How I keep my Pilates body other than through exercise!

 World’s Best Braised Cabbage by Molly Stevens 

Braised cabbage ugh, what can be exciting about that?! Hopefully I haven’t led you wrong yet. So please read on….The long, low heat cooking brings out the sweetness of the cabbage, carrots and onions while making it deliciously soft. Once you read through the recipe, you’ll see that there’s not much to it at all. In fact, after you make the dish once, you won’t need a recipe—it’s that simple. The cabbage here is plain old green cabbage, and the seasonings are coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. This can be served as either a side dish or as a vegetarian supper with beans. Like all my recipes be creative and make it your own!

Serves 6 Braising Time: about 2 1/4 hours
Ingredients

1 medium head green cabbage (about 2 pounds)
1 large yellow onion (about 8 ounces), thickly sliced
1 large carrot, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1/4 cup chicken stock, homemade or store-bought, or water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Fleur de sel or coarse sea salt

Procedure

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly oil a large gratin dish or baking dish (9-by-13-inch works well).

2. Trimming the cabbage: Peel off and discard any bruised or ragged outer leaves from the cabbage. The cabbage should weigh close to 2 pounds (if you don’t have a kitchen scale, consult the grocery store receipt). If the cabbage weighs more than 2 pounds, it won’t fit in the baking dish and won’t braise as beautifully. To remedy this, cut away a wedge of the cabbage to trim it down to size. Save the leftover wedge for salad or coleslaw. Then cut the cabbage into 8 wedges. Arrange the wedges in the baking dish; they may overlap some, but do your best to make a single layer.

3. The braise: Scatter in the onion and carrot. Drizzle over the oil and stock or water. Season with salt, pepper, and the pepper flakes. Cover tightly with foil, and slide into the middle of the oven to braise until the vegetables are completely tender, about 2 hours. Turn the cabbage wedges with tongs after an hour. Don’t worry if the wedges want to fall apart as you turn them; just do your best to keep them intact. If the dish is drying out at all, add a few tablespoon of water.

4. The finish: Once the cabbage is completely tender, remove the foil, increase the oven heat to 400, and roast until the vegetables begin to brown, another 15 minutes or so. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with fleur de sel or other coarse salt.
 This is the perfect dish to make ahead.

Like many braises, this cabbage tastes even better the next day, either at room temperature or warmed in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Susan Sommers is a Pilates instructor in NYC specializing in those 50+

How I keep my Pilates Body other than through exercise!

Today it’s the chickpea. 

Very good. Very easy. Very inexpensive. Let’s not forget Very healthy. This is a great dish to make as it has everything you need and has nothing you don’t. It’s a keeper in our house make it a keeper in yours. As with all my recipes be creative and make it your own!
Moroccan Chickpea Soup by Dave Lieberman

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, medium diced
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika
1 (14.5-ounce) can chopped tomatoes (I use whole tomatoes and let them break up as they cook)
3 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well (I use 2 cans)
1 quart vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar (I don’t use)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (5-ounce) package pre-washed baby spinach (I’ve used all different kinds of greens) Use what you have!

Procedure

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until the onions begin to turn translucent; lower heat if browning starts to occur. Add spices and saute a minute or so. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, broth, and sugar. Season with a couple pinches of salt and 10 grinds fresh pepper. Stir well. Chickpeas should be just covered with liquid. If level is shy, add some water so the chickpeas are just covered.

Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to low and gently simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove soup from heat. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the chickpeas right in the pot. Stir in the spinach and let heat through until wilted, just a couple minutes.

Season again, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Serve soup, drizzled lightly with extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.

* This is a great soup to do ahead & have on the ready. I add the greens when I reheat the soup. However, it does taste great the next day, wilted greens and all. I also like to grate Parmesan cheese on my bowl of soup, perhaps you will too.

Enjoy!

Susan Sommers is a Pilates instructor specializing in those 50+ in NYC

 How I keep my Pilates Body other than through exercise!

