A Change of Plan

There's nothing in the world worse than listening to someone babble on about their diet, so I'll be brief. Much the same as it did last time I tried WW, tracking points began to frustrate me. A lot. I've decided to follow a friend's lead and trying out the slow carb diet. It's like no carb, except for two crucial differences: beans are a staple, and you get 1 cheat day per week. I'm telling you this mostly so that you're  not like, "Why the hell is she eating so many beans?" or "I don't think ground lamb is WW friendly." It's only been a few days, but I'm already feeling better than I was on WW (or before starting any diet at all), and it hasn't been difficult yet. I think that this diet is much more realistic for someone who wants to cook real food. My books are full of meat and bean recipes that look good, just as they are. It's much harder to try and cram a non-diet recipe into a points system. So. That will be the last I mention of it.

I'm moving on from the WW book. I was starting to get bored. There are still a good bunch of recipes that I'd make and happily eat, regardless of diet status. I re-made their chili 2 days ago, and upped the beans and meat in it. It's good to have someplace to go for healthy recipes that are decent, so I'm keeping this one. For the most part, the recipes turned out a lot better than I expected.

Fortunately, this change in diet opens up a whole world of Jerusalem that would have been pretty difficult to fit into WW's parameters.

Last night, to accompany a roast chicken, I made Spiced Chickpeas & Fresh Vegetable Salad (pg 56). I wasn't impressed with the salad portion. It was similar to any other Middle Eastern salad I've ever had. Cukes, tomatoes, red pepper, red onion, radishes, and parsley are mixed up with a vinaigrette. Pleasant enough, but very familiar. I liked the crunchy addition of the radishes.

However, the spiced chickpeas were veeery tasty. And easy! I used canned chickpeas and had to alter the spices, but they came out great. All you do is roll the chickpeas around in a mix of cardamom, allspice, and cumin, then cook them in a tablespoon of oil for a few minutes. I used up what little allspice I had, then added nutmeg and garam masala to make up the difference. This one will be a regular.

Conclusion: Loved it. They were even good in my scrambled eggs this morning. Charlie ate 2 plates of chickpeas!

Enh

There were slim pickings in my fridge when we got home from Krakow, but I was able to pull together a dinner of chicken with Tandoori Yogurt Marinade (pg 25 of Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.) If you had a hankering for Indian food, but no time to devote to it, this might satisfy your craving. All it did for me was make me want to spend a day this weekend cooking a non-WW friendly Indian feast. I should write an ode to ghee. Mmmm. Ghee. This recipe didn't involve ghee.

That is literally the best I could make it look. I'm hiding the really burned parts.

I don't know how to cook this without burning it. Maybe I cut my chicken too thick. The spiced yogurt marinade is extra thick with a puree of onion, garlic, and ginger, and it adhered/burned to my grill pan. The pan is still soaking.

Conclusion: Just okay.

I believe I've mentioned the pet peeve I have about mediocre recipes that include the word "best" in the title. WW's Best-Ever Black Bean Soup (pg 121) is a prime example. Why didn't they just call it Black Bean Soup? This couldn't possibly be the best, in anyone's estimation. I'm writing this immediately after not-filling-up on it for dinner, so excuse me if I'm a little surly. The soup was thin and unsatisfying. The flavor was fine (cumin and pepper), and the cilantro, scallion, and lime juice topping were nice, but none of that is any different from any other version. The only thing that was different between this recipe and any other version is that you can tell, 100%, that it's diet food. As soon as I washed the dishes, I found myself eating handfuls of pecans out of the fridge. It seemed like a better idea than chewing off hunks of a loaf of bread I bought, because carbs are my biggest nemesis, but then I remembered that nuts are approximately 467,982 points. Woops. There goes my daily allotment.

You owe me a few hundred thousand Points, soup.

Conclusion: Just okay. Food shouldn't make me angry. This did.

