Tortilla Soup

So, having a baby is wonderful. Life-changing. Makes you wonder how you ever thought spending 24 hours a day talking to an infant could be boring. But everything is harder with a baby! Except breastfeeding, of course. That's very difficult to do without a baby. Even blogging is harder - see, I just had to stop what I was doing because someone's pacifier fell out. (She's getting there though, sometimes the upset arm-waving miraculously jams it back in her mouth. I'm not kidding myself though, it's completely an accident.)

One of those things that's really hard to do is go to the grocery store. I'm always faced with a dilemma: put the carseat into the stroller, and then not have anywhere to put things, or put the carseat into the shopping cart, and still not have anywhere to put things? The carrier's always an option, but this involves taking a (hopefully sleeping) baby out of a carseat and into a carrier and then vice versa for the way home.

So, sometimes we don't make it to the grocery store. 

Fortunately there's tortilla soup.

This soup can be made with entirely canned/frozen ingredients. EVEN CILANTRO. Yep, you guessed it - I froze some. One time I didn't even have tortillas, but this flax/oat/whole wheat pita bread is always in my fridge and turned out quite nicely.

So, I present to you the simplest, healthiest tortilla soup out there. Truthfully, I'm not really sure what defines tortilla soup. But this soup has tortilla strips on top. Baked, of course. This is a healthy food blog! (But you can fry them if you want to.) Seriously though it's chock-full of vegetables, can be made vegetarian or with some meat, and is a light yet satisfying meal for those cold lazy nights.

Tortilla Soup

6 cups chicken broth (bouillion is fine)

28 oz. diced tomatoes (I use fire-roasted when I have them)

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

crushed red pepper to taste

1 lb chicken breasts, or sub 1 can black beans if vegetarian

corn (optional)

3-4 tortillas, or 2 large pitas

garnishes: shredded, oaxaca, or cotija cheese (I've even used feta); chopped cilantro, lime juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion and garlic, add spices. Add broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil. Add chicken, let it cook through, then remove and shred. Continue to simmer soup until flavors/consistency to taste, 15-30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, Meanwhile cut tortillas/pitas into strips and lay in single layer on a baking sheet. Brush or spray with oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15 minutes.

Divide shredded chicken in bowls, ladle soup over. Garnish with cheese, cilantro, lime juice, and of course tortillas.

Apple Pie Granola

When I found myself back on the wards for one very early morning, I knew I'd need another hearty breakfast to make it through rounds. I've always loved my Mom's granola, and lucky for me she sends me home with some nearly every time I see her. But I hadn't seen her and was out of granola! I finally took to the internet to browse some recipes.

It turns out for granola there are three basic elements you need: oats, a binder, and a sweetener. The binder is usually an oil or fat of some sort, but you can get away with applesauce or something less fatty. Sweeteners can range from molasses to syrups to honey to brown sugar. My Mom adds orange juice to hers.

From there, you can play with the flavors to give it whatever profile your heart desires. I've been into the idea of apple pie spices lately so I substituted some apple sauce for oil, and added cinnamon, clove and nutmeg to give it that warm apple spice taste. I wanted a little extra protein and fiber to make it more filling so I threw in some nuts and raisins too. Just make sure to PUT THE FRUIT IN AFTER IT'S DONE BAKING - otherwise you'll end up with hard, dried out raisins that will break your teeth. As long as you fold them in while it's still warm they'll incorporate into the nice big chunks that make granola so satisfying.

Pack it in a jar and give it to your friends. Pour some in a bowl and enjoy with some milk. Or toss some into a baggie and stuff in your pocket for those early morning wakeups where toast and butter just wont' cut it.

Apple Pie Granola
dedicated to Dennisse Reyes

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup oil - I used sunflower, corn would work fine
1-2 tbsp brown sugar, to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of old-fashioned oats (don't use steel-cut or instant)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves or allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup walnut pieces
optional: flax seeds, pepitas, any other seeds your heart desires
1/4-1/2 cup raisins

Combine first 5 ingredients (wet ingredients plus sugar) in a bowl. Separately, combine oats, spices, and nuts. Combine all ingredients and stir until well-incorporated. Spread on baking sheet (spray sheet or use a silicone mat/parchment paper so it doesn't stick). Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes, stirring often. When the mixture is golden-brown remove from oven, stir in raisins and let cool. Don't worry if the granola is still soft, it will harden as it cools.

Quinoa fried rice

Being a resident (or any doctor, for that matter) means an unpredictable schedule. Besides sometimes being on nights, or weekends, or a 24-hour shift, the days also vary. You can have all your patients tucked in, signouts ready to go, and then a test comes back positive, or a baby starts breathing more heavily, or the ED attendings finish signing out to one another and send you a bolus of admissions. Sometimes I get home at 5:30, and sometimes it's more like 7:30. 