Todays recipe was sent to me by my healthy foodie sister in Paris. Thank you Deborah!  It’s a rainy day in NYC, perfect for a warming bowl of soup. What do you say we all give this one a try?! Remember what I always say let’s be creative and make this recipe our own!

Savoy Cabbage and White Bean Soup
Lucas Hollweg
 
This is one of those thick, meal-in-a-bowl-type soups that winter is made for.
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
A decent handful of unsmoked streaky bacon
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
3 plump cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 can cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken stock
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
 savoy cabbage leaves, roughly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil, for sprinkling
Parmesan cheese or grana padano

Procedure
Heat the oil and fry the bacon until just golden. Then add the onion, celery and garlic and sweat until soft. Add one sprig of rosemary and the bay leaf, then the drained beans and chicken stock. Stir well, then bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
Take out the bay leaf, rosemary sprig season the soup and lightly mash with a potato masher or fork, so that about half the beans are reduced to mush and half remain whole.
Add the cabbage, stir well, then return to the boil and cook for a further 6-7 minutes until the leaves are soft. Strip the leaves from the remaining sprig of rosemary. Chop as finely as you can and stir into the soup.
Check the seasoning, then ladle into bowls, adding a splash of olive oil and a generous grating of cheese before serving.

Enjoy!
 
Btw if you find that you are ‘Food Confused’ Lucas Hollweg can help! Hope you enjoy his style of writing as much as I did!  HELP AND LAUGH

Susan Sommers is a Pilates instructor specializing in Baby Boomers in NYC

How I keep my Pilates Body other than through exercise!

Yes, NYC has a Green Market! In fact they have quite a few. The nearest one to me is the 77th Street Greenmarket which is located on Columbus Avenue, between 77th & 80th Streets.
Open Sunday, Year-Round. Yay!

“Greenmarket was founded in 1976 with a two-fold mission: to promote regional agriculture by providing small family farms the opportunity to sell their locally grown, caught, foraged and baked products directly to consumers, and to ensure that ALL New Yorkers have access to the freshest, most nutritious locally grown food the region has to offer.” grownyc.org

This week along with all my other goodies I brought home light purple eggplants and zucchini. I have the perfect dish to share with you today. Over the summer I made this dish several times as it was perfect for company and it quickly became a favorite. As with most of my recipes it’s easy to be creative. So don’t forget to make it your own!

Layered Eggpland and Tomato Casserole by Marcia Kiesel

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing and brushing
3 medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds), sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
2 long, narrow eggplants (1 1/2 pounds), peeled and sliced lengthwise 1/3 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large shallot, minced
1 pound plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped basil 
1/3 cup panko or coarse dry bread crumbs

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 425°. Oil 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Put the zucchini slices on one sheet and the eggplant on the other. Brush the slices all over with oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the slices on each sheet in a slightly overlapping layer. Bake for 15 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the shallot and cook over moderate heat until softened, 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over high heat until slightly softened and bubbling, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Oil a large, shallow baking dish (about 10 by 15 inches). Lay half of the eggplant in the dish and spread one-fourth of the tomatoes on top. Scatter with half of the feta and basil. Layer half of the zucchini on top, followed by another one-fourth of the tomato and the remaining basil, eggplant and zucchini. Top with the remaining tomato and feta. Mix the panko with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 20 minutes, until bubbling and crisp. Let stand for 5 minutes, then serve hot or warm.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Eggplant is:
Low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol
High in Dietary Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper

Zucchini is
Low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Thiamin, Niacin, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium and Manganesem

Tomato
Contains compounds that have been proven to help prevent cancer, heart disease cataracts and so much more. There are so many health benefits to eating tomatoes that I’ve included a link for you. Benefits of tomatoes.

Susan Sommers is a Pilates instructor specializing in those 50+ in NYC

How I keep my Pilates Body other than through exercise!

