The beauty of being raw…a feast of veggies in its purest taste
I always adore veggies. I’m that kind of girl who can munch on salad leaves without any dressing…but I’ve never been this crazy about veggies, or I should say I’ve never been this much into raw food. I think this 20 day detox program almost turn me into a vegetarian!=)
Almost a cliche: tomato and buffalo Mozzarella tort with basil and little thyme blossom in pastel purple–so classic, yet feels like new with the refreshing basil, touch of dried wild oregano and violet petite flowers.
tomato and buffalo Mozzarella tort with basil and thyme blossom
Again, simplicity speaks for itself. A perfect salad with julliened zucchini, light dressed with French walnut oil, extra virgin olive oil, Fluer De Sel and fresh ground pepper.
Simple zucchini salad
Another great way to utilize your organic zucchini: shaved lengthwise, roll into pretty green florets rimmed with charming dark green topped with white creamy Mozzarella. Such a treat to the eye as well as to the palate.
zucchini ribbon with Mozzarella
Ok, ok, if you are those like Kai, who’s like: ‘no, I just don’t like it raw, I want mine to be cooked and soft.’ Alright, then here’s the version you’ll like: simply blanch zucchini rounds in boiling water till almost cooked, refresh them, then saute them in olive oil until they get that yummy looking golden brown on both sides.
sauted zucchini with fried egg
Nothing beats a refreshing summer salad to cool down the heat of a super warm late afternoon. The tartness from lime, the sweetness from pineapple chutney, the kick from a touch of red chili meandering around your taste buds while the bright green from edamame, the yellow from the baby corn and perfectly ripe mango, the red from the sweet pepper, and the speckled green from the basil pleasantly play with your other senses.
Thai salad with baby corn-sweet pepper-edamame-mango in a lime-y pineapple chutney dressing
Finally I could have my bread back…oh, yeah, I’ve been missing them badly during the past 20 days for getting away any white flour. So this is one of my favorite bread–pita–this one is so soft, airy yet chewy. I made a dip to go with it–eggplant caviar, or you can call it: the poor man’s caviar. Simply roast a whole eggplant in a 200F oven for about 30 minutes until soft, scoop out the flesh, and use a fork to make it into a puree. (you can discard the skin, but I just couldn’t bring myself throwing it away, which literally packed with nutrients, so I peeled it, and put it into my stomach instead of the trash can.) Add about one table spoon of fresh lemon juice, two table spoons of good olive oil, one clove of garlic, pounded into puree using mortar and pestle, couple table spoons of chopped flat leaf parsley, of course, your essential Fluer De Sel and fresh ground pepper. I also added 1/4 tea spoon of coriander powder to give it a nice exotic note.
To go with the pita and dip, I made my version of creamy soup of fennel, raw style–which is inspired by the cream of celery soup that I had at a raw food demo and tasting at Simply Organic by chef ManKei–the only certified gourmet raw food chef and instructor in Hong Kong. To accentuate the licorice-y flavor of the fennel, I toasted up some fennel seeds and pound into powder, which made it officially double fennel soup. The ingredients include one medium bulb of French fennel, two stalks of organic celery, one Hass avocado (reserve some chunky dices for both texture and garnishing), two table spoon of olive oil, half tea spoon of fennel powder, handful of Italian parsley, season with Fluer De Sel and pepper. Just put everything into a blender and whiz until smooth and just combined. garnish with reserved avocado and little creme fraiche (add bit of warm water to make it a dropping consistency.)
poor man’s caviar on toasted pita
Pita is versatile, could be savory, could be sweet. next morning, I put smeared some sweet butter, and my homemade blueberry jam (which is absolutely lovely with the minimal amount of sugar) on the same toasted pita–breakfast is served! You know what, swirl some jam in creme fraiche, your instant dessert’s fixed.
homemade blueberry jam on pita
The only non-vegetarian thing I cooked up is some scallop, they were very yummy on toasted brioche rounds, with a scallop jus reduction and French shallots.
seared scallops on toasted brioche rounds with French shallots and scallop jus reduction
I also made couple more lovely vegetarian dishes. Below is a Moroccan carrot salad spiced up with ginger, cumin, coriander.
Spiced chickpeas
beetroot curry with black rice
celeriac ramoulade, a French classic
I planned to make a sandwich with grilled veggie (with an array of bell peppers, eggplants, zucchini and fennel) and artichoke paste, but the first thing I cooked which was the roasted peppers, was so good that I snacked on them right away, so no sandwich at the end of day.
After roasted, and peeled, marinade those glistering flesh in its own juice and little aged Balsamic vinegar. Make sure you make abundance at a time, or you’ll end up having nothing left for whatever you’re about to make, they are just too good .
Here’s the recipe for the beetroot curry: (more…
we’re going middle Eastern tonight
There’s this sudden itch for curry, but looking into the pantry, no luck getting any ingredients for an authentic curry, so here comes my sole creation without a recipe, and without the quitessential ingredients like curry leaves and lemongrass. I made a quick curry paste using pestle and mortar pounding up the following long list of stuff that I gathered: fennel seed and cumin seed, (both toasted till fragrant) ground coriander, ground cinnamon, graham masala, green cardamon pod, couple table spoon of long grain rice (gives an ultra creaminess to the final sauce,) ginger, shallots, a little store bought red curry paste.
Brown your protein piece in a heavy pot to sear all the meaty juice, I used pork and my favorite Le Creuset this time. You may have to do this in several batches. Set the seared meat aside.
Use the same pot you browned your meats in, saute chopped onion with the paste until onion gets a golden color, deglaze the pot with a big splash of white wine scraping all the sticky brown bits into the syrupy liquid. Now add potato chunks, saute again till they all get a sheen from the liquid, then add all the seared meats along with any meat juice back to the pot, also add couple table spoon of almond meal and little light brown sugar, add enough chicken broth to just cover everything in the pot. Bring to a boil, skim any scum and foam. Put the lid on, simmer for a good hour, add couple tablespoon of creme fraiche and coconut cream, large handfuls raisins, simmer for another 20 minutes. the meats should be really tender by now. right before serving, add little more coconut cream to finish off.
Serve with pilaf spiced with cardamon, cumin seeds, cinnamon bark and clove.
No time for making dessert today, a bowl of blood orange segments makes the perfect end for the meal.
We also had a salad before dinner: tomato with fresh Mozzarella. I was never fond of Mozzarella until we dined in a local restaurant in Vegas back in February this year, (btw, they fame for their osso bucco,) it was their house made buffalo Mozzarella changed my perception of it, and now I plan to make my own ‘house made Mozzarella.’ This fresh buffalo Mozzarella I got from City’ super is very creamy and tasty. The dressing for the salad is simply one part of Champaign vinegar with three parts of your best extra virgin olive oil. With a good pinch of dried oregano, freshly ground pepper and Fleur De Sel. And of course, can’t have tomato salad without basil!
