New Food Friday – Radis Dejeuner Francais

In my past posts, I’ve covered some Italian vegetables and some foods used by Brazilians and Lebanese, and also  some used by the Japanese. Today, the French make my post for New Food Friday with their French Breakfast Radish or Radis Dejeuner Francais.

I thought all red radishes were alike but when I saw the French label, I was intrigued!

Radish Label – Click me to read French

When I got the radishes home, they seemed a bit wilted, so I let them soak in some cold water. That revived them quite a bit!

Radish & Greens Soaking

The Radis Dejeuner Francais are white tipped. Here is a another photo so you can see how much of the radishes are white.

Radish & Greens Closeup

I found a recipe for potato salad that called for radishes and decided to use my French radishes. I ate a couple of the radishes raw and found them to be very mild.

Radishes contain Vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, folate, and potassium. The bright red coloring indicates the presence of anthocyadinins, which are antioxidants. Radishes stimulate digestion.

In my potato salad, they were so mild as to be

Radish Potato Salad 

indistinguishable in the salad! It was not the result I was hoping for. I thought these radishes would give the salad some “bite” but all they did was give the salad a pinkish color which was pretty, but I was interested more in flavor, not color.

The recipes I found online called for French Breakfast Radishes in salads and sandwiches.  The most highly recommended use was raw, with butter and salt which is the classic way the French eat them. That doesn’t sound appealing to me at all but I wish I had tried it before I made my salad!

Radish Night-December 23 Oaxaca, Mexico – flickr

On the other hand, while the poor radish with the breakfast name doesn’t get eaten for breakfast by the French, it instead gets celebrated by the Mexicans on December 23, in Oaxaca, Mexico on Radish Night. Does that mean that Mexicans eat radishes on the evening of December 23? 

I don’t know and I’m not inclined to guess since I was wrong about the breakfast radishes! Look closely at the calendar photo. Everything is made of radishes!

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New Food Friday – Chayote

Although they’re spelled and pronounced similarly, Chayote and Coyote are two different animals. In fact, Chayote is a fruit! You already know what a Coyote looks like

Coyote http://www.flickr.comphotoscbruno

and that is why I’m posting Chayote as the new food for New Food Friday.

Chayote, pronounced Cha-i-O-tee, is a fruit that is used like a vegetable.  It is originally native to Mexico or Central America.It is a very pretty pale green and the easiest produce I have ever peeled, fruit or vegetable! My paring knife just glides and therefore it is a pleasure to prepare.

As far as texture, it is like a cucumber or pickle: juicy and crunchy. But it doesn’t taste like a cucumber or pickle. It’s one of those fruits that has a taste that is hard to describe. It’s a pleasant taste, and mild flavored. I thought I detected a slightly peppery aftertaste on my first bite which was raw. It can be eaten raw in salads but I chose to roast it along with a medley of other vegetables. 

Chayote with Mixed Veggies, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper

When I roast vegetables, I usually roast them with chicken. I didn’t have any chicken on hand this time but that’s OK.  Roasted vegetables are very good on their own. If you can call all the spices I put on them “on their own”!

Chayote on the Vine – wikipedia – Thuydaonguyen

I drizzled olive oil on cut brussels sprouts, russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and piled the Chayote pieces on top. Everything got a spattering of salt and pepper. One side of the pan got dill, the other side got some other spice. The sweet potatoes got dashes of cinnamon, and since I had fresh mint on hand, I tore up some mint leaves and sprinkled them over top too. I also had fresh tarragon and sprinkled those leaves over top too. I shook some cayenne pepper over everything.

This is how I usually prepare roasted veggies with chicken: I line the pan with parchment paper, add a mixture of spices, whatever strikes my fancy, and roast them at 425F for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are charred and the chicken skin is crispy and to my liking. This is a very healthful way to eat vegetables.

Chayote with Mixed Veggies, Olive Oil, Spices & Herbs

Chayote with Mixed Veggies, Olive Oil, & Spices Roasted

I did this batch with my new convection toaster oven which cooks 25% quicker. I’m still getting used to it. The results were delicious! So, what tasted the best? Here are the results in order of preference:

1. The brussels sprouts (mmm, very good!)

2. The Chayote

3. The sweet potatoes

4. The russet potatoes

5. The carrots

Usually, I also add an onion quartered but as you can see from the photos, I had no room! Sometimes I add an apple, other times a quartered tomato.

I paid $.99/lb for my Chayote at Meijer or $.52 since it was a small one.

Chayote has a small soft seed which is edible but I removed it.

Chayote halved with Seed - Wikipedia

Nutritional Facts (from USDA)

Serving Size: 3.5 oz

Calories: 19

Sodium: 2mg

Carbs:  5g

Fiber: 2g

Sugar: 2g

Protein: 1g

Vitamin C: 1%

Calcium: 2%

Iron: 2%

Vitamin B6: 4%

Folate: 23%

Manganese: 9%

To see a further breakdown of nutrients, go to this USDA webpage. 

