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Smorrebrod (Roasted Cipollini Onions & Beets) Recipe a la Herbivoracious

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Read about Nancy Rose’s low-sodium adventure – she’s converted Roasted Cipollini Onions and Beets into a Norwegian delight, Smorrebrod!

Today, our friend Nancy Rose Eisman has penned a wonderful guest post (we actually bumped into her at Michael Natkin’s book launch back in April).  Given that she’s an avid vegetarian, we wanted to share her thoughts (and a super creative recipe based) on Michael’s book, Herbivoracious.

For those of you who don’t know Nancy, she writes a fun vegetarian blog, Adventures with Nancy Rose.  By day, she supports the marketing efforts at Melissa’s / World Variety Produce Inc. Thanks and take it away Nancy Rose!

Thanks Johanna, for letting me guest post during the Herbivoracious giveaway! and for sending me on a fun low-sodium adventure.

I think the recipes in Herbivoracious inspire people to use the best ingredients – and in doing so, you won’t even notice that you’ve put the salt shaker away! Michael Natkin’s recipes are simple, flavorful, and easily adaptable for a low-sodium diet.

To me, the perfect recipe for a low-sodium makeover was the Roasted Cipollini Onions and Beets (page 258).  All I had to do was eliminate the 1 teaspoon of kosher salt in the original version to make the dish a low-sodium one.  I also like to replace white sugar when I easily can, so I swapped out the white for light brown. Another liberty I took was to use Melissa’s Baby Beets, peeled & steamed and ready to eat, maximizing the convenience factor and minimizing the mess of cooking and peeling whole beets.  The results were delicious! These small recipe modifications proved that by choosing easy to use ingredients packed with flavor, the use of [additional] salt in cooking is often unnecessary.

Herbivoracious author Michael Natkin’s serving suggestions for the Roasted Cipollini Onions and Beets are as a simple side dish, as a garnish on a plate of couscous, or with sharp tasting greens like escarole.

However, on the forefront of my mind was what to bring as a snack for tonight’s Mystery Book Club meeting (if you know me, you know I love twofers).  Inspired by the slightly sweet-and-sour flavors in Michaels’ Roasted Cipollini Onions and Beets recipe and thinking about this month’s book “The Snowman” by Jo Nesbo (set in Norway), an idea came to me:  make a platter of smorrebrod, the iconic Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches!

…and here it is:

Smorrebrod Recipe – a la Herbivoracious!

Smorrebrod a la Herbivoracious

Ingredients 

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Melissa’s Baby Beets, cubed
1 pkg. (16 oz.) Melissa’s Cipolline Onions, peeled and cubed*
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp. light brown sugar
fresh ground black pepper

pumpernickel bread, sliced 1/3” thick
¼ cup cream style horseradish
¼ cup whipped cream cheese
pea shoot leaves for garnish
minced carrots for garnish

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (the original recipe has the oven at 400 but my oven runs hot).

Blanch the cipolline onions in boiling water about 3-4 minutes, drain and place in cold water.

Peel and cube.

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the cubed beets and onions and toss with the olive oil.  Whisk together the vinegar, light brown sugar, and several grinds of black pepper, then pour over the beets and onions, and toss again.

Roast, tossing occasionally, until the vegetables are completely tender and caramelized in spots, about 45 minutes.

Cut the pumpernickel bread slices into the shape of your choice.  Mix the horseradish and cream cheese together until well blended, then spread a bit on each piece of bread.  Place some of the beet/onion mixture on top, then garnish with pea shoot leaves, minced carrots, or whatever.

Nancy, the pleasure was entirely ours!  Thanks for taking us on a fun low-sodium adventure and for teaching us about smorrebrods – yours look simply delicious!

P.S – You can also find more of Nancy Rose’s creativity on our blog.  This past summer, she guest posted and inspired our Greek Salad With Marinated Tofu “Feta” recipe.

Note:  Nancy’s modifications (i.e., smorrebrod) appear in italics. Michael’s original, Roasted Cipollini Onions and Beets Recipe, ingredients appear below in normal font.

