No Sugar Breakfast in Honor of Diabetic Sonya Sotomayor

In honor of our new diabetic Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, we gave a cooking lesson on how to create breakfasts that are low in sugar, but high in deliciousness. This is recipe 1 of 3 that was devoured (with lots of moaning) on Sunday morning.

Green Sausage Wraps

Wraps: Romaine lettuce or any broad dark green leaves

The filling:
1 or natural sausages
1 sweet red pepper
1/2 sweet green pepper
2 tomatoes
1 zucchini
1/2 red onion
1/2 cup parsley
olive oil
1 or 2 cloves of garlic (to taste)

Sauce:
1 tsp lavender
2-3 tablespoons mustard
1/2 cup olive or sesame oil
1 pinch ground cardamom
1 lemon

Cut peppers, onion, tomatoes and zucchini thinly and add to a skillet. Add water, and cook on high heat. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top, garlic and sausage on top of the veggies to the skillet. Stir occasionally until the mixture is the consistency that you like. Should be about 5-10 minutes.

Let the mixture cool a little bit and stuff the romaine leaves with it. Add parsley on top. Eat. Enjoy. Prosper.

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Mangú - Traditional Dominican breakfast

From Rossana Inez Rossi
This recipe feeds 2-3 people

This is what I like to call A Dominican Farmer’s Breakfast. I LOVED IT when my parents made me mangú with eggs on school mornings because I knew that was the day I wouldn’t be hungry at all before lunch.

And not only that -- Plantains are rich in Potassium, Vitamin C and contain compounds that are beneficial for people with ulcers - British Journal of Pharmacology: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1987262

You will need:
A pot
Sharp knife
Butter knife
Potato masher
Bowl
3 Green (unripe) plantains
1 Onion
Cooking oil
Olive oil
Vinegar (the kind you like best)
½ pot of water
Salt

1. Put half a pot of water to boil. Add a teaspoon or two of salt, or to your taste. (Don’t know your taste? Taste the water a minute after you’ve added the salt.)


2. Prepare the plantains by cutting off the ends, then cutting them in half. Cut these halves in half lengthwise. Use the butter knife to peel the skin off.


3. When all the plantains are peeled, put them in the hot/boiling water. Cook them at a low boil (med-high heat) until a knife or fork breaks them easily - about 10-15 minutes.




4. While the plantains are boiling: slice the onion. Put the rounds in a bowl, and cover them with vinegar - about ¼ cup. Now, in a frying pan, heat up the oil. When it’s hot, add the onions and vinegar. Cover the pan to prevent the popping sparks from flying out. Check on them! Saute the onions, stirring every so often, cooking them over medium flame until they are soft or turn light brown. Turn off the heat.
   


5. When the plantains are done, pour about ¾ of the water into a bowl. Mash them up until they are soft –you’ll need to add some of the plantain-water as you’re mashing to make them nice and soft – like mashed potatoes, but stiffer.
   


6. Serve the plantains and drizzle the sautéed onions on top.


7. Yummy!

Dominicans traditionally eat this with:

• Scrambled eggs


• Sliced sausages: Cook them first (do not add oil, they have enough fat on their own), and cook the onions with them

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Days#12-17 If In Doubt, Go Hunt Somewhere New

These are days 12 through 17 of my Eating Green Experiment. You can read about why I began it here.

It's been a hectic week with dangerous and wild recipes. My favorite so far has been:
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Ostrich Meat Stewed with Collard Greens
ostrich hamburger meat
a bunch of greens
spices to taste
garlic sauce

Throw meat into a pan. Stew it in some water and spices. Add greens. Cook until they become bright green and add sauce. (Roasted garlic sauce went well with this.)

That combination was so good! Mmmm.... and ostrich is a much healthier red meat than beef. Low in fat and high in protein.

2-3 servings
Time: 10 minutes
Cost/serving: $4.50

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Conclusions

So, it's the end of March and my brave experiment. What have I learned?

1. There are way too many ways of cooking and eating greens to just make a month of it.

2. If you get bored, go hunt somewhere new. A new store, a farmers market, a flower garden or even a huge supermarket. That's where I found the ostrich.

3. If someone says, "So what will you eat for breakfast today?", and proceeds to chew meat and fried rice in sludgy brown sauce, don't sulk - instead bite your spinach and munch as loud as you can. Moan with pleasure so that he/she gets jealous of your leaf eating. Your body will thank you.

Image by Lollie-Pop used under the Creative Commons License.

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Patriotic Hot Dogs and Local Greens Breakfast

2-3 cups of local dark greens (Whatever is available - today I picked mustard greens, dinosaur kale and russian kale)
1-2 tbsp of olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic
2-3 nitrate-free hot dogs
mustard or other garnish to taste

Cook greens in a little water for 3-4 minutes until bright green, add oil and garlic. Heat hot dogs and enjoy it all together.

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