A new cookbook is always a motivator for me. Its like a game to see how many recipes I can master. A good friend of mine gave me a cookbook for Christmas, the 2011 Mario Batali's Molto Batali: From My Home To Yours. I've already cooked a few dishes from it and I must say its no wonder Mario is so plump if this is how he eats at home. His twist on dishes is fun and flavorful, like the Spicy Pumpkin Soup (which had cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes- I thought it was a great flavor combo with the pumpkin). But since I'm not feeding a family of 6, the challenge is getting these recipes to meet my life's criteria. I'm cutting ingredient quantities in half and not using as much salt and oil as the recipes call for, but still the calories and fat content I'm assuming is probably up there.
Just to be clear, my goal in finding healthy ways of living is not about dieting, so I'm not going to count calories or grams of fat. I just want to create better eating habits and eat right. My definition of eating right isn't going to be the same as others, but for me it means eating healthy, having lots of veggies in my meals, and portion control (this is difficult for me since I like to eat a lot of whatever tastes good). I want to have a well rounded diet. I am not overweight and looking to lose pounds, but I absolutely need to shape up and a huge part of that is shaping up my diet. The true goal is to eat well, feel well, and live well.
With this in mind, I've focused in on the vegetable dishes in my new cookbook, but some of the ingredients are a challenge. I would love to find zucchini flowers (my grandmother used to pick them out of her garden and fry them) but I'm pretty sure they're hard to come by in grocery stores. I wish I knew what a cardoon or kohlrabi was and I may sometime venture to google them, but until then I'm not letting these unusual ingredients dampen my Batali spirit for cooking.
Last night I made the stuffed cabbage, "Lingurian style." I give it a 3.5 of 5 hearts (for how much I loved it). Here's the recipe if you're interested:
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Mario-Batali-Stuffed-Cabbage-Ligurian-Style
I recommend anyone who is trying this recipe to give yourself enough prep time. I spent over an hour chopping, combining and sauteing on the stove before I could roll those suckers up and stick them in the oven. I am also working with very little counter space so that was a factor in what slowed me down. I had all the ingredients accept for the fresh basil (mine wilted) so I used dry basil. I wish I didn't use the full amount of parsley the recipe called for because it was slightly overpowering, however overall I'm very happy with my results. I have plenty of leftovers and extra filling which the book notes to try using in a frittata. Sounds scrumptious.
I took the cabbage rolls for lunch today, and had one at dinner. There's plenty of leftovers for a single girl but if you try this recipe, plan to share! Is it healthy? Cabbage, potatoes, onion and ricotta cheese.... I say its a wise choice for a Batali dish.
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