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Low Fat 15 Minute Stew or Pasta
By
Dr. Donald A. Miller
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As I have written in my diet
book and several articles, one way to reduce consumption
of saturated fats, and gain other benefits of plant foods,
is to replace part of four legged meats with such soy
foods as tempeh and tofu. These, like ground beef, can be
measured into small portions, wrapped in plastic film, and
frozen. For use, let thaw over night in the refrigerator,
or let stand one to two hours at room temperature, not
long enough for spoilage. Be cautious if using a
microwaver for thawing, so as to not incinerate.
I usually try my food experiments on myself before
inflicting them on anyone else. When cooking for one
person, I have found that lean ground beef in 1/4 cup
portions works well for me. For tempeh, I usually cut an 8
ounce package in thirds, or a 12 ounce package into
fourths, wrap and freeze. With 12 ounce packages of extra
firm tofu, one can slice the block lengthwise into
fourths, place the layers in a plastic freezer container
with wax paper separators. This way, a bread knife can be
used to separate out one or more layers without thawing
the whole block. The freezer container is because freezing
separates water from the tofu, which becomes very obvious
on thawing, such as when using the entire container's
worth.
It is certainly possible to dice tempeh and tofu before
freezing, but best if wrapped in pre-measured amounts.
I now describe a recent experiment making lean stew with
roughly equal parts of lean ground beef and tofu. To make
a pasta dish, omit the potato and carrot, and use angel
hair pasta, about 0.7 inch or 1.8 cm circle's worth, which
requires only 3 to 5 minutes boiling.
I sliced a small potato lengthwise in half, then each half
in thirds, then crosswise thinly. I also diced a handful
of baby carrots. All this was put into a covered glass
dish, and microwaved a minute at a time on high. The
results were fork tender, not mushy, at a total of 7
minutes in my oven. The chef can do these vegetables
slightly ahead of time, or while doing the following.
My "non stick" skillet needs a bit of help,
which I provided with a thin coating of cooking spray. At
moderate heat, I broke up and browned the meat, then
stirred in the tofu, fork mashed. I had a refrigerated jar
of diced garlic, otherwise would have used dried, about
two teaspoons. For flavor, I added about a tablespoon of
mixed green herbs (this time, "Italian Seasoning),
and a sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper. I NEVER USE
GARLIC SALT.
Next I mixed in the carrots and potatoes, and turned off
the heat.
I was fortunate to have some vine ripened tomato, which I
had sliced into layers, then diced. I probably used about
a fourth to third cup. I stirred in the tomato and two
tablespoons of a reduced salt Japanese soy sauce. Note
that I only warmed the tomato. Less soy sauce also works.
If using pasta instead of potato and carrot, I am more
generous with tomato, using all of a fist sized fruit.
I hesitate to use canned tomatoes, because of the heavy
handed use of sodium chloride and calcium chloride so
common to prepared foods. I no longer use tomato sauce,
whose making I consider to be extreme cruelty to
vegetables.
That's it.
If you prefer, add a small amount of water, or enough to
turn the stew into a soup.
The only fat came from the lean ground beef, and the
residual soy oil in the tofu. This amount of fat, and the
food bulk, sufficed to satisfy my hunger until the next
day.
Soy oil is the relatively safe non saturated fat.
To completely omit meat, but still have food to chew on,
use tempeh instead of tofu, roughly 2 to 6 ounces, to
taste. The tempeh should be diced small.
I consider cooking to be an experimental art form. That
means I am willing to get ideas from cook books and dining
examples, but I am not bashful about changing proportions,
playing with herbs and spices, or combining ideas from
different sources. All good recipes were results of
similar experimentation. Traditional recipes can have more
fat and salt than healthful in mechanized societies, but
usually are easy to update.
** Diet with FACTS, not MYTHS. **
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