Problems with cooking

[cjsmith]

I was about to head over to the store for more baking ingredients when I thought "Gee, I could toss something into the slow cooker, too. What would I need to pick up for that?"

I refuse to buy anything perishable that I will not use up. I refuse to cook anything I can not or will not eat. There is no point to me cooking unless the result is healthier than I can get elsewhere. Also, for this exercise, I really did want something I could just throw together, since I'd planned to spend the afternoon baking, so no brown this and dice that and pause halfway through to count the number of cloves to tie into a cheesecloth. I wish I were making this up.

I glanced through two cookbooks, scanning the recipe ingredients. Every single time, I didn't finish reading the list before at least three of the items violated the above requirements. One of the cookbooks was supposed to be healthy, but every recipe I saw has between a 3:1 and a 5:1 sodium mg to calories ratio. (I begin to realize why folks might not like my lentil soup. I forgot to add the salt lick.) Healthy? Pull on the other leg.

There's no point in even trying. I am now glum enough that I don't even want to go get flour and eggs. A pox on all of it.

Comments

Healthy chipotle pork stew

[takhisis.livejournal.com]

-2.5 to 3 lb. lean pork tenderloin, raw
-1 package of frozen whole kernel corn, 16 oz. (I recommend sweet corn) or you can use 2 1/2 cups of fresh corn kernels.
-1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained.
-2 cups (or more) chopped celery.
-1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
-3 cloves of minced garlic.
-2 or 3 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped. (you can find these in the spanish food section)
-1 28 oz can of chopped whole tomatoes, undrained.
-1 can of black beans, preferably Old South brand (if it is Old South, don't bother draining. That adds to the tasty.)
-1 can of tomato sauce.
-1 teaspoon of salt
-a few shakes of pepper, preferably lime pepper mix.
-1 tsp of dried thyme

Dump everything into slow cooker. Cook on High for 5-6 hours, or 11-13 on low. Pork can then be dipped out and sliced or simply shredded between two forks, as it will be falling apart at this stage. Enjoy hot or cold. Wrapped in burrito form is optional. You can also do it without the pork for an extremely healthy veggie stew that freezes very well!

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[takhisis.livejournal.com]

Oh, what makes this super-easy for me was finding out that a lot of grocery stores sell little containers of pre-diced onion now, in exactly the right size for this stew. So I just pick up one of those and dump it in, along with about a teaspoon of pre-chopped garlic from a jar, and the entire "prep" of this dish is reduced to opening cans. :)

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

By the way, one of Rob's flight students thanks you by proxy for posting this recipe. She tried it and her report was summed up as "OMG THE YUM".

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[takhisis.livejournal.com]

I'm glad! All credit goes to czarina69 as she created the stew and I just added the pork roast.

Amusingly enough,m I'm trying a variant on it tonight with adding raspberry vinaigrette dressing, since I've had very good raspberry-chipotle dishes in the past... we'll see if it works!

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hmm, raspberry! I'll have to point her to this variant. :)

Me, on the other hand, I have yet to try it. I couldn't find chipotle peppers at my local grocery store. (I'm probably in one of the whitest white-bread sections of the California bay area. I'm sure trying another grocery store will do the trick.)

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I am totally trying this. It's a bit late to start it for tonight, but I have time this coming weekend. The ONLY leftover perishable I see in here is celery, and I'm kinda almost willing to pitch celery. :-)

Am I the only ding-dong who chops up some big honking onions and then sticks them in the freezer? I have all these lovely cups of chopped onion waiting for me. (I hate chopping onion. Hate hate hate.)

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

ooh, I like the chop and freeze onion idea.

Especially if I can talk Jason into doing it, he's less sensitive to onion fumes than I am.

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It is kind of cool, when you think about it, that onions invented chemical warfare. Well, gas attacks anyway. Other things you have to touch; onions can get you from across the room. And they're just plants!

On the other hand, I'm one of those people who has to stop chopping every few minutes and go cry, so it's only cool in the abstract.

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[nurvuslee.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered if freezing chopped onions would change the taste or texture ... does it?

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know. I always pull them out and cook with them, so any changes would be more subtle by the time I'm done.

Re: Healthy chipotle pork stew

[mac-arthur-park.livejournal.com]

No, I chop onions and freeze them all the time. Bell peppers, too.