Galaxy Nutritional Foods Blog

Eating Well’s new cookbook Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals is chocked full of delicious recipes that are easy to prepare and accompanied by nutritional information. This one could be great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Enjoy!

Breakfast Burritos from Eating Well’s Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals

Ingredients:
1 tsp canola oil
2 red potatoes, cooked (poke several holes in potatoes and microwave on High until cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes), peeled, if desired, and diced (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped scallions (4-6 scallions), divided
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
1/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
4 corn tortillas or small whole-wheat flour tortillas, warmed
1/2 cup tomato
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and 1/3 cup scallions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato and chiles and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Beat eggs, egg whites and cayenne with a fork in a small bowl. Push the vegetables away from the center of the pan and pour in the egg mixture. Cook, stirring the eggs with a wooden spoon, until some curds have formed but the mixture is still creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and stir the eggs and vegetables together.

Divide the egg mixture among warm tortillas and roll each one into a burrito. Top each with a spoonful of salsa, a little cheese and some of the remaining chopped scallions. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

Whether or not you live in or are from the south, the turmoil Mother Nature has wreaked there over the past month can hardly go unnoticed. Reuters reported that, between Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, a total of nearly 3 million acres of farmland had been inundated. In Mississippi the river could rise 11 more feet in the next ten days. Our thoughts are with those in the Delta suffering the worst flood to hit the region in over 70 years.

The American Red Cross and Salvation Army are two of the organizations helping those left homeless in the wake of this natural disaster. If you know of food banks in the areas hit by flooding, please post information on them in the Comments section.

With this region on our mind, we share with you today a delicious recipe for comfort food from an old spiral bound collection organized by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi. Please note, we suggest substitutions for several items in order to make this a more heart healthy recipe.

Asparagus Souffle by Mrs. Robert Allen Smith from the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi’s Southern Sideboards

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can asparagus spears, drained
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (substitute with Galaxy’s Veggie or Rice Cheddar Shreds)
1 cup mayonnaise (or Vegenaise)
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup (Imagine’s Mushroom Soup is a good option)

Directions:

Beat eggs in blender. Add remaining ingredients and blend. Pour into lightly greased 1 1/2 quart souffle dish. Place souffle dish in a second pan and add 2 inches of water. Bake at 350 F for 55 – 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Yield: 6 servings

Just in time for your Cinco de Mayo celebration we are posting a delicious recipe for homemade Guacamole and Chips from Canal House Cooking Volume No. 4 cookbook.

Friends and former co-workers Christopher Hirsheimer (a talented food photographer and founder of Saveur) and Melissa Hamilton (chef, food stylist, food editor…) started Canal House five years ago in rural New Jersey as a photo and design studio for their Canal House Cooking books. The series, which features their rustic and seasonal cooking, has earned them a cult following among foodies. Volume No. 6 was just released featuring (as always) simple recipes using ingredients found in most markets. The emphasis is on fresh and joy (of making and eating).

Guacamole and Chips from Canal House Cooking Volume No. 4

For the Chips:
Vegetable oil
12 corn tortillas
Salt

For the Guacamole:
1-2 cloves garlic
Salt
6-8 ripe Hass avocados, halved and pitted
2-3 juicy thin-skinned limes, halved
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

For the chips, add enough oil to a heavy skillet or wok to reach a depth of 2 inches Heat the oil until it is hot but not smoking, ideally to a temperature of 350 (use a candy thermometer to check the temperature). Meanwhile, cut the tortillas into quarters.

Slip the tortillas, a few at a time, into the hot oil and fry them until golden and crisp, 1-2 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, transfer the chips as they’re done to paper towels to drain. Season them with salt while still hot.

For the guacamole, use a pestle or wooden spoon to mash the garlic with a good pinch of salt in the bottom of a medium bowl. Scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl using a spoon or rubber spatula. Mash the avocados until chunky smooth. Squeeze the juice from some of the limes into the bowl, season with a little more salt, and mix well. Taste the guacamole and adjust the seasonings with more lime juice and/or salt. Stir in the cilantro. Serve the guacamole with the chips.

