My New Favorite Juice – Pomegranate Juice

9 Oct

I recently discovered pomegranate juice.  I hadn’t tried it before because the POM bottles were so outrageously expensive in my local supermarket store – almost $9 for a small bottle.  Thanks to my trusted COSTCO, now I can get delicious pomegranate juice at a more reasonable price.

I like pomegranate juice for several reasons…

  • It’s deliciously sweet and tart at the same time. It reminds me a bit of cranberry juice.
  • It’s has antioxidant properties.
  • It’s great to drink by itself or to mix into fruit smoothies.
  • It’s super refreshing in the summer heat.

But, just like yoga… this is something you need to experience.  If you have not had pomegranate juice, I urge you to try it.

My next step… doing something with the actual fruit.  They look so pretty and jewel-like…

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Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

7 Oct

You know how it is…  that the things that come naturally to you and you think they’re the most normal and mundane, some people find fascinating.  To you, it’s something you’re sooooo familiar with that you take completely for granted.  Such is the case of these mashed potatoes.   It’so “run-of-the-mill” for me that I didn’t even bother to style the plate a little when I made them… 

Mashed Potatoes, as I have seen in sooooo many TV shows, cookbooks, food magazines is an exercise in the balance of butter, milk, cream, salt, pepper, mashing, ricing, etc…  I don’t bother with any of that.  Lately, people have been fascinated that I mash my potatoes only using olive oil.  That’s what common and normal to me… why bother with anything else??? All I dirty is a saucepan and the plate and fork I will be eating it with…  here’s how I do it.

 

 

OLIVE OIL MASHED POTATOES

3-4 red-skinned potatoes, washed well and quartered
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Garlic salt, optional

 

  1. In a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan, place the potatoes and pour water covering the potatoes only half way.  Sprinkle kosher salt on the water/potatoes and move around so the salt mixes well with the water.  Cover and boil at medium-high heat.
  2. After 8-10 minutes have passed, lower the heat to medium.  Wait about 5-8 minutes more and check the potatoes, they should be fork tender by now.  If not, just leave them a few extra minutes.  I turn off the heat and leave them there for a few minutes so they finish well and cool off a bit so I can handle them.
  3. I take them out of the saucepan, place in the plate I will be eating and mash them with a fork.  Drizzle olive-oil on top of them and keep mashing until they’re sort-of smooth and chucky at the same time.  I sometimes sprinkle a bit of garlic salt on top for extra flavor.

 

That’s it!!!  This is my go-to meal when I am feeling under the weather.  I also eat it a lot when my stomach acts up and can’t stomach regular cooked foods…  like I said, it’s sooooo normal to me.  Enjoy them.

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Easy Breezy Salad

5 Oct

Not all salads must include lettuce… especially during avocado season.

Growing up, a few slices of tomato or opening a can of corn were considered a salad side dish.  Nowadays, when I am running all over the place, and have little time to prepare a full-on meal, I usually go to my quickie salad fixes – very similar, but very different from what I used to do.

 This is a quickie and easy salad at its best…

 

EASY BREEZY SALAD

2-3 slices of avocado, chopped
½ a tomato, chopped
¼ cucumber, sliced and quartered
Extra-virgin olive oil
A sprinkle of Kosher salt

 

  1. Place all the avocado, tomato and cucumber pieces on the side of the plate.  Drizzle with a bit of the olive oil and sprinkle some salt over them.  Done!!!

 

It’s refreshing, crispy and delicious.  No need to bother with a dressing, but if you want, you can drizzle any vinaigrette you might have on hand.  It’s up to you…

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Kiwi Juice

3 Oct

I have often mentioned that I subscribe to the belief that our food should be our nourishment as well as our medicine.  And I know this is a COOKING blog, but our “regularity” is very much a part of cooking and eating, particularly for our well-being.  It is recommended and advisable to “go to the bathroom” as many times as you eat… meaning that if you had breakfast, lunch and dinner, at least you should have gone to the bathroom to eliminate 3 times in one day.  If you are going fewer times than the amount of meals in a day, you’re considered constipated.

A way to help keep your regularity, while ingesting healthy foods, is by drinking laxative fruit juices… juices made from scratch, preferably without any sweeteners and with as little water as possible.  If you have a juicer is even better.  My kitchen is too small, so I do it in a blender, which most of you probably have already at home.

My potion is Kiwi Juice.  Thank God, I do not have regularity issues, but when I want to “clean my digestive system”,  this is the way I do it…

 

 

 

KIWI JUICE

6-8 kiwi fruit, peeled and cut in quarters
About 1 cup of water

 

Kiwi juice usually scratches your throat so to minimize this, I try to use only seedless pulp for the juice.  If you do not mind the scratchiness, then go ahead and use the pulp whole.

  1. Place the kiwi pulp in the blender…
  2. I do it 2 ways…  if you do not mind the seeds – cut the kiwi in half and squeeze the pulp out into the blender jar.  You’ll be left with only the skin in your hand.  If you want to eliminate the seeds – cut both ends of the kiwi fruit.  Using a serrated vegetable peeler, peel away the skin.  Using now a paring knife, cut the kiwi in half and cut carefully around the seeds, trying to avoid them as much as possible.  Then dump into the blender jar.
  3. Add water and blend well.
  4. Drink it as quickly as possible in one sitting.

 

Other people I know use apple juice, pear juice or even melon juice…  I also swear by coconut water.  I’ll tell you about it some other time.  But the key here, to use this as a juice therapy is to extract the juice pure and drink it immediately.  This is not the type of juice you water down or keep in the fridge for days.  For it to work, you do it in the moment.

Good luck and I wish you a very regular day… everyday.

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Portobello Burger

1 Oct

I know Summer might be over for many of you out there… but for us who live in the tropics, it’s summer all-year round.   I have been meaning to make this recipe for you all summer long, and it was not until recently that I got to it.  

I love burgers…  but instead of frozen soy-based burgers, I very much prefer the natural kind – Portobello mushroom burgers,  where the mushroom cap is the patty.  I first learned of this when traveling… I am not sure where I ate it first, if at the Wolfgang Puck Café or at the Cheesecake Factory, but both restaurants have their very delicious version.  And just like them, I have mine…

I like these burgers because the Portobello cap is “meaty” and flavorful, and to be honest, you can season with any or all of your favorite flavors.  You can make this on your outdoor grill, but an indoor grill, a George Foreman, a grill pan or even a regular skillet will do.  That’s what I used on this occasion…

 

 

PORTOBELLO BURGER

1 portobello mushroom cap
1 sprouted-wheat burger bun
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsps Montreal Steak grill seasoning
2 slices of tomato
2 lettuce leaves
1 slice of onion – yellow or red, it’s up to you
1 slice of cheese – optional
Veggie Mayo, Mustard, Ketchup to taste

 

  1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  And toast the burger bun.
  2. Meanwhile, clean the Portobello cap well.  You can take out the gills if you prefer…  it makes for a “cleaner” cap.  I do it on occasion…
  3. Rub the mushroom cap with the olive oil all over and season with the seasoning.  Place on skillet stem side up and let cook for about 4-5 minutes.  Flip the cap over and cook on the other side for about 3-4 minutes more until the cap softens and cooks inside.
  4. Prepare/Assemble burger any way you prefer… I slather a lot of veggie mayo on both sides of the bun.  Slather mustard only on the top bun.  Place mushroom cap on the bottom half.  Squirt some ketchup on mushroom, place the cheese, onion, tomato and lettuce and top with top bun.

 

The only thing left is to accompany it with some natural potato chips and a natural soda, like Ginseng Up.  Now, that’s a burger you want to sink your teeth into… no?

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