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Take your Taste bud’s Globetrotting with Michael Natkin’s book, Herbivoracious

November 19, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Michael NatkinEveryone meet Michael Natkin. Michael’s a Seattle based techie, turned food blogger, turned author – bitten by the travel bug and inspired by food.

Back in May, we received an invitation to Michael’s cookbook launch event in Los Angeles (all of the attendees were generously provided a copy of his book).  Michael embarked on an aggressive countrywide tour promoting his book, Herbivoracious, which contains 150 tantalizing recipes that span the globe.

Michael Natkin, sprinkling salt. We don’t hold it against him :)

Despite the fact that almost every recipe has a reference to salt (which we all laughed about and we don’t hold against him), we’re willing to bet that your taste buds won’t even notice if you decide to nix the salt entirely from his recipes to reduce the sodium (plus, the recipes “as is” were tested by a ton of readers).  We certainly didn’t find that we were missing any “flavor” when we simply skipped the salt (though, for obvious ingredient reasons, there may be a few recipes in the book that might not fit into our low-sodium repertoire).

In addition, the book is (carnivores, now is the time to blink, and keep on reading…) vegetarian.

For those of you Los Angelinos who are considering embarking on Meatless Mondays (thanks to the recent City Council vote), consider this book as a solid compass (we didn’t even flinch at the fact that the recipes were meatless).

Particularly useful for those of us who observe the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, Herbivoracious is packed with fun ways to eat vegetables – we think this is where Michael’s wonderful book comes in handy.  Even if you’re not on a DASH diet, or clamoring to become a vegetarian, and you just want to try something delicious and new – we think there’s something in the book for everyone.

So yes, our approach to recommending a book that contains salt in almost every recipe may seem unconventional (given our mantra) – but we’ve also found that in life, scratching beyond the surface has led us to some great finds and new friends.

Because we’re so excited about Meatless Mondays (and because I’m now following the DASH Diet), we’ll be featuring different aspects and perspectives relating to Michaels’ book over the next couple of weeks.  Inspired, yes.  Bored, no.

Whet your palate on our adapted low-sodium version of Michael’s delicious potato and green bean salad with arugula pesto.  The flavors are out of this world.

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Potato and Green Bean Salad with Arugula Pesto* Recipe

November 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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*Adapted from Micahel Natkin’s Herbivoracious. Read our review here

We promised Michael that we would share some of our low-sodium secrets (and indicate exactly where we had made modifications to his original recipe) – essentially, show step-by-step how we converted his recipe into a low sodium one.

As such, we’ve listed Michael’s original ingredients and steps below. Strikethrough font indicates the ingredients/steps we’ve omitted; ingredients/steps we’ve added or changed are noted by an asterisk (*), in some cases we’ve included additional notes (below).

Thanks Michael for graciously allowing us to re-print and modify your delicious recipe.

Happy Meatless Monday everyone!

“This potato salad will really grab attention on a buffet table.  The arugula pesto is a bright emerald green that holds its color much better than basil-based pesto.  You should still make the sauce as close to serving time as possible because the fresh flavors begin to dissipate, emphasizing the bitter aspect of the arugula. The mint adds a subtle bright note that makes all the difference.”  – Michael Natkin

Low Sodium Potato and Green Bean Salad with Arugula Pesto Recipe

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE VEGETABLES

1 pound small, waxy potatoes, such as red-skinned (* approx.. 6 medium sized potatoes)

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (* – see note 1)
8 ounces green beans, trimmed and halved (*approx. 2 cups)

 

FOR THE ARUGULA PESTO

2 ounces baby arugula (about 3 cups loosely packed leaves)

¼ cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 or 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped (use a larger amount if you are a garlic lover)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ounce Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about ¼ cup) (* – see note 2)


TO COMPLETE THE SALAD

Freshly ground pepper

½ cup toasted walnut pieces (optional)

Recipe Modification Notes:

(1)    We omitted the salt from the boiling water (potatoes) and substituted it with fresh lemon juice.  The fresh lemon juice, in addition to being nearly sodium free, helps to keep the potato skins tight during cooking.

