Soybeans-Meat from the Fields

Spicy Soybean Bun Kebab/Burger

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 During the course of studies; Health Nutrition and Lifestyle , one of the components focused on plant based food. It required us to create recipes and that can replace meat from a meal. Given the relatively high protein content of Soybeans and the research on these as one of the important non meat protein they are historically called "meat of the field" or "meat without bones”.

 

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Soybeans are officially recognized for cholesterol-lowering effects and  a health claim stating that 25 grams of soy protein per day may reduce the risk of heart disease. 1 cup 180 gms of cooked boiled soya beans have 10.5gms of fibre, 300Cal, and 28.6gms of protein. Besides they are great source of Vitamin C, Thiamin, Folate, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Manganese.

 

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American Heart Association has recognized soy foods' role in an overall heart-healthy diet. Recent research suggests that  soy foods lower the risk of certain cancers including prostate cancer, colon and breast cancers as well as osteoporosis and other bone health problems.

For Rs.80/= per KG, soybeans are cheaper as compared to many regularly used lentils and legumes. I have created and cooked several dishes that are soybeans based.

 Here  goes two of delicious and healthy recipes of soy based food:

 

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1-Green and Lean Soybeans and Spinach

2- Soy burger/bun kebab

Sauted Soybeans and Spinach

1-Green and Lean Soybeans and Spinach

Ingredients: 

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-       1Kg Spinach

-       1 cup soybeans

-       1 tbsp olive oil

-       1 big onion chopped

-       2 tsp garlic paste

-       1 tsp lemon pepper/fresh lemon juice

-       1 tsp red chilli flakes

-       1 tsp green chillies

-       1 tsp cumin power

-       1 tsp coarsly ground mustard seeds

-       5-6 chopped green chillies

Garnish (optional)

-       1 full garlic pod chopped and toasted in over or golden fried

-       4-5 whole red chillies (talhar mirch) fried

Instructions:

-       soak the soybeans overnight and then pressure cook with a bit of salt until tender but holds its shape (al dante). Just out enough water to pressure so you don’t need to strain it.

-       In a sauting pan sauté the onions and minced garlic in olive oil until onions are transparent then add ground mustard

-       Put in all the spinach mix it with the onions and  cover the pan let it cook in its own steam or until soft.

-       Add spices now chillie flakes, green chillies, lemon pepper, cumin and the soybeans

-       Stir for 2-3 minutes and let it cook on medium heat or until the dish smells of cooked spinach. Avoid cooking spinach for long, it will loose all its nutrition 

-   Serve garnished with chillies and garlic

 

 

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Soybeans Bun Kebabs:

Ingredients:

-1 cup soybeans

-1 cup chopped spring onions

-1/4 cup chopped green coriander

-5-6 chopped green chillies 

-coarsely chopped garli

-1 tsp red chillie flakes

-2 tsp anar dana (dried pomegranate seeds

-1 tsp cumin powder

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- a binding agent baison/ 1 egg

-1/2 cup bread crumbs

For the Bun Kebabs:

- Whole wheat /regular buns

-Chillie garlic sauce/home made tomato sauce

-Green chutney

- Sliced Onion

- sliced cucumber

 

Cooking Instructions:

-       soak the soybeans overnight and then pressure cook with a bit of salt until very soft and tender almost mushy

-       Mash or run it through food processor, keep it a bit coarse,

-       Add rest of the ingredients excluding the oil and bread crumbs

-       mix it well with hands and make shape into medium sized patty’

-       Coat with bread crumbs

-       On a flat skillet using the oil or any oil spray pan sear the patties on both sides until brown

-       On the same pan toast the split buns add a bit more oil if required

-       Put sauce on the buns, the patty and then garish with sliced onions and cucumber.

These makes great office or school lunches, it stays in stomach for long, very healthy and nutrient dense. 

Parfait- A Perfect Breakfast

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Mango Parafait

Parfait- A perfect healthy and balanced breakfast option every morning

People on the go, and busy in the mornings always tend to compromise on their breakfast and skip it. Some think missing the breakfast aids in weight loss, these are completely fad and bad health habits. In order to get our metabolism going, we must eat something within half-hour of waking up. It is the healthiest of practice to eat a full balanced and healthy breakfast every morning before kicking off your workday. 

Now the questions is what makes a breakfast; A breakfast that contains a good and healthy selection of complex carbohydrate, protein and some fruit or vegetable is all we need to make it nutritious and balanced.

Strawberry Parfait

When I am selecting food for breakfast every morning, the complex carbohydrate have to be something high fibre, one portion of good low fat or fat free protein, and some fresh fruits/vegetable packed with minerals, vitamins specifically phytochemicals and antioxidents. 

Of course being a working women, my mornings are busy checking all the emails compiled during the night from all over the world, organizing the meetings and the days schedule. Racing the clock to reach office by 9:15, yet ensuring everyone leave home with stomach full of balanced and healthy breakfast for the day. 