Woops

Well, hello there. Sorry it's been a while. Life got all busy on me for a bit, but it should smooth out now, and I'll try to post more.

Not only have I been an absent poster, I also haven't been cooking much from Jerusalem or The Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. I do have a couple of recipes to report on, though. This will be quick, because, well, I made them a while ago. None of them left much of a mark in my memory.

First, from the WW book: Caribbean-Style Pork Tenderloin. I barely remember it. My note in the book says "Bland. Took 2x as long to cook as it said it would." So there you have it. Orange zest and juice, lime zest and juice, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne left no lasting impression.

Conclusion: Dislike. Won't make it again.

I served the pork with Cuban-Style Rice and Beans. This was good, in much the same way that the chilis from this book are good. Black beans and brown rice are bulked up by red pepper, onion, and tomatoes and seasoned with garlic, oregano, bay, and vinegar.

Conclusion: Just okay. Not bad, but not very interesting.

I have mixed feelings about my one Jerusalem offering: Butternut Squash & Tahini Spread. I made this spread for a vegetarian friend of mine who came to visit (then we went to Krakow, which was SO beautiful!). The dip was good, in a cinnamon-spiced pumpkin pie kind of way, but the garlic back-note annoyed me. It just didn't jive with the rest of the flavor. Also, I expected the tahini to nudge this dip closer to the savory side. It was a lot sweeter than I expected. I like sweet, but it tasted odd on salty pita chips and tomatoes. Maybe carrot sticks would have been a better choice.

Conclusion: Liked it, but not compulsively eatable in the way that I normally find dips to be.

It appears that I took no pictures of any of this food. Weep not.

Distracted

I have two not-very-exciting recipes to report on.

Chicken and Black Bean Chili (pg 185) was not much different then the other chili recipe I cooked from the WW New Complete Cookbook. Especially because I had to sub ground beef for the ground chicken. Ground poultry doesn't seem to be available at the local supermarkets or commissary. I'm guessing I could ask a butcher to grind chicken, but that sounds like a lot of work for what would just end up being unremarkable old ground chicken. So I made this chili with beef.

Not a lot to say about it. It was fine. I think I prefer kidney beans in my chili. The black beans are so small that they blend into the background. The bean to tomato to beef ratio was unsatisfying.

Conclusion: Okay. Same spices and tomato base as the other chili. Really, I just made this because I had all the ingredients on-hand.

Last night, I made Pasta with Broccoli and Goat Cheese (pg 245), which is the recipe pictured on the book cover. You know what annoys me? When pictures in cookbooks show ingredients that aren't in the recipe. Unless those are supposed to be giant honkin' strips of lemon zest, the picture in the book clearly shows strips of yellow pepper in the pasta. Not that it actually matters, but peppers are not part of the recipe. It feels like inaccurate advertising.

Anyway. This dish came together really easily. I like that the broccoli is sauteed in oil, rather than boiled. It produced some brown, nutty-tasting edges. However, five minutes was not nearly enough time to cook three cups of broccoli until tender without burning the garlic. Maybe I didn't cut my florets small enough, but after the five minutes, I tossed a bit of water into the pan and let them finish cooking that way. Not a big problem, but it wasn't working as-written. Once the broccoli finishes cooking, you toss it and the pasta together with salt, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, reserved pasta water, and goat cheese. The goat cheese melts and coats the pasta.

One complaint. I attempted to measure out the serving according to the 1.5 cups stipulated in the book. Difficult to do. The pasta stuck together because of the goat cheese, and the broccoli hadn't mixed in well and was all on the bottom of the bowl, so my 1 cup was mostly a giant, tangled glob of pasta. Instead of adding another half cup, I picked a heap of broccoli out of the bowl and piled it on top. I suspect this would impact someone's points.


Conclusion: Liked it, though it quickly turned into a solid block. Charlie ate most of his pasta. I'd make this again.

By Jove, It's Working!

