, salads, burritos, and pizza. Again, you can’t go wrong with grilling, either.
• With snacks and desserts, I find vacations tend to promote grazing. An adult won’t necessarily sit down to eat exactly 15 chips, ¼ cup of dip, and eight baby carrots. Instead, they’ll have three chips at 2pm, five baby carrots at 3:47, and the rest at 5:13. Kids … vary.
• As for desserts, not everyone is into them, and you may only indulge half the nights of your vacation. Subsequently, the overage can be used for random snacking. That’s always nice.
• Drinks are exciting, because they’re completely dependent on your group tastes. For one recent three-day trip, we bought a few jugs of OJ and six bottles of Diet Coke, because everyone – from top to bottom – was drinking water. (Er, and booze.)
• If you’re going out to a restaurant for any meal, don’t forget to subtract those servings from the total. In other words, if you’re accounting for 39 dinners, but everyone’s hitting a steakhouse on Day 3, it becomes 26 dinners.
  

Assign dinners and get shopping lists from everyone.
So it’s fair to all attendees, designate one person/group per evening to prepare dinner. Then, have each person/group write up their menu and submit a shopping list to the coordinator. This will ensure all the ingredients are bought, and there’s an equal distribution of cooking duties.

Potential chefs: in regard to the dinners and themselves, choose recipes that A) are easily doubled (or tripled), B) you’re very familiar with (because you should never try a food for the first time on a group), C) will most likely appeal to a number of people, and D) doesn’t involve a huge list of hard-to-find ingredients. Again, chilis, soups, stews, pizzas, and any kind of make-your-own bars are ideal for this. Don’t forget to account for condiments in the lists, and if you have enough for leftovers, bonus.

Create a master list of all ingredients and necessities, taking care to estimate how much each item will cost.
Okay. This part is a little tough. But after you do it once, it gets much, much easier for future vacations. Here’s an example of my breakfast list from a three-day, 13-person Seattle trip earlier this year (note that milk is for cereal and coffee, not drinking straight):

BREAKFASTS
BAGELS, EGGS, AND CEREAL WITH MEAT, TOAST, AND FRUIT (39 TOTAL MEALS)
12 - 18 bagels (12-18 MEALS) ($8)
3 dozen eggs (12 MEALS) ($7.50)
2 large boxes cereal (15 MEALS) ($8)
2 cream cheeses ($5)
1 lb unsalted butter (for breakfast & beyond) ($3)
2 lbs bacon ($10)
2 boxes breakfast sausage ($5)
1 loaf toast bread ($2.50)
1 gallon + 1 quart 1% or 2% milk ($5)
Assorted fruit ($5)
TOTAL: ~$60

And here’s an example of one of the dinner nights from that same trip:

THURSDAY DINNER
CHIILI NIGHT W/MACARONI & CHEESE AND CORN MUFFINS (13 TOTAL MEALS)
4 small boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix (or other corn muffin mix) ($2)
10 eggs (for muffins and mac & cheese)($2.30)
4 medium onions ($1.50)
1 head garlic ($0.50)
3 pounds ground turkey (93/7 percentage – NOT 99% fat-free) ($14)
2 28-oz cans whole plum tomatoes (Redpack, etc.) ($4)
2 14.5 oz-cans beef broth ($2)
2 12-oz bottles amber beer (Dos Equis XX Ambar, etc.) ($3)
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce (Redpack, etc.) ($1)
2 15-ounce cans small white beans ($2.50)
2 15-ounce cans pinto beans ($2.50)
2 15-ounce cans pink kidney beans ($2.50)
1-1/2 pounds elbow macaroni ($2)
18 ounces evaporated milk ($3)
30 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded ($10)
(Spice mixture being brought by cooks)
TOTAL: ~$60

For reference, one serving is about: three eggs, 2 slices of bread, 4 ounces lunchmeat, 2 ounces bacon, 5-6 ounces beef or chicken, 1-1/2 hot dogs, 1 ounce cheese, 1 cup cereal.

