Tag Archives: Food Under $1

Gluten-Free Yum! Good Peasant Food (Part IV)

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450px-chanukia

Menorah, Photograph: Public Domain via Wikipedia

800px-dreidel_001

Dreidel, Photograph: Public Domain via Wikipedia

:-) HAPPY HANUKAH :-)

Tomorrow is the start of the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukah!  For those who may not know, Hanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C.E. and the victory of the Maccabees (the Jews) over Antiochus and the Greeks, who placed a statue of Zeus in the temple and imprisoned the Jews. This 2,300 year old festival celebrates a military victory and the perseverance of a people who adhered to their faith despite persecution.  It is a festival that reminds us of the rewards of perseverance and blessings of religious freedom, which  -  in my view  - can only be ensured for one group by ensuring it for all groups. 

Hanukah means “new beginnings,” as in a new beginning with the rededication of the temple.   After the Maccabees won their freedom and got the temple back, they found that there was only enough olive oil to light the temple lamps for one day. It is reported that a miracle happened: the oil lasted eight days, just the amount of time needed to complete a press to make more olive oil. Hence, the festival is celebrated over the course of eight days.  Each night another candle on the menorah is lighted and gifts are exchanged.

The dreidel, a four-sided wooden toy with lettering on each side is also significant in this celebration.  It was used by imprisoned Jews as a cover for discussing the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew bible. The Jews would spin the dreidel and pretend to be gambling.  The letters stand for “miracle,” “great,” “was,” and “there.”  Or, “A great miracle happened there.” 

You will see the name of this festival spelled various ways: Hanukah, Hanukkah, and Chanukah.

Although the Jewish peoples hail from countries all over the world, there is some consistency in their foods because of the dietary guidelines of their religion.  In the U.S., if you are fortunate enough to live in an area with a large Jewish population, you have also been fortunate enough to enjoy their many wonderful foods: potato knishes, Kasha Varnishes, blintzes, Kosher chicken (the best chickens, bar none), honey cake and challah bread, to name just a few.  Here, I have chosen to share two of the recipes my old neighbor, Gussie, shared with me, latkes (traditionally served with applesauce and sour cream) and cucumber salad. Both of these dishes are naturally wheat-and-gluten free, a benefit for those with Celiac Disease.

Gluten-Free Latkes with Homemade Applesauce and Sour Cream

Serves four

I’ve modified the original latke recipe.  These days I increase the variety of vegetables used in recipes whenever and wherever I can, following my doctor’s injunction to make sure to eat “all your colors.”  So I have added carrot and minced parsley, neither of which is traditional, as far as I know. Olive oil is used since that is what was used to light the temple lamps. You can use a light olive oil.  In my view, it doesn’t have to be first press for this dish. The flavor may actually benefit from the lighter olive flavor.

The recipe:

Prepare the applesauce:

4 Granny Smith apples, washed, cored and diced, leave the skin on

1/2 cup of white wine

1/2 cup organic sugar 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, Smart Balance, or Earth Balance Buttery Spread

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, mix well, and simmer until the apples are cooked through. Keep stirring through the process to make sure the sauce doesn’t stick or burn and that there is enough liquid.  Add a bit of water if necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl when the latkes are done and serve the applesauce warm.

Prepare the latkes:

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees and line a platter with paper towels.  As you finish frying the latkes, place them on the platter in the oven to keep warm.

1 1/2 pounds of baking potatoes, scrubbed

1/2 pound of carrots, scrubbed and tipped and topped

1 small white onion, minced

1 omega-three egg, beaten

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

sea salt to taste

cracked black pepper to taste

1/2 -3/4 cup olive oil

Large-shred potatoes.  Lay potato shreds on a clean, dry kitchen towel.  Roll towel and squeeze to remove excess water from the potatoes.  Place potatoes in a mixing bowl and shred carrots into it. Add parsley, salt, and pepper and mix well.  Add egg and mix well.

