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    Healthy Small Plates, Volumes 1 & 2: First Courses, Light Lunches, Simple Suppers
    Healthy Small Plates, Volumes 1 & 2: First Courses, Light Lunches, Simple Suppers
    Healthy Small Plates, Volumes 1 & 2: First Courses, Light Lunches, Simple Suppers
    Ebook295 pages1 hour

    Healthy Small Plates, Volumes 1 & 2: First Courses, Light Lunches, Simple Suppers

    By Kate Zeller

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Healthy eating. Everyone talks about it. Everyone wants to do it, Everyone knows one should do it. Why is it so difficult?
    Guess what? It isn't. It's easy. Use fresh, healthy ingredients and quit making recipes that serve six when you are only feeding two. Kate decided when she started offering weekly menu plans on Thyme for Cooking, that multiplying is easier than dividing. The recipes are for two servings. They're easily doubled for four or tripled for six or halved for one.
    She always knew that cooking is easy, fun and even relaxing. One should be able to prepare dinner, talk to family and have a glass of wine, all at the same time. There are no long lists of ingredients or complex instructions in Healthy Small Plates. Kate likes fresh ingredients and simple recipes with the complex flavors found in the cuisines from around the Mediterranean.
    With over 80 recipes for light soups, simple salads, fun vegetables or fancy pastries, you're sure to find something to wet your appetite and please your palate.
    Is every recipe healthy? Mostly... When the plates are small one can add decadent bits and still enjoy without guilt. Have some fun...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKate Zeller
    Release dateDec 24, 2012
    ISBN9781301557011
    Healthy Small Plates, Volumes 1 & 2: First Courses, Light Lunches, Simple Suppers
    Author

    Kate Zeller

    American expat, restoring an old farmhouse in France; cooking, blogging, stumbling thru French life. To keep wine on the table I do a weekly menu planning site. The hubs hammers and saws; I cook and garden. Cooking for two can be a challenge - it's easy to make too much food, then eat it! My efforts, (and his efforts) and recipes are chronicled in my blog. All my recipes use fresh, seasonal ingredients. Healthy food for a healthy life. We left Minnesota in the late 90's in search of... better weather? It's a big world, we decided to explore it. After 1 year in Ireland and 7 years in Andorra we are now firmly settled in the-middle-of-nowhere, France. We are restoring a big, old stone farmhouse and raising 2 big puppies. Why, you ask? We don't know... But here we are.

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      Book preview

      Healthy Small Plates, Volumes 1 & 2 - Kate Zeller

      People are coming back to the kitchen.

      There are many thousands of blogs and sites on the internet offering recipes, instructions and opinions on food, ranging from radical to traditional, advocating only raw foods to only supermarket prepared foods.

      Thyme for Cooking advocates healthy, seasonal foods with an emphasis on the cuisines from around the Mediterranean.

      On the Thyme for Cooking website you can find weekly menu plans with easy to prepare recipes (with photos) and organized shopping lists. Each day’s recipes have detailed menu preparation instructions and all recipes use fresh, seasonal ingredients.

      On Thyme for Cooking Blog you can find more recipes plus tips on growing vegetables, preserving the harvest and primers on cooking techniques.

      All recipes are designed for the novice and/or busy cook, using simple techniques and ingredients that are easily found in local stores and markets.

      Healthy Small Plates is a selection of favorite recipes from both.

      Whether you’re looking for a first course for a special dinner, a light summer lunch for friends or a simple supper on a busy night, you’ll find something here.

      Go to Table of Contents

      Note About the Recipes

      First, a general note on salt and pepper: I rarely add salt because most of the recipes have enough for my taste from other ingredients (ham, cheese, olives, stock, etc.). Add it to your taste; the same for pepper.

      Second, a general note on cooking: Unlike baking, most cooking is not an exact process. Some of the measurements in the recipes are precise and should be followed, as in making the egg noodles. Others, while precise, are really a matter of taste and practicality. It normally doesn’t matter how large the onion is or the leek or how much asparagus you want to use.

      Third, a note on using canned or tinned products: Some of the recipes use commercial products, such as canned whole tomatoes, white beans or chickpeas. If you have tomatoes in your freezer, use them. If you prefer to start with dried legumes, do so. I have given the amounts in both weight and volume and tried to be reasonable. But if your can of tomatoes comes in a 16oz (480gr) size rather than 15oz (450gr) size-don’t worry about it. Just use what you have. See the second note.

      Go to Table of Contents

      SALADS

      Tales of the Green Grocer

      Vinaigrettes, Dressings and Salad Basics

      GREEN SALADS

      Classic Caesar Salad

      Kitchen Garden Salad with Thousand Island Dressing

      Oriental Asparagus Salad on Mâche (Lamb’s Lettuce)