(2)    Arugula pesto – we omitted the ¼ teaspoon kosher salt entirely, and we held back on integrating the 1 oz Grana Padano/Parmigiano-Reggiano grated cheese, and instead chose to sprinkle it on top (sparingly), afterwards.   This allowed us to control the flavor and the amount of sodium. Depending upon how “low sodium” we’re targeting – cheese can be a hidden source of sodium.  The USDA nutrient database lists the average Parmesan cheese @ 454 mg/sodium per 1 oz.  (individual brands’ sodium content can significantly vary from the normative value, so can sometimes be a tricky food and one to keep an eye out for.)

 

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. For the vegetables:  Places the potatoes in a large pot of cold water with the salt *with the lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer.  When the potatoes are fork-tender,10 to 15 minutes (depending on size) transfer them to a bowl with a slotted spoon.  Add the green beans to the water and boil for 1 2/1 minutes.  Transfer the green beans to a separate bowl.  Rinse both vegetables in cold water until cool; drain well.  Cut the potatoes in half if they are much larger than bite-size.  Set aside.
  2. For the arugula pesto:  Combine the arugula, mint, olive oil, and garlic, salt, and cheese in a mini food processor.  Process until the mixture forms a fairly smooth paste with some texture left.  Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender, or a regular blender if you make a double batch.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  3. To complete the salad:  Toss the potatoes and green beans with the arugula pesto, several grinds of black pepper, and the walnut pieces, if using.  Taste, *sprinkle the cheese on sparingly, and add more salt *pepper if needed, and serve.

 

 

Disclosure(s) – re: FTC compliance purposes: OXO provided the salad spinner. I am demo-ing their blogger outreach program and received the salad spinner as part of our participation in their program (we have to disclose this, despite the fact that I already purchased/owned an OXO salad spinner before we started with the blogger outreach program).  Additionally, Michael Natkin generously provided us (and all of the other attendees at the book launch party) with a copy of his book for review purposes.

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Grape Leaves – How to Pick & Prepare for Dolmades

September 13, 2012 By 4 Comments
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Preparing your own grape leaves for dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) is a cinch. Store-bought grape leaves are usually packed in heavily salted brine, so using fresh leaves is a healthier (and lower sodium) option. Read how to select and blanch grape leaves from the garden for a delightful Mediterranean treat.

To continue with our Low Sodium Greek Food Festival, Sue’s posted a delicious  dolmades recipe on her blog, Please Don’t Pass The Salt.  Happy Eating!

Harvesting Your Leaves

Younger, medium-sized leaves 3-4 inches in diameter are optimal for dolmades. They are large enough to stuff, and still tender. Older leaves develop a tougher structure and can get chewed on by bugs, or otherwise aged and  damaged.

Spring through early summer is the best time to harvest, as new leaf production is plentiful. However, summer and early harvests are okay too…you may just need to search a little deeper for the younger leaves. Our wild and crazy grapevine continues to produce new leaves well into the late fall– taking over our entire yard in the process.

Here’s what to consider when harvesting:

1) Make sure the vine has not been sprayed with pesticides;
2) Leaves are best when light green in color with no holes;
3) Look for leaves that are not too deeply lobed (indented). Think about wrapping the leaf around a one to two inch length of rice stuffing;
4) Clip the leaves at the stem and try to keep them shaded and cool while harvesting;
5) Blanch as soon as possible to prevent drying out. From the garden to the kitchen will yield the best results.

The key is to select the correct size of leaf. Choosing a large leaf can make the dolma taste too “leafy”. Likewise, choosing an inappropriately sized (small) leaf, may mean that there’s not enough “wrap”.  As you can see from this photo, the leaves are distinctly different shades of green.  We aim to pick the lighter green (younger) leaves.

