Healthy Weight-Loss and Diet Recipes - TopRecipesDiet.Blogspot.com: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Arugula, Radicchio and Plum Salad with Mango Chia Dressing

A deliciously healthy salad recipe of sweet plum, blueberries, radicchio and arugula salad with a tangy fruity mango chia dressing. Vegan and gluten-free!

Mango Lime Chia Dressing	Salad
1 Ripe mango, peeled and diced 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lime juice 1 tbsp White balsamic vinegar 1 tsp Whole grain Dijon mustard 1 clove Garlic 1 tsp Sea salt Freshly ground white pepper 1 tbsp Chia seeds Parsley leaves	60 g Arugula 60 g Radicchio, sliced 2-3 Plums, stoned and cut into wedges 60 g Blueberries Coconut chips, optional

Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender and process until combined. Chill until ready to serve.
Arrange the arugula, radicchio, plums and blueberries on serving plates. Drizzle with prepared dressing and gently toss to combine. Serve with coconut chips if using.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Whole Baked Romanesco with Ajvar Sauce

Romanesco (Roman cauliflower), a cross between cauliflower and broccoli, is a tasty side dish that has bizarre spiraling points. The whole roasted romanesco makes a beautiful presentation as well as being really delicious with ajvar sauce.

Whole Baked Romanesco with Ajvar Sauce

adapted from Jamie Oliver

1 Red onion, peeled and chopped
3 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 head /800 g Romanesco
Olive oil
A handful of black olives, stoned
2x400 g Bottled ajvar sauce
150 ml Vegetable stock
1 stalk Green onion, finely chopped for garnishing

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Trim the outer romanesco leaves. Trim away and discard the stalk so the cauliflower can sit flat.
Add the chopped onion and a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and and slowly fry for 10 minutes until softened and with a little colour. Add the olives, ajvar sauce and vegetable stock. Stir everything together and bring to the boil.
Transfer the sauce in a baking dish. Take the romanesco and gently push it down into the sauce. Spray the romanesco with a little olive oil and bake for around 1 hour 20 minutes, or until golden and tender. Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Orange Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Winter is citrus season. I had a bounty of blood oranges and tangerines harvested from various backyards, so I made a mixed citrus marmalade. It’s a little soft and fairly bitter which is the way I like it. In addtion to being good on toast, scones or biscuits. Marmalade, whether you make it or buy it, is a great ingredients to have on hand. It can be used in many different recipes.

Orange marmalade is particularly versatile. It works in both sweet and savory dishes. You can use it flavor plain yogurt, whipped cream, cream cheese, vanilla ice cream or even with a mild goat cheese. It’s featured in quite a number of cake recipes and as a glaze on sticky buns. Mixed with a bit of lemon juice it makes the perfect dressing for a fruit salad. I recently wrote about marmalade cocktails for OpenTable. It also pairs particularly well with chicken, ham or pork.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Napa Grass Farmer, a locally based, “beyond organic” meat farm located in both Napa and Suisun counties. Currently they offer delivery to Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Marin and San Francisco. They serve hundreds of families and wanted to begin featuring custom recipes in their monthly CSA boxes and in their newsletter. I received a whole chicken and a pork tenderloin in exchange for a recipe for each. Call it an example of the barter economy. Here is the pork tenderloin recipe which just happens to use citrus marmalade.

Orange Pork Tenderloin

Serves about 4 entree portions

Ingredients

Pork tenderloin, about 1 pound

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon olive or canola oil

1/4 cup orange marmalade, or mixed citrus marmalade

1/4 cup orange juice

1 Tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon dry mustard such as Colman's

Fresh herbs and slices of lemons or oranges, optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F and pat the pork tenderloin dry. Combine the kosher salt, pepper and garlic powder in a small bowl, then rub it over the tenderloin.

In a saucepan combine the marmalade, orange juice, honey and mustard. Whisk and heat just until thoroughly combined.

Heat a large, heavy oven-proof skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat, add the oil, then sear the tenderloin, turning until brown on all sides, about 2 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the tenderloin and transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast the tenderloin for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once and basting with the sauce in the pan, until the internal temperature reads 145ºF.

Remove the tenderloin to a cutting board and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing it into medallions. Can be served as a main dish or on top of baguette slices for a crostini appetizer. Garnish with fresh herbs and citrus, if desired.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: My thanks to Napa Grass Farmer for providing the pork tenderloin. I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post on Cooking with Amy.

Raisin Oatbran Banana Einkorn Loaf

Found this recipe on Ricardo Cuisine, but I tweaked it a bit using what I have on hand and making it even healthier with ground whole-grain einkorn, oat bran, banana, coconut oil and liquid stevia. This makes a good snack, breakfast, or even dessert with a chocolate glaze or lemon icing.