Heat oil in a fry pan to medium-high heat.  Cook three or four latke – each about two tablespoons potato mixture – at a time, as will fit in your fry pan.  As a you complete each batch, place the latke on the platter in the oven to keep warm.  Serve with applesauce and gluten-free sour cream.  If you have Celiac Disease, be sure to read the ingredients on the sour cream to ensure that there are no forbidden starches or other gluten/wheat ingredients.  I have not found a vegan tofu-based sour “cream” that is wheat/gluten free. 

Gluten-Free Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers, skinned and sliced as thinly as possible

1 small red onion, cut in half and sliced thin

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup organic, gluten-free vegetable broth

1/2 cup organic sugar 

1/2 teaspoon each of celery seed and mustard seed

Combine the cucumbers and onions in a bowl.

In a sauce pan combine the liquids and the sugar. Heat through, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from heat and add the the celery seed and mustard seed.  Pour over the vegetables, cover and refrigerate until chilled through.  

Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

For more on Latkes and for a great post on a Classic N.Y. Egg Cream see Jason Perlow’s Off the Broiler.

For my fellow Celiacs, I’m going to guess that the Fox’s Ubet used for Egg Cream is not for us.  :-(

Healthy Foods for Under $1.

Gluten-Free Yum! Good Peasant Food (Part III)

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Photograph: PD Photo.org

Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
      Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
      Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,

The Tropics in New York, Claude McKay

“Eating as if your food was a source of healing power is called nuchi gusui in the Okinawan Diet … There’s no longer any doubt about the fact that vegetables and fruit are good for you.  They are full of nutrients, yet contain few calories.  Although the Okinawans flourish on about seven servings a day, Westerners are generally bigger and would do better on ten or more servings per diet.  A diet full of vegeteables and fruit will not only decrease our long-term risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, and obesity but also keep you looking younger.”

The Okinawa Program, Wilcox, Wilcox and Suzuki

Shopping farmers markets, ethnic groceries, and the outer perimeter of your regular grocer is just good sense.  It makes for delicious meals, healthy bodies, sound budget, and shopping fun.  Good peasant food always includes fresh fruit and vegetables, sometimes raw.  Such foods are naturally gluten free and convenient for those with Celiac Disease or gluten/wheat sensitivity.  They are easily portable and wonderful when you have to eat on the run.  

Gluten-Free Fennel and Leeks in Orange-Cream Sauce, Finoccio e Porri in Salsa della Arancio-Crema, Italian

Fennel is a wonderful, crunchy veggie with a mild licorice flavor. Italians favor eating it raw after a meal to help with digestion.  Trim the stalks and the root end, saving the lovely, lacy fronds to decorate the serving dish.  Slice the bulbs lengthwise.

It was said among ancient Greeks that the great orators ate a leek a day to keep their voices clear and pure. Leeks were also considered aphrodisiacs and mixed in a salad with toasted sesame seeds and honey, they were served to enhance virility. They have a mild oniony flavor with a hint of garlic.  Trim the stems and cut the roots off the bulb.  Cut the leeks into one-inch rounds. Place them in a colander and rinse well, being sure to get all the grit and sand out.

The recipe:

2 fennel bulbs

2 large leeks

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

zest and juice of one small, organic orange

2 tablespoons of dry white whine

1 cup of Wild Wood Soy Creamer

1 cup of almond milk

freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the vegetables

Cut the fennel bulbs lengthwise into six pieces and boil for 10 minutes.  Drain and place in a greased baking pan.

Place the leeks in a saute pan with the olive oil and saute until tender.   

Pour the soy creamer and the almond milk into the pan with the leeks and simmer, adding the orange zest and juice. Continue simmering for about 20 minutes to thicken. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper, stir well, and then pour the sauce over the fennel.  Bake in a moderate 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Sprinkle with chopped fennel fronds and a bit more nutmeg and serve immediately.  

Gluten-Free Orange and Olive Salad, Portokalia Me Elies, Greek

Serves Four

Quickly and easily assmbled, this classic Greek salad is an unusual and zesty side dish.

