First
I would like to discuss your skin, especially the skin of your face. Our skin takes a beating every day of our
lives, literally! Living in Israel, in a
country where there is only about 35 days of rain a year, that leaves
three hundred and thirty-something days of sunshine and our skin is exposed to the hot
sun for a significant number of those days.
Talking as a makeup artist who sees the ravages of the sun on the skin,
around the eyes, the lips and the mouth: IT'S TIME TAKE CARE OF YOUR SKIN. This means that it is time to invest in a
good moisturizer and apply it TWICE A DAY - EVERY DAY!
When
we began our diet (sorry, our new lifestyle), I brought our oil intake down to
nil, nada, zero and zilch! I wrote in
previous blog articles that I went from dousing everything in olive oil to
using no oil – just my new BFF PAM. The good news is you lose weight,
the bad news is you need to pay attention to the changes this weight loss does
to your body inside and out.
As
my face lost its fullness, my skin became drier. Drinking, even the amounts I
drink today (my trusty water bottle is always at my side – hold on – I need to
bring it from the kitchen...), still cannot replenish my skin and bring it back
to looking fresh and twenty-something plump and healthy. You need to pay attention to your skin: drink
lots of water and moisturize – religiously!
Keep
a jar of moisturizer in your bathroom to lather on in the mornings and a jar in your
bedroom to lather on before you go to bed.
Your skin will thank you for it!
A
note about drinking water and hydration:
Drinking coffee, especially in the winter, may help you feel warm and
keep you from snacking, but it also
dries you out. Do not count cups of
coffee as part of your water intake. You should drink extra water for every cup
of coffee you drink.
Always
have a bottle of water at your side and in your bag – at all times!
Along
with water, our bodies need fat. You should
have a small amount of fat in your daily diet.
This fat can be in the form of a half to whole a tablespoon of olive oil
dressing on your salad or in your cooking.
Fatty fish and nuts are also a good source of natural oils. Think about how you can add them into your
diet on a weekly basis.
Oil
and water are important for our digestive track as well. Changing our lifestyle and eating habits will
also have an effect on how our digestive track works. Don't ignore your insides, while we work on
the outsides.
So
now – let's talk soup…
Yochi's
Broccoli Soup
Hints and
Tips:
·
When making any
soup, keep in mind that most soups can be made either by sautéing the
vegetables before adding the water or simply throwing all the raw vegetables
in the pot and adding water and spices and then cooking. I have no preference. I like both. Try either method and see which you prefer.
·
One of the most common
questions regarding soup making is: what is the correct pot size? The soup pot must be a pot that is deep
enough to comfortably hold both the vegetables and the
water. In general the water will cover
about a third more of the pot than the ingredients.
o
Soup pot sizes:
§ 2.5 liter pot – enough for about 6 to 8 bowls of soup (something like
12 to 16 Jewish ladlefuls of soup)
§ 5 liter pot – enough for 12 to 16 bowls of soup (something like 24 – 32
Jewish ladlefuls of soup)
§ 10 liter pot – I call this my Pesach pot! Twice the 5 liter pot and enough
for L'el Seder, unless you've invited all of Hadera.
·
To blend or
not to blend, that is the big question. I never liked the consistency of blended
soups, I always believed that soup should have the texture of soup; that
is, you should be able to see and taste the different pieces of vegetables and meat/chicken. I believed that blended soup was baby food in
disguise.
Today every home (if this
is not true, then it should be!) has at least one hand blender, actually I
assume that in every kosher home we have three or more: milchicks, fleishkes
and at least one for Pesach. Blended
soups are all the rage.
I think the first blended
soup I ate was in a restaurant in Zichron: it was a cold, half orange soup- half
potato soup (poured side by side into the same bowl – very cool!). Today I enjoy blended soups almost as much as
I like "regular" chunky soups.
· Perfectly blended soup When blending soups – you should keep the
liquid quantity to a minimum or you will end up with a drink and not a
soup. Here's the best way to prevent
thin weak blended soup:
1. Cook your soup as usual with water covering about a third above the vegetables. Cook down to quarter or third the amount of
liquid.
2. Make sure all the vegetables are well cooked and very soft. If you are
worried that this cooking will reduce the amount of vitamins and minerals in
the vegetables – I can't help you.
3. If you feel you have too much liquid or are not sure about
the amount of liquid, simply pour out most of the liquid from the pot into a small
bowl and reserve. You should now have a
pot of vegetables with very little liquid.
4. To avoid spritzing and making a mess all over the kitchen walls and
floor when using a hand blender, follow this great hint:
§ Take a piece of parchment paper (I love this paper!), fold it in half
and in half again - you will end up with
a square.
§ Tear out the small circle of paper in the corner of the folded side of
the sheet. This circle should be large
enough to fit the head mixing head of the blender.
§ When you open the paper you will find a hole in the middle of
the sheet.
§ Place the paper over the pot and insert the blender in the hole.
§ Blend until your get the consistency you want. Then unplug the blender and twist off
the blender head into the parchment paper – now you can carry the head
into the sink to be washed, without dripping on the floor. Genius – eh?
Ingredients:
·
Broccoli: Depending on
size of broccoli and pot; between 4 and 6 medium size heads of broccoli
·
Carrots: 2 large carrots,
chopped
·
Onions: 2 large onions,
chopped
·
Garlic: several garlic
cloves chopped
·
Spices: garlic powder,
freshly ground pepper, paprika
·
Chopped fresh parsley
(optional)
·
Water
·
PAM
How to work:
1. Select a pot large enough for the amount of diners and/or meals you
plan. This soup is better hot, but can
be served cold, so it can be a good summer Shabbas soup for the main se'uda or
se'uda shlisheet.
2. Spray the pot with PAM.
3. Cut off the hard stem ends and then cut into half palm size pieces (flowerettes)
or smaller depending on pot size. Soak
the broccoli in water and salt or vinegar, to make sure there are no bugs.
4. Remove the broccoli from the water and rinse off. Add to pot.
I like to cook with
the broccoli stalks, but they are very husky and can leave stringy bits in the
soup.
5. Next slice several cloves of garlic.
I like a strong garlic taste in my soup, so I add a lot of garlic. You can add as much or as little as you want.
6. Clean and chop the carrots and the onions. Add to pot.
7. You can now begin to sauté these vegetables or just continue to add the
rest of the ingredients.
8. Mix with a wooden spoon.
Remember wooden spoons do not cut, tear or mash the food – even though
in this case you will be blending the vegetables, I still recommend getting used
to using wood.
9. Add enough water to cover all
the vegetables and plus an additional third of the way up the pot. Mix well and then cook for several
hours. You want all the vegetables to be
very soft and the water to cook down to almost half.
10.
Once the soup is cooked
down, take it off the flame and let it cool.
11.
Once the soup is cooled
and as I discussed above, you can pour off the liquid and reserve it in another
bowl. Don't throw this liquid away! This liquid can be used to help
make the soup consistency you desire or be frozen to use as a base for another
soup or sauce. (Another great idea!)
12.
Blend the soup to the
consistency you wish, if you feel you want the soup to be a bit more watery –
add only single tablespoons at a time of liquid. Blend and check again.
13.
Your seasoning should be
perfect, but you should re-taste the soup once it is blended just to make sure.
14.
I definitely believe that
this soup tastes better the day after it was prepared, but that's me!
Enjoy! Do you have any questions? Any comments? Write me or facebook me! B'TeyAvon!
