Redefining Healthy Recipes With This One!

I promised healthy recipes, and this one is, without question, one of my all-time favorites. “Confit Byaldi” is what the NY Times calls it, but basically it’s a Ratatouille. This is one of the best recipes I’ve found for it and was even praised by a Frenchman himself! ;]

Bon appetit!

Confit Byaldi

1/2 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

3 tomatoes (about 12 ounces total weight), peeled, seeded, and finely diced, juices reserved

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig flat-leaf parsley

1/2 a bay leaf

Kosher salt

FOR VEGETABLES

1 zucchini (4 to 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch rounds 1 Japanese eggplant, (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 1 yellow squash (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/8teaspoon thyme leaves Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR VINAIGRETTE

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oi

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Assorted fresh herbs (thyme flowers, chervil, thyme)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. For piperade, heat oven to 450 degrees. Place pepper halves on a foil-lined sheet, cut side down. Roast until skin loosens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.

2. Combine oil, garlic, and onion in medium skillet over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, do not brown; add peppers and simmer to soften them. Season to taste with salt, and discard herbs. Reserve tablespoon of mixture and spread remainder in bottom of an 8-inch skillet.

3. For vegetables, heat oven to 275 degrees. Down center of pan, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables over piperade, overlapping so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled; all vegetables may not be needed.

4. Mix garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over vegetables. Cover pan with foil and crimp edges to seal well. Bake until vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. (Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.) If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. (At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.)

5. For vinaigrette, combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

6. To serve, heat broiler and place byaldi underneath until lightly browned. Slice in quarters and very carefully lift onto plate with offset spatula. Turn spatula 90 degrees, guiding byaldi into fan shape. Drizzle vinaigrette around plate. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings

C-C-C-Carbon Calculator Results!

I just calculated my carbon footprint using our Carbon Calculator on the site and I’m pretty impressed with myself! The national average for the U.S. is 7.5 tons of emissions per person per year, and I scored 6.9!

 

I know it’s nothing to brag about, but with the electricity being so much down here to keep cool and with how much I drive, I fully expected it to be much worse.

 

Living in a city where public transportation isn’t really an option, it’s nearly impossible for me to eliminate driving at this point. As far as cutting costs goes, I can always make small changes at my house to lesson my impact.

 

Things like unplugging the TV and closing the blinds when I leave the house have a tremendous effect on my electric bill from what I’ve seen so far. Unplugging the TV is obvious (as well as any other major appliance you feel compelled to do the same with), but closing the blinds on a hot summer day actually allows the space to stay cooler, which allows the AC to kick on less frequently and work less hard.

 

Good deal, no?

 

Does anyone else have any new tips? They’re always welcome!

 

Erin

TheNakedHippie.com

 

Perplexed? Confuzzled?!

Organic, eco-friendly, sustainable living, and fair trade have become these ‘buzz words’ that originated in our local health food store’s produce section, but have seemed to slink their way onto our shampoo bottles, gummy bears, Clorox bottles, and even our clothing tags.

 

So what’s the deal? Are we paying for a trend alone or is there something worth paying attention to here?

 

Yes, yes – organic is the way to go, not only for our own physical health but for the planet’s as well. I too am reluctant to pay, in some cases, nearly double the cost of conventional items just to have that Certified Organic label, but in most cases, it is worth it. Even with our clothing.

 

Cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world, simply because it attracts so many different kinds of damaging little worms and insects. It takes a whole third of a pound of pesticide to grow enough cotton for one T-shirt. Additionally, conventional cotton is dyed with synthetic chemicals and is even finished with formaldehyde.

 

As we all know, our skin is very absorbent, and wearing clothes and sleeping in sheets that have been treated so heavily with this junk is definitely not good over a long period of time.

 

I won’t go into all the problems long-term exposure to those things can trigger, but just know that you’re better off spending the extra $8 or so for your T-shirts and bed sheets and buy organic.

 

Plus, whenever something’s “Certified Organic,” you can rest assured knowing that the workers who farmed the product was paid a fair wage and treated well. Accompanying that is the fact that none of those pesticides and other chemicals are absorbed into the soil and later released.

 

How perfect is that?

 

Check. Mate.

Erin

TheNakedHippie.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shedding Some Light on the Situation

Hey guys!

 

In the spirit of going green, I decided to replace all my regular light bulbs with those energy efficient ones. I know, I know, it’s a bit of an initial expense depending on how many light bulbs you have in your home, but starting with just a few is a great start AND  it’ll still knock off a few bucks from your monthly energy bill.

 

As I said initially, I’m a pretty thrifty shopper, so I rarely buy on impulse. The best price I found is actually at Lowe’s. I was able to get a pack of six standard sized bulbs for under $8. This is great, as most of comparable packages start around $10.

 

Anywho, I haven’t gone a full month with the new bulbs, so once I get my electric bill I’ll let you know what difference it made.

 

CBS says: “

You save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime. The average U.S. household has 45 light bulbs; replacing that number of 75-watt incandescent bulbs with CFLs would save $180 per year.CFL bulbs produce about 75 percent less heat, so they’re safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.”

 

 

 

Very nice!

 

Au revoir!

 

Erin

TheNakedHippie.com