The recipe

2 large oranges, peeled and separated into slices, be sure to remove seeds and pith

20 pitted calamata olives

1/2 small red onion, sliced as thinly as possible

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (the best you can afford)

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

spinach leaves, washed

Prepare the salad:

Assemble the salad by mixing all the ingredients- with the exception of the spinach – in one bowl.  Cover and chill for at least two hours. Serve the salad on individual plates that have been lined with the spinach leaves.

Gluten-free Fresh Fruit Salad, Macedonia Fresca, Italian

This makes a refreshing end to a meal, especially a heavy one.  Figure on at least one cup of fruit per person. Chose a nice variety of seasonal fruits.

The recipe:

assorted ripe fruits, cut into  bit-sized pieces

organic sugar, to taste

Marsala, white wine, or lemon juice, to taste

fresh mint sprigs

Mix the fruit in a large bowl, adding sugar and wine or lemon juice to taste.  It should not be too sweet, nor should it be swimming in the wine.  Let it sit at room temperature for about a half-hour or so before serving.  Decorate each serving with a sprig of mint.

Healthy Foods for Under $1.

We are fortunate to have enough to eat, perhaps more than enough.  It is not so for all.

Free Rice for the world’s poor (thanks to Barbara Stone for this site).  Play this little word game, and for each correct answer rice will be donated.

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Check out this site as well:

http://www.poverty.com/

Visit Barbara Stone at:

The List of Buddha Lists

http://bstonedesigns.com/buddhist_lists/eight_fold_path.html

HudStone Images

http://www.hudstoneimages.com/

Gluten-free Yum! Good Peasant Food (Part 1)

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Bob's Red Mill via Wikipedia

Public Domain Picture: Bob’s Red Mill via Wikipedia

This is a close-up picture of quinoa grains. This grain is high in proteins with a balanced amino-acid blend.  It is a good grain for vegans as well as for folks with Celiac Disease. I buy the grains (as opposed to the pasta) to make Taboulee, a Lebanese salad on which I was raised and which is traditionally made with burghul (cracked wheat), which I cannot eat due to Celia Disease.  I find quinoa to be quite palatable. You can purchase organic quinoa grain from:

http://www.bobsredmill.com/product.php?productid=3616&cat=0&page=1

Picture from Quinoa Corporation website

Picture from Quinoa Corporation website

Quinoa is my preferred alternative to wheat for pasta dishes.  It is not a sweet as corn pasta, which I dislike.  For most pasta dishes, I prefer it to brown rice pasta.  Ancient Harvest pasta, a product of the Quinoa Corporation, is my favorite.  Here is the link to their website:

http://www.quinoa.net/

I think of the foods I grew up on as “good peasant food.”  They derive from other times and places, when people were mostly agrarian and were conscious of not being wasteful or extravagant. When my family and family friends came to the “new country,” they were usually poor at least initially. Hence, their eating habits remained as budget-wise (and incidentally as healthy) as they were in the “old country.” These recipes have advantages in addition to being healthy, delicious, and economical. They are easy to make and naturally wheat-and-gluten free or easily and tastily adapted to be so.

Gluten-free Spaghetti with Garlic, Spaghetti con aglio, Italian

Serves Four

To make this vegan friendly, just substitute olive oil for the butter and use gomaso in place of the grated cheese. Gomaso is a Japanese seasoning with salt, sesame seeds, and seaweed.  You can get gomaso at Japanese groceries, Whole Foods, health-food stores, or on-line from Eden Foods:

http://www.edenfoods.com/store/index.php?cPath=26_48

My preference for grating cheese is Locatelli Romano, which is available through some fine food stores or on-line at:

http://bestnewyorkfoods.com/locatellicheese-com/index.htm

The recipe:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup sweet butter

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 package gluten-free pasta, quinoa or brown rice, and enough water to cook

1 cup boiling water 

Salt and cracked black-pepper to taste

Freshly grated romano cheese to taste

Prepare the sauce:

Place the oil and the butter in a sauce pan that will be large enough to accommodate the pasta when it’s cooked. Put the heat on low and let the butter melt.  Add the garlic and brown, being careful not to let it get too dark or it will be bitter.  You can actually take the pan off the heat when the garlic starts to brown because it will continue cooking in the hot oil and you will avoid burning it by taking it off the heat early in the process.

