How Judy Simon turned trials into tasty meals

Baptism by fire — that’s how Judy Simon has twice made giant leaps forward in her mastery of the culinary arts.

The first time was when she was only fourteen. She always loved cooking with her mother, helping her in the kitchen, and making the occasional meal on her own. This Thanksgiving, she came to the kitchen prepared to help her mother prepare the big meal.

“The bad news is that you will be cooking all of the Thanksgiving meal,” her mother told her. “The good news is that I’m going to supervise you.” Her mother had sliced open her palm while undoing the metal clamp on the turkey. The bandage on her hand prevented her from preparing the meal, which would be made entirely from scratch.  So with her mother guiding her, Simon attempted to make many new recipes — some of which her mother had brought with her family from England.

At the end of the day, an exhausted young Simon had a greater sense of what she could accomplish in the kitchen.

The second cataclysmic event that changed the course of Simon’s culinary journey came a little over a year ago, when Gordy was diagnosed with colon cancer. After surgery and chemotherapy, Gordy was diagnosed with diabetes. Simon began reviewing all their favorite dishes to see how they stacked up against Gordy’s new dietary restrictions.

Knowing what foods to avoid was easy: fatty red meat, organ meat, highly processed food, fried food, fast food, high cholesterol food, and foods rich in saturated fat.

But to fashion a new repertoire, they had to understand the way a body breaks down food. This wasn’t difficult for Simon, a registered dental hygienist in the practice of an oral surgeon. She knew that everything we eat eventually turns into sugar in the body. Sweets or fruit, already loaded with sugar, hit the bloodstream almost immediately. More complex carbohydrates take an hour or two to break down. Proteins take four hours or more, and fats take six to eight hours. A properly balanced diet ensures that the various components of our meals break down and hit the bloodstream evenly throughout the day.

A diabetic diet doesn’t mean eliminating all old favorites, but they do need to be prepared differently. When I visited Simon in her kitchen, she was preparing something I’d never seen before — red okra. She sliced the okra, dredged it in cornmeal, then placed the slices on a cookie sheet to bake. The final product was virtually indistinguishable from fried okra. “I’ve found lots of new ways to prepare the foods we love in a much healthier way,” said Simon. “And they’re just as good or even better.”

Planning ahead is the key to adopting a healthy regimen. Simon plans her menus for the week, then she does all of the shopping. This eliminates the temptation of buying junk food or eating out too often.

But what Simon might be best known for is bread. Seventeen years ago, a friend gave her some sourdough starter, which she has perpetuated and shared with countless friends. About the same time, the rector at Simon’s church asked her if she’d be willing to bake bread for the communion. She agreed, not realizing that she would be the sole baker of the communion bread every Sunday for the next 11 years. There appeared to be a direct correlation between Simon’s bread making and the growth in the number of congregants at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in those years. Finally, a team of bread makers was formed around 2005, allowing Simon to share her duties.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, washed and halved
• Sea salt
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Heat oven to 420 degrees. Toss Brussels sprouts in olive oil. Place sprouts in a large jellyroll pan and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Roast 20 minutes; turn with spatula and continue until crisp.

Roasted Asparagus

• 2 pounds asparagus, washed and tough end snapped off
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1-2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence

Spread asparagus evenly in jelly roll pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss. Sprinkle

lightly with sea salt and Herbes de Provence. Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

“Fried” Okra

• 2 pounds okra, red or green, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper
• Yogurt
• Horseradish

In gallon zip-lock bag, shake okra with beaten egg until moistened.  Pour in bread crumbs and shake until coated.  Spread over olive oil sprayed cookie sheet into single layer.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, flip to turn and let brown on the other side, another 5 to 10 minutes until crisp.  Salt and pepper to taste. Combine yogurt and horseradish to taste for a dip.

Decadent Chocolate Cutie Muffins

The sweeter the fruit, the less sugar any recipe needs. The citrus fruit in this recipe can be replaced with a half-cup fresh or frozen raspberries.

• Shortening
• 3/4 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Zest from scrubbed Cutie tangerine or small juicy seedless orange
• Juice and pulp from 1 Cutie tangerine or small juicy seedless orange
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cup bread flour
• 1/2  cup vanilla yogurt
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate Ghiardelli chips

Grease muffin tin with shortening. Mix all ingredients until just blended. Batter will be lumpy. Bake at 400 degrees in mini muffin pan for 22-25 minutes. Muffins will be firm to the touch when done. Makes 20.

 Apple  Cranberry Muffins

• Shortening
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apple, pared and diced
• 1 cup Craisens
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ cup bread flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 2/3 cup vanilla yogurt

Grease muffin pans with shortening. Mix all ingredients up to flax in a large bowl until just moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Add yogurt. Bake in mini muffin tins for 22 to 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Muffins will be firm to the touch when done. Makes 20.

Firecracker Chicken

Serve with brown rice or wild rice tossed with pickled jalapeños and slices of red bell peppers.

• Olive oil spray
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup whole grain Wheat Thins, crushed
• 1 egg, beaten
• Hot sauce

Spray cookie sheet with olive oil. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Mix egg with hot sauce in one bowl and place Wheat Thin crumbs and whole wheat flour in two separate bowls. Lightly coat chicken in flour, then dip in egg mix, and finally in Wheat Thin crumbs.

Place chicken on cookie sheet and bake about 30 minutes, until juice from pierced chicken runs clear.   You can substitute any whole grain cracker if it is low sugar and high fiber.  Serve with brown rice or wild rice tossed with pickled jalapenos and bell pepper slices.

Sourdough bread

This recipe will make three small loaves or forty rolls. If you chose to make rolls, bake them for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

• 6 ½ cups bread flour
• 1 package rapid-rise yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2  cup canola oil
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• 1 cup sourdough starter (recipe below)

Mix 6 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, water, and starter in a large bowl and let rise one hour at room temperature. With oiled hands, knead in a ½ cup flour. Separate dough into three small loaf pans and let rise another 45 minutes. Bake loaves for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

Sourdough Starter

• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes

Mix ingredients and allow it to sit overnight at room temperature until fermentation begins. This can take as long as two days. When starter gets low, add more of the same ingredients at the same proportions and let sit overnight.