CHG Best of December 2009

Apologies for the excessive link compilations, folks. We'll return to regular blogging on Monday. In the meantime - it's the best of December 2009. Lots of liveblogging this month, including the Biggest Loser finale and the all-day Food Network marathon, from which the world may never truly recover. And by “the world,” I mean “my lower back.” (Hyuck hyuck hyuck.)

Happy reading, everybody, and thank you for making CHG as joyous as it is.

DECEMBER'S NEW RECIPES
Almond Milk
Chicken Fried Rice
Lighter Baked Ziti
Mushroom Bhaji (Mushrooms in Tomato Onion Sauce)
Red Cabbage with Apples


DECEMBER ARTICLES

We watched Paula, Emeril, Alton, and company for 19-Hour Food Network Running Diary: The Whole Thing and Various Conclusions. Then we blogged about it.

First, we got some practice with The Biggest Loser Season 8 Finale: Livebloggin’.

If you ever wanted to eat healthier without a cookbook, then you might dig Lighten Any Meal: 10 Easy, Inexpensive Steps to Healthier Recipes.

Leigh clued us into faux flesh with Newsflash! Scientists Getting Closer to Lab-grown Meat.

In this month’s Ask the Internet, we answered a wedding beer question, brought up an ethical dilemma concerning bad produce, wondered about unused Christmas food, and suggested family recipes for a vegetarian, a meat-eater, and picky kids.


FOR MORE CHEAP HEALTHY GOODNESS...

1) Have your say!
We love creative comments and thought-provoking discussions. There’s even a fabulous new Ask the Internet column, where readers can write in with various inquiries and/or offer helpful suggestions. Sweet.

2) Spread the word!
Like us? Link to us! Refer us to a bookmarking site! (We have StumbleUpon and Digg buttons now!) Or just talk us up to your mom. That’s nice, too.

3) Behold our social networking!
Subscribe to our feed, join our Facebook page, or check out our Twitter … thing. They’re super fun ways to kill time, minus the soul-crushing frustration of Bejeweled.

4) Buy from our Amazon Store!
If you click on the Amazon widget (lower left hand corner) and buy anything from Amazon (not just what we’re advertising on CHG), we get a small commission. And that’s always nice. P.S. Thank you to EVERYONE who so generously bought for Christmas. It was much appreciated.

5) Remember: it’s “supposedly,” not “supposubly.”
With your help, we can stop this terrible affliction in the new year. Happy 2010!

Ask the Internet: Unused Christmas Food Gifts - What to do?

This week’s Ask the Internet question comes from right here at home, and addresses an issue many of us might be facing in our post-Christmas hazes.

Q: Two years ago, I received several bread mixes and a jar of chocolate sauce for Christmas. The breads were baked and eaten within a month, but the sauce still lingers in the bottom of my pantry. What should I do with it? What do YOU do with food-based Christmas gifts you don’t use and/or never intend to?

A: While the generosity and thoughtfulness of a food present is wonderful, there are zillions of pepperoni sticks and Jordan almonds that will go uneaten this year. What makes it tougher: many of them (see: chocolate sauce) would be of little use to a food bank.

So, readers – what’s your plan for this stuff? Will you re-gift? Will you bring the edibles to a party, or try to pawn them off at the office? Will they simply go in the garbage? Any and all suggestions are welcome in the comment section.

P.S. Good Christmas food stories are highly encouraged.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to juragan-koki@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Falafel with Tahini Sauce: A Recipe for Happiness

This recipe first appeared in July 2007. It's really good. And today on Serious Eats, it's Baked Oatmeal. Also, really good.

I dig falafel. The boyfriend digs it even more. If falafel was single and a good kisser, I’d end up dumped and homeless on the street. Heartbroken and forlorn, I’d wander about blindly, cursing the day chickpeas sauntered into my life.

But, thank Jeebus, falafel is just a food – a tempting, fatty food that’s normally deep-fried to get its flavor and texture. The challenge then, dear friends, was cutting the ginormous amounts of oil without losing a whit of the taste.