I hesitate to even say this, for fear of jinxing it, but Charlie has been more cooperative and put up less of a fight in terms of trying dinner for the past few days. We've even had some bonafide successes! Vegetables are still a hurdle, but he's doing much better in the meat department. Yesterday, for lunch, he ate an entire tuna fish sandwich. WHAAAAT??? Maybe it's foolish, but I don't stress about the veg. This kid eats his weight in fruit. I'll keep presenting him with vegetables, but meat was a much bigger concern for me than vegetables were.

The Basic Dry Rub (pg 26 of Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook) is a sweet mix of brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, paprica, oregano, garlic and onion powder, and salt. I rubbed it into a london broil, let it sit for a bit, then grilled that baby up to juicy perfection. Even Matt, the steak-master, was pleased. The biggest surprise, though, is that Charlie sat down without a fuss and promptly ate several chunks of steak. He has never--I repeat, never--eaten any type of steak. Word!

Conclusion: Loved it. The recipe makes enough rub for 2 meals, so I happily have some stored away in a jar.

Wild Rice Salad with Pecans and Cranberries (pg 94) seemed like a good idea. It originally caught my eye because it would use up the wee cup of wild rice that moved here from Texas with my pantry items. Then, I thought it might stand a chance with Charlie, because it includes red grapes and dry cranberries, which are two of his favorite things. It also has toasted pecans, celery, parsley, and a vinaigrette mixed in. Sounds like it could be good, but it wasn't really. It was missing pizzazz. I couldn't figure out how to brighten it up.

Conclusion: Disliked. A waste of a variety of tasty ingredients.

Like the rice salad, Sweet and Sour Grilled Fennel (pg 270) sounded good, and failed. Perhaps I sliced it too thick, but it there was no way to cook it through without burning it. The recipe also suffered from poor instructions. After grilling it for four minutes per side, you are instructed to brush it with a balsamic vinegar/brown sugar mixture, then grill for another minute. I couldn't figure out whether this was supposed to be grilled face up or face down for this extra minute. I opted for face-down, but I'm still not sure it was correct. Anyway, these turned out burned (not caramelized. Burned) on the outside and crunchy on the inside. The balsamic dressing totally overwhelmed the subtler fennel flavor. No me gusta.

Conclusion: Hated it.

The next night, I made Chicken with Olives and Dates (pg 184). The title is a bit disingenuous. The recipe calls for two dates. TWO DATES. With 1/4 chopped apricot, it should be called Chicken with Olives and Apricots. I digress.

Once again, this sounded better than it was. Chicken is marinated for at least an hour with oil, garlic, fresh ginger, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, and salt. Cook the chicken, covered, with a bit of broth (I needed to add more several times, because 1/4 cup of broth evaporates very quickly). After 15 minutes, flip the chicken and add apricots, your two stupid dates, chopped olives, and lemon zest. This is supposed to cook for another 15 minutes. Again, I added a good bit more broth to keep all these sugary dried fruits from burning to the pan.

I like the idea of this dish. The sweet to savory balance was off. It was very sweet, but with a strong enough garlic flavor that it made the fruit taste weird. In a bad way. Matt said he couldn't taste anything but the sweetness. Charlie ate all the chicken I put on his plate. Even though we weren't big fans of this dish, I may make it again, just because Charlie seemed to like it. He didn't eat any of the fruity part--just the chicken, so maybe I'll like it better if I just marinate the chicken, and cook as-is.

Conclusion: Just okay. The fact that Charlie ate it tips the scale in its favor, from dislike.

Most of the time, Matt is pretty indifferent to this cookbook exploration of mine. But then there are nights like last night, when he probably wishes I would just stop trying new things and stick to some foolproof recipes. With dishes like Tofu Stir-Fry (pg 228), I can't blame him.