Preparation

I think the process of blanching is actually easier than separating and washing packaged grape leaves. It’s a quick, four-step process:

1) Bring a large saucepan or pot of water to a gentle boil;
2) Clip the stems off your leaves and rinse under cool water;
3) Place leaves in flat bunches of 5-10 at a time in the boiling water for 3-5 minutes and cover;
4) When flaccid and dark green, remove to a plate with a large slotted spoon or spatula. They’re now ready for filling and rolling.

Yes, it’s that simple. What I noticed through the process was the great changes in color the leaves go through. From their native hue to a bright, nearly phosphorescent green, ending with the dark green typical of dolmades. Another thing I noticed was that the leaves are not too fragile. Yes they are soft, supple and pliable, but you need not worry too much about handling them.

Storage
For best results, use the blanched leaves within a few days (keep refrigerated). To freeze for later use, do not blanch. Rinse your leaves, tamp dry and place flat in a sealed freezer bag, air removed. Grape leaves tend to tenderize over time while stored in the freezer. After thawing, remove a leaf to test for flaccidity – if it feels tender and can be rolled, no blanching is necessary. If not tender, then blanch.

Now the stuffing and rolling party begins…then the best part…eating delicious, homemade dolmades!

 

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Asparagus – An Enchanting Low Sodium Ingredient

June 15, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Asparagus is a tremendously versatile vegetable. Whether smothered in our nearly guilt free  velvety mock hollandaise, pureed in soup, or sliced in a simple salad, the possibilities are deliciously endless. But there’s more to it than the end product. Here, we look at nutritional facts, how it grows, three varieties, how to choose and store it.

Asparagus Nutritional Facts
• 5mg of sodium and 310mg of potassium per cup (180g).
• 88.2mg of phosphorus and 5.3 grams of protein per cup (180g).
• Each spear contains only 4 calories, plus, asparagus is a good source of folic acid, fiber and vitamins.

Growing Asparagus
One of the more enchanting things about asparagus is the way it grows. A crown planted about a foot deep sends spears up for harvest. In the cooler early spring, it may take 4-5 days between harvests. As the days and nights get warmer, a spear can grow as fast as 10 inches per day. If the spears aren’t picked, they become woody and grow out into ferns – hence, asparagus fern.

Asparagus Colors: Green, White & Purple
The most common type of asparagus is the green variety. However, white asparagus is very popular in Europe, where it’s known as “the royal vegetable.” Though less bitter and more tender, it’s the same botanical variety as green. So how does it grow white? By “blanching” – manually covering the spears with a mound of dirt. This deprives the plant of sunlight, preventing photosynthesis and the production of chlorophyll, producing white spears. I can only imagine what a pain-staking job this is. But, the added labor explains why white asparagus is more expensive.

Purple asparagus, or Violetto d’Albenga, was originally developed in Albenga Italy. With higher sugar content and less fiber than green, purple asparagus makes a great accent in salads and is my personal favorite. The purple color is retained during brief cooking, but keep in mind that if you cook it too long, it will turn green

Selecting, Preparing & Storing Asparagus
Spears are best when straight, firm, vibrant green and the tips tightly closed. Dull green and/or limp looking spears are aged. Thicker spears may have a fibrous layer of skin at the base. Rather than cutting the section off, the skin can be peeled for more tenderness and quicker cooking. White asparagus tends to have fibrous skin, so it’s most delectable when gently peeled prior to cooking. Peel from just below the head, down to the stem.

Asparagus is best used within two to three days of purchase. With a higher respiration rate than many vegetables, it can lose water content and wilt more quickly. For proper storage, clip about a ¼-inch off the bottoms and place in an upright container, stems submersed in one to two inches of water. Or, wrap the stems in a moist paper towel and store in a plastic bag.

When you’re ready to indulge, try steamed asparagus with our fabulous and nearly guilt free low-sodium, no egg yolk (and olive oil based) velvety mock hollandaise sauce .