Chayote has a pleasing texture and a mild taste. It is low in calories and very versatile because it can be added raw to a salad, made into a soup, or stuffed and baked. Chayote is worth trying.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am thankful for my followers, for all your comments, and for your “likes.”

I hope all of you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

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New Food Friday – Low Calorie Hummus with Tahini Dip

It’s New Food Friday again and I have a new product that I tried and really enjoyed! Have you ever tried a can of hummus and tahini dip? I purchased the Ziyad brand of hot and spicy hummus and tahini dip in the can. I wondered if it could be any good coming from a can. I’ve purchased hummus in a plastic container in the refrigerated section of my supermarket before but I never tried a canned version. Surprise! It was equally as good if not better!

If you’re familiar with hummus, you know that it is made with garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas).

Here is the garbanzo bean as a growing plant.

Flowering garbanzo bean plant – Wikipedia

This hummus is made with tahini, or crushed sesame seeds, to form a paste.

The first canned hummus dip I bought was  creamy and spicy! (I bought the spicy version first – not shown in the photo).  I added some garlic salt, lemon juice, and a small amount of olive oil but it was equally good without the additions. You could see the bits of red pepper in the dip so it was definitely spicy. In fact, I decided to add more chickpeas to the dip because I can tolerate only so much spice! I had a can of chickpeas and minced half the can and added it to the dip. It was still spicy!

I served the dip with celery and carrot sticks. This is good for snacking or to bring to a party or potluck.

 

I found the canned dip on sale for $2.29 in the ethnic aisle of my Meijer supermarket. Ziyad is the name of two brothers from Jordan and their company produces 1,600 products.

Click me to enlarge

Here is the nutritional data:

As you can see, it is low in calories. It is a great dip if you are watching your weight.

I not only used this hummus as a dip, I used it as a spread on a sandwich for my turkey burger. It was also good!

Don’t be afraid to try this canned version of hummus with tahini dip. It’s a shortcut if you’re in a hurry and you can also keep it on the shelf for an emergency with the rest of your canned goods.

I bought the unspiced version a week later. It was also good. I’ll talk about that some more next Friday and also about the NEW vegetable that you can dip into the hummus which is also very low in calories.

Rachel Allen Fans Will Love Her Cookbook

I’m always on the lookout for an interesting cookbook and I thought I’d pass this one on to you. It’s Rachel Allen’s Favorite Food at Home cookbook.

I first learned about her on her PBS CreateTV show where I was watching her make Drop Scones with Lemon Curd. The Lemon Curd recipe is in the book, the Drop Scones recipe is not but she does have several other scone recipes in the book from sweet to savory. If you are fortunate enough to have a lemon tree on your property, this is a good recipe to use them!

The thing I like about these scones is that you don’t have to bake them in the oven. It’s too hot to turn on an oven! There have been record temperatures across the nation. Hopefully we will get a break soon.

She’s also got a bagel recipe that I’d like to try. I have my own bagel recipe (they’re very easy to make) so I’ll have to try hers to see if it’s better. Let me know if you try these lemon scones.

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What You Eat Today, Walks and Talks Tomorrow

I come from an Italian-American family. My parents were born here; so was I and my two sisters. My mother’s parents came from Bari, Italy which is a city in the southern part of Italy or the heel of the boot. My father’s parents came from Arzignano, Italy which is a city in between Verona and Venice, Italy.

Consequently, I learned to cook a variety of Italian dishes. When I married and left home, I began to experiment with other cuisines. I always liked cooking, baking too. I’m addicted to cooking shows and cookbooks and cooking and baking DVDs! I never get tired of the stuff! My ears perk up when I hear about a new recipe or something I’ve never tried.

One winter I decided to make all my own bread. I didn’t buy a single loaf of bread at the supermarket. Rye bread, whole wheat bread, French bread, oatmeal bread, it was all so good slathered in butter.

I’ve made all kinds of rolls, pizzas, pies, cakes, soft pretzels, jelly rolls, butter cookies, ginger snaps, spice puffs, I mean really, who can remember it all? There isn’t much I haven’t tried. But for the most part, I’m not a sweets eater. I made cookies for when my son was little. Now that he’s an adult, I don’t make them anymore. Besides, he’s more of a health nut than I am. Not that he would turn down my cookies if I made them!

I grew up on the authentic Mediterranean diet. Vegetables and legumes were a big part of my diet. My mother always used to say, “What you eat today, walks and talks tomorrow.” This turned out to be true as I’m sure you know. If you eat that second piece of chocolate cake, you’re going to notice it when you put your pants on tomorrow. Maybe Michelle Obama should adopt my mother’s phrase. I think the slogan could help curb the obesity problem we have in this country.

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