Challenge - 3rd Week Homework

[Rob]

ok, so we're a good two weeks into this challenge and I wanted to pose a new challenge for you this week.

Consider it homework.

One of the driving forces of this winter challenge is become better educated about food and especially whole foods. So, with that in mind, I have some homework if you're so challenged.

1. Find a new vegetable that you've not eaten before and :
2. Research the vegetable - what are the nutritional benefits, amounts of fiber, is it a starch or not and do a small report about it, then :
3. Create a recipe using the new vegetable. Or work the vegetable into a recipe that you already make and then :
4. Post your report and your recipe here in the Challenge Homework Topic

Seeing as how it's the holidays - lets make this a two week challenge. Two full weeks to make this happen.

[Michele]

Nice challenge. I like it.

I have started watching a show called "The Truth About Food". With in each one hour show, they find volunteers and test out food "rumors". Example: Does tomato paste help protect your skin? They are very scientific about it and the answer to that question is yes, it helps protect against the sun's harmful rays.

Another experiment, for 12 days they had a group of people eating the same diet as our primitive ancestors - only fruits and vegetables. A nutritionist made the meal plans so they were getting everything needed. One person had NEVER EATEN CAULIFLOWER BEFORE! I was shocked! Sorry, that was the long explanation to tell you a grown man had never eaten cauliflower.

I am kinda looking forward to my next grocery store visit!

[bearlyjoe]

Do you want to play "STUMP THE VEGAN KNOW-IT-ALL?"

Actually, I am not able to think of a vegetable available here that I haven't tried. We have the largest outdoor farmer's market in the US here in Madison, and we've tried pretty much everything -- daikon, sunchokes, kohlrabi, rabe, chayote, all kinds of greens -- and the only vegetable I absolutely won't eat (but have tried) is okra, which looks like snot when you cook it. Here's what I will do, if it is acceptable: if anyone wants to try to stump me, I will look for and try any new vegetable you suggest. If it is one I already eat, and you don't know what to do with it, I will post one of my favorite recipes using that vegetable.

Interesting vegetable factoid: some vegetables are better for you cooked. Broccoli and spinach, for instance, both make more nutrients available when you lightly cook them than are available when you eat them raw. They aren't bad for you if you eat them raw, just better for you if lightly cooked. A few vegetables should never be eaten raw; in particular, mushrooms, even the white button 'shrooms that come under plastic, have toxins that are destroyed by the cooking process. You won't notice any immediate effects from eating them raw, but the long term effects are unknown and not well investigated.

[photogirl67]

I'll play!

okay, how about these:

kai lan (also known as gai lan or chinese broccoli)
bok choy
swiss chard
edamame beans
daikon
Jicama

[bearlyjoe]

I'll play!

okay, how about these:

kai lan (also known as gai lan or chinese broccoli)
bok choy
swiss chard
edamame beans
daikon
Jicama

Except for bok choy, which ran out in June, I have all of these in my refrigerator right now. I love the flavor of kai lan, especially sauteed in a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with fresh marjoram or thyme and a tiny bit of salt.

Bok choy is not my favorite when cooked, but I love to use it in salads when it is in season. I will use it in a stir fry if I am going to eat all of it right away, but I don't care for it when it has been sitting in the fridge and reheated.

Chard is one of my favorite greens, and is grown locally in several varieties. It also tolerates the cold quite well, and is available here in Wisconsin year round. I like to trim out the large, central stem, then coarsely chop the leaves. It is great steamed with a bit of Bragg Liquid Aminos, then drizzled with a tiny amount of dark roasted sesame oil and sprinkled with Aleppo pepper and sesame seeds. Another way I like to use it is in casseroles or lasagna. I've added it to soups, and it is fine, but for this use I like a hardier green, like collards or kale.

Daikon is a wonderful radish that comes available during the end of the summer and the fall harvest. If you cellar it or refrigerate it, it seems to last forever. You can can shred it or slice it for salads, but it is wonderful in soups and stir fries. I don't think of it as being particularly nutritious, but the spicy flavor and crunch do a lot for your palate.

