hello everyone. i've been thinking about starting this thread for awhile. right now, some of us have been discussing the merits of fasting versus eating healthy. i've also been party to other healthy eating discussions on this site. i hear often that healthy eating just isn't achievable for people. some of the other things i hear from people: it's too hard to eat healthy; it's too hard to cook; they're not capable of making good food; they don't have time; it's just easier to eat out. i want to lay these concerns to rest, share some of the things i make for myself and my family, and help to show people that eating healthy and making interesting and tasty dishes is well within their reach. and the time, cost and energy needed to actually accomplish this type of healthy eating lifestyle is well below what they may think. i'm going to start with two things, and will add more. please share any recipes you'd like. cured salmon: ingredients: 1 or 2 pound salmon filet, skin on; 1/2 cup kosher salt; 1/4 cup sugar. tools needed: tin foil, parchment paper. how: mix the salt and sugar together, lay half on some metal foil, put the skin side onto the mixture, add the remaining half onto the top and spread evenly, double wrap in foil. place in your fridge for 24 hours. rinse salt off, wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate. total work time: 5 minutes. things to use it in: add to your salad, make a sandwich out of it. will keep in your fridge for a couple weeks. benefits: protein, good fat. stuffed chicken breasts: ingredients: one or two chicken breasts, salt, pepper, 2 ounces of the cheese of your choice, pound spinach. tools needed: a hammer, pan to bake in, some plastic wrap. how: lay the chicken breasts on plastic wrap, add another piece of plastic wrap on top, use the hammer to pound the breast thin. add salt and pepper on both sides, a nice pinch of salt on each side. mix the cheese and the spinach. add to one side of your pounded chicken breast, fold over the remaining breast. cook in a 350 degree oven until done. very tasty, great as leftovers too. total working time should be no more than 10 minutes. the chicken will bake for probably another 15. benefits: protein, leafy greens.
Steak. 1) Buy steak. Ribeye is the choice of all people who love life. 2) Salt a bit. Not too much. Wait on the pepper, that comes later. 3) Put your cast iron frying pan on a high heat. No butter yet. High as it can get. Sear the fat side of the ribeye until the fat starts to render. Beef fat has a higher smoke point than butter or olive oil, so once it starts to coat the bottom of the pan, you can get a good sear on both sides. 4) Once you have a sear, likely the fat and collagen inside the steak have also been cooked into nice gooey goodness. Cut into the thickest part of the steak, make sure. Ideally, you should be able to do this without making the slice and just feeling the pure flow of energy and deliciousness between you and the steak. 5) Take the steak off of the pan, pepper, allow to sit under a top or something for ten minutes while the steak continues to cook. 6) Worship at the altar of the great beefy goddess and enjoy.
i like that a lot philo, because you can cook it, eat some, then refrigerate for use on salads and sandwiches and soups later. awesome. thanks!
here's another one. slow-cooked pork shoulder ingredients: pork shoulder, salt, can of tomato sauce, little water tools needed: slow cooker or pan for the oven how: add salt to the pork shoulder. add to your cooking vessel with the can of tomato sauce. if slow cooker, put on low and check back in 8 hours. if oven, set to 250 degrees and check back in 6-8 hours. in both cases, the meat should fall apart very easily. actually work time should be no more than 5 minutes. day one, serve it along some roasted veggies; day two, add it to a salad; day three, buy some tortillas and make tacos out of it. benefits: protein
and before my friends the veggies get mad at me.... zucchini salad ingredients: a zucchini or two, cherry tomatoes, onions, salt tools: a grater, a bowl, a knife, a cutting board how: grate the zucchini, add to a bowl. (you could also just cut the zucchini thinly) halve the cherry tomatoes, add to a bowl. cut the onion thinly, add to bowl. add a good teaspoon or teaspoon and a half of salt. mix refrigerate. the salt cures the zucchini and this will keep for some time in your fridge. better after a day or so. total working time should be no more than 10 minutes. benefits: veggies!!!! advanced version: also add a tablespoon of pesto. this is so good! it's almost orgasmic, in a food way.
