Personal Chef for Hire

Whetting your appetite

We are moving ever closer to spring and I am contemplating new items for my personal chef clients’ menus. I thought I would whet your appetite with some pictures and descriptions of some of the things my clients have eaten lately. Some things stay on the menu year round and many things are seasonal. As you faithful readers of this blog know, I am a firm believer in eating according to the seasons. The reasons are many. The quality of locally grown in season food is higher, has more nutritive value, and is less expensive. Each season has its own energies, as does the food that grows during that time.

I must admit I am ready for the spring produce – peas, asparagus, strawberries! But, we have a few more weeks of root vegetables and squashes ahead of us. We are blessed here in California with an early spring but Mother Earth is still resting and waiting and so must we.

Here is a Winter Vegetable Stew I made for a vegetarian couple, rich with mushroom broth and locally cultivated mushrooms, winter squash, celery root, celery, onions, spinach, and sundried tomatoes which were picked and dried in the height of the season and so carry that life force in them.

A soup that sticks around most of the year is Chicken Noodle soup. Obviously, this was not for the same clients, but a family who orders soup every week. Here is where I get to be creative. I hardly ever use a recipe for soup. I have a memory of a recipe or a concept  and either see what looks good at the market and/or what is available in the fridge. This means each time it is a one of a kind masterpiece, never to be exactly repeated. This soup contains chicken thighs which I find have so much more flavor and richness, especially good for soups and stews. It also has onions, carrots, celery, spinach and noodles. This day, I used what noodles were available in the clients’ cupboards. It also has a healthy dose of garlic, and some salt and pepper.

Next up is a recipe, often requested by my vegetarian clients, from the wonderful Molly Katzen for Spaghetti Squash Pancakes. You first bake the squash and when cooked scrape out the flesh which is noodle like in shape. Personally, I have never quite gotten into using this squash as a substitute for noodles but many people do. The batter is simple with the cooked noodles, rice flour, onion, eggs, salt and pepper. I like using red onion and adding some fresh thyme. This definitely is a seasonal recipe, appearing in the fall and winter. These clients love little patties and cakes so I am sure some sort of spring pancake will be on their menus soon, perhaps peas.

Lastly is a recipe I found on a piece of paper when cleaning out my garage. I suspect it is a Zone diet recipe but I cannot give appropriate credit for it. Delicious little good for you cookies, made of dried figs, almond flour, salt, vanilla,orange zest, and a bit of coconut oil. ( the oil was not in the original recipe) Happily, they are processed sugar free, grain free, and gluten free.

Almond Fig Bites

2 cups almond meal
1 c. ( 6 oz) soft dried figs ( one of my personal chef friends suggested subbing apricots, yum!)
2 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. coconut oil

Heat oven to 325º. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 1 minute.

Form dough into small slightly flattened balls  and place on baking sheet 1/2 in. apart. ( cookies do not spread during baking). Bake until bottoms of cookies are slightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes, turning pan once half way through. Cool and eat!

There is a small taste of what has been keeping me busy lately. I love my work as a personal chef. Every day is different and every client is different. Stay tuned for Spring will surely come and new ideas will emerge along with the new vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

This post is part of  GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister. Head over there and read all the other interesting posts, please.

Pizza!

my amazingly awesome actually good for me nutrient dense gluten free pizza

That title is a mouthful as was my most excellent dinner tonight.

Good pizza starts with the crust. When one is on a gluten free diet, this is a huge challenge at best. I am just not fond of any gluten free pizza crust I have ever tasted. A few years ago, Mark Bittman of the New York Times wrote about socca, a flatbread typically made with chickpea flour. I made his recipe as is and it was delicious. Not only am I gluten free, I generally avoid flours of all kinds, preferring to eat fresher, more whole foods. Enter the idea of making pizza crust from quinoa. This would take care of the whole food issue and definitely ups the protein values.  The important step that Mr. Bittman does not include in his instructions is to soak the grain or flour. This step is important for removing the phytates . Phytic acid is an “antinutrient” which binds up the minerals in the grain and prevents the body from using them. Soaking does mean some  planning and premeditation. Use pure water and cover the quinoa and let it sit overnight. When ready to use simply drain.  Easy but as I said, takes some thinking ahead.

