CHEF SAMBRANO Food Articles Video Recipes
Kabocha or Japanese winter squash, or Japanese pumpkin is a very good squash to use, generally green but orange ee on the inside or yellow ee orange ee, it resembles pumpkin, imagine Linus "Hey where's the Great Kabocha Charlie Brown?" Ha ha.
Anyhow you can find Kabocha in most markets these days, from your chain market to your local co-op or health food store, if you haven't tried it yet, you should, and if you can get one that is organic.
Here's a simple soup you can make and all you need to do is have onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, celery, organic vegetable oil, water, some Spike TM, some thyme, bay leaf, Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar, some sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Agave nectar to sweeten and balance flavor if you wish.
AUTUMN KABOCHA SOUP
1 small Kabocha 3-4 pounds, cut in half, drizzled with some vegetable oil or olive oil, and roast it in a 400 deg. f. oven for about 30 minutes or until it softens. Take it out, and remove any seeds, and scoop out the flesh reserve it in a small bowl.
Mince 2 large sweet round onions
Mince 6 cloves fresh garlic
Mince 4 inch of fresh ginger
Dice 6 large tomatoes
Rough chop 6 stalks of celery
In a medium pot stainless steel, add in about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, heat it up over medium high heat, and sauté the onions, garlic, ginger for about 2 minutes careful not to burn it. Cook it or sweat it out, then add in the tomatoes and celery cook them until very soft.
Then add in 2 quarts of filtered water, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1 hour.
Strain out the liquid, return liquid to pot and heat over medium heat, add in the Kabocha flesh and cook for about 20 minutes, using a good quality hand blender, blend the flesh of Kabocha with the broth. Season with Spike, thyme, bay leaf, Bragg vinegar, sea salt sparingly, and fresh ground black pepper. For sweet add some Agave nectar.
Spike seasonings no sodium, safe for diabetes and hypertension.
Agave Nectar, low glycemic, safe for diabetics, but first check with your professional health care provider, doctor, and or dietitian or nutritionist.
Fall meals, autumn is here, low sodium, low fat. But comforting, and delicious, ready for this, Beef and Pumpkin Stir Fry.
1 small pumpkin, quartered, drizzled with olive oil, and roasted in a 400 deg. f. oven for about 30 minutes or until soft. Seeds removed. Do not mash the flesh, if it's still firm, scoop them out with a melon scooper, and set aside, scoop as much as you can, you won't use all of it.
5 oz. of flank steak sliced thin across the grain
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Marinate the beef pieces in the olive oil, onion powder and salt for 10 minutes.
1 tbsp. veg. oil
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 tsp. minced ginger
1/2 cup sliced round onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
SAUCE
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. wheat free tamari
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1. Heat up a wok over medium high heat, add oil, garlic, ginger, and stir fry until fragrant.
2. Stir in the beef, and cook until just turns color, add in the onion and mushrooms, cook for a minute, add in the sauce and toss, right before it finishes, add in a few scoops of pumpkin, if it mashes a little that's okay. Season with Spike or Mrs. Dash
3. Serve with brown rice
Vegan Tacos, here's a spicy low sodium Eggplant Tacos recipe, simple to make, not too time consuming, here I'll use some ready made corn taco shells to save time.
1 pack ready made taco shells
2 large eggplants, skinned and cubed about 3/4 of an inch
Vegetable oil for frying
First, get large skillet, add enough oil to cook the eggplants, remember that eggplants to soak up oil so allow for this, don't be afraid to add a little more oil if you need it, that's the way they cook. So cook them, and season them with black pepper only at this point. Remove from heat, and turn of stove.
Now we'll make the sauce.
2 tbsp. veg. oil
1 shallot minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf cracked
10oz. can of low sodium tomato sauce, pick a good brand or an organic one if that concerns you.
4 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. coriander
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Mrs. Dash to taste
Return skillet to medium high heat, add oil, when hot, add in shallot and garlic, stir until fragrant, add in bay leaf, and then the tomato sauce, chili powder, coriander, lime juice, sea salt, and Mrs. Dash to taste.
Once you have tasted and adjusted your seasonings, the recipe is a mere guide, add in the cooked eggplants, and warm it up well.
Heat up your taco shells and fill them with the eggplants, because it's a vegetable, I don't garnish it with any veggies, or cheeses.
Serve them up with refried beans, or some Spanish rice.
Healthy meals for the Fall season, in this post I'll focus on my condition, high blood pressure. So we'll keep it all on the low fat, low sodium wave, keeping our weight down, and our pressure close to the normal, you know at least the 120/70 range or something like that.
I'm gonna make a simple beef stew, and here are the ingredients.
2 lbs. of Chuck cubed
2 tbsp. veg. oil
1 cup all purpose flour
1 large carrot sliced 2 inches
2 medium russet potatoes cubed
1/2 cup celery tops chopped
2 cups of beef broth low sodium
1 cup of light beer
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. white pepper
1/3 tsp. sea salt
Preheat a large enough saucepan (stainless steel) over medium high heat.
In a bowl, dredge the cubed beef with all purpose flour.
Add oil into pan, heat up a minute, and then brown the cubed beef until brown and the juices start to come out.
Add in the 2 cups of broth and the beer, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes, then add in the potatoes, carrots, and cover, simmer for 15 minutes, then add in the celery tops, rosemary, white pepper, and sea salt. Cook for about 10 minutes. Off the heat, let it rest uncovered.
