Learning to cook might seem overwhelming but it does not need to be. Prepare the recipes below from scratch, and you will be introduced to the basic cooking skills you need to make just about anything.

The skills you want to learn  include how to: dice an onion, prepare garlic, separate eggs, beat egg whites, make an omelet, measure dry ingredients, test meat for doneness, cook fish, steam, roast and blanch vegetables, use herbs and spices, test for flavor, knead bread dough, test muffins and banana bread for doneness, use a grill, shop for fresh fruit and vegetables, cook grains such as rice and quinoa properly, cook pasta el dente, make meatballs, make sauces including white sauce, tomato sauce and gravy, make a stock for use in your own soup and most of all plan a complete meal.

Recipes:

1.      Roast Root vegetables: Onion, beet, carrot, parsnip (to name a few good roasting vegetables)

2.      Steam vegetables-green beans, broccoli, carrots

3.      Soup: make a vegetable soup, chicken soup, beef soup

4.      Learn to cook Beans- make bean or lentil   soup, lentil loaf, veggie burger, Chile

5.      Rice or other grains ( quinoa, millet, kasha, farro)

6.   learn to grill or broil prepare:   grilled or broiked fish, beef or chicken kebobs

7.     Make an  Omelet- cheese, spinach, mushroom

8.   Learn how to prepare Seafood; fish sticks, salmon

9.    learn how to use fruit in  dessert; salad, or cooked in  crisp

10. Learn how to  blanch vegetables green beans, asparagus, broccoli are good choices

11.  Prepare meatballs; beef, chicken or vegetarian

12.  Master a simple Tomato Sauce

13.  Roast meat: beef, pork or lamb

14.  Roast chicken, or turkey

15.  Leanr how to make quick breads- Banana bread or apple bread

16.Make your very own salad dressing start with a simple vinaigrette

17.  learn how to make a white White sauce: Mac and cheese, mornay sauce, fish pie

18    make fresh stock; beef, chicken, vegetable

19.  Mashed potato, mashed squash

20.  Whip egg whites: make Soufflé, sponge cake, meringue cookies

21.  Cook with yeast make: Yeast bread or rolls

Six by Sixteen http://sixbysixteen.me/  wants to teach young people to plan and prepare six nutritious, locally sourced meals by the time they are sixteen years old. It was started as a public health initiative in Ontario Canada and it is a great idea. Those who learn to cook at home will cook when older and research shows that when you cook at home your meals are more nutritious. Learning to make any six meals will do but I highly recommend all cooks learn to cook beans, fish, whole grains and fruit based desserts.

Below are suggestions of recipes to try, they can all be found in the recipe section.

Beans

Bean Burgers

Refried beans for Burritos

Three Bean Loaf

Mexican Lasagna

Seafood

Baked Fish

Seafood Pasta

Pot roasted cod with Leeks

Chicken

Chicken Vegetable Stew with dumplings

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Oven Fried Chicken

Roasted chicken with parsley potato and carrots

Soup

Hamburger Soup

Chicken vegetable Soup

Garden Minestrone Soup

Lentil Soup

Old Fashioned Beef Vegetable Soup

Teenagers, young adults, and adults, who  do not know how to prepare tasty wholesome, inexpensive food will be forced to rely on readily available, inexpensive, easy options such as fast food, microwave macaroni and cheese, cheap packaged noodles, pizza, and chicken nuggets. Two experts in the field of nutrition Alice Lichtenstein, DSc and David Ludwig, MD, PhD wrote an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting that children who are uncomfortable in the kitchen;because they never learned basic cooking skills, will be at a disadvantage their entire life. That makes perfect sense, after all we know certain foods like brown rice, leafy green vegetables and fish can protect our health, but these aren’t often found in pre-made meals or at fast food restaurants. When we never learn how to prepare these foods we are not likely to eat them and our health can suffer. A diet abundant in pizza, chips, and fast food will lead to poor nutrition, weight gain and increase the risk of serious diet-related disease such as diabetes, heart, disease and cancer. What is the solution? Learn to cook, it could make you healthier.

A simple vegetarian burger can be made by combining cooked lentils with rice and flavorful seasonings, add breadcrumbs and eggs  to make it hold together. Learning to cook with lentils is highly recommended because they are rich in protein and nutrition and they cook faster than other dried beans- no pre-soaking required. These burgers take about 30 minutes to assemble and an additional 60 minutes resting time in the refrigerator so the ingredients blend together and become firm. This recipe makes 8 patties, extra portions can be frozen and used in sandwiches after a quick reheating in the microwave.

Each patty carries about 174 calories, and 7 grams protein Printable recipe

 Ingredients

½  cup brown rice or other whole grain such as barley or faro

½ cup dried lentils

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 onion, finely chopped about 1 cup

1 small carrot grated about ½ cup

1 clove garlic minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste or catsup

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano or “Italian” seasonings

1 teaspoon chile powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 whole eggs, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons canola oil for frying patties

1          Cook the brown rice: Bring 1 cup of  w ater to a boil in a small saucepan add the uncooked grain, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until tender 30-40 minutes

2          While rice cooks prepare the lentils: In a medium saucepan combine the lentils with 1 ½ cups water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes until tender. drain and set aside.

3          In a larges sauce pan, heat the oil add the onion, carrot and garlic, cook for five minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt, cooked brown rice and the drained lentils. Remove from heat add the eggs stir until eggs are completely combined with the bean and rice mixture mix in bread crumbs.  The mixture should be wet but hold together.

4          Allow to cool enough to handle. Make patties divide into 8 even portions shape into patties about t 1 inch thick. place on a baking sheet and refrigerate for one hour so they become firm

5          To cook: Pan fry: heat oil in a skillet on medium high  heat. Cook 2-3 minutes per side browning on each side. Serve as you would a burger.

Bake in oven, line a baking pan with foil that has been lightly oiled. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, turn after 7 minutes of cooking. serve as you would  a  burger.

Ingredients are measured

Deconstructed Sandwich

A few years back ( April 2011) I wrote a post about the nutrition content in the Original Moe’s Italian Sandwich. It is a favorite sandwich in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire where I live. I have been asked about the nutrition content in the turkey version and finally got around to doing the calculations.  Once again I deconstructed the sandwich, measured each ingredient which includes black olives, sliced red tomato, sliced pickles, green pepper, yellow onion slices, and provolone cheese and of source sliced turkey in a fresh Italian bread roll. To keep measurements as accurate as possible I ordered my sandwich without oil, the oil would have soaked into the roll making it weigh more. In my sandwich the bread weighed just a bit over 5 ½ ounces.

I calculated the nutrition information by weight for each ingredient and added them up – keep in mind this is estimation and a home calculation.

On line calculators estimated the carbohydrate in a 5 ounce roll to range between 72 grams to 94 grams for a  5 ounce roll, if the higher number is used calories would increase to 762 and total carbohydrate to 94 grams.

Total calories ( without oil) 682, total fat  19 grams, saturated fat 8.7 grams, total carbohydrate 72 grams, fiber 7.4 grams, protein 45.2 grams, sodium 2657 grams.

Adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil would add an additional 119 calories to the sandwich.

Selecting the turkey sandwich over the Original cold cut version appears to reduce saturated fat by about half; I estimated the original to contain 15.7 grams of saturated fat. When selecting a Moe’s sandwich eat it with a piece of fruit on the side, an apple is a much better choice than chips, chose  a non-caloric beverage such as water, unsweetened ice tea or coffee. If you are trying to lose weight cut the sandwich in half and calories are only about 350, the same as in a frozen diet meal.

The reassembled sandwich is weighed, and of course eaten.

Ingredients are measured