Brooklyn Forager

One cold rainy afternoon, I sat by the window contemplating snack time.  The weather was terrible and there would be no leaving for a quick bite or missing ingredients.  I had also been emptying the freezer and reviewing the contents, so I knew that I had four frozen bananas (Starting to turn brown? Pop them in a freezer bag and into the freezer.  The skin turns dark, but the bananas stay fresh!) that I wanted to use up.

My fellow healthy-food lover Alissa over at The Simply Wholesome Kitchen told me about a blog that focuses on healthy baking, Sweet & Natural.  I figured I would take a look over her recipes and see what I could do with my bananas.  Here I found Banana Coconut Bars which had the benefit of using up some of the coconut I have in the freezer and the agave sweetener that I picked up at Trader Joe's. 

I can't say that my pantry always has the items required for this healthy snack or that yours might, but the recipe itself is a good argument for keeping them around.  The result is a healthy-tasting bread-like sweet bar which is perfect for tiding one over until the next meal.  I used whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour, because that was what I had around.  The result was fine, although my understanding is that the pastry flour yields a lighter bar.  Play with it.

The last comment I have is with respect to agave nectar.  I've been very intrigued by this ingredient since it often comes up in clean eating recipes and is generally considered a healthy alternative sweetener.  Over the past couple of weeks, however, I've been hearing whispers in the health food community that agave nectar is very highly processed and that there are some heavy environmental impact issues surrounding agave's production.  I'm going to find out more and continue to experiment, but I wanted to put out my current thinking on the subject.  I'd appreciate hearing other perspectives.

Banana Coconut Bars (adapted from Sweet & Natural)

•  4 mashed bananas (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1/4 cup organic agave nectar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare 8x8x2 baking pan with olive oil cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together first four ingredients and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (except coconut) until combined.
4. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just blended.
5. Fold in coconut.
6. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes.

 

It has taken me a long time to get used to the traditional Greek flavor profile.  Some things are still growing on me, but in the last couple of years, I've really come around to spinach and feta and red onion, in particular.  I can lay credit at the feet of The Barefoot Contessa, for it was her Spinach Pie in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook that turned me around.  Needless to say, it is also a classic Ina Garten dish and therefore not remotely healthy.

I was ecstatic, then, to find this recipe in the latest issue of Clean Eating Magazine which presents an easy light dish (once you wrestle with the phyllo) that incorporates the tangy cheesy elements of the spinach pie I love along with the healthy light feeling you should get when eating Greek foods. 

The recipe needed very little tweaking to make it a big hit in our house, although I spiced things up a bit because I couldn't leave well enough alone.  I believe it could use at least twice the feta, but my husband reminded me that I love cheesiness and it cuts against the lightness to add more.  The amount referenced below is the original amount, but if you love feta and have room for it in your healthy eating plan, shamelessly add more.  I added garlic, chili flakes and pine nuts because I think if you can, you should.  I did eliminate the sweet red pepper from this recipe which takes it down a notch vegetable-wise, but sweet peppers are one flavor that still falls outside my comfort zone. If you like, add 1 tablespoon or more finely chopped sweet red pepper.

Spanakopita Casserole (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

•  1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 3 large bags (27 ounces or 36 cups, loosely packed) of fresh baby spinach
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 4 sheets phyllo dough (whole wheat if you can find it), 13x18 inches each
• Additional olive oil in mister or spray

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Heat olive oil in a (very) large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic, pine nuts and pepper flakes and saute for about 2 minutes.  Add spinach in batches, letting each cook down slightly before adding more.  Cover tightly and cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.
2. Drain spinach mixture and remove all excess liquid in a colander.  Set aside and let cool (this took quite awhile for me - if you're in a rush, put it in the fridge). 
3. When mixture has cooled, add dill, mint and egg white.  Mix well.  Fold in feta cheese and set aside.
4. Mist a 9x9inch casserole dish (1 1/2 quart volume) with olive oil.  Cut or gently tear each phyllo strip into 4 sections (approximately 3 inch wide sections).  Place 3-4 strips across casserole, overlapping slightly and letting phyllo hang over both ends of dish.  Place an additional 3-4 strips going in the opposite direction.  Mist strips with olive oil.  Continue layer as such until all strips are used, misting each layer.
5. Spoon spinach mixture into center of dish and gently spread evenly across phyllo.  Fold strips over to cover all spinach.  Mist lighly with olive oil.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly brown and crispy.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.  This makes about 4 entree portions or 8 side portions.

Reheating: The microwave can make the phyllo mushy, so I recommend using a toaster oven to reheat portions.  Also, the phyllo will continue to brown on re-heating, so keep that in mind.

 

I've been doing a lot of indulgent cooking, but I have strayed from my commitment to indulgently healthy cooking.  I don't think those two have to be mutually exclusive.  I also generally disagree with the movement to use food-like substances to recreate indulgent favorites as lower calorie meals.  Enter Clean Eating.  I love this magazine.  I love what they stand for.  I have committed myself to turn to it more often this year for specific recipes and to reinforce the Clean Eating philosophy whenever I cook.

This week, I made the Shepherd's Pie from the Comfort Food issue.  I made it somewhat less healthy by using 85/15 organic grass-fed beef instead of ground turkey, but I've been craving beef recently so I went with it.  I also substituted butternut squash for the carrots because I had some extra squash to use up. Finally, I upped the garlic because rarely does a recipe meet my hands without some extra garlic thrown in to the mix.

In general, I really liked this recipe.  It was filling and comforting and still tasted clean.  My husband made his usual critique - it would taste better with curry powder or Asian spices of some kind.  It is not spicy, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have nice flavor.  I may try an Asian-inspired version to complement my meat loaf one of these days, but for now, this recipe will do.

 Clean Eating Shepherd's Pie  with Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potato Crust (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

• 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, whole, plus 1 clove garlic minced, divided
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• 1 lb organic grass-fed ground beef (or lean ground turkey breast)
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 butternut squash, chopped (or 3 medium carrots, halved and sliced into half moons)
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 cup frozen peas

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Bring potatoes and whole garlic cloves to boil in a pot of water set over high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well.  Mash potatoes and garlic with a potato masher (or your favorite mashing device) until smooth.  Add buttermilk and chives and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.
3. While water is boiling, heat 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add beef or turkey and cook, stirring often and breaking meat into small pieces with wooden spoon.  Cook until just done, about 8 minutes. Drain and discard fat, set aside.
4. Heat 2 tsp oil in same skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, squash, celery and rosemary and cook until soft, stirring occasionally.  Add reserved meat, broth and tomato paste and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas.
5. Transfer mixgture to a shallow 2-quart baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes in an even layer.  Run a fork over top of mashed potatoes in both directions or swirl with the back of a spoon.  Brush top with remaining 1 tsp oilve oil.
6. Bake in oven until filling is bubbling and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.