This is the first recipe I've cooked from this book that screamed "diet food." The only reason I tried this is because I'm trying to be extra-good this week, to mitigate the damage when I eat with abandon at our Italian friends' house this coming weekend (which also happens to be our 6th anniversary, so I'm bringing a chocolate cheesecake, dammit! Diet? What diet?)

I like stir fry. Sometimes, I even like tofu. However, to like tofu, it needs to be browned and a little crispy on the outside, and to have absorbed a lot of flavor. In this dish, tofu is tossed in with all the cooked vegetables during the last four minutes. The only flavoring in this stir fry is a small amount of soy sauce, a small amount of sesame oil, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I added chili and ginger powder and extra salt to even make it edible. Matt and I were both starving, so we ate two bowls of this, with brown rice. By the second bowl, we were both gagging on the now-cold, mushy textured tofu. Our stomachs were growling again by the time we went to bed.

This was my first time cooking tofu. If I didn't know it could be done better, it would be my last. Martha Stewart's book, Meatless, arrived yesterday. Because of the night's dinner disappointment, her recipe for tofu stir fry jumped out at me. Step one: Brown the tofu. Thought so!


Conclusion: Hated it. Oh, how I hated it. I gave some to Charlie, but opted against pushing him on it, for fear of undoing our progress. He did eat his brown rice.

One of the disadvantages of sending your kid to bed without a full belly is that they wake up hungry. Shocker, right? On Sunday, Charlie marched into my room at 630 am, poked my face, and barked, "GET UP. BREAKFAST." Not the most pleasant way to start the day (and certainly less pleasant than his normal, cheerful, "Good moooooorning!") I made the mistake of asking him what he wanted instead of just putting a bowl of cereal in front of him. He wanted pancakes. I'm not a big fan of making pancakes pre-coffee, but I sucked it up. I hesitate to count this as a distinct recipe, since I already did the buckwheat variation, but this time I made the Whole Wheat Pancakes (pg 39). I noticed, in my uncaffeinated haze, that the WW pancake recipe includes a lot of sugar. 1/3 of a cup. I asked Matt how much sugar he usually puts in pancake batter (he's the from-scratch pancake guy. I usually just open a box of Krusteaz.) His normal recipe, based off of How to Cook Everything, only uses 2 tablespoons. Hmmm. Something stinks in the land of Weight Watchers.

Like with the buckwheat, these pancakes were not exceptionally whole wheatey, and all that sugar calls the nutritional value into question. I'll probably just stick with Bittman, and toss some whole wheat flour in.

Conclusion: Just okay.

No Complaints

Much to my surprise, all of the Weight Watchers recipes that I cooked this week were good, and most were dishes that I'd be willing to work into a fairly regular routine. One critique is that, for nearly everything I've made, I've needed to use more oil than they call for. It is totally unrealistic to cook these meals with one measly teaspoon of oil. It just doesn't work.

First up, Chicken with Apples and Noodles (pg 169). I wasn't totally sure what this dish was supposed to come out like. You brown apple slice, then remove them from the pan. Add chicken to the pan, and brown it on both sides. Remove from pan. Add onions, broth, apple cider vinegar, and honey, then return the chicken to the pan until it cooks through. The apples go back in for the last two minutes, and then it's meant to be glopped on noodles. I'm glad that I chose to serve this with brown rice instead of noodles. There was not a lot of sauce left by the time I was finished, and it never would have coated pasta. A little sweet, a little tart, and plenty filling.

I forgot to take a picture until I was halfway done.

Conclusion: Liked it.

Charlie's a buckwheat fan, so I made the WW recipe for Buckwheat Pancakes (pg 39). This is a recipe for someone who doesn't like buckwheat. 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour, diluted by 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour does not create a very buckwheatey pancake. They were fluffy, and basically tasted like a normal pancake.

Conclusion: Liked it, but wouldn't be my go-to recipe.

