Author Archives: Lia Huber

The Pressure Cooker “Quick Soak”

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“Quick soaking” with a pressure cooker means you can have beans on the table the same day … even within an hour. No need for the overnight soak.And Alison and I prefer how this particular method makes the beans creamy on the inside, but still strong enough to hold their shape.

Here’s how:

  1. Sort through the beans, discarding any split ones.
  2. Place beans in a 6-quart pressure cooker and add water to cover by 2 inches. Lock lid in place and bring to high pressure over high heat.
  3. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes.
  4. Release pressure using automatic pressure release OR carefully transfer cooker to sink and run cool water over rim until pressure drops. Remove lid, tilting lid away from you, to allow steam to escape. Drain beans.

If you’d like to cook the beans in the pressure cooker, all the better. Just follow the directions in the recipe, using the pressure cooker instead of a pot, and reduce the cooking time by half.

Three Hours, Priceless Peace

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As you know, we kicked off the launch of Nourish Weekly Menus last week with quite the event–5 days of giveaways on our Facebook page, from videos to e-cookbooks. It was awesome (I especially loved how the e-cookbooks turned out!). And I was EXHAUSTED.

Most of us, these days, run at a swift pace. It’s understandable; it just can’t be helped in our modern world. But it does make it even more essential to deliberately set aside time to recharge. And by Thursday of last week, I could tell I was definitely going to need recharging, and my sweet husband gave me permission to just sleep late and disappear on Sunday.

So I did.

I took off to the ocean, which, it never ceases to amaze me, is only about an hour away. Just watching the bars disappear from my iPhone felt freeing. Just having two concentrated hours to listen to a book on tape (The Three Marriages by David Whyte … incredible) felt indulgent.

The sun was strong and the breeze leisurely, so I lay out my blanket, stripped down to my bikini and soaked in the warmth. And for two blissful hours I didn’t have to corral my thoughts into focus, or answer rapid fire questions from my 4-year old every 20 seconds, or even move. I could just be.

I don’t make a practice of laying out in the sun–in fact, I’m normally a total wuss on Northern California beaches and bundle up in a jacket–but it felt especially liberating to me yesterday. When I was diagnosed with lupus in 1997, I was put on a drug that made me extremely sensitive to the sun. So the entire time Christopher and I were in Costa Rica on our extended road trip in 2000, I had to sit on the fringes of the beach, covered up in special SPF garb with huge, wide-brimmed hats. I remember watching other young women run along the sand and dive amongst the waves and feeling stifled and trapped. In my own body. It was the public manifestation of how far removed I felt from my own identity as I struggled to come to terms with having lupus, and losing the ability to have children.

That diagnosis was reversed and I went off the drug long ago and, like I said, I’m still careful in the sun. But the simple act of tilting my face up to the sky without fear still feels profoundly luxurious to me. You know what I mean? Do you have any little things you do that have an incredibly deep meaning for you?

Thank you to my husband for those three precious hours of reconnecting with who I am, now, here. Of re-inhabiting the healthy body I’m so grateful to have. And thank YOU for your incredible support with the Nourish Weekly Menus launch week!

 

PS — Check out what peeps are already saying about Nourish Weekly Menus:

“It was great to have easy recipes I could trust during the week to get good food on the table fast!”

“It was really fun to see what was on the menu each week. Once the shopping was done, the stress off my shoulders. The meals are fantastic, delicious and easy to make! Thank you!”

 

Want to Save 12,755 Minutes This Year?

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I am busting out excited. Nourish Weekly Menus is finally HERE! And to celebrate, we’ve got a week’s worth of fun giveaways and terrific discounts going on over on our Facebook page. The first, on Wednesday, is a free video and worksheet on 7 Ways to Save 12,755 minutes this year and coupon for 5 FREE weeks of Nourish Weekly Menus!

So I thought for today’s post I’d give you 7 Reasons Nourish Weekly Menus will rock the way you eat:

  • It’s just what you need |  Other menu services give breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. We don’t. The vast majority of people struggle most with getting dinner on the table Monday through Thursday, so that’s what we focus on. We carefully craft the week, using Sunday as a launching pad for making foods do double duty—saving you time and cutting down on waste. (You may be able to enjoy some tasty leftovers for lunch, too.)
  • It’s designed for weeknights  | Most of the weeknight recipes are on the table in 30 minutes or less … many with just a few minutes of hands-on prep. We also don’t assume you have a staff of sous chefs and dishwashers on hand (we don’t), so we think about things like streamlining steps and using as few pans as possible when we develop our recipes.
  • We believe whole foods can be “fast food” too  | We don’t take shortcuts with processed ingredients, because they often end up sabotaging with sodium, fillers, calories and fat that you wouldn’t put there on your own. Instead, we focus on seasonal vegetables, whole grains, and sustainably-sourced meat, poultry and seafood, along with smart strategies for making them “fast food” on a weeknight.
  • We balance your plate |  A big part of a nourishing lifestyle is a balanced plate. You get to feel great that you’re serving a meal with all the right proportions (and portions!)
  • You know you’re getting sustainable choices  | We don’t dictate your priorities, but we do steer you towards sustainable choices. All of the seafood we feature in our nourishing menus, for instance, are sustainable picks, and we use much less meat than traditional menu services.
  • You’ll get really, really scrumptious recipes  | This ain’t a “boiled carrots and baked chicken” type of menu service (you know what I mean). We’re talking delectable, scrumptious, nourishing recipes developed by me and Alison, two veterans of Cooking Light magazine. PLUS, gorgeous photos and eye-candy layouts that will get your whole family excited about the week.
  • We give you tools you can really use |  We asked a LOT of questions when we were concepting Nourish Weekly Menus, which allowed us to craft out how we delivered each week’s recipes in a way that really works. The exact opposite of a “drag and drop” approach, we give you a weekly menu chart with helpful icons to let you know what dishes will be doing double duty, which ones freeze well, which ones take less than 30 minutes, and which are yummy for lunch the next day. Then we give you a Menu Map with step-by-step flow for each night (Preheat oven, bring water to boil, while waiting prep vegetables, etc.) to help you get the timing right. And, of course, your weekly shopping list and recipes. The whole package works together to make getting nourishing meals on the table entirely doable (we’ll have more about how everything works together on our Facebook page Friday).

See you on Facebook! http://ht.ly/5ny0l

PS: I’d love your help spreading the word! If you’re comfortable doing so, please let your friends know about Nourish Weekly Menus and our launch week by sharing this link http://ht.ly/5ny0l on Twitter, Facebook, wherever you like. Thank you!

Here We Go …

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WOW. This is my first post on our brand new, revamped site. I’m blushing from the momentousness of the occasion.

Even more exciting, though, is what’s ahead. First, though, let me tell you a bit about why we redesigned the site.

As many of you know, I launched NOURISH Evolution in 2009 because I wanted a place where we could explore that sweet spot where health and sustainability and enjoyment all intersect. Early on, I recruited Alison, my long-time editor at Cooking Light and dear friend, to be my right hand gal. And all was good.

Then, once NOURISH Evolution was rolling, quite a few people said to me, “you know, you’re so good at explaining all of this and making it easy to understand … what would you think of creating a coaching program to help people actually make the changes you’re talking about?” And that landed. Big time.

So I delved into the (total) unknown of creating a lesson plan and curriculum and worked like crazy to make My Nourish Mentor. At the time, it was a 6-month program that was divided into small groups that all came together for a weekly phone call (thank you to all the pilot testers and early adopters!!!). It was awesome. After spending almost a decade and a half writing articles and sending them out into the ether, here I was with a front-row seat watching people’s lives change because of what I was teaching them. There was no turning back.

A few months ago, I tweaked the My Nourish Mentor program to make it more accessible–changing it from 6-months to 12-weeks, making it more affordable, and moving it entirely online. I also started developing a full library of online e-courses called NOURISH-U. But … everything felt very disjointed in the Nourish world. NOURISH Evolution had our awesome articles and recipes that people had come to rely on, but My Nourish Mentor and NOURISH-U were like little orphans out in the cold. So Alison and I decided on a total redesign to bring them under the fold (plus a REALLY exciting new offering coming later this week).

Now, at last, I feel like NOURISH Evolution is all I want it to be — a place where you’re empowered to live and eat in a way that nourishes all of you … and your family, and your community, and our planet. I’m glad you’re here.

PS — Is there something you’d like to see on NOURISH Evolution? A topic on our blog, a course on NOURISH-U? Let me know–leave a comment here.

PPSS — If you haven’t already, please join us on Facebook; we’ve got a stellar community gathering over there!

Faux Aioli

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My friend Honore jokes that she’ll put lemon seeds in a dish of doctored-up jar mayonnaise to give her quickie aioli an air of authenticity. Feel free to serve this faux aioli recipe — pungent with smashed garlic and made with a mix of light and regular mayonnaise — with or without seeds.

