Kitchen Math

Basic math skills are essential for the kitchen.  The most useful kitchen math for me is the following.If you spend time in the kitchen, memorize this.

One Tablespoon = Three teaspoons

Kitchen Chemistry

I make a lot of recipes with baking powder and baking soda as leavening agents.  Recently, I've been thinking that it would be convenient to know how to successfully substitute them, particularly, exchanging baking powder for baking soda simply because it's cheaper.  Many of my recipes already include acidic ingredients, like lemon juice or honey, that are necessary to make baking soda effective.

So, I dug in my brain and did a quick internet search to come up with a little chemistry lesson.  Just for the record, I love chemistry, especially as it relates to food science.  It would be fun to do a much more in depth study, but I don't have time.

Hopefully, this will be useful and practical to you as I know it will be for me:

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Baking soda is a base that reacts with acid in a recipe to create air bubbles to lift the batter.  You know the ol' baking soda and vinegar experiment.

Baking powder is baking soda, an acidic agent(s), and a stabilizing agent(s). The acid-base reaction occurs when the mixture gets wet.  Baking powder is useful for recipes that do not have acidic ingredients.

Baking soda and baking powder are used to leaven many recipes including cakes, quick breads, muffins, pancakes, and waffles.  Generally, use 1 tsp baking powder per 1 cup flour in these types of recipes.  If the recipe uses acidic ingredients such as citrus, vinegar, honey, molasses, buttermilk, or yogurt, use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp baking soda per 1 cup flour.

Practically, a muffin recipe that uses 2 cups of flour can be leavened with 2 tsp baking powder.  If the recipe includes citrus, vinegar, honey, molasses, buttermilk, yogurt or other acidic ingredients, use 1/2-1 tsp baking soda.

Happy Cooking!

Airplane Snack

My almost-three-year-old loves all things airplanes.  I found this cute airplane snack idea and thought I'd give it a try.  He, he...  Well, mine didn't turn out quite as cute, but my son recognized it as an airplane and he was excited about it!  If only it would have actually flown!

FYI: I used a fruit leather in place of the rice krispie treat for the wings.  And, not wanting to pay three dollars for a box of cookies with holes, I bought a few gummy O's in bulk for the tail.

Greens--Part 4

6.  Greens and Mashed Potatoes.  We like to wash, boil, and chop a bunch of greens and then mix them into a big pot of mashed potatoes.  Kid friendly!  Maybe some day my kids will wonder about where the green flecks are in those "other" mashed potatoes!

7.  Fried Rice.  I like to use some cooked, finely chopped greens as part of the vegetable assortment in "fried" rice.  If you don't already have a tried and true recipe for fried rice, start with 3 cups of leftover, cooked brown rice and 3 cups of finely chopped vegetables, such as greens, broccoli, peas, corn, carrots, green onions, etc.  Heat it all in a little bit of oil and stir in 1T of reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce) and adjust things to your preference.


8.  Greens also work in spring rolls, soups, and egg dishes, but you're on your own for those recipes!

Greens--Part 3

4.  Beginner Smoothies.  Smoothies are a great way to get a little extra green nutrition in your diet.  To start with, try adding a handful of baby spinach to your favorite smoothie.  Or, blend these ingredients (serves 4).  To hide your greens in a smoothie, use equal part berries to spinach.

• 2 cup frozen strawberries, slightly thawed
• 1 frozen banana, slightly thawed
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 cups loosely packed spinach.

5.  Advanced Smoothies.  If you think you can handle a smoothie that is green colored (pictured above) but doesn't taste like salad, here is one sweet option (serves 1-2):  Blend together...

• 2 cups loosely packed spinach
• 1 cup frozen mango, slightly thawed
• 1/2 frozen banana, slightly thawed
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice

What is your favorite green smoothie?

Greens--Part 2

I've discovered that greens go well with pasta, so here are a few pasta dishes.

1.  Mac and Orach.  I've replaced the chard with orach from Robin Robertson's Mac and Chard recipe in 1000 Vegan Recipes.  Most vegan "macaroni and cheese" recipes use nutritional yeast as a cheese replacement, but this recipes uses potato as a thickener, cashews for creaminess, and turmeric for color.  It really does look like cheese sauce!  Of course, it doesn't taste like cheese, but it is delicious.  I have some orach in the freezer so we can enjoy this during the winter too.


2. Peanut Pasta.  I'm sure you can find several recipes for this sort of thing, but here's my version, originally adapted from a recipe in AllYou magazine:

• Boil one bunch of greens and chop finely.
• Boil 8oz whole wheat thin spaghetti until al dente.
• In a small sauce pan or microwave bowl, mix together 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 1/2 T reduced sodium tamari, 1 T rice vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 T  grated fresh ginger.
• Drain pasta and add 1/2 cup pasta water to the above sauce, heat if necessary and stir until smooth.
• Add sauce, greens, and 1-2 T unhulled sesame seeds to pasta and stir.  

3.  Green Spaghetti. Originally, I got this idea from Whole Foods for the Whole Family from La Leche League.  Basically, it goes like this.  Steam and puree 10-16oz fresh spinach, add a bit of water or broth, salt, pepper, and garlic and any other seasonings that sound like an adventure.  Pour over your spaghetti!  I was a bit wary about this idea, worrying that it would be a strong spinach flavor, but it was pleasantly mild

Disclosure.

Greens--Part 1

We get a lot of greens from our CSA farm.  By "a lot," I mean pounds and pounds.  Prior to joining a CSA, the greens in our diet consisted mostly of raw spinach and salad lettuces.  Greens are commonly served as a side dish, chopped and sauteed with garlic and other seasonings.  I have to admit that I just haven't learned to appreciate greens served in this manner--yet.  So, I have a few other ways of preparing them.  I thought maybe I'd share in case someone else has pounds and pounds of greens!

Before they can be eaten, they need to be washed.  I'm sure there are many ways to do this, but here's what works for me:

1.  Fill a large bowl with cold water.
2.  Submerge your greens and swirl around.
3.  Allow the greens to sit for several minutes, letting the dirt and creatures fall to the bottom of the bowl.
4.  Lift out the greens and set aside.
5.  Empty the bowl of water and refill.
6.  Repeat until you have clean water.

I've discovered several types of creatures in my greens, even a slug!

Pesticide Residues List--2010

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has updated their list of fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticide residues.  Using data from the USDA and the FDA, the EWG lists 49 common fruits and vegetables according to their pesticide residue levels.  Click here to link to the information.