Recipe booklet shows soul food can be healthy

5/24/2009

The fourth edition of Healthy Soul Food serves up healthful recipes with Southern flair. The 96-page digest-sized magazine cookbook is available for $3.99 at local supermarket checkout stands while supplies last. It is also available at ShopPower.org. (If your store doesn't stock it, it can be ordered at the Web site.)

The book features 47 healthy, tasty soul food recipes that meet American Heart Association dietary recommendations. Easy-to-make favorites include Garden Patch Soup, Grilled Cajun-Style Tilapia with Veggie Tartar Sauce, and Pot Luck Black-Eyed Peas.

The cookbook proves you can enjoy soul food and eat healthfully at the same time. The book supports the American Stroke Association's aggressive education and awareness program to reach African Americans who are almost twice as likely to have a first stroke as white Americans.

Garden Patch Soup is simple to prepare.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 14.5-ounce cans fat- free,

low-sodium chicken broth

4 ounces collard

greens,

thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, very thinly sliced crosswise

1 cup frozen lima beans

1/2 cup dried whole- wheat

elbow macaroni (about 2 ounces)

2 tablespoons snipped fresh

parsley

2 medium garlic

cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

flakes

In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the onion 5 to 7 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook 25 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.

Yield: 8 servings

Source: Healthy Soul Food

The Maumee Valley Chefs Association is expanding its membership in the new category of Culinary Enthusiast, according to Chef Ed Gozdowski. The category is for the true amateur food enthusiast who wants opportunities to network with culinary professionals, have access to American Culinary Federation conventions and publications, and enjoy discounts at the online ACF store. Applications can be obtained by writing to ACF MVCA, P.O. Box 817, Toledo, OH 43697. Cost of this membership category is $150. Call 419-297-0660 for information.

Two upcoming events at the Chef's Garden Culinary Vegetable Institute at 12304 State Rt. 13 in Milan are:

•Celebration of Asparagus Dinner with Chef Leo Bushey III of the Hartford Club in Hartford, Conn., at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The family-style dinner will celebrate fresh, seasonal, and locally farmed products that are grown sustainably.

A reception will feature Squash Blossoms Stuffed with Salmon and Asparagus Mousse with Sweet Fennel Dressing and Asparagus and Easter Egg Radish Purse with Chimichuri Sauce. Dinner begins with a soup of Asparagus Bisque and Chive Oil and an Ultra Salad Mix with Asparagus and other produce specialties. The entree of Roast Pork Loin will be accompanied by Chef's Garden Earth to Table Vegetables including Asparagus - a White, Purple, and Green Blend with Lemon Butter. Dessert is a rhubarb tartlet with balsamic and basil chantilly and shortbread cookies with fennel pollen.

The dinner is $55 per person excluding tax and gratuity. For reservations, call 419-499-7500. Deadline is May 29.

•The seventh annual Veggie U Food and Wine Celebration will begin at 4 p.m. July 18 at the Culinary Vegetable Institute. Author and chef Michael Ruhlman and celebrity chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli will act as judges for a Star Chef cook-off. The chefs competing will be announced later.

In addition, more than 30 volunteer top chefs will participate in the day's events, which is a Taste-Around with tastings stations.

Chef Richard Gras of Salt at the Ritz-Carleton, Amelia Island, Fla.; Chef Phillip Foss of Lockwood at the Palmer House in Chicago, and Chef Lee Anne Wong, supervisory culinary producer of the TV show Top Chef will be among those participating.

Artisan cheese and breads will be featured. Two wine classes with Napa Valley's Trinchero wines will be held as well as tastings with seven wineries.

Proceeds benefit the Veggie U Children's Program for fourth-grade students. It is a five-week science program to help children understand the importance of growing their own food.

Cost of the Food and Wine Celebration is $145 per person. Call 419-499-7500 for tickets.

Dine About Town San Francisco will feature 125 San Francisco restaurants June 1-15. It offers diners prix-fixe lunches for $21.95 and/or dinners for $34.95 exclusive of tax and gratuity. Dates and times vary by restaurant. A la carte menus will also be available. For a list of restaurants, visit onlyinsanfrancisco.com/dineabouttown.