The Cottage Cheese

As most of you know, I love cheese. A friend of mine once said "a meal without cheese is not complete" and I agree with her, mostly. Cheese is one vice I will also suffer from. However, not all cheeses are created equal. There are some rules of thumb for choosing the right cheese: white cheeses over orange cheeses e.g. mozzarella over cheddar; hard cheese over soft cheese e.g. Parmesan over Brie. But the ultimate test is fermented v. artificially processed.

Cheese is so bad for you because (1) high content of milk fat and (2) highly processed. But there are a number of cheeses that are naturally fermented, including feta, blue cheese, Gorgonzola, goat cheese and cottage cheese. Milk undergoes a natural fermentation process to produce cheese and thus have an easier path through your digestive system. Hence why you see so many of my dishes using goat and feta cheeses.

I love, Love, LOVE cottage cheese. I love small curd and large curd; low fat or full fat (because what is fat free cheese?); I love it savory and sweet. Although it is not the most aesthetically pleasing food to consume, it is packed with calcium and protein that makes for a healthy snack and awesome breakfast ingredient.

I have two typical cottage cheese breakfast staples that are healthy and filling. Pill on one half chopped apple over shredded wheat and cottage cheese for a filling and nutritious breakfast. I started off using sweetened shredded wheat but it's not necessary. The apples provide enough natural sweetness and the large shredded wheat is easier to break up. It's a simple and easy enough breakfast even to make at the office.

Cottage cheese pancakes were the rave during the Southbeach Diet and Atkins craze. This style of pancakes calls for less flour and sugar than traditional pancakes. I've also found that these pancakes are tender and moist and have no need for syrup. I took the original recipe from Martha Stewart, but I replaced ricotta cheese and cottage cheese and it made a great difference in taste.

Orange Cottage Cheese Pancakes

16 oz. small curd cottage cheese, low-fat or full fat

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

zest from one orange

2/3 cup self-rising flour

Mix cottage cheese, sugar and eggs. Use a submersion blender to blend mixture until curds are no longer noticeable. Mix in zest and flour.

Heat pan on medium-low and spray with PAM or use a nonstick pan. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter on pan and cook until bubbles start to form and flip. Cottage cheese pancakes are very moist and delicate - it is not as easy to see when cake is ready to flip or even to flip it. Don't get frustrated - the effort is worth the reward. Serve pancakes with fruit, if desired. No additional sugar or syrup required!

CSA Dinner Frittata

Oh yum! One of the best things about being a cook is when you can take leftovers or raw ingredients and make a world-win creation. We are coming off a four-day holiday and are about to leave for our week vacation, so I was intent on making dinner with only what we had. When I came home to find that my thawed shrimp had gone bad I was already out of ideas.

However, my last CSA pick-up was a new batch of vegetables including heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes and leeks. And of course kale. So after a few searches on recipe search lists I came up with a pretty delicious frittata that is hearty enough for dinner, but yummy enough to eat any meal of the day.

CSA Dinner Frittata

1-1.5 lb fingerling potatoes, cleaned and cut to one inch pieces

2 heirloom tomatoes (mr. stripey, german queens or similar size), chopped

1 pound kale (about three handfuls), chopped

1-2 bullion cubs, beef or vegetable

1 tbsp olive oil

3 baby leeks or green onions, sliced

garlic, minced

crushed red pepper

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 eggs

1/4 -1/3 c. grated smoked Gouda or other smoky cheese

coarse salt and pepper

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

hot sauce, such as Louisianna

Set a pot of water to boil. Cut potatoes half longways and then into thirds, eliminating rough or discolored pieces. I never peal my potatoes unless they are pretty old - the skin is very nutritious. Boil potatoes 10-15 minutes or until slightly soft - they should not be 'mashed potato' soft.

