Good recipes for the body and the soul!

Some foods and recipes are good for us physically, and some are good for us mentally. So this week I’ve included one of each.

It’s the first week of summer, so for some of us, the kids are out of school and we need more energy than ever to get through the crazy days!  And if you don’t have kids, summer is a great time to start the day with a light, energy filled breakfast that’s quick to make. 

First, here is a great morning smoothie that has protein, fruit, fiber, and whatever those little “good” bacteria are called that help digestion. Here’s what you do:

-       1. Take about a cup of your favorite fruits – I like them frozen because it makes the smoothie like a shake, but you can use fresh fruit in season as well – cut  into chunks; frozen bananas (you can freeze them right in their little jackets as soon as they turn brown on your counter!), strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and peeled peaches are all nice; don’t use citrus in this

-       2.  Place the fruit in a tall, wide vessel (like a Pyrex measuring cup) OR in a blender and add ½ cup of yogurt or yogurt drink (I like strawberry Kefir from Trader Joe’s)

-       3. Add about a cup and a half of vanilla soy milk (or more if you like a thinner texture)

-       4. Add a couple teaspoons of flax seed meal (again, Bob’s Red Mill from Trader Joe’s is good)

-        5. Use a stick blender (immersion blender) to blend if you have one, or just buzz it all up in the blender; puree until smooth and enjoy

My whole family likes these, and I really do find they give me good energy throughout the day. The vanilla soy milk helps with the sweetness, as does the banana.  I try not to add any additional sugar, but if you must, try agave. Trader Joe’s sells that too! You also get protein and fiber, and the good stuff from flax seed as well. Store the flax seed meal in the freezer to keep it from becoming rancid. These smoothies are great for the body!

Now for the soul… :)

Now that we have the healthy stuff to start our days, we can talk about a tasty treat: onion rings!!  This past Saturday Laura and I took a group on one of our favorite tours: Beer and BBQ!   Our stops included Lazybones Smokehouse (duh), Dragonmead Microbrewery (696 service drive at Groesbeck in a little white cinder block building; if you like beer you must seek them out!), and several other special spots.

One of our favorite items of the day was the onion rings at HOGGER’S BBQ on 12 Mile Rd. in Berkley. It’s a new little joint, owned by a really nice family with a great, enthusiastic staff and good deals all week long. Their website is www.eatathoggers.com . On Wednesdays kids eat free, they have $1 slider days, and their BBQ’d boneless wings are really tasty. The onion rings come with a rich and spicy chipotle ranch dipping sauce which is the perfect complement to the sweet, salty (well seasoned), crispy o-rings. They are seriously some of the best I’ve ever had, and I consider myself an expert on the subject. They are not greasy, due to the fact that Mike, the chef and owner, knows what he’s doing.

So on the bus, one of our tourists asked why the onion rings were so good and crisp, and I tried to shed some light on the subject. If you fry at the right temperature (about 165 degrees) your food won’t get soggy and greasy. Be sure to drain fried foods well on paper towels.  The batter or flour mix you use to must be well seasoned, and the food should be dipped in it JUST before frying. Then eat the stuff right away, as soon as it is cool enough to touch. At Hogger’s they cook everything to order; nothing sits around getting soggy.

If for some reason you can’t eat your home-fried goodies right away, then place them on a cooling rack, in a single layer, above a sheet tray. Be sure air can circulate all around each piece. This will prevent steaming and will help keep things crisp. Then, just before eating, pre-heat your oven to about 425. When it’s hot, place the whole tray (leave the food on the rack) into the oven for about 5 – 7 minutes, or until hot, crisp, and golden brown. They won’t be quite as good as when they first emerge from the oil, but they’ll do.  And then dip them in Trader Joe’s Organic Ketchup. I don’t like ketchup in general, never have.  But this stuff is good. I guess Trader Joe’s is the store of the week J

I love a good, light tempura-like batter for onion rings. So here’s what you do:

First, get a large pot with tall sides and fill with enough canola or vegetable oil to create about 2 inch depth.  The oil needs to reach 165 degrees before you fry, so depending on how fast you work, you can start heating the oil now, or wait until you’re done prepping the onion rings.

You will need tongs, and a sheet tray loaded up with paper towels to drain the hot rings. If you aren’t going to eat them right away, then you’ll need another tray fitted with a cooling rack to hold the rings until re-heating.

-       1. Get 2 large, good, sweet onions, preferably from Michigan, and cut them into the size rings you like; season the onions lightly with salt and pepper (or Taste-full Salt Blend)

-        2. Make the batter by taking 2 cups of self-rising flour and whisking in enough cold soda water or club soda to create a batter that is the texture of half and half (or heavy cream if you like the batter a bit thicker); season with salt and pepper to taste – start with a teaspoon of sea salt and a half teaspoon of black pepper; taste and go from there; I also like to add about 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon zest and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne to my batter to cut the richness a bit

-        3. Get a clean paper grocery bag and add about a cup of self rising flour to it; place the cut up onions in the bag, close it up, and shake it to coat the rings

-        4. Working with a few rings at a time, shake off the excess flour and dip them into the batter

-        5. Cook until golden brown on  the first side, then flip to the second side and cook until they’re just a little bit lighter in color than you want them (they’ll continue to brown  a bit after removed, and if you plan on re-heating them, you want to be careful not to over-brown them in the oil)

-        6. Drain on paper towels and eat or cool following the description above; be sure you taste one – if they need more seasoning you need to add it while the rings are still hot or the salt will just bounce off!

So that’s how you make good, crisp, delicious onion rings at home. Luckily, it’s pretty messy and labor intensive, so you won’t be tempted to make them every day! Plus, you can always get them at Hogger’s. And since you’ve had your morning smoothie, you can have an occasional perfect onion ring!

Comments

[Jody]

what a great recipe! I agree that using frozen fruit will make your smoothie cold without having to add ice and diluting the fruit taste.

I am always looking for smoothie recipes and found this site, http://www.Bestfruitsmoothies.com that has a lot of them.

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