Super Ozzifying Daphne Oz’s Beet Sauce & Mother Trucker Veggie Burger from The Chew, September 30, 2011

Daphne Oz went into the field to explore healthy street food which is where she came upon the Green Truck and their Mother Trucker veggie burger.  You can find the recipe she made for the Beet Sauce here:

Daphne prepared the Beet Sauce and the Mother Trucker for The Chew panelists, but I Ozzified it a little bit more to make it even more healthy.

Kept: 

•     Roasted Beets - no need to go organic since I peeled them before I roasted them for dinner the night before.
• ·         Veggie burger patty - I used Boca, because they have a wide variety of tasty veggie burger patties. I don't have a financial or any other kind of relationship whatsoever with BOCA, other than being a consumer of their products for the past three years. In other words, I don't get any money from them - I spend money on them.
• ·         Organic Heirloom tomato slice 
• 
  

Modified:

• ·         Whole wheat bun – I used a whole grain bun. The bun in the piece looked like a white bun with some caramel coloring thrown in to make it look browner - one of the head fakes about which Dr. Oz is always cautioning us.

Swapped:

• ·         Axed the arugula for raw kale - not for any health reason, just that I had kale on hand and didn't want to go buy arugula just to use as a garnish. I was a little leery because raw kale has a strong flavor that I absolutely can't stand. Surprisingly, it actually worked thanks to all the other strong flavors in this yummy burger. As my daughter would say, "it didn't suck."
• ·         86ed the organic catsup for a no-salt catsup (saving 1200 grams of sodium – critical since veggie burgers tend to be high in sodium already (this should be proof enough that I don't get any $$$ from BOCA).
• ·        Skipped the Veganaise in favor of low fat Greek yogurt instead, saving nearly a day’s worth of calories (1280) and over 140 grams of fat. I also saved gas since I didn't have to drive to the store to buy a mayonnaise I probably wouldn't like anyway. Of course, adding yogurt makes this burger non-vegan, but since I'm not vegan, it isn't a problem. I am trying to lose weight, however, so saving the fat calories by losing the mayo would've happened even if I were a vegan.

KAdded:

• ·         sodium free Greek herbs for a little Mediterranean punch

This burger took very little time to make. In the seven minutes it took to cook up the Boca patty on my stovetop grill, I was able to whirl together the beets (roughly chop them up some first unless you have a super efficient food processor), yogurt, herbs and catsup to make the sauce. I slathered on the sauce rather than make the cutesy heart and peace sign - not a big fan of washing more dishes than I absolutely have to.

Ozzifying Mario Batali’s Peaches in Primitivo Syrup - A Recipe Re-do from The Chew, September 29, 2011

This recipe was pretty simple, requiring only four ingredients, well @ first anyway. You can see Mario Batali's original, pre-Ozzified recipe here:

At first glance, there wasn't much to modify in this recipe. Peaches and red wine are both already very healthful ingredients. I did end up changing everything, however.

Modified:

• Red Wine - Mario used Primitivo, an Italian wine not easily found out here in the hinterland, so I used an inexpensive Malbec in it's place
• Peaches – Not really a change on my part - the recipe said to peel them, but the picture showed the peels on. I followed the recipe & peeled them, though it would’ve been fine to use them unpeeled since the peaches I had on hand were organic. 

Swapped:

• 86ed the white sugar & used agave syrup instead. I was able to use less of it since it was already reduced.
• Didn’t use a clove because neither Mario’s on-air segment nor the recipe when it first was posted on The Chew website made any mention of it. Now all of a sudden it mentions you might want one – I concur. The syrup’s flavor profile would’ve been enhanced had a clove been simmered in the reduction.

Kept:

Fresh ground black pepper

This was already a delicious and healthier alternative to a processed, high fat, high fructose dessert. Ozzifying it by substituting agave sweetener for white sugar makes it even better.

Michael Symon’s Couscous and Tuna Salad - A recipe re-do from September 28, 2011's The Chew, Ozzified

 Michael Symon’s original recipe from the September 28th episode can be found here:

This was a recipe where I ended up changing six of the nine ingredients just to make it more like something Dr. Oz might eat. 

The three things kept from Symon's recipe:

• ·         Parsley
• ·         Olive oil
• ·         Vinegar

I modified three other ingredients:

• ·         Garbanzo beans/chick peas - I used a reduced sodium brand
• ·         Lemon - because it involved using the zest, I used an organic lemon
• ·         Couscous - I used a whole wheat couscous

and swapped out the final three ingredients:

• ·         86ed the golden raisins for nutrient-dense dried cranberries
• ·         Scrapped the high mercury tuna for a more Omega 3 rich canned wild-caught Alaska Salmon. Even if salmon weren't a healthier alternative, I don't know about where you live, but in my neck of the woods, not one store had ever heard of tuna coming in a jar.
• ·         Dumped pickled vegetables and used some tri-color peppers from a jar - much less sodium and colored peppers are rich in vitamins and carotinoids

Poor Daphne has been taking a lot of undeserved pot-shots from her fellow panelists. Here are a couple of examples: 

• On Sept. 27th show, Michael Symon derided  Oz as "Fat phobic" when she asked if the chicken could be made without the skins.  btw: As I wrote in my previous blog entry, I made the same dish w/o the skin and it was very flavorful. Besides, one look @ my ample behind should be proof enough that I'm not fat-phobic) 
• On this episode, Carla was suggesting that the dish could also be made with rice or farro, which prompted Mario Batali to pointedly inquire, "Can you use psyllium husks?" 