Last week was a slow week, and I found myself at home with plenty of time to spare before dinner rolled around. Which meant I was left with the ultimate dilemma: go to the gym or cook dinner?

Or both?

I decided on both, because I knew the quinoa fried rice could come together in about 20 minutes.












Lately I've been really into scallions, especially the ones cooked over high heat til they start to blacken and let out this amazing sweet/savory aroma. But somehow I never manage to use them as soon as I buy them, and they tend to get slimy and unappetizing pretty quickly.

Then I discovered YOU CAN FREEZE THEM. I just zipped them up in a freezer bag and pulled them out for this recipe, chopping them before even giving them a chance to thaw. Sure, they're not the beautiful stuff of garnishes, but if you're gonna fry them up anyway, they taste just fine.

I love this quinoa fried rice because, like fried rice, you can add pretty much whatever you have lying around. I like to pile in the vegetables, usually finishing off with something leafy like kale or spinach, and adding some protein in the form of chicken sausage or (in a pinch) hot dogs. It would probably work well with just about any protein, so if you have tofu, grilled chicken strips, pancetta, chorizo, or even sliced ham, go for it. It also tastes great with just vegetables, if you're that sort of person.

And unlike rice, quinoa is one of those superfoods with all sorts of vitamins and protein, so the whole dish ends up being pretty darn good for you. I discovered that quinoa also freezes well, so if you're making some for another dish, make twice as much and freeze half for an even faster way to this meal.

I actually forgot one of the essential components of fried rice - the scrambled egg tossed in (eep!) when I made the version pictured here. The thing is, I didn't even notice because this concoction is so flavorful. Then again I think I'd eat pretty much anything smothered in soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. So if you have eggs, go ahead and include them (also adds some protein in case you're forgoing the sausage equivalent) but if you're out, do not despair.

And so it turns out, even if you are a resident and your life is not your own and you haven't been to the grocery store in weeks, with some quinoa, a freezer, and a little creativity, you really can have it all.

Quinoa Fried Rice

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water or broth
corn, canola, or other neutral oil
Bunch of scallions, diced (or onions, shallots, or other aromatics)
Diced vegetables - carrots pictured above, I used squash in the summer
2 chicken sausages (or hot dogs, grilled chicken, tofu, etc), diced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp rice vinegar, or to taste
2 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp sesame oil, to taste
garlic salt, to taste
frozen peas, corn, or whatever you like
few handfuls of spinach, kale, other leafy greens
Sriracha or other hot sauce to serve

1. Bring water or broth to a boil. Add quinoa and cook about 25 minutes, until tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a nonstick pan or cast iron skillet and add aromatics cooking until translucent. Add diced vegetables and saute until soft. Add chicken sausage/hot dog/other protein and brown.
3. Deglaze with a little rice vinegar if needed (especially if using cast iron). Then add cooked quinoa, stirring to incorporate well, and beaten egg, mixing thoroughly to coat the quinoa mixture.
4. Add the rest of the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic salt, mixing well and adjusting to taste.
5. Add frozen vegetables, warm through. Add greens, cooking only until wilted.

Serve with Sriracha or your favorite hot sauce.

Soup Love

One of the first things I loved about my husband was his love of soup. Not a lot of guys are that into soup, but this one loves just about any food in liquid form. When we were just acquaintances he served a cold chipotle tomato soup at a dinner party.  It was a very bold move. While most people polity stirred it around and choked back a few insanely spicy spoonfuls, I ate it up, stars in my eyes.

Now that we're married, we make soup together a lot. We both just can't get enough of the wonderful feeling of a piping hot, flavorful, nutrient-packed broth making its way down our insides and warming us through. The healthy-conscious side of me loves how many veggies you can pack into one dish - and how many bowls you can eat without feeling guilty. I still prefer chunkier stew types and he favors silky purees but we've both leaned to appreciate the spectrum. A perk of our union was inheriting his immersion blender, which has opened up a whole new world of soupy goodness.

These days Dave's repertoire has expanded and he's learned to be a little less heavy-handed with the spices, but he still has a weakness for one store-bought soup. His favorite soup chain, Hale and Hearty Soup used to make a wonderful Tomato Cheddar and whenever we're back in New York he wistfully scours the sandwich boards of every outpost we pass, hoping his beloved will be the soup of the day. It's been a while, however, since we've actually had a sighting, and I'm starting to think they may have discontinued it entirely. So I decided to learn to make it for him. 