I was feeling a little homesick, and decided to make a BBQ-ish meal. I smeared Smoky Barbecue Sauce (pg 14) on chicken breasts, grilled them, then smeared more sauce on. Have to say, the bbq sauce was really good. I've never made my own before. It had a whole lot of flavor (and it should, with onion, garlic, ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar, molasses, chili powder, smoked paprika, dry mustard, ground ginger, and cayenne all simmered together). Matt said that he's not a fan of chicken with BBQ sauce that hasn't been thrown on a charcoal grill, but he was a fan of this.

A three-fer!

Conclusion: Loved it.

Rainbow Slaw (pg 91) seemed like a natural companion to the bbq chicken. I do admit that I used normal mayo and sour cream, rather than fat free versions, so I don't know how much healthier it turned out to be than a normal slaw, but there were a whole lot of vegetables involved, so I'm not losing sleep over it. The picture in the book clearly has no dressing on it, b/c after two minutes of sitting in the dressing, my red cabbage turned the whole bowl of green cabbage, carrots, yellow pepper, and scallions purple. I'd hoped that the dish's purpleness would attract Charlie. No dice.

Conclusion: Just okay. I ate plenty of it, but the leftovers have been sitting in the fridge for a week. They're destined for the trash.

Continuing my quest for decent non-greasy fries, I gave their recipe for Oven Fries (pg 260) a shot. Folks, we have a winner. Usually oven fries end up reminding me more of a roasted potato than a french fry. Not these. These tasted and had the fluffy-on-the-inside consistency of normal french fries. The difference between this recipe and others that I've tried, is that you soak the potatoes in slightly salted, slightly sugared water for 15 minutes, then dry them, before tossing them together with a little oil and paprika, and spreading them on the baking sheet. I don't know what that 15 minute soak does, exactly, but it's key! Charlie has never been fooled by an oven fry before. He usually takes one bite and spits it out. He ate his plate of these, and then asked for more.

Conclusion: Loved them. My search for a good oven fry is over.

Lastly, I made Garlicky Red Beans and Pork (pg 152). I wish I'd doubled this recipe, because it tasted good, and now I have half a pork loin sitting in the fridge, without a plan. It may be bad by now. This wasn't especially garlicky. Cumin  was the dominant flavor. It was good, though, and Charlie took several bites of it.

I'm launching a "No, you can't have an english muffin. You're eating what we're eating" mission. I don't care if he eats it all; I just want him to taste everything on his plate. I'm cautiously optimistic that this will work. It's only been a few days, but after a prolonged period of screaming tantrums, he eventually breaks down and tries what's on his plate. He even ate a whole bowl of cauliflower soup the other night (after refusing to taste it for 45 minutes.) Wish me luck.

Conclusion: Liked it.

Easing Into It

Over my many years of dieting, I've found that chili recipes lend themselves pretty well to being healthified, because it's easy to fill them out with lots of veg. Some recipes are better than others, but in the end, if you keep adding spices, you'll probably turn out something edible.

This is the serving size. Not too shabby.

To give the WW New Complete Cookbook a fighting chance of making a good impression, I figured I'd start with their Beef and Bean Chili (pg 141), which they say to put on top of some brown rice.

I have to say, it was pretty good. There was a good bean and beef to vegetable ratio, and it was thick instead of watery, which has been a problem with some versions I've made in the past. It stays pretty dry because the only fluid added is a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I approve.

For once, I did not tinker with the spices. It could have used a bit more of everything (cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt, pepper), but I thought there was a chance Charlie would eat some, so I left it as it was. As it turns out, he did eat several chunks of beef, and then asked for "more beef" an hour later. Wouldn't touch the beans or the veg, but that's recipe victory, as far as getting any of it in his mouth is concerned. Non-dairy protein is the hardest thing to get him to eat, so I was pleased. Matt remarked, with surprise, "This is good! Needs tabasco, but it's good!"

Conclusion: Liked it. I'd make this again. Especially if I could get Charlie to eat more of it.

