Eat Your Veggies, They're Good for You!

     Last year my Weight Watcher leader challenged my meeting to try a new vegetable.  I'm all for more "free" or low Point foods so the search was on but I hesitated when I came across ratatouille.  I had not been a fan of the brown mess I vaguely remembered but the pretty rainbow of veg I discovered on Smitten Kitchen was delightful!  It was called "Ratatouille's Ratatouille" after the movie (which I, too, enjoyed - certainly a sign!) so I tried out the recipe and found that I now love ratatouille!  So I made it again and again much to my husband's delight.  Happy ending, right?  Nope.  I was weary of the laborious cutting and layering but still loving the dish so I came up with a simplified version (even if it may no longer be called "true" ratatouille) that wasn't as pretty but still tasted pretty darn good and I call it Easy Ratatouille.

Easy Ratatouille

Vegetable Ingredients

• A  Chinese eggplant (or small regular)
• A zucchini
• A yellow squash
• A red, yellow or orange pepper
• A green pepper
• A box of baby portabella mushrooms*
• Salt and pepper

Sauce Ingredients

• Half an onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 14 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Oil mister or cooking spray
• A splash of red wine/2 tablespoons (optional) 

Putting it Together

     Spray a 2 - 3 quart oven safe casserole dish with cooking spray (I use my old French white Corning ware).  Add all the sauce ingredients, stir to combine and set aside.  Heat  oven to 400 F.    

     Clean the mushrooms, trim and slice then set aside in the frig.  They will be sauteed and added to the ratatouille at the end*.  Rinse and trim the ends off the long vegetables.  The Chinese eggplant (I prefer Chinese over regular because they usually have fewer seeds) is the softest of the veg and cooks the fastest so quarter it the long way and slice all four long wedges into 1/4+ inch slices.  Dump them into a large holding bowl.  The zucchini and yellow squash are halved down the length and cut into 1/8-1/4 inch slices; add to the holding bowl.  Wash and split the peppers, remove the seeds and membranes.  Cut them into inch-wide strips and slice the strips into 1/8-1/4 inch slices; add to the holding bowl.     

     Sprinkle the veg in the holding bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of black pepper, toss to mix and dump the veg into your sauced casserole.  Push the veg down into the sauce but don't worry if you can't see the sauce - you will after the veg cook down a bit.  Spritz the top with an olive oil mister or cooking spray (I love my WW oil mister).  Spray a sheet of foil (or use easy release foil) with cooking spray (or use the lid if you have one), place sprayed side down and crimp to seal.  Use a small knife to make about 6 steam slits across the foil; this seems to help siphon off all that moisture the veggies release.  Place in a preheated oven for an hour.  After an hour stir the mixture (you will be able to stir the veg into the sauce now)  and return the covered dish to the oven, lower the temperature to 350F and cook for 30 - 45 minutes longer.  Cooking time depends mainly on the amount of vegetables used.

     Time to saute` the mushrooms*.  Using a teaspoon of olive oil or a spray from an olive oil mister, heat the pan to medium, add the sliced mushrooms, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook to your preference.  Remove pan from heat, cover to keep warm.  Check the ratatouille, if the vegetables are cooked to your liking, stir in the mushrooms and you're ready to serve.  But what will you serve it with?  Now you'll see, dear eater, why I've been making ratatouille so frequently!

     For a meatless meal I have served this recipe on fresh pasta with a sprinkling of Parmesan, just add a green salad - delicious!   For a very low carb meal or side I substitute spaghetti squash for the pasta (I don't even like squash!) and this pairing brings out the best in each.  Seriously.  I used it instead of marinara for oven-baked chicken Parmesan - yummy!  Fish, especially cod, goes so well with this ratatouille - think cod Veracruz!  After cooking the fish separately I thought, "Duh!" and laid the seasoned cod pieces directly on top of the ratatouille under the tinfoil during the last bit of cooking time.  The fish took about 10-15 minutes and it was an easy option.  With the Houston heat approaching I thought I'd be going through ratatouille withdrawal...until I remembered my slow cooker - sounds like a match made in heaven.   

A favorite pairing, baked cod and ratatouille.

A note to my fellow Weight Watchers:  I plugged the Easy Ratatouille recipe into my Recipe Builder and it totaled 11 points (the teaspoon of olive oil and 1 oz. of red wine registering the only ingredient Points and when I looked up each vegetable in the "Complete Food Companion" they were all listed as 0 Points, cooked or raw.)  So at 6 total servings that comes to 2 Points per serving; but once again I'll leave the math up to you.

Smitten Kitchen  is a wonderful cooking blog and responsible for my new-found love of ratatouille and the inspiration for my Easy Ratatouille!

Crazy for Cumin

     Cumin is one of my favorite spices and it is an important flavor in one of my seldom-made comfort foods, my mother-in-law's empanadas.  My mother-in-law lived most of her life in northwest Argentina where a regional specialty is beef-filled empanadas flavored with cumin and raisin.  The fillings used in empanadas are as varied as the many Hispanic cultures and the flavors used in my mother-in-law's recipe were influenced by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in Argentina and are my favorite.  
     Sadly, the pastry used to make empanadas is too Points pricey these days so I came up with a burger with a similar flavor profile that has a smaller Points price with big bucks flavor.  I usually cook these on my outdoor grill but have successfully used a grill pan on my cook top, too.  In my mind these are not hamburgers so I have never served these burgers on buns but with a side of couscous since half of the onion-seasoning mixture I cook up for the burgers goes into the couscous!   


