4 Meat Spaghetti

Time for another recipe. I’ve been trying to reduce my sodium intake and increase the amount of potassium I get each day and have made decent progress with the sodium but potassium has been issue. So for now my best solutions is to start eating more tomato based foods. I’m also trying to build muscle so spaghetti provides protein and tastes great.

Now of course as with any of my recipes I need to put the salt disclaimer:  there is none. It’s not on the ingredient list but probably needs to be for most people. More on this later.

Ingredients:

• 8 cloves garlic minced
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground bison
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 5 cups tomato sauce (see note 1 below)
• 4 cups tomatoes diced (see note 1 below)
• 1 cup mushrooms sliced (see not 1 below)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp savory
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp brown sugar (see note 2 below)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

• 13.25oz spaghetti (see note 3 below)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 quarts water

Note 1: I buy the ‘no salt added,’ canned variety.

Note 2: If you like the tart taste of tomatoes or don’t mind the acidity you don’t need to add the sugar.

Note 3: I use a whole wheat blend pasta and love it.

Note 4: One way to combat the lack of salt would be to just buy the canned stuff with salt added. Otherwise I would assume one teaspoon would be fine but I know nothing about salt so don’t quote me on that.

Instructions:

• In a large pot brown the meat with the garlic and onions over high heat, drain off any excess fat (or allow if to burn off)
• In a separate pot add olive oil to water and bring to a boil
• Add remaining ingredients to sauce and continue simmering over medium-high heat
• Prepare spaghetti according to package directions (11-13 minutes should do it for tender pasta)
• Optional: mix spaghetti into sauce

Enjoy! I mix the pasta with the sauce just so I don’t have to worry about running out of one before the other. If I wasn’t so concerned about the salt I would add the following to the sauce: one pound of Italian Sausage, and a half cup each of feta, Mozzarella, and Romano cheese. You would probably need at least one extra cup of tomato sauce to accomodate the extra meat but probably two. My spice rack isn’t very exotic so if I had some on hand I would have added a teaspoon of fennel as well.

Let me know if you try it!

Paige and Kavita, I tried to keep the number of steps down, what do you think?

Resolutions

The thing I’ve niether liked nor understood about New Year’s resolutions is why wait until the 1st? Okay, so if you are going to use the remaining time in the year to for instance, indulge in something you have resolved to stop indulging in, then I guess I get it. But that just seems like a bad idea anyway, oh well.

So my New Year’s eve, eve, eve, eve resolution is to eat better. I eat pretty well as it is, but there are definitely changes that I need to change. Most of these just revolve around consistency, hence the resolution. Here is what I want my daily diet to look like (consider this the base):

• 1 egg, slice of cheese and ham on an English muffin (I fry the egg in olive oil)
• peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• cereal with soy milk and whey protein powder
• South Beach Diet high protein cereal bars (I only like the chocolate flavor)
• fruit

Some things to note here:

I’ve included everything food-wise above, so for instance there is no butter or margarine on my English muffin. The only beverage I drink is water (1 cup of milk only goes down with the cereal). For those of you who don’t think I eat enough as is (which is pretty much everyone who reads this blog), I eat multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day. The number usually depends on how much exercise I’ve done.

I would like to point out that I think I eat like a king with this plan. The fat content is hidden from the untrained eye (or mouth I suppose) but don’t worry, the olive oil and peanut butter have loads of (good) fat.

So if I eat so well, why do I need a resolution to eat better? Good question. My problem is I like eating out (at a short list of specific places). I’ve noticed that when I eat out just for the sake of eating out and eating ‘eat-out’ food I always regret it and it never tastes as good. But when I go out just because someone wants to go out it is always great. So the moral of the story is I’m allowed to eat out (I’m allowed to anything I want) but I shouldn’t deviate from my diet just for the sake of eating something different.

As with the walking, I’m going to try and keep a food page updated so everyone who is so inclined can keep tabs on my eating habits. (I will update the walking page as well, there have just been some external issues interfering with that).

Now just so we’re all clear, here are some things that are NOT my New Year’s eve, eve, eve, eve resolutions:

• Blogging every week (who are we kidding)
• Shaving every -insert time frame here- (see blogging every week)
• Losing -insert pounds here- (I’m still losing weight but it is not a priority)

And to update everyone on my January 20th resolution from 2007 (which was to lose 50lbs) I have lost 75.5lbs since.

Do you have a resolution? Post it in the comments!

Kaeng Ped

The first stop on the Tour de Amit is Thailand, the place of origin of my favorite food, Red Curry. For most of my life I never had a favorite food. If pressed on the issue my default reply was always my mom’s Indian style Chicken curry, but nothing was ever worthy of the word ‘favorite.’