A few things I've had the past week or so: Roasted Salmon fillets with sweet potato mash and roasted mix veg. Salmon was a simple affair, rubbed with some galic infused olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, rub a dub dub. In the oven. Sweet potato's mashed with a little butter and milk, salted. The veg was simple, chopped courgettes, peppers, halved cherry plum tomatoes, mushrooms, drizzled with lemon juice, salt, pepper, mixed herbs. In the oven. Delicious. My steak this week was similar to Boris's but I had Fillet Mignon's I like to rub them lightly with olive oil, and salt, leave it at room temp while frying/grilling I add the butter, and a pepper mix. Some might consider this blashpemous but I made my own infusion of mushroom and peppercorn sauce that I like with the steak. Boiled charlotte baby potatoes, and roasted cherry plum tomatoes to accomadate. Yesterday I made a lamb stew, again a simple affair. Diced lamb, coated in flour, braised first in a lil olive oil and butter, added onions, carrots, garlic, bay leafs, salt pepper, mixed herbs, a tiny amount of crushed red chillies, used some chicken stock (all I had left) mixed in a couple spoons of gravy, added 500mls, last hour or so, added some sweet potatoes, can of chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, and peas. Turned out lovely if I may say so myself and still enjoying it today. My stew test, if the lamb slices in half with a spoon it is done to perfection.
Alternative of Philosoraptor's streak. Often when we are ordering steak in a restaurant, the server will ask "how would you like your steak cooked?" - people tend to reply habitually, from the standard options of rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, well done, possibly even blue - eventually I found thinking the other way around was a better i.e. "what's the best way to cook a steak?" only then was I able to break my programming (I always ordered my steak medium rare) and finally cooked a steak that tastes great! (well done). 1) Buy a steak, a rump steak - it's the best quality despite misleading claims about sirloin or filet. The best place where you can buy a rump steak from is the butcher because the meat is locally produced, and not injected with water, or permeated with red food coloring. If you can't find a butcher, you can buy a rump steak from your nearest mall or supermarket. 2) Now, you should marinade the steak, and prepare it to be cooked to deliver the perfect flavor. Lightly coat the steak with some kind of cooking oil - vegetable oil or olive oil are perfect. Then generously season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. 3) Take a skillet or frying pan, actually grill pans are the best because they leave fantastic, authentic looking grill marks on the steak. Put the pan on the hottest heat available on your hob. And wait until you believe the pan to be extremely hot. Don't put any oil in the pan during this process. 4) Drop the steak into the pan. It should start to sizzle immediately! This will now be a matter of trail and error, most steak will handle at least a minute on each side, more traditional steaks up to 2 and a half minutes. So play around with the timings until you get a steak that's just right - never worry about having to pop the steak back in the pan after you've served it, that's perfectly acceptable when you're getting started. You're really looking for your steak to be cooked well done - it will still be moist and delicious - trust me it's a much more satisfying eating experience this way. That's a brown color all the way through, no pink. One thing you should never do is to transfer the cooked steak directly from the pan onto a sizzling plate - that causes the steak to cook continuously and it never cools down sufficiently to eat. Which results in a painful and ultimately dry eating experience. Eat the steak on it's own and experience a tasty, healthy meal that's low in calories and still tastes amazing!
one thing to note about meat dishes. a serving of meat is typically 3 or 4 ounces, or a deck of cards.
I TRY to restrict red meats to 1-2x a week. But I don't follow that rule. I tend to out of habit, look at the protein content of a meal/snack. Then calories. But a quick google conversion tells me my steaks are around 5 to 6 ounces usually. Ranging from 150-250 calories, not counting the oils sauces or anything else that can go into cooking. I tend to round things up.
What about recipes with super-green food? Maybe that steak would go well with a super-green shake? Is it wheat-grass, or lemon-grass?
Pick up phone. Order Chinese food. Open door to delivery guy. Pay delivery guy. Open food packets. Put food on plates. Take cold beer from fridge. Open beer. Sit down with food and beer. Enjoy.
except the purpose of the thread is home-cooked meals vz. i don't have anything against beer and take-out. here's something delicious you could've worked up while waiting for your crap take-out: omellete: ingredients: 2 eggs. for veggies: broccolli, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, celery, whatever you got. tools needed: pan, spatula, mixing bowl, cutting board, knife how: cut your veggies, sautee with 1 tablespoon olive oil. add beaten eggs. cook until done. benefits: protein, veggies, good fat from the olive oil. time: max 10 minutes variations: egg white only. add soy for "asian" flavor. add yummy cheese.