Quinoa Pizza Crust

makes 2 thin 8 inch crusts

1 1/2c. quinoa, soaked overnight and drained

1/2 – 3/4 c. pure water

1 tsp. celtic sea salt

1/4c. olive oil

(of course you are using organic ingredients!)

Preheat oven t0 450º F. Place the quinoa, water, and salt in a blender and blend until creamy. The consistency will be thick ( like pancake batter). Start with 1/2c. water and see if you need more. Divide the olive oil and cover the bottom of 2 8 in. cake pans. Place the pans in the oven until they are shimmering hot ( not smoking).Remove from the oven. At this point, you can add some minced garlic and/or herbs if you would like. Divide the quinoa mixture evenly. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the crusts over and return to bake another 10 minutes.  They should be brown and crispy.

At this point, let your imagination take over. Top with classic pizza ingredients or try something new. I have recently renewed my love of pesto but as you can imagine not your typical pesto. This one is made of arugula, parsley, walnuts, olive oil, hemp oil, and garlic. Delicious! Pesto is a nutrient dense food that assists the liver in detoxifying the body and helps lower blood fats. So, on went a hearty layer of pesto. I topped this with some caramelized onions and sauteed red chard, mixed with some pine nuts. Lots of vegetables, that deep red color that is good for us. The “icing on the cake” is a few dollops of kefir cheese. I strained some goat’s milk kefir to get the liquid whey for some fermenting that I am doing this week. What is left is a thick sour cream like substance that is delicious! AND it contains lots of good bacteria/probiotics.

Every part of this pizza is actually full of nutrition and while it does not look like pizzeria pizza, it was so good and gave me pleasure that a slice of that pizzeria pizza would not. I am satiated from the good fats, my belly is full from the big pile of chard, and I am happy with having made a good choice for dinner.

So, step out of the box. haha, literally. Don’t get take out, make your own good for you pizza.

Thanks to my friend and nutrition mentor, Craig Lane of Health Alkemy, for the inspiration!

Onion Bread

Oh how I love Cafe Gratitude’s Onion Bread!

I am neither vegan nor a raw foodist but this bread is high on my list of favorite things to eat and to make. It is raw, getting “baked” in the food dehydrator, vegan, and gluten free. So simple and so satisfying, it also can be made in your oven. You can do it overnight if you feel comfortable leaving the appliance on, so you won’t be taking away from other oven use.

I have never been ( yet) to Cafe Gratitude but use their cookbook occasionally. I know several people, vegan and carnivore , who claim this recipe as one of their favorites also.

Cafe Gratitude Onion Bread ( also known as I am Original)

1 1/4 lb. sweet onions, peeled
1/2c ground sunflower seeds ( I have been known to use more and to use a combo of sunflower seeds and sesame seeds)
1/2c. ground golden flax seeds
1/4 c. olive oil ( this last batch I made I forgot to put this in and it didn’t make a lot of difference!)
1 1/2 oz. tamari sauce
3 T. sweetener ( the Cafe recipe calls for agave but I no longer use it as it is too high in fructose. Please use local raw honey, which is NOT vegan, if you need sweetener. I leave it out totally and think it is fine without)

Put onions in the food processor using the “S” blade and process until small pieces, but not mush. Put into mixing bowl with other ingredients and mix thoroughly. The flax will absorb the liquid. With moistened fingers, smooth dough onto grid dehydrator sheets lined with a Teflex sheet. Spread to about 1/4 in. thick. Dehydrate at 145º for 1 hour and then reduce temperature to 115º and dehydrate until dry ( check at about 8 hours). Break into pieces or cut with pizza cutter and store in airtight container.

Yummy warmed up with good cultured butter or nut butter. Sorry vegans, but it is marvelous with cheese melted on it. Makes a very thin sandwich but it is actually pretty sturdy.

If you use your conventional oven, put the temperature at its lowest setting possible. Place a piece of parchment paper on a large baking sheet and using your wet fingers, spread out mixture as described above. At about 6 hours, carefully turn over the pieces of bread and continue drying. I think it took my oven about 10 hours. I also left the oven door cracked as I really had no idea what the temperature was in there. Once you get addicted to this bread, you just might need to buy a dehydrator.