Blackberry Kiwi Smoothie

This recipe comes from the documentary, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead by Joe Cross in which Joe goes through a 60-day juice reboot that revolutionizes his health and his life. Although I’m not in any need of a immune system reboot, this great tasting smoothie makes for a great re-hydrate after exercise with coconut water for hydration, bananas for potassium, and a drink that, overall, is anti-inflammatory.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Blackberries
• 1 Kiwi Fruit
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 30 Mint leaves
• 1 comice or bartlett pear
• 1 Banana
• 1/2 cup Coconut Water

Directions

1. Place all ingredients into a blender and blend. Serve immediately.

Cucumber Velouté

Veloutés are french soups that are finished with cream. This one is a clean and refreshing soup that makes an excellent starter that cleanses your palette in advance of heavier courses. I usually serve this in espresso cups for guests to sip over appetizers.

Ingredients

• 1 lb English Cucumber
• 3/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• pinch of curry powder
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp creme fraiche
• kosher salt
• white pepper
• Mint leaves (enough for one or two per serving to garnish)

Directions

1. Combine the cucumber, yogurt, water, lemon juice, curry powder, and cayenne in a blender until smooth.
2. Add the creme fraiche and blend.
3. Pour the soup through a strainer to strain out the solid. Press the solids firmly against the strainer to extract as much liquid as possible.
4. Stir in salt and white pepper to the strained liquid, to taste.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
6. To serve, pour into small cups and garnish with mint leaves.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. English or European cucumbers are the best for this recipe because they are seedless (or nearly seedless). Regular American cucumbers have too many seeds, and although they would get strained from the final soup, they can add a bitter flavor to the final product.
2. The reason that the creme fraiche is added last is because really you are just gently folding it in–something that would otherwise be accomplished by transferring the velouté to a bowl and folding in by hand. I save you this step by allowing you to leave it all in the blender, but it means that you only need your lowest speed. Don’t maniacally blend on super fast speed.
3. Don’t be lazy and not strain the solids. This is wonderfully creamy and refreshing soup to sip, but if you are having to chew through cucumber skins and seeds, it really takes away from the elegance of the dish.

Chocolate Almond Protein Shake (Dairy-free)

This chocolate almond shake is a great, healthy source of protein–it’s practically a liquid lunch. The ground almonds and hemp seeds provide a frothy base that is packed with protein–both are among the most complete sources of protein. Sweetness of the shake is accomplished with the dates (and honey for those who desire additional sweetness).

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almonds, soaked for 6-8 hours
• 1/2 cup hemp seeds
• 4 medjool dates, pitted
• 3 cups coconut water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• honey to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Add all ingrediens to a high powered blender and liquify.

If you do not have a high powered blender (such as a Vitamix), grind the almonds and dates in a food process, then add to a standard blender with the remaining ingredients.

If you desire additional sweetness, you can either add a few more dates or 1 tablespoon of honey.

Goji Berry Chili

This delicious chili is super nutritious: packed with veggies that are known to have immune boosting vitamins, minerals, and phyto chemicals. The combination of beans, broccoli, and goji berry also makes for an excellent source of lean protein. Most importantly, it’s a great tasting chili that combines the spice of the green chilis with the sweetness of the dried goji berries.

Ingredients

• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 pound broccoli, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup dried goji berries
• 2 zuchini, cut in half lengthwise and chopped
• 4 green chilis, seeded and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14.5 oz can garbonzo beans, drained
• 2 14.5 oz cans red kidney beans, drained
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. You can get the broccoli you need in 1 pound bags in the frozen aisle of your local grocer. For use in the chili, frozen works great and saves you from having to chop all of that broccoli (and feel as if you are wasting all of the stems).
2. It’s best to use the low sodium or no salt added cans of beans and tomatoes. This allows you to keep the sodium level of the chili low and lets you control the salt content for flavor.
3. If you can’t find fresh green chilis, you can find canned ones in the Mexican food section of your grocer.