That all changed when I tried Steve Lafleur’s Red Curry. It was amazing to say the least. Chicken, bell peppers, and coconut milk, what more could you ask for? Well most of you know that after years of eating my mom’s food, I’m not really affected by hot spices (unless I’m sick) so when I went out for Thai food with Luke, Steve and Heather, I ordered the Red Curry and at Luke’s behest tried some chili paste… it was heaven on Earth! I have now been known to go a whole week at a time with only Red Curry for lunch, and I’m in the process of lenghtening that record. But I’m taking time now to bestow the awesomeness of Kaeng Ped on all of you, with a recipe.

When I cook I don’t usually follow original recipes, and Red Curry is not an exception. So just to be safe I’ll give both my recipe and the one Steve originally gave me. Mine first:

Ingredients:

• 3 (13.5oz) cans coconut milk (see note 1 below)
• 3 tbsp red curry paste
• 2 (8oz) cans bamboo shoots
• 1 lb chicken
• 1 lb shrimp (see note 2 below)
• 1 heaping tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 3 bell peppers (see note 3 below)

Note 1: Since I’m still trying to lose weight I usually use two cans of light coconut milk and one regular. If you use want to save a little bit on the calories and fat as well then start with this substitution because trust me, you won’t want to go back if you use 3 cans of regular milk.

Note 2: I use precooked shrimp, to each his own.

Note 3: My personal preference for bell peppers is Red, Orange, Yellow, Green. Use whatever combination you want!

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350F (325 if using convection)
• Rinse chicken and place in your favorite oven dish, when the oven is preheated cook chicken for 30-35 minutes (25-30 for convection), cut into 1/4 x 1/2 inch pieces
• Rinse and peel shrimp
• Chop bell peppers and slice into 1/4-1/2 inch squares
• Drain bamboo shoots

• Pour 1 can of coconut milk into a large pot, add red curry paste and mash well, bring to a boil
• Add remaining two cans of coconut milk and return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add bamboo shoots, cook for 3-5 minutes, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add chicken, cook for 3-5 minutes, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add shrimp, cook for 3-5 minutes, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add sugar and basil, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add bell peppers, return to boil
• If serving immediately lower heat to medium and cook while preparing rice, otherwise remove from heat and leave covered for 15 minutes to an hour.
• Serve with long-grain rice (see note 4 below) and chili paste

Note 4: Long grain rice is freaking fantastic. I’m not sure if it is something in my head or what, but it seems like it soaks up the flavor of the curry. I’ve tested this with my mom’s Indian curry as well.

Well there it is. Obviously you can add or remove any type of protein you want. I’ve always wanted to throw in some steak but have never bothered trying. I’m not entirely sure what the sugar is for but I’ve made it a habit to never remove sugar from a recipe that is not for a baked good (if you like tomato sauce for things like spaghetti and lasagna but hate the tartness of tomatos add a tablespoon or two of some brown or white sugar).

Now the real treat: you can see how I’ve altered the original recipe. In the grand scheme of things I’ve barely touched this one.

Ingredients:

• 2 (13.5oz) cans coconut milk
• 1 or 2 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 lb chicken, cut into 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 to 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 (8oz) cans bamboo shoots
• 1/2 cup fresh sweet basil
• 3 fresh chili peppers, cut into strips (Thai chilies are small and VERY HOT, remove peppers before eating!)
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper cut into strips

Instructions:

• Pour half can of coconut milk into a medium saucepan or wok, add curry paste; mash together well
• Using high heat, bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and continue cooking until coconut milk becomes oily
• Add rest of coconut milk and continue to cook 20 to 30 minutes
• Turn heat to high; add bamboo shoots and cook for 10 minutes
• Add chicken; stir until all meat pieces are separate, continue cooking 10 to 15 minutes
• Stir in fish sauce and sugar, add basil and chili peppers
• Turn off heat, let cool 10 minutes then add bell peppers
• Serve with long-grain rice

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this recipe. I personally just cannot stand in front of the stove for that long after a day of walking. Also the thing about Thai chilis being that hot is complete and utter nonsense.

I removed fish sauce from my recipe because it does nothing to the flavor in my opinion. Other than that there is just a lot of difference in how I prefer my chicken and bell peppers cut.

If you try either version out let me know how it goes. Most everything mentioned above can be found at Walmart. They don’t have red curry paste but if you don’t want the spicyness anyway they have a great golden curry paste that is an excellent substitution. The only thing you should consider buying at an oriental grocery store is the fresh basil (now you know why I use dried basil). Walmart also stopped stocking the chili paste I use, Sambal Oelek but it isn’t for the faint of heart anyway!

One last thing I should point out is people have told me this is a little bland in terms of salt. I’m not big on salt anyway and unlike those people who pointed that out, I use chili paste. So if that is something that will bother you then adjust for it however you salt lovers do. I’ve heard the salt complaint with and without the fish sauce so that omission is not the cause.

Happy cooking!