After browsing a few falafel recipes (Sara Moulton, AllRecipes, etc.), I finally bogarted a good-looking one from Epicurious, which garnered it from a cookbook called Foods of Israel Today. Since I was using canned chickpeas instead of dried, I then made a few preparation changes based on the advice of an Epicurious reviewer only known as dickrebel. It turned out to be indispensable, so big round of applause for dickrebel, ladies and gentlemen.

When it came time to cook, once again, it was Weight Watchers to the rescue. They suggested frying the falafel in 2 teaspoons of oil, and then sticking it in a hot oven to finish. Since 2 teaspoons of oil sounded a bit meager, I jacked it up to 2 tablespoons, which was just right. It gave each piece a nice brown color and satisfying crunch without affecting the fat content too terribly. The oven warmed the falafel through, and the addition of garnishes and a lower-fat tahini-yogurt sauce from EatingWell.com finished the whole dish quite nicely. The boyfriend loved it, and ate it so fast that I didn’t worry about them running away together.

~~~

If you like this recipe, you might also dig:

• Chickpea Salad
• Curried Chickpeas and Black Beans
• Tunisian-style Greens and Beans

~~~

Falafel
5 servings – 4 pieces per serving
Adapted from Epicurious.


1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cloves of garlic
1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried thoroughly
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying

1 tomato, chopped for garnish
¼ large onion, diced for garnish
½ green bell pepper, diced for garnish
Eating Well’s Tahini sauce (listed below)
2 ½ Whole Wheat Pitas

1) Combine onion, garlic and pepper flakes in food processor. Pulse until they’re about 1/8-in. big.

2) Add chickpeas, parsley, and cilantro and chop until “pieces are about the size of a large pinhead.” You don’t want a puree here, because mushiness will make the falafel fall apart. (Thanks, dickrebel.)

3) Dump the items from the food processor into a bowl. Stir in salt, cumin, baking powder and flour until well-mixed., but not really a dough.

4) Stick it in the fridge, covered, for anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours. The longer the better. (I did it for an hour, and turned out nicely.)

5) With your hands, make small falafel hockey pucks about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter and ¾ of an inch high. (The flat surface will help with the frying.)

6) Turn oven to 400ºF.

7) Heat 2 Tbsp vegetable oil in a huge ovenproof skillet on medium-high. Make sure the pan is good and hot before you put the falafel down. (Think of it like making pancakes.) Fry the pucks for about 3 minutes on the first side, and 2 minutes on the second, until they’re golden brown.

8) When finished, stick skillet in oven (or transfer pucks to a Pam-ed aluminum foil lined cookie sheet) and bake for 10-12 minutes.

9) Stick four balls in half a pita with tomatoes, green pepper, and onions. Drizzle with tahini sauce (recipe below).

Eating Well Tahini sauce
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 tsp salt

1) Mix all ingredients thoroughly in bowl. That’s it.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
296 calories, 11.7 g fat, $1.11

Calculations
1 can chickpeas, drained: 350 calories, 7 g fat, $0.79
3/4 onion (main recipe plus garnish): 100 calories, 0 g fat, $0.24
8 Tbsp fresh parsley (main recipe plus sauce): negligible calories and fat, $0.99
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro: negligible calories and fat, $0.33
1 ¼ tsp salt (main recipe plus sauce): negligible calories and fat, $0.01
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes: negligible calories and fat, $0.15
4 cloves garlic: 20 calories, 0 g fat, $0.20
1 tsp cumin: negligible calories and fat, $0.05
1 tsp baking powder: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
4 Tbsp flour: 100 calories, 0 g fat, $0.03
2 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying: 240 calories, 28 g fat, $0.08
1 tomato, chopped for garnish: 30 calories, 0 g fat, $0.56
½ green bell pepper, diced for garnish: 20 calories, 0 g fat, $0.24
2 ½ Whole Wheat Pitas: 350 calories, 4.25 g fat, $0.47
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt: 80 calories, 1.25 g fat, $0.95
2 Tbsp tahini: 190 calories, 18 g fat, $0.25
1 Tbsp lemon juice: negligible calories and fat, $0.17
TOTAL: 1480 calories, 58.5 g fat, $5.53
PER SERVING (TOTAL/5): 296 calories, 11.7 g fat, $1.11

10 Best CHG Articles of 2009

Someone (Thank you, person!) nominated CHG for a Homie, given out by the Apartment Therapy folks. It’s a voting-type thing, so if y’all have time, it would be wonderful if you could click on over. (We're in the right column around the middle.) Thank you!

