writer: Chef

Beef

Beef is okay for you but best to eat it more than about once a week. It is the amount of fat in beef that you want to keep an eye on and choosing lean beef is the key. Try to keep choices under 10 grams of fat with less than 4 grams of saturated fat in a four ounce serving. A lot of grocery stores will have this nutrition information listed or available but they don’t have to. If you want to know about any particular cut of beef the best internet resource to look up information is the USDA Nutrient Database at https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/

There is a wide variety of quality of beef on the market today and discussion of that is beyond the scope of this column. As with all products the higher quality usually dictates a higher price. Look for beef that is labeled as not having been fed anything but an all vegetable diet (cows are vegetarians after all). Purchase beef that claims to have no added hormones or any antibiotics used. Such measures are a little more costly but by not eating as much beef it’s worth the added money. There is no standard for labeling when it comes to such claims and you simply have to trust the market where you buy your meats.

Leaner meats come from the loin and the leanest and most tender section is the tenderloin. There are a number of tenderloin cuts to choose from. At the smaller end are the tournedos (or medallions) and the center is filet mignon. These steaks are most often pan fried or grilled. At the head is the Chateaubriand, which is usually roasted and is large enough for three to four servings.

When you shop for tenderloin it will most often be for filet steaks. A lot of butchers will “prepare” these for you by tying a string around the filet. This is often because they have taken two (or sometimes three) smaller bits of filet and tied them together to look like a larger steak. If the steak is tied you should be suspicious and ask them to cut your steak properly.

4 ounces lean beef tenderloin = 189 calories, 10 g fat, 4 g sat fat, 4 g mono fat, 23 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 60 mg sodium, 69 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 0 mcg

Flank steak is one of my favorite cuts and has only about six grams of fat in each serving. It is less tender than some cuts because it comes form an area that gets more muscular action but marinated and cooked quickly over high heat it makes for a truly succulent steak. Flank steak also works well in stews because it tenderizes quickly during the stewing process.

4 ounces lean beef flank steak = 158 calories, 6 g fat, 2 g sat fat, 2 g mono fat, 24 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 62 mg sodium, 37 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 1 mcg

Skirt steak is a great cut. It’s from the same area as the flank steak but is actually the diaphragm muscle. It is more marbled with fat than flank steak and makes for a fantastic dinner. It is great simply pan seared until just medium rare.

4 ounces lean beef skirt steak = 186 calories, 9 g fat, 4 g sat fat, 5 g mono fat, 24 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 76 mg sodium, 65 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 0 mcg

Sellers are allowed to label their beef 80% lean or 90% lean. You have to subtract this from 100 to get the fat content (20% fat for the 80% lean ground beef). Most groceries carry 90% lean and even higher now and this is your best choice. It might be labeled “Extra Lean” (see 10 Things You Need to Know about Reading Food Labels for an explanation of the meanings of Lean and Extra Lean).

4 ounces extra lean ground beef = 153 calories, 5 g fat, 2 g sat fat, 2 g mono fat, 24 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 74 mg sodium, 69 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 0 mcg

Top round is often sold as “London Broil” although traditionally London Broil recipes use flank steak. Cuts from the round are lean and muscular coming from the hip of the cow. Use this cut for London Broil but only in a pinch. Top round is great for stews. It also makes for terrific lean beef for grinding.

4 ounces lean top round = 159 calories, 5 g fat, 2 g sat fat, 2 g mono fat, 26 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 65 mg sodium, 74 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 1 mcg

It’s interesting that people believe that it’s more expensive to eat at home when it comes to a fast food type meal but don’t have trouble believing that it’s less expensive to have a “gourmet” meal at home. After all, pretty much every restaurant looks for the ingredient cost of a meal they serve to come in around 1/3 the amount they charge the consumer.

Here are some about some tips for cooking at home that can help you choose both the best recipes and ideas for cooking them for yourself.

