I love to cook. I grew up in a kitchen and have always cooked both as stress relief (the infamous stress pie…) and social event. I grew up eating lots of free range beef we’d raised and very traditional southern sorts of meals. Went through a brief vegetarian phase in college after a mildly traumatic experience unknowingly eating veal from a calf I’d raised. Did a few years of completely organic eating around this time, joined a food coop and tried to eat as locally/seasonally as possible. But I missed meat (and my anemia was not happy with soy), so I started hunting, figuring if I was willing to kill it I’d earned the right to eat it. What can I say, that’s my logic at work. So now I’m zoning, which is a whole new ballgame of cooking (since its the anti-cooking diet in a lot of ways). Usually I keep it simple, my average meal is an omelet or a 3 oz serving of grilled meat and a big spinach salad (w/ tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and nuts). But here are a few of the comfort food sort of meals I’ve worked out into zone proportions. Post suggestions to comments.
Moroccan Chicken Stew:
1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (24 blocks P)
6 t olive oil (18 blocks F)
½ cup chopped red onion (1 block C)
1 garlic clove
2 cups canned chickpeas (1 can, 8 blocks C)
2 ¼ cups diced tomato (fresh or canned, 3 blocks C)
1-1/3 cup zucchini, cubed (1 block C)
1 cup chicken stock or water
1 t cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
½ t cinnamon
1 t turmeric, if available
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro for garnish
Cut chicken thighs into appropriate block portions (3-4 oz pieces). Brown in olive oil with garlic and salt/pepper, adding onions halfway. After chicken is cooked through, add zucchini. Brown for three minutes, then add chick peas, tomatoes, chicken stock, and spices. Simmer for 20 minutes on med heat, garnish with cilantro and serve. (You can also garnish with pine nuts or walnuts to make up the missing fat blocks, or serve with salad/dressing as a side)
(makes 8 – 3 P/ 1.5 C / 2 F servings)
Hearty Pita Things
1.5 T olive oil
10 oz mushrooms
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t fresh ground pepper
1 lb grassfed hamburger or ground venison
1/8 c brandy or red wine
10 oz chopped spinach (fresh or thawed/drained frozen)
1/4 cup cheese (hard, strong flavored like Parmesan or goat gouda)
Tzatziki sauce or sour cream
Small whole wheat pitas
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add next 3 ingredients, cook for ~ 3 minutes. Add meat and cook through. Drain. Add wine, cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in spinach, cook another 2 min. Remove from heat, stir in cheese. Half pitas to make pockets, spread with tzatziki or sour cream, fill and serve.
Makes 4 – 4 P / 3 C / 8 F meals, or measure out meat/spreads to meet own needs.
Italian Comfort Food Fill In
So I miss spaghetti. I said it. But not really the pasta itself as much as the warm, hearty sauce. So I started making this, and kind of love it. Its especially good with the leftover meat/mushroom/spinach from above.
One serving (multiply as needed):
3 oz browned hamburger w/ garlic, salt and pepper
1/2 cup hearty, high veggie content pasta sauce (I like the Whole Foods store branch, Ragu Garden Primavera’s pretty tasty too)
2 cups al dente broccoli (it needs some crunch still in it)
1 T olive oil
Heat the meat and sauce together, add the broccoli to a large bowl, top with sauce. Surprisingly delicious.
3 P / 2 C / 3 F
Chicken Apple Sausage Fry
1 package chicken apple sausage (4 3 oz sausages)
2 apples
1 large red onion
2 T olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
Slice sausages into 1/2 inch rounds, apples into chunks, and onions into large pieces. Add half oil to large skillet and brown onion ~ 4 minutes. Add apples, sausage, and spices and cook on med-high heat until well browned. Serve with small salad. If you need to up the fat, cooking 2 slices of bacon in the pan prior to cooking the meal and then crumbling the bacon into the stir fry is delicious.
Makes 4 – 3 P / 1 C / 6 F meals
Venison Chili
1 lb wild venison (grass fed hamburger works just as well)
2 T olive oil
1 large red onion
1 large bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 T red chili powder
2 t cayenne pepper
2 t cumin
Fresh ground pepper
Kosher salt to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste (sauce can be watery)
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can corn (optional)
Brown onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 5 minutes on high heat with olive oil. Add venison and spices, brown. Add in five cans, simmer for 30 – 45 minutes. Serve with cheese, sour cream, or cilantro as your taste dictates.
Makes 6 – 3 P / 3 C / 3 F meals without corn
Wild Turkey Soup
32 oz chicken stock
Water to cover
1 wild turkey with thighs and legs, plucked, cleaned, and skinned (scalding the turkey will loosen the flight and tail feathers, you can either slice the breasts into bite size pieces or save them for another meal)
3 T olive oil
1 T thyme
Fresh ground pepper
Kosher salt to taste
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large red onion, sliced thinly
12 oz interesting mushrooms (oyster, shittake, etc. I throw in some baby bellos for bulk)
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup white wine
Fresh italian parsley or arugula
In a large soup pot, bring stock to a low boil. Add the turkey (you can remove the legs and thighs to make it fit in the pot better) along with the oil, garlic, ground pepper, parsley and thyme. Add enough water just to cover the meat. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 3-4 hours or until meat is falls easily off the bones. Strain broth into another pot and reserve.
Allow turkey to cool and remove as much meat as possible from the legs, thighs and main body. Chop meat into pieces if needed and put back in pot with strained broth and wine. Brown onions and mushrooms in a bit of butter, then add to pot with spinach. Simmer on low 10 minutes, garnish with parsley/arugula.
Makes 8 – 3 P / 1 C / 4 F meals
(This doesn’t keep well with the spinach in it. If you’re not going to eat it all at once, make up to the browning of the onions, etc and store just the meat/soup. Reheat and add mushrooms, onions, spinach just before eating.)