Yield: 4-6 servings (or one)

Hello! We thought we would kick off this blog post, the first since our (first) recipe contest, with a few of our favorite food related books. In each book chosen, we have found inspiration, yummy recipes, beautiful pictures, opinions, humor, knowledge, and satisfying results. For some of the Galaxy team the book might reveal a quick and easy recipe to be made after work for the family meal. For others, as much as useful recipes, the book is also meant to be taken to the sofa, a blanket pulled up, tea sipped, and pages turned. Of course, we also have our go-getter side ready to plant a garden, go mushroom foraging (with an expert), and start a bee hive. In each book there is a promise, a grocery list to be written, ingredients lined up, counter and refrigerator shelf space made, and plenty of dish washing to be done. As the days become filled with more sunlight and colorful buds begin budging at top soil, it is time to move from winter mode into spring with full anticipation of all summer (and the growing season) has to offer. Wherever you are…small town in Wyoming, big city in California, by a lake in Maine, or on the ocean in Virginia we hope you find nuggets in this list.

Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies by Sloanne Miller (of Please Don’t Pass the Nuts). Miller is a licensed psychotherapeutic social worker who coaches the food allergic community and asthmatic community as well as consults food service organizations on food allergy management. She is also really funny, and frankly sometimes a little humor can really lighten a very serious situation. Miller helps readers identify their Team (“a network of supportive individuals who assist you in getting to the next happy step in your life”), coaxes you through “the talk” with a date, offers significant space to traveling (concerns, lists..) with a food allergy, and generally let’s you know you are not alone. Reading the book, one team member who is lactose intolerant (but not allergic to dairy) said she learned a lot between laughing out loud one moment and tearing up the next (done we might add while on the treadmill).

The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders is a beauty of a book. Okay, it is gorgeous thanks to Sara Remington’s photographs. Each page delicious! What one of our jam making team members said is it stood out from other canning books in her kitchen, because of the extra steps taken by Saunders…the pages on “Stages of Cooking” defined the phases of cooking the fruit mixture and then backed them up with color photographs. She could see exactly what a low-sugar jam should look at during the initial heating and a high-sugar jam during the bubbling and final phase. Right now our team member is in day two of Saunders three day recipe for Lemon & Pink Grapefruit Marmalade. Keep jamming!!

Sometimes in life it is the simple things that make us smile the widest. Having some great tunes play in the kitchen while making a homemade meal..that is right up there. If you agree and like to get a little spicy in the kitchen one of our team members thinks you will fall in love with Chef Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine. His Charred Plum Tomato and Sweet Corn Soup with Crispy Okra Strips and a Kick, Crisp Green Beans with Roasted Shallots and Walnuts, and Maple Yam-Ginger Pie are favorites of our team member. Oh, and the extra special part!? Terry recommends songs with each recipe. For the Charred Plum Tomato ”Sun is Shining” by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Crisp Beans “Down Here on the Ground” by Grant Green, and with the Pie “Cold Turkey” by Anthony David.

Ashley English, the Appalachia based blogger of all things homemade, began putting out books (her Canning & Preserving book is a solid resource) a couple years ago. A team member who recently purchased some land and knows several beekeepers, is heading to bee school next winter. These once a week for 2-3 month classes will, she hopes, teach her how to be a responsible and productive beekeeper. As part of her prep work she picked up English’s recently released Keeping Bees: All You Need to Tend Hives, Harvest Honey & More. As much as one tries to understand honeybees, they are one of nature’s most complicated and fascinating creatures. The book dedicates space to hive hierarchy, what to consider (money, location, being neighborly, pets, children, allergies), feeding bees, essential equipment, and lots of other helpful information to being the best host to ones bee guests.

There are so many more (guess this means more book posts), but the list would not be complete and likely a few team members up in arms if we did not include…Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her high energized Vegan Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes that Rock. The paperback copy that found its way into the office has yellow and hot pink post-it notes sticking out, a grocery list folded in-between the front pages, turned down corners, sections of recipes highlighted, and a couple stains. This one is pretty well used it looks like. Standbys include Rich Vegetable Broth, Parsnip-Scallion Pancakes, Roasted Applesauce, and Chickpea and Spinach Curry.