Meanwhile sauté olive oil with garlic and leek/onion over medium heat. My CSA leeks are scallion-sized and I think the taste is more conducive to this recipe, but I have never found leeks that petite in grocery stores so use what you can find. Once the garlic is brown add crushed red pepper. I use more than most but 0.5 tsp should be enough heat for anyone. I highly recommend using heirloom tomatoes because the 'meat' of the tomato is more savory and there is less need to seed the tomato. When chopping your tomato avoid white and hard parts.

When potatoes are done, fish them out with a slotted spoon and add them to the skillet with the tomatoes and lemon juice and cover. Add the bullion cubes (I added two for more flavor but it depend on how much water you still have in your pot) to boiling water. Once cubes are dissolved, add chopped kale. You should have one part potato, one part tomato and two parts kale. Boil kale about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Stir potato mix occasionally to avoid sticking.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix potato mixture and kale. Add coarse salt and pepper. Let mixture cool. In a smaller bowl beat smoky cheese, eggs and coarse salt and pepper. In a greased deep dish pie pan spoon vegetables until evenly distributed. I actually had a lot of leftover vegies but there is an incentive to make another frittata. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables and slightly blend together. Top frittata with parm cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until egg is set. I broiled the frittata for about 4 minutes to get a good brown on top. Let cool slightly before serving. Serve with hot sauce. My sister sent me an African care package with a hot sauce that is so flavorful and spicy. It is a new favorite in my house, but a decent domestic alternative is Louisiana. I am not a Tabasco fan but it will suffice.

It took a lot of will power not to eat the whole thing last night - it was so good. I also used the leftovers for breakfast so this is an all around meal. I was also able to use so many leftovers. I tagged this recipe cheap because I literally didn't have to buy anything. The used leftover cheese, took out the rest of my eggs and my vegetables from my CSA. This meal is also a high score on the vegetable list as well.

Super-Satisfying Vegetarian Breakfast Sandwich

Subway's new low-fat breakfast sandwiches had me inspired to try to use them toward my weight-loss goals. I wanted to take a picture of the sandwich I made, but by the time I thought to post this on the blog, our meal was gone.

I was again blown away by how much I liked this meal. I was most skeptical because this is not a revised recipe but something I put together off the cuff. This breakfast sandwich is very filling, all vegetarian but probably not the healthiest of my breakfast recipes. To reduce fat even more, cut back on cheese and mayo portions.

Vegetarian Breakfast Sandwich

2 whole wheat english muffins

3 eggs (cage free or organic)

1 handful of spinach

4 green onions, whites only

1/3 cup shredded white cheese

1 tomato, thinly sliced

2 tbsp mayonnaise

When choosing eggs, I had to consult my husband on this one. I have no idea if free range, cage free, vegetarian fed, etc are any better than the rest. I know I should always buy organic but you can get a dozen white eggs for $1.50 v. organic eggs, which are typically smaller, for $4.99. So I normally buy in the middle range. My husband used to work on a chicken farm and he said vegetarian chickens are a myth. Even if they are only fed vegetarian, chickens like animal product. Free range means they are able to get around but cage-free means they have access to outside. Short of organic, but the most humane-raised chickens are free range.

Sauté sliced green onions with spinach in small frying pan. Add a tbsp water to help wilt the spinach. Remove from heat and coarsely chop. Whisk eggs, add spinach and cheese and salt and pepper. I used a mixed bag of swiss and Gouda, which made the sandwich very smoky and savory. But any white cheese is efficient. Try to stick to reduced-fat cheeses but not fat free.

Using a small frying pan, add egg mixture. My smallest frying pan is between 6 and 8 inches and perfect for omelets. When the edges start to set, pull the egg away from the pan and tilt the pan toward the opening to let the raw egg seep underneath. Fold the egg over to make a half moon and squeeze any excess. Continue to fold over until all egg is cooked and you have an omelet. Remove from heat.

