Read A Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great Online
Authors: Marco Canora,Tammy Walker
A Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great (7 page)
MONTECASTELLI EGGS
SERVES 4
SERVES 4
This dish is inspired by an incredibly memorable moment from Montecastelli, a 1,000-year-old restored villa in Tuscany where I lead a weeklong cooking class every July. The villa is a food paradise with sprawling vegetable and herb gardens, a pasture of pigs and chickens, and an olive grove of 3,000 trees. The owner, Jens Schmidt, built a small bottling plant so he’s able to harvest, press, and bottle olive oil in less than 48 hours. It’s the freshest, most amazing olive oil, with the nice grassiness and intense peppery heat that Tuscan oils are famous for. The first time I visited, Jens made me a dish that showcased his oil: He sautéed fresh kale, kohlrabi, and leeks, cracked an egg over them, bathed it all in the olive oil, and baked it. It was a simple, beautiful, insanely rich dish that spoke to everything Montecastelli has to offer. Now I make it as a weekend breakfast or when we have friends over for brunch. I like using kale here because it doesn’t release liquid the way spinach and Swiss chard do.
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Don’t let kohlrabi’s alien-looking exterior put you off—it tastes like a mild, sweet turnip and adds a light crunch to this otherwise soft, silky egg dish.
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 small leeks, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced, washed
1 bunch red Russian kale, stems and center ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 2 packed cups)
1 large kohlrabi bulb, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 extra-large eggs
1
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2
In a cold large skillet, combine 2 tablespoons of the oil, the garlic, and leeks, then turn the heat to high. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the garlic and leeks in oil, then reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking for another 3 minutes to soften the leeks. Stir in the kale, kohlrabi, a pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You want the kale and kohlrabi to cook down, but they don’t have to be completely soft. A little texture is good here.)
In a cold large skillet, combine 2 tablespoons of the oil, the garlic, and leeks, then turn the heat to high. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the garlic and leeks in oil, then reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking for another 3 minutes to soften the leeks. Stir in the kale, kohlrabi, a pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You want the kale and kohlrabi to cook down, but they don’t have to be completely soft. A little texture is good here.)
3
Divide the vegetables evenly among four (12-ounce) ramekins. Top each pile of vegetables with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Crack an egg into each ramekin and top each egg with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Divide the vegetables evenly among four (12-ounce) ramekins. Top each pile of vegetables with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Crack an egg into each ramekin and top each egg with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
4
Set the ramekins in a large, straight-sided pan (a roasting pan or casserole dish will work fine) and fill the pan with water until it’s halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with foil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the whites are set and the yolks are warm and runny. Serve the ramekins at the table.
Set the ramekins in a large, straight-sided pan (a roasting pan or casserole dish will work fine) and fill the pan with water until it’s halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with foil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the whites are set and the yolks are warm and runny. Serve the ramekins at the table.
APPLE
WALNUT SPICE MUFFINS
MAKES 12 MUFFINS
WALNUT SPICE MUFFINS
MAKES 12 MUFFINS
To my daughter Stella, these muffins are worthy of the same excitement as a set of new colored pencils or anything covered in glitter. (That’s high praise from a seven-year-old girl.) All she cares about is that they’re finger food and shaped like a cupcake. I like that these muffins are tender and moist with a light sweetness that sneaks through the deeper flavor of the warm spices. Also, the varying texture you get from the walnuts and the combination of grated apple and chopped apple keep the muffin interesting long after the first few bites.
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I use rye and oat flours because they’re lower on the glycemic index than white flour, and they add a heartiness that I’m looking for in the morning, especially in the fall and winter when we have these as grab ‘n’ go breakfasts. Each one gets a smear of almond butter and we’re out the door.
All nuts have good fat, protein, and fiber, but walnuts are considered the most heart-healthy because they have more omega-3 fatty acids and a higher level of antioxidants than other commonly eaten nuts. It only takes a handful a day to get the benefits, so have a few raw ones along with your muffin.
