Black Eyed Pea Hummus

This is my column in this week’s Minco Millennium. It was too late for New Years Day this time, but it was really just too good to not share now. I’ve literally made three batches of this since December 31st.

I always eat black eyed peas on New Year’s Day. And I also make everyone else in our household eat at least one bite on that day.

I won’t go into the different stories (or superstitions) of why southerners believe you should eat black eyed peas on New Year’s but all the different stories agree that they help bring good luck for the year ahead. Even when the past year has been bad, we still think how much worse it could have been if we hadn’t eaten our black eyed peas!

I actually love black eyed peas, especially when they’re cooked with jalapeños and bacon. My hometown (Hollis, OK) used to have an annual “Black Eyed Pea Festival” and I remember my great uncle Glen McGee used to plant them on his farm and let anyone who wanted to come pick all they wanted for free. Black eyed peas are great for the soil adding important nutrients back into the ground that many other crops drain from the earth.

Kelly always, without fail, says they “taste like dirt.” I guess Allie’s tastebuds must agree because she sent a recipe a few days before the end of the year for black eyed pea hummus.

Hummus is usually made from chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans. But I thought I would try out the recipe. It is really, really good!

I’ve shared a recipe previously for hummus chicken, which is delicious. But hummus really is best eaten as a dip. Eat it with fresh veggies like celery, carrots, and bell peppers or with chips, crackers or pretzels.

To make this recipe of 6 servings you will need:

2.5 cups of cooked and drained black eyed peas

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and diced

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons of tahini

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

I went to three stores looking for tahini, the only ingredient I didn’t have on hand. None had it. But it’s easy to make. It’s made from ground up sesame seeds, oil and salt. You can do it in a food processor, blender or coffee grinder. The recipe I pulled up didn’t give measurements. But you grind up the sesame seeds add in a little salt and then enough oil to make it a creamy paste.

Once you have all the ingredients ready for the hummus, blend them all together in your processor or blender, until it is mixed well and smooth.

Move it to your serving bowl and then you can garnish it (if you choose) by pouring a little more olive oil on top then sprinkle with more paprika, salt and red pepper flakes if you want to spice it up a bit.

I cooked dry black eyed peas in my InstaPot (25 minutes) for this recipe. But if you are using canned black eyed peas be sure to drain and rinse well.

This is an excellent way to serve black eyed peas to those who don’t like them on New Year’s Day, or any of the other 364 days of the year ahead!

Whole Grains

This was my forth In the Kitchen column from 2014. One difference I have made between then and now, I use canola more often than I do olive oil. Canola is grown here in Oklahoma and according to many is healthier for us.

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I wrote about beans being an excellent source of protein last week.  They are also a great source of unrefined complex carbohydrates.  My heart healthy diet recommends that I eat at least five servings per day (one-half cup cooked equals one serving) of unrefined complex carbohydrates.  They help stabilize blood sugar levels for several hours after eating them.

Another good source of unrefined complex carbohydrates is whole grains.  Whole grains include oats, wild rice, quinoa, whole-wheat couscous and bulgar wheat.  It is strongly recommended that we limit or completely cut out refined grains like white bread, white rice, and white pasta.  So when cooking or eating those items, be sure they are whole-grain bread, whole-grain pasta, whole-grain tortillas or brown rice.

We have to be savvy shoppers when looking for healthy products at the grocery store. There are no regulations on food marketing; companies can basically claim anything they want to sell their products.  But there are regulations dealing with listing ingredients.

When shopping for whole grain products, be sure to check the ingredients section very closely.  USDA regulations require that ingredients be listed in order of volume by weight.  So make sure the first word in the list of ingredients is the word “WHOLE” on any product claiming to be “whole-grain.”   If the first ingredient listed is not “Whole Wheat Flour,” “Whole Grain Barley,” or some other grain with “whole” in front of it – the product is not truly whole-grain.