Toast English muffins. Beware when buying English muffins and look at the ingredients. Since the new craze is "whole wheat" products are now being colored with molasses to look like wheat. Make sure that the ingredients include WHOLE grain or that it is advertised as 100% whole wheat. It is more crusty but lightly toasted really brings out the flavor.

Spread one side of the muffin with mayonnaise. We have had this conversation before about what mayo is best. I hate Miracle Whip but Dukes real mayonnaise is not worth the calories. I am most dedicated to Kraft Mayo with olive oil. It is reduced-fat but has all the flavor of real mayo. Smart Start also has a good brand of mayo.

Top muffin with tomato and cut omelet to fit muffin. I had a little more than two muffin-sized omelets, but we were happy to finish the rest of it 'naked'. For a complete breakfast, serve with a side of fresh fruit (we had pineapple) or chicken sausage.

To reserect this sandwich for during the work week, freeze as soon as the sandwich is at room temperature. Only freeze omelet with the English muffin, and leave off tomato and mayo. Once at work, wrap sandwich in a paper towel and defrost for 60 seconds. The heat on high for 60 seconds. Add mayo and tomato after heated. Only reserect within a between 1-3 days or the sandwich will taste bland.

Gorgonzola Grits

There is a family tradition in my house that mostly focuses on the men: Dijon chicken and Gorgonzola grits. I was told it was a Williams-Sonoma recipe, but then I thought it was a Cooking Light recipe, but now I think it is just a Ross-family recipe. I may not be able to afford the kitchen tools, but W-S has some great recipes for those of you looking to expand your recipe base.

These grits are very fancy and almost take the Southern out of grits, but they are worth sharing because I think they are good enough to stand alone or match with other vegetarian dishes since they are so flavorful. Cooking Light also has a goat cheese grits recipe for those of you stinky-cheese lovers like me.

Gorgonzola Grits

4-5 packets of instant grits, butter flavor

1 bullion cube, chicken or vegetable

4 oz gorgonzola cheese (about half the carton)

4-5 green onions, whites and greens separated

1/3 cup sour cream (don't substitute Greek yogurt)

coarse salt and pepper

Cook grits according to package instructions but add bullion cube to water being used. Stir in cheese, sour cream and white onions until smooth. Season with salt (very little since cheese will supplement a lot of the salt) and pepper. Let grits sit for a bit until set. Serve grits with green chives for garnish.

I usually serve this with chicken, but you can also make it a filling side for a brunch or substitute for creamy polenta or potatoes for a richer side dish. Please post some more ideas. I love this side and want to use it for more vegetarian meals.

UPDATE: another foodie has posted a recipe for fried green tomatoes over cheesy grits. She used goat cheese but I think either of these recipes would go great with fried tomatoes. Check our her blog - she has some great recipes and even better photos of her meals.

Mother's Day Brunch

It's the North Carolina primary. Don't forget to vote today!

I actually made this on Easter Sunday, but it was so amazing I had to share for those wonderful adult children who want to make their mothers a fabulous, meatless breakfast.

Martha Stewart's Spinach and Gruyere Quiche

I have not yet picked up my deep dish pie plate, so I normally have to reduce the contents of my quiche. I used only 1/2 red onion - you can probably still use three shallots, but I already had a red onion. I used one bag of spinach - I am not sure what a bunch is unless I'm at the Farmer's market. I only bought 4 oz of cheese instead of 8 oz, but since I reduced so much of my ingredients it worked out better. I only used six (6) eggs and 1.5 cup of half-n-half (organic, of course).

I do not make pie crust. Some people have this fabulous way of making the most desirable pie crust. I am not that person. I buy Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust and it tastes the same as all others I could make. I have also been known to buy the frozen deep dish pie crusts if I do need more. It's all the same to me. You will not be able to buy low fat pie crusts, so don't even try. You can reduce your calories by what you put in it instead.