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Guilt Free Eggs Benedict Recipe

June 5, 2012 By 1 Comment
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Unlike the traitorous Benedict Arnold (you know, the American General who defected over to the British side during the American revolutionary war), our version of low sodium Eggs Benedict stands true to its American roots. Our mini-series on making a more healthful Eggs Benedict has three parts. You can find our:

(1) Healthier (vegetable-based) Eggs Benedict topping ideas over at Foodista Reinventing Eggs Benedict: Lightening the Love. We left behind the “Canadian bacon” in favor of some tasty low-sodium alternatives (for the record, many Canadians wreathe when hearing the term “Canadian bacon” – it is more commonly referred to as “back bacon” in the motherland).

(2) Velvety Mock Hollandaise Recipe over on Davidson’s Safest Choice Eggs food blog. We decided to reinvent a healthier version of mock hollandaise (it’s olive oil, and not butter based) so we can eat more portions of eggs Benedict (just kidding…well, not really…).  And last but not least,

(3)  Mom’s homemade no-salt [English] muffins are posted here.  Making English muffins from scratch sounds much more difficult to make than it really is.  The Brits have guarding secrets down to a science, but this cat [of a recipe] was let out of the bag somewhere between London and Los Angeles.  I remember the first time my mom made these muffins for us, her comment was “wow, I didn’t actually think this was going to work!  It’s surprisingly easy and it feels extremely gratifying to make them from scratch.  I’m going to do this more often!”

And while it might seem like a lot of work to make the entire dish from scratch, the reality is that parts can be made in advance and pulled out of the fridge and quickly assembled for a weekend brunch – and the feeling of eating relatively guilt free, well, that is simply priceless.   Enjoy!

 

Filed Under: Featured Cooking & Food Tips, Low Sodium Recipes

Laughing about Low Sodium Vegetable Gardening

May 8, 2012 By 3 Comments
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Our cart after the first two minutes

Come, join the fun! Enter to win one of 25 fun prizes in our “Birthday Giveaway”!

For many of us, early May is an opportune time to plant our summer garden. We headed out to our local gardening center to pick out our seedlings, and while there, we stumbled upon an interesting, and somewhat humorous, family gardening dynamic.  Meet the planner and the gardener (the “doer”).

When it comes to gardening in our family, I am the planner. The planner basically tags along throughout the whole gardening process. We “invite” ourselves to be included in the seedling selection. Once at the nursery, we are inspired by all of the choice.  The little seedlings call our name and say, “Take me home. I’ll blossom, smell great, create oxygen, help you lighten your carbon footprint, and at the end of the season, I’ll deliver a cornucopia of vegetables that you can eat”.   It’s so easy to get tempted and grab twenty or thirty new plants — all the while, envisioning the most local source-to-table meals throughout the summer.  You can usually spot the planners from a distance: we grab seedlings off the shelves and can pack the cart full in less than 5 minutes flat.  Occasionally throughout the growing season, we might help plant, water, and weed (mostly on fair weather days) – primarily, we are the ones with “the vision”.

In stark contrast, the “gardener” follows a somewhat different approach. At the seedling selection, the gardeners silently stand by.  They watch, partly in shock and partly in horror, at how quickly the planners fill the cart. They calculate how much time, effort, and plot size all of the seedlings are going to need throughout the growing season.  The calculation process takes up much of their initial focus, as new plants are added to the cart every minute, changing the previously calculated requirements. Typically, the first time that gardeners provide collaborative input is after they’ve realized that the planners have overloaded the plant wagon.

Jeff is the gardener: he plants, waters, weeds, and watches our garden with near hawk-like precision. He makes sure that the timers are always working, and replaces parts on the drip or sprinkler system when things break down.  When we get bug infestations, he figures out the least invasive way how to deal with them – solutions like sprinkling ladybugs (they eat aphids) in the garden at late night so that they don’t fly away. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that without the gardener, there would be no actual garden.

