Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘rainbow chard’

Winter Time Ideas

Posted by terrepruitt on November 1, 2014

It is winter time, although with the way the weather has been behaving the past few years I am not sure that nature knows how to respond.  Animals and plants do not have clocks and calendars, they react to their internal clocks and the way the weather is.  If it is warm they might not realize winter is on the way and they need to prepare.  If there is no water they might not be able to prepare.  If their homes or hunting grounds are being torn up because buildings or houses are being built they might even be at more of a loss.  But there are still a few fruits and veggies we might see during the winter.  Perhaps not all of nature is confused.  One is the delicata squash I recently mentioned.  A friend was over asking if we ate the skin.  She also mentioned winter squash and while I had heard the term before I never really paid attention.  It used to be in the same category to me as how things are classified.  I never paid attention to what is a winter squash and what is a summer squash.  I just buy what is in the store.  I have been receiving winter veggies and fruits in my delivery.  Perhaps more accurately described as fall fruits and veggies.  I have pomegranates, persimmons, and pears.  We have received chard, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and delicata squash.  What do you do with that stuff?

You know me.  If you have read one, you’ve read them all . . . I roast it.  Roasting is so easy.  It is easy, tasty, and time efficient.  Time really is the main reason why I love roasting.  Cut it up, oil it, garlic it, salt it and put it in the oven, then go do whatever it is you still need to do.  So easy.  But I can’t do that for everything.  Ok, with the squash I get “fancy”, I roast it THEN I stuff it, but c’mon . . . there has got to be other ways.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCATonight I made a stuffed pumpkin.  I didn’t have any ricotta so I used the Neufchâtel cheese I had left over from the chicken dish I made – documented in my post Leftover Rainbow Chard To The Rescue.  I think it might have even made it better.  I’m not sure.  I just didn’t want to buy a container of ricotta just for 2 ounces. So I just decided to use the Neufchâtel since I had bought 8 ounces of it and only used 2 ounces.  It was fine.

I do want to roast a pumpkin to make soup out of it, but what else do you do with all of these wonderful winter vegetables.  I have never gotten beyond my Fancy Toast when it comes to persimmons and I have about seven sitting on my counter right now.  What do you do with persimmons?  Can they be uses in a “salsa” or a chutney?

Can you use delicata squach for soup?  I also received some baby bok choy.  Read any of my posts?  If so, you know I LOOOOOOOVE baby bok choy.  It can be cooked and eaten by itself or added to just about anything.  YUM!!!!

I am just thinking you might have ideas that you could share.  Some tried and true, some favorite recipes that you might want to share.  I asked last year and I received a SPECTACULAR recipe I am going to share soon.  It is easy and yummy and one of those things you make that you just want to put on/in everything because it is so good.  You can eat it by itself.

So . . . what have you got?  What do you do with all of or any of this wonder winter produce we have?

 

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Dwight’s Delicious Dinner

Posted by terrepruitt on April 8, 2014

In a recent post I asked for help with the items I received in my produce box. I received some great ideas. One of them was from a Chef, he is the owner of Burke’s Grill in Douglasville, Georgia. He came up with a great idea to use EVERYTHING in the box in one dish. I never would have thought to do that so I just had to try it. I hope I didn’t ruin his recipe by not having sweet basil. I used marjoram instead. Not the same, but I love it. Also, the wild rice he recommended would have added another layer of flavor but I just used the white rice that I had. His comment of the original idea/recipe is on my post Can’t Come Up With Ideas. Below I have arranged it in more of a recipe format and documented it as I did it.

In his comment he said, “First,this is advice from a chef’s view point. Organize your items from the ground up. Onions, radishes, carrots together.  Then chard alone (it’s special). Then kiwis,grapefruit and apples. Now we are cooking.” Oh yeah, now we are cooking. Here is what I did.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaIngredients for Dwight’s Delicious Dinner:

2 white spring onions
2 pippin apples
4 carrots
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 grapefruit
2 radishes
salt
pepper
1/2 – 1 teaspoon marjoram
balsamic vinegar
1 lb (or so) ground turkey
4 HUGE leaves of rainbow chard
white rice (enough to make a “bed”)
two kiwis

Chop the onion. Cut the apples and carrots into bite size pieces and saute in 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until warm. (You don’t want to cook them too much because they are going to be used as a salsa and as an addition to the meat mixture.) After you are done, split the mixture in half. Half will be the salsa used a a topping. The other half will get added to the meat.