1. The #1 tip for making a gourmet meal is to keep it simple. The best restaurant recipes you have had at your favorite restaurant are generally quite easy to make because they are simple and elegant.

Choose a recipe that contains fewer than ten ingredients including the herbs and spices.

2. If you are not an experienced chef, only choose recipes that have familiar ingredients and techniques at first. With each new recipe you should add a new ingredient or technique.

3. Cook often. By making this a major part of your life you will build a well stocked pantry full of great ingredients. By having all of the basic herbs and spices, pastas, rices, oils, vinegars and such on hand you won’t need to purchase them every time.

5. Don’t try to save money by purchasing “budget” ingredients. That Parmigiano-Reggiano may seem expensive, but you’ll need a lot less of it than the awful parmesan in the round green box.

The reason that your favorite chef’s food is so great is because he or she has started with fantastic ingredients, including the best cheeses, oils, vinegars and fresh herbs.

6. Go to the farmer’s market. Yes, the ingredients do taste that much better and are amazingly less expensive.

7. Be flexible and always have a back up plan. If you go to the market expecting to make a halibut dish and the fish looks awful, don’t purchase it or choose another white fish. In fact, it’s best to go to the store, find what is freshest and then build your meal around that. This applies to ingredients that might be on sale or seasonally less expensive and thus fresher.

8. Make too much and put it away. Leftovers can help extend the grocery budget by keeping you out of the restaurant in the following days.

9.  Read the recipe before you start cooking, assemble all of your ingredients and equipment, and then read it again. It’s important to know what you are doing – and that you have everything you need – well in advance.

10. Marinades are great choices. They add tons of flavor, tenderize less expensive cuts of meat and make them elegant. Best of all they are super simple.

You can save a lot of money by cooking at home.

A great way to take your lunch to work with you is to make a salad in a jar. They’re a snap to make, but they do require a 16 ounce mason jar or a similarly-sized container with a tightly-sealed lid. You can sometimes find them in your local grocery store, frequently at your local hardware store, and of course via mail order.

The best way to make your salad is to put some lettuce in first, then layer with veggies, some grains or legumes, nuts or seeds, maybe a bit of cheese, and your dressing. Here is a guide:

Greens (about 3/4 cup)

Lettuce (romaine, butter lettuce, or leaf lettuce)
Spinach
Kale
Arugula

Proteins

Egg (1 hard boiled)
Tuna (1/2 of a 5 ounce can)
Cubed or crumbled cheese (about an ounce)

Nuts or seeds (2 tablespoons)

Pumpkin seeds
Slivered almonds
Pine nuts
Sunflower seeds
Peanuts (actually a legume but that’s OK)
Chopped walnuts

Grains, Legumes, or Potatoes (about a cup)

Cooked brown rice
Cooked quinoa
Diced boiled potatoes
Diced boiled sweet potatoes
Pinto beans (all canned beans should be no salt added, drained, and rinsed)
Black beans
White beans
Garbanzo beans

Veggies (about a half cup)

Pick your veggie but dice them into 1/4 or 1/2 inch cubes)

Dressing of your choice

About 2 tablespoons

For example, you could make a salad with romaine, quinoa, an egg, some pine nuts, red peppers, yellow squash, and Caesar Dressing.

These are perfect for lunch at work and you can make enough for the week in about 35 minutes on a Sunday afternoon. Saves money, delicious, and a great way to improve your Mediterranean diet score!

Salad Dressing Recipe Ideas

Blue Cheese Dressing
Cilantro Lime Dressing
Creamy Lemon Dill Dressing
Ginger Garlic Salad Dressing
Green Goddess Dressing
Honey Mustard Dressing
Ranch Dressing
Thousand Island Dressing
Tomato Chive Dressing
All Salad Dressing Recipes

One of the things we teach now across the country as part of Culinary Medicine classes in medical schools, nursing schools, and for practicing healthcare providers, is how to have a different conversation with patients about food. We help doctors and nurses understand that they can have meaningful, actionable discussions in a very short period of time.

