Veggielaya

Need superbowl snack ideas? Want to ruin your husband's day and cook something healthy? Well, you've come to the right spot! Don't worry men, I'm linking you all up to some of my friends' decadent football recipes as well!

This Louisiana veggie bowl will be spicy, colorful, filling, and delicious. You could try to perfect a real jambalaya or gumbo on a first try - that would be awesome, but for those non-recipe type, combining some Cajun staples might be your best bet for southern flair among your snacks.

Veggielaya

Soak red beans overnight
Cook beans per package

In a dutch oven, or pot:
Swish of olive oil, medium heat
Finely chopped garlic
Shallots
Fresh hot peppers

Once crackling up:
add red/white onions
add sliced okra
add tomatoes
add mostly cooked red beans
Squeeze of lemon
cayenne
S&P
Stir, simmer
Decide done-ness per okra

Serve over brown rice
or mix in cooked brown rice

If this is all too healthy for you, please check out my good friends' links below for many great superbowl snacks!

www.gamedayeats.com

www.pardonmycrumbs.com

Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give A Yam

Sweet Potato Fries taste better than french fries. Fact. This southern cousin of the potato is the perfect super bowl snack for your Louisiana relatives and Saints bandwagoners alike.

Sweet potatoes are absolutely packed with nutrients. Vitamins A, C, and B6, potassium, iron, and fiber will keep you in tip-top emotional and physical shape for the big game. What a sneaky way to add some nutrition to your snacks.

Go Saints!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Leave the skin on!
(It's packed with nutrients)
Slice sweet potatoes into fry shapes
(I've gone with classic fry shape)
Spread your raw fries out on a pan
(I chose a cookie sheet with foil)
Paint your fries with olive oil
Sprinkle on Sea Salt
Squeeze a little lemon on it all
Cajun it up with some Cayenne

Place in the oven
I cook 350 for about 40 min
Test a fry - crunchier, longer

Enjoy!

note: Yams are not Sweet Potatoes, more on that in the future, but for now, just don't give a yam

In Living Color: RED

Cooking by color is the simplest way to ensure a healthy meal. When it comes to fresh produce, the brighter the color, the better. Color can serve as a great cooking guide - when your vegetables start to lose color, they are also losing their nutrients. Therefore presentation is not just aesthetic, it's an indication of how healthy your meal is.

When I see tomatoes on my plate I say "red - mmm.... lycopene" and that powers up my x-ray vision. Ok. Maybe not right away - but red fruits and veggies contain the highest amount of lycopene, which you'll hear is great for its cancer preventing properties. The CDC says that red fruits and veggies are also packed with vitamins C and A, which are powerful antioxidants (or as my niece says "anti-oxygen").

We all know what an apple-a-day can do for us, but did you know it contains up to 4 grams of fiber? Strawberries can help regulate blood sugar, cherries contain melatonin, watermelon is packed with potassium and folic acid, raspberries are among the highest antioxidants, and tomatoes contain more than 20 nutrients - just to name a few. Mmm...lycopene.


Sprinkle some raspberries or strawberries on your next bowl of cereal. Brighten up a stew with fresh cooked tomatoes. Throw red bell peppers in your stir fry, add some beets to your salad, and set a bowl of cherries out for everyone to snack on.

I use cherries where my citrus would usually go in cooking meats. I glazed these pork ribs with fresh sliced cherries and cooked them in the oven - fall off the bone meat with a fantastic tart flavor!


What's red in your kitchen?

Stir Fry, or Not Stir Fry...That is the Question

Scared to try recipe-less cooking? Mistakes can be awesome, but if you want a safety net, start out with a stir fry. It's the easiest way to get rocking on improvisational cooking with low consequence.

Stir fry may bring to mind the act of opening a frozen bag of Asian vegetables and heating them, but let's never speak of that again. Stir fry doesn't need to be Asian at all, and is best when experimental. How about Spicy Shrimp with Mango, or Chicken and Black Bean, or Crab with Asparagus and Corn. I just made those up - so what's in your kitchen that looks good together?

Remember to cook meat first, or in a separate pan, and season the meat to match your other ingredients. (Say... lemon on the chicken for a tangy citrus themed stir fry, cayenne for spicy, just s&p on your meat to match a garlic theme)


I like to add veggies according to their perceived crunchiness factor (the pcf). You'll learn through trial and error how much longer a bamboo shoot will need compared to a bean sprout, but using the pcf scale can be a great start, as well as a good reason to abbreviate complete nonsense.

We have at least one night a week of vegetarian cooking, and tonight was that night, as we were also very low on groceries. I love to stir fry when I think I'm out of food. You can always squeeze out one more meal, even if you think your kitchen is bare. (more on this in the future!)

