Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Fall weather brings cyclocross bikes, cowbells, beer after races, and on those brisk nights, a nice, warm bowl of homemade soup! Here are a few recipes to try from Barb, my mom, and the New York Times. Enjoy!

Barb Grabowski’s  Soup for Sweater Weather

• 1 quart chicken broth *
• About 6 sun-dried tomatoes
• About 6 stalks swiss chard or kale.
• Small chicken breast
• 1/2 C white kidney beans

Heat one quart chicken broth to a simmer, add about 6 sun-dried tomatoes, cut in half if they are large; cut the stems from the swiss chard and tear into small pieces, then add to the broth; add the white kidney beans (your can get them canned); cut chicken into bite sized pieces and add.  Simmer for about 30 minutes until the swiss chard wilts and the chicken is cooked.   You can add carrots or celery if you like.

*  I make chicken broth a couple of different ways.  If I’ve roasted a chicken, I’ll use the carcass that still has some chicken meat on it.  If I don’t have a chicken carcass, I’ll use a couple of chicken leg quarters or 3-4 backs.  Put the carcass or the chicken pieces in a large pot and cover with cold water.  Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer, skim any crud that floats to the top.  Add 3-4 garlic cloves, 1/2 onion, chopped coursely, a carrot or two, and a stalk of celery if you have it.  Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.  Strain the chicken and cooked vegetables so you have a broth.  Let cool and freeze or use for the soup.

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Barb’s Pappa al Pomodoro

Here is another soup recipe for the team website.  I got it from Mark Mahan, whom I know from Andy Hampsten’s cycling trips.  Mark is originally from New York City but now lives in Tuscany with his physician wife and their daughter.  Mark ran his own bike touring company for a couple of years, and his colleague, Paolo Pancotti shared this recipe for tomato bread soup with us.  The italian name is “Pappa al Pomodoro” or “baby food of tomatoes.  It has become a late summer/early fall staple – when all the local tomatoes are available at the farmers market.  The recipe I have is in euro measurements i.e.  kilos and grams, so I have adopted it for the American system.  Like most soup recipes, it is quite forgiving and the quantities are flexible.

1 Kilogram (about 2 lbs) fresh ripe tomatoes.  I only use real tomatoes from my backyard or the farmers market.  I suspect you could make this using canned tomatoes, if it is the dead of winter and you just have to make it.

~300 grams  Italian or French bread, cut into small pieces.  This works out to be about 1/2 a loaf of the bread that I make – you will want to use a basic, rustic bread made with flour, water, yeast, maybe some salt.  Egg bread, commercial bread with dough conditioners, or preservatives, or rye breads won’t work.

garlic – as much or as little as you like.  I usually use 3-4 cloves.

Good quality olive oil.

1 pint warm vegetable or chicken stock.

Heat 4-6 oz olive oil and add crushed or minced garlic, cook for 1-2 min, then add the bread pieces/cubes and let the bread toast for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the pieces from getting too brown.  Skin the tomatoes and chop coarsely or squeeze in your hand, then add to the pot with the garlic and bread.  Stir about 5 minutes to mix together well, then add the warm stock.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 20-30 minutes until the bread disintegrates and the soup takes on the texture of baby food.  Add a couple of basil leaves at the end and stir gently to mix the leaves in with the soup.  At that point you can either serve it warm or let it cool, then sit overnight in the fridge, reheat and serve the next day.  It seems to taste better the second day.  Sometimes I add a splash (about 1/4 C) of white wine at the very end for a bit of subtle flavor.  I will also grind some fresh pepper and maybe add a dash of course salt to the bowl of soup just before serving.

Buon Appetito !

