Vegetable Tag

06 Nov Flounder En Papillote

final fish You like opening up presents? Of course, who doesn't! How about presents filled with succulent fish filets, perfect al dente vegetables and the scent of wine with the first piercing of your package? This preparation is one of my favorite single person go to meals. It's also the equivalent of the 'one pot meal'. Almost no clean up. It involves preparing, cooking and eating in the same container. Which in this case is parchment paper. If you have never used this baking paper, you really need to run and get some immediately. It's one of the staples of a properly stocked pantry.(It's also a great last minute substitute for gift-wrapping paper) It's a wonderful product because no food will ever stick to it. You could also certainly use foil instead of parchment, but you would have to make sure you lubricate your foil, or use a nonstick. So basically what we're going to do is put a piece of thin fish filet, some thin cut vegetables, and some wine (you could use chicken stock) in a pocket of parchment paper. You can use any type of fish, as long as its pretty thin. If you have a think cut of fish then you would just slice it lengthwise just to insure it gets cooked through. We will fold it up and bake in the oven. This will steam the stuff inside our pocket leaving us with a delicious and quite impressive meal that can be done in less than twenty minutes! Once cooked you have your own Pocket o'goodness to place entirely on your plate and feast. Using en papillote is an extremely healthy cooking preparation because of the lack of oil used in the process. Any ingredients you put inside the pocket will steam together along with the help of the liquid you add. I love using wine because it adds big flavor without doing much.  This is a great recipe because you could play with it so many different ways. You could use almost any vegetable you have laying around your kitchen; squash, onions, potatoes, broccoli, green beans, peppers, anything!  Since you’re only cooking this meal for 15 minutes, it is important to cut your vegetables think and small enough to insure you properly cook them through. Some recipes call for cooking some of the vegetables a little bit before you assemble the pockets, but I don’t do this. I simply like my vegetables with a little crisp. Plus, the difference in taste is not significant enough for me to take that extra step and sauté my vegetables before I assemble my pockets.   ingredients for fish
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06 Nov All the kale hype

  Kale seems to be one of those greens that have gained quite a bit of popularity lately. Until recently, kale was primarily thought of as a green that you must cook. But kale really is such a versatile vegetable; the possibilities are endless. Everyone's buying kale chips for ten bucks a box, putting it in their juices for five dollars a cup and buying lotions with kale essence for who knows how much. We can have these things for much less money if we just learn how to prepare them at home! Kale chips are one of the simplest things to make. Don't worry, we'll cover them another time! But besides cooking the kale or putting them in my soups, I've been enjoying this super green straight up raw. It's a wonderful and effortless way of getting all the nutrients out of from these succulent curly leaves. Eating them war also ensures you wont lose any of the vitamins from the cooking process. In addition to being delicious, these leaves are low fat, have no cholesterol , have high anti-oxidant properties and protect against certain cancers. They are also very good for your brain, skin and vision. All those good things are enough for me to consider them a superfood. If you can't remember all the magical things kale is good for, just remember that the greener your vegetables, the better. One of my favorite places to eat in the city is called Franks. An adorable downtown Italian spot that has never disappointed. As a special one night they had Black Kale Caesar Salad. I love kale and I love a good caesar, this was a no brainer for me. Their caesar dressing was super creamy and had croutons, I make this salad at home a little different, but just as delicious. After a day of eating fatty and fried foods, I like to trick my myself into thinking it's all going to balance each other out if I eat a bowl of kale. Whatever it takes!
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