The Quest for Healthier Meals

You wouldn’t know from my previous posts, but I’ve been attempting to incorporate healthier, more diet friendly meals into my life.  This may seem like a stretch coming from a duck-fat-fries-chocolate-pudding-pesto blogger, but I’m truthfully interested in making some life changes.

I’ve always been fascinated by spa cuisine.   I’ve had the pleasure of dining at Canyon Ranch as well as a few other destinations over the years.  The food is marvelous, varied, and satiating.  You can eat three meals a day plus dessert yet still lose or maintain your weight.  Pretty great, huh?  I may choose to make this the focus of my culinary career, but it’s a bit early to be making such decisions.

Most of the training I’ve had thus far in cooking has been based around fat.  Food doesn’t taste good unless there’s a fat element such as butter or oil.  I’ve become so immersed in this way of thinking that I often draw a blank when trying to figure out healthier ways to cook meat and fish.

Which brings me to the Canyon Ranch Cookbook!  I picked it up while visiting Tuscon last year.  I tried a few recipes here and there, but I’m now finally reading the book front to back.  It’s full of great tips.

Tonight I made a Cream of Asparagus Soup, adapted from Canyon Ranch Cooks by Scott Uehlein.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds chopped asparagus
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups diced leeks
• 3 cups of vegetable stock (see recipe below)
• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper

In a large saute pan, saute the asparagus in oil, over medium heat, until slightly browned.  Stir in leeks and cook until translucent.  Add vegetable stock (separate into 2 pans if necessary) and simmer until the asparagus is soft, about 10-15 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool slightly. Transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth.  Strain soup through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan.  Discard any solids.  Stir in soy milk, salt and pepper and heat through, reducing a bit.  If you prefer, you can substitute 2% milk for the soy milk.

The taste was there, but it came out much thinner than I was expecting.  I like a hearty soup.  I would adjust this recipe next time, pureeing the vegetable solids with the soy milk instead of straining them.

I paired it with some multi-grain bread and salad.  Healthy!

Vegetable Stock

If you don’t want to make your own, go ahead and use store bought, low-sodium organic vegetable stock.  But it’s so easy to make, especially vegetable stock.  It takes an hour, mostly unattended, and you can freeze the leftovers.  This recipe is for a fairly small batch (all I needed) but it’s convenient to make a large quantity and store it for later use.

• 2 1/2 quarts cold water
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 1/2 onions, quartered, leave the skin on
• 3 stalks of celery plus leaves
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Half a leek, chopped

Bring all of the ingredients to a slow boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for an hour, cool for a few minutes, and then strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.

Makes approximately 6 cups