Gourmet Meals for Your Unique Tastes
Served over brown rice, this hearty vegetarian yellow curry is chock-full of yummy, healthy ingredients. A fragrant mixture of onions, garlic, curry powder, and light coconut milk is studded with sweet potato cubes, green beans, tender chickpeas and diced tomatoes. A colorful dinner that comes together in no time at all–best when served with your favorite naan or flatbread dipped into the luxurious yellow curry broth.
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With zucchini and a lovely block of Greek halloumi on hand, I decided on a warm freekeh salad with layers of flavor and textures. Freekeh is a whole grain similar to cracked wheat, that is packed with fiber and protein; a great base for a side dish like this one, but also perfect anywhere you would normally add in brown rice, quinoa or cous cous. I roasted spears of zucchini along with pistachios and minced preserved lemon peel, and tossed the freekeh with the summer squash and chunks of the grilled Greek cheese. This scrumptious Mediterranean-inspired side dish is a wonderful vegetarian main dish, or side dish served with your favorite grilled chicken.
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Recipe Courtesy of www.TheBetterFish.com
Barramundi has quickly become one of our favorite go-to fish varieties. A flaky white fish that is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region from South Asia to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia, it is not only tasty, but lean, sustainable and has the highest omega-3 count of any white fish.
If that doesn’t tempt you into trying this lovely fish, this recipe should. Searing barramundi in a touch of olive oil makes for a lovely golden crust on the fish; served on top of your favorite spring greens, the topping is a sweet yet sour (agrodolce) sauce made with red wine-soaked red onions, fresh herbs and capers. I added some garlic, sweet pepper rings and toasted pine nuts to the sauce as well to add some extra Italian flare.
Wrapping jumbo sea scallops in thin slices of prosciutto not only adds extra flavor, but added texture to the plate as well. The scallops sear nicely in the hot pan to golden brown, with the prosciutto following suit and becoming perfectly crisp around the edges. Alone with a squeeze of lemon juice for brightness, these wrapped scallops would be remarkable, but I decided to fancy things up a bit by surrounding the seared scallops with an easy olive vinaigrette: a simple whirl of pitted, mixed olives in your food processor, combined with some vinegar and quality olive oil. I recommend serving the prosciutto-wrapped scallops on a plate of peppery watercress or arugula, with the olive vinaigrette surrounding the scallops and not on top, so that their lovely browned edges can be seen.
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Recipe Courtesy of www.MarthaStewart.com
This gorgeous dairy-free tart is best served with toasted, sliced almonds and some sliced ripe fruit. Depending on the season, you could easily serve the tart in the summertime with fresh berries or later in the year with ripe, sliced figs. Dealer’s choice!
The beauty of the tart comes from its toasted oat-filled crust which you make with flour, sugar, an egg yolk, the oats and some melted coconut oil; simple to assemble and press into your removable-bottom tart shell. The filling like I mentioned uses unsweetened almond milk and the usual stirred custard components: egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar and a pinch of salt. The custard thickens up beautifully and the whole tart comes together effortlessly. (You know what else is effortless? Cutting right on into the chilled tart and treating yourself. Enjoy!)
It’s beginning to be that ‘stuffing’ time-of-year… Whether baked inside your Holiday turkey or baked separately on the side; whether made with bread, cornbread or a mixture of both, stuffing and dressings are an essential part of Holiday menu planning.
I decided to make this bread-based stuffing flavored with crispy pancetta, chicken stock, golden raisins, Lacinato kale, shallots and a touch of sherry vinegar this week. A hearty and healthy side dish, it leans towards Italian-based flavors and even hits on an agrodolce or sweet-yet-sour tone with the mixture of the sweet raisins and the sherry vinegar. Scrumptious indeed, I highly recommend this stuffing idea for one of your many Holiday gatherings.
Further proof that you should never through away that leftover loaf of day-old bread! This sumptuous bread pudding is studded with an assortment of dried fruit: golden raisins, apricots and prunes, and gets is rich flavor from a traditional custard base that includes ricotta cheese in addition to milk, eggs and sugar. Any dried fruit you have on hand will be perfect for this dessert: dried cherries, figs, blueberries—and all pair well with the added flavor of both pure vanilla extract and a touch of orange liqueur.
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Recipe Courtesy of Eating Well Magazine
Oh what a delight! I have adored halloumi cheese ever since my family would frequent Zorba’s, a fabulous Greek restaurant in Baton Rouge. They would bring the cheese out in a heat proof dish, light it on fire in front of you, and put out the flames with lemon juice. Halloumi is a cheese made from a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s milk, it is semi-hard in texture and because of its high melting point can be (like I said) grilled or heated with minimal melting. It has a wonderfully salty flavor and when cooked, gets a lovely brown texture on the outside.
I was thrilled to make this recipe that highlights cubes of halloumi cheese as a substitute for croutons on a hearty winter salad. The cubes of cooked cheese add a lovely texture and salty taste to the salad that believe me, you will adore. A hearty salad that could be a main course all on its own, it truly was a memorable addition to our dinner menu last night. Opa!
(To view this recipe, click on the following link: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/255795/winter-salad-with-halloumi-croutons/)
Recipe Courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine
Using unsweetened, pulp-free coconut water adds a bright finish and depth of flavor to your cooking. In this specific recipe, chicken breasts are rubbed with salt and paprika, pan-seared in coconut oil, and the pan deglazed with coconut water. Once the chicken is cooked through, you then cook sugar snap peas and sweet peppers in the same pan with the coconut oil and water again. The entire dish has a hint of coconut flavor, without being overwhelming. This is a wonderful way to experiment with cooking with coconut water! This was my first time using it, and my mind is already thinking of other ways to utilize the flavorful, healthy product.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you; these scallops pack some heat! Coated in a flavorful coating of spicy harissa paste, each seared scallop is perfectly tender and certainly does wake up those taste buds. If you aren’t familiar with harissa, it is a Tunisian chili sauce that has quickly moved to the top of my ‘must-have-in-the-fridge-all-the-time’ condiment list. Lovely on roasted vegetables, meats, stirred into salad dressings even, it is versatile and pairs very nicely with a fresh squeeze of citrus juice.
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