While the above is cooking/warming . . . squeeze the grapefruit for the juice.

I used the same pan to cook the turkey, since the mixture is set aside.   Cook the turkey in 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until almost done. While it is cooking chop the rainbow chard. When the turkey is almost done add the chard. Salt the chard and stir. Cook this until the turkey is fully cooked and the chard is how you want it to be done.  Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaAdd the half of the onion, apple carrot mixture you are not using as salsa. Then, add a sprinkle of grapefruit juice. Only cook for a few minutes.

WHILE the turkey is cooking, mix half of the onion, apple carrot mixture with the two thinly sliced radishes, salt, pepper, and 1/2-1 teaspoon marjoram, and sprinkle of balsamic vinegar. Let that set. Add the grapefruit juice after it has set for a bit. Using as much as you want to get the right bite you would like. I probably just used a tablespoon.

At some point in all of this you need to cook the rice. We have a rice maker so I usually put it on when there is 20 minutes left of cooking. This time I forgot and my hubby came to the rescue.

Also, peel and slice the kiwis.

Once the rice is done and all is done cooking. Put the rice on your plate, spoon the turkey, chard, onion, apple carrot mixture on top of the rice. Then the onion, apple carrot salsa on top of that. Garnish the dish with the kiwis. But be sure to eat the kiwis WITH the turkey/rice/mixture, the flavors blend perfectly. This was a very happy dish.

Something I really needed. So brilliant. I never would have thought to do this. I never would have thought to add all these flavors together. I love that Dwight came up with something that used EVERYTHING in the box that I received.

Thank you so much, Dwight!!!!!!!

So . . . even if you don’t receive a box with all of these items in it . . . I will tell you it is worth it to get to the store and actually purchase these ingredients and make this dish for yourself. It is like a party for dinner.

Well, what do you think?Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Can’t Come Up With Ideas

Posted by terrepruitt on April 5, 2014

As you may know, I have some things on my mind. The longer it goes on the more difficult it is to function normally. We still receive a small box of organic produce every other week.  Here is what we received in our box this week. I looked at it and thought, “Oh nice.” But not my normal “Ooooooo, what can I do with this and that?  I can do this . . . . . I can do that . . . . ” So I was thinking that perhaps you can help me. I know many of you are good cooks so I was thinking you could give me some ideas on what to with all these lovely fruits and veggies.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaRainbow chard
radishes
grapefruit
carrots
kiwis
white spring onions
apples

There is some rainbow chard. What do you do with that? I usually saute it with a little olive oil, garlic, and onions.  More like than not I add it to some ground turkey and then we eat it like that or it can be put on top of rice or put inside a tortilla. Can chard be roasted/baked like kale? Making chard chips?

What about radishes? Are there anything to do with them, but put them in salads? That is what I do with them, put them in salads.

What about grapefruit? Doesn’t seem like my husband or I like them? What do you do with it?

The asparagus is gone. I roasted it.  It was really thick so I peeled the bottom.  I was actually cooking four other things in the oven so I had to use a smaller pan than normal to cook the asparagus so I cut it in half.  The bottom portion I also sliced in half.  It was yummy.  I love asparagus.  I am certain I will receive more, so maybe I should get your ideas on how to cook that now.

What about carrots? Again I put them in salads, raw. What about you?  I don’t like them candied, so that is a recipe I can skip.

How about kiwis? Do you just eat them?  My husband just eat them. They are another thing I would put on salads. Do you have others ideas on how to use them?

Ooooooo and the new-to-me white spring onions. Should they be cooked whole and eaten that way or used as I would a regular onion?

What about apples? Seems as if we get them in every box? Sometimes they just stack up. I like really CRISP sweet apples and some times the apples we get are not crisp – they are the mushy kind – so I don’t like to just eat them. Last night I used one I had from the last box to make my hubby a “Porky-Pork Chop”. What do you do with hem? I guess I could just bake ’em, huh?

I also know that I can use the carrot greens in a smoothie but I have never done that.  Can the radish greens be used too?

So help me out.  Think for me because with this whole process dragging on I am starting to get a little worn out and the everyday things are not so everyday.

