I adore cheese in more ways than can be counted. There’s something about the creaminess and the “mouth feel” of real full-fat cheese that I find purely addictive. Cheese also has a magical ability to add multiple dimensions of flavor to food from pasta dishes to bakes and risottos.

But isn’t eating full-fat cheese bad for me? Well, no, actually. For thousands of years people throughout the Mediterranean region have been enjoying full-fat dairy foods like cheese and yogurt, yet rates of heart disease are traditionally very low.

The main reason is because dairy foods have never been eaten in great quantities. A common trait in cooking throughout the Mediterranean region is that the flavor of the food should shine through. Instead of drowning food in cheese, for example, it’s used sparingly and often it will be a full-flavored cheese like Parmesan, where a little goes a long way.

Other diary foods like milk, butter and cream have rarely been consumed in Mediterranean populations because these foods easily spoiled in the warm Mediterranean climate in the days before refrigeration (so the milk was turned into cheese and yogurt to help preserve it).

And that’s pretty much how Trudy and I enjoy dairy foods too. We eat full-fat cheese and yogurt regularly, but in small amounts. This way, we get the satisfaction of eating real food, while only consuming small amounts of saturated fat.

Now on to the recipe, and I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that it contains cheese! One of my favorite cheeses actually, feta. I’m a huge fan of Greek food, and part of the reason is because I love feta so much. Its crumbly yet creamy texture makes it such a unique cheese — and it also happens to be lower in saturated fat than most full-fat cheeses.

This feta and white bean dip is velvety smooth, and ridiculously creamy. In fact you’d never know it contains white beans at all because its texture is similar to cream cheese. Yet the white beans add lots of fiber, protein and goodness.

You can use this dip for dipping (of course), or it makes a great spread on top of bruschetta or whole grain crackers. When you combine it with fresh, crisp salad vegetables it also makes a great filling for sandwiches and wraps.

Feta & White Bean Dip

A creamy combination of feta cheese and white beans with herbs and a hint of garlic and lemon.

Makes 1 1/2 cups

• 7 oz (200g) feta cheese (use a creamy feta instead of a crumbly feta for best results)
• 1 cup canned white beans (such as cannellini) - rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water

PLACE all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

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Ric and I have been on a bit of an economy drive lately. Like most countries, New Zealand has been hit hard by rising food and petrol prices. We live in the countryside, which is great for the fresh air and scenery (see the photo of our neighborhood below), but it also means a lot of driving each week. And with the price of petrol at around eight dollars a gallon here, it really tugs at the purse strings!

However, we’ve found that one of the best ways to save money is by inventively reducing our food costs. Over the last couple of months one of our biggest cost cutters has been to eat less fresh fish and seafood and more beans. If that sounds like a sacrifice, believe me, it’s not. Jazzing up beans is easy when you use them in traditional ethnic ways, such as added to a fragrant Indian curry, a robust Italian pasta dish, or a hearty Greek stew — or turned into delicate falafel, or creamy hummus.

Beans also make a great addition to salads. Chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) are a particularly welcome addition to salads because their taste and texture is like a cross between a bean and a nut.

Chickpeas not only add a wonderful flavor and texture to this Moroccan salad, they’re a good source of vegetable protein and a number of important vitamins and minerals including calcium and folate. They’re also a great source of dietary fiber, which helps lower cholesterol levels and regulate blood sugar levels.

You can use canned chickpeas for this recipe, like I’ve done here, or dried chickpeas (which need to be soaked and cooked first). I often choose the canned alternative for the sake of convenience, although I prefer the flavor, texture and price of dried chickpeas that I’ve cooked myself.

Moroccan Chickpea & Couscous Salad

An exotic Moroccan couscous salad with chickpeas, raisins and colorful vegetables coated in a delicately spiced olive oil and lemon dressing.

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main meal

• 1 cup quick-cooking couscous
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 1/4 cups boiling chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 carrot - grated
• 1/2 red pepper - finely diced
• 1/4 red onion - finely diced
• 1 cup canned chickpeas - rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

MIX the couscous with the raisins in a bowl and pour over the boiling stock. COVER with a dish towel, plate or plastic wrap to seal in the steam and let sit for 5 minutes. PLACE the oil, lemon juice, garlic, spices, and salt in a jar with a screw-top lid and shake to mix. FLUFF the couscous with a fork to separate the grains and stir through the carrot, red pepper, onion, chickpeas and parsley. POUR over the dressing and toss together until well combined.