This one pot meal is a favorite in my house. Make it a favorite in yours. It’s easy & quick to prepare. My idea of ‘Fast Food’

White Bean Stew
by Joanne Smart
        
Who said Italian night has to include pasta? This quick-cooking stew has onions, garlic, and spicy Italian sausage—classic flavors you expect in an Italian meal—and it’s warming and comforting, too.
Serves three to four

Ingredients

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3/4 lb. hot Italian sausage, casings removed
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 small head escarole, chopped into 1- to 2-inch pieces, washed, and lightly dried
1 cup low-salt canned chicken broth
1-1/2 tsp. red-wine vinegar; more to taste
Kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Procedure

Heat the oil in a heavy 5- to 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the sausage, raise the heat to medium high, and cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon or spatula until lightly browned and broken into small (1-inch) pieces, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the beans. Add the escarole to the pot in batches; using tongs, toss with the sausage mixture to wilt the escarole and make room for more.

When all the escarole is in, add the chicken broth, cover the pot, and cook until the beans are heated through and the escarole is tender, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with the vinegar and salt. Transfer to bowls and sprinkle each portion with some of the Parmigiano.

Enjoy!

**Creative Notes** If you don’t like spicy sausage use sweet. If you don’t eat pork substitute chicken or turkey sausage. Lot’s of terrific sausage on the market many of which are organic. As for the vinegar, I put it on the table to add as you like. Don’t forget you can make this recipe your own!

Nutrition Facts

Cannellini Beans are an excellent source of iron, magnesium, and folate, a single serving of cannellini beans provides more than 20 percent of the recommended daily values of these nutrients. They are also a good source of protein, providing more than 15 grams per serving. Other nutritional benefits include their low fat content and calorie count. Each serving contains only 225 calories and less than one gram of fat.

Escarole is fat-free, low in sodium, cholesterol-free, low in calories and high in folate.
It contains only 20 calories and has 65% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A.

Do you have a favorite white bean or escarole recipe? Please share!

Susan Sommers is a Personal Pilates Instructor specializing in those 50+ on the Upper West Side, NYC

How I keep my Pilates Body other than through exercise

I am passionate about cooking! Healthy cooking, of course.  I especially love to cook this time of year, peasant style one pot meals. Stews and Soups. So easy to take a recipe and make it your own. Easy to freeze and have a meal in the ready.

What a perfect time to share some recipes with you!
Just yesterday I made a big pot of Stewed Lentils & Tomatoes
You can eat this as a side dish or it’s a meal in itself.

Loaded with fiber, iron, protein, and other vitamins and minerals, lentils are a nutritional fountain of youth. Researchers who studied the elderly found that eating these earthy-tasting seeds (and other legumes) is the single most important dietary factor in longevity.
When it comes to fiber, a mere half cup of lentils provides around a third of your daily requirements. While lentils share many health benefits with their legume cousins, they gain a distinct edge when it comes to preparation: Lentils need no presoaking, and they cook in less than an hour.
So let’s bring on the lentils…

Ingredients
2t olive oil
2 lg sweet onions diced
3-4 carrots chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 (28 oz can whole plum tomatoes)
1 cup French green lentils
2 cups water or stock
2t curry powder (mild or hot)
1t cumin
2t kosher salt
Black pepper freshly ground

Procedure
Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add the onions and carrots and cook over medium low heat for about 8-10 minutes or until softened. Stir occasionally. Add garlic stir for 1 minute
Add curry powder, cumin stir until fragrant at least 1 minute.
Add the rest of the ingredients. (Tomatoes can be pureed first or like I do broken up with a fork while in the pot) I like my tomatoes chunky in this dish..
Raise the heat. Bring to a boil, Lower heat cover pan and simmer until lentils are consistency you like. Approx 45-60 min.

**Be creative** If you don’t like the taste of Curry not to worry perhaps you like a more Mexican feel than use Chili Powders or perhaps you’re in the mood for Italian, how about some Rosemary? Feeling very Greek, lets use some Oregano. The flavoring is up to you! Do you like fennel? I do. Chop some up and add it.
Make it your own. Most of all….Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite lentil recipe? Please share.

Susan Sommers is a Pilates instructor specializing in those 50+ in NYC, NY