Acupuncture of Iowa Iowa City header flower

Get The Help You Need! Call (319) 341-0031

Menu
Call (319) 341-0031

Recipes

Today’s Recipe: Easy Mexican Chicken

,

I found a couple of chicken breasts, on the bone, in my freezer, and came up with this simple recipe.

2 Chicken breasts, on bone, or off, skin removed

1 med onion, red or white

1 stalk celery, sliced into 1/4in slices

1 carrot, sliced as celery

2 t chili powder

2 t ground cumin

1 t salt

pepper to taste

olive oil

2 c prepared salsa

Drizzle the bottom of a small casserole with some olive oil. Place slices of onion on the bottom till it is covered. Place the chicken breasts, bone side down, on the onions. Season by sprinkling chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper over. Sprinkle celery, carrot, and any left over onion over the chicken. Top with salsa. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

This dish can make 2 meals or 4, depending on how much chicken you eat. I eat one half breast per meal. Serve over the top of brown rice. Add steamed veges on the side and you are done.

Today’s Recipe: Vegetable Stir Fry

, , ,

One of the most important ways to enhance detoxification through dietary means is to increase the vegetables in the diet. Veges of all types increase the numbers and types of minerals and vitamins, as well as other nutritional elements that are critical for the function of all the biological systems, most especially the liver. I recommend that everybody “take the challenge” and try to eat 8-9 servings daily of fruits and veges.  Remember, a serving is one medium apple, pear or peach, and 1/2 c cooked vegetables or 1 cup of raw vegetables. We recommend no bananas, as they have a property of spiking the blood sugar (high glycemic index).

Vegetable Stir Fry

This makes a big pile, enough for several servings. You can vary the types and amounts of veges to your liking. All slices should be about the same thickness, I like about 1/4 inch.

1 carrots, sliced thin on the diagonal

1 onion, top and bottom ends removed, sliced from North to South

1 celery stalks, sliced on the diagonal

1 red bell pepper, core removed and sliced. I like to go from North to South

1 medium zucchini, ends removed and sliced

2 cups broccoli. Cut the top of the tree off. Make small trees, they call these florettes.  Cut the bark off the trunk. Cut the bottom end off the trunk and then cut the whole thing on the diagonal

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed, if you like

1-2 T minced fresh ginger, if you like

2 T soy sauce, if you like

2 T olive oil, or more or less to your preference

1 T butter

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or pan on High heat. Add the butter and melt it. Quickly, before the butter burns, add the onions and celery and stir and saute for about 3 minutes. Add ginger if using. Add the carrots and broccoli stems, and garlic if using. Cook 2-3 minutes until they are getting hot, then add the bell peppers, broccoli florettes. Check to see how things  are getting done. If they are still pretty raw, cover the pan for a couple of minutes to allow things to steam. Or, stop cooking at any point. The veges should be bright in color and somewhat crunchy in texture. The garlic is added at the end here, to keep it from burning as that makes it bitter. At the very end, season with soy sauce. You can also drizzle sesame oil over it and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like.

The principle of making this work is to add the hard veges at the beginning so they can cook longer. Add the softer veges at the end so they don’t get too limp. We like beginning with onion as it gets sweet as it cooks and flavors all the other veges.

This is a staple in my house and keeps well in the fridge for future meals. Try different vegetables if you like. Purchase red bell peppers when they are on sale as they keep well. Green peppers are always affordable and go well in this dish. Other veges to try would be napa cabbage (add last  as it cooks very fast), broccoli rabe, fennel bulb, summer squash, red or green cabbage, Japanese eggplant, parsnips, snow peas, sugar snap peas, and whatever you want to try.

It is easy to get 2-4 servings of your 8-9 of veges and fruits per day by eating this. Just two cups on your plate, next to the meat and whole grain is all you need to get 4 servings.


Today’s Recipe: Basic Brown Rice

, ,

In Asia, rice is the foundation of all meals. People there usually prefer white rice, as they see it as more sophisticated than brown. They associate brown rice with poor people. Also, I think they don’t have access to brown rice very much.

In Asian medical thinking, rice has the quality of being sweet in flavor and neutral in temperature. It has the properties of nourishing the Spleen, soothing the Stomach, expelling toxins, increasing Qi. Basmati rice has more damp draining properties which are diuretic properties. Rice is neither warming nor cooling so it is acceptable for all constitutions. It is also very digestible, so acceptable for any digestive system, even children. Rice can be helpful for diarrhea, nausea, and thirst. It is said to increase the capacity of the Spleen to absorb Yin energy, so it is good for persons with the pattern of deficient Yin and Spleen issues.

