ingredient of the week: garlic

well.... it's been a very, very long time since our last ingredient of the week! my life has been pretty crazy for the last few weeks... so i haven't really been focusing on the blog. but i have been cooking some pretty epic food (that's my way of dealing with stress!) slowly but surely they will be popping up here! so for this installment of ingredient of the week, i chose garlic. love love love love love love love. i can't get enough garlic. some people don't like it raw or find it way too overpowering, but i just love it. i mean, who doesn't like waking up with garlic breath in the morning? or having their hands smell like garlic for 2 days?! well.. i don't exactly like those parts but you just gotta put up with it! in fact, my duvet actually smells like garlic. it's an issue. doesn't exactly put me to sleep...

anyways. yes, garlic. we all love it. so let's talk about why you should eat more of it! garlic is a cardiac savior. first, garlic is rich in sulfur-containing compounds such as thiosulfinates and sulfoxides, which give it that distinct smell, as well as most of it's nutritional benefits. one benefit of these compounds is that they dilate our blood vessels, helping our blood pressure stay under control. they do this by blocking the activity of angiotensin II (man, never thought HKIN 191 would ever come in handy!!). angiotensin II is a peptide protein that helps out blood vessels contract (then causing blood to be forced through a smaller space, increasing the pressure). by blocking this, the sulfur-containing compounds found in garlic can minimize the unecessary contractions of our blood vessels and therefore the unwanted increased blood pressure.

good for your health, and keeps away vampires  : )

another health benefit from these compounds is lowering of our triglyceride and our total cholesterol levels. but, the major cardiac benefit that these compounds provide is cardioprotection, meaning they protect our blood cells and blood vessels from inflammatory and oxidative stress (ie: damage). basically, highly reactive oxygen molecules wreak havoc on the linings of our pretty little arteries and veins. this damage can cause plaque to form which, in turn, can lead to heart attacks and atherosclerosis. the sulfur-containing compounds found in garlic minimize this by inhibiting the activity of inflammatory causing mechanisms in the oxygen molecules. another compound, ajoene, helps to prevent clots from forming inside our blood vessels by preventing platelets in our blood to become too sticky. ajoene helps maintain a kind of "stickiness homeostasis", if you will.

ok, time for a change! let's stop the cardiac talk -- garlic also has amazing anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal properties, and has been used throughout all of history for treating illness! various compounds in freshly crushed garlic show huge benefits in controlling infection from worms, yeasts, bacteria and viruses. they've been used on burn victims, stomach ulcers, and on bacterial infections that are not responding to antibiotics. that's pretty awesome if you ask me! i really could go on about antioxidants, vitamin C, selenium, anti-inflammatory/arthritic properties, increased iron metabolizing properties, cancer prevention etc, etc. that garlic provides... but i'm tired of writing. basically, garlic is a superfood when it comes to your health, and if you're not eating it.. then you better start! it basically cures everything!

so, now onto the meal i used an epic amount of garlic in. i made a traditional greek lentil soup called Φακές/fakes (pronounced fah-KESS). yes. yes, i know. it sounds like fuckers. ha ha ha ha. but of course, that's not what the old greek ladies are saying! anyways, its quite an easy recipe to make, all you have to do is chop and let cook!

fakes lentil soup: simple flavours, but delicious!

what you need:
1 1/2 cups of brown lentils
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed
4 cups water/chicken broth (i used half of each)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar

step 1:
after sifting through the lentils for rocks and twigs, put them into a large pot and cover with water. bring to a boil and cook for ~15 minutes. while this is cooking, take the time to chop up all of your ingredients. when cooking time is up, strain into a collander.
step 2:
in the same pot, add olive oil and saute your onions until translucent. add in the celery and cook down for a few minutes. add your sliced garlic, bay leaves, oregano, potatoes, tomato paste and water/broth. let simmer for ~30 minutes, stirring frequently, or until lentils are soft.
step 3:
ladle into a bowl and spoon the red wine vinegar on top. this may seem weird to people who haven't tasted this before, but you need to add this. it lifts the entire dish to a new level! and of course, soak up the liquid with a nice piece of crispy bread! enjoy!

ingredient of the week: lentils

lentils are this week's ingredient of the week! i've been meaning to highlight them for a while but for some reason, the grocery store closest to campus didn't have any. luckily, i was able to find both the green and red types on a mega shopping trip a few days ago.

now, i talked a bit about lentils being healthy in my recipe for dahl here. but since this is ingredient of the week, it's time to get into a bit more detail of their awesomeness. lentils are part of the legume family, which to me is just kind of confusing. mainly because i was always learning french and legume in french is veggies. i couldn't understand how other things such as chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans could be in the same category as lettuce or broccoli or something.

