Healthy Food for Today's Fast-paced Lifestyle from Dietician and Nutritional Expert Susan Greeley » Susan’s Blog

Family Pie — for my Mom & Dad

Susan Greeley — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:40:53 +0000

If you saw the movie Waitress and loved it, I hope to inspire you further — enough to create your own wonderful pie. The first time I watched the film was about 2-1/2 years ago over New Year’s, while at my mom’s house. At the time, I was pregnant with my third baby (maybe that’s why I bonded with Keri Russell’s pregnant character?) and Mom was recuperating from a recurrence of breast cancer that included chemo and a double mastectomy. So together with my mom, the ultimate food-lover, and several of my siblings, I watched that hilarious, heart-warming story. It was the beginning of “pie humor” in our family. As the credits rolled, my mom exclaimed, “We are having that ‘I hate my husband pie’ for dinner tomorrow!” Sure enough, the next night we indulged in my mom’s decadent but oh-so-delicious traditional quiche Lorraine, the IHMH pie (with lots of brie). Oh, little mommy! It was divine. With her passing just three months ago, I am left missing her and her food enthusiasm. I am also the one left to carry on her food legacy, what can I say?! The truth is, we have a long “pie history” in our family. My dad simply loved pie. It was his favorite dessert, and he always complimented his bride’s pie-making. Until he got married, his mother, Maisy, had been the best pie maker in his world. Can you say LARD?! In any case, my dad would go out of his way for a slice of homemade pie. Peach, blueberry, strawberry-rhubarb, apple, pumpkin, banana cream, coconut cream, lemon chiffon — my mom made them all. (Pecan was not his favorite, for the record.) During every trip to Miami University — a long drive across rural Ohio that he made through 4 daughters’ college years — we always stopped at the “Leaf Restaurant” to get a slice of blueberry pie. He always liked it, but it never was “as good as your mother’s.” I loved those trips with Dad — and miss him and them dearly. That’s the gist of what pie meant to my Dad. Now my mom loved her pies too, but I think she liked making them just as much as eating them. She simply loved all food, except oysters — but that’s another story… During this summer season, with swiss chard and beets filling my CSA farm box, I cannot help but think of Mom. She loved these two veggies in particular. Having spent the majority of her childhood in the Kentucky countryside, she was a big fan of all greens. Her best swiss chard recipe is in my cookbook (so I’m holding out on that one).

A note about crusts: As a very busy mom to 3 boys, I don’t have time to make them! Occasionally, I make a trip to Whole Foods and stock up on frozen whole wheat pie crusts. I love them! They are perfect for the recipes that follow. If you want to make your own, I am a pure butter believer. My grandmother used lard, my mom used Crisco till I banned it, and I use butter. With whole wheat pastry flour and sweet cream butter, you’re good to go. In honor of both my beautiful parents, who would have celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary last week, I made 2 Sue-Sue Baby (my dad’s name for me) pies for them:

Kentucky Girl Swiss Chard & Beet Quiche

5-6 cups fresh swiss chard (1 large bunch)
1-2 fresh beets with greens (1 large or 2 small)
1 clove garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1 shallot, peeled & finely chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3-4 eggs
1 cup 2% milk
salt & pepper, dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop greens off of beets and cut into smaller strips. Peel the beets and chop into small chunks. Cut stems off of swiss chard leaves. Place all greens, stems and beet chunks in a large pot of water to cover. Bring to a simmer (low boil) and cook for about 5 minutes. Place in strainer. Beat eggs and milk together. Add pinch of salt and pepper. Pour chard & beets into pre-made pie crust. Sprinkle on chopped garlic and shallots and Parmesan cheese. Pour egg mixture over the filling. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg and grind a bit of black pepper on top.

Bake for 35 minutes or until firm and browned on top. Enjoy!

For the Love of Bart Best-Ever Blueberry Pie

5 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed & picked over
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tb. corn starch
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
zest of 1 lemon
2 pre-made whole wheat pie crusts

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and let stand for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour blueberry mixture into crust, then place second crust on top. Pinch around sides to seal. Make at least 4-6 small slits in top crust to vent. Rub cold water around edge of crust. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Place pie on a tray and bake another 35 minutes or until browned and bubbling over.

