Eggplant and Asparagus Napoleons
Eggplant and Asparagus Napoleons
Ingredients
Vegetables:
1 large or 2 small eggplants, unpeeled, cut into 12 (1/2-inch thick) slices
16 medium asparagus spears (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed to 5-inch lengths
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Filling:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
For the vegetables: Place a grill pan over medium-high heat, or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the eggplant until tender, about 4 minutes each side. Grill the asparagus for 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally until crisp-tender. When cool enough to handle, cut the asparagus in half crosswise.
For the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, basil, Pecorino Romano, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
To assemble: Place 4 slices eggplant on a work surface. Spread each with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture. Line 4 pieces of asparagus, side-by-side, on top. Place another slice of eggplant on top and repeat the layers. Top each napoleon with a slice of eggplant and place on a small baking sheet. Bake until warmed through, about 10 minutes, and serve.
Cucumber Mint & Green Apple Smoothie
I love drinking green tea in the morning…so I thought I would mix my green tea with a smoothie. This is what I came up with – Cucumber Mint & Green Apple Smoothie
8 oz. of Cucumber Mint Green Tea, cooled (I use Tea Forte Cucumber Mint)
1/2 cucumber
1/2 green apple
1 cup of ice
Put ingredients in blender and blend well.
Raw Chocolate Pudding with Raspberries
This raw chocolate pudding with raspberries is a decadent dessert to end any night. It is easy to make and uses all natural ingredients.
Ingredients
1 Avocado
1 Banana
1/4 cup raw organic honey
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use Navitas Naturals)
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of red pepper flakes
raspberries, washed
Place avocado, banana, honey, cocoa powder, coconut oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon, red pepper flakes in a food processor pulsing for five second intervals until mixture is smooth
Put raspberries in bowl. Spoon raw chocolate pudding over the raspberries and top with a raspberry.
Banana Split Smoothie
I took my mom out to lunch today. Nothing fancy — just Panera Bread. I so wanted dessert, but being gluten sensitive it’s hard enough finding food that you can eat out much less dessert. So I decided to have a dessert smoothie. Here’s a twist on a banana split. To get the crunch of the nuts, I used chia seeds. Instead of whipped cream, I used shaved chocolate.
1 Banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup vanilla hemp milk
2 tsp cocoa powder (I use Navita Naturals)
1 tsp chia seeds (I use Navita Naturals)
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 cup of ice
Shaved chocolate (optional) I used Taza Chocolate with Cinnamon.
Put ingredients in blender and mix well.
In you want to skip the whipped cream, add some chocolate shavings to the top using a vegetable peeler.
Salmon, Basil and Goat Cheese Wrap
This is a wrap that I just thew together one day last week. It has been such a hit with my husband, he asked for it again for lunch today. So I thought I would share the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 Brown Rice Tortilla
1 tbsp of Herb Goat Cheese
Smoked Salmon
6-8 Basil leaves
Avocado slices
Tomato
Directions:
In dry skillet warm tortilla on both sides. When you turn the tortilla over, put the goat cheese in the center so that it can begin to soften.
Spread goat cheese. Add smoked salmon.
Top with basil, tomatoes and avocado.
Roll and enjoy.
Bottle Water vs. Tap Water
The bottled water industry is a huge business! Estimates place worldwide bottled water sales at between $50 and $100 billion each year with Americans spending about $20 billion.
Twenty percent of Americans drink only bottled water because we believe that our tap water is unfit to drink or because it tastes funny. I was one of those people.
All of that bottled water consumption takes a toll on the environment. Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. According to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And while the plastic used to bottle beverages is of high quality and in demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.
If the above environmental costs don’t make you re-think drinking bottled water, consider the costs to your wallet. Bottled water is over 1,000 times more expensive than tap water. Take, for instance, Pepsi’s Aquafina or Coca-Cola’s Dasani bottled water. Both are sold in 20 ounce sizes and can be purchased from vending machines alongside soft drinks — and at the same price. Assuming you can find a $1 machine, that works out to 5 cents an ounce. These two brands are essentially filtered tap water, bottled close to their distribution point. Most of us pay less than a penny per gallon from the tap. If you calculate that you drink a bottle of water per day and pay $1.00 for it, you spend over $300 a year just on bottled water!
But the water in a bottle of water is more pure and clean than tap water right? Wrong. The truth is that, bottled water is no more pure or clean than regular tap water. In fact, according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), over 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle. However, even if the water in bottled water is not tap water, there have been numerous studies that show that it is not any cleaner or more pure than tap water, despite what the beverage companies would lead you to believe. In one study conducted by the NRDC, 22 percent of the brands they tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits.
