Last Meal of the Year

It is the last day of 2010 and what better way to end the year with a home cooked or rather un-cooked meal. I scanned through my new recipe book which is named "Raw Food for Everyone" by Alissa Cohen and decided upon a dish called Buddha Bowl. Buddha is the enlightened one so I thought maybe this meal would bring me some good luck and enlightenment in the new year. Wishful thinking!

The dish consists of what Cohen considers a broth of dates, fresh ginger, scallions, jalapeno chili, garlic and coconut milk (its consistency did not remind me of broth but rather of a thick creamy sauce) and, a variety of mixed fruits and vegetables that are tossed into the broth. Produce such as ripe mango, avocado, daikon, carrots, spouted mung beans, bok choy, snow peas, and fresh herbs. I took her basic recipe and cut down the amounts in the broth, deleted the jalapeno chili and added red chili pepper flakes, and used sugar snap peas instead of snow peas (which was not a good idea because sugar snap peas are too fibrous raw). The dish looked lovely and tasted good, but really did not speak to me. I realized that as much as I enjoy raw desserts year round, I do not enjoy raw meals in the winter in New England. So, I decided to be creative and cook this meal instead.

I heated some oil in a stir-fry pan and added the cut up daikon, carrots, sprouted mung beans, bok choy leaves, sugar snap peas (much better cooked!), mint, and cilantro. I left out the mango and avocado all together and added baby spinach. This stir-fried for a few moments and then I added the original broth mixture along with peanut butter and cayenne. The result was much more to my liking. The warm, lightly cooked food felt better in my body and I really enjoyed the added peanut flavor. Therefore, it just goes to show that as well as culinary creativity and nutrition, it is important to be aware of what feels good in your body and spirit. I will continue to enjoy raw desserts, raw smoothies, and maybe some raw dips during the winter, but prefer my main meals to be lightly cooked and warmed.

Until next year...hope this new year brings you good food and good fun. Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

A Week in the Raw

For this last week of 2010 I will be blogging on raw food recipes to give you some ideas for healthy meals to start your new year right. My cousin, who knows me very well, gave me one of my favorite gifts for Christmas...a cookbook. Of course, maybe I should call this one an uncookbook, as it is a raw foods recipe book. Nevertheless it is a book on food. Raw or cooked, simply does not matter to me because I just love anything and everything about food!

The first recipe I decided to experiment with is a Nut and Fruit Torte. I had all the ingredients on hand and this recipe was quick and easy to prepare. So as Emeril says, "BAM", I whipped it up in a cinch and enjoyed my first raw dessert of the week. OK, maybe I should have worked my way up to dessert, but I figured why not finish off the last week of the year by beginning with sweetness.

This torte made simply of nuts, dried fruits and lemon juice is rich in nutrients, antioxidants, and taste. One bite into the earthy, nutty treat had me licking my lips for more. It is a flavorful and healthy dessert that is easy to make and won't make you feel guilty for indulging in an extra piece. Bust out your inner culinary artist and experiment with this basic recipe adding more or less ingredients to your liking. Maybe use only one nut and one fruit, add spices, add raw cacao, use orange juice instead of lemon, or anything else your imagination can concoct.

NUT AND FRUIT TORTE - makes one 9" torte

1 cup pitted dates (soaked for 2 hours)
1 1/2 cups golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pecans
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine the raisins, cranberries, and nuts in a food processor and blend until moist and mixture starts to clump together. Put this mixture into a 9" pie pan and evenly spread out over pan. Using your hand firmly press this mixture down until it feels somewhat solid and holding together.
In small food processor (I used the same big one and this mixture didn't blend as well) blend the drained dates and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Spread this "frosting" over the torte base. Garnish with nuts and fruits if desired. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate. Torte will cut easier after it is refrigerated.

A Love Affair With Pesto

Fresh basil....mmm, I just can't get enough of it. Its piquant aroma, vivid green color, and Italian roots puts me under its spell. Tonight I decided to make a pesto from the basil I picked up at the farm stand the other day, and serve it on top of whole wheat penne pasta. Pesto is incredibly easy to make, but seems so gourmet. I beefed up the gourmet factor by using macadamia nuts (since I am in Hawaii) and a drizzle of white truffle oil. Oh yea baby... who's the top chef now!

