Salad Nicoise Video

Hi there, well back by popular demand, I’ve created another little video for you in the One Roast Vegetable test kitchen. This week I’m making Salad Nicoise, a great light dinner with fresh or canned tuna, eggs, green beans, small red potatoes and either capers or anchovies.

It comes together quickly, and it tastes very very good. No one will mind if you feed them veggies like this! I can testify to the yummy-ness of this meal, as we promptly ate all of the test salads after the filming was completed

Happy Monday!

All best,
Shelley (Head Tomato)
One Roast Vegetable / The Veggie Club
http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com

Why bother cooking at all?

Bobbie wrote me and told me that she was saving all my recipes in a nice three-ring binder, but that she hadn’t made any of them yet.

And in fact she doesn’t do any cooking at all. She wrote: “I never cooked. I never found the need since I had/have no husband nor do I children or siblings, so all the reasons to cook a meal are not there for me.”

Well, I can think of a few reasons to make dinner, even if it’s just for one. Start by asking yourself these three questions:

Question 1: “AM I HAPPY?”

Are you happy with the way your life is going? Great. Or maybe somewhere along the line, the life you are living began to move away from the hopes you originally had. Is this the life you imagined for yourself? Are you happy? Because small adjustments can make really BIG changes in how you feel. For example, what if dinner was the most important part of your day, cooking for yourself (or your family) because you wanted to. Making a simple, stress-free nourishing meal is one of the ways you take care of yourself and your loved ones. I was single twice in my life for longish periods of time, and I still made dinner. Yeah, sometimes I ate popcorn. But 3-4 times a week I made a real meal for one (or for two, and invited somebody over, or I had the rest for lunch).

One of the easiest ways to impress yourself is to put a simple, healthy dinner on the table. And then say “Yeah, I made this!”

Question 2: “CAN I HONESTLY SAY THAT I LIKE THE FOOD I’M EATING NOW?”

If you’re not the one who is cooking your dinners, then I’d like you to honestly ask yourself if the food you’re eating is yummy.

If someone is cooking for you, do you like what they’re choosing to serve you? Is the chicken cooked how you like it? Skin crispy, or boneless/skinless? Everyone has their own food idiosyncrasies and if you’re cooking for yourself you can indulge them. For example, I think olives are poisonous and so I don’t cook with them. My sister doesn’t like orange flavoured food but is OK with lemon-y stuff. André doesn’t put salt on anything, even hard boiled eggs.

So if you’re cooking for yourself, you can have it “your way.” You can make what you like and you can cook it just-so. (And really, one of the joys of cooking for only one, is that you can do weird things … like Gary who puts molasses on his corn-on-the-cob… and no one will raise an eyebrow).

Question 3: “AM I AT A GOOD WEIGHT FOR MY AGE / LIFESTYLE?”

I’m not talking about fitting into your skinny jeans. And if you’re a gramma, you maybe want to have a bit of padding for cuddling grandkids. I’m talking about being overweight. Because if you have some pounds you’d like to lose, so that you can be living that happy life we were talking about above in Question #1, then cooking for yourself is the greatest idea. You can remove that chicken skin, you can cook with low fat ingredients, you can control your own portions, you can add a ton of veggies to that beef stew so that there’s more carrots and mushrooms than meat. You can put fennel and apple and leeks and chicken broth in the oven and braise them until you have a great side for fish.

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So, here’s what I would say. Collect recipes, do your research, and take your time. But one day you should ask yourself the questions above: Are you happy? Is the food you’re now eating fantastic? Do you have some weight to lose?

If you’re doing OK with all of these, then maybe cooking just isn’t for you. But let me know if you think you could be happier, eating more yummy food, and a few pounds lighter. ‘Cause I’ve got a few ideas on how to make that happen

All best,

Shelley (Head Tomato)
www.OneRoastVegetable.com

PS/ In keeping with this theme, we’re going to be talking about motivation, cleaning your kitchen, and simple meal planning on next Friday’s teleclass “Kill Kitchen Klutter.” Watch your email for registration information early this coming week.

Imagine a big party …

I got this great email yesterday from Bridget saying “Club Closed? Let me in!” I quickly responded and told her that One Roast Vegetable’s private membership site “The Veggie Club” was closed now, but so long as she’s on the newsletter list (www.OneRoastVegetable.com), then she’ll be notified when The Veggie Club reopens May 1st… but that she wouldn’t want to delay, because it’ll only be open for 36 hrs.

So you’re wondering why, right? Why isn’t the site open now? Why only for 36 hrs? Shelley, is this some kind of veggie marketing card trick?

Not really. You see, I like things done right, so I want to control the flow of people who come into the membership site to ensure that we GROW AT A SUSTAINABLE RATE, and that we can continue to provide excellent customer service and meet everyone’s needs.

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IMAGINE A BIG PARTY.

You’re waiting on the street, in the line-up, trying to get in. You’re there with some other people who have not-great eating habits, who don’t know what to make for dinner, and you’re all feeling bored of tomatoes and iceberg lettuce as your only veggies.

And as you gaze into the window of this private party, you can see glimpses of green bean salad, vegetarian pasta, and spicy stir fries. You catch a tiny smell of the roast veggie salad with maple vinaigrette. And you can see the people inside. They’re hanging out, they look healthy. And they’re having a blast.