Often people know very little about how to cook. It is not just in a younger generation, but across the age spectrum.

What they actually mean by “I don’t know how to cook” might vary, however. It could be they know nothing about anything about cooking: zip, zero, nada. They might know a little bit but are unsure how to manage on a day to day basis. They might think it takes too long or is more expensive than picking up a meal at the grocery store or a take-out place. Even those folks who know a bit more about cooking will say that they don’t have time to cook every night.

The solution to this is simple: Stews.

Yep, that’s right. Just start cooking by making a stew.

You might think that stew isn’t very good for you. All that meat and gravy, right? The truth is that it’s easy to make a great stew that just happens to be great for you. In fact, it is one of the easiest ways for you to begin cutting back on animal protein while ramping up eating more veggies. Because you need very little meat (if any at all) to make a great tasting stew, you also save a ton of money: the beef, pork, chicken, etc. is, after all, the most expensive ingredient in your stews.

So we have two items down: cheaper and good for you.

The other great thing is that stews are pretty quick to make. Dice an onion, slice some carrots, cut some sweet potatoes into chunks, and toss them in a large pot one at a time with some meat (or not). After that you add a bit of liquid, some spices and herbs, and stir. Cover and simmer for about 60 to 90 minutes. All in all, the prep time is only about 15 minutes for most stews, and after that you just need to stir the pot occasionally. That’s not the only place that you save time, however. By making a double (or triple if your family is large enough) batch, you now have a couple of dinners later on in the week, or even a couple of dinners and something to take for lunch.

A third item: it actually takes less time and it’s both less expensive and better for you.

But let’s get back to the fact that you may not know how to cook or not feel very confident in making meals. The great thing is that it’s a stew. It is almost impossible to mess up. It offers you a great opportunity to practice some knife skills and learning to taste your stew and adjust the seasoning to your liking. It is basically cooking with training wheels. The finished product is not really supposed to look very elegant: it’s a stew, after all.

Here are some simple ideas for stews to help you get started:

Stews without meat:
Spicy Black Eyed Pea Stew
Black Bean and Corn Stew
Mushroom Stew
Indian Chickpea Stew

Stews with meat:
Spanish Beef Stew with Olives
Brunswick Stew
Beef Stew
Basque Chicken Stew

The same thing holds true for chili. Easy to cook, cheap, delicious, and it’s easy to become a master. Start with one of these stews and move on to chili. Make a double batch and you are good to go. Pass this on to a friend who you think should begin cooking and share some recipes with them.

Making fish stock is pretty simple.

You can easily make your own vegetable stock by using all of the scraps and peelings from vegetables in the kitchen “trash and treasure”. By keeping those identified as “treasure” you have a base for homemade vegetable stock. Here’s a guide to making your own vegetable stock.

Stock is technically made with bones and meat (or fish) where broth is made by simmering meat or fish only (sometimes with vegetables) or just vegetables. When you use the bones for making your stock and simmer them, the marrow and gelatin dissolves into the stock giving it a richer, silkier texture.

You can make shrimp stock by saving the shells from the shrimp when you peel and devein them. Shrimp stock does have a more subtle flavor than fish stock.

Place the fish and bones or the shrimp shells in a 4 quart pot and then fill with cold water. Simmer for about 90 minutes. Taste the stock while you are simmering to check for flavor. If it is weak, keep letting it simmer until it is stronger, more flavorful stock.

Strain the cooked fish and bones or shrimp shells and discard. Let the stock cool, then divide into containers, freeze them and when you need a couple of cups of stock they are ready to go.