Unsalted butter, for greasing the muffin tin
1 cup rye flour
1 cup oat flour
⅓ cup ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of fine sea salt
3 medium Gala apples
1 extra-large egg, beaten
½ cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
½ cup chopped walnuts plus 12 walnut halves
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsulfured blackstrap molasses
½ cup honey
1
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
2
In a large bowl, mix the flours, flaxseed, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt until they’re well combined.
In a large bowl, mix the flours, flaxseed, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt until they’re well combined.
3
Chop one of the apples into a small dice. Grate the remaining 2 apples on a box grater into a bowl. Add the diced apples, egg, yogurt, chopped walnuts, olive oil, molasses, and honey and whisk together.
Chop one of the apples into a small dice. Grate the remaining 2 apples on a box grater into a bowl. Add the diced apples, egg, yogurt, chopped walnuts, olive oil, molasses, and honey and whisk together.
4
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until they’re just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups; the filling should be almost level with the top of the tin. Lightly press a walnut half into the middle of each muffin.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until they’re just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups; the filling should be almost level with the top of the tin. Lightly press a walnut half into the middle of each muffin.
5
Bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the walnut comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then take them out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the walnut comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then take them out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
CORN AND BLUEBERRY
MUFFINS
MAKES 12 MUFFINS
MUFFINS
MAKES 12 MUFFINS
In the summer when the market is bursting with blueberries, set aside some of your bounty to make these muffins. They have a distinctive, but not overwhelming, corn flavor that plays well with sweet blueberries and the pep of lemon zest. There’s no exact science behind the combination of flours here—we tend to keep a wide variety on hand and I toy around with different combinations. I found that the thicker, high-fiber flours like coconut and whole wheat work best with the light, smooth texture of corn flour (not to be confused with cornmeal or cornstarch).
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Fresh blueberries are the preferred way to go with this, but frozen berries will work.
Unsalted butter, for greasing the muffin tin
1 cup corn flour
¼ cup coconut flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups blueberries
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of fine sea salt
2 extra-large eggs
1¼ cups buttermilk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup virgin coconut oil
½ cup coconut palm sugar
1
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
2
In a large bowl, combine the flours, lemon zest, blueberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, lemon zest, blueberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, coconut oil, and coconut sugar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture, and stir until they’re just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, coconut oil, and coconut sugar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture, and stir until they’re just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
4
Bake, until the edges are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, for 28 to 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then take them out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Bake, until the edges are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, for 28 to 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then take them out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
AMANDA’S
BREAD
MAKES 1 LOAF
BREAD
MAKES 1 LOAF
I’m not fanatical about avoiding gluten, but we tend to keep it to a minimum at home because my wife finds she feels better without it. The frozen, gluten-free bricks at the store are a sorry excuse for bread, so through some trial and error (inevitable when baking without wheat flour), we came up with a simple recipe that yields a moist, tender loaf. It’s dense, but not heavy, and the mild flavor of almonds gives the bread versatility for any sweet or savory toppings you want to throw on it. I love it toasted with blueberry jam.
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The batter will seem very wet. Resist the temptation to give it more flour—that will put your bread in dry, crumbly territory.
Many people see the gluten-free label on foods and assume this means they’re inherently healthy, but gluten-free products are often heavily processed and loaded with added starches (many in the form of simple carbs), sugars, and chemical additives. Unless you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, you’re better off sticking with minimally processed whole-grain foods. I’ve found that by eating mostly whole, real foods, I naturally eat less gluten—the only place I get it is via whole grains and flours like farro, rye, and spelt.
1½ cups almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
Pinch of fine sea salt
1½ teaspoons baking soda
5 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
1 tablespoon chestnut honey (or any dark-hued honey)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9 × 5-inch nonstick loaf pan with olive oil.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9 × 5-inch nonstick loaf pan with olive oil.
2
In a food processor, combine the flours, ground flaxseed, salt, and baking soda. Pulse until the ingredients come together. Add the eggs, olive oil, honey, and vinegar and pulse until the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined with the dry.
In a food processor, combine the flours, ground flaxseed, salt, and baking soda. Pulse until the ingredients come together. Add the eggs, olive oil, honey, and vinegar and pulse until the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined with the dry.
3
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let it cool in the pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let it cool in the pan.
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