110 g Wholegrain einkorn flour
80 g Oatbran
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Sea salt
120 ml Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Vanilla-flavoured liquid stevia
3 Very ripe bananas, mashed
1 Large egg
30 ml Coconut oil, melted
100 g Raisins

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a small loaf pan (21cmx10cm) and line with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, combine the wholegrain einkorn flour, oatbran, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, liquid stevia, mashed bananas, egg and melted coconut oil with a whisk.
Stir in the dry ingredients until the flour is just moistened. Set aside 1tbsp of raisins for garnish and add the remaining ones to the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with the reserved raisins and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Let cool completely before unmoulding. Slice and serve.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Bak Kwa for Chinese New Year

Are you celebrating Chinese New Year? It’s typical to celebrate the holiday for a full week. I am still learning about this most important holiday which comes with so many traditions relating to food. There are many symbolic foods that ensure good fortune. There are also foods which are served to friends, family and guests and given as a gift. Bak Kwa is one such food. It might resemble beef jerky, but it’s much tastier and is much more than just a snack and considered a must-have for Chinese New Year celebrations in Malaysia.

I recently tried locally made Bak Kwa from Little Red Dot for the first time at the Fancy Food Show where it was a big hit. The Singaporean founders of the company missed eating it so much, that after unsuccessfully trying to get their parents to send them some from Singapore—it never made it out of customs—they set out to make it themselves. Several years later the product is finally showing up in stores. Because it’s something that is eaten as a snack but also at holidays I asked Chef Alex Ong who grew up in Malaysia, about his recollection of Bak Kwa and this is what he told me.

“Bak Kwa is definitely one of my favorite childhood eats. Traditionally my mom would only buy it during Chinese New Year for guests who come and visit us as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. I remember helping my mom cut it into little squares with a pair of scissors so she can arrange it in a little bowl to be presented along with other Chinese sweets, cookies and snacks for our guests. Of course it usually ended up me with cutting one piece and eating two pieces.

Nowadays it is readily available throughout the year and people buy them for special occasions or as a business gift for business associates. There is a street in Kuala Lumpur where there are a group of vendors grilling these pork Bak Kwa over charcoal fires out in the open and you can smell the amazing aroma of sweet grilled meat from blocks away.

Of course, everyone has their favorite stores. Some like theirs super tender, some look for a nice chew, some not too sweet, some insist on only using ground pork but they can all agree that life is definitely better when you are chewing on a piece.”

Linda Susanto and Lyndel Soon from Little Red Dot told me their Malaysian version differs from the Chinese version which typically uses preservatives and coloring. Little Red Dot makes a healthier and much more tender, softer product, using better meats from suppliers like American Homestead Natural Meats and Diestel Turkey. It’s also less oily and lower in sodium, made in a USDA certified facility ensuring quality.

The meat is marinated in their own spice blends for flavor and preservation, then slow roasted and slowly grilled which gives a little bit of smokiness. It also comes in different flavors. Susanto and Soons told me that both the turkey and pork are traditional Asian recipes, similar to what they had growing up. The spicy chipotle beef and hickory smoked uncured spicy candied bacon were developed to cater to the tastes of a broader audiences. So far the beef is the most popular, and the candied bacon second most popular. You can purchase it online or at select retailers.

Monday, February 8, 2016

It's not Pancake Day, it's Shrove Tuesday cream bun day soon ;)

Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the March 2014 issue of Kodu ja Aed magazine.

It's time for semlor or lenten cream buns again soon - February 9th, to be precise. Remember, instead of pancakes, in Estonia and other Nordic countries cream-filled buns are eaten (semlor in Swedish, vastlakuklid in Estonian, laskiaispulla in Finnish). I've got three different recipes here on Nami-Nami, all delicious :)

Recipe for classic lenten buns
Recipe for chocolate lenten buns
Recipe for raspberry and marzipan lenten buns

So, are you having pancakes or cream buns next week? ;)

Savory Yogurt Recipes

I enjoy Greek yogurt and have been eating a lot of it lately. But I’ve also been cutting back on sugar. While fruit, granola, jam or honey are classic toppings for yogurt, I’ve been wanting to take yogurt in another direction. Since I tend to favor savory breaktasts rather than sweet ones I decided to try some savory Greek yogurt toppings, something I've seen around the web recently.

I brainstormed some ideas and was inspired by flavors from Korea, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Morocco--and everything I tried turned out really well. I imagine that the variations are really endless, I just stopped at four. That said, a little flaky salt really helps to marry the flavors. Use kosher salt or your favorite flaky sea salt for added crunch. While I choose to eat these for breakfast, they are also very good as an afternoon snack or as part of a light lunch. I recommend using 1/2 cup of yogurt as the base, but you could use more if you prefer. Greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt so it holds the toppings particularly well. I use 2% but any Greek yogurt should be fine so you use whichever you prefer. I also suggest not serving the yogurt straight from the fridge, but letting it warm up slightly and approach room temperature.

The recipes I’ve created are really just guidelines, try one out and then experiment! Consider shredded raw or roasted vegetables, nuts or seeds and any favorite condiments to be fair game. I'm thinking raw or cooked beets, thinly sliced celery, cooked greens and roasted winter squash would all be tasty with yogurt. If you come up with your own variation, please do leave a comment and share it.

Yogurt with Kimchi & Sesame

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon roughly chopped kimchi, mild or spicy
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds

Flaky salt

Top the yogurt with the kimchi, drizzle with sesame oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and a pinch of salt.