This would work great as a side dish as well, and yes, it is an Asian theme, it's just what we had...

Stir Fry Basics, Sugar Snap Pea Style

Splash oil in wok or skillet
(I chose hot sesame oil)
Spices go in first until crackling
(I chose ginger)
Throw in onions
(I went with red, and a little green)
Carrots next
(highest pcf)
Water chestnuts
Sugar snap peas
Squeeze of lemon
Toss or stir to desired tenderness
(I kept it crunchy)

Serve on top of brown rice

We loved it along with a Ponzu Apple Bean Thread Salad:



Next time you are "out of groceries", invent a stir fry - even if it's awful, it was time for groceries anyway!

The Greatest Breakfast Of All Time

This was formerly known as "Amy's Oatmeal Surprise" but I'm really trying to get away from the "Amy's ______ Surprise" food naming format... not that it isn't awesome.

It's not so much cooking as it is combining products in this breakfast idea, but it's something we eat almost every day. When you have breakfast as great as this it really sets the foundation for what you will eat (and cook) for the rest of the day.

Cook plain oatmeal on the stove
Add flax seeds to be super healthy
Top with plain yogurt
Add almonds, walnuts, blueberries, and blackberries
Serve with an orange

Bam. The most heart-healthiest breakfast you could have. For those of you with high cholesterol, this incorporates almost everything on your "foods that lower cholesterol" list.

Enjoy!

Getting Started - A Stocked Kitchen

I'm all about simple. The great chef Marco Pierre White says that great dishes come from simplicity. What an easy concept to translate to home cooking! I love simple.

So here are my basics - you will choose your own flavors and brands etc, but this is a good example of the type of stocked kitchen that you will need for cooking any and every type of cuisine.

FRESH SPICES:

Fresh spices are tastier, healthier, and cheaper than their packaged, processed cousins and keeping these spices on hand is just as convenient.

Garlic and ginger are both incredibly good for you, and in addition to their natural health value, you won't need to use salt to flavor any dishes spiced with these power roots.

Like it spicy? Find some peppers with the amount of heat that you prefer - we cook very spicy here, most commonly with red jalapenos and green thai chilis.

Herb gardens are the way to go for all greens - forget dried green flakes from a jar - it's cheaper, healthier and more fun from your own pot! We grow cilantro, parsley, italian parsley, and mint to name a few.


CITRUS:

I throw a little citrus in just about everything. Appetizers, main courses, soups, salads, deserts - all better with a little citrus. This is a personal choice, but again, saves on salt and the health benefits are fantastic... especially if you have scurvy.




ONIONS:

I use white, red, and green onions in many dishes, so they are always on hand. We can up the ante later with scallions, leeks, and other varieties.


PANTRY ITEMS:

Remembering to keep it simple, you should have minimal items in your pantry. I like to use produce for everything, but there are a few necessities for the pantry or cabinet.


Oils are an absolute must - and olive oil is a great choice for heart-healthy cooking.
Sea Salt, coarse or fine, adds incredible flavor using less salt, iodized salt is in the back just in case, but Sea Salt is used most often.
Various Peppers - whole peppercorns to grind is the best option, then cayenne, lemon etc...
The Soy and Sriracha are must haves for asian cooking (more on that to come)

Check to see what you have on hand, and make yourself a small list of the spices, citrus, and onions you'd like to pick up at the store - then just go and see what looks good that day!

Getting Started - Basic Tools

Kitchen gadgets are so much fun - but for those of you new to cooking I've pared it down to the absolute basics.


A GOOD KNIFE

A necessity. I hated chopping before I got a good knife. It's like the difference between coach and first class. If there is any one item in your kitchen to invest in - it's a great knife.

It's a zen experience at this point. I look forward to cooking everyday for the time I get to prep - chop, slice, dice and relax.

This all purpose chef's knife by Shun was a wedding gift and I use it all day every day. It helps to have a good chopping board as well. We have a food processor, but when I have the time, I make every cut myself - even for salsas!



TOOLS

Prep bowls can be any sort of bowl. Use what you have - tupperware, old china, anything - but find a range of sizes. I use small prep dishes every day and medium to large prep bowls depending on what I'm cooking.

Tongs. They work like your hands, but you can't put your hands in a heated skillet... well you can... but they won't taste very good.

A peeler helps, but your very great knife could take on this task if you don't have one yet. There are many tools I love, but the most used are photographed here.


POTS AND PANS

Again, there are so many great vessels for cooking, but we want to stick to basics here. A skillet, a sauce pan, a steamer basket, a pot, and a cookie sheet would be a great start.

I'd like to purpose that with a knife, a few bowls, and a skillet, you should be able to prepare a high quality, gourmet meal. Now it's time for me to prove it.