Easy Ways to Cut Back on Salt

02 Sep 2010

If you’ve missed the news lately, we’ve got a message for you: put down that salt shaker. We know, we know, salt adds taste and flavour and makes every meal worth eating, but if you knew the havoc it’s wreaking on your heart, you might think twice before dishing it out. Of course, this bad-news story has a good side too. It’s true that we need sodium, found primarily in salt, an important mineral necessary to control blood pressure, blood volume, proper muscle function and fluid balance. But the reality is that we’ve been shaking that salt-shaker a lot more than our bodies have asked for. The most sodium that we should ingest each day is 2,300 mg – that is a single teaspoon of salt. Now, think about what you had for dinner last night: how much salt did you shake onto that?

Here’s the scoop: the majority of the sodium we ingest comes from packaged and processed food; they can account for up to 80% of your daily sodium intake. Read the nutrition facts carefully before purchasing your food, because items like canned soups, canned meat or fish, salted nuts, butter, bread, vegetable juice, processed meats and dressing can be high in sodium. Prepare your own meals using fresh fruits and veggies, which add flavour and healthful benefits, and can actually help offset the negative effects of over-salting. And remember that more often than not, salt is used in the absence of flavor—a lot more flavor is delivered by adding spices, garlic, onions, and lemon. Our sources say that it just takes a few weeks to unhinge your salt addiction, so before you know it, salt will mean nothing more than a chance to watch Angelina Jolie dress up like a Russian Spy.

Try these flavour-packed recipes which call for little or no added salt:

• Spring Vegetable Soup with Arugula Pesto

• Mushroom Stuffed Turkey Breast Roast

• Green Bean Tofu Salad

• Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Food News, Ingredient Primer, Tips & Tricks, Health, Salt, Tip

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Help! A Gluten-Free Friend is Coming to Dinner!

01 Sep 2010

Wonder Bread lovers take note: there are people in this world who can’t indulge in your white floury delights. No, not cookies, not apple pie, not even white bread or noodles. These distinguished folks have Celiac disease or gluten allergies, and they’ll have uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms to boot if they indulge in these noted foods. If you’re hosting someone with allergies, all it takes are some small adjustments to your cooking to keep your guests happy and comfortable (because nobody likes a gassy dinner table!).

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats, so those with allergies avoid these grain families. The plot thickens though, because many food ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, baking powder, seasonings and soy sauce often contain gluten-agents too. Also, most gluten-free eaters have to be extremely strict about their diets, to ensure no cross-contamination of their food. This means when you’re preparing food, be extra careful that your tools and cooking surfaces are clean, and that all gluten-containing food is kept away from the meal you are preparing.

If you’re keen on cooking traditionally gluten-packed recipes, there are substitutions you can use. For example, 1 tablespoon of wheat flour can be replaced with ½ tablespoon cornstarch, potato starch, white rice flour, arrowroot starch or 2 teaspoons tapioca starch. You can find a full list of substitutions and green-light foods here. Choose fresh meat, fish, fruits and veggies, eggs, rice, corn, soy and potato products. And the ultimate gluten-free fan fave (loved by those with and without allergies alike)? You can’t go wrong with quinoa!

Psst! We’ve got a whole gluten-free category on our website. Check it out!
Have a great gluten-free recipe to share? Submit it to the 20 Minute Supper Club!

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Food News, Tips & Tricks, Allergies, Gluten-Free, Health, How-To, Tips

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Homemade Pickles are Easier than You Think

31 Aug 2010

Summertime is coming to an end (we know, we’re mourning too), and it’s time to start thinking about how to stow away all of those yummy summer veggies that you’ve grown or have picked up at your local farmers’ market. Pretty much anything that can be grown can be pickled, from beets and eggs, to olives and fruit. Yep, it’s true that you can pickle beans, artichokes, tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, and onions, to name a few (though we aren’t too sure if we’ll be eating pickled apples anytime soon).

Pickles are easy to make and are packed with antioxidants and fiber. We love a good dill pickle using plain old cucumbers in salty, garlicky brine. If you plan on making a large batch to preserve for months, it’s essential to properly clean and handle your jars and lids just as you would in any other preservation process. You can do this by boiling them before filling them. Be sure to scrub your veggies really well, and, at least in the case of cucumbers, pick the firmest cucumbers to do the job right. Though fermentation can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks, this recipe should be good and ready to eat the next day. Don’t be afraid to experiment with flavors – throw in some fresh dill, peppercorn, chili, and garlic cloves. And most importantly, have fun! There’s no better way to pickle than to have a pickling party with your closest friends.