Here are some great recipes for you to use your shrimp stock in:
Scallops and Grits
Garlic Chili Shrimp
Shrimp Fideua
Smoky Shrimp and Sausage
Smoky Shrimp
Shrimp with Luscious Shrimp Sauce
Shrimp Clemenceau
Jerk Shrimp Salad

Rice keeps well so it makes a perfect item to keep on hand. You can keep a few different types of rice in your pantry and you will always have the base for a good meal. For example, you can make Spanish Rice, Shrimp Fried Rice or a risotto. All of these are great one pan meals and require only a few fresh ingredients. Rice does, of course, make a great side dish especially with those recipes that have a lot of sauce or gravy.

What types should you keep on hand?

First off, the classifications for rice are short, medium and long grain. Long grain rice are of the subspecies Indica, while the shorter are Japonica. Long grain rice is about four to five times as long as it is wide and has lighter, fluffier, and separate grains when cooked. Because the starch content is lower, the rice doesn’t stick together as easily as medium or short grain rice. Basmati and jasmine rice are examples of high quality long grain rice. Both have light aromatic flavors and go great with Asian and Indian dishes.

Short grain rice is slightly rounded and plump. Its higher starch content makes for a creamy rice and, when cooked, the grains tend to stick together. Rice for sushi is made from short grain rice. Arborio rice is also a short grain rice with a very high starch content that is the basis for Italian risotto as well as Spanish Paella (although there are a wide variety of Italian and Spanish rice that you can choose from including baldo, carnaroli and calasparra).

Start by stocking your cupboard with brown rice. There is no doubt that it is the healthiest choice since it has not been refined like white rice which has had the good bits – the bran and germ – stripped away (that’s where the fiber and a lot of the nutrients are).

White rice gets a bad rap. There are a lot of foods made with refined ingredients that end up being white because all of the goodness has been taken out of them – white flour, white sugar, cornstarch, etc.. As such, rice gets lumped into the category of refined ingredients and, that’s right, white rice is refined with much the goodness stripped away but, like using sugar or white flour in the right application, white rice has a place in your cupboard.

In the end, white rice is about everything that is wrong about how we look at food because what really matters it is what you pair the rice with. Yes, alone white rice is refined but when you put it with onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes and other great ingredients, you make a great dish.

The bran layer in brown rice is high in fiber and other nutrients but it is the lovely nutty flavor and chewier texture that makes brown rice so appealing. You can use brown rice in almost any application that calls for white rice. It simply takes longer to cook and requires more water.

That brings up a bit of a controversy. Do you cook rice with just the right amount of water or do you cook it in a large pot with a lot of water until the rice is done and then drain the excess water away? Personally, Ideally, use just as much water as needed (1 1/2 cups of water for 1/4 cup white rice and 2 1/4 cups of water for brown and other rice). There is a lot of carbohydrate goodness that gets cooked into the water and it’s easier to make rice where the grains don’t stick together by using more water and draining.

There are a few other types that you might want to keep in hand. Purple sticky rice also known as Thai sweet rice. It has a sweet yet also savory flavor and as it cooks the carbohydrates help create a lovely sticky sauce. If you can find it, purple rice is great with Asian dishes like this Seared Tuna with Sake-Wasabi Sauce.

Wild rice is a grass that is indigenous to the Americas. There are a numbers of species of wild rice and I love the black version best (here’s more on wild rice).

What about Minute Rice? It’s not terrible but it’s not great either. The rice has been parboiled to being almost done and then dried so it only takes about 5 minutes to make. The brown rice version is much better than the white rice version.

1/4 cup uncooked brown rice = 170 calories, 1g fat, 0g sat fat, 0.5g mono fat, 4g protein, 36g carbohydrates, 3mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol

1/4 cup uncooked rice = 176 calories, <1g fat, 0g sat fat, 0g mono fat, 3g protein, 39g carbohydrates, 0mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol

1/4 cup raw wild rice = 143 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 0 g mono fat, 6 g protein, 30 g carbohydrates, 3 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, Vitamin K 1 mcg

We  love legumes.