Prepare the pasta:

Follow package directions to prepare the pasta.  

Note: You will need to add approximately one cup of boiling water to the sauce.  If you use brown rice pasta, use the pasta water.  If you use quinoa pasta, use plain boiled water.

Prepare the dish:

Do not drain the pasta.  Use a pasta fork to transfer the pasta from the water to the pan with the oil and garlic.  Let some water, but not all run off, Mix the pasta with the oil and garlic and then enough of the one-cup of boiling water or pasta water to make it a bit saucy and slippery, but not enough to make it run.  Add the fresh herbs and the salt and black pepper to taste.  Serve with grated cheese on the side for everyone to use to taste.  

A nice green salad with tomatoes, slivers of fresh Bufffalo mozzerella, olives, and tomatoes makes the perfect side dish.

Gluten-free Lentils and Rice, M’jeddarah. Lebanese

Serves Four

This dish is naturally gluten-free.  It is a staple among the Lebanese, especially for Christians during the Lenten season. It’s always been my budget stand-by.  I think it’s delicious and tummy-warming and  eat it frequently. Traditionally, this dish is topped with plain yogurt. Vegans can use soy yogurt. I’m fond of Wild Wood soy products.  Their website only shows flavored soy yogurt, but they do have plain. (By the way, their soy creamer is the absolute best and gluten free.)

http://www.pulmuonewildwood.com/index.asp

I use Aleppo pepper, which is a type of capsicum and which I buy at a local Middle-Eastern (these days generally referred to as Mediterranean) grocery. You can use any other ground red pepper if you don’t have or don’t want to purchase Aleppo Pepper.  

The recipe:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced and mixed with 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup of brown lentils

1/4 cup of short-grained brown rice, my preference is Lundberg.

2 1/2 cups of water or gluten-free vegetable broth, home-made or store bought (not a tomato broth)

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

salt and Aleppo pepper to taste

dairy or soy yogurt

Prepare the dish:

Sauté the the onions and garlic in the olive oil in a small pan.

Place the lentils, rice and water in a pot.  Add the sauteed vegetables and the parsley and seasonings.  Stir to mix well. Bring to a boil and then cover a lower to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally to ensure that it doesn’t stick, until both the lentils and rice are done.  This will take approximately 45 minutes.  Add water if necessary to completee cooking process.

Meanwhile, saute the slivered onions until golden brown.

When the lentils are rice are ready, taste for seasoning and adjust.  Serve with the sauteed onions and the plain yogurt on the side to be used as condiments.

A traditional Lebanese vegetable salad of slivered carrots and zucchini goes well with this, and it’s another traditional dish that is naturally wheat-and-gluten free.

Gluten-free Carrot and Zucchini Salad, Salata Jezar wa Koosa, Lebanese

Serves Four

2 large carrots, cleaned and shredded (use the large side of a hand shredder)

2 small zucchini, cleaned and shredded (use the large side of a hand shredder)

lemon-garlic dressing (see below), to taste

Prepare the salad:

Mix the vegetables and then dress with the lemon and garlic dressing, not so much that the salad is soupy.

Gluten-free Lebanese Lemon-garlic Dressing,  Ziet bil-Toom

Prepare the dressing:

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the best quality you can afford when it’s for a dressing

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 lemon juiced

1 fresh garlic clove, crushed well using a mortar and pestle

1/8 cup fresh coriander (cilantro), minced (you can substitute parsley)

Whisk all the ingredients together.  Dress salad to taste.

This dressing will also work well with a more typical dinner salad.

I encourage you to check-out the links in this post.  Most have wonderful recipes on their sites, many gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Healthy Foods Under $1.

Retailmenot.com:  For those with Celiac Disease, I’m not sure you’ll find any food coupons here that you can use, but I’m sharing the link in case there’s interest in food product coupons or others.  I haven’t used the site myself, but was introduced to it just today by my daughter-in-law who saved $30 on the shopping she had to do.

http://www.retailmenot.com/