Here’s what you’ll need: 8 pounds of pickling cucumbers, 4 cups white vinegar, 12 cups water, 2/3 cup salt, 16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved, 8 sprigs fresh dill week. Click here for the full recipe.

Cucumbers not your thing? Try one of our 20 Minute Supper Club recipes for Pickled Gingered Beets and Pickled Mushrooms.

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How-To, Ingredient Primer, Recipe, Tips & Tricks, Pickle, Preserve

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Food Trends: Homemade Marshmallows

30 Aug 2010

What’s the trendiest wedding dessert for 2010? Our bets are on haute marshmallows, fluffy clouds of pastel rainbows, carefully cellophane-wrapped and tied with ribbons. Wait, did we just put “haute” and “marshmallow” in the same sentence? Indeed, the sweet treat has come a long way from our marshmallow memories, sitting by a campfire roasting them for s’mores, dunking them in our hot chocolate or eating them straight out of the bag. With this new gourmet fixation, it almost seems a sin to eat them any way but in their purest form.

Once upon a time, before the era of fluff and s’mores, marshmallows were made from the marsh-mallow plant, and could apparently soothe coughs, boost your immune system, and heal your wounds. Today, high-tech machinery and ingenuity has eliminated the need for the plant—the name stuck, but the health benefits are gone (but we say mental health benefits count for something!). Now we use gelatin and corn syrup or sugar. You can find the gooey gourmet delights at specialty dessert stores and boutique bakeries in major cities, or made to order for parties and events. In all shades of the rainbow, don’t be surprised if you bite into pumpkin, mint, coffee, toasted coconut, or gin and tonic (found at Nadege pastry shop in Toronto). Seriously. Oh, how far the marshmallow has come.

Wanna make your own marshmallows? They’re easy and fun, and we can’t wait to make them ourselves. Try plain-old marshmallows, or play around with flavors, like these strawberry marshmallows.

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Food News, Ingredient Primer, Recipe, Food Trend, Marshmallow

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How to Make Ice Cream and Sorbet (Without an Ice Cream Maker)

27 Aug 2010

Raise your hand if you own an ice cream maker. Mm-hm, that’s what we thought. An ice cream maker is a luxury for many, and we’re going to guess that at least half of you don’t have the fortunate pleasure of whirring up a batch of ice cream when you’re craving it most. Believe it or not, ice creams and sorbets are simple to make, even without the kitchen gadget; the only added ingredient is patience. When freezing a liquid into a solid, ice crystals can form all along the edges of the liquid – this is the reality for both sorbets and ice creams. To prevent this from happening, you need to check on and stir your freezing mixture frequently. Sure, an ice cream maker would be handy here to cut down on your workload, but we’re old fashioned. So it’s just gonna be you, your anxious anticipation for indulgence, and a handy spoon (for mixing, not eating!).

Here’s our secret to smooth sorbet: it’s called vodka. The alcohol helps prevent the sorbet from freezing into a solid block, and it just takes a wee bit to keep things running smoothly. You’re sure to impress your friends and surprise yourself with this cheap and easy sorbet, the perfect way to cool off on a hot, end-of-summer day. See our own favourite recipe below.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet
2-3 stalks rhubarb
3 cups strawberries
1/3 cup sugar (variable)
¼ cup water
½ lemon
1 tbsp. alcohol (vodka, rum, etc.)

1   Chop rhubarb into small pieces, and place them in a pot filled with ¼ cup water. Cover pot and allow rhubarb to cook and get soft, for about 10 minutes.
2   When rhubarb has softened, add sugar, lemon juice, and alcohol to the pot, then mix.
3   Pour the rhubarb mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth.
4   Hull strawberries, and add them directly to the rhubarb mixture in the food processor. Blend the mixture until you have a uniform, smooth strawberry rhubarb combination. Taste the mix and decide whether or not it is sweet enough. You can add sugar to the processor at this stage if it suits you.
5   Pour the strawberry rhubarb mixture into a shallow metal pan, and place into freezer for 2-3 hours, or until nearly solid.
6   Remove pan from fridge, break the sorbet into large chunks, and return chunks to the food processor. As a result, you will have a smooth, almost soft-serve type sorbet. Scoop the sorbet into an air-tight container, and pop it back into the freezer for an hour.
7   Pop a leaf mint on top, and serve!