Mostly because they taste so great, but when it comes to being able to build a meal that has it all – flavor, texture, fiber, great quality carbohydrates, protein – beans really top the list. They are one of the smartest ingredients for you to have on hand.

Take the simple black bean as a prototype. One half cup of cooked black beans contains 114 calories, with 20 grams of carbohydrates. And those are some quality carbohydrates, because there’s only about 1/4 gram of sugars in that serving but over 7 grams of fiber. Couple that with almost 8 grams of protein and you have a great foundation for almost any recipe. This is not limited to black beans, of course, and navy beans, pintos, black eyed peas, kidney beans and fava beans are all comparable in terms of their great nutrition profile.

They also keep well, meaning that you can always have them on hand.

Dried beans are inexpensive and keep well as long as you store them in a tightly sealed container. Even though they are the ideal ingredient to keep on hand, they are a bit more hassle because you have to soak them overnight prior to cooking. Granted, you can use the quick method of soaking an hour in room temperature water and then simmering in a lot of water for an hour, but that also takes time that you may not have.

That leaves canned, and in some cases, frozen beans for the most convenience.

The first challenge with canned beans is that traditionally they contain added salt. This can be rather a lot of salt, too, so you have to be careful. A half cup of canned kidney beans contains about 325 milligrams of sodium, and that can add a lot to your dish. According to the USDA, that same half cup of canned kidney beans contains only 116 milligrams of sodium once it has been drained, so it clearly makes sense to take that extra step of pouring them into a strainer and running under cold water for a few seconds.

Cost can be a factor with the no salt added versions sometimes costing more (it always seems weird that we charged more for them to leave out the salt and a step in the processing). Fortunately, in the last few years that’s become less of an issue, with the cost between salted and no salt canned beans narrowing – in some cases completely.

The ones labeled “no salt added” come in at between 10 and 15 milligrams of sodium, so it’s not necessary to drain and rinse if you don’t want to. Depending on the application – a cream soup, say – adding the liquid to your recipe can add even more great bean flavor. This is, as you might expect, the same amount of sodium in the dried beans that you soaked and then cooked since most all ingredients contain some degree of sodium.

Given the difference of about 200 milligrams in a half cup between the traditional beans with salt and the no salt added variety you will want to make an adjustment to your recipe if you are going to use them. Here’s a good rule of thumb for making that adjustment: a 15 ounce can of beans contains about 1 1/2 cups, or three servings. Given that you are saving about 200 milligrams of sodium per serving, that comes to about 600 mg – or about 1/4 teaspoon – of added salt that you might want to remove from your recipe. It may be a little less if the beans are to be pureed or partially crushed, since the sodium will permeate the recipe more than if they remain whole like in a clear vegetable soup.

Lastly, don’t trust frozen to not have added salt. While there are not a lot of producers marketing frozen beans, some are as high in sodium as the canned, and there’s no way to drain and rinse some of that salt away.

White Chili
Chili Con Carne
Six Bean Chili
One Skillet Chicken and Black Beans
Cowboy Pinto Beans
Refried Black Beans

It might seem obvious that you should always have eggs on hand, but they really are one of the most versatile ingredients and they keep quite well (here’s the US Department of Health and Human Service’s Food Safety guide for keeping eggs.)

Eggs have gotten a really bad rap in the last 40 years. The idea that they were harmful because they are high in cholesterol wasn’t even faulty science: in most cases there wasn’t a lot of science involved in the recommendation to limit dietary cholesterol. We now know that dietary cholesterol isn’t a major health issue for most folks, so having them on hand for a quick meal makes sense.