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Mom George’s adaptation of Dan Dickerson’s Brunswick Stew

This recipe was adapted from Southern Living magazine, and is a family favorite. It is easy to make, for those on a time crunch. If you start around noon or 1PM, it’ll be ready for the 4PM Steeler game half time…

• 1 stick butter
• 3 C chopped cooked chicken
• 3 C chopped potatoes (2 large baking potatoes)
• 1 C chopped onion (1 medium to large onion)
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans ready-to-serve chicken broth
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes (do not drain)
• 1 pkg frozen lima beans
• 1 (17 oz) can cream-style corn (do not drain)
• 1 pkg frozen peas
• 1 bottle KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce (KC Masterpiece is gluten-free)

Melt butter over medium heat in very large saucepan. Add onion and saute until tender. Add chicken broth and heat to boiling, then reduce heat.

Add potatoes, chicken, tomatoes, corn, peas, lima beans, and barbecue sauce. Stir well. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered for 1-2 hours. Stir occasionally (ever 15-20 minutes).

Serve with brown rice or cornbread or crusty French bread and fruit salad. A winner and complete meal in itself!

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Puree of Shell Beans and Potato

by Martha Rose Shulman, NYT Recipes

This puree of fresh shell beans and potato is inspired by a signature dish from Apulia, in southern Italy, that’s made with dried, split fava beans and potato. The dish is traditionally served with cooked greens, but you can also offer it as a side dish or as an appetizer with bread. Use any type of bean for this. If you use scarlet runners, the puree will have a purple hue. In any event, it is best to serve the puree warm.

• 1 pound shell beans, shelled (about 1 3/4 cups shelled)
• 1 small onion, halved
• 3 to 4 large garlic cloves (to taste), peeled and crushed
• A bouquet garni made with a sprig each parsley and sage, and a bay leaf

Salt to taste

• 1 russet potato, about 10 ounces, peeled and diced
• About 6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• About 1/4 cup broth from the beans (more to taste)
• Freshly ground pepper

1. Combine the beans, onion, garlic, bouquet garni and potato in a heavy saucepan or soup pot. Add enough water to cover by two inches. Add salt, and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 40 to 45 minutes, or until the beans and potato are tender. Taste and adjust salt. Remove and discard the onion and the bouquet garni. Drain though a strainer or colander set over a bowl.

2. Add enough bean broth to get a moist puree, beginning with 1/4 cup and adding more as needed, and stir again to incorporate. Taste, adjust salt and add freshly ground pepper. Heat gently in the pot, stirring, and drizzle a little more olive oil over the top. Serve warm.

Yield: Serves 6.

Advance preparation: You can make this up to a day ahead, but it will stiffen. Save some of the bean broth for thinning out when you reheat.

Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

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Note to Steel City Endurance Athletes, do you have a favorite chili recipe? Coming online this winter: Steel City Chili cookoff…  Calling all recipes!

While corn has gotten its share of bad press (i.e., the health burdens of high fructose corn syrup), there are wonderful uses for this beautiful food! Growing up in the Midwest, we always looked forward to the first crop of sweet corn in the summer.

Arepas, originally from Venezuela, could be described as a tasty variant on corn muffins. This sounds like a delicious, healthy, gluten-free recipe, and is taken from the New York Times, published 8/28/2009.

– 1 cup yellow cornmeal, finely ground

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/2 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

– 1 cup milk

– 2 tablespoons butter, more for serving, optional

– 1/2 cup fresh sweet corn kernels, or frozen kernels, thawed

- 1/4 cup chopped scallion

- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- 1 small serrano or jalapeño chili, seeded and minced, optional

- 3 tablespoons corn, canola, grapeseed or other neutral oil

- Cooked black beans or vegetables or sour cream for stuffing, optional.

1. Put cornmeal in a large bowl with salt and cheese. Put milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until steam rises, then add butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir into cornmeal mixture until a thick batter is formed. Fold in the corn kernels, scallion, cilantro and chili if using.

2. Let batter rest until it thickens into a soft dough, about 15 minutes. Gently form 3- to 4-inch balls from mixture and flatten with palm of your hand to a 1/2-inch-thick disk. (You can cover and refrigerate disks for a few hours if you like.)