Re-creating a tomato soup wasn't much of a challenge, and after searching a few copycat recipes on the internet I concluded that with the right mix of cream and cheese he'd be over the moon. I had been saving some old Gouda rinds for a moment like this, and after sawing off the waxy parts I threw them into the broth. Half an hour later I had some tough, cheesy bits floating around but an incredibly richly flavored broth.

And instead of keeping this recipe a surprise, I decided to involve the connoisseur himself. I wanted to use as little cheese as possible (both to keep it somewhat healthy and for my own enzyme deficiencies), so I stirred in small chunks of cheddar bit by bit, soliciting expert opinion along the way. After a few rounds, he pronounced it almost perfect. I seasoned it with salt, and he was in love.

Tomato Cheddar Soup

Inspired by Hale and Hearty Soup

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Several stalks of celery, diced

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used Better than Bullion)

1 28-oz can diced or crushed tomatoes

1-2 tsp dried thyme

cheese rinds - gouda, parmesan, or other aged cheese *be sure to remove wax before melting!

1/2 cup half-and-half or cream

6-8 oz cubed cheddar, or more to taste

Salt, to taste

Saute the onion, garlic and celery until onions are translucent. Add the broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add thyme and cheese rinds and let simmer 30 minutes to 1 hour, until tomatoes are falling apart and cheese rinds are moist and spongy (see picture above). Remove cheese rinds and puree with an immersion blender (or cool and pour into standing blender). Add cream or half-and-half, and stir in cheddar bits until desired taste is achieved. Be sure to salt along the way as you will probably get to the right flavor with less cheese needed.

Enjoy with a nice slice of toast and your valentine.

A Better Breakfast

So I'm back on the wards again. Which means showing up at 6:30, which means no time to sit down in the morning with some coffee and toast. I've gone on before about my search for the perfect breakfast, one that is quick and portable, while packing a nutritional and protein-packed punch to get me through the entire morning. This time, I turned to banana bread.

I always have a problem with bananas - it seems I never have them when I want them. Sometimes I buy a bunch, and we don't eat them, and then they get spotted, but before I get around to baking bread they've gone black. And kinda fermented. Or the opposite, I feel like baking banana bread and there are no bananas, and the store only has green and not overripe ones. Then I realized...
YOU CAN FREEZE BANANAS!
Truth be told, they look pretty disgusting after they've been sitting in the freezer, brown juice somehow seeping out of the fruit and freezing on its own in the bag. But trust me, once thawed and incorporated into a batter, you won't be able to tell the difference.
Problem. Solved.

I also used this opportunity to experiment with some healthier grains. Spelt flour seems to be all the rage these days. According to the internet, it's an ancient grain with many nutrients. Ancient foods are always better for you, right? The concensus seems to be that overall it is similar to whole wheat in protein, fat and fiber (maybe a little more fat and fiber, which also makes it more filling), but some people finds its flavor a little closer to white flour. I find it overall to be a little bit nuttier and grittier so wouldn't necessarily use in a cake, but it has a good flavor for this bread.

For added protein and fullness, I threw in some chia seeds, and finally tossed in some blueberries for a little sweetness. Spelt, chia, and blueberries - I feel like a health food store!

First day on the wards, consumed my hearty slice at 7am. Didn't get hungry again til lunchtime. Another breakfast, conquered.

Banana blueberry bread with spelt flour and chia seeds
makes 1 loaf

1/2 c. oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 c. mashed bananas
1/3 c. milk (almond milk or other non-dairy works too)
1 large egg
2-4 tbsp agave nectar or sugar, depending on ripeness of bananas
1 1/2 c. spelt flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
2 tbsp chia seeds

1. Combine wet (first 5) ingredients.
2. In a mixing cup, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into wet mixture and stir until just combined.
3. Fold in blueberries and chia seeds.
4. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs but not gooey.

Tastes good as is, leftover the next day, or toasted and served with butter. Store in refrigerator so berries don't spoil.

Healthy winter CTM

Chicken Tikka masala is the national dish of England. To some, this may be off-putting, suggesting inauthenticity (and I wouldn't know, I'm South Indian) or some McDonald's like perversion of actual Indian food, but the fact remains: it's just so good. Now I'm a sucker for any tomato sauce, and stir in a little cream and I'm a goner. With a little butter, and the deep complexity of Indian spices, it's just the perfect dish, a blend of all my favorite cuisines. 

The problem is, like McDonald's food, my beloved CTM isn't really that healthy. Especially not when you eat as much of it as I tend to do - when we lived in New York my husband and I used to get two orders of this entree so we could each have one. So naturally I went on a quest to make a healthier version.

