How to Revamp Everyday Recipes Using Organic Produce

These days, more and more options for organic produce are being made available to consumers, most notably at weekend farmers’ markets and vegetable delivery services. With all the fresh produce options out there, moms are also on the lookout for healthy ways to prepare their succulent finds.

The main thing about cooking using organic produce is to use the traditional family recipes you’ve been using and loving and tweaking them so that they use healthier cooking practices. The whole idea about using recipes that call for organic food is to make them support a healthier lifestyle for you and your family.

Here are a handful of recipes which use organic produce, all of which are healthy and hearty at the same time!

 

A. Breakfast Revamps
Veggies aren’t just for lunch and dinner—they can be great day-starters, too! With breakfast being the most important meal of the day, including veggies in your first meal will help you kick start your day to healthy one.

 

Recipe #1: Sneaky Veggie Omelet

Did you know that you can omit your overall fat intake, increase your daily protein, potassium, calcium, folate and fiber intake with a hearty veggie omelet? Omit the meat (ham, cold cuts) which you usually use for your omelet and substitute it with healthy proteins such as fresh brown or white button mushrooms and some low-fat cheese. What’s more, any type of vegetable will automatically increase the nutritional level of your omelet while keeping calories down. Try this recipe (author's own), which is also ideal for toddlers!

 

Click here to see the recipe for the sneaky veggie omelet.

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Sneaky Veggie Omelet for Toddlers
Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
2 free range eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. full fat milk
1 tsp. grated cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. green onion, finely chopped
1 small tomato, finely diced
2 tbsp. zucchini, finely diced
2 tbsp. bell pepper, finely diced
2 fresh button mushrooms, finely diced
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
Dried basil

 

Preparation:
The ingredients should be finely chopped so toddlers can easily chew the food.

1. Heat up the olive oil.
2. Lightly saute green onions and garlic until aromatic but not browned.
3. Add the tomatoes, zucchini and bell peppers and saute for about two minutes, until tender
4. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute for another minute
5. Add the eggs and let them heat through.
6. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the mixture. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
7. Turn over the omelet to cook the other side.
8. Plate the omelet.

 

Click here to see the recipe for lunch and dinner revamps.

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B. Lunch and Dinner Revamps

 

Recipe #1: Minestrone (Mixed Vegetable and Bean Soup)

Forget overly-creamy and fattening soups which are devoid of much nutritional and fiber content. Opt for a hearty minestrone soup, which is packed with all the food groups—lean proteins (from the beans), complex carbs (from the wholewheat pasta, if you want to include it), and vitamins and minerals (from the organic produce). Use organic vegetables like celery, native onions, zucchini, potatoes, and fresh basil and parsley in this recipe, all readily available at weekend farmers’ markets. Try this recipe from Flannery’s, an Australian provedore which promotes organic eating.

Ingredients:
250gm dried cannellini beans soaked overnight
2 litres vegetable or chicken stock
100ml olive oil
6 cloves garlic
200gm onion diced
200gm celery cut into small pieces
200gm carrot cut into small pieces
200gm zucchinicut into small pieces
200gm cabbage shredded
300gm potato cut into small pieces
300gm tomatoes
50-100gm tomato paste
Riso pasta or broken spaghetti
Basil, parsley and/or Pesto

Preparation:
1. In a large hot pot, saute onion then garlic in olive oil.
2. Add the carrot, celery, zucchini and cabbage.
3. Add the potato. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
4. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and cannellini beans.
5. Now add stock - simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Add pasta, herbs and seasoning.
7. Finish with pesto and serve with good crusty bread.

 

Click here to read about roast chicken and mixed greens salad.

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Recipe #2: Free-range Roast Chicken and Mixed Greens Salad

Forget fried chicken—your family will love this one! Did you know you can make a whole meal, just from organic and free-range ingredients at your local farmers’ market? Gwyneth Paltrow, Hollywood’s resident domestic goddess-slash-mommy maven-slash fashion icon (and Oscar winning actress, too), knows how to make a tasty and quick lunch or dinner meal using fresh poultry, herbs and vegetables which is low in fat and calories. These ingredients are easy to come by at our local markets, even from organic produce and poultry delivery services such as Shusaesh Farms, who deliver organic veggies and chicken to your doorstep every week.

Check out Gwyneth’s own version of “fast food”, Quick Roast Chicken & Potatoes:

 

Click here to see the recipe for roast chicken and mixed greens salad.