Now if I want to make sure that the party stays happy, well fed, and entertained, I have to have a big burly doorman. He’s tall and kind of menacing. The doorman says “gotta keep this party tight, gotta make sure everyone is happy. Get those drinks refilled. Get those recipes posted. Get those plates filled. Get these people eating better. Cooking dinner at home. Feeling happy.”

Then when the party is going along smoothly, the caterers are caught up, and everyone’s plates are full… then I can brush past Mr. Doorman, I can open the doors and say “Hi there, come on in, we’ve been waiting for you!”

So that’s why the door-opening won’t happen again until May 1st … and then only for a day and a half. It’s just my way of taking care of you and making sure you’re well-fed Don’t be grumpy with Mr. Doorman. He’s just doing his job.

If you’re on the list at www.OneRoastVegetable.com, then you’ll automatically be notified when The Veggie Club reopens May 1st…

All best,
Shelley (Head Tomato)

Shelley’s meal plan (April 12)

Look, I finally have a week without homemade veggie burgers I need a break! Here’s what we were eating this week in the test kitchen:

Monday: Celery roumalade, pâté with pistachios, steak frites. OK, perhaps not the most veggie-filled meal I’ve had this week, but my hero Suzanne Falter-Barnes was in town and we just had to go out for dinner at L’Express and eat our way through the menu (the nice thing about girl-eating is that we shared everything). Do you know Suzanne from her website How Much Joy? I think she’s just the best. Here’s my cleverly disguised affiliate link to her site.

Tuesday: Trial #1 of Beet salad with oranges and goat cheese. This salad wasn’t bad, the vinaigrette was a bit too vinegary for me, and the beet flavour was a bit flat. And I LOVE beets. So I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more beety-punch. I’ll try this recipe again with adjustments.

Thursday: Grant’s chicken (roast chicken with a kicker spice rub), basmati rice, and Tinfoil Carrots which is Recipe 1.11 from The Veggie Club.

Friday: Thai curried chicken, with mushrooms, carrots, and baby red potatoes. Our favourite Friday night, one-pot dinner. This is the recipe that I try to make only every few weeks, but I think André could eat it every night.

Saturday: Trial #3 of Pasta with carrots, beets, feta and white wine. Trying to keep this recipe low fat, but high flavour. Last time I made it with goat cheese and it turned out a bit sticky (and not really low fat…).

Sunday: Vegetarian corn chowder with homemade spicy cheese crackers.

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Are you a member of The Veggie Club? Not yet? I don’t want to torture you, but here’s what you’re missing this week on the private membership site… New article from Doctor Kristie about how to eat well when you’re travelling. A new slide show from ‘yours truly’ on how to prepare Tinfoil Carrots step-by-step. The full version of the Tinfoil Carrots recipe (Recipe 1.11), including nutritional information AND price per serving. Coming tomorrow, I’ll be responding to a letter from Bobbie where she asks “Why bother cooking at all?” Then later this week, a new illustrated recipe for Salad Niçoise (where the key ingredients are green beans, tuna and baby new potatoes). Yikes, it’s a busy week, because then our monthly teleclass on Friday night is “Kill Kitchen Clutter.”

So long as you’re on THIS LIST, you’ll be notified on May 1st when The Veggie Club opens again for new members.

All best and happy veggies,
Shelley (Head Tomato)

Shelley’s menu plan for this week (April 7)

Hi there, just a quick post to let you know what we were eating this week.

MONDAY > Chicken pitas with cucumber and yogurt sauce (this was trial #1, and it wasn’t great, but it gave me some ideas for next time. Maybe marinated chicken with Greek salad in a pita with tzatziki …)

TUESDAY > Lasagne with tomato and sausage. I love this recipe, it’s definitely comfort food, and is great the next day for lunch. It’s missing a veggie or two though, so we save it for special occasions.

WEDNESDAY > I worked in the kitchen at Robin Des Bois, and we had Pasta with spinach and parmesan cheese as our staff meal.

THURSDAY > Lentil Potage, this is recipe 1.7 from The Veggie Club, and it makes great leftovers.

FRIDAY > Trial #4 of Veggie burgers made with lentils and whole wheat bread crumbs. This time they turned out much better than previous versions. I think I’ve finally found a recipe that I can adapt and make better… I stuck a few in the freezer to see how they will reheat.

SATURDAY > Baked pork tenderloin with mustard, served with side of Roast vegetable pasta (with beets and carrots).

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As you can see, we’re eating well this week. And things are busy in the test kitchen night and day! One morning this week I got up early, made myself some PB+banana toast, did the dishes, and then popped a beet into the oven to roast for a future salad. I’ll let you know about that salad when I make it — cold roasted beet with oranges and goat cheese.

Thanks and happy veggies
All best, Shelley (Head Tomato)

PS/ The Veggie Club’s spring fever sale has been extended, and joining the membership site is amazingly inexpensive right now. Yes, for less than the cost of a magazine or a Big Mac meal, you can get access to all of the illustrated recipes and the 30-page ebook “Veggies Made Simple.” Earlier today I posted a slide show on how to make tinfoil carrots. And I know you don’t want to miss that!
http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com