Vanilla Flan

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small nonstick saucepan, heat the sugar over medium heat. Shake and swirl occasionally to distribute sugar until it is dissolved and begins to brown. Lift the pan over the heat source (4 to 6 inches) and continue to brown the sugar until it becomes a dark golden brown.
3. Pour caramelized sugar into a 1 1/2 quart baking pan, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan evenly.
4. In a blender, combine sweetened condensed milk, cream, milk, eggs and vanilla and blend on high for one minute.
5. Pour over the caramelized sugar.
6. Place the filled casserole dish into a larger pan and add 1 inch of HOT water to the outer pan. Bake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until set.
7. Remove from oven and let cool and serve.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. When browning the sugar, you may slightly stir while cooking, but continually stirring causes the sugar to crystallize.

Yellow Lentil Curry

A simple and easy Indian-flavored curry that will please vegetarians and meat lovers alike. This recipe serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup yellow lentils, washed and soaked for 1 hour
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 green chile, deseeded and chopped
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 curry leaves, shredded
• 3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• fresh cilantro to taste, chopped
• salt, to tast

Directions

1. Place the lentils, ginger, tumeric, chile, tomato, salt, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until lentils are softened and the water has a yellow, creamy texture.
3. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds and saute until they release an aroma.
4. Add the curry leaves and garlic and saute until the garlic turns brown at the edges.
5. Pour the oil-cumin-curry-garlic mixture into the lentils along with the cilantro. Stir well and serve.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. Curry powder is NOT a substitute for curry leaves. The two are not related despite the name. In fact, curry powder doesn’t even contain curry leaves at all! It’s a spice mixture created in Britain to replicate the flavors of Indian cooking. If you can’t find curry leaves at your local Whole Foods or Asian or Indian Grocery, you can try substituting basil leaves. The flavors will be different, but it’s a whole lot better than what you would have if you used that curry powder.

Beet and Endive Salad

This is a classic french salad for the summer. The beets and endive are in season right now and delicious. The only time consuming part of this salad is the 45 minutes or so that it takes to roast the beets, but they can be done ahead of time. Otherwise, assembly is pretty straightforward and very yummy.

Ingredients

For the Salad

• 4 medium beets, stems trimmed to 1″
• 4 Belgian endive, chopped
• 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 2 tsp fresh tarragon, minced
• 1 tsp chives, minced

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp walnut oil
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• pinch of kosher salt

Directions

1. Wrap the beets individually, loosely in aluminum foil and roast on 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until soft in the center when pierced with a fork. Peel.
2. Combine the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl.
3. Combine the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl or glass and whisk together.
4. Pour dressing over the salad and toss. Serve.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. The beets can be roasted ahead of time and set aside for several days.
2. The easiest way to peel the beets is immediately after pulling them from the oven. I use those thick rubber dishwashing gloves to protect my hands from the hot beets as well as the juice–which will stain whatever it touches. Simply rub the peel off the beet while their still hot. Easy.
3. It’s worth the time to toast the walnuts. They are much, much nuttier and much, much less acidic. Five to ten minutes on 350 degrees is all it takes.

Porcini Mushroom Sauce

This porcini sauce is a great topper to lamb or roasted beef dishes. It can be made to go over tofu, but if it’s vegetarian that you are after, I’m afraid that this is not your sauce.

Porcini mushrooms are in season in the fall, but this sauce it is made with dried porcinis which are generally available year round. They hold up well to being sold dried as they maintain their flavor when reconstituted. They are an excellent choice in culinary dishes as they are high in fiber and protein (in fact, containing nearly as much protein as a soybean) with 7g, respectively of each (for a 23g mushroom).