3. Heat oil in a large skillet and cook arepas, working in batches, until golden brown, about 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes on other side. When all arepas are cooked and cool enough to handle, carefully slice them through the middle. If desired, serve with butter or stuff with beans, vegetables or sour cream.

Yield: 8 to 12 arepas.

Thank you, Barb, for forwarding the recipe!

Or if you can’t cook or don’t always have time, eat real food that someone else cooks !  Even if it’s a restaurant, choose one that has a kitchen where people actually make the food from real ingredients – not just reheat some packaged product that comes off a truck.  Real food has real flavor that doesn’t rely on chemicals and artificial color or flavoring to look and taste good.

Pasta Options

Pasta doesn’t have to be spaghetti with a tomatoe or meat sauce -  you can make a delicious meal in less than 30 minutes with just a few ingredients.

Choose a pasta:  it can be spaghetti, but there are lots of different kinds of past – wide noodles like papparadelle or fettucini or lingui, as well as pasta shaped like bowties (farfalle) or tubes.  Most pasta cooks in about 5-8 minutes.  Pasta that is fresh (not dried) cooks in 2-4 minutes.

Choose a topping:  Start with good olive oil and garlic.  Heat the olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan); saute garlic (1-2 cloves depending on how much you like garlic) over low heat until soft (2- 3 minutes); then add any or all of the following:  shrimp (cook just about 2 minutes until they turn pink.  Shrimp turns to rubber if you cook it too long); shrimp and zucchini; chicken cut into small pieces; mushrooms; mushrooms and chicken; spinach or arugula (toss the greens into the pan and stir until wilted – only about 2 minutes or so); arugula and shrimp; or a chopped fresh tomatoes.  After you drain the pasta, add it to the pan with whatever you’ve prepared as a topping and stir together for a minute or so, to blend the flavors.  Grate fresh romano or parmesan cheese over the top.

Pesto

Pesto recipes abound – I make mine by “feel” as much as measuring.  Start with fresh basil leaves, about 1 cup, firmly packed.  Puree in a blender, about 1/4 cup at a time until the leaves are well shredded.  Add about 1/4 cup pine nuts.  Blend until the pine nuts are partly pulverized.  Add about 1/4 cup grated fresh romano cheese and 1 – 2 cloves mashed garlic. (peel the cloves and mash with the back of a spoon. You can also use a garlic press).  Once all of these ingredients are in the blender, add about 1/4 cup good olive oil and start the blender.  You may need to add additional olive oil, a little bit at a time, to get it to turn into a nice consistent green past.  You can use this as a topping for pasta, by itself or with chicken.

Fruit Smoothies

I like to have a fruit smoothie as a ‘second breakfast’ or as part of a post-ride or post-race recovery, especially if it is hot.  I use frozen fruit that I let thaw for about 2 hours before blending, with my favorite combination being peaches and strawberries with 1/2 a banana.   Basically, I take about 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup frozen peaches.  Let them thaw for a couple of hours.  Add 1/2 banana and about 1/4 cup low fat yogurt.  I like to use either vanilla or maple yogurt, but that is just my preference.  Put all of this in a blender and puree.  When I plan on having the smoothy for ‘second breakfast’ at work, I put it in a container, pop it back in the freezer overnight, then take it with me to work.  After a couple of hours it’s thawed enough to eat with a spoon.

– Fra la cucina di Barb Grabowski

Christine Doolittle gave an excellent pre-race talk on Tuesday night about nutrition pre-race/ride as well as recovery. Feeling inspired, I started surfing the web for some healthy choices for pre/post-ride fuel.

Looking for healthy options for your recovery meals or regular meals? Check out these links…

Here is a link to an article on bikeradar.com about 10 delicious recipes with high nutritional value. The pictures alone make my mouth water…

Nutrition: 10 lip-smacking recipes for in and out of the saddle

There was also a scrumptious slide show of recipes on Bicycling.com. You can look at those recipes here.

