One Pot Meal and Sunday Prep

Got in provisions: eggs, cabbage, lettuces, chard, onions and garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, daikon, radishes. All washed and prepped for the next couple of days.

Note: I tried sauteeing the radish greens for the first time. They were tasty, crunchy and full of water.

I made an Italian-inspired one pot meal with chicken drumsticks from Trader Joe's and my tomatoes, zucchini and plenty of garlic. I seasoned with Garlic Herb Sensation and Garlic Herb Bread from Spice World, along with some cracked black pepper. I cooked it slowly at about 250, which made a lot of broth.

Curry Lime Coconut Sockeye Salmon

I made the same Spicely curry powder taste completely different by using a mixture of 3 parts coconut butter to one part olive oil and adding the juice of a very tart lime to my sockeye salmon (Nijiya Market). I had it with iceberg lettuce.

Greens at the Santa Monica Farmers Market

I know it is a magical place, a rare place - that Farmers Market, but I still think you should try as many varieties of greens as you can. Spigarello is just gorgeous. Apparently it is a close cousin of broccoli and can produce little florets. That means it is a cruciferous vegetable with myriad health benefits.
It is especially good in soups or sauteed with scrambled eggs. Use it as a very simple side dish for any of your proteins by just washing, cutting in ribbons and sauteeing with olive oil and crushed garlic.

How to Win

The single best way to spend a few of your free hours per week is to plan out your healthy food intake. I hit the Farmers Market to take care of myself inside and out. If my good food is ready to go, I can handle anything.
What you see: bouquet, red chard, red beets (only tops visible), cabbage, asparagus and cauliflower.

Curry Shrimp Salad

I have to avoid spicy stuff for health reasons, so I have to dream up ways to make my food flavorful without heat.
I made shrimp with Spicely Indian curry, extra turmeric and pepper. I used some white onions and shallots, added the juice of one of those tiny tangerines in every store. I served it over a whole bag of salad.
Of course if you want another layer of health benefits and taste, don't forget to add your cayenne to this serving suggestion.

Do You Sit All Day?

Even if you're active, sitting for long periods of time can hurt you. I think this has to be connected to the fact that we're often staring at a glowing screen while we're sitting.

Cajun Wings

I marinated a package of wings in orange juice, Cajun seasoning and some onions.

Rich Meatloaf

Nandor's latest creation combined veal (3/4 lb at $8.99/lb), very fatty beef (3/4 lb at $3.99/lb), and lamb (3/4 lb at $5.99/lb). He added 2 eggs, some melted cooled butter, plenty of various onions (yellow, shallot and cippolini) and garlic, and grated zucchini for moisture. He used Spicely chimichurri, chili powder, pepper, and Spice World Garlic Herb Sensation.
He cooked the meatloaf in two batches in porcelain. Use anything that can catch juice in this case. 350 oven for a little less than an hour.
He drained the juices and made a gravy with quinoa flour and crushed almonds. It was amazingly tasty.

Grilled Lamb - Boneless Top Round

Boneless top round lamb was $10 per pound at Whole Foods. Each piece was about 1/2 pound uncooked. This much meat ends up being about 5-6 meals. Added $2.99/bag organic baby spinach from Trader Joe's and $2.00/lb broccoli from Santa Monica Farmers Market.
Nandor seasoned it with fresh ground pepper, Spice World Fajita and Garlic Herb Sensation, and some Spicely paprika. This cut of meat is thick, so it was grilled on medium high on the cast iron stovetop grill for about 20 minutes and rested for almost 10.
Meanwhile the spinach was very briefly cooked with some olive oil and turmeric, and the broccoli was fried.

Monsanto's GMO Linked to Health Problems

In rats, but still...

What's in Your Fridge?

Spinach, butter lettuce, dinosaur kale super curly fun! Lots of eggs, salmon, celery, raw baby Swiss, pasture butter, homemade sauerkraut, broccoli. I like to marinate raw dinosaur kale, pictured, in a spicy citrus dressing. If you slice it thin, it will soften up by the next day.
For Nandor, wraps, chocolate, fresh peanut butter from Erewhon,raw whole milk, cream.

Roasted Whole Chicken

Used a kosher organic chicken from Trader Joe's. Stuck a Meyer lemon and a ton of sage inside the cavity, cut up a white onion to soak up the juices. Baked breast side down at 400 for an hour, then flipped it to brown the skin (my favorite) for about another hour.

What I Didn't Know about Calories

Federal regulations allow packaged foods' calorie count to be off by 20%, and this study has found that many are. Restaurants are big offenders too.

Spicy Turkey Thighs with Red Onion and Red Cabbage

I put two turkey thighs in a pan, sprinkled them with my seasonings (Italian herb mix, black pepper, cayenne and ancho), then cut up a red onion and some red cabbage. I put it all in a 400 degree oven, covered at first. After about 30 minutes, I uncovered the pan and left it for about 40 minutes more. The turkey juices softened the vegetables. Since turkey thighs are so large, this very quick easy dish ended up as four meals for me.
Cooked cabbage isn't exactly beautiful, but I love the sweet taste. Cabbage is cheap, available everywhere, and you don't have to buy organic because it isn't sprayed much.

Black Cod with Sage and Garlic

Searching for ways to make my fish more exciting, I came upon fresh sage at Scarborough Farms at the Brentwood Farmers Market. I cut it up and sauteed it with garlic in butter and oil, then added wild black cod from Whole Foods. It was tasty. I ate it with red mizuna and tatsoi from Scarborough.

News on Antibiotic Use in Agriculture

Pretty scary, in my opinion.

Winter Greens

The kale has come in at farmers markets. I got some dinosaur and some lacinato. Pictured is lacinato with bulk sheeps feta from Whole Foods.