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Get Over the Guilt

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I came of age during the height of America’s low-fat craze; guilt is built into my circuitry. When I’d eat a virtuous meal of steamed veggies I’d end up feeling deprived, but if I dared add olive oil I’d be leveled by guilt. This deprivation-guilt cycle only intensified as I willed the numbers on the scale to drop; the more I obsessed over what was on my plate the more miserable I’d become until, finally, I’d fall off the see-saw and eat an excess of all the “bad” foods I’d been depriving myself of.

get over guiltBut I’ve learned it doesn’t have to be that way. And in My Nourish Mentor, others are learning it too. As one of them put it, “When I’m eating right, I don’t even want to eat the way I used to. I love that confidence and awareness in my eating.” Here’s how–and why–that happens. And it’s so simple it seems ridiculous. “Good foods” prepared in enticing ways can bring loads of pleasure and “bad foods”–if you’re talking foods like olive oil and chocolate anyway–really aren’t bad at all in reasonable portions.

For me, it was a combination of gaining a firm grasp of what certain foods were doing to my body–that olive oil helped regulate my cholesterol, for instance, and that refined starch sent my body through a tumultuous blood sugar spike without giving it anything to grow strong–and then deliberately taking my eye off the numbers and refocusing on enjoying what was on my plate.

Ironically, once I had that grounding embedded within me and stopped thinking so much, and instead just enjoyed myself, my weight actually dropped. Because what I wanted to eat had changed. And it’s not just me. The person I quoted above just mentioned this week that she’s lost 8 pounds, and another member 20, while on the program … and neither one have once felt deprived.

I’m not talking mindless binging, mind you. I’m talking about engaging with food as, well, food–not a conglomeration of nutrients and numbers and percentages that are destined to make us either miserable or fat or both. The bottom line is that our bodies know better than we think they do. And once we have a bit of a grounding in sound nutrition, we know better than we think we do.

So I challenge you to give yourself a break. See what it feels like to simply enjoy your meals. Notice how thinking about them as food instead of something sinful or healthy impacts what (and how much) you eat. Notice how it makes your body–and your mind–feel. And, sure, go ahead and check the scale. Now, that’s a mindful eating practice you’ll enjoy with every bite. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised by the results.

Brandied Cherry Clafoutis

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This dessert has a pudding-like consistency and decadently rich flavor . . . for about 30 calories more than a serving of low-fat Oreos.

cherry-clafoutis-recipe

1/2 cup brandy
1 1/2 pounds cherries, pitted and halved
6 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for dusting

In a saucepan bring the brandy and cherries to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and let soak for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400.

With an electric mixer, beat together eggs and sugar at high speed for a minute and a half, until light and frothy. Turn off mixer, add in creme fraiche, butter, flour, vanilla and almond extracts and salt. Strain the brandy from the cherries into the egg mixture and blend at medium speed until all is incorporated.

Butter or spray a 10-inch baking dish and pour in mixture. Scatter cherries over the top (they will sink) and bake for 25 minutes, until batter is just turning golden and no longer jiggles.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly on a rack. Dust with powdered sugar.

Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 12

Five Make-Ahead Musts

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Alison and I were chatting about how some awesome easy healthy dinners we’d had lately just came together from what we’d had on hand. It prompted me to tease apart the “what we had on hand” to ID especially helpful make-ahead dishes that can be prepped over the weekend or early in the week and put to work for the next several days (or, even better, doubled from a recipe you’re making anyway). Here are my five make-ahead favorites to make part of your meal planning:

  1. make-ahead-recipesChicken – On Monday nights in my house, we either go meatless or we do chicken. Why Mondays for chicken? Because then I can use the rest of it throughout the week to pull together simple meals. Here’s what my week o’ chicken looked like last week. Monday: Cook Simplest Roast Chicken (just ate the thighs/leg for dinner). Tuesday: Gave Noe a leg for lunch. Thursday: Greek Chicken Salad (then made stock with the carcass); Friday: Pork posole with fresh chicken stock. That’s four meals out of one chicken … which only took 5 minutes of hands-on prep time and 50 minutes of cooking time to begin with.
  2. Roasted (or Grilled) Veggies – In winter, it’s these Roasted Root Veggies. In spring, these asparagus virtually live in our fridge. In summer, it’s some sort of variation on this ratatouille. Whatever the form, roasted veggies are a HUGE help in a busy kitchen. Need a quick nibble before dinner? Pile some on toasted baguette slices. Want to pull together a quick dinner? Toss some with cooked pasta and a paste of mashed garlic and olive oil. Looking for an easy lunch? Mix them with some Chickpea Couscous, with or without the pesto.
  3. Lentils – I call All-Purpose Lentils the “little black dress” of legumes, because they go with just about anything: as a side dish or an addition to a salad, or quickly pureed into a spread or a soup. Nutritionally, they a great source of protein. I love dotting a bowl of whole grains with them, or tossing a cup or two into a salad with a nice, tart vinaigrette.
  4. Vinaigrette – My friend Honore turned me on to making vinaigrette in a jar long ago and I’ve never looked back. I shake together a big batch in the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge to have on-hand.
  5. Bulgur – Bulgur is my go-to grain at the moment. I love how it cooks up super quick and has both a toothsomeness to make you take notice and a neutrality quality that makes it ridiculously versatile. I’ll cook up a ginormous batch and use some as a side dish with, say, lamb. Then I’ll use it as a base for throw-together lunch salads all week made up, you guessed it, of the other four make-ahead musts I have in my fridge. And if I have any left over, I’ll treat myself to dessert at the end of the week.