It is highly nutritious, and has been long a staple of the health food diet.

Many people ask me how to cook whole grains, as I recommend them over white rice, pasta, and potatoes. I usually cook all whole grains in my rice cooker. It has a nonstick coating, and holds nearly a gallon capacity so I can make large amounts. The advantage of a rice cooker is that it cooks everything perfectly because it senses the weight of the cooked material getting lighter as it gives off steam. We also use it to cook millet, barley, brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, and buckwheat.

But for those of you who are just starting out with whole grains, you can do a good job with brown rice on the stove in a normal pot with a lid. I recommend a heavy pot that has a good heat capacity and a good fitting lid.

Basic Brown Rice    serves 2

1 cup short or long grain brown rice (not the pre-cooked kind, just the plain stuff, usually in a bag or in bulk)

2  cups water or broth at the boil (get it going on the stove in another pot)(or in your electric kettle)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 t butter or olive oil

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in your saucepan. Throw in the rice and stir while it heats up. When it starts to smell nutty, pour in the boiling broth/water and salt. Immediately turn down the heat to very low and cover. Cook for 45 minutes and DO NOT LIFT THE LID. Not lifting the lid is the key to great rice. At the end you can lift the lid and fluff the rice a bit. If it is still a little wet, you can cook it without the lid a few minutes to allow the steam to be released and dry out the rice. You may need to adjust the amount of water, or length of cooking time after your first attempt.

Alternatively, you can skip the browning in butter part, and just put the rice in the pot with water and salt, bring to the boil, cover and lower the heat. Same thing: simmer 45 min without lifting the lid.

A friend once told me that you don’t have to measure the water out, you can just fill the water over the rice to the depth of 1 inch (or one knuckle depth)  above the rice. That works OK too, but for beginners, I recommend measuring.

It may seem like a lot of water, compared to what is needed to cook white rice, but the brown soaks up a lot more.

Consult a cookbook or online to find out the amount of water needed for other grains. I recommend trying millet and quinoa (keenwa) at first. Quinoa is very high in protein, the highest of any grain. Do not use couscous as it is not a grain, but a pasta made of wheat. And similarly, bulgur is dried parboiled wheat and I am recommending that people use less wheat and embrace other grains.

A pressure cooker can also be used to cook whole grains. Use 1 c brown rice, soaked for an hour, and drained. 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups cold water and 1/4 t salt. Place rice, water and salt in pressure cooker and bring up to pressure on low pressure. When hissing starts, cook 30 to 45 minutes. Cool the pressure cooker under cold water to relieve pressure and serve. Serves 2.

You can also bake rice by following the basic recipe above, but preheat oven to 350, and place the toasted rice in a baking dish, add boiling water, cover, and bake 45-50 min till water is absorbed.

Today’s Recipe: Sauteed Carrots

,

You may have noticed a pattern now with the recipes. Yes, I am trying to provide easy and tasty vegetable recipes for all of you that have had the excuses of: too complicated, too time-consuming, “I don’t really like vegetables”, tired of the same old thing, etc.

Sauteed Carrots

2 c organic baby carrots

1 T BUTTER, yes REAL BUTTER

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Other ingredients as listed below in Variations

Melt butter in a non-stick skillet on medium high heat. When the butter starts foaming, add the olive oil. Dump in the carrots, toss around in the butter, salt lightly and cover. Sautee for a few minutes, stir, and recover. Lower the heat to low. Sautee another few minutes and stir and check. Keep cooking till the carrots are getting a little brown around the edges and are soft from the steaming process.

Variations: I think these are great just like this, but you could also add some grated orange rind (which you grate with a microplane grater, just the very outermost skin of the orange); or you could add a little honey to make it more of a candied dish. Alternatively, you could add some minced or pressed garlic about halfway through, or you could add grated or finely minced fresh ginger. Or you could begin with some onions, which would make it a little more oniony and sweeter. Or you could dump in some finely chopped scallions near the end for a bright flavor. Or you could add some sesame oil near the end for an asian flavor, perhaps throwing a teaspoon of sesame seeds at the end.

You can really do a lot with this simple basic dish. Be creative and try new things. This is a quick, go-to dish that only takes a few minutes while you warm up the main dish that you cooked two days ago.

