The Two Faces of Salads

It's the month of May and that means Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. With the coming of warmer weather,  the focus begins to shift towards more outdoor activities such as jogging, boating, swimming, and oh yes, dieting!

One of the most versatile foods that pairs so well with Spring and calorie watching are salads. The recipes are endless and so all encompassing. Think about it, name a vegetable, fruit, grain, legume, fowl, seafood, or meat, and odds are there is a salad for that. Another great advantage of salads is that more likely than not, they will be made of fresh items. And finally, they tend to be healthier for you, providing good vitamins and nutrients, lower fat and calories, and high dietary fiber.

STOP THE PRESSES! Salads can be dangerous to your health! They are loaded with calories, fat, and cholesterol. Yes, like all other foods,the claims are true, if we turn these wonderful salads into a hodgepodge of   everything we can find in the fridge to pile onto our plates. All too often, we Americans tend to go overboard when putting together a salad and end up with high fat and high cholesterol dressings, high sodium processed cheeses and meats, all served in a large bowl as opposed to a dinner plate. The end result is a total defeat of why we had a salad instead of Mac n Cheese or Lasagna. We end up consuming nearly 1,000 calories, not to mention the saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol we were trying to avoid.

Salads are great for all of us; however, we must take into account several factors in order to maintain the "goodness" integrity. First, serve your portions on a plate as opposed to a bowl. This will ensure measured quantity, thereby controlling the amount consumed. There is certainly where size does matter, smaller is better. Second, stay with fresh and non packaged ingredients when putting together your salad. Processed goods like cold cuts are loaded with sodium, more dangerous than cholesterol to your health in the opinions of many. Read the package of  sliced ham or turkey the next time you're in the store and be prepared for a shock! It is better to roast your own chicken or saute your own beef strips as you will have more control over sodium and flavor.

Finally, the third thing to take into account when preparing a healthy salad deserves its own paragraph as it is far and away the greatest culprit in how bad for your health things can be. Think hard before you decide what dressing you are going to pour over your salad and how much you will use. Your dressing will contain most of the bad ingredients including most of the fat and saturated fat, bad cholesterol, sodium, and sugars. Be energetic and adventurous and make your own dressing. Doing so gives you total control over everything! You can control quantity by pouring your dressing into all the salad servings, tossing the salad, and then serving it in individual dinner plates as opposed to individually pouring it into each dish. Pouring the dressing onto your own serving will most likely double the quantity you would otherwise need, hence double the calories. And if you just can't do without that Thousand Island or Blue Cheese dressing, dilute it a bit with water before pouring. You'll use a lot less of it without sacrificing flavor.

Pictured above is a Roasted Chicken Breast Salad served with a Dijon style dressing of olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic,  and pepper. The fat contained in this dressing is healthy and the mustard enriches the flavor without fat, sodium, or cholesterol. The salad itself contains:

Bib or Boston Lettuce (Butter lettuce)
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced avocado
Diced fresh garlic
Sliced roasted chicken breast
2 sliced medium fresh mushrooms
6 diced Kalamato olives

Notice that nowhere in this recipe (salad or dressing) does it call for salt. The reason is that the olives provide the salt you need for flavor enhancement. Served with a nice loaf of olive bread, this entree is perfect for lunch and will satisfy all the while being very healthy for you. Play with the ingredients, substituting some for your favorite ones. Just be careful and conscientious of what you use so as to keep it healthy.

During the next six months of Spring and Summer,  if you consume 3 salads as part of your 14 lunches and dinners each week, you will eat about 1,500 fewer calories each week. That's 39,000 fewer calories over the next six months! Now that's food for thought.

Napoleon is not just dessert anymore!

Whenever you think of a Napoleon, instantly your mind envisions wonderful layers of thin puff pastry, vanilla, cream, and custard, ever so sweet, every bite begging another. Mille-Feuilles in French, this dessert goes back to the 17 Th  Century, some having it go back hundreds of years earlier.

Well, now you can wake up and take those visions out of your head. Think savory! This Napoleon is like no other and sugar is no closer  than the sun is to the earth. Furthermore, as opposed to the final course, Pork Tenderloin Napoleon sneaks in at the beginning. No less pleasing to the eyes, this wonderful dish will impress your guests from the aromas coming out of your kitchen to the last bite.

Elegant as it looks, Pork Tenderloin Napoleon is very easy to make and assemble. If you've been following this blog, you've already prepared each of the components in the past. Each serving consists of slices of Pork Tenderloin, puff pastry, and a wonderful Port or Madeira wine sauce with sauteed shallots, garlic, and thinly sliced Portabella mushrooms.