Pesto - makes 2-3 servings
1 bunch of fresh basil, washed and dried
1 clove garlic
salt to taste
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup shredded parmigiano reggiano cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
drizzle of white truffle oil

In a food processor puree basil, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt. Add macadamia nuts and blend. Add cheese, olive oil, and truffle oil and blend until a creamy consistency. Adjust olive oil and salt amounts to taste and texture. Serve over warm pasta or with a hot toasty baguette or straight from the bowl. Divine.

At first taste I was hooked. I think fresh pesto is going to be a staple in my diet from here on out. My pesto pasta dish was enjoyed under the starry sky overlooking the nighttime view of the Maui coastline. It was almost reminiscent of the pesto pasta dish I enjoyed in the Cinque Terre, Italy back in May...except, now the Italians might kill me for saying this, I actually enjoyed mine better. Cinque Terre is an amazingly gorgeous part of the world and is known for its pesto and focaccia, which I indulged in frequently. Leave it to the Italians to take a few simple, fresh ingredients and create delicious, beautiful cuisine. I think I did a good job learning from them!

Baba G and Fattoush

Today I went to visit an old friend who recently built a beautiful home in upcountry Maui. He seems to have a green thumb as his garden is filled with plump, purple eggplants that were begging to be devoured. I left his house with three medium size eggplants and hurried home to try out a new recipe. Since I have been surrounding myself lately with people of Middle Eastern culture, I decided upon a Middle Eastern style dinner. The menu...Baba Ganoush, Fattoush, and toasted pita chips. Baba Ganoush is a paste made primarily of eggplant and tahini (sesame paste), while Fattoush is a light, refreshing salad made with pita bread chunks. For the Baba Ganoush, I started by warming up the oven and pricking the eggplant. Next I placed the eggplant on a sheet pan and baked them at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. After they cooled, I cut the tops off, peeled away the skin, and placed the flesh into a food processor and added lots of yummy ingredients. At first taste, the Baba Ganoush seemed bitter which may be because I did not cook the eggplant long enough. Usually I cut up the eggplant and salt it to help lessen the bitterness, but the recipes I read did not suggest this. So, I have to work on this. To cut down the bitterness I just added sugar. While the eggplant was baking I toasted the pita chips and began working on the Fattoush. When all was complete, I sat down and enjoyed an aesthetically and physically pleasing meal. And, to top it off, it felt nice knowing that I was enjoying food that was hand grown by my friend. Between love and pride put in the labor to grow the vegetables to the love and pride put in to the cooking, the meal satiated my body and spirit.

Baba Ganoush - makes about 3 cups

3 medium sized eggplants
1/2 cup tahini
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Tablespoon cilantro


Pre-heat oven, prick eggplants with a fork and place whole on a baking sheet. Bake about 30 - 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool. Cut off tops and skin. Place flesh and the rest of ingredients into a food processor and blend well. You may adjust salt, lemon juice, and garlic to your preferred tastes. Experiment with spices and herbs. Parsley is a very popular ingredient in Baba Ganoush and can be used instead of cilantro. Or you can also try using mint instead. Garnish with olive oil and serve with toasted pita chips.

Fattoush - makes about 3 servings

1 large pita bread toasted and cut into small chunks
1 tomato, diced
a handful of yellow cherry tomatoes, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/4 red, yellow, or green pepper, diced
2 stalks green onion, sliced
2 leafs of romaine or green leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Mix above ingredients together and toss with dressing.

Dressing - 1 clove crushed garlic, 1/8 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Mix ingredients together, adjust flavors to taste, and drizzle on Fattoush.

Papaya Love

Now that you have the leftover flesh of the papaya fruit, what do you do with it? Well, you could eat it as is, use it as a bowl to add vanilla yogurt and homemade granola, cut out the meat and use it in a smoothie, chop it up and make papaya salsa, or try making your own papaya sorbet. The latter is what I decided upon. I found a recipe that required the flesh of one papaya diced, which is exactly what I had. I placed the papaya cubes in a saucepan with 1 cup of sugar and 2 1/2 cups water, brought the mix to a boil, cooked for a couple of minutes then removed from heat. Next I placed the mix into a blender to puree it. The recipe I found suggested using an ice cream maker, but since I didn't have one I decided to just pop it in the freezer and mix it every once in a while. The next day it had developed into a gorgeous sunset orange frozen ice. Not sure if that is truly a sorbet or more of an Italian ice, but whatever it is considered it looks lovely and tastes divine. I scooped the sorbet into a fancy glass, drizzled a bit of maple syrup over it and topped it with fresh mint. After first taste I fell in love. I will be making this again and again, and plan on being creative with the next batches. Maybe I will add honey, coconut, mint, or another fruit to the blend. Or, maybe I will layer it with Tahitian vanilla pound cake and fresh Kula strawberries. Aaaahh, the possibilities are endless!