“Make-ahead” can sound so daunting. But it’s not. It’s more about smart meal planning and thinking all the way through a week so that what you cook does double, even triple duty. And that is food worth thought.

 

“Indulgence” Fats in a Nourishing Diet

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I dislike labeling any food “good” or “bad,” but the terms do come in handy sometimes, especially when it comes to fats. Olive oil and avocados, which are full of monounsaturated fat, for instance. GOOD. The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon and flaxseeds. REALLY GOOD. Trans-fats. REALLY, REALLY BAD. But what about butter and bacon and cream? Are they all that bad?

That’s where I dispense with the “good” and “bad” labels and bring out a new one: Indulgence.

indulgence-healthy-fatsLet’s get one thing straight up-front. Our bodies need monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like those I mentioned above (olive oil, avocados, salmon, flaxseed, etc.). They play several essential roles like storing energy and regulating cell function, and also have a positive impact on blood lipid levels (they lower overall cholesterol and LDL while raising HDL). So these types of fats aren’t luxuries; they’re a necessary staple of a nourishing plate.

Saturated fat, on the other hand, is a luxury (and it raises LDL)—your body already makes all it needs. So there’s no need to look for ways to add saturated fat to your daily diet. But … saturated fats, which come primarily from meat and dairy, are the creamy, silky, buttery, melt-in your mouth fats that can pack a lot of pleasure into just a few calories, which can come in quite handy if your meals are heavy on veggies. Not every meal. Not every day. But every once in a while.

Which is why I call them “Indulgence Fats.” Here are a few ways to use them:

  • Butter – Butter is renowned for adding richness to a dish. Swirl in a tablespoon or so (off the heat) at the end of a sauté to give it body and depth. Or brown the butter slightly before sautéing your veggies, like we did with these Sauteed Radishes with Mint, for an even more complex flavor.
  • Cream – Cream brings a lush silkiness to foods. Whisk a tablespoon or two into a pasta sauce, like our Brussels Sprouts Carbonara, or dribble some into a pan sauce for a creamy texture.
  • Duck Fat – This may sound wacky, but duck fat is a terrific indulgence fat. Make our Revelationary Duck Confit, save the fat in a jar in the fridge and use it in place of oil to add ridiculous richness to things like mushrooms, onions and potatoes. One tablespoon (enough, quite frankly, to sauté mushrooms for four people) has just 4 grams of saturated fat, which is half the amount of butter.
  • Bacon – People tend to demonize bacon, which is too bad. One slice has just 40 calories and 1 gram of saturated fat, and it can add a LOT of flavor to a dish (it is high in sodium though, which is another thing entirely). Try these Clams with Bacon and Garlicky Spinach and you’ll see what I mean. I recommend chopping the raw bacon up and sautéing it with onion or garlic so the flavor permeates the ‘base’ of the dish. Then drain off all but a teaspoon or so of the fat and go on with your sauté.

Is this a green light to sit down and eat a package of bacon fried in butter for dinner tonight? Um, no. But you already know that. This is more about letting go of the paradigm that Indulgence Fats are “bad” and using them (occasionally) to enhance the wholesome foods you want to be eating more of.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushroom Saute with Marsala Cream Sauce

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This sauce is more silk than velvet, which works beautifully with any type of mushroom, from cremini to morels.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (1/2 a breast), cut into 1-inch cubes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
1 pound mushrooms (your choice!), sliced
3 thyme sprigs
1/4 cup dry Marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons heavy cream

In a large saute pan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and chicken to pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl (make sure to get all the garlic out or it will burn in the next stage).

Return pan to heat and warm the rest of the olive oil (4 teaspoons). Add shallots, mushrooms, thyme sprigs and another sprinkle of salt and pepper and toss to coat with oil. Cook for 10-12 minutes, turning often, until mushrooms are soft and slightly gilded.

Pour Marsala into pan and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom. Let cook for 2 minutes or so, until all the liquid has burned off. Add chicken and garlic back to the pan. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil for 3 minutes to thicken a bit. Pour in cream and give everything a stir. Bring to a gentle boil for 3-4 minutes, until the sauce has thickened enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.

Remove thyme sprigs and serve.