Peanut Butter & Jelly Does The Twist

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Amy

Few foods deserve their own big day, but if there was ever a comfort food that did, it’s the marriage of peanut butter and jelly. It should be no surprise, then, that this humble concoction is honored on April 2nd each year.

The origins of National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, like those of this lunch box staple itself, are murky. On the other hand, there’s plenty of information on the invention of peanut butter. The earliest references to peanuts date to about 950 BC in South America, where the ancient Incas ground them into paste. In the late 1800s, a St. Louis doctor reportedly ground peanuts into a paste for elderly, toothless patients. But the PB&J phenomenon didn’t really take hold until the 1940s, when American soldiers who had mixed individual rations of peanut butter and jelly together abroad during WWII returned home.

Now, the pairing is synonymous with lunch across the United States. Although many schools have banned the sandwiches due to peanut allergies, a survey published in a 2004 issue of the Journal of Food Distribution Research estimated that the average American will eat 1,500 of these sticky wonders by the time they graduate from high school. But the PB&J isn’t just for kids. My colleague, Ben, eats one every day at the office. I think we’ve calculated that he spends less than $1 a day on lunch.

I’m not the most particular eater, but I do like my peanut butter and jelly a certain way. Grape is a way of life for most doe-eyed, pigtailed little girls. No thanks — I’ve always preferred strawberry. And never jelly. Only sweet, chunky strawberry preserves for me. I like the “jam” side of my bread buttered, and with a peanut butter to jam ratio of about two to one. But as I grow older and my taste buds mature to appreciate the finer things in life, I’ve discovered that — sometimes — I appreciate the things I loved as a kid … with a twist.

Or in this case, a spin.

I’ve decided to introduce my favorite PB&J to the love of my kitchen life — my Vitamix. I shop at TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, where I never pay full price for a BCBG summer dresse or Tahari shoes. I buy Pottery Barn furniture at a discount on Craigslist. My point is, I am a bargain shopper. I want what I want at the lowest price possible, which is how I make my public radio salary stretch as far as possible.

This. Thing. Wasn’t. Cheap.

That said, I adore my Vitamix. While my food dehydrator and my food processor lurk in the depths of my cabinets or on shelves just at tippy-toe reach, my Vitamix lives in its own little house in a place of prominence in my kitchen. So, I thought I would pull it out to give it a little exercise.

That doesn’t mean you need one to make this easy recipe. Any old blender will do. Have some berries leftover from last week? Pull them out of the fridge and let’s make lunch!

Or breakfast, as the case may be …

Protein is a great way to start your day. Feel free to swap out peanut butter for almond, like April did this week. A bit healthier, and just as delicious.

This will keep you going until the lunch hour, so bottoms up!

PB&J Smoothie

1 cup almond milk
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 small banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Add all ingredients to blender and spin. Yes, it’s that easy.

This is much better cold, but since ice can make things a bit watery, try freezing the banana or strawberries. If you are using a blender, cut them up a bit first. A Vitamix can handle a whole frozen banana (in fact, ever tried banana “ice cream“? OMG!) but most regular blenders can’t. You can also play around with the ratio of ingredients, depending on your tastes. This makes enough for one smoothie, but doubling is easy and encouraged — though it’s much better fresh.

Tagged with: Banana, butter, jelly, peanut, sandwich, smoothie, Strawberry
Posted in Spin

One Burger, Please … But Hold The Grill

Posted on July 1, 2012 by April

Much of the year, I’m a fanatic for the Wednesday paper. Yes, yes, of course — the rest of the week is great, too. I am a journalist, after all.

But as any food freak can tell you, Wednesday is special. Because that day, my friends, is the day the newspaper gods serve up a little midweek treat (pretty much everywhere, see?).

Which is all well and good, with one problem: I cannot bring myself to throw all those food sections away. There are simply too many tasty gems squeezed into each week’s pages to just go tossing them out.

So … I horde them. I stash those folded-up newspaper sections everywhere: shoved into shopping bags, crushed into cookbooks, mushed into magazine files.

It’s truly a miracle that I’m still married.

But come June, everything changes. Just as all that delicious summer produce turns up at the farmers market, my food-section fascination takes a hiatus. That’s because — and food writers, please take note! — I don’t own a grill.

I know I’m not alone. Cities everywhere are crammed with apartment dwellers just like me, making do with with ovens and stoves (and perhaps a trusty George Foreman). While you patio people are outside, grilling up your tasty treats, we’re camped out in our kitchens. Jealous.

Yup, as soon as summer rolls around, you’re hard pressed to find a food writer who doesn’t extoll the virtues of the grill. Grilled meat, grilled fish, grilled veggies, grilled fruit … you name it, someone’s grilled it — and written about it (and as you see this week, We The Eaters is no exception).

It’s not that I don’t enjoy grilled food — I love my food with char marks. When I was a kid, my dad fired up his Kamado almost every weekend. And I spent a year in Australia, where grilling, as we all know, is a way of life. But in my little patio-free apartment, grilling recipes are as useful to me as a sous vide guide.

So for you, the deck-deprived masses, I offer this light and easy summer burger alternative: a ginger-hoisin salmon burger, inspired by Jessica Seinfeld’s recipe in Do It Delicious (yes, that Seinfeld).

And when that summer evening thundershower blows in and sends the grillers scrambling, guess who’s going to be sitting pretty?

Ginger-Hoisin Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo

Makes about four standard burger-sized patties

Note: You can make these burgers with raw or canned salmon. I once wanted nothing to do with the latter, until I tried it (thanks, Julia!) It’s delicious. You can find ocean-friendly brands at Whole Foods and similar markets.

There’s a lot of leeway with this recipe — go light or heavy on the various seasonings to suit your taste, and use as much or little ginger and garlic as you like. Those strong flavors will mellow nicely as the patties set in the fridge.

For the patties:

1/2 to 1 inch of fresh ginger (up to one heaping tablespoon, if you chop it by hand — more if you like)
1 to 2 cloves garlic
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 small carrots, cut into chunks
1 1/2 pound fresh boneless salmon, cut into chunks
or:
2 small (7.5 oz.) cans salmon, drained
1 egg, lightly beaten
Oil for frying

Throw the first six ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well-blended. If you’re using fresh salmon, add that, as well, as pulse until it’s nicely mixed, but not too fine. Scrape into a bowl.
or:
If you’re using canned salmon, scrape your processed ingredients into a bowl and stir in the salmon.

With either mixture, now stir in the egg.

Shape your patties in whatever size you like and refrigerate (removing them is even easier later if you line your plate with parchment or wax paper).

Heat your oil in a skillet, and cook the patties over medium heat for about four minutes per side. There’s egg in there, so don’t undercook them.

Pop your burger on an english muffin or bun with a dollop of cilantro mayo (or skip the bun altogether).

For the cilantro mayo:

This is pretty unscientific, folks. Chop a small handful of cilantro, by hand or in a mini food processor. Stir in a few tablespoons of mayo until it tastes good.

Serve it all alongside a sautee of snap peas and red pepper strips, sprinkled with a shake of sesame oil.

Grill-free goodness. Yum.

Posted in Spin