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I have to admit, it’s been a little too warm to cook these days, and I’ve been trying to avoid using the stove—the tiny kitchen in my apartment just gets too hot sometimes. So I thought it might be time for some MediterrAsian Un-Cooking…who doesn’t like a frozen treat to beat the summer heat?

I’m used to the heat, from past years spent in Taiwan—when I was a child, my dad moved our family from the U.S. to Taipei. While my Taiwanese-born parents were excited to show their homeland to me and my brother, there were definitely times when we were less than thrilled by our new surroundings, the local cuisine, and the tropical heat (Hey, we were kids!). So what’s the universal way to cheer up a kid AND deal with the weather, no matter where you are in the world? Hand them an ice cream!

However, ice cream in Taiwan wasn’t quite the same thing as it was back in the States. Well meaning relatives would kindly offer us foods that they thought would make us feel more “at home,” but while these foods took familar Western forms, such as sandwiches or ice cream, they would often turn out to have distinctly Asian flavors, such as red bean. Of course, now you can find red bean or taro ice cream at any Asian restaurant, but to a transplanted American kid used to a scoop of chocolate chip or Rocky Road, it was a shocker to get a bean popsicle. But kids adjust, and I grew to love red bean desserts. Now, I see them as a taste of nostalgia. 

So when one of my cousins mentioned making delicious homemade red bean popsicles recently, I had to chuckle and I had to get the recipe. My cousin’s family loves them and they are a breeze to make…hope you enjoy them too!

(Note: My cousin’s recipe uses canned sweet red beans, which you can easily find at most Asian markets, but you can really add any ingredient or fruit that you prefer to the mix. I decided to use some fresh mango in some of my popsicles, for a bit of tropical flavor…we used to get wonderful mangoes from the open air markets in Taiwan. Also, the original recipe uses coconut cream rather than coconut milk, but coconut milk may be easier to find and works just as well. Just experiment and have fun!)

Coconut-Longan Popsicles

Recipe from my cousin Leng and her family (Lisa and Ananda)…thanks!

(Makes 8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 can longan (dragon eye fruit) or lychee fruit (about 20 oz.)
• 1 can coconut milk (about 14 oz.)
• Sweet adzuki red beans (canned)
• A ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced

Equipment:

• Blender
• Popsicle molds

Directions:

Drain the liquid from the canned longan. Set aside a few pieces of the longan (4 or 5, depending on fruit size and your best judgment) and combine the rest of the fruit with the coconut milk in a blender. Blend until smooth, or leave some small pieces of fruit for texture. Dice the reserved longan and divide evenly among the popsicle molds. Add a heaping teaspoon of sweet red beans or mango to each mold, then pour the coconut milk-longan mixture over each until filled to the top. Give each popsicle a quick stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Add additional beans or mango to taste, or to even out the level of liquid in the molds. Freeze until set, and enjoy!

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Nuts have had a bad reputation over the years for being unhealthy. That’s mainly because they have a high fat content, and until quite recently all fats were seen as dietary enemy number one.

But the consensus of the scientific community these days is that there are good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) and bad fats (trans fats and saturated fats). Good fats help lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood, while bad fats increase the levels of LDL cholesterol. And because nuts contain mostly good fats, they’re actually very good for your heart and arteries.

Nuts are also a rich source of other health-giving nutrients including vitamin E (which acts as a powerful antioxidant), B vitamins and potassium — and they’re a good source of protein and dietary fiber. However, nuts are also quite high in calories, so it’s best not to overindulge!

We enjoy nuts in lots of different ways. Often we’ll enjoy them as a wholesome between-meal snack, or sprinkled over cereal and dessert — but we also love using nuts in our cooking. And for inspiration all we have to do is look to Mediterranean and Asian cultures to see how nuts can be used in a wide variety of healthy and delicious ways.

Here are some Mediterranean and Asian recipes from this blog as well as our website that contain nuts:

Penne with Roasted Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Pesto Genovese
Penne Rigate alla Ricotta e Noci
Spinach, Pumpkin, Walnut, Basil & Ricotta Lasagna
Sun-dried Tomato & Walnut Pesto Pasta with Salmon & Asparagus
Honey-Lemon Chicken with Almonds
Moroccan Chicken & Olive Tagine with Almond Couscous
Mushroom, Bacon & Walnut Risotto
Thai Crab & Cashew Fried Rice
Lemongrass Chicken with Bean Thread Noodles
Peanut Chicken Noodles
Pad Thai
Tofu & Cashew Chow Mein
Mixed Greens, Cherry Tomato & Pine Nut Salad
Insalata di Riso (Italian Rice Salad)
Gado Gado
Tuna, Olive & Tomato Salad with Romesco Sauce
Roast Vegetable & Chickpea Couscous
Pancetta & Walnut Salad
Cantonese Rice Salad
Spanish Broccoli & Almond Soup
Dolmades
Chicken Satay
Romesco Sauce
Indonesian Peanut Sauce