Quinoa-Fruit Salad (pg 95) caught my eye when I first flipped through the book. I love quinoa, vanilla yogurt, and fruit, so it sounded like a pretty sure thing. It was disappointing. I thought it would be sweeter and creamier from the yogurt. However, 1/4 cup of yogurt (mixed with oj and mint), created a very thin coating for the fruit and quinoa.

I did have to change a few things, but I don't think they'd have saved the recipe. The biggest is that the recipe calls for 1/3 cup of fresh mint. I just planted my mint two weeks ago, and it's not sturdy enough yet to support that kind of trimming. I cut a few sprigs off, but probably only ended up with a tablespoon, at most. I did not taste mint in the finished product.

Strawberries, kiwi, and canned mandarins are the suggested fruits. I used as many strawberries as I had, which was a lot less than the required 1.5 cups, frozen blueberries and raspberries, canned mandarins, and a banana.

Honestly, the not-sweet-enough nature of the dressing and fruit brought the bland flavor of the quinoa to the forefront, somehow.

Conclusion: Just okay. I like the idea of this recipe, but it needs a lot of playing around before it tastes good.

Wrapping Up and (Gulp) Up Next...

I'm cutting Nigella a little short. I don't feel too badly about this. While I've only covered 13 recipes for the blog, when I include those that I cooked before re-starting the blog, my total comes to 32. That seems like a sufficient exploration to decide that yes, I am most definitely keeping Nigella Kitchen.  I hit some duds prior to cooking for the blog, but by and large, most of what I made while focusing on the book was easy, satisfying, and I'd make it again. There are lots and LOTS of tempting desserts in this cookbook that I haven't touched. I look forward to trying them in the future. As far as I can tell from past baking, Nigella knows her sweets. I'm not too concerned about the success of her dessert recipes.

The calendar turned to March, and I've launched into full-on panic-mode. See, my brother is getting married in July. I'm a bridesmaid. I sent my future sister-in-law my measurements back in September, when I was a stress-ball whirling dervish of activity who had no time to eat and was running all over base while living in the hotel there. During those two months we lived on base, I lost 9 pounds without even trying.

Let's just say I've gained some back.

Yeah. "Some." That's a nice, vague description.

I've actually just hit the number that consistently in my adult life has made me put on the breaks, rock in a fetal position in a corner for a while, then decide that something must be done.

Something must be done. Now, while I still have enough time to fit into that bridesmaid dress.

Now. I'm not pursuing a particular diet at this time. I've established some general guidelines for eating habits that I know make a difference for me (drink 64 oz water a day, eat lots of fruit and veg, baking is forbidden, exercise). Without actually doing Weight Watchers, which I've never been very good at, as I hate weighing each piece of food, hate eating easily-trackable processed foods, and hate figuring out points of non-WW recipes, I plan to cook from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, which I bought a few years ago when I was on the diet.

Be brave.

I will not track points. The recipes, in general, are healthier than what I normally cook, so I'm hoping the sheer fact of cooking them instead of a bacon coated meatloaf will help me in my plight.

There are a few things that WW, and this cookbook, push, which I just can't get behind. I will not use butter substitute (like Promise butter spread), egg substitute, powdered egg, fat free half and half,  or any other chemically-altered/too-far-removed-from-its-native-form product. As far as cheese goes, I'd rather use less of the full-fat version than more of a tasteless fat free version.

I also tend to triple the spices required in any given recipe. Spices don't add calories, do they?

Really, I want to be cooking from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. That book is gorgeous. Plus, my friend just went to Morocco and brought me back a bunch of spices that I need. Squeeeeeal! Honestly, most of the recipes look pretty well-rounded, veg-rich, and healthy. It'll be my reward follow-up book for giving the Weight Watchers cookbook a chance.

I'm not expecting a whole lot from the WW recipes. Maybe I'll be surprised? Wouldn't that be nice. PLEASE, if you have this book and have found a good recipe or two, I beg that you direct me to them.