A vegetarian hot dog that actually sounds tasty

Red meat is still part of my diet, albeit a much smaller part since my heart surgery in 2012. I have red meat once a week now, and only the leanest I can find, which means either fillet mignon or a cheek-meat sandwich at Naf Naf Grill.

Zucchini dogs, a meatless alternative to hot dogs.

I’ve stopped eating hot dogs and other processed meats altogether, except for the occasional splurge at my boyhood favorite, Nathan’s, when I’m in New York City. That said, I can’t bring myself to eat any of the fake vegetarian meat substitutes, several of which are high in sodium themselves.

So when I first saw the article, This Hot-Dog Alternative Is So Simple, You’re Going to Wonder Why You Didn’t Think of It Yourself, I assumed it would be something I wouldn’t want to eat. Continue reading “A vegetarian hot dog that actually sounds tasty” →

March 23, 2016 0

Walmart, Aldi’s, others making fresh and organic food moves

Consumer desire to buy more unprocessed fresh and organic foods has definitely gotten the attention of the mainstream food retailing world. Three articles crossed my email recently confirming that.If you want to eat low-salt, low-fat and low-sugar, fresh is certainly the way to go for most of your meals, as I’ve been advocating here since having an angioplasty in 2012.

Mondelez has to compete with fruit for the healthy snack trade, can it? — Fresh is increasingly where it’s at for today’s food retailers.

Bare-bones food retailer Aldi, which specializes in featuring sore brands to hold costs down, is making several moves in fresh foods, according to Forbes and other media reports.

“The retailer is expanding the number of fresh foods offered, placing an emphasis on the perimeter rather than the packaged and processed foods in the center of the store. It’s making sure that dairy products are free from artificial growth hormones and all private label products—90% of the store—are now free from synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and added MSG.

“Checkout lanes are being reconfigured to replace chocolates and candy with single-serve packages of nuts, trail mixes, dried fruits and granola bars,” Forbes reports. Continue reading “Walmart, Aldi’s, others making fresh and organic food moves” →

February 22, 2016 0

Why fresh vegetables aren’t on sale at supermarkets

Supermarket ad flyers feature what the industry calls loss-leaders, items a supermarket is marking down to draw you into the store so you’ll buy processed foods with higher mark-ups. Vegetables used to be among these loss-leaders but I’ve been noticing lately than they’re not popping up on sales as much as they once did.

The reason is that people apparently are finally getting the message that they should be eating more fresh veggies and fruits and so are buying more. This was driven home to me in a recent Supermarket News opinion piece that’s worth a read. While it’s aimed at stores, it makes the point, “The growth of fresh and perishable products has been steady and strong.” Continue reading “Why fresh vegetables aren’t on sale at supermarkets” →

January 19, 2016 3

The winning recipe for Battle Eggplant at the Frank house

We had a fun cooking challenge at our house this Christmas that we dubbed Battle Eggplant in honor of the original Japanese version of Iron Chef. I gave each of my adult children and their partners an eggplant and challenged them to come up with original dishes in one hour, using any ingredients they could find in our kitchen. I wrote recently about the recipe my son and his wife created, Jerusalem Eggplant Surprise.

Jenny and Daniel creating their winning eggplant dip recipe.

This spot gives you the recipe for my daughter and her friend Daniel’s winning recipe, an eggplant dip.

Here is her description and the recipe, as best she remembers it. Ingredients were flying out of our spice cabinet fast and furious during that hour, so you may have to experiment a bit to find the exact recipe ingredient amounts. Continue reading “The winning recipe for Battle Eggplant at the Frank house” →

January 13, 2016 0

A low-salt, low-fat Thanksgiving dinner — start your planning today

Thanksgiving is only a few days away, time to start planning how you’ll make it a low-salt, low-fat day but still enjoy traditional items like turkey and even mashed potatoes.

Time to eat all those turkeys! Happy Thanksgiving! — Time to eat all those turkeys! Buy a fresh one to cut salt that comes in self-basting, frozen ones. Happy Thanksgiving!

