Cooking Crew and Sensational Salad

Trio of salads, recipe for one below

Last Friday, I got together with my Cooking Crew. Three to four times a year we get together and take a cooking class. This time, the class was with Myra Kornfield, cooking instructor, chef and the author of one of my favorite cookbooks The Healthy Hedonist. Myra sent over some menu options in advance; we all knew we were in for a treat.

We cooked for four hours, made seven recipes that I know I will make again. However, my favorite part about cooking with friends are those little information nuggets you know will stick with you.

Do you "dashi" I do now, first time making what is basically a fish stock.

Check your soy sauce ingredients- two of the recipes we made had Asian lavors and Myra advised us to use shoyu which is better quality than typical soy sauce.  I use a wheat free tamari but know condiments are where lots of preservatives, coloring and sugar can sneak into our diets.  Be sure any soy product is organic as most soybeans are GM. And while we’re talking ingredients, never use “cooking wine”. Use a wine that’s leftover and passed its prime instead.

Ginger Experience

Do you know the “ginger smash”? Ginger is one of those things that can turn into a mess when prepping it. Myra showed us ginger root could be smashed much like you do a garlic clove. You peel garlic and then turn your knife with the blade horizontal and smash, after give a quick chop whenever ginger is called for.

Kale Secret

Kale Massage

How many times have you burned kale chips? I hear this complaint all the time from clients. Myra says to check kale chips every 5 minutes and pull them out as they get done. Kale cooks unevenly and if you wait for all of the pieces to be done some will burn.

No More Kosher Salt

I think I own every kind of salt white, pink, black you name it. I do fall back on kosher salt while cooking just because I’m familiar with it. Myra’s not a fan of kosher salt and uses Celtic or Himalayan for everything because of the taste and mineral content. Now I have to figure out what to do with the gigundo box of kosher salt, exfoliation perhaps?

A Kitchen Essential

I have a "lime" version of this. Myra points out you only really need the lemon as it fits both lemons and limes. 


This salad is delicious, I made it sans feta with the salmon dish (pictured above) last night.

Turkish Chopped Romaine Salad with Dill and Scallions

6 cups shredded romaine

¾ cup chopped dill

½ cup thinly sliced scallions

Salt *see above and freshly ground black pepper

1 clove minced garlic

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Sprinkling feta cheese, optional

In a large bowl mix lettuce, dill and scallions (this can be done in advance and kept). Whisk garlic, lemon juice and olive oil together or shake in a small jar. Right before serving sprinkle greens liberally with salt and pepper, add dressing to greens and toss together. You'll use less salt if you salt the greens versus adding it to the dressing.

As we were leaving we thanked Myra and told her we couldn’t wait to attempt the recipes on our own. “Do it sooner than later so you remember what we did.” More great advice.

How often do you cook with friends? What's the best info nugget you've learned? And what is your essential kitchen gadget or gizmo?

orange blossom water, we used in a dressing

I am no longer intimidated by baby artichokes, for record different than baby carrots

poking the broccoli 

Is Kale Becoming A Kardashian?

Photo via EA Stewart, caption mine.

I am concerned for kale. It’s everywhere I look. It’s in recipes in so many magazines and not just the health oriented ones. We can’t keep the Kale Krackers in stock; Carolyn coined it “kale krack”. Clients who don’t even eat greens are chugging kale-containing green juices. Kale may very well be risking overexposure. It can’t be long before there’s a new green on the street- collards or beet greens, maybe even dandelions. Before we kale out, before chocolate covered kale and the inevitable creation of kale in a capsule, I thought I’d share my top kale moments.

Hail Kale Caesar I love this recipe from EA Stewart’s Spicy RD blog, I went crouton-less and cut the cheese (stop) a little and this was well received. It makes a lot and I topped with avocado one day, cooked shrimp another. Bookmark this recipe, it’s a keeper.

