Vegetarian Foodie

The 5 Second Rule

I had the Pleasure of waiting tables for a good 15 years of my life. I am no stranger to the 5 second rule.  Essentially, the 5 second rule states that if something drops onto the floor and is retrieved within 5 seconds it is okay to serve or eat. I am not certain who invented this rule but what is for certain is that the 5 second rule is popular in restaurants and even homes around the globe. In fact, research conducted in 2003 by Jillian Clarke states that upwards of 50% of adult men and 70% of adult women know about and employ the 5 second rule.

It looks as though a man called Paul Dawson and his research group over at Clemson University have proved some validity in regards to the 5 second rule:

"On surfaces that had been contaminated eight hours earlier, slices of bologna and bread left for five seconds took up from 150 to 8,000 bacteria. Left for a full minute, slices collected about 10 times more than that from the tile and carpet, though a lower number from the wood."

Well who would have thought there was actually truth to the 5 second rule? Read more about the 5 second rule as well as other assorted oddities over at the Freakonomics blog (great book by the way).   

Bangers and Mash

Bangers and Mash is English pub grub which offers a plate of sausages, mashed potatoes as well as a vegetable. Often the plate is topped with onion gravy.
Boca makes a delightful vegetarian banger that allows a vegetarian spin off a popular meat dish.
Another thing I like about this meal is the amount of freedom it allows the cook. You can choose your favorite vegetable side or simply prepare what is on hand. The mashers can be instant or properly mashed potatoes depending on how much time and energy you have.
This meal cooperates with seasons in that it is delicious on a stormy night with a hot glass of wine or equally grand on a balmy evening while drinking ice cold frothy beer.

The Cost of Food

Yesterday I stumbled across an interesting link from the US Gov. It is a table of estimated Cost of Food at Home. The table estimates weekly food expenditures for different sized families with varied spending habits that dates back to 1994. I clicked on February of 2007 and apparently, a family of four using the Liberal Food Plan will spend $203.20 per week. Compare the Liberal Food Plan to the Thrifty Food Plan in which a family of 4 will spend $106.70 per week.

Last week I maintained my grocery receipts and here are the results: Minus the $49.93 spent on wine & beer and the $11.98 spent on fresh cut flowers, my total food cost was $194.05.

I'd say the people that developed this table are pretty spot on if their concept of liberal includes purchasing fresh organic produce, baguette and French cheese. That is just the thing, the definitions of 'thrifty' and 'liberal' are vague but based on the food pyramid. A pamphlet on the same website states that, "Because most people have a diet that needs improvement, this revision of the market baskets is an important means of helping households eat more healthfully."     Interesting statement.

How does your weekly spend on food compare to the table? Do you feel as though your family eats healthy?   

Ranch Dressing Recipe

About 2 years ago, my friend Malia and I became obsessed with ranch dressing. Ranch dressing, when made properly, is simply dazzling with almost anything. We started comparing ranch dressing recipes from every neighborhood restaurant and decided that at the end of the day, ranch dressing was not living up to its potential. After many hours in the kitchen and modifications on dozens of recipes for ranch dressing, we came up with the following recipe. The secret is a lot of garlic! Feel free to add more if you are a real garlic lover.

• 4 cloves of garlic mashed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
• 1 scallion trimmed and sliced
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• Pepper to taste

1. Combine garlic and salt into a paste of goo
2. In a bowl, whisk everything together
3. Pepper to taste

The above recipe makes about 12 oz.

Serve as a side, with veggies, with crusty bread... whatever you like.

Cantaloupe Juice

I live in Southern California and we are experiencing a heat wave at the moment. This is how we chill out when the thermometer reaches 90 degrees:

• Slice your cantaloupe and remove the seeds
• Chop into bite sized chunks
• Now juice your cantaloupe-any juicer or blender will do
• Add a few squeezes of lime to taste 

You will be delighted at how refreshing and invigorating cantaloupe juice is.

Dessert Disaster

The dessert I served Saturday night turned into a right mess. Conceptually, the recipe sounded lovely:

A scoop of coffee ice cream
A shot of Frangelico
A shot of strong coffee

Combine all these ingredients in a small bowl

Simple enough. So I did just that. The result was goop. The coffee melted the ice cream and the guests began drinking from their bowls. The taste was sort of good -sort of not good. I decided that the original recipe is just all wrong. 

This is my suggestion to improve on the recipe:

First, treat the recipe as the drink it really is. Also, rather than an after dinner affair, this recipe deserves a warm afternoon in the garden backdrop.

• Place Coffee ice cream and coffee in a blender-whip to a frothy thinnish shake
• Pour over ice
• Serve a shot of Frangelico on the side

Bottoms up!

A Quote About Food

The perfect lover is one who turns into pizza at 4 A.M.
- Charles Pierce

Blanched Broccoli

Last night for dinner I decided to blanch the broccoli. I cut the stems off, washed the florets, and proceeded to break the broccoli florets into bite size chunks. I filled a pot with about one quart of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. When the water was boiling furiously I tossed in the broccoli. After two minutes the broccoli emerged a vibrant dark green (Blanching is commonly used to accentuate the colors of vegetables). I then tossed the broccoli in olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and chopped garlic. Delicious.

 

Costa Rican Casada

Casada is a traditional dish found in Costa Rica. Casada means "married" in Spanish and the dish reflects its namesake in that all the food appears married on the plate. A traditional casada consists of rice and beans, meat, cabbage salad and fried plantains (however, I never had a hard time finding a vegetarian casada while traveling in Costa Rica).

Aside from the very traditional rice and beans found on every casada plate, one can add what they like or in my case what is in the kitchen. Casada can usually be thrown together quickly especially when I combine fresh food with something quick and easy. Trader Joe's offers delicious vegetarian tamales that go great on a casada plate. Quesadillas always look good on a casada plate. Avocados are almost mandatory on my casada plate. The fun thing about casada is that no plate is really the same and casada offers an opportunity to get creative in the kitchen. The most recent casada plate sporting rice, beans, avocados, vegetarian bacon strips, tamales, shredded jack cheese, spinach and carrots is pictured below.

Green Beans Recipe

Green beans have so much to offer: Vitamin K, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, and iron. Green beans are also low in calories (just 43.75 calories in a whole         cup).

The following recipe for green beans is easy and delicious:

Serves 2

• Two handfuls of green beans washed and trimmed
• Place green beans into a baking dish along with a sliced shallot
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Bake at 425 for 15 minutes
• While green beans are baking, toast a handful of chopped hazelnuts
• Pull green beans out of the oven and top with hazelnuts and lemon juice to taste

Enjoy!