the gogozo detox: the recipes

so, i think there are 2 ways to look at this whole cleansing thing. the major thing i wanted to focus on was to make it actually realistic. this meant a whole lotta food prep over the weekend. i'm not quite sure i can say it was worth it but we'll wait and see...in addition to the recipes i'm using for the week, i'll try to point out how i've simplified along the way...

breakfast: oatmeal with berries and walnuts
i prefer steel cut oats but in the time trap of the weekday, the easiest thing to do seems to be instant oatmeal. HOWEVER, i'm not talking about the sugar filled, random crap packed kind. i'm talking about normal oatmeal, with nothing else in it (except a bit of salt in this case). but what can i say? it's the plainest version i've been able to find.
add a 1/4 cup of frozen or fresh berries and 1 tblspn walnuts. i've been adding a tiny splash of vanilla almond milk, just for an extra flavor boost.

lunch: quinoa salad with grilled chicken
4 servings
if this looks familiar, it's because it's slightly modified from a quinoa salad i've made many times

• 1 lb chicken
  
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 1/2 cups cucumbers, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons parsely, chopped
• salt and pepper
• juice from 1/2-1 lemon
• tiny drizzle of sesame oil
  

• cook quinoa (a rice cooker is perfect for this!)
  
• while quinoa is cooking, sautee 1 bunch kale with garlic and small amount of olive oil
• allow quinoa to cool slightly, then mix in veggies, lemon juice, sesame oil, salt and pepper
• grill chicken with salt and pepper
  

dinner: miso soup with 1/2 cup brown rice and 4oz fish
dashi (adapted from epicurious)
4 servings

• 6 cups water
• 1 12-inch piece kombu (dried seaweed)
• 3/4 cup loosely packed bonito flakes

• place water and kombu in a pot and cover. allow to sit for 20 min.
• slowly heat up water. just before it comes to a boil, remove kombu.
• add bonito flakes and lightly simmer until they sink, about 4 minutes. do not stir.
• remove bonito flakes.

to make miso soup:

• 1 small bunch bok choy, sliced and steamed
  
• 1 cup snow peas, sliced and steamed
  
• handful dried sliced shitake mushrooms
  
• silken or soft tofu, sliced into cubes
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  

• place dashi, mushrooms, bok choy, snow peas, tofu, scallions in a pot and bring to a simmer until heated through
  
• turn off heat and stir in about 8 tablespoons of miso paste (start with less and add to taste)
  

stay tuned for grocery list and cooking prep plan...

weeknight dinner: tofu spinach soup

i was feeling a bit under the weather and was craving some comfort food. sadly, i don't have a restaurant in delivery distance with soup that gets the job done. hence my need to make this amazing healing comfort soup myself. the perfect solution? tofu and spinach soup! if your local chinese restaurant has it, i highly recommend it. the only chinese restaurants in local proximity here are scary, small, neon lit, greasy window ones. no thanks. this recipe is super simple and good but nothing crazy fancy. perfect for the "i'm feeling crappy and want something soothing to eat" feeling.




tofu and spinach soup

• 1 32-ounce container of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• 1 pack firm tofu, cubed
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  
• piece of ginger, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• green onions, sliced
  
• a few big handfuls of spinach (i like baby spinach in this one)
  
• sesame oil and soy sauce for serving

• briefly heat sesame oil in the bottom of a pot.
• add tofu, garlic, and ginger and sautee for a few minutes.
• add chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
• add spinach and allow to cook until wilted.
• add sesame oil and soy sauce as needed for serving.
  

spelt matzo balls and homemade stocks (happy passover)

it's been six years since i've eaten a matzo ball. i've been known to dream about them--i love them that much. the last time i was at 2nd avenue deli at 2am, i may or may not have taken a teeny tiny bite of one. now, if you have an allergy and not an intolerance, this wouldn't be a possibility for you. however, if you plan ahead (unlike me) there are a plethora of wheat-free and gluten-free passover resources available online. there are also many products available around new york. i've been reading a lot about the availability of gluten-free matzo in brooklyn--including at fairway. since i usually don't plan far ahead in advance to order my wheat-free passover needs online...

on my recent trip to california, i was overcome with joy when i spied a box of SPELT MATZO MEAL in whole foods. (the difference between la and ny whole foods to be written at a different time.) i almost wept tears of joy. but instead, i grabbed the box, made my way to the register, and packed it into my suitcase to fly back with me to ny.

in preparation for my matzo ball (passover) meal, i decided to make chicken stock and vegetable stock, and the matzo balls. the plan was vegetable stock wednesday, chicken stock thursday, matzo balls friday. i'm sorry, there's no way i could have had a big dinner in the middle of the week, i'm really not loyal to the religious celebrations.

so although canned/boxed stocks can get the job done, homemade stock is the best. and it's deceptively easy and affordable to make. just think of it as throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot. the two main issues for me seemed to be: 1. reduction/lid on or off? and 2. seasoning. first to address number 1. i often feel as though my stock reduces to almost nothing and although it's probably concentrated enough to add water, i just cannot bring myself to dull down the stock flavor. that being said, definitely start with PLENTY of water (aka a gigantic stockpot) and leave the lid mostly on. leave some room so that the stock can reduce but if you leave the lid completely off, everything will just evaporate away. number 2: do not be afraid to season! i tend to have a light hand with the salt but stock is really something that benefits from it. the safe thing to do is under salt and you can always add some later on. just taste as you go. now you're ready!