If you check out cycling performance tips, you’ll see a link for homemade snack recipes and ideas (instead of energy bars).

Also, I have never found a recipe I didn’t like in Cooking Light magazine. Check out this link for post-workout meals that combine a combination of protein and carbohydrates.

Last but not least, if you want to find a good meal idea, check out Barb’s Facebook posts. Talk about some yummy, healthy meals…

One way to eat healthy is to eat fresh, and one way to eat responsibly is to eat locally.

Where can you get recently picked corn, and locally grown produce? Where do you find your local Farmer’s Market?

You’ll find farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese and baked goods, as well as other goodies at the local markets. Quality carbs, protein and fats, all essential elements of a cyclist’s diet, can be found there.

To find a farmer’s market near you through November 25 ,2009, check the following link from the Pittsburgh Parks and Recreation website:

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/parks/html/farmers_market.html

Another great source for ways to buy fresh and eat locally is the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) website.

The link for the website is found here, and you’ll see links to find local good as well as find good food in your neighborhood.

There are lots of great ways to get your quality proteins, carbs, and fats – and ways to do so near home!

Each year PASA holds a summer farm tour. It was on July 18 this ear, and for $10 per car, you can visit as many farms as you can reach in a day, and see the hard work that goes into producing our local food.

Finally, for weekly delivered produce, you can join a CSA group. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and there are several groups in our city. You pay a monthly fee, and fresh produce, cheeses, and food products are delivered to a local drop point (a person’s porch, local cafe, etc – depending on the group). It is a great way to explore new produce (as you get things like kale) and enjoy the strawberries of summer! To find out more about your local CSA, check out this link.

Mmmm. Now I’m hungry.

A key element to any cyclist’s riding and racing success is FUEL. Everyone knows (at least we hope they know) that you must eat well to ride and race strong. However, there is a LOT to proper nutrition, so we are excited about adding a section devoted to nutrition – from general principles to recipes – to our website. We invite people to send us topics and post recipes, and hope that this will be a useful forum for all.

Future topics to include:

• What and When to Eat
• Proper hydration
• Recovery drinks
• The importance of eating while on the bike

The first recipe posting is from Mike Walther, Ironman and Steel City Endurance Athlete.

Please check it out and try it out – sounds delicious!

In her nutrition seminar, Leslie Bonci mentioned the need for proteins, carbs and fats with each meal. When I pack lunch I usually take a sandwich and tended to use a low fat mayo, mustard or salad dressing to make my sandwiches more palatable. In lieu of that there are choices that provide a more healthy option with a more balanced combination of the three things necessary for rapid and efficient production of the energy.

Olive Temponade instead of Mayo or Mustard.
1    Cup Kalamata Olives (pitted and chopped)
2    Tablespoons of Capers
1    Clove of Minced Garlic
2    Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper for Taste

Combine all of the above in a food processor and mix until smooth.

Kalamata olives are a little bitter so if you don’t like bitter foods than swap these olives for canned black olives. You will want to use a little more Olive Oil if you choose to the black olive option.

How I use this for lunch.

Roasted Turkey Wrap (Nutrition info follows)
1 – 8 inch wheat tortilla (gluten free nutrition option will be provided)
4oz roasted turkey (white meat)
1 – 1.5 Tablespoons of Olive Temponade
Sliced tomatoes
Lettuce.

Nutrition Info

Wheat Wrap
Fat – 16.5g
Carb – 22g
Sodium – 464mg
Protein – 35g

Gluten Free White Rice Wrap
Fat – 18g
Carb – 31g
Sodium – 784mg
Protein – 33g

This is a tasty filling lunch with a good balance of carbs and protein. if you are a “salty sweater” you can add a dill pickle for an extra 2000mg of sodium with only 5 extra calories and no carbs or protien. The lettuce and tomatoes don’t contribute much to the nutrition content but help with the bitterness and palatability by adding moisture.

You can also add extra olive oil to this and it goes really well over veggies as opposed to using butter.

Mike