A few other interesting machine-less frozen ices:
• Orange Blueberry Ice
• Lemon Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

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How-To, Recipe, Tips & Tricks, Ice Cream, Sorbet, Tips

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How to Perfectly Poach an Egg

26 Aug 2010

What’s your idea of a flawless Sunday morning? Ours is a perfectly poached egg, sitting atop a pile of greens on a croissant, smothered in creamy hollandaise sauce. Oh, Sunday morning brunch, how we love you. And what we love even more, is not having to shell out the cash for restaurant style poached eggs because we made it ourselves at home. The thought of poaching eggs used to make us sweat, but it’s actually remarkably easy, and by eliminating the need for butter and oil, you can skip some of the fat in cooking (okay, just pretend we didn’t mention the hollandaise).

What you’ll need: eggs, salt, vinegar, pot, water, a gentle touch

How it’s done:

1 In a saucer about 5 to 6 inches deep, bring water to a boil, and add a dash of salt.
2 Reduce water to a simmer, and add about 1 tbsp of white vinegar per pint of water you use.
3 As the water is heating up, crack your egg in a shallow dish, to make sure it stays in one piece.
4 Gently ease the egg from the cup into the water. What you’re looking for is a solid white and a slightly runny yolk. This should take about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, but you can cook up to 4 minutes if you’d prefer a firmer yolk.
5 Once the egg is ready, use a slotted spoon to scoop it up gently and allow the water to drain from it. Spoon the egg onto a paper towel gently, to remove any more excess water sitting on the egg.

Need some recipe ideas for your healthy poached eggs? Poached eggs are obviously a great brunch option, but they’re also delicious in salads:

• Asparagus, Poached Egg, Prosciutto and Fontina Cheese Sandwich
• New Eggs Benedict
• Spinach Salad with Prosciutto, Eggs, and Onions
• Frisee, Bacon, and Egg Salad

And here’s a quick Hollandaise Sauce.

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How-To, Ingredient Primer, Tips & Tricks, Breakfast, Eggs, Poach

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Vegan Baking: Popular Substitutes

25 Aug 2010

We used to moan and groan at the sight of vegan baked goods. We feared flat, lackluster, cardboard textured desserts—maybe you do too, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We recently discovered that our vegan friends are a whole lot healthier than us, so we wondered if perhaps they were onto something. And on our path to enlightenment, we discovered that vegan baking can be tastier (gasp!) than conventional baking, if you find the right substitutions for traditional baking ingredients like eggs, milk, and butter in your recipe. Sure, your banana-egg brownies might not be your momma’s brownies, but vegan baked goods have a flavor and personality of their own; you might be surprised at the results.

There are tons of “faux” eggs and dairy products on the market these days that are perfectly suitable for baking. But we bet you already have a bunch of baking substitutes in your fridge and pantry already, and our handy guide will help you easily swap around recipe ingredients. And remember, you might not get it right the first time, but with a little patience and experimentation, you’ll be wondering why you ever second guessed applesauce-loaded muffins in the first place.

1 cup milk =

• Milk can be substituted, part for part, by soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or rice milk. Some of these milks have flavors and strong tastes, which can add substance to your dish, but for a simple sub stick with soy or rice milk.

½ cup butter=

• ½ cup margarine
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• ½ cup nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew)
• ½ cup apple sauce
• Prune purée  (mix ½ cup putter prunes with ¼ cup water. 1/3 of that mixture = ½ cup butter = 1/3 cup)

1 egg =

• ¼ cup silken tofu (add to blender with water/soy milk to blend smoothly. Great in dense cakes and brownies, smaller quantities for lighter cakes and fluffy— it has virtually no flavor)
• 1/3 cup applesauce (for muffins, brownies, cakes)
• ¼ cup soy yogurt (for quick bread, muffins, cakes)
• 1/3 cup pumpkin purée (for pies)
• ½ small mashed banana (for quick bread, muffins, cakes, pancakes)
• 1 tbsp. ground flax + 3 tbsp. water (an added omega-3 bonus for cookies, pancakes)

Tip: you can make creamy frosting for vegan baked goods rich and creamy without all that butter. Firm silken tofu works well, as do nut butters, and you can use fruit, spices, cocoa, and sweeteners to enhance the finished product.

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How-To, Tips & Tricks, Baking, Substitutions, Tips, Vegan

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How to Choose Sustainable Seafood

24 Aug 2010

Plenty of fish in the sea?

Don’t you wish every fish in the ocean could have Nemo’s fairytale ending? Most of us buy seafood from grocers and restaurants without a second thought as to where they come from and how they got on our plates, but the way we shop can have a bigger impact on the world’s fish supply than you may think. Nobody is debating the necessity of sushi to our happiness and bliss; but with a growing awareness of harmful and unsustainable fishing methods, it might be time to re-think our insatiable appetite for seafood.