A few tips here:

When wilting your spinach, do about 1/2 the bag at a time. When the spinach is wilted, lift the pan and tilt away from you so that the liquid falls to the other side. Take a spoon and pull the spinach towards the edge of the pan closest to you, draining the liquid. Then just spill the spinach onto a cutting board. It doesn't waste paper towels. Pour out the liquid before moving to the second half of the bag. Chop spinach after wilted.

You want to saute all your vegetables and let them cool in the bowl before adding the eggs. I hate when I add eggs to hot foods and it cooks the egg. Not pretty presentation. Add the half-n-half first to cool the vegies before whisking in your eggs. I like my whole eggs, but for those of us (myself included) who need to be more conscious of cholesterol, substitute egg whites for a few of the eggs. You will not get as firm a quiche using egg whites, so I suggest only substituting two eggs.

Fruit Skewers

This is not much of a recipe, but its a beautiful presentation. Take your favorite colorful fruits; I used strawberries, green grapes, pineapple and kiwi. Buy a few days before to make sure that all fruit is ripe. Prep fruits e.g. wash and haul strawberries, skin kiwi, etc.

Take wood or metal skewers (ask your grilling partner to borrow some or buy the wooden ones for cheap at your grocery). Just be careful that you do not buy "seasoned" skewers. Most likely they are not flavored with seasonings that complement fruit. Layer different color fruits together to create a rainbow pattern. I alternated green fruits with red strawberries and yellow pineapple.

Other Sides

I made Martha's Angel Biscuits with black strap molasses. Beware, the biscuits take 2 hours to chill so make them in advance. I would also suggest a yummy chicken sausage for our meat eaters. Trader Joes has an awesome selection. Martha also suggests a nice bibb lettuce salad for my super-healthy readers. I couldn't get my food audience to go along with that, but maybe mama will. I hope your mother feels special today!

Homemade Granola Breakfast

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday magazine for Maple-Nut Granola. This is one of her easier granola recipes because it uses cabinet staples and you don't have to dig around some healthfood store for barley flakes and wheat bran.

A few things to note: I used more nuts than was recommended, about 1/2 cup each. I prefer more protein in the morning to keep me awake and full before lunchtime. I do use pecans and almonds, but you can also use walnuts. Be sure to use the raw, unsalted, unroasted kind. Otherwise they will taste overdone when baked with the granola. I also add a few sprinkles of cinnamon pieces or grated cinnamon stick. If you have it in stock, pour 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds in the mix. The good fat is great for your heart and helps you stay full in the morning.

And DO NOT cook granola for 30 minutes as recommended. I bake for about 15 minutes, stirring once when the granola smells very fragrant. Seriously, stay close to the oven when you bake this because it will burn easily. As your granola cools, it will get crisp.

I use about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of fat free Greek yogurt - Fage is my favorite but kind of expensive; Oikos is also good. Honestly, I would never recommend fat free anything, but this yogurt is so rich and the granola so flavorful, you really don't need the extra calories. If you try the fat free and don't like it, go with the 2% instead. Beware there are Greek yogurt brands that are VERY fatty; always check the label.

Stir in one packet of splenda or 1 tsp of honey (nature's sugar) in the yogurt. Top with a handful of granola and 1/2 - 1 whole banana, sliced. I am not one to eat the same things often, but this has been my daily breakfast for weeks at a time. It has the protein from the yogurt and nuts; whole grains from the oats and a whole serving of fruit. And it is very easy to transfer this breakfast to work or assemble at work if needed.

If you do tire of the same yogurt and granola breakfast, use the same ingredients to make Crunch Berry Pancakes. I know it sounds like a kid's cereal, but they are fantastic and not bad for you. Instead of blueberries and raspberries, I used fresh strawberries. I think this recipe will go with any kind of berry you have in stock. Just make sure you do chop the fruit to avoid lumpy pancakes. I did not use the butter or powdered sugar and they were sweet enough to eat without syrup. A perfect Sunday morning breakfast.