Much of the evidence showing eggs to be safe has come out in just the last several years. For example, in a large study of 21,000 physicians those eating up to 6 eggs per week saw no increase in their risk of heart failure. There was an increased risk of 28% in those eating an egg every day (or 7 or more per week). Those consuming 2 or more eggs per day (14 per week) did have a dramatic increase in risk of 64%.  So like most foods, too much of any ingredient is. . . too much. The good thing about this study, however, was that there was no difference in the participants’ cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol, HDL, or LDL. (Djoussé, L. & Gaziano, J. M. Egg consumption and risk of heart failure in the Physicians’ Health Study. Circulation 117, 512-516, 2008)

Another study of 152 overweight or obese men and women had half of the participants eat 2 eggs for breakfast and the other half eat the same number of calories in a bagel breakfast. In both groups there were instructions in reducing calories and in the group who had eggs for breakfast tended to lose 65% more weight than those who had bagels for breakfast. They also reduced their Body Mass Index by an additional 61% over the bagel breakfasters, while also seeing a 34% greater reduction in their waist circumference. (Vander Wal JS, Gupta A, Khosla P, Dhurandhar NV. Egg breakfast enhances weight loss. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008;32(10):1545-1551. doi:10.1038/ijo.2008.130)

Again, in this study there was no significant difference in cholesterol levels between the bagel group and the egg group, regardless of whether they were reducing their total caloric intake or not.

In a 20 year study out of Finland, 2,300 men were followed over 20 years and researchers looked at those who ate less than 1 medium egg per week vs. men consuming at least 3 1/2 to 4 eggs per week. The higher egg group was 37% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Even better, when looking at the participants’ total cholesterol intake from all sources, researchers found (again) no links between dietary cholesterol and diabetes risk. (Virtanen JK, Mursu J, Tuomainen TP, Virtanen HE, Voutilainen S. Egg consumption and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101(5):1088-1096. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.104109)

There are other studies to support the idea that eggs are not a problem, but you get the idea. So keep a dozen eggs on hand. They’re not just for breakfast: egg dishes make terrific light dinners and recipes like frittatas, quiches, or omelets make great lunches to take to work.

Asparagus Frittata
Cauliflower Pie
Creole Frittata | Low Sodium Creole Frittata
French Onion Frittata
Ham and Pimento Tortilla
Mediterranean Tortilla
Omelet | Low Sodium Omelet
Spinach Feta Frittata
Tortilla
Tortilla with Yams
Yam and Leek Tortilla
Zucchini Chevre Frittata
All Breakfast Recipes »

Worcestershire is not one of those ingredients that is foundational like onions, mushrooms, or tomato paste. It is, however, one of the best products to have on hand that, used thoughtfully, can make a big difference in almost any dish.

There are a lot of a great stories behind the origin of Worcestershire sauce. The one that we do know is that John Wheeley and William Henry Perrins began experimenting with sauces in their pharmacy. It may be that the idea for the recipe came from Lord Sandys – or possibly Lady Sandys – after their return from East Asia and found its way into the hands of Lea and Perrins. The chemists first attempt at replicating the recipe was, however, a failure, and deemed too strong of flavor to be edible. Allegedly they came across the sauce years later in the basement of their shop and found the fermented sauce to be delicious. In 1838 the first bottles of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce was relesed to the public.

Why should you keep it on hand? Simple.

Umami.

The sauce is made with vinegar, molasses, cloves, anchovies, tamarind, chili peppers, shallots, garlic and onion among other things. The combination is balanced with sweet, salty and some tart flavors but it is the umami that really comes through and adds a lot to your dishes. The best part is that with all that flavor it is low in salt – a teaspoon contains only 65 milligrams of sodium. The fact is that Worcestershire sauce tastes a lot more salty than it is.

But it is the umami flavor that really comes through in the sauce and just a bit will enhance almost any dish. It is important for you add Worcestershire to your recipes carefully and measure each teaspoon. Too much can easily ruin a dish and there is a fine line between too little, just right and too much.

