Category: food

is there no middle ground?

What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?

If you work out the numbers, you come to the surreal conclusion that you can eat lard straight from the can and conceivably reduce your risk of heart disease.

According to this article, the medical community has, for 30 years, denounced the Atkins Diet (eat all the protein and fat you want with no carbs), but has lately begun to realize there may be some validity to it. I was concerned that I was digging my family’s graves with a wooden spoon, with my pasta and potatoes. But then I refreshed my memory about what the Atkins Diet consists of.

To me, it sounds a lot like a “name your poison” argument. Eat cheeseburgers three times a day and have a heart attack, or eat a variety of foods and have one.

The underlying question for me is why has the medical establishment been so shrill in its denunciations of these ideas? And why should we accept their endorsement now, assuming they offer one?

A quick Googling tells me vegetarians like myself are doomed to apostasy in Dr Atkins world: fruits and vegetables are bad, bad, bad. This all runs counter to any nutitional information I have ever come across. A balanced diet and common sense — eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full, and lay off the Twinkies — would do more for this problem than all the books ever written on the subject.

The few extra pounds of evident prosperity I carry could have been avoided by managing my hankerings for various nutritionless goodies. Good old willpower goes a long way.

Courtesy of Frank.

summertime, now available in 5 lb bags

The unfairly reviled QFC grocery chain has 5 pound bags of nectarines on sale right now. I have never seen them in that quantity before. I believe in rewarding good behavior, so I bought a bag.

This takes my QFC advantage card savings past the $200 mark, or 2 weeks of free groceries. Hard to complain about that.

chicago/deep dish pizza

Made this twice in the last week: it needs some refinement, but here’s a starting point.

It’s pretty hardware-intensive, but nothing unusual. You need a heavy skillet, as in cast-iron heavy. A food processor helps, but is not required.

Shred a cup or two of mozzarella. Drain well, then roughly chop a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes. If you pulse them in the food processor, toss in a clove or two of garlic, a generous amount of basil and oregano, and a few red pepper flakes.

Prepare your other fillings (broccoli, spinach, pepperoni, sausage, etc.).

Preheat the oven to 450.

Take 1/2 pound of pizza dough and make a large round, big enough to fill the pan, right up the sides.

Lay the mozzarella in the bottom, and then add the tomatoes (yes, uncooked: they’ll cook just fine where they’re going).

Add the other fillings, and top with a generous amount of parmesan, then bake until browned: about 40 minutes ought to do it. Let it stand for a few minutes before cutting.

If you have dough in the fridge, this all goes together very quickly, and the long baking time gives you time to make a salad.

Summer meals: potato salad

Always a welcome addition to the table, and I cobbled together this dressing last night.

To 2 pounds scrubbed, diced, boiled, and cooled red potatoes, add:

1/2 cup mayo (could use a stock, but I haven’t tried it)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 – 1 tsp chinese mustard power
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all that together, add it to the potatoes, and serve warm.

dinner

Tonight, homemade pizza on the grill. This seems to be common here in the Northwest. It works really well, especially with a pizza stone on the grill.

Home made dough for the crust, home made marinara sauce, veggie pepperoni, spinach, and cheeses on one, sundried tomatoes, spinach, and cheeses on the other. Nice and crisp and browned on 9 minutes.