Yogurt with Peppers, Olives & Capers

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2 sliced peppadew or roasted peppers

4 sliced kalamata olives (or other olive of your choosing)

1/4 teaspoon capers

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Place the peppers, olives and capers on top of the yogurt. Drizzle with olive oil.

Yogurt with Carrot Salad

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2 Tablespoons shredded carrots

1/4 teaspoon harissa

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 slice or wedge lemon

Flaky salt

Mix the carrots, harissa and olive oil and spoon onto the yogurt. Top with a squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt.

Yogurt with Cucumber, Radish & Dill

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon diced cucumber

1 Tablespoon diced radish

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh dill

Flaky salt

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Top the yogurt with the cucumber and radish. Sprinkle with dill, a pinch of flaky salt and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!

Friday, February 5, 2016

Fancy Food Show Winter 2016 Favorites: Part 2

I've written about the overall food trends, my favorite sweet and savory finds and now the final post about the show, with the rest of my picks.

SWEET

I’ve long been a fan of Oregon Growers' great fruit jams and butters. Now they’ve collaborated with Dragonfly Chai and the result is luscious apple butter and pumpkin butter tinged with chai spices. They are both really good, not too sweet with warm spices like cardamom, ginger and black pepper to complement the flavors or apple and pumpkin. Perfect to swirl into yogurt, oatmeal or slather on toast.

I’m a complete honey fanatic and love the way honey reflects the aroma and flavor of flowers. I also enjoy the way honey combines beautifully with lots of other ingredients such as nuts, fruits and spices. While I love truffle honey, this saffron honey from KL Keller Foodways really made me swoon. Saffron with honey makes perfect sense, since saffron comes from the stigma from the crocus flower. In this case orange blossom honey combines with powdered saffron to create something very rich and exotic. Use it on cheese, roast chicken or pork, or to sweeten ice cream, yogurt, or whipped cream. It should be available from Market Hall Foods.

Making caramel out of coconut is becoming a thing. The product that impressed me the most in this category were the coconut caramel candies from Hey Boo, known for making delectable coconut jams. Cristina Widjaja is a bit of a kitchen ninja and her soon to be introduced coconut caramels come in flavors like Ginger Rum, Thai Iced Tea and Sea Salt, but my favorite was the Vietnamese Coffee which seemed the least sweet to me and had a very pleasant and rich coffee flavor.

I was excited to try Treehouse Chocolate Company’s hot chocolate and it did not disappoint. This product was part of the Food Fete event which takes places concurrently with the show. Aaron Koch imports organic cacao and makes a truly luxurious and yet convenient hot chocolate. It comes in various flavors including one with a pinch of cherrywood salt and another with coffee. It’s everything you want hot chocolate to be, rich, creamy and very chocolate-y. It would be a great thing to include in a gift basket.

Purple power! I had no idea there was a whole company dedicated to beets. Love Beets makes a number of interesting and delicious beet based foods. While the panel chose the Smoky BBQ Shredded Beets for the trend report, I was even more impressed with their beet bars which come in apple, blueberry and cherry. They have an interesting mix of ingredients including beet juice concentrate, fruit, chicory root fiber, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, whole grain protein powder and orange pulp. They are nut free, gluten-free and a good source of fiber. Most importantly, they are really tasty!

Dried fruit usually has a chewy texture but the fruit from California Crisps is crunchy and true to the name, crisp. Paper thin slices of fruit are dehydrated to create a perfect snack or garnish for dessert or a cheese plate. I would definitely buy these and hope they find greater distribution since they are mostly available in Southern California at the moment.

CREAMY

KL Keller is now importing the most succulent cod fillets in olive oil from the Basque region. Bacalaos Alkorta cooks the cod gently in olive oil, so that the result is much like confit--tender, flavorful and rich. A perfect pantry staple for dinners on the fly. Find the cod at Market Hall Foods.

This was my first time trying the products from Miyoko’s Kitchen. They produce a variety of vegan creamery products. I liked the various “cheeses” it but was most impressed with her European style Cultured VeganButter. It’s made from organic coconut oil, safflower or sunflower oil, organic cashews, soy lecithin, sea salt and cultures. It was amazing how much it tasted like butter! I’m not giving up butter but I would certainly recommend this product to anyone who is interested in a plant-based diet.

OTHER

I love using tortillas, rice paper and even sheets of nori to make wraps instead of traditional sandwiches. Now there’s another option, from Pure Wraps, made from coconut. It’s mild and very flexible. I hope this product becomes more widely available soon.

A few years ago I wrote about some elegant charcoal crackers I discovered at the Fancy Food Show. I expected to see more products with charcoal but I really haven’t seen that much more in the charcoal department. This year The Republic of Tea launched new matcha tea with charcoal. It’s part of their U-Matcha line. I didn’t try all the teas, but the charcoal version was particlarly gentle and light with none of the bitterness I sometimes associate with matcha. The green tea and activated bamboo charcoal is supposed to be supportive as part of a “detox” program. I’m not so sure about detoxing, but am I sure this is a lovely new tea.