Here are some pretty sobering facts from the World Wildlife Federation: 52% of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited, 90% of all the oceans’ large fish have been fished out, and unless we put down the Swordfish and say “hello!” to Wild Pacific Salmon, it’s predicted that stocks of fish species we eat will entirely collapse by 2048. It’s cloudy news, but don’t be too glum; consumers have a big role to play in turning the fate of our oceans around!

What is sustainable seafood?

If you’ve visited the fish counter at your local supermarket recently, you may have noticed a change. Loblaws recently pledged to sell only sustainable seafood by 2013, ridding endangered species such as Chilean Sea Bass from the store trays. Sustainable seafood is fish and seafood with low vulnerability, with a great enough abundance, and caught using minimally harmful methods for ocean ecosystems. New certification systems and consumer guides (which, might we mention, fit very nicely into our purses) are helping us make wiser, more informed choices. By choosing sustainable seafood, we are using our wallets to vote for healthier oceans, so we can have our sushi and eat it too.

Green light: Pacific Cod, Mackerel, Sablefish, Alaskan Pollock, Farmed Tilapia and Rainbow Trout

Red light: Chilean seabass, Atlantic Cod, King Crab, Atlantic Halibut, Orange Roughy, Atlantic scallops, Swordfish, Albacore and Bluefin tuna

The full detailed guide is available here.

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Menu Ideas, Seafood, Sushi, Sustainable

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Perfect Kitchen Gadget: The Mandoline

23 Aug 2010

We love kitchen supply stores. Like tossing a kid into a candy store, set us free and just try and stop us from scooping up one of everything. One of our favourite recently acquired kitchen tools is the mandoline (not to be confused with the centuries-old musical instrument). The slanted contraption features concealed metal blades, which, dice, slice and julienne fruits and veggies to perfection as they glide across the bladed surface.

Excuse us as we go all infomercial on you, but professional chefs, step aside. Mandolines can make any user feel the euphoria of achieving that perfectly even cut (buh-bye awkward cucumber slices, so long misshapen French fries!). Impress your dinner guests with crinkle and waffle cuts, or adjust the thickness of the blade for an assortment of julienne cuts. Save time by slicing fruits and veggies in a relaxing back and forth rhythm (it’s kind of like a meditation, really), using very little pressure at all, and get the paper thin slices of veggies that you’ve always dreamed of. But be very careful; with an extremely sharp blade, the manufacturers aren’t kidding when they warn about using the safety guard to hold fruits and veggies up against the blade—we’ve learned that the hard way. Mandolines come in many styles and materials, with the cheaper plastic versions running from about $35 to the more expensive professional metal models costing closer to $200. We guess that’s the price you pay for culinary elegance.

We think the French journalist and author, Charles Pierre Monselet, says it best: “Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.”

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Gadget, Easy, Gadgets, Kitchen Stuff, Mandoline, Prep, Slice, Techniques, Tools, Tricks

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How to Boil The Perfect Egg

20 Aug 2010

Boiling an egg is an art form: getting it right makes for a happy breakfast table, but get it wrong, and experience the writhing discomfort of failed egg-spectations. Sadly, we’ve lost count of the number of times we have tried boiling an egg, cracking the shell after a few minutes to find a messy disaster of shells and green yolks. But whether you dig soft-boiled or hard-boiled, cooking eggs to perfection can be done if you follow a few easy steps.

Here’s what you’ll need: eggs, timer, water, saucepan with a lid, stove, patience

Soft Boiled:

1 Fill your saucepan with water, and bring the water to a boil
2 Gently lower your eggs into the boiling water, and let them sit there for 3 minutes
3 Drain water, and place the egg in an egg cup. Crack the shell and remove the top half from the eggs, then enjoy!

Hard Boiled:

1 Place the eggs in the saucepan, and fill the pot with water until the eggs are just covered.
2 Put the saucepan on the stove, on high heat until the water begins to boil, then set your timer for 3 minutes
3 When the 3 minutes is up, take the saucepan off the heat, cover with lid, and reset the timer for 8 minutes
4 After 8 minutes pass, drain pot of hot water, and run eggs under cold water for a minute or so to cool off
5 Let them cool completely then crack open, peel, and enjoy!

Some egg-cellent (okay, we’ll stop with the “egg” words now) recipes using hard-boiled eggs:

• Smokey Smashed Potato Salad

• Smoked Tuna Nicoise in a Potato Cup

• Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad

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How-To, Boiling, Eggs, Hard-Boiled, Ingredient Primer, Soft-Boiled

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