Considering Core Foods

Everyone deserves to feed their bodies with the core foods that will energize, stabilize and prevent disease. But we’re embedded in the fast-food and food-fast culture and can’t seem to see our way out of the snack aisle. Change, especially when it comes to our personal behavior, is never easy; but it’s an inevitable evolution that will happen with or without us. So we have to decide our food fate. Are we going to continue consuming processed foods on a fast track to disease, that’s draining us of resources, or are we going to slow down and enjoy a healthy ride through the generous ecosystem that’s leasing itself to us for our short lifetimes?

If we’re ready for change, a focus on core foods is an easy first step. It’s not a diet, ritual, cleanse or any other means to a weight-loss end. It’s a lifestyle that embraces the food you love to eat and eat to love. It recognizes that food evokes emotions and emotions evoke the desire for food. And it’s about balancing our minds’ satisfaction of cravings with our bodies’ need for nutrition.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be adding new content to the Core Cooking blog to help demonstrate what it means to consume core foods. Through written reviews of restaurants, books, movies and a list of my favorite core components, called Sara’s Staples, I’ll help demystify concepts that we hear about often, but that appear to be complicated. Please feel free to use the comment section to provide suggestions on topics you’d like covered.

Mediterranean Quesadilla with Walnut Arugula Pesto

About two weeks ago my writing coach sent me a link to a Whole Foods cooking contest. It's never occurred to me to enter a recipe into a contest, especially one hosted by a company with a cult-like culinary following. But this one was easy; the only requirements were that all entries be original recipes and that they incorporate Parmigiano Reggiano. 

So I embraced it as my next creative challenge and developed the following meal that my husband and I delighted in for dinner that same night. I don’t expect to win (especially with almost 1,000 entries) but it’s an example of how to throw together a few flavors you love to combine something new. Quesadillas are one of my favorite week-night meals; next time you’re pressed for time, throw a few ingredients in a tortilla and see what you come up with.

4 7-inch whole wheat tortillas
2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
1 C chopped artichoke hearts
2 T chopped kalamata olives
½ C freshly grated provolone
3 small or 2 large cloves garlic
¾ C walnuts
2/3 C plus 3 T freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
4 C packed arugula
1 ½ T plus 2 T olive oil
½ t fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper

In a small food processor, pulse the garlic, walnuts and 2/3 C parmigiano reggiano until combined. Add the arugula and pulse on low while slowly adding 1 ½ T olive oil; stop once a creamy mixture forms.

Heat a skillet over medium low heat. Spread the pesto evenly over two tortillas. Layer each with tomatoes, bell pepper, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and provolone cheese. Top each with another tortilla. Add a small amount of olive oil to skillet (whole wheat tortillas won’t get as crisp without oil) and cook the quesadillas for three to five minutes on each side, or until melted and warm inside and crisp outside.

While the quesadillas are cooking, whisk together 2 T olive oil, lemon juice, ½ t salt and ¼ t pepper. Toss with the remaining 3 C of arugula and sprinkle with remaining parmigiano reggiano.

Cut the cooked quesadillas into fourths and serve with salad.

Italian Trio Soup

This year Superbowl Sunday fell on a cold and snowy day for us Denverites. It was the perfect backdrop for a half-day TV extravaganza. It would have been easy to sit for four hours with bowls of sugary, salty snacks. But instead, I used half time to whip up a healthy, hearty soup. The “trio” in this Italian soup refers to a blend of vegetables, beans and pasta. But you could easily substitute chicken sausage for beans or elbow macaroni for tortellini. Try this, or your own combination, and let me know what you think.

Yields: 4 servings

2 T extra virgin olive oil
½ sweet white or yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
5 C organic, low-sodium chicken broth
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 t dried oregano
1 small bay leaf
2 t kosher salt
½ t black pepper
12 oz frozen whole wheat cheese ravioli or tortellini (I like Rosetto brand)
1 15-oz can butter beans, rinsed and drained
Freshly grated parmesan

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven (or other heavy-bottom cookware) over medium low heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent (about 2 to 3 minutes). Add the garlic and carrots and sauté 3 minutes. Add pepper and cook vegetable mixture until carrots and peppers are slightly softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomato paste and seasonings and bring liquid to a low simmer over medium high heat. Add the pasta and simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until the pasta floats to the top (do not allow the soup to boil). Reduce heat to low and gently stir in the beans; let sit for a few minutes before serving. Serve with freshly grated parmesan and crusty bread.

After-Sweat Smoothie

Last spring, after one of the most stressful Fridays of my working career, I needed some time to myself to decompress. I went to an evening yoga class at a local studio where I literally sweat all the stress and negative energy out of my mind and body. Often, after an intense workout, I don’t have much of an appetite for anything but a refreshing beverage. My refrigerator was vacant of any such liquid but I had a few ingredient s that I tossed into the blender and created what turned out to be the best smoothie I’ve ever slurped through a straw. It’s hard to foil a smoothie and often you’ll stumble upon a really tasty combination. Next time you return from an athletic endeavor, skip the junk food and toss some fruit and yogurt in a blender. 

Yields: 2 servings

4 scoops mango sorbet
2 ripe bananas, cut in fourths
1 C fresh blueberries
6 oz (1 container) nonfat honey-flavored Greek yogurt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Garnish each smoothie with a few blueberries and serve with a straw.

Lazy Sunday Sammie

Last fall, on a sleepy Sunday, my husband and I woke up hungry for a hearty breakfast. We rummaged through our kitchen looking for a few ingredients to add to a scramble and stumbled upon three types of cheese and some French herbs that blended beautifully. We topped wheat toast with crisp lettuce, ripe, red tomatoes and the cheesy scramble. It was the perfect way to start a Sunday together. Egg scrambles are so simple; what ingredients in your refrigerator are begging to be blended? 

3 large organic, cage-free eggs
1 T cream
¼ C grated gruyere cheese
¼ C grated havarti cheese
¼ C grated white cheddar cheese
1 t Herbs de Provence
1 t salt
½ t pepper
4 leafs crisp green lettuce
1 small vine-ripened tomato, sliced
4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted

Combine egg yolks and whites gently with a fork. Mix in cream, cheese, salt and pepper and herbs. Scramble eggs in a small amount of butter over medium-low heat. Layer each slice of bread with a piece of lettuce, sliced tomatoes and scrambled eggs. Lightly season with fresh cracked pepper.

Welcome Food Friends!

This blog isn’t just about cooking; it’s about creating and connecting with food and people in a way that feeds our core.

I get it. We’re overworked and we assume we lack the resources – time, money and/or knowledge – to prepare healthy, fresh and delicious meals that do more for us than provide our bodies with calories. And as individuals and parents, we’re challenged to expand our taste buds – and those of our children – beyond food that is frozen, packaged or served in a paper bag. Let’s stop thinking about cooking as a chore; it’s a creative expression that culminates in a highly practical purpose.

Core Cooking is a simple process that can and should involve the people you most want to spend time with. Some nights, that’s just yourself and a bottle of wine; other nights it’s with friends or family or neighbors. Whoever the company and whatever the occasion, Core Cooking is about exploration of and with one another.

This blog isn’t about fancy ingredients or showy meals. Here, you’ll find inspiration to create the flavors you love. By sharing with you some of my simple and delicious recipes, and the short stories behind their creation, you will feel empowered to embrace your kitchen and the soul, or souls, you nourish.