Empanada-Style Burgers with Cauli-Couscous

Seasoning Ingredients and Preparation

• An onion (I use sweet), finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon olive or oil of your choice
• 2 teaspoons light (or regular) butter
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon of salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup golden raisins, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Heat oil and butter in a medium saute pan.  Add onion and raisins, sprinkle on salt and crushed red and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and remaining spices, stir for an additional minute or two.  Stir in parsley, remove from heat and allow to cool.


Burger Ingredients and Preparation

• 3/4 pound 95-96% lean ground beef
• 1/4 pound very lean ground pork
• Approximately half of the cooked onion-raisin mixture
• Olive oil spray
  

In a large bowl, using your hands, combine meats and allotted cooked mixture.  Try not to overwork the mixture.  Form into burgers (I usually make 3 or 4), spritz with olive oil spray on each side and grill or cook.  I cook on my preheated gas grill (between 350-400 F) about 4-6 minutes on first side and 3 -5 minutes on second side (I cook these to medium to medium-well).

Cauli-Couscous Ingredients and Preparation

• 1/2 cup couscous (I used  regular, not whole wheat, for 1 less Point per 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 medium-sized head of cauliflower
• Approximately half of the cooked onion-raisin mixture

Rinse the cauliflower and remove any woody ends.  Using the large grate side of a box grater, grate the cauliflower (I place the grater in a large bowl to keep the bits from flying about).  The floret's grate into couscous-looking pieces, the stems end up a bit bigger.  Return the pan with the onion-raisin mixture to the heat, having pushed the already cooked mixture to the edges.  Add the grated cauliflower (1 to 2 cups) and a few tablespoons of water to the pan, cover and cook on medium low for a few minutes.  Cook the couscous according to directions (my brand says to bring 1/2 cup water to boil, stir in 1/2 cup couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes).  Stir the cauliflower and onion-raisin mixture, taste for doneness and seasoning.  If to your liking, stir in the cooked and fluffed (just use a fork after the 5 minute wait) couscous and it's ready to serve. 
     
     I think you'll agree that the the cauliflower couscous mixture looks pretty much like, well,  couscous!  But I hope you'll discover for yourself that it has a nicer mouth feel and a sweet, nutty flavor due to the cauliflower.  The burger gets a nice caramelization and moistness from the onion-raisin addition and it reminds me of my favorite empanadas and my wonderful mother-in-law!

Empanada Burgers and Cauliflower-CousCous, inspired by my mother-in-law

Just a note to fellow Weight Watchers:  The leaness of the ground pork makes a huge point difference.  I personally love a beef-pork mix but I have also tried beef-lamb (not a lamb fan, sadly), beef-turkey, beef-veal and all beef.  For this recipe (with four servings) a burger and approximately a generous cup of cauli-couscous would cost you 8 Points, according to my Recipe Builder.

A New Dark Leafy Green For Me...

I enjoy eating a large variety of fruits and veg.  Okay, maybe a little heavier on the fruits... With most of these fruits and veggies being zero points if eaten raw and very low points if cooked (plus low in carbs for my Type I diabetic husband), I needed to up our consumption, especially of those dark leafy greens. After watching "Ten Dollar Dinners" I got inspired by Melissa's kale salad (after all, I had already made her kale chips) so that was my jumping off point for my Kale Slaw recipe - hope you give it a try!

  
 Kale Slaw 

     Salad Ingredients

• A bunch of kale
• A large carrot
• A crisp, sweet apple
• An orange
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

      




Dressing Ingredients

• A silverware teaspoonful of Dijon mustard
• A tablespoon of honey
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (I like a 1:2 ratio of sweet to sour)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (adjust the spices to your liking)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
•  Few grinds of black pepper

Putting it Together

     Wash, trim and de-rib your kale (curly or leafy).  After making this salad a few times I found my favorite and the easiest way to remove those hard, tough ribs - I fold a leaf inward onto itself like a heart half and just tear up and away from the rib.  Stack the leaves on your cutting board and cut through the stack, making them into strips and place in a large bowl. 

     Zest the orange right over the leaves in the bowl (I find it easier to zest a whole fruit so I halve it after).  Now I halve the orange, juice one half and pour it over the kale.  Sprinkle over a quarter teaspoon of salt and toss so the leaves can mellow a bit while you continue with the ingredient prep. 
     Scrub the carrot, wash and trim the apple then place your box grater right in the salad bowl and shred them using the large grate.  Whisk up the dressing ingredients in a small bowl - taste it!  Adjust if necessary and pour over salad. Stir/toss to combine, cover and chill. This salad is so tangy, a bit sweet and spicy and though it has no oil, the shredded apple and carrot absorb the dressing so every bite is well-flavored. 
     Now that I've made this salad a number of times (and still love it!) I've tried a few variations:  Substituting a lemon for the orange; a firm pear when I had no apple; Swiss chard when I couldn't find kale - and they were all delicious.  Let me know what you come up with!

Just a note to my fellow Weight Watchers: I have plugged this slaw into Recipe Builder and it equaled 13 Points though the only ingredient that showed points was the honey at 2 Points for 1Tblsp.  At 6 servings that would be 2 points per serving.  The majority of fruit and veg are in their "natural" state but for the orange so I leave it up to you, dear eaters, how to value it.  My husband with Type I diabetes doesn't need to count veggie carbs so this makes for a healthy salad choice for both of us!