What’s Cooking?
with Joan Horton
More and more in the grocery stores I see people reading labels on various food products. The item that most people are looking for is the Sodium content. Sodium occurs naturally in a lot of foods and is actually essential in small amounts to maintain fluid balance in the cells in the body. The biggest source of sodium is salt but because sodium does occur in so many foods you do not need additional salt to get the required sodium.
Salt is a habit with many people. Everyone has seen the person who sits down at the table and salts everything before they taste it. If salt is a problem at your house try some new flavorings to cut down on the sodium and then take the salt shaker right off the table. Herbs and spices, lemon juice, vinegar and unsalted margarine can be used to perk up fresh vegetables and they do such a good job you won’t miss the salt
This first recipe for Ratatouille doesn’t need a bit of added salt to make it delicious. It does call for fresh basil and oregano and if you don’t have the fresh herbs you can use one-third of the amount of dried. In other words use a teaspoon of dried in place of a Tablespoon of fresh.
RATATOUILLE
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
6 small zucchini, thinly sliced
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 med. eggplant, (about 1 and 1/2 pounds), peeled and chopped
1 medium-sized green pepper, chopped
2 Tablespoons minced fresh basil
1 Tablespoon minced fresh oregano
Freshly ground pepper to taste
6 green onion with tops, chopped
2 Tablespoons minced fresh
parsley
Sauté the garlic in the oil in a Dutch oven for about 2 minutes. Add the zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, green pepper, basil and oregano. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Stir in the green onions, cook uncovered for 3 minutes. Put the mixture in a serving bowl and sprinkle with the parsley. This makes 8 servings with only about 6 milligrams of sodium per serving.
Maybe you think that fresh green beans are only good with a lot of butter and salt. Try these Minted Green Beans for a nice surprise.
MINTED GREEN BEANS
1 pound fresh green beans
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsalted margarine
1 Tablespoon mint jelly
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
Remove the strings and ends from the string beans. Cut up, if desired. Wash thoroughly. Cook the beans, covered, in a small amount of boiling water for about 15 minutes or to the desired degree of tenderness. Drain. Add to the beans the vinegar, margarine, mint jelly and rosemary. Cook gently just until heated through, stirring to coat the beans. Makes 4 servings with only about 8 milligrams of sodium per serving.
Some people call them string beans and other people call them snap beans, whatever they are, these pencil thin green beans in my garden seem to all be ready to eat at once. Not as prolific as the zucchini but still very plentiful in my garden. There are three colors of beans and to insure the whole family gets their favorite we have all three. There are the usual green, the yellow or waxed bean and my favorite the purple bean. My preference for the purple is because that is a bean that will freeze well. Purple beans, you say? Don’t worry, when you cook them they turn a nice dark shade of green. This color change from purple to green is a sort of built-in indicator for blanching the beans. Drop the prepared beans into boiling water, watch carefully and remove the second they turn green. Cool with cold water and ice, drain well and freeze. They seem to be the only variety of beans that freeze well, they don’t get “mushy” when frozen as so many other varieties seem to.
I always make a Green Bean Salad with some of the first really tender beans, the kind you can leave whole. You can keep the nice fresh color in the beans by not putting the lemon juice on them until just before you serve them.
GREEN BEAN SALAD
1 pound small green beans with the ends removed
1/2 cup red onion, cut in
thin slivers
3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill
4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the prepared green beans, a handful at a time, so that the water doesn’t stop boiling. Boil, uncovered, for only 4 or 5 minutes, the amount of time depends on the size and age of the beans. Remember, you do not want to overcook them. Drain the beans quickly in a colander and then run cold water over them until they are all cool. Drain well. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add the onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and dill. Toss to combine all well. Let stand at room temperature, do not chill. Just before serving, remove the garlic cloves and add the lemon juice, toss the coat all the beans well. Most flavorful when served at cool room temperature. This will serve 6.
To please the green bean and the wax beans fans I make Beans Au Gratin using both kinds of beans. This dish is exceptional with baked ham.