Fruit and yogurt parfait is an answer.
It is quick and easy, 

 nutritious, and  all in one bowl meal and keeps all of us going until lunch time without need for a snack or thinking about food. It has become  an all time favourite at my home, their presentation attracts the most picky eaters specially children and adolescent and people in hurry to be out the doors, they can grab and go a cup/bowl of freshly prepared parfait.

Parfait is a French word meaning “Perfect”, and traditionally used by most part of the world for a frozen desert made with cream, icecream, preserved fruits. I have eaten many variations of Parfait around the world, and my favourite are the United States and Canada, parfait that are made with yogurt layered with nuts or fresh fruits and when served at breakfast also includes some wholesome cereal.

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Pakistan is blessed with the bounty of nature in the form of a wide variety of colourful, sweet, juicy fruits. There are a good selection of mostly organically produced fruits available year round, and they dont event travel overly long distances to reach you. Including seasonal produce is an important  aspect of eating healthy. So, ideally choose fruits that are in season in your region, are fresh and ripe and not processed, frozen, preserved or imported.  

Peach Parafait

These breakfast parfait can be simply made with any most seasonal fruits zero/low fat yogurt, whole wheat cereal and some added fibre if you want

-       Fresh Seasonal Fruits: ½ Cup Season Fresh Fruits like strawberries or blue berry, rashberry, mulberry, banana, mangoes, peaches. I personally prefer using the fruits in season. However, I don’t use melons, or any citrus fruits the texture and taste wont compliment yougurt, beside citrus makes the parafait watery and very tangy.

-       Yogurt; use low or zero fat yogurt, I use locally available Adams or Nestle Acti Plus which works very well providing the protein and the very much required Probiotics. Avoid fruit flavoured yogut or the ones with jams or preserves in it, they only add that unwanted sugar in your meals and the empty calories. 

-       Complex Carbohydrate; you can select a couple of table-spoons of any whole grain cereal e.g museli, granola, wholewheat flakes, wheabix, cooked and cooled oats (I use steel cut oats), bulgar wheat (dalia).

-         Fibre:  add a teaspoon of any fibre that can be flax seed meal (I use that), physilum husk- Isphagol, or Wheat Bran. 

-       Nuts: I often toss a few slivers of almonds, or dried rasins, blue berries, raisins, cranberries as well.
 

Cherry Parfait

Layer these in a wide glass or bowl with the top layer always fruits. Children generally like the colorful fresh presentation, appreciate easy one bowl meal to eat before they climb the school buses and you run out of doors for office.  

Lychee Parfait topped with dried cranberries and blueberries

Pizza the Neapolitan Cuisine

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Pizza the Neapolitan Cuisine (Greco- Roman period food) got popular globally by migrating Italians to other countries as a means of sharing their cultures to the natives. It is a highly accessible dish and can be tailored to adjust the local tastebuds allowing unlimited variations. It is rich, but complete food often cooked with simple ingredients. 

 

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In Pakistan don’t think any Italians migrated and introduced Pizza.But In early 90s the influx of returning Pakistani families from Gulf Countries after the war brought the demand for pizza since they have been consuming it from the many international pizza chains. Since then, every other day we have new pizza chains coming up, bakeries have their own versions, restaurants have it on their menu, and people love to bake them at home filling it with the endless topping of their choice. 

 So, in my persuit of cooking healthy tasteful and varied meals, I started experimenting with different styles of Vegetable pizza.

The rule of thumb when I am cooking is more vegetable, specially the green leafy ones, wholewheat/whole grain carbohydrate, low or reduced fat dairy, minimum possible additives and food colors and packaged products. Keeping these in mind I have put together the ingredients for vegetable pizza often stacking with a medley of crunchy vegetable on wholewheat thin crust topped with preferably reduced fat mozarella.  I generally use less cheese topping, you might want to use more.

Unlike Newyork where wholewheat pizza dough is common on super market shelves, we don’t get it so easily in Karachi.  Thankful to Necos whole food store for making wholewheat pizza dough for me.  It can be easily made at home well. Nonetheless, the ready to roll dough from Necos made my life easy.

Following the guidelines from Dr. Maya Adams, from Stanford University, she is teaching Cooking and Child Nutrition course that I am currently enrolled in, I made the pizza sauce instead of using one off the super market shelf. We will be safe from chemical preservatives and artificial colors with homemade pizza sauce, it is easy and can be adjusted as per our taste and available ingredients.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

½ KG- ripe red tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 tbsp chopped or paste garlic

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp brown sugar

1 tsp mixed Italian herb (Basil, Oregano, Thyme)

¼ tsp red chillies or ½ tsp red chillie flakes

Can also use chopped green chillies

1 tbs olive oil

Instructions:

-Chop tomatoes and onions.