So, now that we know that bottled water is 1000 times more expensive than tap water and is no better or safer, and can actually be more harmful to us, than tap water, what can we do if we need to take water with us on the go? The answer is to put water into a reusable water bottle. There are plenty of good reusable water bottles out there. I suggest buying one made from stainless steel or aluminum and not plastic, as the plastic ones can leech bad chemicals into your water. I personally use a Sigg and love it.
Ginger Rice Spring Rolls with Peanut Mint Dipping Sauce
This was my lunch today – Ginger Rice Spring Rolls with Peanut Mint Dipping Sauce. It is completely raw and vegan to boot! I can see this is a lunch that I could definitely make variations too and be totally surprised each time.
Ingredients
For the raw ginger rice:
1/2 cup cauliflower
1/2 cup peeled jicama
1/2 inch square fresh ginger
Peel the jicama with a vegetable peeler. And place all ingredients in a food processor pulsing for five second intervals until it forms a rice texture. This really should take more than 10-15 seconds.
Then it’s time to add the ginger rice into spring roll paper with veggies galore. For these spring rolls I used:
1/2 grapefruit
1/2 avocado
1/2 cucumber
shredded carrots
arugula (but you can use another type of lettuce)
Soak the spring roll paper (found in the Asian isle of your supermarket) in warm water to soften for about 1 minute. Then stack ginger rice, grapefruit, and other veggies into the paper on the side closest to you.
Roll and wrap away from you. Tuck the edges while rolling to seal the wrap.
Lastly, the dish would not be complete without Peanut Mint Dipping Sauce. One of the other things I learned about Balinese cuisine is that they love their condiments. What I also learned today, was that I love them too!
Peanut Mint Dipping Sauce:
3 Tbs peanut butter (I used Almond Butter)
1 Tbs sesame oil
1/4 cup loose mint leaves
1/4 cup coconut water
1 tsp agave nectar (or other sweetener)
pinch pink Himalayan salt
pinch Cayenne pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients, possibly adding more coconut water for the right consistency. Garnish with a mint leaf.
Filet Mignon with Pomegranate Dijon Sauce
Filet Mignon with Pomegranate Dijon Sauce
Makes 4 servings
I made this dish the first time on Valentine’s Day. I saw the recipe on The Food Physician blog and had to try it. I didn’t have some of the ingredients that she talked about so I changed the recipe slightly to suite what I had on hand to to my tastes.
Ingredients:
4 filet mignon steaks (4 ounces each)
Salt (I use Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
Black pepper
1 tablesppon hemp oil (or coconut oil)
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 cloves garlic minced
½ cup pomegranate juice
1 cup vegetable stock
1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cold butter
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Season steaks generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe skillet (I used my cast iron skillet) over medium high heat. When pan is hot, add the steaks to the pan and sear 2-3 minutes until a golden crust forms. Turn the steaks over and sear. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Cook until steaks are desired doneness, about 6-10 minutes for medium rare depending on the thickness of the steaks. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven and place the steaks on a plate. Cover with foil to keep them warm while you make the sauce.
Heat the skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until shallots start to soften. Add the pomegranate juice and stock and turn the heat up to high. Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and whisk in the mustard and butter. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve the steaks with the pomegranate Dijon sauce drizzled on top. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, if desired.
Free E-Cookbook of Smoothie Recipes
Do you ♥ Smoothies?? {I sure do!} If you need some new Smoothie Recipes, Amazon is offering a FREE Ebook – Best Smoothie Drinker’s Recipes by Jennie Yoon, M.D.!
Hurry to grab it before the price pops back up! Prices change often, so if it’s still Free… the price will still be listed as $0.00.
Go here to get your free Amazon reader App! This is App, it allows you to read the Ebook on your Kindle, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or your PC & MAC)
Need a new blender to make all of these smoothies, you can go wrong with a VitaMix Blender.
A Romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner
It’s Valentine’s Day! I’m not really a fan of going out to a restaurant on the actual day. It’s usually crowded and a bit overpriced. I do like cooking a nice meal for my hubby (and me). The truth is, even if you are celebrating with a group of friends, Valentine’s Day is a chance to treat yourself as well.
A few days ago, I saw a blog post on The Foodie Physician about cooking a romantic dinner for your sweetheart. Her menu of Filet Mignon with Pomegranate Dijon Sauce and Roasted Asparagus and Grape Tomatoes with Balsamic and Pecorino sounded fantastic! So I decided to make it too. In addition to those two, I decided to make another side dish — Roasted Beets with Feta — since I had them in the refrigerator and had been wanting to do something with them. I thought since beets are red they would go well for Valentine’s Day.
I made some changes to her recipes based on personal preferences and also what I had on hand. If you want to see The Foodie Physicians original recipes click on the link above.
I’m happy to say that I got rave reviews from my hubby! He said “now that’s a keeper” meaning I should make it again.