There is a legend that Caesar Cardini’s original Caesar Salad recipe used anchovies in the dressing. In numerous reports, including a 1987 interview with Cardini’s daughter, it is clear that the umami flavor in Caesar Salad dressing comes from Worcestershire sauce and not anchovies (along with the parmesan cheese). It is the anchovy flavor in Worcestershire that imparts a lot of the savory, umami taste.

A good rule of thumb is to start with 1/4 teaspoon per serving: a recipe that serves four will need about 1 teaspoon to ramp up the umami flavor in the dish. You can add more – a teaspoon at a time – but don’t be in a rush. A little goes a long way. If the dish already has strong flavors you might need a bit more (or none at all) but delicate dishes like eggs can easily be overpowered by adding too much.

If you are on a very low sodium diet there are good low sodium versions on the market. The Lea & Perrins brand has a great flavor and their low-sodium version is almost indistinguishable from the traditional Worcestershire sauce. (1 tsp. low-sodium Worcestershire sauce = 5 calories, 0g fat, 0g sat fat, 0 mono fat, 0g protein, 1g carbohydrates, 20mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol)

Here are some recipes that use Worcestershire to give you some guidance on using it as a subtle but important flavor enhancer.

Quick Beef Stroganoff with Noodles
Mushroom Cheddarburgers
Sweet Red Pepper Barbecue Tuna
Smokey Black Eyed Peas
Beef Tips in Brown Gravy

Yes, humble tomato paste is just full of secret tomato flavor.

This makes sense. There is a lot of flavor in tomatoes. Raw, they are tart, but depending on their degree of ripeness, they’re also sweet. As they are cooked they lose some of the tartness and the sweetness is enhanced. The longer they cook, especially if they are roasted, tomatoes become more savory with an intense umami flavor. Tomato paste is the distillation of all these flavors – umami, sweet and tart. Most producers will add some salt to round all of this out, but this is unnecessary, and as with unsalted butter, you should look for no salt added tomato paste.

Traditionally tomato paste comes in a can. Hunt’s, Contadina, and others, for example, make pretty good tomato paste (with no salt added in some cases) but a can contains about 10 tablespoons. Since it doesn’t keep well – maybe 5-7 days at the most – you will need to plan to use it up pretty. Yes, you can freeze the remainder, but that’s a bit of a hassle and the whole idea is to have things on hand that are ready to use.

The solution? Tomato paste in tubes. It’s it much more convenient as it keeps quite well. That convenience does come at a price, however, and the tubes cost about twice as much as the more conventional canned.

There are a lot of great products on the market, and the imported Amore and Cento are both pretty good (the Amore has less added salt). Whole Foods brand is good as well, but not as widely available, obviously.

There are options beyond plain tomato paste, however. A lot of options. At the top of the list is not a tomato paste but chipotle paste by a a company called Olo’s. This is not as strong or as spicy a flavor as you might think. Most people think of chipotle peppers as really spicy but they are actually have a subtle spice and smoky flavor and that comes through in the Olo’s product. This can add a lot to your Southwestern or Mexican dish – a little goes a long way in recipes. One of the best ways to use their chipotle paste is as a spread: just put a couple of teaspoons on your sandwich.

Amore makes a sun-dried tomato paste that is good, but the flavor doesn’t really come through in cooked dishes in the way you want it to. That said, this is a great choice if you are making a salad dressing or a pan sauce (as long as you don’t cook it for very long).

Harissa is a ramped up version of the chipotle paste made with serrano, roasted red peppers and baklouti peppers. The flavor is smoky and rich but spicy, and has a heat that doesn’t leave you breathless but actually leaves you wanting more. Go slow with harissa. It can easily overpower a dish, but a teaspoon or two can transform a simple meal into a great one.

Try a recipe using today’s featured ingredient(s):

Boston Baked Beans
Shrimp with Fusilli and Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
Tenderloin with Harissa Sauce
Roasted Salmon with Red Thai Curry
Lamb Stew with Chickpeas
Fish Sandwiches with Sun Dried Tomato Tartar Sauce