For Life Personal Chef

Wild Rice Salad

What was cooking for my personal chef clients this week?

I needed to do some thinking out of the box this week for my vegetarian clients and for myself. It is so easy to get in a rut, eating the same thing all the time. There are those weight loss researchers ( sorry, don’t have any links for it) who say that eating mostly the same food all the time is good for weight loss. As a chef and an adventuresome eater ( and one who has lost and gained weight many times), I agree and disagree. I need a framework of foods that are recommended for me to eat AND I need variety. If I am bored with eating brown rice and salad everyday, then I am really likely to head to the cookie aisle or the ice cream shoppe. So, searching around for some healthy  carbohydrate alternatives to grain, I remembered wild rice. It is a grass, not a grain. It is a starchy carbohydrate but is high in amino acids (the building blocks for protein) and many minerals.

So here is my riff on a recipe found on the internet at www.bunkycooks.com. The original recipe called for dried cranberries. I cannot be the only one who is just not fond of those. And why are they found in so many things ?

Wild Rice Salad for the Fall

for the dressing:

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. hemp oil
2 T. sherry vinegar ( or a flavored vinegar like fig balsamic would be really good)
1 tsp. honey
salt and pepper to taste

for the salad:
1 c. wild rice, rinsed well
2 c. vegetable or chicken broth
2 c. water
1 tart green apple, chopped
finely chopped vegetables totalling 2 cups ( suggestions = celery, green or red onion, cooked winter squash cubes, red pepper, carrots, raw or cooked zucchini)
1/2 c. chopped nuts ( I used hazelnuts. almonds or walnuts would be good. anything you like)
a tsp. or more of chopped fresh herbs – I used rosemary and thyme

and, if you must, the ubiquitous dried cranberries. Try it without, though. The apple and the honey make it nicely sweet.

Combine the broth, water and rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes ( covered). Taste it to test for doneness. (It doesn’t get really soft. You want the grains to split and you will see the purplish insides.) Drain and cool the rice.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a medium sized salad bowl. Add the cooled rice and the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and enjoy.

I wish I would have added parsley for a bit more green. next time.

Fig and Apple Crisp

a seasonal dessert from my personal chef kitchen

I love figs. Their season is short as is their shelf life. They are best eaten or cooked on the day you buy them, if not on the day they are picked. They are a powerhouse of minerals and are very sweet. Some say that it was a fig and not an apple that was picked by Eve in the Bible story about the Garden of Eden.

I recently had a friend and business associate help me with some things who didn’t want payment. How rare and refreshing is that ? So, in return, I baked him and his family some fig and apple crisp. Oh, the house smelled delicious!

I was able to score some beautiful figs and apples at the farmers’ market this weekend and put together this riff on a recipe from www.ifood.tv.

Fig and Apple Crisp

12 fresh figs, quartered
2 apples, chopped into bite sized pieces ( I used MacIntosh)
3 T. organic sugar ( depending on sweetness of fruit and your taste, you might use less)
1/2 c. oatmeal ( not quick cooking or instant)
1/2c. whole wheat or spelt flour
1 tsp. 5 spice powder ( in researching, I just discovered that the 5 spices represent the five tastes – sweet, salty,sour, bitter, and pungent)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
2 T. coconut oil or butter

I buttered a small baking dish ( approx. 6″x6″) and filled it with the fruit. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl until everything is incorporated. Sprinkle over the fruit. Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

This post is part of GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister . Please head over there and check the other posts.

Hot and Sour Salmon with Greens

on my personal chef clients’ menu this week

I was a busy personal chef this week with 2 new clients. The busier I get, the easier  I want my menu planning to be, so 2 of the three families I cooked for this week, got this delicious Hot and Sour Salmon, adapted from a recipe from Dr. Andrew Weil. ( The other clients are vegetarian!)  And this weekend, I am cooking it for myself.

Salmon fishing season just ended here in the Monterey Bay.  It was short and very few salmon were actually caught. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch has updated their opinion on eating salmon and recommend avoiding eating any California Salmon. Your best bet continues to be wild caught from Alaska.  Here, in California, that is widely available. If you are not familiar with the Seafood Watch program, please click on the link  and learn about it. Subscribe to their blog, “like” them on Facebook, donate some time and/or money. It is a fabulous program. I have learned a lot from them.

Hot and Sour Salmon with Greens

serves 4

4 6 oz. portions of wild caught Alaskan Salmon ( I prefer the fillets)
2 lbs. bok choy, cleaned and ends trimmed
1 bunch swish chard, chopped
6  green onions, ends trimmed, cut into julienne slices on the diagonal
3 T. minced or grated fresh ginger
2 T. coconut oil ( or olive oil)

6 T. tamari
3 T. chinese black vinegar or Worcestershire sauce
1 T. honey ( local and organic is best)
2 T. minced garlic

Mix the last 4 ingredients in a small bowl for the sauce.

Melt 1 T. of the coconut oil in a saute pan, add the greens and ginger . Cook for several minutes until lightly done. ( The water from freshly washing the greens will help steam them a bit)

Remove the greens and arrange nicely on a platter. ( or in my case for my clients, I put them into small glass or plastic containers)

Melt the other tablespoon of coconut oil. Place the salmon serving side down into the pan and saute until nicely seared. Turn the salmon, lower the heat, cover the fish,and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. ( Time will depend on the size of your fillets, how well cooked you like your salmon ). During the last few minutes, take a few Tablespoons of the sauce and drizzle over the fish.

Place the cooked fish on top of the greens and pour the rest of the sauce over the whole thing.  You could serve this just by itself for a simple meal. One of my clients also got some veggie fried rice with this and the other got some roasted broccoli.  Either way, it will be delicious.