It takes a little smart shopping and a lot of recipe tweaking, but you can do it and I can show you how.

Check some of my past posts on low-salt side dishes, how to find a low-salt turkey, how to make low-salt stuffing and other tips to cut the salt. Continue reading “A low-salt, low-fat Thanksgiving dinner — start your planning today” →

November 23, 2015 0

Baby carrots more ways than you can imagine

Baby carrots are a simple yet tasty side dish. I steam them for dinner or eat them raw as a nibble food when we have guests over. I’ve also posted a recipe to turn them into a salad.

So I was excited to see this Food Network post about 14 ways to use baby carrots. Some of these are just plain wacky. Carrot freezer pops? Well maybe.

Carrot freezer pops? Not sure how tasty these would be.

Carrot juice is not my cup of tea (pun intended). And the glazed carrots involve butter which I don’t eat any longer. I may try them with just the honey or maybe with some olive oil first and then the honey to get a healthy fat on them. Continue reading “Baby carrots more ways than you can imagine” →

September 23, 2015 1

Roasted broccoli and green bean recipes

Broccoli and green beans are two of my favorite side dishes but I’m always looking for ways to add flavor to them because, honestly, they can get boring after a while.

So I was excited to find these two recipes from former Biggest Loser trainer Jillan on her website. The first roasts broccoli with olive oil and lemon. Leave out the salt in the recipe,

Put the trimmed broccoli in the steamer basket, cover and set the timer to the recommended cooking time.

As usual, add the pepper if you like it.

The recipe calls for roasting in the oven but this could easily be made on an outdoor grill for summer too.

Continue reading “Roasted broccoli and green bean recipes” →

August 10, 2015 2

Grilling season is here — how about grilled salad?

Grilling is a summer favorite. I’ve done grilled vegetables like zucchini for parties and for our consumption over the years. But I never thought of grilling a salad until I saw this in Bon Apetit recently.

I would modify this recipe. Take out the salt, of course. I’d also eliminate the avocado and the pistachios because I don’t like either. If you do, keep them. I’d substitute in some grilled asparagus and grilled portobello mushrooms along with grilled zucchini too.

I like the idea of grilling tomato, I’ve done that for shish kabobs with white meat chicken, using cherry tomatoes which hold up better on the heat than if you tried to slice a regular tomato and use that. Continue reading “Grilling season is here — how about grilled salad?” →

June 30, 2015 2

Roasted baby potatoes — a tasty and simple-to-make side dish

Roasted potatoes are a simple but flavorful side dish perfect for summer grilling, or making indoors if you don’t have an outside kitchen.

This simple potato recipe provides a fun summer side dish.

I found a simple Rachel Ray recipe that uses rosemary as its principle spice. I started with a mixture of baby Yukon gold and baby red potatoes. If you’re watching your sugar, red potatoes are better for you. Cut the potatoes in half and put them on a cookie sheet or whatever you use for outdoor cooking. Continue reading “Roasted baby potatoes — a tasty and simple-to-make side dish” →

June 9, 2015 1

Asparagus cooking, storing tips to help save money

Asparagus is a veggie I’ve been eating a lot more of since my 2012 angioplasty. But it can be expensive, $3 a pound and more, so I tend to only buy it on sale. Whatever the price, I’m always up for tips on how to prepare it and how to preserve it longer so I don’t waste as much, part of my new push for better meal planning.

So I was pleased to see some tips from my supermarket chain Jewel that I actually found helpful rather than silly as I do many cooking and food tips from food stores.

You can read the tips here. I never knew the one about wrapping the bottom of asparagus in a damp paper towel to help it last longer in the frig.

I also liked the advice about cooking at high heat and pre-heating a baking sheet, both of which I’ll try.

I like topping asparagus with low-salt panko breadcrumbs and putting them under a broiler to crisp.

You can find other asparagus recipes in a post I wrote about 25 veggie cooking ideas.
John

April 28, 2015 0

Tag: vegetables