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Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, deboned
Juice from 1 fresh lemon
Sage
Thyme
Rosemary
Potatoes

Preparation:
1. Wash the chicken thoroughly and dry using paper towels.
2. Place the chicken on a baking dish.
3. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken.
4. Stuff it with a few cloves of garlic, sage, rosemary and thyme.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Put a dash of olive oil.
6. Peel a handful of potatoes and boil them until cooked slightly. Add them into the baking dish with the chicken.
7. Bake at 450 degrees.

Salad:
Ingredients:
Lettuce
Watercress
Arugula
Spring onions, cut diagonally
Radish
Baby carrots, boiled

Dressing:
Shallots, finely cut
A teaspoon of mustard
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
A dash of olive oil

Combine the ingredients and toss. Serve with the baked chicken and potatoes.

 

Click here to see the recipe for chickpea fritters with wild rice and haloumi salad.

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 Recipe #3: Chickpea Fritters with Wild Rice and Haloumi Salad

This recipe from noted MTV veejay-turned-eco advocate Nadya Hutagalung is strictly vegetarian but very flavorful. It incorporates haloumi, a Greek cheese very similar to our native kesong puti. This dish makes use of chickpea fritters, which are high in fiber and protein, and are not overly powerful in their legume-like flavor. Kids will love eating the chickpea fritters as a snack, a great substitute for fried chicken! The other ingredients for this dish, such as the green curry paste and coconut powder, can easily be found in international sections of top supermarkets. You can also buy organic beets and brown rice from weekend farmers’ markets, along with kesong puti, which you can substitute for the haloumi.

 

Wild Rice and Haloumi Salad

Ingredients:
250G Beetroot
185G Brown Rice
60G Wild rice
3 tbls Olive Oil
Rind and juice of one small orange
1 tbls red wine vinegar
4 spring onions finely chopped
2 tbls fresh parsley chopped
2 tbls fresh mint chopped
200G Haloumi grilled and cut into small cubes
Fresh mint leaves to garnish

Directions:
1. In a pot of salted water cook the beetroot till tender and set aside to cool then peel and chop into small cubes.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil.
3. Rinse rice under cold water until clean.
4. Cook for 20 minutes or until tender then drain well.
5. Add some oil to a pan and cook the onions and the cooled beetroot for approximately 8 minutes stirring regularly.
6. Add the orange juice and the rind with the red wine vinegar, stir, then remove from heat.
7. Put the cooked rice, spring onion, parsley and half the mint with the orange beetroot and onion mix.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Just before serving add the grilled haloumi and top with mint leaves.

 

Click here to see the rest of the recipe.

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Chikpea Fritters With Yoghurt Dressing

Fritters
2x300g drained cans of chickpeas
1 veggie stock cube crumbled
1/4 cup green curry paste
1 onion grated
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup coconut powder
1 egg
1/2 cup frozen peas

Dressing
1 cup natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons milk
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 tomato diced
1 tablespoon chopped mint

Instructions:
Fritters:
1. Process Chickpeas until finely chopped
2. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
3. Shape into roughly 10 patties and shallow fry.

Dressing:
Mix all ingredients and drizzle over patties.

 

Click here to read about kid-friendly vegetable purees.

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C. Kid-Friendly Revamps

Sneak veggies into your meals with vegetable purees

Another great thing you can make using organic produce is vegetable puree. Puree everything from broccoli, spinach and pechay to carrots, kalabasa (squash) and zucchini and add these purees into your kids’ usual foods! You will thereby increase their meal’s nutritional intake and get them to eat their daily dose of veggies. Getting your kids to eat their veggies has never been easier!

Author and culinary expert Jessica Seinfeld (the wife of comedy king Jerry Seinfeld) is the brain behind these veggie purees, which she makes use of in her best-selling cookbooks Deceptively Delicious and Double Delicious. In her recipe books, Jessica shows moms how to incorporate vegetables into familiar family recipes. Sneak cauliflower puree into macaroni and cheese, or organic peas and thyme into chicken and rice—the options are endless.

One of my classic favorites is Jessica’s Meatball Soup, which makes use of crushed tomatoes, pureed sweet potato (kamote) and pureed carrots in a rich soup along with chunky turkey meatballs—super yummy, the kids will never know there are beta carotene-rich veggies in it! More recipes could be found at Jessica’s blog.


Some parting reminders
Cooking organically is really just using your most well-loved recipes and making small, healthy switches. Remember, replacing your regular fare with organic foods is fine; however, you need to make sure that you follow a sensible dietary plan that doesn’t leave you piling on unnecessary sugars, calories and fat. Now that you’ve gone organic and want to use recipes that make use of organic produce and proteins, you also need to make your cooking style a healthier one as well.



Photos: vegetable omelet, minestrone, roast chicken, chickpea fritters, puree