Kale Krackers the aforementioned “wack” snack. If you are someone who gets fixated on certain foods, I would advise you to not starting with these. Habit forming. Do you need another habit?

Crispy Coconut Kale from a blog called Holy Kale and the authors name is Lauren. I wonder what will happen to her site if people turn on kale.

Green Pineapple Smoothie-I’m a believer in “greening” every meal; however if you want to add kale to smoothies you will probably need a Vitamix.

Eggs over Kale Hash  who says Rachael Ray doesn't have healthy-ish recipes?

Kale Hazelnut Salad  if you haven't checked out Food52, I highly suggest it.

Green Juice try kale, cucumber, parsnips, pear, lemon and ginger, so good.

Unlike the Kardashians, kale is worth the hype but so are most superfoods, remember acai?

Do you kale? If so, when did you join the kale club? What are your favorite kale concoctions?

Travel Eating: Tips and Treats

In the past two days I’ve talked travel-eating strategies with a client headed to Istanbul and another going on safari. My travel plans aren’t nearly as exotic but still require planning. I thought I’d share my top travel-eating tips and treats as well as some exciting news.

Travel Tips: 

Avoid airline food at all costs if you are actually served anything. I don’t care if it’s business class or coach. On certain airlines the food may look decent or taste fine (doubtful) but it’s still brimming with sodium, preservatives not to mention bacteria. Bring a salad, brown rice sushi or sandwich on sprouted bread instead.

Quickies (as far as workouts) are worth it. If you’re used to a super spin class or hour-long run you may feel those are difficult to replicate while away.  Don’t let your type-A ness get in your way. Fifteen minutes of plank, pushups, tricep dips and water-bottle bicep curls are better than nothing. I love my friend Amie Hoff’s advice- tell yourself you’ll do 10 minutes (at the gym or for a run) you’ll always do more. Fifteen minutes a day might keep a little weight away.

Start your day on track. I’m a fan of including protein in breakfast to help control calories later in the day. Whether it’s eggs, yogurt, nut butter or a “shaken” smoothie there’s plenty of time to play later.

No lunch drinking. Maybe it has to do with the city of drinkers I live among and counsel every day but vacation often means every hour is happy hour. This is dangerous. Lunch drinking makes you more likely to eat the wrong things, nap away your afternoon and wake up just in time to drink again. Cocktails, preferably singular, are fine at cocktail hour.

And finally, beware of the "ef-its". I have no problem cursing in real life but don’t think I should here, not sure why.  It’s a few days into a vacation you’re eating anything and everything and feeling down on yourself. Do not ever say “when I get home I’ll eat well” or any version of it; that's  an "f-it" mindset. That also gives you license to eat more and worse.  Pick 1 area to try to reign in whether it’s dessert , the breadbasket or drinking. 

Travel Treats

We organize food “packing lists” for client’s vacations. This includes must have items to help keep them on track when away from home.  The best news of all? All of these essentials are available in our *new* Foodtrainers Online Shop (that’s the exciting news in case you didn’t know).

Kale Krackers- our new favorites from Kookie Karma. These are adult Cheese- Its sans cheese (or any dairy). They’re low calorie and addictive. A carry-on must.

Barney Butter and GG Bran Crips. These 90-calorie almond butter backs on GG’s are a great snack. They also come in handy when breakfast options are slim or “continental”.

Chia Sticks- sometimes things don’t “go” so well when we’re away. Chia can help get things moving. Chia seeds are high in fiber and in the manner in which they digest can act as an appetite suppressant. These single-serve chia packs are milled (no sticking in your teeth) and can be added to yogurt or sprinkled over fruit on the road.

Sheffa- we admit there’s no easier snack than nuts but there’s only so many almonds a person can eat before craving something more exciting. These gluten-free, single serve nut mixes come in various flavors and include interesting ingredients like chickpea “noodles”, coconut and papaya.

