A Pinch of Page

As you may have noticed, I have taken the past month or so off from blogging.  It has been a busy time for us, full of important events and good family fellowship.  On August 7th, my husband received his pilot’s wings, passed down and pinned on by his father.  My husband was also selected to fly Harriers out of Yuma, Arizona (again following in his dad’s footsteps), with about a year of training first in eastern North Carolina.  

In the weeks following his ceremony I have been busy packing, traveling to weddings, house-hunting, and working on some graphic design side projects, not to mention working from home!  Needless to say, blogging has been relegated to the back burner.  

Food is never far from my thoughts, however.  Recently I have been toying with the idea of significantly changing my diet, and I finally decided to take the plunge and try out something new.  I am taking on a loose version of the Paleo Diet (short for Paleolithic Diet), in which you eat only foods that our stone age ancestors would recognize.  Strictly speaking, it means no dairy, nothing in the grain/pasta/rice/flour/potato family, no legumes (meaning beans, peanuts, and soy products), no salty foods or fatty meats, and no refined sugars or sweets.  Like I said, I will be aiming for a LOOSE interpretation of this!

In essence, this diet plan is meant to get people to eat food in its most basic form, without subjecting it to any ‘modern’ processing (we’re talking pre-agricultural revolution here) or pasteurizing.  The idea is to incorporate more fruits, vegetables, lean protein, eggs, and nuts into your diet, and minimizing everything else; this plan will aid in digestion and will allow your body to absorb more vitamins and nutrients per caloric intake.  As a fruit and veggie lover this sounds feasible, but as an oat and yogurt lover it is also a challenge.  

Now, I love going out to eat and indulging on cheesy pasta as much as the next gal, and I will still continue to ‘cheat’ along the way.  But as a general rule, and especially at home, I am going to try to implement and abide by these guidelines as often as I can.  Even my husband is on board!

I stopped by the health food store today and made some initial purchases:

• Raw whole almonds, from the bulk food section
• Unsweetened toasted coconut flakes or ‘chips’, from the bulk food section
• Unsweetened vanilla almond milk (Almond Breeze Brand)
• A stock of fruit and nut bars made by:
•                    -LaraBars
•                    -Raw Revolution
•                    -Pure 
• Raw honey
• Raw almond butter
• Unsweetened banana chips, from the bulk food section
• Organic dark chocolate, with 87% cacao (for my sweet tooth)
• Unsweetened apple rings
• Pre-packaged ‘Date nut rolls’, containing dates, unsweetened coconut, and almond pieces
• Dark leafy greens (I got spinach and mustard greens)
• Fresh vegetables (Anything that can be eaten raw.  I got baby carrots, broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms.)
• Fresh fruits (I like apples, strawberries, blueberries, melon, and bananas)
• Dried fruits (I bought cranberries and apricots)
• Lean meats and seafood (I got tilapia, shrimp, chicken, and turkey cutlets.)

I’m still figuring out this food plan (ok, so maybe I went to Chili’s last night for margaritas and appetizers), but I will be posting more recipes and ideas that follow this diet here on the blog.  So far I have made the following steps:

-Avoid all store-bought bottled salad dressings and marinades.  I still use vinegar (even though the diet recommends eliminating it), but fresh citrus juice and olive oil are a great subsitute.

-Substitute raw, organic snack bars for oat-based, granola bars

-Snack on raw veggies (e.g carrots, cucumber) and fresh fruit

-Incorporate more dried fruits and nuts (up to 2 ounces dried fruit and up to 4 ounces nuts per day, or more to maintain or gain weight)

-Limit fatty meats such as bacon, pork sausage, beef or pork ribs, fatty cuts of beef or high fat ground beef, and lamb  (I did this before anyway, due to naturally high cholesterol)

-Add lean protein to each meal when possible, to help me feel full

-Make smart choices when eating out (using salsa as a salad dressing is one choice that I make often)

-Season foods with spices like black pepper, garlic, ginger, and ground cayenne to add flavor without salt

-Remove fruit juices from my diet altogether (I love drinking La Croix sparkling waters instead)

-Plan dinners with one meat and two vegetables, instead of the classic ‘meat-vegetable-starch’ meals

Anyone who knows me (or has read this blog!) knows that I could never be a Paleo Diet purist.  Instead I hope to incorporate some of the basic ideas into my everyday meal plans and snacking habits.  If you have adopted these rules into your own diet, I’d love to hear from you – and for those who are curious about the plan, I will post my feedback as I go along!  Enjoy…

Our incoming Commodore’s wife and my new friend here in the neighborhood maintains a wonderful vegetable and herb garden in her yard and recently dropped by with a bag of fresh Swiss chard and a mix of savory herbs for me.  I was so excited to use these organic ingredients in my cooking and I got right to it with a light dinner loaded with leafy greens.

Garlicky Swiss Chard Saute with Mushrooms and Pine Nuts

We ate pretty late last night so this was our main course for dinner but it would be excellent next to a juicy grilled steak or cut of fish.  Since we didn’t eat it as a side dish I added cubes of tofu for protein, but you could easily omit that or use canned cannellini beans instead (the beans might even be better!).  This recipe made enough for a side dish for about 4 people.  

• About 10-12 cups of chopped Swiss chard (1 large bunch)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoons plus 1/1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (add a touch more if you’re using the tofu)
• 3-4 large fresh cloves garlic, minced
• 12 ounces silken firm tofu, cubed OR 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (in toaster oven or stove oven at 350 degrees until golden and fragrant)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Fresh parmesan cheese for garnish

Begin by thoroughly washing your Swiss chard leaves in a bowl of water.  Remove the tough stems from each leaf and set aside.  Cut the remaining leaves by stacking a few of them at a time, rolling them length-wise, and making about 1 inch slices down the roll.  If your leaves are extra large you can then slice the entire roll down the middle if you wish.  

In a large saute pan, bring the water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil over medium heat.  Add the tougher stems of the Swiss chard leaves to the water and cook for about 4 minutes or until they are fork tender.  Add the rest of the Swiss chard leaves to the pan and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until they are wilted and cooked down (and they will cook down a lot!).  Turn off the heat and, using tongs, remove the Swiss chard from the pan and place in a bowl to set aside.  Pour the excess water from the pan.

In the same pan, cook the olive oil, garlic, and tofu (if using), together over medium heat until the garlic is softened.  Add the mushrooms and balsamic vinegar and cook for a few more minutes until the mushrooms are darker brown and tender.  Stir in the beans at this point if you are using them.  Return the Swiss chard to the pan with tongs (squeezing out any excess liquid as you go) and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, red pepper and black pepper.  If necessary, add more salt to taste.  Stir in the toasted pine nuts and serve topped with the parmesan cheese.

Swiss chard is one of those super foods that is rich in color and texture and has a wealth of nutrients to offer.  Altogether this saute was earthy and savory, with a slight bitterness and a nice buttery crunch from the pine nuts.  This is an excellent switch from sauteed or creamed spinach to accompany your next grilled piece of meat.  Enjoy…