Travel snacks

Tonight we are leaving on a long trip to India, so I packed some Thrive snacks. A bag of freeze dried pineapple was a no brainer. I also put some freeze dried blueberries and yogurt in a container for a breakfast time snack. The last one I packed is one of our favorites to eat in front of the TV, it is peanuts with freeze dried corn, green peas and cauliflower. I then drip a couple drops of olive oil, sprinkle in some salt, pepper and cayenne and shake it all up. I think it is tastier than chex mix and way more healthy.

Pasta Primavera

After a busy weekend I was finally able to try out the new products in a recipe (and I use that term loosely) for Pasta Primavera.  It turned out to be pretty delicious, so I thought I would share.  Generally I cook without a recipe so the measurements are less than precise.

A generous splash of olive oil

A small spoonful of chopped garlic (about 1 clove)

A few shakes of dried chili flakes

A dash of cayenne pepper

A generous sprinkle of Thrive Chopped Onions - Freeze Dried

A big handful of  Thrive Tomato Dices - Freeze Dried

A big handful of Thrive Green Bell Peppers - Freeze Dried

A big handful of Thrive Zucchini - Freeze Dried

A big handful of Thrive Broccoli - Freeze Dried 

Half a handful of Thrive Spinach - Freeze Dried

A sprinkle of Thrive Tomato Powder

Some cooked pasta (about 2-3 servings I think)

Water as needed to maintain consistency (including the pasta water)

Olive oil with herbs

A few dashes of salt and pepper

Start boiling the water with salt for the pasta before starting the sauce.  In a different pan, heat some olive oil then add garlic, cayenne and dried chili flakes.  As it starts to smell really good stir in the chopped onions, this will soak up all the oil, so then add some water and bring to a simmer.  

Add tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli and spinach and bring to a simmer, add more water as needed.  In the pasta pot, once it boils cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the time recommended on the package.

Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the sauce, but save the pasta water - I just scooped the pasta over in spoonfuls along with some of the pasta water, and kept the water in reserve on the stove.

Add the tomato powder and stir the whole mixture.  Cook for the additional 2 minutes to finish the pasta.  Add some olive oil with herbs, stir and serve.

(As a note, anytime the sauce starts to look dry, just add water, once the pasta is cooking, it is actually a good idea to add a ladle of the pasta water because it will add starch and flavor and help maintain the simmer of the sauce.)

Some notes about my first thoughts on the new vegetables - 

• The green peppers are in strips, which immediately mad me think of using them in fajitas some other time, but because of the freeze dry process they could easily be snapped into smaller pieces. 
• The zucchini was cut into sliced wedges, which is how I cut them myself.
• The tomatoes are one of the few Thrive products that has more ingredients than the food item itself.  In addition to the tomatoes it also contains Citric Acid Calcium Chloride, which I'm sure is just to maintain the color during the freeze drying process.

Can you grill a sandwich with powdered butter?

I've been asked before about how some Thrive foods reconstitute, and I've been curious myself. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the powdered butter, the texture and taste was just butter. The only problem is that it does not melt quite as readily as fresh butter. One suggested solution on the can is to reconstitute using oil instead of water, but that is for another day. The question I wanted to answer today is:

Can you grill a sandwich with powdered butter?

The answer is oh yes.

I started with some chicken salad and some molasses wheat bread, then I used the reconstituted butter and grilled it. It turned out just as tasty as regular butter, but it formed a bit of a crust instead of melting in and letting the texture of the bread itself get toasty.

If you are a grilled sandwich purist, maybe it is a pass, but if you are in it for the taste, go for it!

Here is where you can find the recipe for the chicken salad http://www.kathym.shelfreliance.com/c/kitchen/recipe/4-star-chicken-salad I did leave out the cherries and walnuts and it was still super tasty.

Rustic Spinach and Cornmeal Soup

 

Today I found out that the Shelf Reliance Q-Pon for November is for Cornmeal, so I thought I would try out a new recipe using cornmeal, since the only recipe I thought of on my own was cornbread.  I found a recipe on my epicurious app and you can check it out, along with reviews here:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rustic-Spinach-and-Cornmeal-Soup-361331?mbid=ipapp

What I want to do today is just mark up this recipe with the modifications I made to use Thrive food.

Rustic Spinach and Cornmeal Soup
6 8 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth or vegetable broth
3/4 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal) Thrive Cornmeal
3 tablespoons all purpose flour Thrive Whole Wheat Flour
3 tablespoons butter Thrive Butter Powder
2 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
Coarse kosher salt
8 ounces baby spinach leaves 1cup Thrive Chopped Spinach - Freeze Dried

Ingredient Info: Polenta is sold at some supermarkets and at natural foods stores and Italian markets. If unavailable, substitute an equal amount of regular yellow cornmeal and cook about half as long. (I did cook for about half as long, but that was mostly because I was getting very hungry)

Bring 6 cups broth to simmer in large saucepan; cover to keep warm. Whisk polenta and flour in heavy large pot. Add 1 cup hot broth; whisk over medium-high heat until smooth. Stir in butter and garlic; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Gradually add 5 cups hot broth by cupfuls. Boil gently over medium heat until polenta is tender and soup is creamy and thickened, whisking frequently and adding more broth to thin, if desired, about 25 minutes. Stir in spinach by handfuls; simmer until wilted, stirring often, 5 to 7 minutes longer. Season with more coarse salt and black pepper.
Ladle soup into 6 bowls and serve.

We really enjoyed this soup, it was hearty and warm, and had the feel of a cream soup without all the fat.  

Aloo Gobi

I will be heading to India later this month, so I would like to share a recipe for one of my favorite Indian dishes that I adapted using Thrive foods.  Aloo Gobi in Hindi simply means potato and cauliflower, and as expected, these are the main ingredients.  This is a fairly mild dish spice-wise, but you can adjust the heat by adjusting the chillies - hot vs mild green chillies as well as the amount of red chili powder.

1/4 c oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp amchoor powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili powder
2 diced green chillies
7 c hot water
1/4 c Thrive Tomato Powder
1/2 c Thrive Freeze Dried Onions
2 c Thrive Freeze Dried Cauliflower
3 c Thrive Freeze Dried Potato Dices
Salt to taste

In a large pan heat the oil and saute cumin seeds and ginger-garlic paste for a minute, then add remaining spices and green chillies and cook for an additional minute.
Add approximately 1 cup of water followed by the onions and tomato powder and bring to a simmer. Slowly add the remaining water, salt and the potatoes and cauliflower and simmer covered for 15 minutes.

You can adjust the amount of water depending on how thick you would like the sauce.  It does thicken as it simmers, I usually keep a teakettle on the back burner in case I need to add some water while it is simmering.

Makes 8 cups


Enjoy!