(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)
By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate
(originally published July 2012)
There is a way this July Fourth for you to have lots more fun and simplicity than just by preparing cute dishes that happen to feature red-white-and-blue ingredients.
July Fourth spreads often consist of large buffets of homemade items that take lots of effort and cost, as well as the obligatory red-white-and-blue themed recipes. However, what if you could combine lots of your favorite July Fourth ingredients in a single, easy one-pot meal that's much more dazzling than those individual time robbers?
A "low-country boil," which shot to prominence in the low country (the coast between Georgia's Savannah River north to Pawleys Island, S.C.) is just such a meal. It was served for the first time publicly in South Carolina in the 1960s by National Guardsman (and later seafood company owner) Richard Gay, who was throwing together a quick dish of leftovers for 100 of his fellow guardsmen. The dish (also at that time referred to as Frogmore Stew - where Gay was from in South Carolina and where his family had made it at home for years - or Beaufort Stew - where he was stationed in South Carolina) has become a legend enjoyed at millions of outings every summer.
There's good reason. The dish is often a mélange of fresh shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob, smoked sausage and plenty of Old Bay seasoning. Through the years, cooks at the beach where the stew is often prepared also have added lobster, oysters, crab and crawfish. The recipe easily adapts from a yield for a small family to that of a large group, since every ingredient is measured per person. "The rule of thumb here is the bigger the crowd, the bigger the pot," noted
Coastal Living magazine, which covers that part of the country.
Even better than this being a one-pot recipe is that it also can be a no-dish recipe. It is often cooked outdoors over an open flame (where allowed and well supervised if children are around). Cooks often turn out the finished meal onto a table covered with a paper tablecloth and then, when done, just roll it up and throw it away.
Special fare like this also proves cooking can be easy, nutritious, economical, fun - and fast. Such recipes take just
10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for tasty home cooking and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it! These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you - or your kidlet helpers - choose to use can't help but draw "wows" from family members and guests.
Here are some common ingredients you might consider including in your low-country boil (each would be measured per person):
--- Fully cooked smoked sausage
--- Fresh shrimp
--- Oysters (debearded and scrubbed)
--- Mussels
--- Crab
--- Old Bay seasoning
--- Small new potatoes
--- Small onions
--- Ears of corn
--- Fresh fennel
--- Fresh thyme
--- Enough water to cover before boiling (and/or a mixture of pale ale, if the party is all adults)
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: At the start of the low-carb craze years ago, companies began to sell "diet" breads that were ultra-thin and often fairly flavorless. Although cutting out carbohydrates completely, nutritionists agree, is ill-advised, not over-indulging is a good plan. What may be overlooked, though - and a more flavorful and nutritious option - is simply asking your bakery or supermarket bakery section to slice thinly your family's favorite breads, such as rye, sourdough, whole-grain or pumpernickel. What you save nutritionally with that step can mean a little more room for treats later, such as with cheese bread. Spread with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan, quickly broil, and the thin slices become perfect, crispy - but not overly-indulgent - garlic bread.
Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet (Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