Let cool completely before serving with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did! They both would make my parents proud.

Follow the Food & Nutrition Lover on Twitter

Susan Greeley — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:06:23 +0000

‘Tis the season to Twitter… What does a dietitian/nutritionist/food & healthy living expert/cook/ writer/mother of three twitter about?

Find out here:

http://twitter.com/SusanCGreeley

Eggplant parm the CSA way

Susan Greeley — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:58:52 +0000

Summer is fading, and I am enjoying the last of the tomato and eggplant harvest . They have been phenomenal!

Nutritious and delicious — that’s the goal. Take advantage of these fresh varieties while they’re available. Here is the eggplant parmesan way …

I used basically 4 ingredients (eggplant, tomatoes, cheese and olive oil), and 2 of those were either grown at my own home or came in my “box share” from my CSA. If you don’t know what a CSA is, please read all the way to the bottom…

But first back to the eggplant parm, which is easy to make but takes about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. Sometimes great food does take a little longer, but it is always worth the wait! … The secret I am sharing with you is that I just used amazing heirloom tomatoes and the most beautiful eggplant I have ever seen, both from my Honey Brook Organic Farm box share. (I am sorry I did not take a picture of them, so unfortunately I have no photo with this post.)

I start by slicing the eggplant fairly thin (maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch) and putting them in a colander. I lightly salt them, which pulls out the “bitter liquid” before I cook them. Pat them dry and then dredge in mixture of whole wheat pastry flour seasoned with some salt & pepper. I always use whole wheat pastry flour to flour things. Get some if you don’t have it — it’s best for replacing refined white flour in baked goods of any kind.

Lightly fry all the eggplant in olive oil and then simply layer in your baking dish like a lasagna — eggplant layer, then fresh tomato layer , then thin slices of fresh mozzarella. (I used roma tomatoes for the first layer and then yellow and red heirloom tomatoes on top, so it was beautiful!) I do that two times, so you finish with cheese on top and then sprinkle the “real” Parmigiana Reggiano on top. Bake uncovered at 375 for about 45 minutes. Buon appetito!!

Now for the community supported agriculture (CSA) info. Basically, I want you to know they are great and now is the time to start thinking about registering for next year’s growing season if you are not already a member of one. To learn more, check out http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ to find a farm and the US Dept. of Agriculture’s site for info on CSAs: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml

My CSA farm is www.honeybrookorganicfarm.com

A friend I met this summer owns this gorgeous farm: http://www.stonegatefarmny.org/

Have fun getting to know your local growers!

Filming at the farm!

Susan Greeley — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:13:32 +0000

Yesterday we headed out to The Farm at Broad Run in Haymarket, VA to film my first “web field” segment. (See the video here) It was a blast despite the heat (which actually could have been A LOT worse for this time of year.) I felt bad for the crew who had to stay in the hot house during a lot of the videotaping. It’s amazing how many takes we had to do simply because of all the audio interference (airplanes, trucks, tractors, people, roosters, wind…) By the way, if you’re ever in Haymarket, be sure to visit this farm. Right now, you can get some fantastic late summer vegetables and flowers. The owners are fabulous and it’s fun for kids. My boys came out for a while and had fun checking out the goats and chickens. Stay tuned for the videotaping of our pilot show — we’ll be using the farm’s gorgeous outdoor kitchen for that. Man, it gets me psyched! I can only dream of having an outdoor kitchen like that… but it’s good to dream.

So, we’re done videotaping for the time being. I’ve had such a fun time thanks to the generosity of my crew. Thank you sooooooooooo much! I would not be doing any of this without this great team of a few awesome professionals.

Visit the website of The Farm at Broad Run Va.

Welcome to my Blog

Susan Greeley — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:27:03 +0000

Hi! I have kept a personal blog for years, and now it’s time to get this one going — all about food, fun, nutrition and health. Come often to read about what’s cookin’ in my world!