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As spring in New England turns into summer, we’ve been going through a bit of a heat wave, and I’ve definitely been on a cold food kick—there is nothing better than a chilled dish waiting for you in the fridge, ready to be enjoyed as soon as you get home from work. When I’ve pondered what foods to prepare for these warm days, my mind has inevitably turned to lighter fare like salads, pasta and cold noodles.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been excited to see fresh “fiddleheads” (the tightly curled ferns that resemble the scrolled top end of a violin) appearing in the produce bins at my local supermarkets. I’ve come to think of fiddleheads as a quintessential New England ingredient—they are often associated with Maine and Vermont or our Canadian neighbors further north. However, fiddleheads are also a common ingredient in Asian cuisine. For example, they are frequently found in the Korean dish bibimbap.

With their asparagus-like flavor and firm but delicate texture, I decided that fiddleheads would be the perfect seasonal addition to some Asian-inspired soba noodles—the perfect cool dish to complement the warm weather.

(Note: Fiddleheads are in season for just a few precious weeks in the spring, so enjoy them while you can! You can also blanch fiddleheads for a few minutes in boiling water, and store them in your freezer for future use. If you can’t find fiddleheads for this recipe, substitute bite-sized pieces of fresh asparagus.)

Soba Noodles with Fiddleheads, Tofu, and Shiitake Mushrooms

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• About 8 oz. soba noodles (basically one package—weight may vary)
• 40 fiddleheads 
• 4-5 large shiitake mushroom caps, sliced
• ½ cup firm tofu, cubed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Shredded carrot for garnish

Dressing:

Combine the following:

• Juice of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar

Directions:

Cook soba noodles according to package directions, then rinse in cold water and set aside.

Clean the fiddleheads by rinsing thoroughly in cold water. Repeat several times, rubbing gently to remove the brown leaf like covering from the surface. Trim tough/brown ends if necessary.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add fiddleheads to blanch for 3-5 minutes. Remove fiddleheads from pot and plunge into a bowl of ice water for 1-2 minutes, then drain.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan. Add minced garlic and sauté for a minute, then add the fiddleheads, sliced mushrooms and tofu, sautéing for another 2-3 minutes (Fiddleheads should be firm but tender). Remove from heat. 

Toss cold soba noodles with the lemon-sesame-soy mixture and gently stir in the fiddleheads, mushrooms and tofu. Garnish with shredded carrot if desired. Serve and enjoy—this dish can be served immediately, but is also great as a cold dish the next day.

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Red meat has all kinds of health downsides and, we are not even talking about several other philosophical reasons to not eat meat. Still, steaks and ground meat have a lot of handy uses.

On top of that, eating steaks might be more fun than eating, say, beans, which means it is easier to make children eat meat than beans, which are much healthier.

Eating beans, together with some carbohydrates (like the ones in rice) can give vegetarians amino acids that are usually hard to find with a meat-free diet and is, generally speaking, a much healthier option than meat.

What might not be so obvious, is that beans can also replace meat in shape and not only in nutrients. They can be used to make Hamburgers, Steaks and even “Meatballs”, known in Italian as Polpetta.

The basic recipe would consist of just using cooked beans (you can use canned beans, although a purist cook would cook their own) and smashing them and mixing them with flour.

Because I can’t resist more complex mixtures, and to enhance both flavor and nutrition value, I cooked something equivalent to Trudy’s Ratatouille and mixed it together.

Ingredients

• 250g (9oz) of cooked beans
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• Roasted vegetables (Optional, you may need to add more flour if you use the vegetables)
• 2 spoons of olive oil

Directions

• Cook the beans, if you don’t have them cooked already
• Use the beans at room temperature
• Use the food processor, the blender or a potato masher to smash the beans
• Add the olive oil
• Put in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon while adding the flour
• Let rest for about 5 to 10 minutes

Serving suggestions

• Make patties for hamburgers and serve with bread, just like any other burger
• Make steaks and cover with bread crumbs, cook in the oven slightly covered with oil.
• Make balls and stir fry to use as “meatballs” (Polpetta)

This recipe makes about 4 big steaks and can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for longer periods of time.

And if you want, you can replace the beans with lentils, chickpeas or even a mix of your favorite legumes.

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