7-Minute Breakfast: Egg, Kale, and Tea

Egg and kale cooked for breakfast

Autumn is in the air! This is the time of year that I look forward to a warm, cozy breakfast to start the day off right. In about 7 minutes, using only one small pot, you can whip up some lightly scrambled eggs (in this case, 2 of them) and sauteed kale for a hearty breakfast. Add a steaming mug of fragrant green tea for an extra toasty morning.

Splendid Beef Lettuce-“Tacos”

Thanks to Diane Sanfilippo’s book Practical Paleo for the inspiration behind these delectable “tacos”!

Makes 4-5 servings. In the image above, the “taco” is paired with some cubed watermelon / cucumber and pretzel chips.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. of your choice of beef filet
• Leaves from head of lettuce (I used iceberg)
• 1 tomato
• 1 avocado
• Optional sprinkling of Mexican cheese

Preparation:

1. Slice filet into thin slices and saute on low heat. Sprinkle a few dashes of your favorite herb seasoning for meats and add a splash of soy sauce for extra flavor. Then turn the slices so both sides are slightly browned. (Delicious!)
2. Slice avocado and chop tomato.
3. Wash and separate leaves from lettuce head, dry, and place on plate.
4. First place the finished beef on the lettuce and then arrange avocado, tomato, and bit of cheese (optional) on top.

My Favorite Tofu Recipe…and is tofu even good for you?

Soy Sauce Tofu with mushrooms and celery

There has been plenty of controversy over whether tofu is “good for you” or not. As an East Asian woman who was raised with an abundance of Chinese cooking, tofu is a natural and beloved part of my diet – as a cultural food, it was never debated as good or bad at my family’s table. It was just part of the cuisine. As the linked blog post above argues, tofu’s pros and cons are what they are; as long as this protein is eaten in moderation (like all proteins should be), the eater should be just fine.

The simple (under 10-minute) meal below is my favorite comfort food. Not only is it easy to make, it smells / tastes savory and leftovers microwaved the next day are always just as good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 package of soft tofu (make sure you choose the “soft” kind; “firm” just doesn’t work as well here)
• 1/2 container of mushrooms of your choice, sliced (my favorite: a mixture of shiitake and oyster mushrooms, though regular button shrooms work just fine)
• Soy sauce
• Garlic powder
• Makes it taste uber good / highly recommended additions: 1 small spoonful of brown cane sugar, 1 small dollop of oyster sauce, 1 small drip of sesame oil

Preparation

1. Cook brown rice separately.
2. Begin heating a small pot; eyeball and add a small layer of soy sauce (and sesame oil and/or oyster sauce if you would like).
   1. Don’t overdo the soy sauce; oversaturation will make it too salty. If there isn’t enough flavor, you can always add more later.
3. Once the mixture is simmering, add sliced mushrooms.
4. When the mushrooms look like they’re growing tender (after a couple of minutes), slice the tofu block into 16 rectangular chunks and add to pot.
5. Dust the mixture with a sprinkling of garlic powder (and sugar if you would like). Fold the ingredients and sauce together in the pot and let simmer.
   1. Serve with brown rice and enjoy!

Mark Bittman’s analysis of the market for “Good Fast Food”

Mark Bittman writes in his prescient NYTimes article that there’s definitely a niche for fast food that is perceived as (and is) healthy. Which business will emerge as the “Whole Foods of fast food,” that is, a profitable “healthy” behemoth, market mover and shaker, national chain, and cultural trendsetter? There is room for a “Good Fast Food” business model focusing on whole foods and health; of course, as Bittman points out, a big issue in its development is cost control – how can this model reach low-income Americans who may live in “food deserts” lacking in healthy foods and produce?

Bittman suggests a preliminary answer to my question above:

“Veggie Grill, Lyfe Kitchen, Tender Greens and others have solved the challenge of bringing formerly upscale, plant-based foods to more of a mass audience. But the industry seems to be focused on a niche group that you might call the health-aware sector of the population. (If you’re reading this article, you’re probably in it.) Whole Foods has proved that you can build a publicly traded business, with $16 billion in market capitalization, by appealing to this niche. But fast food is, at its core, a class issue. Many people rely on that Tendercrisp because they need to, and our country’s fast-food problem won’t be solved — no matter how much innovation in vegan options or high-tech ovens — until the prices come down and this niche sector is no longer niche.”

The best takeaway paragraph of the article, in my humble opinion, is the following statement about eating real / whole foods, and lifestyle in general (echoing Michael Pollan’s famous line “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”):

“Good Fast Food doesn’t need to be vegan or even vegetarian; it just ought to be real, whole food. The best word to describe a wise contemporary diet is flexitarian, which is nothing more than intelligent omnivorism. There are probably millions of people who now eat this way, including me. My own style, which has worked for me for six years, is to eat a vegan diet before 6 p.m. and then allow myself pretty much whatever I want for dinner. This flexibility avoids junk and emphasizes plants.”

Thanks Mark Bittman @bittman !

For more information, here are two book suggestions (good reads, informative, and important):

What to Eat by Marion Nestle “has become the definitive guide to making healthy and informed choices about food” (her research on supermarket marketing and politics is insightful – you will never look at your groceries the same way again).

Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan “brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food” and gives us simple guidelines on eating wisely, healthily, and well.

One Dish, One Hour

Homemade food can be faster to prepare than fast food; see this encouraging post from the NYTimes Well blog (It has great recipes too. I want to try all of them.).

One hour or less to prepare

It takes time to drive / travel to the restaurant, order, pay, and receive the finished food. How nice to prepare your own in half the time!