To start out, gather all your ingredients:

1 Pork Tenderloin roast (about 1.5 lbs)
1 Puff Pastry sheet, thawed, refrigerator chilled until ready to use
2 Portabella mushrooms, sliced 1/8 inch thick
3 medium shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of capers
1 teaspoon of green peppercorns (if dried, soak in warm water for 30 minutes)
1 cup of Port or Madeira Wine
1/2 cup of beef stock
3 tablespoons of butter
olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)

Vegan or Vegetarian, Who gets to eat Mushroom Stuffed Egg White Crepes?

I've always been confused with what constitutes the diet of a "vegan" vs. a "vegetarian". Can a vegan eat egg products and does the vegetarian have to stay away from dairy? It's all so confusing that every time the subject comes up, I just have to go to the fridge and pull out a nice 8 oz. tenderloin of beef just to calm me down.

I should know all of the rules by now; after all, I have amongst my friends, a couple of vegetarians - well, wait one minute. One is a vegetarian and the other, a vegan. And you ask why  I get so confused? It's quite a feat to juggle menus, especially when you've got both at the dinner table, along with the meat eaters and a non fish eater thrown in just for the added excitement. I can't wait until the food sustainability advocate comes barging in wanting a seat at the table! I'm sorry folks, the restaurant's closed. I'll take 'walking on eggs' for 2,000, Alex.

Speaking of eggs, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, they are one of most versatile foods around and no fridge should be without a dozen or two and so easy to get. Just wait until the hens have left the hen house and like a fox, sneak in and raid the nest. In all seriousness however, they can conveniently be found in your neighborhood supermarket in sizes small to extra large.

A recent recipe that I came up with was enough to dazzle my vegetarian friend. Using egg whites, several varieties of mushrooms, a bit of coconut cream, and few herbs and spices was all that it took to come up with my mushroom stuffed egg white crepes. Served as an appetizer or a part of the main course, these crepes will certainly entertain the palates of vegetarians and carnivores alike.

Your shopping list for a party of 4 should include:

8 egg whites (from medium to large eggs)
1/2 cup of coconut cream
1/2 cup of vegetable stock or white rice wine
6 cups of several varieties of mushrooms (sliced or chopped)*
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 medium shallots, finely chopped
1/3 cup of finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 teaspoon of chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of olive oil**
salt and pepper to taste
Cooking spray (vegetable)

*Suggestions for mushroom varieties can include baby Portabella, Chanterelles, Cep, Porcini,  Lobster mushrooms, and a variety of Asian mushrooms.

**If your diet permits, also use 2 tablespoons of butter. It will add a lot of flavor

Begin by preparing the egg white crepe mixture. In a bowl, add all the egg whites, 3 tablespoons of the coconut cream, a couple dashes of salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Heat an 8 inch frying pan over medium heat. Spray the cooking spray to cover the bottom the pan completely. Now, with a ladle, pour enough of the egg whites to thinly cover the bottom of the pan to about 1/8 inch thickness. Roll the pan around so that you get even thickness of the crepe, just as you would if making regular crepes. Watch the crepe so that it doesn't burn. You won't need to turn it over like a regular crepe as the egg whites will cook to the top. When all liquid egg whites have solidified, using a spatula, carefully remove it from the pan and place open on a plate. Before making the next crepe, spray the pan with more cooking spray. Repeat the process until approximately 8 crepes have been made.

Wipe the pan clean, you will be using it to make the crepe filling. When sauteing mushrooms, you don't want to over crowd them as they will tend to create too much moisture and you won't get that rich sauteed flavor. Slice and chop your mushrooms and add to a large bowl. Add all the other dry ingredients to the bowl (garlic, shallots, parsley, basil, tarragon) and thoroughly mix well. Do NOT add the salt and pepper yet. Separate the mushrooms into 4 portions.

Heat the frying pan over medium high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes before adding a few tablespoons of olive oil. Once olive oil is added, begin sauteing the first quarter of the mushrooms. Saute until they begin to brown. Remove mushrooms from the pan, add some more olive oil and saute the second batch. Continue the process until all mushrooms have been sauteed.

Return all the mushrooms to the pan over a medium heat and cook for about 1 minute. Now add the vegetable stock (or white rice wine) and stir to de-glaze the pan. Add the coconut cream and Dijon mustard and stir well. Reduce heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter (if diet permits). Salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat. If you want, you can add a couple more tablespoons of coconut cream and stir.

To fill the crepes, lay out an open crepe on a dinner plate and add a couple nice tablespoons of mushrooms to the middle. Taking the end of the crepe closest to you, fold it over the mushrooms away from you, then tuck each side inward and continue to roll the crepe. Transfer to a dish and into a warm (not hot) oven until ready to serve. Continue doing this until all crepes are made.

Serve two to a portion, along with a side of vegetable of your choice. If diet preference permits, you may add a spoon of white cream sauce (like a Bechamel sauce) and sprinkle grated Gruyere over the top.