While your indulging in this beautiful, tropical treat you can rest assure knowing that you are doing your body good too! Papaya flesh and its peppery seeds are very nutritious and contain needed digestive enzymes known as papain that help digest proteins. Rich in antioxidants, bioflavonoids, and Vitamin C, papaya is an excellent fruit to add to your diet. Papaya is also a good source of fiber, folate, potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K. Close your eyes, place the juicy flesh into your mouth and envision yourself in Hawaii or another exotic place just to make your spirit feel good.

Paradise and Papayas

As my year continues of travel and adventure, the opportunity to return to Hawaii has been added to the list. So, here I am writing from the place many like to call Paradise, but where I called home for almost seven years. It is a pleasure to be back surrounded by beauty, mystical culture and some of my favorite foods...avocados, apple bananas, guava, passionfruit, and papaya to name a few! Today I discovered a new local farm stand right down from where I am staying that is filled with character and delicious, fresh Hawaiian delicacies. Auntie (that is how you call older women here), who ended up being a darn good sales woman, helped me pick out the freshest goodies for the weekend cooking that I was planning on doing. Local odd shaped tomatoes, firm green beans, mixed sprouts, beautiful basil, elongated stems of cilantro, large leaf spinach, apple bananas, Molokai papaya, cucumber, and funny looking bright yellow cherry tomatoes filled my basket. Auntie stopped me when I was picking up the tiny bag of yellow tomatoes to say "let me go pick some more off da tree, yea" and took off into the field wearing her apron and mud boots and followed by a trail of colorful, laughing hens. When she came back I asked if she had any mint or parsley and she replied "of course, try wait, and I go pick some for you." Now, it doesn't get any fresher than that!

Happy with my new find and armed with a gigantic bag of fresh, local produce I headed back to the house ready to cook. It was a warm, sunny day in upcountry Maui and I felt the need for a cool lunch so I decided on a hearty salad with homemade papaya seed dressing. In most of the world, the autumn brings cool weather and the desire for warming foods, but not here in Hawaii. so many of you may not try some of these recipes until next summer when your body will want cool foods again.

I have never made papaya seed dressing before, so I surfed the Internet for recipe ideas and found quite a few variations. I decided to just get creative and use what I had on hand to make up my own version. The result, a light and refreshing slightly tangy, fruity dressing that I thoroughly enjoyed. Here is my recipe:

Papaya Seed Dressing - yields about 1/2 cup

1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon onion
1/2 of a papaya's seeds
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
5 mint leaves
splash of chardonnay vinegar
salt to taste

Put all in a blender and blend until seeds look like pepper flecks. Cover and refrigerate or serve immediately if your really hungry. After this first batch I decided to add 1/4 cup plain yogurt to it to make it a creamy papaya seed dressing. Equally as delicious.

Remember, in cooking you can be creative, so play with this recipe and try out new combinations. Add lime or orange juice instead of lemon, or use raspberry vinegar instead. Many recipes for the dressing called for mustard and tarragon, which I did not have on hand, but plan on trying another time. Have fun with it and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Next blog I will suggest ideas of what to do with the actual papaya meat if you didn't already devour its juicy flesh.

Buttery, sugary heaven...

Walking down the cobblestone streets of the quaint University town of Maastricht, in The Netherlands, my friend stops me and says ""can you smell them?"" I take a gigantic puff of air and immediately am saturated with an odor so heavenly my mouth starts to water. Down the corner was a little candy shop that was open to the street where they were baking fresh, hot, buttery, Belgium waffles to order. The smell was so amazing and so fragrant that it filled the entire street! I couldn't believe it and of course couldn't resist. ""Mah ik een waffle ausblijft met zuker"" my friend so kindly orders in the native language a waffle with sugar for me. The baker pops a warm waffle out of the oven, dusts it with powdered sugar, and hands it over. I take one bite and am in love. The waffles are coated in honey so they have a slight crisp exterior yet perfectly fluffy interior. They were warm, moist, buttery and sweet...a perfect combination. Could it get any better than this, I thought? Then I saw that I could have ordered one slathered in dark Belgium chocolate. Did I just die and arrive in heaven? I love this country!

Quick note for my readers... I am currently in The Netherlands and will be traveling around this region until I make my way over to Ireland. I will do my best to blog my food adventures. Ciao!