This is part of our yearlong Family Eats Challenge series. Throughout the year, we’ll take a journey with four families as they strive to change their relationship with the food they eat. For this Challenge, we visit with Teymoor, a single male, living in San Francisco. Helping Teymoor with the Challenge is Chef Ross Rosenzweig, the Culinary Coach for Berkeley-based VittlesInc.
From Chef Ross:
For this last update I went over to Teymoor’s house so that we could prepare some of the items I have been suggesting, and to answer any culinary questions that he might have.
To address steaming and portable snacking, I gave Teymoor my favorite appliance; My first countertop steamer. We made perfect eggs 2 ways. Soft boiled for breakfast and medium boiled for his portable snacking needs. The soft boiled eggs took 7 minutes and the medium eggs took 10 minutes.
Next we cooked an entire meal in the steamer: Salmon, asparagus, and boc choy. Prep time was three minutes and cook time was seven minutes. Teymoor was impressed by the speed and beauty of the finished meal. Total time: Ten minutes. Less time than it would take to order and receive a pre-cooked take out meal.
Teymoor had some questions about rich brown sauces that he enjoys while eating out and wanted to know if they could be duplicated at home. The answer is yes. However I suggested that we focus more on lighter methods of cooking to hit his goals. There is often a tremendous amount of fat in those delicious sauces and I feel that dense caloric intake would best be reserved for the special occasions of eating out.
As a compromise however, I wanted to share a favorite stir fry recipe given to me from a local Asian produce farmer that uses a brown sauce and Yu Choy, remaining relatively healthy. Stir Fry is a method of cooking at high heat that can be delicious, wholesome, and quick.
Editor’s Note: Another countertop option that combines the power of conduction, convection and infrared cooking is theNuWave Oven. It cooks foods—from vegetables to meats and desserts–thoroughly and quickly).
Here it is: (see next page for the Yu Choy and Beef recipe)
Yu Choy and Beef
Courtesy May Thao
Thao Farm, CA
Market List:
- 2 bunches Yu Choy (Chow Sum) each bunch sliced into thirds
- ¼ cup oyster sauce
- 1 lb. thinly sliced beef
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tsp fish sauce
1. Place WOK on a high heat burner, as soon as your wok begins to smoke add oil. Wait 1 minute and add garlic and saute until golden brown.
2. Add beef, stir often cooking until medium.
3. Add Yu Choy, then add the oyster sauce, and the fish sauce. and cover for up to three minutes, until the greens are at your desired doneness (we like them bright green with the stems barely soft).
4. Add a little pepper if and a touch of sesame oil to taste.
5. Serve hot with steamed brown rice to round out your meal.
Lastly, we cooked the quinoa recipe from our last update. We cooked the quinoa for about 15 minutes in the steamer and it was perfectly cooked –light and full of texture. We added cucumbers, our own homemade ponzu sauce, sheep feta, baby Arugula, yellow bell peppers, olive oil, fresh lime juice, and avocados. It was absolutely amazing!
In closing Teymoor enthusiasm for cooking has skyrocketed. He is cooking more at home, and has new skills and knowledge to make the choices necessary for stabilizing his glucose levels at work, and making quick meals at home that are nutrient rich and satisfying for his whole body.
It has been fun to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for shopping, and preparing irresistible food to aid in developing a healthy edible relationship. Best of continued luck Teymoor!
I am always available to answer questions or help any reader to finesse their edible relationship.
Thanks Family Eats!
Chef Ross
email: ross.rosenzweig@gmail.com
510.282.0957
