Summer Vegetable Tortilla

At the end of last week, Adam and I roasted a very large batch of summer vegetables: zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, peppers, and celery. We ate these for dinner on Thursday with a meat sauce, added some of the leftovers to our Greek salad on Friday, and finally used the remains for a Roasted Vegetable Tortilla (or a cross between a tortilla and an omelette) on Monday. This turned out to be a tasty, and very budget-friendly way to enjoy the vegetables of the season. These are all dishes that everyone can make - it's that easy!

To roast the vegetables, simply chop them into large pieces, throw them into a roasting pan, coat with oil, season with salt and pepper, and place in a 400 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes. Stir the vegetables once or twice and test periodically with a cake tester. If you are using small tomatoes, add them whole after about 30 minutes, to avoid over-cooking them.

We sometimes add some chopped herbs as well, depending on how we are serving this. Roasted vegetables are great with fish and meat dishes, or with a yogurt-chutney sauce and a salad as a lighter meal.

For the tortilla, chop the leftover veggies into smaller pieces, and add them to a mixture of:

4 eggs, whisked
~ 1/4 cup Plain Yogurt
~ 2 tbs. Oat Flour
A Small Handful of Herbs (Sage and Parsley in our case)
1/8 tsp. Salt (since the roasted veggies are already salted)
Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients. Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan. When the pan is hot, add the mixture and stir for a few moments, until the eggs just begin to cook. At that point, spread the batter out evenly in the pan and let cook, covered. If the tortilla is browning too quickly on the bottom, turn the heat down for the rest of the cooking time. The tortilla is done when the top has set.

Roasting veggies are a cheap and flexible way to use vegetables you have around the house, augmenting with in-season veggies from the store or farmer's market. If you are able to make a big batch, you really can produce food for several meals at once, saving time, energy, and your budget.

Feeding Your Pet (Cat) Update

When I last wrote about my cat food troubles, I promised to post an update when my research had progressed further. I have continued to read and research the pros and cons of various brands and types of food. After reading Ann Martin's book Foods Pets Die For, I felt I needed to try some of the "natural", "healthier" brands. However, Kia did not take well to several brands that I tried. In fact, she had trouble keeping her meals down.

I then heard about a book that had just come out by Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim, entitled Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Cat (2010). Marion Nestle is very well-known for her work on human nutrition and the food industry, so I knew that she would have done her research. According to these authors, unless you make your own pet food, there is not a significant difference in the quality of the food in the major brands, even the ones labeled "natural".

However, I did read in both sources that feeding your cat a diet of too much fish can be detrimental because, historically, this is not a source of food in the wild. Therefore, cats may not get all the nutrients they need from fish. In addition, the mercury content in certain fish can be harmful, as it is to humans. I was giving Kia mainly canned food with fish flavors, and therefore, I have switched to beef and poultry. I have stayed with Fancy Feast wet food and Science Diet dry food, though, because she seems to react well to those brands.

I still maintain hope to one day switch Kia to homemade food, but additional research is still needed to make that transition.

Tina and Adam's Granola

We, in my household, are big fans of granola. We like granola with our yogurt, milk, or kefir. In the past, we bought Trader Joe's granola, most often the Vanilla Almond flavor. However, as we were going through quite a lot of this product each week, we started to take a closer look at the nutritional content. Although Trader Joe's granola is very good, it does contain a higher amount of sugar than I would like. Therefore, about a year and a half ago, we came up with our own recipe.

I have mentioned before that Adam does a lot of the everyday cooking in our house. However, granola is my territory. We came up with the recipe together, but I took responsibility for making a big batch every couple of weeks. Over time, I have tweaked the recipe slightly, and will share it with you in its current form.

1 1/2 lbs. rolled oats (regular, not quick cooking)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (or to taste)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup water
2 cups mixed nuts, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

Mix the first 8 ingredients together (through water) in a big bowl, using your hands to clump the oats together. Once everything is well blended, pour the mixture onto the lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

While the granola begins to bake, chop 2 cups of nuts (I usually use almonds and walnuts, but the recipe is completely flexible). After 10 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and add the chopped nuts, stirring to mix with the oats. Bake for another 15 minutes. Again, remove from the oven and stir the mixture carefully. Finally, bake for another 15 minutes and remove from the oven. At this time, stir in the dried fruit and let cool on the cookie sheet. When cool, store in a sealed container to keep fresh.