Add up the final total and divide by the number of people paying for food.
For this trip, all our meals added up to about $467. Divided by 13 people, that’s $35.92 each. We added another $4.08 to each create a nice even $40, and to account for any possible overage.

In the end, it was came to approximately $33 each for three days of profuse vacation eating, and we used our extra funds for alcohmahol. Not too shabby.

Go shopping.
You can take care of dry and frozen goods months ahead of time, provided you have storage space. Fresh foods should be bought much closer to the start of the vacation. If you’re feeling really saucy, cut and paste your master list to another document, and organize it by supermarket department. It will cut your store time in half.

Eat.
No explanation necessary.

When all is said and done, split the leftovers.
And if you’re allowed, leave extra staples in the rental for the next group. Odds are they won’t have planned as well, and are gonna need that paprika.

SPECIAL NOTE ON BOOZE:
In my (very) humble opinion, the person in charge of food shouldn’t be responsible for alcohol, as well. That’s just crazy talk. So, either designate another vacationer to take on the beer and wine assignment OR make individuals responsible for their own stuff.

And that’s it. Sweet readers, know that this is my method, and one of what must be hundreds. It’s not the easiest thing on Earth, but it’s saved my friends and family tons of dough. If you have your own technique, please share! The comment section is good to go.

P.S. I’m happy to pass my whole Seattle food document on to anyone who’s interested. (E-mail me at cheaphealthygood@gmail.com!) Who knows? It might help.

(Photos courtesy of Sun Realty NC, Mountain Property for Sale, and Dan Beard Council.)

Tuesday Megalinks

This week, it’s coupon burnout, low-cost and no-cost breakfasts, and a stellar article on catering your own nuptials. Oh, summer. You’re neat.

Chow: Leaving a Massive Tip – When Should You Leave More Than 20%?
I say A) when the service has been outstanding or B) when your sit-down dinner bill comes to less than $15 or $20. I always feel bad leaving less than $4 for an evening waiter.

Forkable: Save Money – Cater Your Own Wedding
Faboo step-by-step guide to the formerly unthinkable: planning, cooking, and serving your own wedding dinner. Seriously, this is phenomenal, and the money saved is huge. (Thanks to The Kitchn for the link.)

Generation X Finance: The Pros and Cons of Joining a Local Food Co-op
So, here’s the deal: joining a co-op will most definitely land you lots of good food, but it won’t necessarily save you any cash. In fact, you might pay more for your good intentions. Gen X ponders whether the expenditure is worth it.

Jezebel: Do You Have a Secret Culinary Life?
A.k.a. What funky stuff do you eat by your lonesome? Last I checked, there were 393 comments, so it’s a bit of a hot topic.

The Kitchn: Fast, Healthy, and Cheap Breakfast Ideas
Neat little comment thread about the most important meal of the day. If anyone can identify what’s in the picture, I’m all ears/eyes/tongues.

The Kitchn: Grill Out – 21 Good Grilling Tips, Recipes, and Ideas
Do you like fire? Do you like putting food into fire, and then eating that food? Excellent. The Kitchn can help.

Money Saving Mom: Once-a-Week Frugal Food Night
Guest poster Amy Ellen is generally a pretty frugal mom, but once a week, she takes it to warp speed, spending less than $1.50 on a dinner for six. Here, she explains how she does it without resorting to paper shavings. Good stuff.

Money Saving Mom: What to Do When You’re Tired of Couponing
Crystal says: share the load, simplify your system, and for the love of Pete, put it aside if you’re overwhelmed. The $0.50 discount on yogurt will still be there when you get back.

New York Times: New York City – Feeding the Children
Gothamites, hear this: most likely, your kids are eligible for free breakfasts and lunches this summer. Winnie Hu has details.

New York Times: 11 Health Myths That May Surprise You
In what’s essentially a book review, I’m already shocked at a few busted myths: you DON’T lose most of your heat through your head, cracking your knuckles WON’T give you arthritis, and sugar DOESN’T make kids hyper. I might have to read this now.

