Angela’s Foodie Blog

April 19, 2016April 26, 2016

Coconut Confetti Rice

I’ve made this rice a couple of times for a side and I can tell you that it is AMAZING with the Gochujang Salmon! Don’t be afraid of the jalapeno, it is not noticeably hot. It just gives depth of flavour.

Coconut Confetti Rice

1 cup basmati rice, rinsed
1 cup chicken broth or water
1 cup coconut milk (sometimes called cream – NOT coconut water)
1 tsp curry powder (use two if you’re going for Indian/Asian flavour)
1/3 cup red onion, small dice
1 jalapeño, small dice
1 tsp butter
1 tsp EVOO
S/P
Juice of 1/2 lime

In a 2 quart sauce pan, melt butter and EVOO over med hi heat. Add in onion and jalapeño, cook for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Add curry powder and cook another minute. Add rinsed rice and stir to coat. Add coconut milk and stock. Turn up heat to high until you get to boil, then reduce to med to simmer. Simmer covered for about 12-15 minutes, until the rice is cooked through. If the liquid boils out, add a little more water. When rice is al dente, turn off heat add lime juice, and leave covered for another 8-10 minutes for perfectly fluffy rice.

Despite the curry powder, this rice is pretty neutral in taste and delicious with any protein – unless you double the curry to make it more Indian/Asian. I especially like it with my Gochujang Salmon, but it would be great with a teriyaki chicken or even a spicy pork. It is the best rice side I think I’ve ever had. I hope you enjoy it!

April 16, 2016December 22, 2017

Base Recipe for Pureed Veg & Soups

I refuse to believe that you have to eat nothing but protein shakes and fruit smoothies for 2 months – as the diet plan from the nutritionist indicated. Just because you can’t eat much, does not mean that you have to eat flavourless goo. I don’t eat a lot of fruit in the first place, so I can’t see me being into it after surgery. I will be using Silk fortified soy milk since it has protein and calcium added. I have no idea what I’ll be able to eat after the gastric sleeve, but by the gods, I want to have delicious savoury options at the ready. I’m sure I’ll tire of sweet things since I don’t eat sweets much now.

These are recipes for bariatric diet weeks 3-4, which is pureed soups. You can use any root vegetable you like: carrot, potato, parsnip, celeriac. It will also work with tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, butternut squash, mushrooms and roasted red pepper. Actually, this same recipe will work for soft foods weeks 4-8, just reduce the liquid and you’ll have pureed veg. Weeks 1-2 are clear liquids, so I think anyone can figure out BROTH. I will suggest getting some beef bone broth from a Korean grocery if you have one. And miso soup would be good, too.

You’ll need flavourless whey protein to add to everything you eat. I’d make the puree/soup, then add the protein only to your serving to keep it from affecting the overall texture of the puree/soup. I am making purees and freezing them for quick and easy prep when I get back home. I’m also making lots and lots of homemade chicken stock to try to boost the protein content as much as possible.

The key to making any of these purees is the NutriBullet. GET ONE. If you are getting any sort of bariatric surgery and must follow a pureed diet, the NutriBullet will do everything you need. You can do smoothies, sure, but this thing makes veg into a beautiful smooth puree, which is perfect for soups or soft foods. Today I made Carrot & Ginger puree with coconut milk:

Carrot & Ginger Puree/Soup with Coconut Milk

1# carrots, scrubbed (no need to peel), sliced
1 medium white onion, med dice
EVOO
1 Tbl garlic paste
2 Tbl ginger paste (These pastes are Indian items. I highly recommend them for these purees.)
2 cups +/- chicken stock
S/P
1/4 cup coconut milk (Sometimes called cream. NOT coconut water!)

In a 2 qt saucepan, add a bit of EVOO to the bottom and put over med hi heat. Toss in carrots and onions and cook for about 5 minutes – do not brown. Add in garlic and ginger, and enough stock to just cover the veg and cook at a fast simmer for about 15 minutes, until carrots and onions are soft. Take off the heat and check S/P. Puree the veg in the NutriBullet. Add coconut milk to the puree and stir in. Leave as is for puree or add more chicken stock to thin down to a soup.

The base for about 1 quart of puree is just this:
1# Veg, sliced or diced
1 Onion, diced
1 Tbl Garlic, minced or use paste
2 cups +/- chicken or beef stock
S/P

Cook until soft, check seasoning, puree. That’s it. If you’re freezing, do NOT add any dairy. You can add that when you make the soup. All these can be made with soy milk and veg stock or water if you’re vegan.

And don’t forget to add your plain whey protein when you eat. Assuming a 1/4 cup serving, one recipe should give you about 16 servings! The protein doesn’t add any significant flavour. I am using Vitacost whey protein which is really good: 18gm protein per scoop for plain; 22gm protein per scoop for flavoured. They have all the chewable vitamins you need, too.

NOTE! DO NOT MICROWAVE protein powder! It’s fine spun into smoothies, but other than that, protein powder can be tricky. The key is to make the soup, get your hot portion, then stir in the powder. It dissolves best in hot liquid. If you microwave the powder, it poofs up and coagulates. NOT appealing.