The irony about gardening is that it’s supposed to be about getting in touch with our roots and nature; it’s supposed to represent collaboration.  In the early pioneering settlement days, farmers and neighbors alike would help each other out during the planting and harvesting seasons.  One would think that gardening would be a serene experience, getting back to nature and all, but our recent trip to the gardening center revealed a lot more about families than we had expected. Instead, we witnessed a lot of animated exchanges going on around us: couples, parents, and children, voicing their differences in gardening approaches and plant selections – a philosophical duel between the planners and the gardeners. Its’ a subtle family dynamic, but if you have an opportunity, take a step back and observe for a minute or two.  We did.  The funniest things in life are when you see yourself in other people – people that you don’t even know. Laugh and the world laughs with you.  Pick the plants and be prepared to pitch in. And most importantly, try not to let gardening become a source of contention (apparently, gardening can cause many disagreements, just Google it).

In the spirit of sharing, here’s a list of what’s in our vegetable garden (don’t worry, Jeff didn’t plant them all by himself and we had some left over from prior years) :

  • Basil
  • Chile pepper plants (mix of ancho poblano and jalapeno peppers)
  • Chives
  • Epazote
  • Eggplant
  • Fennel
  • Garlic
  • Galangal
  • Grapes (Cabernet)
  • Grapefruit (still in development)
  • Lavender (edible variety)
  • Lemongrass
  • Lemon Verbena
  • Lime
  • Mint (chocolate, Moroccan, peppermint)
  • Oregano
  • Radicchio
  • Rosemary (we have what my mom has nicknamed the $3000 rosemary plant, due to its maturity/size)
  • Sage
  • Squash/zucchini
  • Strawberries
  • Thyme
  • Tomatoes (Roma, heirloom, etc.)
  • Yuzu

Happy Planting!

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Tomatillos

May 3, 2012 By
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Chinese lanterns or edible fruit?

On our self-guided tour of the Fairview Gardens farm in Goleta California, we hiked past the squash and toward the figs when we encountered tomatillo plants. Seeing the mysterious balloons on the plant inspired the photo, and an explanation.

In the past, I had shied away from these husked morsels because I didn’t quite know what to do with them…I admit it, I feared them. Then I was introduced to tomatillos in a tamale cooking class, and I’ve been using them ever since. Sometimes it just takes an introduction to demystify an ingredient and open up a new avenue of cooking. Hopefully this post does just that.

Meet the Tomatillo (“Little Tomato” in Spanish)

Often referred to as a Mexican green tomato, the tomatillo is actually a cousin of the tomato in the nightshade family. It suits a low-sodium diet, with 0mg of sodium per half-cup serving. The intriguing part of the tomatillo is its paper-like green/brown husk, which gives it the look of a Chinese lantern. When peeled away, the fruit inside is revealed…and go figure, it looks like a light green tomato.

Although the fruit ripens to a yellow or purplish color, it is best used when green and firm. Like many crops these days, they can be available year-round, even though their primary season is from May through October.

Flavor and Uses

Tomatillos are a non-sweet fruit with a tart and earthy flavour. They are typically used in salsas, salads, and sauces. Some familiar dishes include chile verde (a delicious green chile stew) and green enchilada sauce.

Preparing Tomatillos

Tomatillos can be sliced and eaten raw, or cooked to soften and sweeten the flesh. Simply remove the husks, wash (they are slightly sticky under the husks), then slice, chop or cook according to your recipe.

Roasting Tomatillos

We prefer roasting tomatillos as a way of adding a smokier flavor to our dishes.  On the barbeque over medium heat, roast in a grill basket or directly on the grates, turning gently with tongs until blistered and soft around.  They can also be roasted under a broiler, on a stovetop comal or in a fry pan in a similar fashion.

Note: while cooking enhances the flavor and softens its skin, the cooked fruit tends to rupture and cave in. This makes for a not-so-pretty presentation. However, they’re great blended into sauces…try our deliciously low sodium chile verde recipe.

 

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Sustainable Aquaculture: Carlsbad Aquafarm, Inc.