Whenever we cook spaghetti, we always have left-over noodles.  Save them for a heart healthy spaghetti frittata!  Place the leftover whole-grain spaghetti noodles in a container with cold water and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Spaghetti Frittata

4 cups of cooked whole-grain spaghetti

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion chopped

1 large bell pepper chopped

6 egg whites

½ cup skim, or 2% milk

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped basil

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 tomato, diced

 

If you have just cooked the spaghetti and it’s not leftovers that have been refrigerated, cool it off in cold water and drain it.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until golden, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and wipe out the skillet.

Whisk the egg whites and milk in a large bowl.  Stir in the cooked onions and bell peppers, Parmesan, parsley, basil, salt and pepper.  Add in the spaghetti.

Coat the skillet with cooking spray (preferably olive oil spray) and place over medium heat.  Pour in the egg mixture and distribute evenly in the pan.  Cook until the underside is golden, about four or five minutes.

Invert a large platter over the skillet and carefully (with oven mitts) turn it over.  Spray the pan again with cooking spray and slide the frittata back into the pan and cook the other side until the bottom is golden.  When finished, slide the frittata onto the platter, cut it into six slices and garnish with diced tomato.  We also like to eat ours with homemade salsa on top.

You can eat this with a piece of whole-grain toast and some fruit or I like low-fat cottage cheese with peaches.   Here you have another heart healthy and filling meal (with no meat) that helps to stabilize your blood sugar!

A Favorite Dessert (super foods!)

This was my heart-healthy cooking column almost a year ago in the Minco Millennium.

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In an email I received from the AARP this past Friday, there was a link to their website with a story about the top 15 superfoods for people over 50 years old. The first item on the list will make lots of people I know happy – Dark Chocolate.

They said that the antioxidants in dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cacao) may help prevent heart attacks. Apparently these dark chocolate antioxidants protect our arteries from becoming clogged! They said small amounts of dark chocolate eaten on a regular basis can lower our blood pressure and help decrease the rate of stroke in women.

Some of the other superfoods included: Blueberrys, which they say can help lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure; Apples, which are a great source of soluble fiber, potassium and Vitamin C; Asparagus, which can help reduce the risk of prostate cancer; Broccoli, which I wrote about last week; and my favorite – Coffee, which a study by the National Institute of Health found that people who drank coffee, regular or decaf, “were less likely to die from heart and respiratory diseases, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes and infections. The remaining items on their list includes Butternut Squash, Fava Beans, Greek Yogurt, Green Kale, Oatmeal, Olive Oil, Pears, Quinoa and Salmon.

The recipe I’m including this week came from health.com and four of its five ingredients are on this list of 15 superfoods. The fifth ingredient – walnuts – was one of the two nuts recommended to me at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital cardio rehab. To make this Greek Yogurt, Chocolate, Walnut and Wild Blueberry Parfait you will need:

½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

2 cups nonfat Greek Yogurt

2 ½ tablespoons mini dark-chocolate chips

½ cup oat granola

Chopped Walnuts

The oat granola is not on the list of 15 superfoods, but it is made from oats which is on the list – so I counted it!

This recipe makes four servings. To make it start by placing 1 tablespoon of the blueberries in each of four parfait glasses. Then spoon in ¼ cup of the Greek yogurt on top of the berries. Next, place 1 teaspoon of the dark chocolate on top of the yogurt. Add one tablespoon of the granola over the chocolate and then sprinkle the top with chopped walnuts. After you done that, do the same thing again so there are two layers of each ingredient. Serve immediately.

One serving of this healthy dessert is only 243 calories (about – depends on how many walnuts you sprinkle on each serving – this is if you use about a tablespoon on each). But this dessert also gives you 93.8 mg of Potassium and 14.8 grams of Protein. Of the daily recommended vitamins and minerals, it will give you 33.1% of your Manganese, 13.8% of your Calcium, 10.8% of your Vitamin E, and good amounts of Thiamin, Phosphorus, Selenium, Magnesium, Copper and Zinc.

