Sometimes, Simple Is Best

Freestyle Weekends #4

I tried to get all fancy last night with short rib sandwiches. The dish turned out good—you really can’t go wrong with beef and bones simmered all day in red wine, and, admittedly, a list of ingredients the length of my forearm—but the star of the dinner was the roasted butternut squash.

And all I needed was squash, olive oil, salt and pepper, and, on a tip from my friend Bethany, a drizzle of honey.

The squash was soft and sweet, and the caramelized bits, which I greedily pried from the pan, were smoky and crunchy. Delicious.

Roasted Butternut Squash

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

1-2 teaspoons honey

Preheat the oven to 425˚. Toss the squash, olive oil and salt and pepper on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with honey and toss again. Spread in a single layer. Roast until squash is soft, about 25 minutes. Turn once.

A Dessert to Die(t) For

Freestyle Weekends #3

My husband and I have accepted a weight-loss challenge from our employer. The target: lose 20 pounds in 11 weeks. The reward: a $20 gift card to Kohl’s.

It’s $20. It’s Kohl’s. I’m in.

This does not mean I’m dieting. I have never dieted and I don’t intend to start now.  People on diets don’t eat pear-cranberry turnovers, something I just ate yesterday. Freestyle Foodie is not going to turn into a diet blog. A diet is something you do so that you can fit into that sleek black dress you bought on a ridiculous sale. Or so that you can get into that cute bathing suit. Or so that you can slim down for an anniversary trip with your husband. It’s a crash course in weight-loss. A diet implies something temporary, something short-term, something New Year’s Resolution-ish. I don’t diet. I also don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.

What I do is try to follow some simple eating rules I made up for myself a few years ago when I noticed that my metabolism, up to that point always in overdrive, was slowing down. My body was developing padding in places it hadn’t had it before, not entirely a bad thing, you understand, given my former Olive Oyl-ish physique. A little padding turned out to be a good thing, but I didn’t want to keep adding it until I looked like Courtney Cox in a fat suit.

Hence the rules. They’re really just for maintenance. I try to be flexible; I’m not a slave to rules. But by and large when I follow them it helps.

Now that I’m past my mid-thirties, though, my metabolism is slowing even more. It’s becoming harder to maintain. This challenge presents the perfect time to set in motion some things I’ve been thinking about for a few months now: losing a few pounds, improving my overall health, and preparing for life in my 40s. With that in mind, here are my eating rules; the first two original, the others added recently:

1. Don’t take seconds.

2. Don’t eat after 7 p.m.

3. Eat more plants.

4. Eat more whole grains.

5. Eat fewer animals.

And that’s it. Not a big fan of rules, except in grammar, I try to keep things simple. And wouldn’t you know that when I opened my January issue of Bon Appetit magazine, there was an article by cookbook author Mark Bittman who started doing almost the exact same thing a few years ago. Lucky for me, he included a few delicious recipes that have helped him with his rules, recipes like the one for Pear-Cranberry Turnovers.

Pears, softer, juicer and more mellow than apples, are probably my favorite fruit. They’re best in the winter, too. So here I saw an opportunity to eat more plants. I used red pears in this recipe, my favorite.

Turnovers, heavy on fruit and light on pastry, are a win-win dessert, even for someone in a weight-loss challenge. Even though you use butter, there’s less fat in each turnover than in a piece of pie or frosted cake or a bowl of ice cream. The pear juice and sugar make a delightful syrup, and there’s really nothing better than the crisp layers of phyllo pastry. Add to that the occasional tart bite from the cranberries, and round out the flavors with citrus zest, (I used orange because I had no lemon in the house), and you have a perfect dessert.

I definitely recommend the parchment paper; the turnovers will ooze a little juice and the parchment paper will save you some scrubbing time.

I think I need to accept a challenge to eat more pear-cranberry turnovers.

Pear-Cranberry Turnovers

1 ½ pounds ripe Bosc pears (about 3), peeled, quartered, cored, diced

½ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

16 17x12-inch sheets fresh or frozen whole wheat phyllo pastry or regular phyllo pastry (thawed if frozen)

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375˚. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Combine pears, cranberries, ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, and lemon peel in large bowl; toss to coat.

Stack phyllo sheets on work surface; cover with plastic wrap, then damp kitchen towel. Place 1 phyllo sheet on work surface. Brush with some of melted butter. Top with second sheet; brush with butter. Fold phyllo in half lengthwise, forming 17-inch-long strip. Place scant ½ cup pear mixture on phyllo strip, about 2 inches in from 1 short side and in center. Fold 1 corner of strip over pear mixture, then fold phyllo back and forth (like a flag), enclosing filling. Brsh top with butter after each fold until entire strip is folded, forming triangle.

Transfer turnover, seam side down, to 1 baking sheet. Brush top with butter. Repeat with remaining phyllo, butter, and pear mixture. Place 4 turnovers on each sheet.

Bake turnovers until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Transfer to plates. Sift powdered sugar lightly over turnovers; serve warm or at room temperature.

Jam!

Speaking of Christmas and foodie gifts, here's another one I received. This came from the kitchen of my friend Jen.

Isn't that light from my front window great? That, and the jellies are so beautiful I had to show them to you. They came with names like Jen's Backyard Red Grape Jelly, Wisconsin Rhubarb Strawberry Jam, 1st Batch Pepper Jelly--HOT, Orange Jelly, Blueberry Jam, and Hot Peach. There was a jar of apple butter and another of mint jelly, plus a few others. Though we wanted to try them all right away, sensibility prevailed and we opened only the Blueberry Jam. It's mostly gone now.

I got salt for Christmas. I kid you not. But don't feel sorry for me, I asked for it.

On Christmas morning, I opened up several foodie gifts from my lovely family: an apron embellished by my daughter, a book by Michael Pollan, an electric griddle (makes good pancakes!), a gift card to Whole Foods, and a box filled with salts. The apron touched me most deeply, but the salts were my favorite.

Yes, I said salts. Plural.

Check these out.

Hiwa Kai, or Black Hawaiian sea salt. Activated charcoal gives it
its color and minerals. I finally got coal for Christmas!

Smoked sea salt. The best varieties are flavored with natural wood smoke,
 not liquid smoke flavoring.A bit saltier than kosher salt with a strong smoke aroma
and slight smoke flavor. Can't wait to try this on chicken.

Sel gris. Quite salty, slight mineral taste. The minerals come from the clay lining the
salt ponds along France's coast where this is harvested.

Himalayan sea salt. Is often sold in a coarse grain, where its pink color is truly pronounced.
This fine-grained version is only slightly pink, with dots of red throughout. Has a pure
salty flavor and a fairly high mineral content. Good for use at the table.

Alaea Sea Salt (Red Hawaiian). Volcanic red clay is added to the salt to give it its color
and a boost of iron oxide. A good table salt. Clean flavor.

I like to use sea salt instead of regular ol' table salt. Most of the table salt available in the grocery store is mined from rock. After mining, it is refined so that all the minerals are removed and what's left is pure sodium chloride. Sea salt, on the other hand, is minimally processed and retains trace minerals. In addition, sometimes table salt doesn't taste very salty; therefore, it's easy to shake on a little more, thus increasing sodium intake, never a good thing. But sea salt is often quite a bit saltier than table salt; less salt is required for the same flavor. On top of all that, table salts are sprayed with an artificial iodine solution as part of the refining process, while iodine, necessary in the diet for healthy thyroid function, occurs naturally in sea salt.

Best of all, many sea salts come in a coarse variety that doesn't dissolve as easily as table salt. I like to see the grains of salt on my food and I especially like to crunch them.