who better to turn to for a starter stock recipe than mark bittman? so i started with some bittman recipes for the veggie stock and went with a classic chicken stock recipe from the 2nd avenue deli. adapt as you see fit. stocks are quite forgiving.

chicken stock (adapted from epicurious and the 2nd avenue deli)

• 1 pound chicken parts
• 3 stalks celery, including leafy tops, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 2 halved onions, unpeeled
  
• 4 large whole carrots, peeled
• 1 leek, washed, trimmed and cut in chunks
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 bunch of parsley
  
• 1 bunch of dill

• pour 18 cups of cold water (depending on the size of pot you have) into a large stockpot, and throw in the chicken parts and celery. bring to a boil.
• cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. test chicken breast meat with a fork to see if it's tender and fully cooked; then remove it from the pot, and set aside. leave other chicken parts in the pot.
• add onion, carrot, leek, garlic, salt, and pepper. let soup simmer for at least 1 hour and 15 minutes. cook longer if you have time. (mine was on the stove for a total of about 3 hours.)
• add the parsley during the last hour of cooking.
• when chicken breast cools, remove skin and bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. you can add it to the soup, just before serving, or save it for something else.
• strain the soup, and discard everything solid except for the carrot.
• drop in the dill for a minute before serving and remove. add salt and pepper to taste. slice carrot and toss into soup. also add the chicken pieces if desired. if adding matzo ball, let them simmer in the soup for 15 minutes before serving.

veggie stock (adapted from the nytimes and mark bittman)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 unpeeled onion, quartered
  
• 1 celery stalk, trimmed and chopped
• 1 leek, washed well, trimmed and cut in chunks
  
• 2 or 3 unpeeled cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 10 or 20 parsley stems, or stems and leaves
• salt and pepper

• put oil in a the bottom of stockpot and turn heat to medium-high. a minute later add carrots, onion, leek, celery, and garlic. cook about 5 minutes; then stir once or twice. when vegetables begin to brown proceed to next step. (if you have more time brown them well, stirring infrequently.)
• add parsley, bay leaves, 8 cups water and some pepper. bring to a boil, and adjust heat so mixture simmers gently. cook at least 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very tender. simmer longer, if you have time. (i simmered mine for about 2 hours.)
• strain. taste, and adjust seasoning before using or storing. if you have time, cool, refrigerate, and skim off fat.
  
• if serving with matzo balls, simmer in stock for 15 minutes before serving.

matzo balls

umm, i used a mix. it was the only spelt way i could find! two tips here: refrigerate the mixed dough before making matzo balls and don't crowd them in the pot! i didn't use schmaltz (there were vegetarians among us!) and the matzo balls still tasted delicious.

the tortilla soup adventure

global warming has been spoiling those of us in new york for the past few years but the jig is up. lately (the past month) has been positively frigid. what does this mean for me? i want to crawl under the covers with all the fatty food i can get my hands on. resisting the urge to have an evening full of cheese fries and chocolate chip cookies, i decided soup was the way to satiate my craving. tortilla soup!

i recalled a recipe i had ripped out of the nytimes a couple of years ago and had been saving since. yes, i do this with newspapers and magazines. i have a small pile of recipes on the top of my refrigerator...this particular recipe looked so simple that it was time to try it. i ended up adapting a combination of 2 recipes from the nytimes: the saved one and a more recent one.

the consensus was that although the soup was good, it would be far better if it were blended. (i blame this on The Boy's aversion to tomatoes that are not in pureed form) so off we went, to find an immersion blender, of course. we were really stretching it on this one, running off to target at 9:00 on a friday night. i got distracted in the store (as i often do) and by the time we had discovered that THEY WERE OUT of immersion blenders, it was already 9:30. "bed bath and beyond," he declared. there were a few problems with this. 1) it was already 9:30 and bbb closes at 10. 2) if target was any indication of closing patterns at mass chain stores, they were actually going to be closing at 9:45, if not earlier. 3) target AND bed bath & beyond in one day?! 4) we couldn't quite remember where the bbb was ("it's close, i swear"). in the car we went. actually we ran. we ran to the car and sped off, multiple gadgets going, trying to locate the illusive bbb glowing somewhere in the distance. we navigated mostly by memory from the last time this happened (but that had to do with a britta filter). by the time we flew off the bqe, chain link parking lot fence in sight, it was 9:57. "pull the car up front and jump out," i screamed. but alas, it was the wrong giant queens parking lot and we had somehow missed the correct exit. back home we went, to our chunky tortilla soup. but have no fear, friends! the next day, an immersion blender was purchased, the soup was blended and it was delicious! definitely the way to go for this one...


tortilla soup (serves 4-6)

• 1-2 chipotle chilies in adobo depending on your preferred spiciness (or other chili of your choosing)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
  
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  
• 1 large onion, sliced
• pinch dried oregano
• salt and pepper
• 4 cups stock (i prefer chicken)
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• several corn tortillas, cut in strips
• grated cheese or crumbled queso fresco

• heat oil in a large pot. add garlic and onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. add tomatoes and chilies. season with salt and pepper and oregano. add stock and adjust the temperature so that the mixture simmers gently. simmer for at least 20 minutes.
• while soup simmers, scatter tortilla strips on top of a paper towel on a plate and cook in the microwave 1 minute at a time until crisp.
• if you choose to blend, now is the time to do it.
  
• stir in lime juice and cilantro.
• serve in a bowl with the tortilla strips, cheese and avocado.