To answer your question, Mario, however snide it might be, the answer is YES! Just to prove a point, I shook in a tablespoon or two of psyllium husks - & not one person who ate it could tell they were in there. Booyah!!! Score one for Daphne Oz. 

Chicken w/ Tomato & Olives Michael Symon's 5 in 5 - A recipe re-do from The Chew Sept. 27, 2011 - Ozzified

Today's 5 on 5 recipe needed so little tweaking that I was able to make it for today's lunch & eat it before the show was over.  


Click here for Michael Symon's original recipe.

My tweaks:

• Used skinless chicken thighs as I had some left from last night's dinner & skinless chicken is healthier. 
• To compensate for the fat the skin would've provided, I cooked the chicken thigh on a griddle with some olive oil rather than a grill. And no, Michael Symon, I am NOT "crazy fat-phobic"!
• Didn't have a brick handy, so I smashed the boneless chicken thigh once with a skillet before I cooked it, then occasionally pushed on it with my spatula to keep it flat. I could have used my bacon press but didn't want more to clean up afteward.
• Used a chopped, fresh, heirloom tomato rather than go buy a whole can of San Marzano tomatoes, which tend to be pricey and have a lot of sodium. 

As was obvious on the segment, the chicken alone takes more than five minutes to cook. It took seven minutes to get to 160 degrees, but then I didn't use a brick. Doesn't matter, this dish was yummy and well worth the extra minute or two.

The Chew Sept. 26, 2011 Carla's Fried Apple Pancakes, Michael Symon's Pork & Beans, Ozzified!

On today’s The Chew, Michael Symon cooked up some Pork & Beans & repeatedly made it a point to mention he included kale in deference to Daphne Oz & her dad, Dr. Mehmet Oz’s healthy sensiblilities. His recipe is here: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Michael-Symon-Pork-and-Beans , but I made it for dinner tonight with a few alterations that Dr. Oz (and my pantry) would support.   

I Ozzified Michael Symon’s Pork & Beans as follows:

• ·         I used chicken instead of pork, a protein that’s a lot more in line with what Dr. Oz would eat.  
• I didn’t have any prosciutto, so I Ozzified it by using ½ slice of turkey ham per pounded out cutlet instead
•   I also didn’t have any parsley (my herb garden died while I was out of town) so I used some nori (toasted seaweed) from my pantry. 
•  I swapped the white flour for whole wheat flour & seasoned it with low sodium Bacon Salt. It’s wonderful stuff that can be bought online or if you’re lucky, at your local grocery store.  
•  I used a non-stick pan, omitted the butter & added just a little bit of olive oil. 
•  I didn’t have any shallots, so I’m used red onions instead which Daphne’s dad, Dr. Oz touts as a great ovarian cancer preventative & is a whole lot cheaper to use.
• I used pre-cut, pre-washed, packaged organic kale
•  I had no white beans on hand, so I used low sodium canned garbanzo beans, another one of Dr. Oz’s superfoods. 
• I didn’t have an orange, so I used ¼ cup 100% pomegranate juice which is about the same amount of juice in a medium orange, and the zest of an organic lemon.

I did use my Microplane to grate the zest. Had to love how the Microplane was the first gadget recommended by The Chew. Doesn’t just about everyone who watches food shows already have one?  See how I made this:

Also on today’s The Chew, Carla, one of my all-time favorite Bravo cheftestants, made an updated version of Fried Apple Pancake Rings.  http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Carla-Hall-Fried-Apple-Pancake-Rings  Here’s how I Ozzified them for dessert tonight:

·         used whole-grain, high protein pancake mix

·         threw in some psyllium husks for even more fiber

·         substituted sparkling water for plain water to make the batter even fluffier

I was surprised Daphne Oz didn’t know what pumpkin pie spice is…pumpkin pie is a dessert made from VEGETABLES!!!  You’d think it would be an Oz family favorite.

I also skipped making the apple cider syrup. It’s hard to find an American one here out of season. Here in AZ, the store shelves pretty much only have ciders made from Chinese apples. I don’t eat or drink anything from China, and not because of Dr. Oz. His show on arsenic in apple juice just confirmed what I already believed after premium dog food made with that crappy Chinese wheat gluten killed my Yorkie.  

Didn't matter...they tasted just fine with a light dusting of cinnamon, another one of Dr. Oz's recommended spices.