Newsday: Egg, milk prices seen biggest drop of any major foods
Egg prices plummeted 18%, while milk saw a 22% drop. Is it just me, or do egg prices fluctuate more than oil prices? Also, the man in the picture is the happiest milk-pourer I’ve ever seen. I would order coffee from him.

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Certified Organic’ May not be 100%
Food politics genius Marion Nestle settles the “What qualifies as organic?” question once and for all, dagnabbit.

Saveur: Types of Watermelon
It’s almost seed-spitting season, everybody! This year, why not try one of the 18 (yes, 18) fabulous varietals described by Saveur? If the Sugar Baby doesn’t tempt you, surely the Extazy will. Oh, and be sure to check out the slideshow.

Start Cooking: 12 Cool Summer Soups
I know some people think cold soups are freakier than a Tim Burton movie marathon, but this recipe rundown might change your mind. When in doubt, go gazpacho. (Thanks to Casual Kitchen for the link.)

US News and World Report: TV Ads Trigger Mindless Eating
Great googly moogly. The header says it all: “Kids watching food commercials consumed 45 percent more snacks, study shows.” Furthermore, “That increased amount of snacking would lead to a weight gain of nearly 10 pounds a year, unless it was countered by decreased intake of other foods or increased physical activity.” Yowza.

Washington Post: We Have a Bad Feeling About Our Food
One last review of Food, Inc. (I promise), in which the author especially hits on the film’s theme of transparency. Worth a gander.

(Photos courtesy of VIP Corporate Events, Digital Grin, and Oregon State.)

Escarole and White Beans: It's Leafy Keen, Jellybean

Lettuce talk leafy greens. (Ho ho.)

We’re gigantic kale and spinach fans here at CHG headquarters, and chard, romaine, and mustard greens have been known to make semi-frequent appearances. I’m just beginning to experiment with arugula, bok choy, and collards, and am working my way up to endive and watercress. Heck, Leigh even has a recipe for stinging nettles, for which I simultaneously applaud her and weep for her hands.

Today, however, it’s all about escarole. Wonderfully affordable and high in fiber, it’s one of those greens generally used to round out a soup, or sautéed on it’s own with a little garlic. It even spawned its own saying that I just made up: “Let the good times escarole!” (What? Sorry.)

Escarole’s only major drawback is that of all leafy greens: they are as gigantic as they are inexpensive. A bunch takes up half my grocery basket, and I can barely stuff it in my crisper drawer without smushing the half-eaten tomatoes and partially-rotting thyme that currently make their homes there. Sometimes, when I open the fridge, it leaps out to attack me. I don’t know if you’ve ever been mugged by a vegetable, but it’s … well, probably much nicer than an actual mugging, come to think of it. So, never mind.

Anyway, all this is leading up to All Recipes’ Escarole with White Beans. Most of the time I see this combination in a soup, but this is sans-broth and about as tasty. It’s primarily beans, greens, and garlic…eens (er, to continue with the rhyme there), with some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes thrown in for good measure. We ate it with a whole-wheat baguette and some of Mark Bittman’s Squid in Red Wine Sauce, and it was excellent for an unusually cool summer evening. Mark my words, we will be having it again, perhaps with chard or sorrel or some other crazy leafy thing.

If you should make Escarole with White Beans yourself, there are but two things to know:

• The original recipe asked for parsley, which I left out because I didn’t have on hand. Honestly, it was fine, and I’m not sure I would have tasted it in the dish.
• It will create a party in your mouth, so you better make sure everyone’s invited.
  

And with that, I’m off to tame some greens. Those suckers are tough, man.

P.S. If you guys have any solid/healthy/cheap leafy green recipes, I’d love to hear ‘em. I think I’m going to do a recipe compilation sometime soon, and any ideas are most welcome.

Escarole and White Beans
Makes 3 or 4 side servings
Adapted from All Recipes.