Ideas (going from the base puree and adding flavours):
Potatoes with Mexican crema
Parsnips with pepper and cream
Celeriac with shallots
Tomatoes (use Italian crushed) add basil and cream if desired (could need some sugar if toms are acidic)
Spinach (use frozen chopped) add nutmeg and cream
Broccoli with balsamic vinegar OR Mexican crema
Butternut squash with coconut milk
Mushrooms with sherry, nutmeg and cream
Roasted red pepper with basil and cream

I hope these recipes will help others who have gotten bariatric surgery! Flavour forever! XO

April 8, 2016April 25, 2016

Bariatric Diet Recipes

I think I’m going to use my cooking skills to create some bariatric recipes. The crap given to me by the nutritionist is horrible. I don’t know what in the hell they teach nutritionists in school, but good eating isn’t it. I remember the dietician giving Dave his dialysis diet, which had to be low in potassium and fluids as well as diabetic safe. It was crap. She had him eating grapes as a snack – ALL SUGAR!! He was never once put on a low carb diet for diabetes. NEVER. Which is probably why he died at 48. He ate a horrible diet for as long as I knew him – about 20 years.

Anyway, I figure since I’m going to be making tons of soups and soft foods for myself, I may as well share them with everyone else. You know my food will taste great, no matter if it’s liquid or soft!!

I’m also going to do a vlog to document my experience. Why not? The best information I got was from a vlog, but the chick was 15 years younger than I am. I think if a 50 year old makes a vlog about bariatric surgery, perhaps it might appeal to older women.

In any case, I’m going to do the recipes as their own section and make the vlog as I go along. I hope it helps someone else with getting gastric sleeve.

March 27, 2016March 27, 2017

Shakshuka for Two

I stumbled across a recipe for this thing called shakshuka a couple of weeks ago. It’s a Middle Eastern breakfast dish. Suddenly I start hearing about this all over Food TV. Weird! So here is my take on this dish. It’s easy, low carb and very tasty! [Nowadays, this recipe would feed FOUR. I cannot eat half of that! It is two BIG servings, take note! This is not a dish that would reheat well unless you leave off the eggs or package leftovers with a poached egg. Tricky.]

Shakshuka for Two

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium green pepper, diced
4-5 mushrooms, diced
1/2 jalapeño, minced w/out seeds or ribs
1/2 cup frozen spinach, or 1 cup fresh chopped
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes, drained if watery (OR 1 small box Italian crushed as pictured)
1 tbsp tomato paste (NOT necessary if you use thick Italian tomatoes)
1-2 tsp sugar (depending on how acidic your tomatoes are. TASTE.)
1/2 tsp ancho powder (you can sub cayenne, but cut back to 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup crumbled feta
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley or cilantro garnish

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat oil in a small nonstick, oven safe skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeño, spinach and shrooms. Cook gently until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add ancho, cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes, and cook 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes (and tomato paste if using) and season with salt and pepper to taste; simmer until tomatoes have thickened, about 5 minutes (UNLESS you’re using the thick Italian tomatoes, then you might need to add a couple Tbl water). Be gentle with salt, feta cheese is salty! Turn off heat and gently stir in crumbled feta. The tomatoes and veg should be pretty thick, adjust liquid accordingly.

3. Gently crack eggs into a small bowl and use the bowl to make a well in the tomatoes as you pour the egg in. Season eggs lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, 7 to 10 minutes. The eggs will look raw on top; don’t overcook them (as I did in this test!). Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley. (Which I didn’t do in the photo!)

March 17, 2016January 13, 2018

Gochujang Roasted Salmon with Panko

I’ve fallen in love with gochujang! It’s the Korean chili paste used in all sorts of Korean dishes. This is a marinade recipe that I use on salmon with a crispy panko topping. You can leave off the panko if you like, but it does give an excellent texture.

Gochujang Salmon

Gochujang Roasted Salmon with Panko

Marinade:
(double for 4 servings or larger filets)
1 Tbl gochujang paste (I like the one in the square red container)
1 Tbl soy sauce or ponzu if you have it
1 Tbl Mirin
1 Tbl Doenjang (Korean miso; I like the one in the square green container)
1 tsp lime juice (if using plain soy)

Panko:
2 Tbl panko
.5 tsp ground white pepper
.5 tsp salt
1 tsp lime zest
1 tsp olive oil

2 4oz salmon filets (the ones pictured in marinade are 8oz filets, the finished one is 4oz)
2 lime quarters

Mix up the marinade and cover the salmon. Refrigerate for an hour or two.

Preheat the oven to 425F. Stir together panko ingredients and top the filets with it. The marinade should provide enough adhesion for the panko, which should be at least 1/2 inch thick. Put the leftover marinade with a tsp of water in the microwave for a minute or two – long enough to boil it. Once it’s boiled, you can use it as a sauce. You can also put cream and/or a pat of butter in the marinade for a richer sauce.

Put salmon on a rack over a parchment sheet (or foil) covered baking sheet and roast for about 6 minutes. If you don’t have racks, roast directly on covered sheet pan. The panko should be getting brown at the end of 6 minutes. Once it’s browned, cover salmon lightly with a piece of foil so the panko does not burn. Your total cooking time will be about 15 minutes. Salmon should be around 130F internal temp for medium. Remember that it will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat, so a reading of 120F is good.

Serve with a lime quarter and some of the marinade/sauce drizzled over.

Serve with my Creamy Apple and Fennel Slaw, Confetti Rice or sautéed green beans with sesame oil and lime juice.