- In a pan sauté onions in olive oil until and then add garlic and sauté until transparent

-add tomatoes, salt, sugar, chillies and let cook until mushy

- now puree it with a hand beater/motorized smoothie maker/or blend in a blender and put back in the pan. You can leave it chunky if you want, taste equally good.

- stir in the corn flour and herbs until completely blended

- simmer for 2 more minutes and let cool before spreading on the crust.

Pizza Toppings:

There are no set ingredient for this, however, my suggestion is to experiment with more leafy green vegetable since they are nutrient dense. Vegetable in any combination and quantity can be used, following are my favourite and I often top my vegetable pizza from this list sometime all of it:

-       Spinach, just removed their stems and leave the whole leaves

-       Mustard (Methi saag)

( wash and rub a bit of lemon juice, black pepper/lemon pepper and olive oil on leafy greens

-       Sliced mushrooms

-       Capsicum

-       Sundried tomatoes

-       Onions

-       Olives

-       Pickled jalapeno

Putting it all together:

Roll the wholewheat pizza dough on a pizza pan, and spread the sauce, top with green leafy vegetable and then on top of it rest of the vegetable. Finally top with shredded mozzarella cheese, try to use the reduced fat cheese if you can find it. The pizza is generally done in 15 minutes on high in the medium shelf of the oven. I also often bake the pizza on outdoor grill, taste awesome.

Chicken Liver Pâté

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   Chicken Liver Pâté a Classy French Delicacy

We have been eating sauted, grilled or fried chicken liver with different spices, now its time to try it in a different way. Yes the French way, in the form of a creamy, smooth delicately herb flavoured Chicken Liver Pâté.

Chicken liver pate is a high class spread prepared by combining chicken liver cooked with onions, garlic, butter/olive oil and a range of other flavorings, herbs and finely chopping or pureeing the mixed ingredients. The mixture is then refrigerated so it can develop its full taste in at least 2-3 days.

They are generally used for appetizers spread over crackers or toasts chicken liver pate is often considered a high-class spread. Pate can keep for several weeks refrigerated or months frozen if covered with a layer of butter before it is stored preferably in small Ramekins or bowls.

There are many versions of Chicken Liver Pate around the world, varying with cultures, cooking traditions, available ingredients adjusting to different tastes and so on. Thus there are hundreds of different recipes available to create that palatable perfect bowl of Chicken Liver Pate. The recipes allows adjusting the amount and selection of different ingredients to suit taste, and preferred calorie intakes as well as available ingredients. 

Multigrain wholewheat sandwich filled with chicken liver Pate, sundried tomatoes and crispy lettuce

 Here goes my version using the locally available ingredients in Karachi. It turned out really delicious, and I have been using this spread on crackers, toasts, sandwiches, papays.  My favourite is to spread it on wholewheat multigrain toasts, throwing in a big stack of fresh green salad leaves and rocket, some chopped sundried tomatoes and few capers. 

 Here I get a delicious, gourmet sandwich ready in a jiffy.  

Ingredients:

-1/2 KG Chicken Liver (preferably light coloured)

- One big onion chopped

- 2 tbsp chopped or minced fresh garlic

- 2 bay leaves (tez patta)

- 3 tbsp Olive Oil/Butter

-250 gms- One packet of low/no fat milk, can use whole milk if not calorie concious

- 200gms of Danish Feta/Light Cream/Cream cheese

-Thyme

- a fresh bunch of Dill (soya)

-Fresh coarsely ground black pepper

-Capers (optional)

-Mustard Powder

-Salt to taste, omit if using Feta.

Cooking Instructions

Step-1 Preparing

- Trim all fats and connective tissues from the chicken liver, remove the heart, and chop liver in 2-3 pieces each

- In a steel/plastic bowl soak the liver in the milk for 3-4 hours

Step-2 Cooking

- Heat butter/oil in  a pan and lightly sauté the garlic and onions

-now add the chicken and cook for a few minute, don’t brown it or it will make the texture of Pate coarse and hard instead of smooth and creamy.

- Now add the milk and let it simmer for 6-7 min

- Add mustard while it is still simmering

- cook until all soft and mushy

- remove the pan from heat and let it cool for bit and remove bay leaves

- Now puree this mixture using a hand held electric blender or food processor

-Add cheese/Cream, black pepper, capers, tyme while still blending
- Now fold in 1/4 cup chopped dill
- The final produc should be a creamy smooth paste with green dill and coarsely chopped black peppers, and bits of other herbs showing.

 Step-3 Storing:
 

- While still hot spoon it in small Ramekin or small bowls for refrigeration.

- Ideally the Pate is covered with a layer of fat/butter, this increases the shelf life and gives it a flavour. I don’t add butter just to avoid added fat, it still taste just as good.