Every Wednesday, we at CHG post longer pieces relating to our central thesis of nutritious, inexpensive food. The article topics range from simple how-tos to recipe compilations to extended pondering about food and pop culture. Generally, they’re a good time.

Though we took a little break towards the end of the year, 2009 has produced some of our best Wednesday posts yet. (Modesty: it’s what’s for Christmas.) These are my ten favorites, plus a few honorable mentions. If you’ve seen ‘em already, they may be worth revisiting, at least for stunning pictures of chicken breast. If you haven’t seen them yet … well, it’s gonna be a good day.

1) 1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo
In which a single chicken named Charles yields a week of delicious meals, plus lots of hand washing.

2) 19-Hour Food Network Running Diary: The Whole Thing and Various Conclusions
This just happened, and I’m still reeling from almost four hours of Paula Deen, y'all (who, by the way, chopped one of the few vegetables of the day).

3) 65 Cheap, Healthy, One-Dish Meals with Good Leftover Potential
George Clooney pictures! Also, food.

4) Veggie Might: Reaching into the Mailbag—Mom Seeks Help with Teen Veg
I loved Leigh’s take on a kid just discovering vegetarianism, and how her parents can both help out and understand it themselves.

5) Spend Less, Eat Healthier: The Five Most Important Things You Can Do
CHG in a nutshell. If you’re new to the blog, this post is a great place to get an idea about what we do.

6) A Beginner’s Guide to Beans, Plus 42 Bean Recipes
We do a ton of recipe compilations here, but this one sticks out. Beans are fantastic meat replacements – healthier and cheaper than any beef, and most chicken and pork. Also, they're inherently funny, unlike lamb or something.

7) 10 Modern Food Myths, Busted
Whether you’re wondering about acai berries or puzzled over baby carrots’ link to cancer (note: it doesn’t exist), this post has the answers.

8) Lighten Any Meal: 10 Easy, Inexpensive Steps to Healthier Recipes
Anyone can cut the fat and calories from their meals (but still keep the flavor) with these super-simple tricks. ANYONE, I SAY.

9) How to Tell if a Recipe is Cheap and Healthy Just By Looking at it
In a related story, you might not have to lighten anything if you know what you’re starring out with. (You're not supposed to end sentences with "with," are you? These days, I just don't know what I'm thinking with.)

10) Feeding a Group on Vacation
If you’re headed to warmer climates this winter, this post will keep your family and friends from pulling a Donner Party.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

26 Common Food Labels, Explained
What’s a pasture-raised cow? And what do antioxidants do? Does “low fat” mean anything? Find out here!

Information Central: 32 Free Food Charts, Checklists, and Wallet-Sized Guides
Do you like having things in your wallet? Me too!

Overcoming Your Cooking Obstacles
With monkey photos! And valuable advice. But mostly monkey photos!

Weekly Menu Planning for Singles, Couples, and Working People
a.k.a. I Love Lists.

Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

Ask the Internet: Do You Return Bad Produce?

“I don't return fruit. Fruit is a gamble. I know that going in.” – Seinfeld

Stepping away from all the Christmas joy for 47 seconds, I have a fruit and veggie question. Here it is, in fine Ask the Internet fashion:

Q: I buy bananas every week. Recently, I got a bad bunch. You couldn’t tell from the outside they were rotten, but once peeled, there was a line of black goo running down each piece of fruit. The whole bunch cost me less than $1.50, so it got chucked. Should I have returned it instead, or is that taking frugality a step too far? This isn’t the first time my local supermarket has sold less-than-spectacular produce, but I don’t want to be regarded as cheap.

A: Do you guys agree? Do you return bad produce? If so, what’s your limit? How do you feel about it?

FYI, if it was a meat, dairy, frozen, canned, or boxed product, I would probably have taken it back without hesitation. (See: If for nothing else than I don’t want other people to get poisoned.) But fruit and vegetables seem to be a special WYSIWYG case. Color me confused, but please – fire away in the comment section.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to juragan-koki@gmail.com. Then, tune in on Tuesdays for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.