Harpy's "disaster" kitchen....

[Harpoon]

Ok, it's called that because the first few times out, I kinda screwed up somewhere along the line of cooking and either burnt something to a crisp or forgot a major ingredient or ended up with something so horrific it was impalletable.

But I'm feeling much better now....


One of my favorites, slightly adapted from "Low-Salt Cookbook" published by the American Heart Association.

3/4 cup dried kidney beans
3 cups water
1 pound lean ground beef (I use a vegan alternative that's low salt and no fat)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 16 ounce no salt added tomatoes (I use 2 fresh tomatoes)
1 6 ounce can no-salt-added tomato paste
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp chili powder (recipe below)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Place beans in sauce pan with 3 cups water and bring to boil for two minutes then set aside for an hour wihtout draining. Return to heat and simmer for an hor or until beans are tender (or just soak beans overnight, this seems to work better)

In a big saucepan bround ground beef (or "pretend" if using imitation) with onion and green pepper. Pour off fat (there isn't any wiht the imitation stuff) Add kidney beans and remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat for about 90 minutes stirring occassionally. Remove bay leaf before serving.

The no sodium chili powder:

3 tbsp paprika
2 tsp finely crushed oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I use a combination red and ceyenne since I don't have any straight ceyenne)

Mix throughly and store in air tight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months, though if you like chili you'll use it up before then.

I like chili and rice so I usually make up a batch of rice too, without using salt. I use a little olive oil instead so it doesn't clump together as much.

Nutrient analysis for chili only:
calories = 255 kcal
protien = 20g
carbohydrates = 20g
Total fat = 11g
*saturated = 4g
*polyunsaturated = 1g
*monounsaturated = 5g
Cholesterol = 42mg
Sodium 78mg
Potassium 843mg
Calcium 58mg

If you use imitation ground beef be sure to check the nutrition label closely. With the stuff I use the fat is a LOT less and the sodium goes down. The potassium and other nutrients might go down too, I haven't checked that closely. I've done this a few times for some friends of mine who are vegan and they love it. I also brought in a pot to my rehab clinic and it was a great hit there too. You can add to the spice with more cumin or cayenne pepper or even a little dash of hot sauce per serving but watch the sodium counts...

Good stuff.

 

[Kenny F]

Harpoon,
Just needs some salt !

 

[Nancy]

Harpoon-

The Healthy Heart Market has some wonderful hot sauce, no sodium at all, called Tejas Tears. Also Mr. Spice has two hot sauces which are great, Tangy-Bang and Hot Wing sauce.

 

[Harpoon]

**raspberries to Kenny**


Healthy Heart Market is pretty nice. I got some chips, pickles, popcorn, mustard and salsa. Pretty good but the chips didn't last very long and neither did the pickles.

Aunt Jane's used to make (or at least the local grocery store used to carry) a no sodium bread and butter pickle that was really good, better I'd say than some of the salted brands....

I've got a recipe for homemade no salt pickling but my family won't let me try it until next fall some time....


Maybe I'll up and grow my own veggies to pickle...

 

[Missy]

Are Healthy Heart Market and Mr. Spice web sites?

 

[Nancy]

Joe loves the Kosher Dill pickles, the sweet butter chip pickles and the pimentos, all by B & G. I guess they don't hang around too long, he eats them fast.

Here's the links for the two sites.

http://hh329.hiphip.com/Merchant/Home.htm

http://www.mrspice.com/index.html

 

[Peggy in Alaska]

Imitation ground beef????

Imitation ground beef????

Harpoon:

Is there such a thing? Is it a vegan thing? I buy 7% fat ground beef for my recipes, but it isn't imitation?

Hubby just got back from deer hunting so we have lots of good healthy game meat in the freezer. I had the meat processor add only 4% fat - he rolled his eyes at me and said it would be too dry, but I like it leaner. I can always spray the pan with PAM.

 

[Harpoon]

Oh yeah...

Check in your grocery store's "vegetarian foods" section (ask, they probably have one, wherever they have soy based products)

THe stuff I use is called SmartGround and it looks just like ground beef. It's vacuum packaged with a stiff paper label/wrap. It's got a bit less sodium than regular ground beef, but I don't know exactly what teh counts are.

Ground venison would be fun to try too. I should pester my dad about that the next time I make a pot of the chili.

There's a lot out there, just takes some digging to find at times. Somehow, I'm finding that to be quite fun, discovering new stuff to try that's been under my nose for years... =)

Tonight I'm experiementing with tofu again... Trying to "pre-cook" it so it stays firm and has some taste in a soup, or maybe stir fry, I haven't decided yet.

If it works out well, I'll post the recipe in here.

 

[Nancy]

Soy products can be very tasty. Be careful not to eat them all the time if you are on Coumadin, I do believe that soybeans contain Vitamin K.

 

[catwoman]

Harpoon:

Thanks for sharing the chili powder recipe. Will make up some for my sister and brother-in-law. Tim's sensitive to salt, so they use reduced sodium salt.

 

[Harpoon]

I found another one for creole seasoning...

2 1/2 T Paprika
2 T Garlic Powder
1 T Black Pepper
1 T Onion Powder
1 T Cayenne
1 T Oregano
1 T Thyme

Combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.


I'm ITCHING to try this with a recipe in one of my no salt cookbooks for a cajun chicken with mustard and lemon....

Only problem is that no one else in the house would eat it! Either because they don't like the spice or they can't tolerate it.