Easy to make, serve with brown rice, or an all grain baguette.
Tip: Have about 4 oz. of this stew, with more veggies and fruits, do not add more salt, though using Mrs. Dash, or Spike brand no sodium flavorings is good for your hypertension/high blood pressure.
So you're a sufferer when you intake gluten? And you love to eat pizzas, hmmm, that's a tough gig right there my friends, because for myself it's a hypertension issue and gout and kidneys, so I do understand the need to eat the right foods, however in the real world out there, we do have a difficult time finding a good eatery that cooks the foods that are safe for us. For myself, I'm always asking politely at the counter or to the waitstaff, "Can you please have the chef not use any salt? Thank you." Some establishments are jaded when I ask them politely, like I'm some kind of freak, but I have to ask, if I have a heavy dose of salt, I can feel my pressure rising, my head can feel the pressure honestly.
Gluten free can be found in some health food stores that have their own deli, or at vegan digs, more than likely these establishments understand full circle how important it is to cater to the gluten free brethren. Here is a recipe I tweaked for you to use, to make your very own pizza. Now for the toppings, I'll give you some ideas on what is safe to eat, the gluten free items. We need to watch certain canned sauces have flour in it from wheat to act as a thickener, so even canned and bottled sauces that you might think is safe in actuality may not be, so take good precautions when purchasing canned and bottled foods, look for "Gluten Free" printed on the packaging.
GLUTEN FREE PIZZA CRUST
MAKES 2 12 " PIZZAS
2 cups tapioca flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup millet flour
3.5 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. xantham gum
2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. agave syrup nectar
1 1/4 cup warm filtered water
1 1/4 tsp. raw sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
1/3 cup olive oil
ENGER G Egg Replacer 3 tbsp. with 4 tbsp. water mixed to replace 2 eggs
1/3 tsp. gluten free mirin.
Get 2 12 pizza pans, and grease them with olive oil to prevent sticking, and use some rice flour to dust it, let it sit on the side until ready.
In a separate bowl, place the four different flours in there with the other dry ingredients,.
In a cup add in warm water with yeast and dash of sugar.
Add the yeast water to the dry ingredients, add the oil, egg replacer, agave syrup, and mirin.
Now mix the dough, which will not resemble regular wheat flour dough, it will be a resemblance of batter. Using a rubber spoon, divide dough into the 2 pans, using your hands press firmly onto each pan, it'll be messy, rinse hands occasionally, continue to press into a nice pizza crust.
Let pans rest for up to 20 minutes so the dough has some chance of rising.
Preheat oven to 400 deg. f.
Place pans into oven and bake each one for 10 minutes. Remove and heat up your broiler.
To make a nice topping, brush some olive oil onto each crust with Italian herbs, top it with your favorite veggies, organic tomatoes, onions, eggplants, etc. Vegan mozzarella cheese, stick each pan one at a time under broiler for 5 minutes to melt the cheese, careful not to burn your pizza.
* Note slice your eggplants thin so it cooks through quickly, if you want thick slices, sauté the eggplants first to pre-soften them.
Thanks to Cafe Viva New York for a nice picture of a vegan pizza, topped with vegan cheese and vegan sausage.
High Blood Pressure and Hypertension patients need not suffer from boring diets, remember portions matter. Gone are your days of eating a 12 oz. slab of prime cut, doused with Kikoman Soy Sauce, and 2 huge ass scoops of white starchy rice, and lots of rich butter on a toasted cut of French roll.
STEAK AND EGGS
1 4 oz. cut of sirloin... that's right man sorry, that'll do.
Garlic powder
1 tbsp. of safflower oil
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1/2 cup of chopped sweet round onions
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
2 eggs
3 cups of cooked brown rice (use the leftovers for later) You will use only one scoop of it alright, not the whole cooked 3 cups.
1. Heat up a stainless steel pan over medium high heat add oil, season the sirloin with garlic powder, and cook the steak for about 3 minutes per side.
2. Remove the steak, tent with foil to keep warm, return pan to heat, and begin to sauté the celery, onions, and mushrooms until soft, season with sprinkles of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar.
3. In a nonstick pan, add some safflower oil, and cook the 2 eggs to your liking.
Arrange the plate with the steak, sauteed veggies and cooked eggs, do not use any salt, learn to accept the flavors of all the items without salt. You can add pepper to it.
Here's a simple dip, I'll call this the Organic Japanese Shrimp Dip which is gluten free.
All of these ingredients can be purchased at a health food store, though the dip is vegan and organic, I find a battered shrimp deep fried marries this dip pretty good, considering the shrimp is battered in gluten free batter, such as a rice flour and arrowroot mixture with some Ener G egg replacer. But this is just the dip.
1 cup of Bragg liquid amino
1/2 cup Eden Mirin gluten free
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. raw sugar
1 tsp. minced green onion
1 tsp. organic safflower oil
Mix all of the ingredients and chill.
This dip is a good one for gluten free tempuras which I'll cover later on.
Below is the brands of organic and gluten free products out there that may be alien to you.
Eden Mirin, gluten free.
Shiro Miso, gluten free and great for soups, dressings, salads, and dips.
Bragg Liquid Aminos, instead of soy sauce. No GMO, no additives, add some water to thin it out if you have high blood pressure, use with caution but if you don't have any sodium issues and just a gluten issue this is a good one. Refrigerate after opening that's what I do.
