Let’s talk about the health issue: Did you know that three ounces of shrimp has fewer than 85 calories and has a very low fat/high protein ratio? And although you may have heard that they are high in cholesterol, if they aren’t deep-fried in batter and/or butter, they actually don’t contribute negatively to your cholesterol level.

And now, to the the issue of preparation: You need to start by selecting good quality, fresh shrimp. Ask your fishmonger what varieties are the best and the freshest at the time. Some popular varieties are brown, white, pink, jumbo, rock and tiger shrimp. When deciding on amounts, a good rule of thumb is one third of a pound  of shelled shrimp per person. If you buy frozen shrimp, be sure to allow them to thaw out in the fridge before using them in a recipe.

No matter what recipe you are using, here are some useful pointers:

1. First and foremost, you want to make sure you aren’t cooking bad shrimp. One clear indication is smell. If they give off an intense odor of ammonia, then they are done for and the only thing to do is to head to the store for a new batch. Shrimp that are just starting to turn can sometimes be salvaged by rubbing them with baking soda and putting them back in the fridge for about ten minutes. Then pull it out and wash of the baking soda very well before cooking. To be safe, when in doubt, throw it out!

2. I recommend peeling the shrimp before you cook it, as it is much easier than afterwards.

3. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp, lest it become rubbery and dry (a sure fire way to scare you and your family off of shrimp for good).

4. If you are boiling the shrimp, you’ll know that they are ready when they start floating.

There are a lot of great, simple and healthy recipes for shrimp out there. Here’s one to get you started on the right track.

What you need:

- 1 lb boiled shrimp (if cooking yourself, remember, they’re done when they float!)

- 1 C freshly minced parsley

- 1 C lemon juice (watch out for seeds!)

- 3 Tbs fresh, minced garlic

- 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

- 1 tsp salt (I recommend Kosher salt, but any will do)

- 1 tsp pepper

What to do with it:

Put garlic and oil into a pan over med heat. Cook just until the garlic begins to smell good, then add the lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Then put this mixture into a large serving bowl, dump in the cooked shrimp and toss together. Put in the fridge to chill, then serve and enjoy!

What’s so great about an electric stand mixer? Well, when it comes to mixing, kneading, whipping, beating, fluffing and even blending nothing works better. Sure, you could do it by hand, but by using an electric mixer, you can use that time and energy you save for something more… enjoyable (wink, wink), like feeding your homemade creations to your loved ones.

Most stand mixers come a whole host of fancy attachments that make your appliance that much more versatile. You can use the paddles, whisks and blades to help you make meringue, sauces, ice cream, citrus juice, fresh pasta, you can even grind meat!

If you spend even just a few hours per week cooking and/or baking, you can be sure that an electric stand mixer will quickly become an indispensable kitchen tool.

This used to be dinner at my family’s house every night – until I became savvy to the ways of meat-free gourmet cuisine.  Instead of the same old arguments and awkward silences, a harmonious symbiosis has developed between the carnivores and the herbivores that share meals together at our family table.  

If you have the time, resources, and know-how, you can easily prepare family meals to include delicious and healthy meat-free options.  It’s even fun to put exciting meatless spins on traditional family dinner dishes.  With an amazing number of quality meatless products on the market today, you can create the texture and taste of meat without actually using animal products.  And incorporating vegetarian dishes into meals can encourage even our carnivorous family members to get their daily dose of vegetables.

Here are some ideas for taking a simple dinner dish and giving it some meat-free appeal:  

 
Barbecue Sandwiches – a tasty, affordable and simple dinner idea

*For the Carnivores – shredded chicken, pork or beef

*For the Herbivores – fried tofu, eggplant, portobello mushroom, tempeh, or seitan

 
Pizza – who doesn’t love a good pie?

*For the Carnivores - all the meatless ingredients with sausage, ham, and of course pepperoni

*For the Herbivores - olives, peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, (you get the idea), and perhaps meatless sausages made from either soy, grains, veggies, or a combination of these.

 
Spaghetti & Meatballs - this classic doesn’t have have to be boring or limiting.

*For the Carnivores - homemade meatballs

*For the Herbivores - TVP (textured vegetable protein) or other vegetarian “meatballs” as well as any desired veggies. 

 
Burgers - hearty, nourishing and versatile.

*For the Carnivores - some lean ground beef and a family favorite recipe

*For the Herbivores - a veggie burger, either bought from the store or made at home using lentils or falafel

 
Mac & Cheese - cheap, quick and popular with kids of all ages!

*For the Carnivores - add chicken or sausage for extra pizazz

*For the Herbivores - pile on the broccoli, mushrooms and fresh tomatoes 

This is just a small sampling of what is possible. Take your most loved dishes and a little imagination to re-create them with options to suit every diet.  You’ll be surprised at what you come up with. Now, instead of stressing out, making tons of dishes for each meal you can make one dish with multiple options that satisfy everyone.  

Incorporating the meat-free option into our meals has benefited the whole family and I hope that it will benefit your family as well.

Store bought premade sauces can be expensive. It can be more cost effective to create your own sauce using simple ingredients like tomato paste, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and an onion. You can add other spices you might have around the house, like nutmeg, basil, or oregano. An advantage of creating your own pasta sauce is being able to season it to taste. You can also incorporate other vegetables you might have in your refrigerator, like mushrooms, spinach, peppers, asparagus, or broccoli.

When choosing a type of noodle, don’t be afraid to be adventurous. If a certain shape is on sale, try it. Cavatappi or capellini might be the noodles of your dreams. When you are making your pasta, an easy and inexpensive way to add a punch of flavor is to add a bullion cube to your boiling water. A drop of olive oil will keep the noodles separated, and taking them off the heat a few minutes early will ensure that nice chewiness of restaurant Italian cooking.