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Ever wonder where these beautiful oysters actually come from?  We did.

The wonderful thing about food blogging is that it sparks our curiosity and leads us to explore foods and places located outside of our normal realm.  As many of you know, we cook and eat lot of global dishes– we’ve been inspired from our travels, having eaten and cooked our way around the world.  Much like our love for travel, interest spurs impetus – our stomachs act as our compass. Often, we consciously seek out new experiences; periodically, fate plays the role of our fairy godmother and new foods are found within arm’s reach.  Our reality is that once we return to Los Angeles, we source many of our recipe ingredients close to home; many are farmed in sustainable habitats, like Carlsbad Aquafarm’s Luna Oysters (you can read about how we initially discovered Luna oysters in our Thai inspired Curry Oyster Stew Recipe).

More curious, we wondered, what activities go into farming the fresh oysters that we buy?

On a mission, we headed down to Carlsbad Aquafarm for a private tour of their sustainable aquaculture operation – where they farm abalone, clams, mussels, oysters, and seaweed.  Additionally, they cultivate “live-feed”: micro and macro algae, copepods, amphipods, and brine shrimp.  This post is a primarily a photo tour that focuses on mussel and oyster cultivation (with a little narration).

Once onsite, we soon realized that there are a shocking number of  variables, inputs, and considerations when creating, cultivating, maintaining and growing an aquafarm operation. Let’s start with the food (doesn’t it always start with a hungry stomach?) The aquafarm develops and grows their own shellfish food (algae), as they are a fully sustainable operation:

[Oyster] larvae are cultured and replicated via an assisted hatchery process.

Small pieces of shell are later added to the larvae mix.  The larvae attach themselves to the tiny shell fragments; this helps to kick-start the next phase in the oysters’ metamorphosis.

Over time, the oyster larvae develop into baby oysters.

Small mollusks attach themselves to artificial strands; this helps to simulate mollusks growing in a more natural aquatic environment

Special protective netting is wrapped around the mollusks strands, helping to reduce predator attacks.

As seen below, periodically, mollusks are removed from the estuary and undergo simulated “environmental” conditions. Simulating natural environmental stress helps control the overall production yield.

There is a fine art to simulating natural or environmental stress. An activity, such as simulated tumbling, helps to mimic certain environmental conditions that would normally occur in the open water. Controlling or maximizing different growth variables helps to cultivate an optimal oyster meat to shell growth ratio.

The oysters are sorted by size, placed into trays, and returned to the estuary. The aquafarm repeats the environmental simulations a number of times until the oysters reach optimal market size.

Upon reaching maturity, the oysters are removed from the estuary, sorted by size and placed in new trays where they undergo a final filtering process.

As you can see, there are many trays, and harvesting mollusks is a rather involved process.

Oysters soaking —  undergoing the final cleaning/filtering process.

Perfection! These are ready for market.  (It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t bring our oyster knives, or we would have shucked and eaten our way through all of these oyster trays!!)

After spending an afternoon touring the Carlsbad facility and following the oyster lifecycle, we have a huge appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into sustainable aquaculture.  There’s a lot of science, (mussel, and a few oysters) behind these tasty mollusks!  Thanks again Rebecca, Kelly and the team @ Carlsbad Aquafarm!

(P.S. the Carlsbad Aquafarm, Inc. facility is not currently open to the public).

In appreciation to Carlsbad Aquafarm, we made a Curry Oyster Stew and gathered some low sodium oyster recipes together to tie together a whole oyster theme! Happy sustainable eating!

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Tracing New Orleans’ Origins of the Famous Muffuletta & Po’ Boy Sandwiches / How to Make The Perfect Low Sodium Po’Boy Sandwich

April 13, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Back in the day, before I started eating low sodium/heart healthy, a trip to New Orleans meant that I looked forward to eating two infamous sandwiches: the po’boy and the muffuletta.  Just thinking about these sandwiches used to make my mouth water.  In today’s post, we’re tracing the origins of these two famous New Orleans sandwiches, and we’ll walk you through a healthy version of one of them.

