Fresh Beet Salad With Cilantro And Scallions A La Leah Recipe

My guy adores beets, and I encourage him to eat as many beets as he ever wants due to the beets’ abilities to lower cholesterol quickly. This is a fun dish, easy to make, sweet and bright and super colorful.

Ingredients:

5-8 raw beets medium sized to be peeled and sliced.
Large pot of water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
juice of one lemon
2 garlic cloves
3 scallions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (preferred) or parsley
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Directions:

This recipe yields about 5 cups of cooked and chilled beets
There are two streams of thought in cooking beets, cooking them whole, then peeling which brings more vitamits to its water which is great to use in smoothies or peel first, then slice and cook which is what I do.
I still reserve the beet water – which as mentioned can be used to add to fruit smoothies, as a cleansing tonic for doing cleansing diets or quite frankly to use as a dye when crafting….
I used my cuisine art to slice up beets quickly after I peeled them.
Place sliced beets in pot, add enough water to cover.
Add sugar and salt and allow to come to a boil.
Reduce heat and allow to cook on a medium simmer until they are just fork tender – maybe 10 minutes depending upon how much you are cooking at once.
Strain reserving juice.
Place now cooked beets into bowl and allow to cool completely in the refrigerator.
Once chilled,take out and add vinegar, chopped garlic, chopped scallions and chopped parsley, stir till combined.
Add additional salt if necessary and serve.

Side Notes:

Keeps quite well in the fridge for up to one week in a sealed container.
I served this up last Saturday as a side dish at my guy’s b-day party – I was shocked at how well it went over….
Super healthy beets are great for you, filled with vitamins and the ability to lower bad cholesterol.

Leahs Cheesy Fresh Tomato And Spinach Pie With Bacon Recipe

I made this up yesterday since I wanted to use up some ingredients in my freezer and had fresh tomatoes from the garden. Pie was savory and moist without being mushy and the parmesan and mozzarella cheese with crispy bacon add that extra umph we all crave. This is a pretty dish that would do well at pot lucks, for vegetarians (without the bacon of course) and at parties served as an appetizer cold, hot or in between. Cooking time includes cooking bacon.

Ingredients:

Be lazy – Use 1 pre-made pie crust unbaked – if frozen, allow to come to room temperature
2 large beefsteak tomatoes or four plum tomatoes – could also use grape or cherry, simply slice in half.
1/2 packaged Box of frozen spinach thawed and completely drained of its juices
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk 2 percent or whole
4 jumbo eggs (or 5 medium/large eggs)
Pie pan
Working oven preheated at 350 degrees
1/3 cup flour – all purpose
2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons shopped minced onions (for color and optional)
red chili flakes (optional)
Clean tea towel to help squeeze out water from thawed spinach

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees
Place and unroll unbaked pie pastry into pie pan.
Slice bacon and cook up in skillet while performing other tasks.
Once spinach is thawed (I used my microwave for 1-2 minutes on medium strength) place half of the boxed thawed spinach into a clean tea towel and grab corners to create a bundle.
Over sink start squeezing – and squeeze some more, loads of water will come out – you really want to get all the water out, and after opening back up your dish towel, the spinach will easily pop out of your dish towel.
Fork pie pastry all over on bottom with holes to prevent buckling
Sprinkle at least 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese on bottom of pie pan on top of pie pastry.
Sprinkle three tablespoons of the flour on top of the parmesan cheese – this will prevent your pie from being too drippy of tomato juices
Slice if using beefsteak tomatoes or plums into 1/4 inch slices and arrange in circles over lapping slightly in pie pastry. Sprinkle a little salt all over the tomatoes.
Sprinkle about half of the shredded mozzarella cheese over the tomatoes.
In bowl, crack your eggs and add mayonnaise, whisk till completely combined and thick.
Add freshly cracked pepper, tomato paste, 1/2 of the remaining parmesan cheese, remaining flour, optional shakes of chili flakes and half of the nutmeg to egg mixture.
Stir again then add spinach – stir till combined.
Pour egg mixture over tomatoes.
Once bacon is done, drain any extra fat and place on top of egg mixture and add additional shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
With hand or back of spoon, slightly press cheeses and bacon into egg mixture to get them wet.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining nutmeg.
Add optional diced green onions.
Place pie pan carefully into preheated oven and allow to bake for 40 minutes.
When checking for doneness, insert knife – which will come out a little wet, but not gloppy.
Let Pie/tart set up for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
This can be served hot, cold or warm – it was super delicious cold late last night when I was struck with a little hunger after watching Craig Furgenson!
Yes I KNOW!!! lol

Click on photos to see a larger image.