This recipe can be made in many different ways. I have experimented with various dried fruits, chopping the larger pieces when necessary. For instance, I recommend dried apricots, cherries, or prunes. I also think dried blueberries or strawberries would be very good. The same idea applies to the nuts that you decide to include. You can just use one kind of nut, or several, or a complete mix.

This is a great money-saver for us. One batch of this granola lasts much longer than any box, or several boxes, of store-bought granola. We have many of the ingredients at home already for baking or other cooking, and the nuts and dried fruit can also be used as snacks. Buying regular rolled oats, especially in the bulk section of your supermarket or natural food store, is very budget-friendly, and as I said, a little goes a long way.

Rosendals Gardens

While on my recent trip to Sweden, I went somewhere in Stockholm that I had never been before, and it blew me away: Rosendals Gardens. The gardens are located on Djurgarden, an island within the city limits. They originally belonged to Rosendals Castle, built in the early 19th century by King Karl XIV Johan. Today, these gardens are maintained by a private foundation, but open to the general public.

The main focus is on organic garden cultivation, with vegetables, fruit orchards, and even wine grapes all being grown organically. Visitors are free to walk around and learn about how the different foods we eat and drink grow and develop. Produce from the gardens is sold in a shop on the premises, and there is a cafe serving only food from the gardens or the bakery on-site.

I was amazed at seeing how food that I eat every day grows. I had never seen an artichoke plant before, for instance, and had absolutely no idea it grows on a stalk. I wish we all could have the opportunity to get in touch with our food at this level and really understand the process of producing ingredients for the meals we eat, both at home and in restaurants. I know it has opened my eyes, and has increased my respect for nature and organic farming.

The state of Sweden's school lunches

I am finally back from my trip to Sweden and able to post on my blog again. While I was away, I read a very interesting article in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter about the state of food available in schools and homes for the elderly. For completeness, I am providing a link to the article here (DN Debatt), but it is in Swedish.

When I was in elementary school (in Sweden), we received free lunch in the cafeteria every day. There was always a hot meal prepared by the cafeteria staff, as well as bread and side dishes. Each day, two students from one of the classes were assigned to help the staff prepare lunch and wash dishes. I always thought this was a great system because the food was prepared in-house, not partially cooked, frozen and then shipped in from a central processing center. All of us kids were also learning about the process and what it took to provide lunch for the whole school.

According to this article, this is now a dying practice in Swedish schools, as well as in homes for the elderly. In many cases, lunch is centrally prepared by large catering companies and shipped out to all of the area schools. In addition, students no longer help with the food preparation and clean-up processes because everything has been brought in and must only be heated up. The authors cite many problems with this new system, including the toll this type of food preparation takes on the nutritional value of each ingredient. For example, the authors cite a Dutch study showing how antioxidants found in brussels sprouts and broccoli are destroyed in the various preparation stages, leaving those ingredients devoid of key nutritional value. This new system has also led to parents and students having decreased knowledge about what is actually in the food served at school.

This article served as a wake-up call for me to realize that this is going on all over the world. This is not a problem that we in the US struggle with alone, and it's so important to deal with the issues surrounding school lunches (and meals provided in elderly care homes) before we lose touch with what is going into our bodies at such a young age.

Summer Salad

During the summer, my husband and I love to have big salads for dinner. We tend to keep it simple, using a few select, but very fresh ingredients. Tomatoes are a favorite at this time of year. A salad is enough for the two of us, but if it's not enough for you, I suggest getting a fresh whole grain bread from your favorite bakery and perhaps a nice cheese or hummus to spread on top.

We make our own dressing at home, as we have found it to be much more budget and health-friendly than many store-bought dressings. It is a great way to save money on your weekly grocery shopping. The process of making your own dressing is very quick and easy, and we usually have the ingredients at home for other reasons anyway. An added bonus is that you avoid all of the preservatives and additives (including high amounts of sodium) that can be found in many pre-made dressings.

Dressing:

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbs. mustard, depending on your preferences
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk the balsamic vinegar and mustard until blended. Add the olive oil and whisk until incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Salad:

Mixed salad greens, a large bunch (we like to mix spinach and arugula, for instance)
A large handful of ripe tomatoes, chopped as you like
1 can beans (cannellini or garbanzo work great)
~2.5 oz goat cheese

Pour dressing into your salad bowl. Add the tomatoes and beans, mixing with the dressing. Chop the salad greens, before adding to the bowl. Mix with dressing and other ingredients. Finally, break the goat cheese down into chunks and add to the salad. At this point, you can choose to mix gently, creaming the cheese slightly, or just serve with the cheese on top.

Serve with a bright red or summer rose wine.