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Fruits and Greens and Rainbow Things Smooth As Can Be

Posted by terrepruitt on October 6, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaOk, I really am not going to turn this blog into a Green Smoothie blog, but . . . I have been making them almost every day and I really would like to share so we will see where it goes.  And, as I have told you in the past, food posts are VERY popular.  So my third ever green smoothie was Pear, Cucumber, Baby Bok Choy, and Rainbow Chard.  It was pretty good.  I don’t usually eat pears.  There is a salad that I make in which I include pears, but beyond that, I don’t eat them.  Cucumber I have almost every night in my salad.  If you have read my blog for a bit you know I am in LOVE with baby bok choy.  And this is my introduction to chard.  I think that cucumber is a great equalizer.  It really helps mellow out flavors.  The pear worked well to sweeten the smoothie.  I am thinking that chard is not that bitter because this was not a bitter smoothie.  It was nice.  It was smooth.  This one goes on my list of likes.  Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaBut right now I am just experimenting and putting whatever I have in the smoothies.  I am not doing it to lose weight, or detox, or cleanse, or any other reason but to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet.  So for now anything goes.  And let me say, that everything does not really go!

Third Green Smoothie
1 C water
1 pear
2 inches of large cucumber
1 SMALL bunch of baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard

 

 

 

 

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

 

 

 

With my fourth smoothie I was using watermelon and I thought I had read that if you use a really watery fruit such as watermelon you can skip the water.  Since I was using such a large amount of watermelon I didn’t use any water.  Worked out fine.  It was not a pretty green so I used a dark blue glass, which made it even less pretty.  But it was tasty.  I really like watermelon in the smoothie.

 

 

 

 

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

 

 

 

 

 

Fourth Green Smoothie
1 1/2 C Watermelon
1/2 apple
1 small bunch baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My fifth smoothie I wanted to make very green so I used a HUGE amount of kale.  Four kale leaves equates to a lot of kale.  This was the most bitter of the smoothies that I had at this point.  That was a lot of kale.  You may notice in the recipe I ended up with a lot of fruit.  That is because I ended up adding the banana after I tasted it because it was really bitter.  Since my point of doing this is to get more fruits and veggies and not anything else (as I’ve stated above), I don’t feel I have to suffer through my smoothies.  This is not a torture, it is

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

supposed to be an enjoyable way to get some veggies and provide my body with additional nutrition, not make me suffer.  So I added the banana.  I will just use less kale next time.  Because I really do want to be drinking more of a veggie smoothie than a fruit smoothie.

 

 

Fifth Green Smoothie
1.5 C Watermelon
1 apple
3 pieces baby bok choy
4 kale leaves
1 banana

It is really funny because cooking kale in foods and putting it in salad does not taste as bitter to me.  But for some reason, whirred up in a smoothie . . . whew.  Could be I don’t usually have THAT much kale.  That was a lot of kale.

I actually have made more smoothies than I am putting in this post.  So . . . I have learned a lot of things so far.  That will probably be my next post.  “Things I have learned on my smoothie journey so far . . . ”  🙂

Maybe there is a recipe here you might enjoy.  Let me know if you try one.  Or share what you are putting in your blender.

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Going Green

Posted by terrepruitt on September 27, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaYup, I am trying to do the Green Smoothie thing.  Awhile back, I posted about not having time to eat breakfast before my Nia Classes.  It is not that I don’t get up in time, it is that I don’t like to eat right when I get up.  Then I think some time needs to pass after eating before I teach an exercise class.  You might remember my post about how I was eating a banana on the way to class and I was ending up with heartburn.  So I either have to get up an hour earlier or eat right when I get up.  And/or maybe a green smoothie will help.  Although I need to work on getting more protein in them then.  Also, I am not sure about having that much liquid before class.  I have found that the smoothies make about two glasses.  Maybe I can drink one before class and save the other for after class.  Oh, and, yes, I do do a lot of my thinking out loud on my blog . . . . 🙂  My last post was about my birthday present.  So far I have used it five times.  I’ve made three different green smoothies.

My second green smoothie consisted of:

1 Cup water
1 apple chopped
1/2 of a large cucumber (cut up)
2 leaves of rainbow chard (cut up)
4 ice moons

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaI started out with only one half of the apple.  But after blending it, I decided that I wanted more flavor so I added another half.  It seems that cucumbers are REALLY good at masking flavor, while they do have a distinct flavor it is very mild so it can somewhat cancel out some harsher flavors . . . . maybe . . . I will have to see.  That seems to be what I have found so far . . . on my SECOND green smoothie.