Whether you are cooking for a date, your loved ones, or just yourself, you do not need to sacrifice on flavor because of your tight budget. You are capable of creating restaurant quality food in your own home for a fraction of the price. Pasta is a good example of how you can impress your guests by cooking on a budget.

While thousands of varieties of potato still grow in the Andes today, where as many as a dozen varieties may be maintained in a single household, only a few varieties were brought back to the Old World and subsequently made a staple food.  Because of this, genetic diversity amongst the potato dwindled, rendering the crop vulnerable to disease.  By the mid-19th century, Ireland’s potato varieties were so genetically similar that the crop was decimated by a plant fungus called Phytophthora infestans, more commonly known as blight. This caused the Great Irish Famine of 1845 which hit the poorer communities in Western Ireland the hardest, killing nearly a third of the Irish population and causing mass emigration from the country.

If you visit the western counties in Ireland, even today you can still see evidence everywhere of this tragic chapter in Irish history. Commonly known simply as “famine houses,” ruins of little stone cottages still litter the countryside. These houses the size of most modern kitchens were typically inhabited by families with as many as ten children – as well as their farm animals, if they were lucky enough to own any. When the famine hit, families either perished in these houses or in the “coffin ships” sailing to America (where conditions were horrible). While some were lucky enough to make the trip and reestablish themselves in America, millions of men, women, and children died. The greatest tragedy is that Ireland possessed more than enough food supply to feed its people but, because of rampant racism and classism entrenched in the British colonial government that ruled over Ireland, the British let these innocent people starve. Famine houses have been left standing to make certain that this great injustice is never forgotten and that the memory of those who died lives on.

Some say the recipe for mashed potatoes originates in 1771 when a French man named Antoine Parmentier came up with the idea of having a competition on ways to make potatoes. Having had the idea, it’s no surprise that he then won first place and then eventually began cultivating potatoes himself. The story goes that he hired a group of royal soldiers to guard his farm near Paris. But the guards were not vigilant enough; peasants stole Parmentier’s crops, effectively introducing potatoes into the cuisine of France and, much later, widespread Europe.

Etymologically, the word “potato” is a pastiche of terms made from Old and New World languages. Patata is the Spanish word for “potato” and is probably derived from the older Quechua word papa and the Taino word batata, meaning “sweet potato.”  Rich in carbohydrates, the potato is still beloved among the Irish – both in Ireland and in Irish immigrant communities in the United States.  One way to remember the Great Famine is to cook up some traditional mashed potatoes, a favorite Irish dish, in honor of the famine victims. Perhaps you have Irish ancestry that makes this dish particularly sentimental for you. Or maybe you want to take a stand against tyranny in any form, even in a form a subtle as your cuisine choices. Either way, mashed potatoes are easy and delicious to make.

The basic recipe for mashed potatoes is pretty much the same all over. What distinguishes one recipe from another are the ingredients added after the potatoes are mashed.  Many people add cheese, sour cream, bacon, garlic, onions, or herbs to flavor their potatoes.

Recipe for mashed potatoes that would make Antoine Parmentier proud:

- six potatoes (not too big, not too small)

- 1 C of heavy cream or half-half

- 1/2 C of salted butter

- salt and pepper to taste

Because they yield smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, the best varieties for mashing are Russet, Yukon Gold, or Red potatoes.

First you’ll need to peel and wash the potatoes. You can leave some the skin on the potatoes to give them more of an old-world, traditional flavor and texture. This may make mashing a bit more difficult, but it’ll be worth it, I promise.

The next step is to cut them. Make sure to cut big chunks because, although they may take a bit longer to cook they’ll absorb less water. Once chopped, add the potatoes to a medium to large-sized pot and cover them with cold water until they’re fully covered. You can add salt at this point, if you like. Put a cover on the pot and turn the burner to high until the water boils. Then, turn it down to a simmer and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. Check if the potatoes are cooked by poking a large piece with a fork or knife. The utensil should be able to go in to the vegetable easily. If not, then give them a few more minutes before taking them off the heat.

Next, drain the water from the potatoes and put them back on the stove in the same pot. Turn the burner on very low and get all or most of the water to evaporate. Don’t walk away from the pot at this stage, and be sure to stir them constantly, as you could easily burn them if too much water evaporates or if the same potatoes sit at the bottom of the pot for too long.

At the same time, you can add the cream and butter together in a separate pan and heat on low just enough to melt the butter. Then, when all the water is evaporated from the potatoes, mash them with a non-electric hand masher. This allows you to determine how smooth or how lumpy you want to make them. No matter what, avoid using an electric mixer because they tend to mix the potatoes too much and destroy the texture. Once you’ve mashed the potatoes to the perfect consistency, add the melted butter and cream mixture. That is the most basic form, but you can also get creative and add other quirky flavors to it, as well. What about mustard mashed potatoes? Or cheddar mashed potatoes? Or even basil mashed potatoes?

But however you choose to make your mashed potatoes, take a moment before you sit down to enjoy them and reflect on the complex history of this simple dish.

Any chef knows that it is as important to follow a recipe as it is to be able to change it to taste.  An easy way to add a little kick to your normal method of preparing a meal is to substitute your common mustard with Creole mustard. Creole mustard is a wholegrain variety of mustard that is slightly crushed to release a hot flavor from the grains.  It is thick and spicy with a coarse texture, and can be used to cook a wide variety of dishes.

Creole mustard is commonly available in an array of flavors. Fruits and honeys are typically included to add an element of sweetness to the natural punch of the condiment. To increase the intensity of the heat, peppercorns are sometimes blended in to the mustard. These types of mustard have a long shelf life, but make sure to store them in a dark place until you open them, at which point they will live out the remainder of their days in the refrigerator.