Ingredients

• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 2 ounces pancetta, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 cup plum tomatoes, chopped and seeded
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for 30-45 minutes until they are softended. Remove from water, slice into halves or thirds, and set aside.
2. In a medium sized pan over medium heat, saute the pancetta in the olive oil 4-5 minutes stirring often.
3. Add onions and garlic and continue to saute for 6-7 minutes until the onions are translucent and softened.
4. Add red wine and mushrooms and simmer for 10 minutes  or until the wine is reduced by half.
5. Add stock, basil, mustard, and tomatoes and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. It’s very important to reconstitute the dried porcinis in hot water prior to starting this sauce. You need them to start out with their full flavor if you want them to contribute it to the sauce.
2. This is one of those recipes where it pays to be organized. Prep all of your ingredients before you start cooking–chop the onion and garlic, measure out the red wine and broth. If you do your mis en place, as professional cooks call it, beforehand. That way,  finishing the sauce is simply a matter of pouring in and stirring. If you don’t, it becomes a frantic nightmare of trying to catch up while your sauce overcooks and evaporates into your kitchen fan.

Classic Buerre Blanc Sauce

This amazing french sauce is one of my favorites both to cook and to eat. It’s a classical french sauce made by simmering shallots in white wine and lemon juice and emulsifying it by whipping in cold butter. It’s very elegant, very versatile, very easy, and very yummy.

Ingredients

• 2 small shallots, chopped
• 8 oz of white wine (perferably something dry like a sauv blanc or chardonnary)
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of  heavy cream
• 6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) of unsalted butter cut into 12 pats
• Kosher salt and white pepper

Directions

1. Combine the shallots, wine, and lemon juice in a pan over high heat. Reduce to a couple of tablespoons of liquid.
2. Add the cream, and when it begins to bubble, reduce the heat to low.
3. Add the butter one pat at a time. As you whisk eat pat, move the pan back and forth from on and off the heat. You are trying to prevent the sauce from getting above 130 degrees, otherwise it will curdle.
4. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

How Not to Screw It Up

• You don’t need a thermometer. Keeping the sauce under 130 degrees is not rocket science. I’ve found it best to keep the sauce off the heat 3/4 of the time. Add a pat of butter, whisk it in, when it’s almost melted, move the pan over the heat. Back and forth. But, don’t get lazy and add all of the butter at once and keep the sauce over the heat to melt it. Yuck!
• You can strain the sauce at the end to remove the chuncks of shallot. I only do this if a silky presentation is necessary. Otherwise, it’s perfectly fine to leave them in.
• Please use white pepper, if you season it with pepper at all. Black pepper looks like specs of dirt in this otherwise, silky clean and elegant sauce.

Where Can I Use This Sauce?

This recipe is all well and good, but you need something to put the sauce over. Here are some ideas:

• Salmon
• Any white fish (e.g. Petrale Sole, Tilapia, Halibut)
• Poached Eggs
• Asparagus
• There was an Indian/French fusion restaurant that put it over a dosa (rice flour crepe) stuffed with sauteed peas and potatoes
• I love to put sauteed spinach down on the plate, lay a white fish over the spinach, and top it all with buerre blanc.
• A restaurant in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia substituted tangerine for the lemon and made tangerine buerre blanc. Delish.
• Use your own imagination and leave a comment on this post with how you used it.

Fresh Mint Iced Tea

A simple and refreshing summer drink. This ones becomes more refreshing the higher the temperature. The key here is to be very generous with the mint leaves. No matter how many you use, you cannot create an overpowering mint flavor as you’re pouring the minted water over ice and diluting it. So, be generous. Use lots of mint.

Ingredients

• 15-20 leaves of fresh mint, additional ones for garnish
• 3 cups boiling water
• ice
• slice of lemon (optional)

Directions

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, tear the mint leaves into halves and put into a teapot (or other pot that can be covered).
3. Pour boiling water over the leaves and cover. Let steep for 8-10 minutes.
4. Fill 2 drinking glasses 3/4 full of ice. Pour the hot, minted water over the ice. Garnish with lemon and fresh mint leaves and serve.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. Don’t rush the steeping and make sure the hot water and mint leaves are covered while they steep. You’re trying to maximize the mint flavor that comes out of the leaves without losing heat from the water. If the water cools, you’ll be left with flat water rather than mint tea.
2. You can use glass drinking vessels because you are pouring the hot water over the ice that is in the glass, so even the hottest of boiling water will not crack your glass.