For Such a Time as This...: New Food #4

Goat Cheese and Herb Stuffed Radicchio Leaves

It is good to take a break from the hospital and bl0g about something light and fun tonight....

Jeff found this recipe and made it for a dinner with our friends and we then offered it to our kids tonight as our new food of the week.

The cubes of goat cheese was marinated in a variety of herbs and olive oil overnight; gently warmed and served with a single radicchio leaves wrapped around it. The cheese was soft and creamy and in my opinion DELICIOUS!

Apparently Radicchio has been used since ancient times and was know for its blood purifying capabilities as well as being an aid for insomniacs. The names of the varieties of radicchio vary depending on the Italian region from which they originated. The one we bought was about the size of a grapefruit, shaped like a cabbage and had the bitterness of an endive. It can be eaten grilled in olive oil or mixed into dishes like risotto. In the US it is most often eaten raw - as we did tonight. If used too much and too long (I guess the roots can be used as a coffee substitute) it can supposedly damage retinal tissue. This has not be scientifically proven, but I have to wonder how many people they got to sign up for this particular research product.

Goat Cheese, as you can imagine is made from goat's milk. Did you know that goat's milk is more similar to human milk than that of the cow? Now this doesn't necessarily get me anxious to drink goat's milk as I have never had the temptation to drink my own milk when I was nursing my child. I actually think, the farther you get from human milk, the better I will probably like it. It comes creamy, crumbly or semi-hard and it is a main staple of that oh-so-good-for-you Mediterranean diet.

And so, this is how our children responded after trying Food Number Four