red lentils like these were used in the recipe below

anyways, legumes are really important for people who are vegan or vegetarian. they are a high, non-animal source of protein. lentils in particular have about 20 grams per cup, which is pretty good considering you're not getting the added fat of meat!
lentils also are high in iron, which is super important for young women. i am anemic, and i take an iron pill to help keep my levels up and avoid the freaking crazy symptoms and just feeling tired all the time. so it is really important to me to always have a high amount of iron in my meals whether i'm eating a meal with meat or not.
lentils are also high in folate, which acts to reduce the amount of artery damaging homocysteine levels in the blood. in my human growth and development class (where we basically just talk about babies) we learned about neural tube defects.. and they aren't nice things. folate helps prevent these from occuring, so thats why anybody who's thinking about getting pregnant should eat lentils and take their folic acid.
other than all that, lentils are high in fibre (approximately 20 grams per cup!) and have a low calorie count, which is super good for any dieter because they will keep you full for a reaaalllyy long time, but you can save on those cals.

moroccan pottery

i decided to make a kind of moroccan-inspired soup with lentils. i've always wanted to go there... not that i can right now, so i went there by food and flavour. i am starting to feel a little sick so i really just needed something healthy, but warm to keep my sore throat away. this soup just gets tastier by the day!

what you need:
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 potatoes
1 cup red lentils
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
6 cups water or broth (i used half of each)
2 tsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp turmeric and cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
1 scoop greek yogurt

step 1:
chop up your veggies and garlic and peel and cube your potatoes. in a large pot placed on medium heat, add olive oil. when warm, add your onions and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes. once onion is translucent, add in the celery, carrots and ginger and saute for ~5 minutes.
step 2:
then add in your spices: turmeric, cinnamon, chilli powder and cumin. cook, stirring often for about 3 minutes. once all mixed together, add in your tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water or stock, lentils and potatoes.
step 3:
stir to ensure the flavours have combined and bring to a boil. reduce heat and then simmer for ~40 minutes. for the last 5 minutes of cooking, add in your cup of frozen peas. once warm, add a dollop of greek yogurt on top and you're ready to eat!

good timing for soup - just started to get a sore throat!

this soup recipe made such a huge portion (serves 8!) and it's so filling that i ended up freezing about half of it. i enjoyed mine with some nice jalapeno foccacia bread.

UPDATE: also a nice addition when serving this soup is sriracha sauce. it adds a nice little zip!

roald dahl

i've always loved indian food: the curries, the spices and the spiciness! not to mention, indian food can be super healthy. in fact, according to health.com's article, World's Best Superfoods, indian sits at a comfortable 5 out of the 10 healthiest ethnic cuisines in the world (who sits at 1? you guessed it. greek). this is mainly due to the spices found in indian cooking, such as turmeric, ginger, cumin and cardamom.

spices featured heavily in indian cuisine

the majority of these spices have cancer fighting properties and anti-inflammatory properties. research is being done on turmeric and garlic, as evidence suggests they can help prevent Alzheimer's Disease (rates of the disease in india are 4 times lower than those in america). indian cuisine also heavily features chickpeas, beans and lentils as super, super healthy alternatives to fatty meats for their large vegetarian population.

so, since i love lentils so much (tasty and really healthy), i decided that i should test my curry-ing skills and attempted to make dahl, a spicy lentil curry. i wanted to change the recipe to make it healthier by adding lots of veg. so let's call this eva's super-healthy-vitamin-and-mineral-and-iron-rich dahl. so, here's the recipe!

you will need:
~ 1 1/2 cups of lentils (i used red and i put in a bit extra, but any kind will do)
4 cups water 
1/2 an onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tsp curry powder (or to taste - i used a lot)
1 1/2 tsp cumin (i know, there's cumin in the curry powder, but i like it so i added extra)
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp chilli flakes (i added extra cause i like it spicy)
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garam masala (or to taste)
1 tsp olive oil
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4 celery sticks
1 large green and red pepper (i used 1 1/2 of each cause i had some from the day before)
1 small/medium pack frozen spinach

 red, black and green lentils

preparation:
get a tray or large plate, pour the lentils out and sift through them for rocks or twigs.
chop onions fine, dice veggies, crush garlic and take spinach out of the freezer.

step 1:
in a large pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. when ready, add in garlic, ginger and onions. cook, stirring often for 5 minutes until onions are translucent
step 2:
once onions are translucent, add in all spices and cook for a 2 more minutes, stirring often.
step 3: 
add in celery, green and red pepper and tomatoes (with liquid) and stir together. cook for 10 minutes.
step 4:
once veggies have softened a little, add the water and the lentils. turn the temperature down to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
step 5:
add in the frozen spinach and cook for 10 more minutes or until the desired consistency is reached. if needed, add more water.

to serve:
i served the dahl on the leaves of  iceberg lettuce, but it can also be served with brown rice or naan.

dahl served on lettuce leaves

side note: this dahl recipe makes TONS, and it freezes really well. i kept half for the week, and froze the other half for later.