Eboost- bust bloat and jet lag at once. “Boost” contains green tea and vitamin C. It’s the perfect healthy, stevia-sweetened energy drink. Just mix with a tall glass of water and enjoy.

We’ve created a fantastic Travel Snack Bundle for you to sample our favorite treats and we’re giving a bundle away. To enter, comment below and “like” Foodtrainers on Facebook. You have until Sunday 7/24.

What helps you to eat well while away? What’s on your food-packing list? Any fun trips planned?  Even day trips need treats, be prepared.

Blackberry Farm

I am writing this from post from Blackberry Farm. I’m here giving a series of short talks to some guests participating in a motivational boot camp.  If you aren’t familiar with Blackberry Farm it’s a farm to table property in the Smoky Mountains. All of the produce served here is produced on the farm. Last night on the way to dinner we passed the truffle farm and saw the building where the cheese and jam are made. Before dinner, I met the participants as they returned from a hike.

I introduced people, singles and couples, from Texas, Mississippi and Westchester to Foodtraining. The premise of the talk is that we all know the “shoulds” in terms of exercise.  Yet there is a gap between what we know we should do and what we actually do. Whether it’s cooking or exercise or snacking or drinking we each have our behavioral Achilles heel. My proposed antidote to these weak areas is planning (more on that later). It was my first talk I’ve ever done with a glass of champagne in my hand. I raised a glass to the group and we headed into dinner.

Dinner was a delicious four-course meal with a wine for each course. I worked with Sam Beall, the proprietor of Blackberry, offering a few suggestions (they clearly don’t need my help). We started with a Beet Carpaccio served with Hen of the Woods mushrooms and “crispy buckwheat.” Buckwheat is gluten free and the crunch in the salad was fantastic. The following course was a vegetable soup utilizing the last kale of the season here. Also in the soup were the flowers from the kale this time of year. These flowers have a name but two wines in, it’s no wonder I cannot recall it. Our entrée was Guinea Hen serves with ramps (wild leeks) and brown “basmati rice grits”.  The flavor of the ramps with these polenta-like grits was insanely good. I chose not to lick my plate but scraped it clean. And finally, on a beautiful slab of slate we were served Blackberry Farm’s “Singing Brook” cheese with Honey Turnips.

It was one of those nights where I felt the rest of the world was so far away. Marc and I were seated with Mary Celeste and Sam Beall who live at Blackberry Farm with their four children. Marc was next to a couple married when they were in their 50’s in the French Quarter. Stories were shared about travel and cooking and wine and more. As I relaxed from a long week I realized I was supposed to talk “sleep tips” after dinner. Everyone grabbed his or her tea or coffee (or remaining wine) and we walked down a path to another house. In a living room-like setting we all talked about sleep which I didn’t think would be too hard after all that good food and wine.

What do you feel is your Achilles heel when it comes to nutrition or exercise? Are you at all sat to say goodbye to root vegetables or kale as spring arrives? What are your favorite meal memories where the menu and company seemed perfect?

Green with Eating

See that beautiful drink posted above? It's called a Shamrock Shake and I deserve zero credit for it. I read about this shake in a fantastic blog post on affairsofliving.com. The shake has two of my favorite things in it avocado and mint, it's dairy free and delicious. Instead of posting the recipe I encourage you to read the post and enjoy the back story. Since I  am 0% Irish (though many other things)  and already shared one brilliant green recipe that wasn't mine, here are a few more:

These are kale chips. This recipe calls for Tuscan kale a variety that works well raw or cooked. These chips are a home run, a way to get non kale eaters to change their ways.

I love all Spring vegetables but artichokes and asparagus top my list. Artichokes are one of those foods I think some people are scared to cook. This baked artichoke recipe is incredibly easy.

And finally, because it is St Patricks day after all,  a green cocktail

You can replace vermouth with creme de menth in a martini or combine good tequila with melon liquer and lime juice. Avoid any drinks with sodas or juices but experiment and have fun.

What are your favorite green foods? Green Recipes?