I LOVE my hot and spicy stuff and I figure I'd better enjoy it while I can because both my parents can't tolerate it anymore, their stomachs got "wimpy."

 

[Nancy]

Looks pretty good to me, Harpoon. Joe likes spicy things too. It makes the no salt less noticeable.

I think I'll try it.

 

[Harpoon]

I did this tonight, everyone (besides because he's the fussiest eater known) thought it was great. I found it on one of the many recipe sites on the happy Information Superhighway...

Curried Kumara Soup
(New Zealand sweet potato soup)

4 Tablespoons (75 g) butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder (less if youdon't like the spicy)
1 pound kumara (vegetable native to New Zealand) or sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 cup vegetable stock (also good with chicken stock)
3 cups milk (about)
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish: 1/4 cup cream or coconut milk--and minced cilantro or scallions

Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, and curry in the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat until the onion is transparent. Toss in the chopped kumara and cook for 1-2 minutes without browning it. Add the stock, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, until tender.

Puree the soup, solids first, then begin to thin with the milk. When pourable, return to the pan and continue adding milk until the soup is a good consistency.

When ready to serve, reheat, then ladle into bowls. Swirl a Tablespoon full of cream or coconut milk into each bowl, and sprinkle a pinch of fresh minced cilantro or scallion on top.



====
I cooked the chopped sweet potatoes (used two good size potatoes) in a casserole dish in the microwave for about 6 minutes, turning once.

I also used a LOT less milk than in the recipe, about a cup, and got a real nice, thick texture. More milk would thin it out and make more servings probably, but I think I've got enough for maybe 6-8 people.

Because I want the low sodium, I used Herb-Ox Low Sodium Powdered Chicken broth (I've yet to find their vegetable broth, though I know they make it) You could also make your own veggie broth or chicken broth (I was too lazy to defrost chicken broth I have in the freezer in the garage)


Yummy yummy stuff...

One side note, I bought a bunch of ginger before Thanksgiving and now it's sprouting in various places. I cut around that if I need some, gonna plant the sprouts to see what I get...

If you find the kumara, try that and let me know what you think.


Maybe one of these days I'll start my very own heart healthy restaurant....


When I have LOADS of money..... =Þ

 

[Harpoon]

Made this tonight for the family, which is down with the flu (guess who didn't get their shots and who did!) and got thumbs up all around.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

5 roasted red bell peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1 russet potato, peeled and chopped²
3 leeks, cleaned and chopped, white and light green parts only
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups buttermilk or cream
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice¹
Sprigs of fresh marjoram or basil for garnish¹


Pre-heat broiler. Set each pepper apart over aluminum foil on broiling rack in oven or over open grill, turning as skin begins to char and bubble until all sides are blackened (about 10 to 12 minutes) then set each in a brown paper bag to cool or submerse in ice water. Peel skins and remove seeds of each pepper and chop coarsely then set aside.

In a large saucepan, sauté garlic, onion, leeks, and potato² in olive oil over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth and continue to cook 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add roasted red peppers, cayenne, and white pepper then puree in a blender or food processor, adding buttermilk to desired consistency. Return to saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

¹Stir in lemon juice before serving, garnish with fresh herbs.

Serve hot.

¹Optional
²Skin an pre-cook potatoes in microwave for about 6-8 minutes then dice, will save on final cooking time and give softer potatoes.


===

For the record, this is a recipe of my own creation. I took a few hints from here and there and did some stuff based on previous experience, but I think I can savely say this is mine, not even adapted from another recipe like the chili I posted earlier. =)

 

[Karlynn]

Harpy,
Could you come cook for my family?

 

[Harpoon]

Ok.... I'm fairly certain, that while the list of ingredients and the first part of the recipe call for white kidney beans, they should NOT be in the recipe for the soup!!!


Grrr....

I made up the minestrone recipe in Gazzaniga's No Salt, Lowest Sodium Cookbook. The recipe starts off with instructions for preparing dried kidney beans (much less sodium than canned) and I followed that then continued wiht the rest of the directions. No where did it ever mention adding the kidney beans to the soup mix and I kinda figured that may have been an oversight on his behalf or his publisher's...

I added them in.


OK.... That's can't be right.

One pound of kidney beans overwhelmed the rest of the soup.

I guess I'll eat some of it, more like a goulash than a soup right now, but it's not going up here.

Maybe I'll adjust the recipe some, removing the kidney beans for start!!!


Hence the "Disaster Kitchen" part of this thread. Heehee!

 

[Nancy]

"Fake Maple Cured Ham"

"Fake Maple Cured Ham"

This is good if you'd like some "ham" with your breakfast.

You'll need some

1 teas. Liquid Smoke (small amount of sodium, but you won't be using much)

2 Tab. Real Maple syrup (0 sodium)

1/2 teas. Maple flavoring

1/3 cup water

Mix this up

Buy some Prime Pork boneless pork chops. The prime ones seem to have less sodium. Other pork is injected with sodium.

Slice the chops horizontally about 1/4 inch thick.

Put into a bowl and add the liquid mixture. Refrigerate at least 24 hours to let flavoring soak in, turning every few hours.

Drain "ham" slices and panfry in a little no salt butter until browned.

 

[Harpoon]

is taking notes on the cured ham recipe.....



I managed to salvage, at least in part, the minestrone soup disaster. Took a lot more ls beef broth and a lot more cooking time and some added spices and other things, but it's better.


Now the 'fridge is kinda full of stuff so I guess I gotta eat it before I venture on to other things, maybe try the thai beef salad.... Hmmmmm......