Have fun with this one and use tomatoes from your own garden (or a friends) or from the farmers market nearby – the extra taste of fresh tomato will really come through!

Soy Nuts and Soy Beans – Whats the truth to their health benefits?

I was hungry the other day and started to munch on crunchy soy nuts – and wondered what gives with their health benefits. So I already knew and have read that they were healthy for woman and men, but especially women and wanted to know further what really gives as to their healthy benefits for us women. What was inside these little crunchy ‘nuts’ which were really beans, and how does it help one’s body?

So after uncovering a few tidbits of information and some useful links I share this with you.

Soy Nuts are really roasted soy beans, they are not nuts at all. A one ounce serving has four (4) grams of fat of which three (3) grams are unsaturated fats. A serving may contain 120 calories, but it has over 10 grams of protein. Soy nuts comes in a variety of flavored options such as salted, unsalted, BBQ and many other flavors. Watch out for salt content, if you are watching your salt and remember because of the calorie amounts should you be counting those as well, they can easily add some weight to your belly if you are not watching the amount you are shoveling into your mouth.

This does not mean you should avoid them at all, quite the contrary! Soy nuts also contain isoflavones which are phytochemicals that help prevent heart disease and a variety of cancers. And due to the amount of fiber and protein, these little puppies pack a nice amount of nutrition to help you stave your appetite until lunch and dinner time.

Roasted soy nuts are great to add to a salad, to yogurt and to your baked goods such as breads and muffins. The amount of isoflavones for one serving is roughly 80 mg of isoflavones and is nearly doubled the amount initially recommended for women to eat on a daily basis in helping their health, especially premenopausal and menopausal women. In perimenopausal women, it also helps to keep that libido going – and for those of you there already, you know exactly what I mean. And did you know this stuff called isoflavones helps with preventing hot flashes? But the current recommended amount is now 80 mg per day of soy isoflavones, which is the amount ‘considered helpful for hormonal imbalance’. Women in Asia easily intake this amount in their daily diet, it is no wonder they have low breast cancer rates.

And just as a side note, the soy bean is the only complete plant protein, it contains B vitamins, calcium and even known super healthy omega-3 fatty acids. You really can’t get a much healthier plant product – it is also long been known as one of the five sacred plants and the soy bean can be made into a variety of products which some you may already know and have tried: soy milk, soy sauce, tofu, edamame, tempeh – used as a meat or poultry substitute, soy cheese, miso, and even soy flour. The one exception to this is soy bean oil, which frankly should be treated as one would use corn oil, not very often.

If you are a vegetarian, a vegan or even someone who wishes to better themselves with healthy protein alternatives, the wondrous soy bean is your answer. And not only are soy bean products extremely affordable, it is simply silly not to have them handy in your cupboards and refrigerator. Soy protein shakes and even soy bars are a great way to add the ever so important isoflavones into your daily diet.

Be creative the next time you think soy, if you haven’t been already converted by this article – you can add soy beans in its many forms in a variety of ways. The important part is to realize you are helping yourself to prevent heart disease, adding a neat plant protein which is easily digested by your body unlike red meat, helping to keep your hormones in balance – and heck as a woman, you know how important that is.

So remember to add soy beans to your varied diet for the best health along with loads of fresh vegetables, fruits and other legumes for optimum health.

Here are some interesting links to learn more about the wonders of Soy Nuts:

• Crunch Soy Nuts for Good Health?

• Nutritional benefits of soy – how to get the most from your soy foods

• CNN.com – The nutty health benefits of soy – Nov. 20, 2002

• Surprising health benefits of soy for heart, breasts, prostate, menopause and osteoporosis.