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 large head escarole
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, undrained

1) Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss in escarole, turning to coat with oil. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes, or until tender.

2) In a separate skillet, heat remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Stir in garlic. Pour in beans with juices, and simmer until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add to escarole; simmer 10 minutes more, or until dish reaches consistency you like it.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
3 servings: 206 calories, 6.3 g fat, $0.71
4 servings: 154 calories, 4.7 g fat, $0.54

Calculations
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided: 158 calories, 17.9 g fat, $0.17
1 large head escarole: 95 calories, 1 g fat, $0.99
salt and pepper to taste: negligible calories and fat, $0.03
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
1 clove garlic, minced: 4 calories, 0 g fat, $0.04
1 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, undrained: 360 calories, 0 g fat, $0.89
TOTAL: 617 calories, 18.9 g fat, $2.14
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 206 calories, 6.3 g fat, $0.71
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 154 calories, 4.7 g fat, $0.54

In Which We Become Grilled Bananas & Chocolate People

Last Sunday, the Husband-Elect and I were traipsing about in our bewitching Brooklyn backyard, sipping white wine and sucking the last bits of farmer’s market turkey sausage off our fingers, when two things struck us just about simultaneously: A) the mosquitoes were definitely coming from our neighbor’s bucket o’ dirty water, and B) we wanted dessert.

Which was kind of weird. See, in addition to being Not Really Beef People, Not Really Hockey People, and Definitely Not Nickelback People, we’re also Not Really Dessert People. I mean, I will never ever ever (ever) turn down a post-dinner brownie, but I won’t actively seek one out, either. I’m much more likely to have a second helping of spaghetti, or graze from tomorrow’s office lunches as I prepare them.

But yeah, we were hungry, and I remembered reading about Grilled Bananas & Chocolate (a.k.a. Banana Boats) on Slashfood a few weeks back. And – is there a possible way to go wrong with bananas and chocolate? I think no, and the continued existence of Chunky Monkey supports that assertion.

Alas, we didn’t have a computer handy, and subsequently winged the recipe based on my dim, wine-addled recall. That meant we peeled a few bananas, created a divot down the middle, stuffed ‘em with chocolate, wrapped them in tin foil, and threw them on the grill. Postgame research revealed that I got it all wrong, and Banana Boats are usually made peel-on, sans foil. To quote the bard, “D’oh!”

However, we were victorious in the end. The grilled bananas were delicious, required no cleanup, and sated us for the rest of the evening, during which we became People Who Like The Big Chill. Not too shabby.

Anyway, hope you like them as much, and have a lovely 4th. See you Monday.

P.S.: I didn’t get a picture because this was a freak, daring, seat-of-the-pants experiment. Also, I was two glasses of Chardonnay into the night and forgot. So the image below is from a lovely blog called Blisstree. Thanks, tree o’bliss!

Grilled Bananas & Chocolate
Serves 2
Image courtesy of Blisstree.

2 bananas
5 or 6 squares of any chocolate bar (Hershey’s works well)
Aluminum foil

1) Fire up the grill and peel your bananas.

2) Cut a v-shaped divot down the length of each banana, and place 2 or 3 chocolate squares in each divot.

3) Wrap bananas securely in aluminum foil and place over hot coals. (Direct heat worked for us, but if you’re more comfortable off-heat, go for it.) Grill 8 or 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

4) Unwrap and be joyous.

NOTE: During my postgame research, I saw the vast majority of these made peel-on without the foil, but I get the feeling you could do it all kinds of ways. Mine weren’t too messy, which was nice. Also, add marshmallows if you’ve got ‘em. Good times.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
176 calories, 3.5 g fat, $0.56

Calculations
2 bananas: 242 calories, 0.8 g fat, $0.66
5 or 6 squares of a larger chocolate bar (Hershey’s works well): 110 calories, 6.2 g fat, $0.45TOTAL: 352 calories, 7 g fat, $1.11
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 176 calories, 3.5 g fat, $0.56