The po’boy is cornerstone of New Orleans cuisine made famous by Benny and Clovis Martin, two Acadian brothers and former street car conductors turned sandwich shop owners.  During a railway workers strike in 1929, the two brothers vowed to feed their former coworkers, gratis (free) – pledging “We are with you ’til h– –l freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm”.  Martin Brothers’ Coffee Stand & Restaurant gave out a lot of free sandwiches: the strike and the Martin’s pledge to stand by their former colleagues and feed the striking workers lasted for several months.  The striking railway workers quickly adopted the nickname, “poor boy” and whenever one approached the Martin Brothers’ sandwich shop, a local would holler out, “here comes another poor boy,” – or, po’ boy in New Orleans dialect.  The po’boy nickname quickly became synonymous with the actual (and formerly free) sandwich itself, and the name stuck.

Today, the po’boy is a complex submarine-like sandwich stacked with many different layers of culinary genius. Individually ingredient by ingredient, and in its entirety, biting into a hot po’ boy sandwich is an experience like no other.  The New Orleans po’ boy is notably distinguished by its use of “New Orleans French bread” — a crispy crust and a light, fluffy interior — French bread made most famous by a (Deidesheim) German immigrant, George Leidenheimer.  Leidenheimer founded his New Orleans’ institution, the Leidenheimer Baking Company, in 1896 — and it’s as they say, “good to the last crumb”.  And that’s just the first layer.

Between the bread, the po’ boy can include a plethora of goodies. Typical concoctions include breaded fried shrimp, catfish or oysters. The “combination” includes hot roast beef, ham, gravy and cheese. My favorites are the fried oyster or grilled chicken po’boy, dressed, easy on the mayo.  “Dressed” means added lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.  As you can start to see, with all of these ingredients, the po’boy can easily be a heart-stopper – but we’ve found healthier ways to lighten the load (stay tuned).  You can get po’ boys with grilled chicken or fish, and vegetarian sandwiches. They’re made to order, so you can choose  healthier options.

By contrast, the muffulleta (pronounced “moo-foo-LET-ta”) is  just flat out scary.

Created in the early 1900s, Sicilian farmers working at the nearby farmer’s market would stop by the French Quarter’s Central Grocery Store and separately order salami, ham, cheese, olive salad and either Italian bread or a round muffuletta loaf for lunch.  Watching the farmers eat all of these ingredients separately and in a rather clumsy fashion, Salvatore Lupo, the store owner, envisioned a more efficient way to eat: slicing the muffuletta loaf horizontally and piling everything on. Voila — the muffuletta was born! It’s one of the most well known sandwiches in the French Quarter, with people lining up around the block just for a taste.

Here’s why the muffuletta scares me: each sandwich contains approximately 3170 calories, 231g of fat and 9880mg of sodium. Merely looking at one causes my blood pressure to soar. To be fair though, people seem to only eat a half or quarter of a sandwich, but a quarter of a muffuletta is still 2470mg of sodium. All I can say is when you’re in New Orleans, strongly consider resisting this temptation. It’s only a cold cut sandwich.

Having said all of this, just talking about New Orleans and po’ boys got us craving them. Before I knew it, Johanna was preparing her delicious low-sodium French bread and creating the delectable po’ boy sandwich seen in the photo (top).

So now, there’s no need to miss-out on this New Orleans classic!  Here’s how to do it without piling on the sodium:

1.  Bread –   If you feel ambitious (as we did), you can make your own low-sodium French bread.

 

2.  Inside: Pecan Crusted Cajun (Breaded) Oysters

 

3.Dressed. Add tomatoes, Celery Root (Celeriac and Radicchio) Remoulade, and (optionally) low sodium mayo:

4. Then imagine yourself sitting on the veranda at a Louisiana Plantation, eating your po’boy… drinking lemonade, and enjoying the good life. .. (better hop to it and get cooking!)

Laura Plantation

 

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