Today’s Recipe: Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes”

In the search for low carb things that would satisfy the urge to eat mounds of carbs, this one has really served my family well. At first you may be struck by the fact that it does not exactly taste like potatoes, but rather like cauliflower. Over time you will learn to love it just for itself. It may be familiar to many of you, but here is my rendition. In accord with Schwarzbein principles, full fat cream and butter are used. You may substitute olive oil or lower fat half and half, but the nutrition benefits of the full fat are tremendous.

Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes”

1 large head cauliflower, rinsed, leaves and core removed, broken into smaller pieces

2T butter

1 T dehydrated chicken stock. (not boulliion) or 2 T chicken broth/stock

1-2 T heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the cauliflower till very tender. Place in food processor along with butter and chicken broth and whir to chop fine. Drizzle in the cream while whirring to get a creamy but still thick mixture. It will not be as thick and stiff as mashed potatoes, but will be just as yummy.  Season with salt and pepper.

You could do variations on this by adding sauteed chopped green or red bell peppers after it is done, or steam some onions with the cauliflower. Or saute onions and add them at the end. Or you could use half potatoes and half cauliflower.

Today’s Recipe:Easy Crustless Quiche

,

Along with my committment to promote the eating of more veges and fruits in my home, I focus on the importance of high quality protein foods. Eggs are one of the most perfect foods on earth, and I am lucky enough to have a wonderful source of farm fresh ones. I encourage everyone to find such a source, or just try to buy the best ones you can at the supermarket. I look for the most expensive ones, locally produced. Here is a simple quick recipe to use your healthy eggs and get even more veges into your diet.

Easy Crustless Quiche

6 eggs

1 c milk

1 1/2 cups zucchini, sliced

1 1/2 c chopped red bell pepper

1 c chopped onion

2 c shredded swiss cheese

1 T dried chopped basil

nonstick spray

1 T olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Spray a pie plate or other casserole with nonstick spray. Whisk the eggs and milk till well combined, season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the olive oil to medium heat in a small nonstick skillet and saute the onion till soft. Put the zucchini and bell pepper into the pie plate, add the onions and cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Bake for 1 hour or until the top is browned. It will puff up during cooking and then flatten down after cooling.

Today’s Recipe: Sauteed Brussels Sprouts Shreds

,

This winter I challenged my husband to try to get 9 servings a day of fruits and veges. Somewhere I had read that and it sounded like a good idea to see what it would be like. Of course, he was home all day eating apples and oranges, and I was at work eating snacks of high protein like cheese and nuts to keep my energy up. So I had to really get in a lot of them at suppertime.

In the spirit of getting as many veges as possible, from the greatest number of sources, I have found this recipe to be a great one. For all you brussels sprouts haters, you might be surprised at how sweet and yummy they can be. I think this recipe originally came from Gourmet and it has been a favorite at many family holiday dinners.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts Shreds

2 lb or so brussels sprouts, trimmed. Shred them by putting through the slicing blade of the food processor, or just cut each one into tiny slices, as thin as possible

2 T Extra virgin olive oil

2 T butter or more, REAL BUTTER ONLY

1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans, or sunflower seeds, or pine nuts, or whatever you like. Toast in the oven till just a little brown and fragrant, about 325 for 10 minutes. Stir often.

In a large skillet on medium high, combine olive oil and butter. When they are hot and melted, dump in the brussels sprouts shreds and get to stirring. Cook and stir. Add some salt and pepper to your taste, cook and stir till they are a little yellow, softish and sweet. You can taste. If you like they can be more raw, or more cooked if you want. I like them to be a little bright green mixed with some soft yellow ones for a balance of less and more cooked. Add in the nuts and serve.

This keeps well in a tightly closed container in the fridge. One batch will provide me about 5 two cup servings. That is equivalent to about 20 official servings of veges. These are so yummy that I pretty much don’t make brussels sprouts any other way. None of the bitterness of other methods of cooking.

Now get to the vege eating!

Today’s Recipe: Bone Broth Soup with Mexican Flavors

Bone Broth Soup with Mexican Flavors

1 qt bone broth (cook large beef soup bone for 12+ hours in 2 qts water with 1 T vinegar till bone is porous) (http://www.westonaprice.org/Broth-is-Beautiful.html)

2c cooked soy beans (previously cooked in pressure cooker, or canned, with their broth)

1 1/2 c cooked corn (I used frozen from last summer)

1 qt tomatoes (frozen chopped from last summer)

2 green and 2 red bell peppers, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1T ground corriander

1T Mexican oregano

1T black pepper

2 t salt

1T homemade hot sauce

Water to make about 2-3 quarts

Mix everything together and simmer on low heat for a couple of hours. Adjust seasonings.