      Asparagus and Egg Salad with Chorizo

      Niçoise Asparagus Salad

      Chevre, Pesto and Honey Salad

      Cold Salmon Salad

      Tuna and Radish Salad

      Wilted Spinach and Bacon Salad

      Warm Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Chevre

      Spinach, Feta and Shallot Salad

      WINTER SALADS

      Warm Stuffed Endive Salad

      Winter Salad of Red Endive and Beetroot

      Warm Savoy Cabbage and Leek Salad

      Savoy Cabbage, Walnuts and Mushrooms

      VEGETABLE SALADS

      Asparagus, Avocado and Cherry Tomato Salad

      White Bean (Cannellini) and Celery Salad

      White Bean (Cannellini) and Radish Salad

      Chickpea, Egg and Herb Salad with Parmesan Palmiers

      Parmesan Palmiers

      Chickpea, Shallot and Tuna Salad

      Warm Fava Beans, Green Garlic and Bacon on Polenta

      Leek and Radish Salad

      Warm Lentil Salad/Creamy Mustard Dressing on Spinach

      Lentil Salad with Walnuts and Prosciutto

      Go to Table of Contents

      Tales of the Green Grocer

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      When we lived in Andorra a friend of mine had a long-standing, continuous argument with the green grocer near her apartment.

      The produce was never fresh.

      There was a lovely market just across the border in Spain twice a week. It was only about 10 miles from the border, but with the hordes of shoppers in and out of Andorra most days, it could be a horrendous trip. The little grocer was just down the street.

      The problem was clear to her and anyone familiar with Economics 101.

      She just couldn’t convince the shop’s owners.

      It was this: the lettuce, fruits and vegetables that were on the sidewalk for sale were old, wrinkly, gone off, wilted. In the back there was new, lovely, fresh, crisp produce.

      She could see it. She just couldn’t get to it.

      The owner wouldn’t move the good stuff up front for sale until the old stuff sold. But the old stuff never sold because it was, well, old and awful.

      Eventually, it rotted and got thrown out.

      Now the stuff in back could be moved up but by this time it was old, wrinkly, over-ripe, wilted. When it was moved up new fresh produce replaced it in back, waiting its turn to wilt and be moved up front for non-sale.

      Obviously they sold enough of the old vegetables to keep their shop open.

      We assumed it was bought by the old, black-garbed widows, to make soup.

      We know it wasn’t sold to the young and health conscious for salads.

      Go to Table of Contents

      Vinaigrettes, Dressings and Salad Basics

      Commercial salad dressings come in every conceivable flavor and variation, and, for the most part, are loaded with unpronounceable ingredients.

      You can get regular, light, lo-fat and fat free.

      Here is, to me, the real conundrum: a serving of 2 tbsp of a brand-name non-fat Ranch dressing has about the same amount of calories as a serving of 2 tbsp of my Creamy Mustard Yogurt Dressing (recipe below).

      Mine has all natural ingredients, heart-healthy fat from olive oil, calcium from yogurt and you’ll use less because it isn’t such a thick glop and it packs a bigger flavor punch.

      It takes about a minute to make and keeps for a week in the fridge.

      Why would you want to use the other stuff with the mystery ingredients?

      Here are five basic salad dressings. Once you have the basics you can modify the flavors to suit your taste and salad

      The ingredients for each dressing are listed.

      The method is always the same:

      Salad Dressing Instructions: Put all wet ingredients (mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, etc) except oil, in a small bowl. Whisk well to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive or other oil, whisking constantly, until it emulsifies or thickens.

      If it’s a yogurt based dressing this will come together quickly. If it's not, you may have to stop adding the oil and just whisk for a few seconds from time to time to get the right consistency—you might be adding the oil too fast.

      When the dressing is thick, add the chopped herbs, shallots, etc.

      All of the dressings / vinaigrettes will keep for several days or up to one week in the fridge.

      When making a salad, always add a bit of dressing to just the lettuce and toss very well to coat. Then add the rest of the ingredients and a bit more dressing. That helps to control the tendency to use too much dressing.

      Creamy Mustard Yogurt Dressing

      1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) Greek yogurt

      2 tbsp whole or coarse grain mustard

      1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

      1 tbsp good olive oil

      1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried

      1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried

      Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

      1 1/2 tbsp honey

      1 1/2 tbsp whole or coarse grain mustard

      1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

      4 tbsp good olive oil

      French Vinaigrette

      2 tbsp ketchup

      1 tbsp red wine vinegar

      1 tsp Dijon-style mustard

      1/4 tsp paprika

      3 tbsp good olive oil

      Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette

      1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard

      2 tbsp balsamic wine vinegar

      5 tbsp good olive oil

      1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried

      1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried

      1 clove garlic, crushed

      Oriental Vinaigrette (lo-cal)

      2 tbsp brown sugar, unpacked

      2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

      1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried

      1 tbsp water

      2 tsp sesame oil or walnut oil

      2 tsp soy sauce

      Salad Basics:

      Greens: leaf lettuce, red and green lettuces, Romaine, spinach, dandelion greens, escarole, lamb’s lettuce and spring chard to name a few. Mix and match; more varieties will give you a more interesting salad.

      Vegetables: sliced radishes, shredded carrots, red or white beans, quartered tomatoes, sliced celery, blanched asparagus or green beans, sliced fennel, shredded red or white cabbage, chickpeas, pickled vegetables like beets or artichoke hearts, or whatever else is in your garden or pantry.

      Other: hard-boiled eggs, shaved Parmesan, cubed Cheddar, crumbled feta, cubed ham, crumbled bacon, sliced cooked chicken breasts, chunks of poached salmon, canned (tinned) tuna, leftover bits of pork

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