Beans, Beans the wonderful fruit…

“What about protein? We need protein and you said we can’t eat meat or much of it anyway!”  That’s right, we do need protein and for a heart healthy diet it is recommended to limit the amount of animal protein we intake. But there are other, healthier ways to get the protein we need.

It reminds me of a poem my daddy taught me as a kid: Beans, beans the wonderful fruit, the more you eat the more you … oh, never mind. But seriously, beans are a wonderful source of protein that we can eat every single day. And there are so many different ones to choose from: Pinto, Navy, Kidney, Black, Lima, Cranberry, Soldier, Fava, Northern, and the list goes on and on.  And dried beans are very economical on your grocery budget.

One of my favorite meals now is one I got sick and tired of as a kid: Pinto beans, corn bread and fried potatoes. I could eat almost any kind of beans and be happy as long as I have some good corn bread and fried potatoes to go along with them. But, sigh, I’m not supposed to have any fried foods so that cuts out the fried potatoes. But these are almost as good.

Cut up potatoes just like you were going to fry them in a pan. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a pan lightly with olive oil and dump the potatoes in. I like to cut up an onion and bell pepper as well and include. I spray it all lightly with the olive oil and sprinkle it with some Mrs. Dash Original or Onion and Spice blend. Cover it with foil and let it bake for about an hour. I usually stir it once or twice while it is cooking.

And I’ve created my own healthier type of cornbread. I love this stuff.

Brent’s Whole Wheat Salsa Cornbread

Mix together dry ingredients of

¾ cup Corn Meal

1 ¼ cup WHOLE wheat flour

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons Baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Add in

2 egg whites

½ cup low fat sour cream

½ cup skim or 2% milk

½ cup salsa

¼ cup olive oil

Add in

½ cup frozen corn

1 cup shredded low fat, skim mozzarella cheese

 

Divide into 12 muffin cups spayed with olive oil

Cook 20 minutes in pre-heated 400 degree oven

 

Eat this healthy cornbread with some oven-baked-fried potatoes and a pot of good old beans and you’ll be getting your protein, your fiber and all sorts of good tasting flavors on your tongue and you won’t be clogging up those arteries.

 

That little poem my daddy taught me ends, “…the better you feel, so eat some beans at every meal!”  That’s some good advice right there!

Eating Meat

The following column was only my second for In the Kitchen.  As you’ll see, the original recipe called for Tilapia. Since this column originally ran, I’ve read several articles about Tilapia and the way they are raised. A couple of those articles claimed that because of the way Tilapia is raised it is not a healthy fish to eat. One article even claimed that bacon was healthier than Tilapia. Wild caught fish are much healthier for one than farm raised Tilapia, according to much of what I’ve read. So you may wish to switch to something like wild-caught Alaskan cod, or some other wild-caught fish.

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We Americans love our meat, and here in Oklahoma where so many of us raise or have raised cattle and hogs – we love our red meat.  Every day I see at least one pickup with the “Eat Beef” sticker.  But I’ve learned that it really can be hard on your heart, your arteries and your body to eat too much meat, especially red meat.

The heart healthy diet I was placed on calls for only one serving of animal protein a day and by one serving, they mean 3.5 to 4 ounces of meat.  That is about the size of a deck of cards.  I’m supposed to only eat one serving of red meat once per month, if at all.  And red meat does not just mean beef.  The National Pork Producers did a splendid job in marketing with their “Pork, the other white meat” campaign, but it is just marketing.  Pork is considered red meat, as is duck, lamb, and veal.

I can have white meat poultry (chicken or turkey) once a week, and I can have shrimp, crab, lobster or crawfish once a week.  They told me I could have fish every other day, to include oysters, mussels, scallops and clams.  My problem is I don’t care for most fish or water based life as food.  I loved fried catfish but that was about it.  But I’m not supposed to have any fried food!

The good thing about fish is that they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help protect against heart attacks and reduce inflammation.  So, I am learning to like fish in a few different forms.  Here is a recipe that I do like and it is healthy.

Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

1 pound tilapia fillets (I buy frozen)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Blackening Rub

3 Tablespoons Paprika

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

½ to 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 teaspoon Thyme

1 teaspoon Oregano

½ teaspoon Garlic Powder

 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Combine the ingredients to make the Blackening Rub.  Line a sheet pan with foil and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Brush the oil over the foil where the fish will be laid.  Rinse and pat dry the fish fillets.  Brush with olive oil.  Cover the fillets with the spices and rub it in on both sides.

 

Place the fillets on the foil and spray them lightly with PAM (or something similar).  Place in the oven and cook for 10 to 11 minutes.

 

I prefer to eat mine with Tartar Sauce.  This is a simple homemade recipe.  Combine 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of sweet pickle relish and ¼ teaspoon of onion powder.  Mix it up well and you are ready to eat some healthy, baked blackened tilapia!  Add a fresh salad and a baked potato and you have yourself a heart healthy meal!  Well, if you leave off the butter and salt on the potato.  I eat mine with salsa!

My first food column

This was my first column (it’s called In the Kitchen with Brent in the newspaper) about eating a heart-healthy diet. This column ran in October 2014. As of last count, I’ve written 123 columns that had to do with heart health, food and exercise.

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     On March 20 of this year (2014) I had a heart attack. One of the first things my cardiologist told me while I was still laying in the hospital bed was that I would need to quit smoking and I would have to change my diet. He said, “If they didn’t have it in 1890, don’t eat it.”  He was talking about all the processed food we eat today, which is loaded with sugars and salts and many other chemicals that I can’t spell or pronounce. I, like most Oklahomans, ate way too much processed food, too much fried food and too much sugar and salt.

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     The Heart Hospital put me on a list for cardio rehab and after about a two month wait, I was finally able to begin. I thought cardio rehab would just be some nurses hooking me up to monitors while I exercised. It was that, but it also included teaching me about my food intake, what I should eat and what I shouldn’t eat, how to read labels on food and healthier ways to prepare food.

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     Americans eat way too much salt. Excessive salt intake is the chief cause of high-blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, strokes and other life-threatening diseases. We all need salt (sodium) in our diet, it is an essential nutrient and natural mineral, but Americans eat way too much of it. According to the American Heart Association, most people consume about 3,400 milligrams of salt a day – more than twice the recommended amount of 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams per day. One teaspoon of salt equals 2,300 milligrams. Salt, or sodium, has many different names and can be confusing. When reading food labels all of the following equals salt: sodium bicarbonate, baking soda, sodium nitrate, sodium citrate, monosodium glutamate [MSG], and sodium benzoate.

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     There are literally hundreds of different spices to choose from and I’ve learned by playing around with them, I don’t need salt to make my food taste good. I still use some salt in some recipes, but I don’t pour it from the shaker on my food anymore and I use less than most recipes call for when I’m cooking.

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     Now that Peggy Pattillo has ended her column “Peg’s Pantry,” I plan to occasionally bring you some tips I learned about cooking and eating healthy. And I’ll include some recipes.

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     One of the best things to remember is that Fresh is always better. It is recommended that we eat at least 5 servings of vegetables a day and at least 4 servings of fruit a day. Fresh veggies and fruit are always better than canned or frozen. When I was still going to cardio rehab, they recommended that I eat a fresh salad at lunch and at dinner. But, they also recommended that I not use most bottled salad dressings, which are loaded with sugars and salts and calories. I usually use low-fat, low-sodium cottage cheese rather than a salad dressing. But if you feel that you must use salad dressing, they recommended using a balsamic vinegar/olive oil type.

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     Make your salads colorful!  The more different colors the better it is for you. And the choices are many: Lettuce (we prefer Romaine), broccoli, red, yellow and green bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes,  carrots, banana peppers, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans, jalapeno peppers and the list goes on.

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    Until next time, when I will include a recipe or two, remember to cut down on the sodium and to eat as much fresh as possible.