My favorite way to eat jicama, which I learned from some Persian friends, is to peel it and cut it into sticks, then drizzle it with a little lime juice and sprinkle it with minced fresh mint. It makes a flavorful and satisfying healthful snack. I also like it naked. Food texture is a big deal for me, and plain jicama is also a little sweet to my palate. I think that is because I eat no concentrated sweets -- someone who had cake for lunch might not taste the sweetness.

I saved edamame for last because it is my favorite out of the list. I like to buy it in the pod and steam it before popping the beans into my mouth (don't eat the pods!), which is the Japanese style, but my absolute favorite thing to do with edamame is this:

2 - 3 big bags frozen, organic, shelled edamame (20 to 32 ounces, depending on bag size)
2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos (or 1 to 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce plus 1 tablespoon of water)
1 or 2 tablespoons water (unless there is that much frost in the bags)
1 scant teaspoon dark roasted sesame oil
1 scant teaspoon canola or extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes, optional)
1 bunch scallions (green onions), diced finely (about 1/3-1/2 cup diced)

Put the beans and Bragg's in a non-stick sauce pan on medium heat and cover just until the frost is gone and the beans move around easily when stirred. Remove the cover and let the liquid come to a gentle boil. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, just until the liquid boils off. Remove from heat. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Let sit a few minutes to allow flavors to combine.

I portion this into half-cup servings and refrigerate it. It keeps for at least a week. Sometimes I reheat it, but most often I eat it cold or dump it into a big salad for lunch.

Per 1/2 cup: 190 kcal, 8.9 g fat, 1.1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 16.9 g protein, 14.5 g carb, 5.4 g fiber, 128 mg sodium, 254 mg, calcium. Estimated based on using 30 ounces of shelled edamame per other ingredients as listed.

I should mention that last summer I bought 30 pounds of fresh edamame from one of our local organic CSAs when it was in season. I cleaned it, steamed it, shelled it, and froze the beans. I'm a big fan of putting food by, but this was simply not worth it. Edamame is hard to work with, and better left to the pros for processing. It took me three days of hard labor to produce maybe twenty-five 12-ounce bags of edamame. From now on, that is one vegetable I buy ready to go.

[IsaBabe]

Okay, so I could pronounce only one of those new veggies Dar! Thanks for the lessons you two!
I have to say I have been pretty stuck with the veggies...the kids and the hubby are hard to move onto new things...but I have to say I did see collard greens in the grocery store in Galveston Texas and some lady told me to ccok it like spinach, til it is kind of mushy ...what do you think?

[bearlyjoe]

Oh, don't do that. Yuck. Don't do it to spinach, either.

Do this:

Rinse the collards. Lay the big leaves face down on your cutting board, and using a small, sharp knife, trim out the large, center stem and toss them in the composter. Stack the leaves, and slice them at an angle into one-inch wide strips. Watch your fingers.

In a large saute or frying pan (or even a heavy soup pot), saute about a half-cup of diced onion or shallots in a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, until translucent. Toss in a clove or two of minced garlic, then the greens, mixing them thoroughly with the onions and coating them with the remainder of the oil. Reduce the heat and cover the pan (glass top is good, so you can see!). Every minute or so, turn and mix the greens until they are a rich, dark green, and tender. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes. They will cook down a LOT, but not as much as spinach. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a touch of salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Eat those puppies with some spicy red beans and brown rice... oh, man! Now I'm hungry. If the greens are bitter, or just if you care to, dribble a little vinegar on them. I like balsamic, but with kids (and adults, too, actually) it's a mess. Malt vinegar or whatever you like is fine.

[Rob]

Rinse the collards. Lay the big leaves face down on your cutting board, and using a small, sharp knife, trim out the large, center stem and toss them in the composter.

Or when you're running out of soup stock, begin a bag of veggie "bits" to use for home made stock. We keep our bits for about a week before we make stock. Any veggie parts and bits go in the bag.

it's funny, every time I see veggie bits I now say "worm food" !!

[photogirl67]

Joey

Wow, I bow to you! You are the vegan know it all, LOL.

How long have you been vegan? I've done it for a while, been back and forth.

[bearlyjoe]

I think it has been just about four years now. I've been vegetarian most of my life, and tried a few vegan experiments. It was always difficult because I was not hanging around with anyone who was trying it with me. My husband decided he wanted to go vegan after seeing Super Size Me when it came out. With both of us going veg, it was pretty easy after that!