The essential elements of CTM are chicken tikka, which is essentially chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and then grilled in a tandoor oven, and the sauce, which generally seems to have tomatoes, onions, spices, and some butter/cream. I figured by adding some veggies to bulk up the recipe I could get more mileage out of the sauce, saving calories and adding vitamins and fiber. And by making the sauce myself and adding the cream only at the end I'd be sure to save on all the delicious fat that restaurants use.

Finding myself in the middle of our second snowstorm in a week, I had to do quite a bit of improvising. Fortunately I had some old sweet potatoes lying around (though I'm sure kale or some other green would have fit in well too). I realized I had no yogurt at the last minute, but was able to re-create the marinade using 2% milk and a splash of vinegar, which ended up making for a very flavorful and tender chicken. I had no plain tomatoes on hand, but these fancy fire-roasted organic tomatoes didn't offend, and maybe even added richness to the sauce. As for the chicken, I always have a big bag of Trader Joe's tenderloins in the freezer, and while I wouldn't recommend eating them plain (especially with an inch of freezer burn like mine had) they do very well in stews and sauces.

When my husband returned after a 35-minute-turned-2-hour train ride (you'd think the Northeast would be used to snow by now), he was downright gleeful when he realized what I was up to. The end result? While you could tell it wasn't takeout (mostly thanks to the sweet potatoes), it provided all the same warm creamy spicy satisfaction, with an added dash of virtuosity as we took in all the colors and patted ourselves on the back for being so healthy.

Healthy Chicken Tikka Masala with Sweet Potatoes

For the marinade:

1/2-1 cup milk (I used 2%) or yogurt

1 tbsp white vinegar (if using milk)

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

4 boneless chicken tenderloins, or as many as you can fit in the marinade

For the sauce:

1 tbsp canola/sunflower/neutral oil

1 onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small hot green chili, minced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 28-ounce can diced plain or fire-roasted tomatoes

dash of cream (about 1/4 cup), to taste

chopped cilantro

1. Combine marinade ingredients, submerge chicken, and let sit for at least 2 hours. Sauté chicken in a little oil, then set aside. 

2. Heat oil, and saute onion, garlic, chili and spices.

3. Once onions are slightly translucent, add sweet potatoes and saute for a few minutes.

4. Add about 1 inch boiling water and cover for about 10 minutes, until potatoes start to steam. 

5. Add tomatoes, cover and bring to a simmer, then cook on low heat for 30-60 minutes (longer for more developed taste).

6. Add chicken and cook until warmed through. 

7. Add cream and garnish with cilantro. 

Serve with rice and/or naan.

Risotto with pea greens and peas

I made a decision this year to stick with my Veggie Box for the entire winter. At first it was a fun challenge, learning new ways to prepare fennel, radishes, kohlrabi and the like (I've never eaten so many potatoes). But I admit, after pulling yet another cabbage out of that (incredibly heavy!) box, I was beginning to wonder when it all would end. And then I got this gem:

I think I've heard of pea greens before, but I'd never tasted them and certainly had never cooked with them. After a nibble of a raw leaf I concluded that they were a bit like spinach - but so much prettier, and reminiscent of spring! I had to think of a new recipe to do justice to this welcome winter guest.

Risotto is a wonderful dish, both for its comforting and rib-sticking qualities, and also for its versatility. You can make a deeply flavored risotto with wine and mushrooms, or a light springy one with asparagus and peas. Eyeing a bag of frozen peas and some turkey bacon in my freezer and the fresh sprigs on my counter, I decided this would be the perfect hearty and satisfying winter dish, with some light notes of spring (which is still many months away).

I used to think risotto was hard to make, but it turns out the hardest part is paying attention. You have to add the liquid little by little, and stir the rice constantly so the starch breaks down or something and gives you that nice, creamy texture. Other than that it's hard to go wrong, as long as you include some aromatics, some liquid (broth, wine, water, or a combination) and of course the veggies.

As I am starting to do with so many recipes, I turned to trusty Mark Bittman for a base. Since my veggie box was thoughtful enough to include shallots I threw those in as well, but I imagine onions would do just fine. 

Risotto with pea greens and peas

Original risotto recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

2 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, finely chopped

4 oz bacon or turkey bacon, diced

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

4-6 cups of chicken broth

1 cup frozen or fresh peas

bunch of pea greens

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1-2 tbsp butter, to taste

Saute shallots and bacon in olive oil until onions translucent. Add arborio rice and saute for a few minutes. Add white wine and then add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, until rice is tender (about 20-30 minutes). Fold in peas, pea greens, cheese, and butter. Garnish with more cheese and serve with the rest of the wine.