I read on one website (I can’t remember which one I have looked at so many) the idea that green smoothies taste better cold.  I think that is a valid opinion.  I tend to agree.

I am laughing as I look at my pictures though because the amounts and ingredients listed yield two glasses and have you ever seen people make smoothies?  And have you ever seen the pictures?  The blender container is full to the top.  Now I would say that two leaves of rainbow chard and a half of a cucumber is one serving of vegetables if not more, but AT LEAST one.  And a whole apple is one serving of fruit.  I think that is pretty good.  I am not sure I can DRINK more.  Plus I do still love to EAT my fruits and veggies.  I am just curious as to who actually drinks a full blender container full.  But we will see, maybe I will be that person. But for now I will drink my additional serving (or so) of veggies and my additional serving of fruit in my 24 ounces of green smoothie.

Would adding more veggies and less water yield as much?  Is that how on shows, cookbooks, and websites the blender container is so full?  Less water more vegetables?  What do you think?  Do you drink green smoothies?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Birthday Puts Me In The Green

Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaThis year my husband was really on the ball.  In July he started asking me what I wanted for my birthday.  Since going out of town isn’t something we have in our budget, I thought about it for a bit, then decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday.  I wanted to go to a bed a breakfast place on the coast that we both love.  So I got my heart set on a weekend at THAT particular bed and breakfast. When I looked it up on the internet I was happy to see it is still there, however, it is no longer a bed and breakfast establishment.  The house is for rent as a vacation rental, but it is no longer a place to rent a room for the weekend.  I was sad.  I was so bummed that one of our places is gone.  Plus I was bummed because I had to come up with something else for my birthday.  He asked me every month.  I thought I had found something, but then circumstances changed and so that didn’t work out.  Then I remembered there was a time when I entertained the thought of one of those super blenders.  But really, to me that is an outrageous purchase unless you are really going to use it.  Having it sit in my cupboard would be a waste.  In my opinion there are a lot of things that are outrageous if they just sit and not get used, but when I use things often I feel I get my money’s worth.  I would like to include more vegetables in my diet.  I like to serve a green salad every night and a vegetable, so I was thinking another way to add fruits and vegetables would be to make green smoothies.  I don’t drink fruit smoothies so I really wanted to TRY a green one before I had my hubby make the investment.  I hear that green smoothies are an acquired taste and I don’t just want to blend fruit.  I want more veggies than fruit.  But then I started looking at some recipes online of other things I could make in a “super blender”.  I think I have posted about how my hummus is not smooth.  I made a joke about being the inventor of “whole bean” hummus — which is basically just chickpeas.  So I thought I could use the power of a super blender to make hummus.  So I decided to ask for a blender for my birthday.

When I received my blender I didn’t have any greens, but I was going to get some delivered the very next day.  In my box I received a new-to-me veggie.  The box contained Rainbow Chard and so I thought I could put that in my first smoothie.  I think of it as a fruit smoothie with some green since it really didn’t have that much green.  I am breaking myself in slowly — as has been suggested.

Another suggestion that I have seen on various website is that if it is an “ugly” green smoothie put it in a mug and if it is a “pretty” green smoothie use a pretty glass.  I think that is just the type of silly suggestion I can follow.  It makes an odd kind of sense.

Well so far I have used my blender four times.  I am sure you are going to hear about each time in future posts.  Well, perhaps not all four times . . . but maybe, we will see.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaSo my first fruit/”green” smoothie was:

1 Cup water
1/2 of apple chopped
1 banana (sliced)
1 leaf of rainbow chard (cut up)

My blender has a smoothie button so I just used that and it worked great.  There were NO chunks at all.  What I really love and was somewhat surprised to see is, it comes out frothy!

I think my first “green” smoothie was pretty good.  Although, I think that one leaf of green and 1.5 “fruits” is a larger fruit ratio than I want to stick with.  I am going to work my way up to more greens and less fruit.  My idea is to like and drink the more-veggie-than-fruit smoothies, but also enjoy the more-fruit-than-veggie smoothies when I feel the desire.

I am thinking I might have a smoothie before Nia, but I am not sure.  I usually try not to drink so much liquid before class.  🙂

Have you heard of these blenders that blend SMOOTH smoothies?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »