Body builders, fighters, athletes, nutritionists, historians, archivists and intelligent eaters everywhere all agree that eggs and chicken are good sources of protein and carbs are good for a body in motion. They too would agree upon the fact that vegetables are good for folks. So when I mixed eggs, chicken, potatoes, celery and onions together, in theory, I made super food, no? The recipe ingredients follow at the end of article.
Super Food photo: p3
I started by peeling, cubing and boiling 3 potatoes in salted water. I use and love my Oneida knife. I’m not endorsed by them but this knife and I have grown together in the kitchen and we both try to look good while staying sharp.
You can add steamed peas to the mix if you like. If so now is the time to retrieve them from the freezer and steam a cup full of them. Once steamed, cover and let sit.
Vegetables
Now is the time to chop the vegetables, onions and celery, while the potatoes are warming up. I like to leave the onion a little chunkier and dice the celery up pretty small as you can see in the photo.
Peel and chop up the hard boiled eggs.
Remove the meat from the precooked chicken thighs.
Love my Oneida knife
Once the potatoes are cooked you need to drain them and return them to the hot pan. Add the chopped onions, celery, eggs and chicken to the warm potatoes. If you are adding peas add them now too. Stir in the mayo, mustard, vinegar, relish and spices. No need to stir hard or use mixer as the potatoes are soft and will become mashed if you mix vigorously. It’s not bad, as some may prefer the texture, but personally I like the potatoes to maintain some cube shape. The taste is the same.
Once mixed you can enjoy warm with crackers or cool in fridge and enjoy in lettuce bowls later or between toasted sourdough slices in the morning with a slice of cheese. It’s a bit like tapas and goes great with wine, anti pasta salads, appetizer trays and sunsets.
Now getting back to the nutritional status of being called a ‘super food’. I think it certainly qualifies for the title as it tastes ‘super’. The Dude of Food fully approves and recommends trying this. This new super food group deserves all 5+ Golden Fork Awards if any are to be given.
3 large gold potatoes 4 hard boiled eggs 4 chicken cooked thighs 3 chopped celery sticks 2 chopped green onion stalks 1/4 chopped white onion 3 spoon fulls of mayonnaise 3 circle squirt of yellow mustard 1 spoon full of dill relish 2 cap fulls apple cider vinegar Add salt, pepper, paprika to your taste.
Additional options could include but certainly not limited to: avocado, peas, sour cream, ranch dressing or raisins. If you add grapes then we probably aren’t friends.
Salt is natural and is found on earth. Salt tastes salty. Salt is used to preserve meats and stuff.
Beyond these basic statements most folks are at a loss to expand on the paths that salt and life have shared together over time. Science class was something many kids never took that seriously and a subject many educators simply skim over.
Chemically sodium chloride or salt is composed of 40% sodium and 60% chloride.
Salt is mentioned in the Bible multiple times. Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt. The word salt is also used metaphorically in the Bible to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value, purification and more.
Historically, salt mining can be dated back to 6000 BC in the Romania/Bulgaria section of ancient Europe where people in Solnitsata (modern day Provadia) used to boil water to extract salts. Interestingly, Solnitsata is thought to be the earliest known settlement in Europe. Roughly the same timeline dates back to China’s use of salt as well.
We also know that Philip II of Macedon had a son named Alexander who studied with Aristotle and who toured the entire Greek, African and Middle Eastern empires quite extensively. In May 326 BC Alexander the Great and King Porus of Paurava met on opposite banks of the Jhelum River in Pakistan where they clashed. Alexander’s men crossed the river and subdued the army of King Porus and their 200 war elephants. It was recorded that Alexander’s Macedonian army losses numbered 1,000 of 41,000 men as the Indian army of King Porus lost 12,000 and had another 9,000 men captured out of an army of 50,000. A truce was agreed upon and Alexander let Porus remain king after Porus paid tributes. After the arduous battle, fatigue set into the combatants. Alexander’s men and horses found themselves tired and hungry. The horses began to lick the rocks on the side of the river. The riders noticed this behavior and examined the rocks to discover that there was a build up of pink Himalayan salt coating the rocks. The horses that did the licking and ingested this salt recovered faster and were in better shape the next day then the horses who didn’t lick the salt. This healing intrigued the riders of Alexander’s army who came to discover that near this area reside the salt mines of Khewra, which happens to be the second largest salt deposit in the world.
There is an ancient 242 km (150 miles) long road in Italy called Via Salaria which is named after the Latin word for salt. Via Salaria runs from Rome, headed east across the country to the Adriatic Sea, ending at a place formerly called Castrum Truentinum, modernly known as Martinsicuro. 51 km (32 miles) of this old salt road are now Italy’s state highway SS4. Medieval records document salt trading opportunities in Venice, Italy which ultimately helped contribute to the cities economic rise.
Salt mines in Salzburg, Austria can date mining of this mineral back to 800 BC. By 400 BC the locals were doing open pan salt making.
The 10 largest salt mines in the world are:
Sifto Mine in Ontario, Canada
Khewra Mine in Pakistan – pink salt
Prahova Mine in Romania
Atacama in Chile where they get lithium and boron from the salt
Wieliczka in Poland
Palibelo Village in Indonesia
Danakil in Ethiopia
Maras in Peru
Asse in Germany
Salt Catherdal in Colombia
The salt flat in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia is the world’s largest (12 000 km²) and highest (3 700 m) salt flat. It is 25 times larger than the Bonneville Salt Flats in the US. This flat in Bolivia is what’s left of a prehistoric lake surrounded by mountains without any drainage outlets. The locals continue to harvest the salt in their traditional method, gathering the substance into small mounds to evaporate, additional drying over fire and enrichment with iodine.
It is said that the word salary is derived from the Latin word Sal or salt. People often think of gold as something very valuable and interchangeable with money. In the past, salt was extremely valuable as well. Salt was such a valued commodity that it said to have been used to pay Roman soldiers in lieu of coins, hence the word salary.
The impact of salt on society is incredible. Salt has helped create and destroy empires. Salt has also played a prominent role in determining the rise of some of the world’s great cities. Various sites eventually sprung up along the salt roads exacting heavy duties and taxes for the salt passing through their territories. This practice eventually caused the formation of cities, like Munich in 1158, when the then Duke of Bavaria, Henry the Lion, decided that the bishops of Freising no longer needed their salt revenue and set up shop in the Munich area. A ‘gabelle’, the word for a hated French salt tax, was enacted in 1286 and maintained until 1790. Because of these salt taxes, common salt was of such a valuable commodity that it caused population shifts and attracted invaders. Gabelle tax was cited on the list of issues prompting the French Revolution. The salt mines of Poland led to a vast kingdom in the 16th century. Liverpool rose from just a small English port to become the prime exporting site for salt dug from the mines of Cheshire and became the source for much of the world’s salt supply in the 1800’s.
In 1777, the British Lord Howe was jubilant when he succeeded in capturing General George Washington’s salt supply.
Founding Fathers of America used the phrase ‘worth your salt’ meaning ‘worth your work value for the salary earned’. Expressions like ‘worth one’s while’ and ‘worth one’s weight in gold’ are much older than ‘worth one’s salt’, yet the idea and history for these phrases are similar.
“Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.” Andrew Jackson
“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.” Theodore Roosevelt
Modern Dietary Guidelines recommend adults limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day—that’s equal to about 1 teaspoon of table salt. Scientifically there are a bunch of types of salt: Table, Kosher, Himalayan pink, Sea salt, Celtic Grey, Fleur De Sal, Flake salt, Red Hawaiian, Black Hawaiian, Smoked, Himalayan Black and Pickling Salt. These salts are defined by colors, textures and the regions they are discovered in. The earliest recorded study published in China around 2700 BC mentions more than 40 types of salt and provides descriptions of two methods of salt extraction that are similar to the processes used today.
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Some examples of salt types follow:
Table salt: Qualities: Classic standard. May contain anti-caking additives to avoid clumping in humidity Pros: Inexpensive. Contains iodine. Cons: Typically contains the highest sodium content of all salts.
Sea salt: Qualities: Coarser texture extracted from ocean water around the world Pros: Naturally contains iodine although some claim low levels. Cons: May contain impurities. (metals or plastics)
Kosher salt: Qualities: Coarse, flaky texture. Pros: Need Kosher? Cons: May not contain iodine.
Himalayan salt: Qualities: It’s pink color comes from iron oxide which is a compound found in rust. Pros: It’s pretty and Barbie would twerk for it. Cons: Not usually iodized.
Here are some fun and interesting facts about salt:
Only 6% of the salt that we use in the US is used as food. Salt is used for many other reasons. 17% of American salt is used for keeping ice off of the roads in winter for safer driving.
If you soak older, wrinkled apples in a mixture of salt and water, the wrinkles will go away.
Salt (sodium chloride) It is the only family of rocks regularly eaten by people.
Mixing salt in with the water of cut flowers in a vase will help the flowers live longer.
If you rub salt on your griddle, your pancakes will not stick.
Every cell of your body contains salt.
Adding a little salt to your boiling water when boiling eggs will help prevent the egg from cracking. Salt also stops the egg from coming out of the shell if it does crack.
You can test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water. Fresh eggs will sink and bad eggs will float.
Sprinkling salt in your pantry helps to keep ants away.
Your body needs 200 mg of salt per day to be healthy.
You can sprinkle salt between bricks or rocks where you don’t want grass to grow.
Ice water gets colder when salt is added.
Salt is usually the first thing to take the blame for a dish that doesn’t taste so great.
The dictionary describes a salty person as “an angry and ill tempered individual.” Salty describes a personality that is bitter, angry, irritated and/or hard to take.
Salt deposits have been reportedly discovered on Mars.
At the end of the day, salt is salt. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that any type of natural salt is healthier than any other type of natural salt. Salt substitutes are another story and should probably be avoided but that’s not what we’re currently talking about here. Keep in mind that, unless you eat fish regularly, iodine is somewhat elusive in most people’s diets. Choosing an iodized salt can be a healthy choice if used wisely.
1 six pack of your favorite beer or 1 bottle of favorite wine
1 cup rice
6 chicken thighs
8 oz tub of diced baby bella mushrooms
1/4 onion
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon minced garlic or 2 chopped garlic cloves
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream - optional
chopped parsley - optional
1 cup peas - optional
Salt and black pepper
Herbs (thyme, sage, tarragon, rosemary, paprika)
Preparation:
Pour your favorite beverage into a glass and collect your ingredients including pans and utensils. Remember to pick a pan large enough to hold everything at the end as we’re doing 1 pot style.
Open the package of chicken and individually rinse each piece in cold water and dry with a paper towel.
Season your chicken with salt, black pepper, herb mix. Some folks put everything in a bag and shake the dried chicken in the bag. Dealers choice here but if your chicken isn’t dry it just makes a mess. I prefer the sprinkle on both sides method. Also don’t neglect your drink. Your beer might be getting warm.
Pour enough olive oil to barely or lightly cover surface of pan and heat on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, carefully place the chicken thighs skin-side down in the hot oil and leave to fry for roughly 5 – 6 minutes. The chicken skin should not stick to the pan if cooked right. Flip and continue to fry on the other side for another 4 – 5 minutes. Both sides should be lightly crisped.
Remove seared chicken from oil, letting the oil drip back in pan, cover and set aside for now. Do not refrigerate the chicken. Now is a good time to sip your drink or refill if needed. I always keep my beer close so I am easily reminded.
Turn the heat down just a bit and in the still hot and now empty oiled chicken pan add garlic, butter, parsley and onions and simmer for 6 minutes or so. If adding peas add them now too. Still frozen is OK but I prefer if the peas have sat out on the counter for a bit and thawed. Once the peas have simmered for a couple minutes you can add the mushrooms and continue to simmer until the onions are soft and nearly clear.
Add washed rice on top of the simmering veggies and stir. After the heat has toasted the rice for a couple minutes pour chicken stock into the mix. The thing to do is de-glaze the pan as you stir in the added stock to the rice by giving it a gentle stir. Remember not to scrape metal spoons on pan bottoms when stirring. Use a wooden spoon to stir. I try not to use plastic utensils although I have a good one just in case.
After about 10 minutes or so place the chicken on top of the steaming rice in the pan and reduce the heat. Now would be when you would add the heavy cream if choosing to do so. Let the whole thing simmer together for another 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is soft. Sprinkle some chopped parsley on top, stir, cover and let sit for a couple more minutes while you top off your drinks.
