All five of my children and my grandchildren cook the same way that I do – by watching and observing, and they’ve been helping me cook all of their lives. There’s always something for them to do when we’re in the kitchen, whether it’s chopping and dicing, washing or seasoning. There can never be too many hands when making dinner. Often, I find that kids love to experiment in the kitchen, and I am all for letting them, as long as they stay within range.

Some of the first lessons I ever taught them about cooking was to use their sense of smell and to be brave, bold and not afraid of making mistakes with their creativity. Sometimes, a simple kitchen gaffe can turn into something fantastic if you’re brave and confident enough to fix it.

When they were infants, my kids were securely packed on my chest in Snugglies while I worked in the kitchen. As toddlers I carefully balanced them on one hip while I stirred my pots. They all started learning how to cook when they were as young as 5, and over the years have developed their own versions of the foods that they’ve tasted and like. The two older ones who long ago moved out still call me whenever they get stuck on a recipe.

I love eating food almost as much as I do preparing it. So, whenever I eat something delightful, I use my taste buds to discern the flavorings and come up with my own version of it. Whether I’m eating out in a restaurant,  at some one’s house or remembering the foods that my grandmothers and parents made, I’ve taken copious mental notes to draw from when I’m back in my kitchen.

Back in 1993 I had landed an anchoring gig at 1010 WINS News Radio in New York City. I was desperately looking for a house in Teaneck, N.J., when we stumbled upon a small café’ called Classic Quiche. We’d stopped there to get directions and, also hungry, were delighted to find that the restaurant’s menu was based entirely around quiche, salad and cream of mushroom soup with spinach – all favorites of  ours. The place was tiny, the kind that two people could easily manage. It seemed to be a franchise and the owner, a delightful woman named Sandra, immediately befriended us. Turns out the house we were looking for and eventually moved into was right around the corner, and Classic Quiche became a regular treat for us.

Ever since then, quiche has been a household staple for my family. Although Sandra long ago sold her restaurant, new owners have maintained its simple format  and it remains located in Teaneck.  Although I never asked Sandra to share her recipes, I’ve since become an avid quiche student.

My brother-in-law Bill, who will whip up a quiche on a moment’s notice, has taught me that it’s the perfect comfort food. One, because it’s simple to make, and two, because it can serve as a whole meal in one or as a side dish. I love quiche for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and it’s great either all by itself or with a salad. Quiche is also good as an appetizer, and can be served either right from the oven or cold for lunch the next day. Best yet, it’s simple to make as well as nourishing, and  it has all of the essential nutrients that we need in our diets.

Quiche can include virtually any type of food that you want it to. You can make an entire pie-sized quiche or tiny ones to serve as appetizers. Every time I make quiche my children help develop new combinations. They came up with this one quite by accident when they added soy crumbles.

Spinach/Soy Quiche

Pre-heat oven to 375°F

6 eggs

1 cup mild cheddar cheese (grated)

1 cup Gouda cheese (grated)

¼ cup freshly shaved Parmesan cheese

1 box frozen chopped or whole-leaf spinach, thawed and drained completely

1 pint light cream

1/4 cup 2% milk

2 prepared pie crusts

(Read ingredients on the crust to avoid lard and use prepared crusts made with 100% vegetable oil)

¼ cup soy crumbles

5 button mushrooms, capped and sliced

1/2 vine-ripe tomato (sliced)

Directions

• Beat the eggs and mix with light cream, milk, Gouda and cheddar cheese, and set aside
• Place pie crust in the oven for seven minutes  and then remove them (this takes out the moisture)
• Line the bottom of the crust with soy crumbles
• Whip spinach with eggs, milk and cheese mixture. Bake for 40 minutes until the center is almost firm
• Carefully place mushrooms and sliced tomatoes on the top (they’ll burn if you cook them the entire time)
• Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan and lower heat to 325° F
• Bake for another 20 minutes until cheese is melted and the center is firm.

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One of them is using tofu, which can be prepared in a variety of ways. The good thing about tofu is its flexibility. And it’s also very cost-efficient, averaging about $3 for a block that can easily feed 4-6 people - depending on their appetites – when mixed with vegetables.

It took years for me to like tofu, which is basically curdled soy milk that comes from the soybean. Sounds yucky, right? It’s really not bad at all. In fact, tofu is one of the few foods that my picky daughter number four loves and will eat consistently.

I’ve eaten tofu prepared as chicken salad or made to taste exactly like tuna. However, I prefer it seared in olive oil and garlic, then mixed with stir-fried vegetables, served over brown rice.

But because tofu is so bland, you have to work with it to get it to taste really good. Tofu comes in a block, packed in water and I’ve found that there’s a big debate over how to press out the excess water, which will make it hold seasoning better and easier to cook. There are tofu presses but they really aren’t necessary.

I simply sit my tofu between two plates underneath my cast-iron frying pan to squeeze out the excess water. Then I season it and sear it in that same pan with garlic and olive or sesame oil.

Stir-fried veggies with tofu (feeds 6)

Best prepared in a wok

Ingredients

1 package of firm tofu

½ head broccoli (florets only)

¼ head cauliflower (florets only)

4 large button mushroom caps (sliced)

½ yellow pepper (seeded and sliced lengthwise)

1 small yellow onion (sliced)

½ cup baby carrots (halved lengthwise)

¼ cup virgin olive oil or sesame oil

3 cloves fresh garlic (diced)

1 pinch sea salt

1/8  cup Tamari or soy sauce

1tbs cornstarch

Directions

• Drain off water and place tofu in between two plates, and then under a cast-iron frying pan or something heavy to squeeze out excess water. Half the tofu lengthwise and slice about ¼ inch thick
• Heat ½ of olive oil in a wok or cast-iron pan
• Fry pieces of tofu until golden brown on each side and set aside
• Add remaining oil and sauté garlic and then vegetables until the broccoli is just bright green.Lay tofu into the veggies.
• Mix Tamari sauce and cornstarch into a paste and then stir into vegetables.
• Season with salt at serving time

Note : Sesame oil is lighter and heats much faster than olive oil. Be careful not to burn it.

Serve over brown rice

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I emailed my cousin the other day in search of our grandmother’s recipes for the from-scratch rolls and cakes that she baked, intending to figure out how to make them healthier. Muddie lived with our cousins in Greensboro, NC, and we lived in Philly, so we didn’t get to see her very often. She baked rolls and caramel cakes, mailed them to us for the holidays and we just couldn’t seem to get enough.

But when she did visit us a few times a year she’d take over my mama’s kitchen. Unfortunately, she kept all of those recipes in her head, and not one of her five granddaughters learned the trade secrets of her baking. Then again, that’s probably a good thing since they were so fattening, and we’re all watching our weight.  My cousin agrees with me that her cooking, like many southern blacks, although delicious, wasn’t healthy at all.

Although my own mother is also a good cook, her foods were much more nutritional. So, naturally like most children, we wanted the opposite and considered Muddie’s soul food a real treat. But there was always this  jar of bacon grease - I worried about it and have long since gotten rid of  – that would find its way into many of her dishes. Muddie would  tell me just to pick out the bacon floating atop her stringbeans when I’d complain.

Since most of our family suffers from hypertension these days, we’re all careful about what we eat. Dad did pass down her technique for  frying  chicken.  Although it’s unhealthy, I have to admit that I do make an exception every once in a while. Normally, I oven-fry chicken, which tastes just as good. When I do fry, I use pure vegetable oil instead of grease ,and lots of fresh herbs replace the need for heavy salt and pepper.  We’re all more careful about high fat content food since Muddie eventually had several heart attacks before she died.

Fortunately, she  also loved fresh vegetables and Mom would always take her to the Farmers Market when she came up to visit. She especially loved white corn and would cut the kernels from the cob instead of using frozen. With the economy the way it has been recently, everyone  is cutting back on spending and in our household that includes food.

Eating plenty of veggies, brown rice, beans and soy (but with limitations) instead of flesh is one way to minimize grocery bills. We also find that the vegetarian soy crumbles are just as good in spaghetti  sauce. Beans and legumes are also excellent sources of protein and can be eaten by themselves when seasoned well or served over  rice,  pasta  and salads. I like them because they’re very cheap, at least one-tenth the price of eating flesh. They are also more easily digested by the body and with practically no fat  are heart-healthy. Fortunately I do remember how to make Muddie’s tomatoes and okra, and creamed corn. They are excellent comfort foods that remind me of Muddie but with a healthier twist.

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