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Posts Tagged Vegetarian

You Win Some, You Lose Some

May 10

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 6 Comments

Well hello there blog buds!

In the food blog world, we are all bombarded with photos of beautiful creations and fabulous recipes.  Does that ever make you feel inadequate in the kitchen?  It does me, I’ll tell you that!  (It also makes me feel inadequate as a photographer!)

So today I thought it might be fun to show you something that I thought was going to be this amazing idea only to have it just not pan out in reality.  (Truth be told, this happens more often than you might imagine!)

I’ve been carrying around this idea in my head that I wanted to make a vegan enchilada using a leafy green in lieu of tortillas to lighten it up a bit.  When I was little my mom used to make great cabbage rolls (why oh why didn’t I hang out more in the kitchen when she used to cook?) so I thought I’d take the idea of a cabbage roll but make it more of a Mexican style dish.

Sounds good so far, right?

Well, rather than the usual blah green cabbage, I decided to use red cabbage.  And to contrast that, I thought I’d use a green enchilada sauce.  Can you just picture the bright red of the cabbage with the green sauce?  Doesn’t that sound pretty?

So I steamed up a whole head of red cabbage (to make the leaves more pliable) and set it aside to cool:

I made a filling out of tofu, lentils, mushrooms, onions, celery, spices:

Then I stuffed the leaves and rolled them up:

And this is when things just started to go downhill.  First, the color of the cabbage was greatly diminished in the steaming so I no longer had that vibrant burgundy color.  Now it was just on the other side of blue.

Additionally the pigment of the steamed cabbage was staining everything just like beets do!  My fingernails looked like I’d been working on my car’s engine!  NOW I see why I wasn’t finding many red cabbage rolls online!

Next, the sauce I chose was one by Rick Bayless.  (He’s wonderful at Mexican cuisine – I’m not above using a quality premade sauce sometimes!)

For the record, I’ll tell you the sauce is delicious (so are the other sauces of his that I’ve tried).  BUT – when I looked more closely at the ingredients, it DID contain milk (so much for my vegan enchiladas!) and the color was … well … NOT very green.

I topped it with Daiya vegan cheese and baked.

Overall, I was a little disappointed only because the LOOK of them wasn’t nearly as vibrant as I’d had in my mind.  And the cabbage just didn’t compare as a shell vs. the corn tortilla.  BUT the stuffing turned out great and I’ll use the lentil/mushroom/tofu combo again in something else.  I made a little side salad out of jicama and served it up (on Cinco de Mayo actually):

So there you have it.  Not everything turns out “chef-tastic” in the FitFeat kitchen!  I’ll go back to the drawing board and come up with something else that might work along these lines and try again.  But you have to give things a try because you just never know when you’ll make something that surprises you!

Like this easy snack:

In lieu of my usual almond butter, I smeared a little fresh avocado on my Ezekial toast the other day and topped it with dried cranberries and a sprinkle of hemp seeds!  It was a really fun contract of color AND taste.  I bought a bag of dried cranberries the other day to use in a recipe test for a client meal, and I’ve been adding the leftovers to all kinds of things.  I even made a little ‘trailmix’ of roasted wasabi soybeans and cranberries!  Sounds crazy but it ended up working!

***

A BIG thank you to Joan (of the delightful and immensely informative gardening/beekeeping blog I’m in the Garden Today) for the wonderful gift of homegrown Organic Garlic Powder – her sister grows her own garlic and then even makes her own garlic powder!  It’s wonderful – thank you Joan for the thoughtful treat!  I’m enjoying using it in my cooking!

Have a great day friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Vicariously Vacationing

Apr 22

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 7 Comments

Happy Friday FitFeat Friends!

Another week has flown by in a flash and I have been a COOKING machine!

(Does that make me an OVEN??  ha ha! OK, that was terrible!)

SOOO glad it’s Friday – I’m definitely ready for a weekend NOT in a kitchen. ;)   Outside of some cheffing work, I’ve also been developing my library of client recipes – the ones this week are of the “freezable” variety for testing how they reheat and taste after coming out of the freezer, so I haven’t been taking pictures – they aren’t really pretty to look at as they are being packaged up.  This little guy was somewhat photogenic though, so I did nab a pic of him:

(BTW, would you believe that organic red bell peppers are currently $5.49 a pound???  OUCH!)

My house smells like onions and garlic all the time now.  No amount of candle burning or Febreze will eliminate it.  ;)

Here are some of the dishes I was testing/tweaking/tasting/freezing:

Tempeh NewMex Stuffed Sweet Peppers (a variation of the tomato version I did for my final presentation at school)

Southwest Healthy “Joes”

Creole Chicken with Jambalaya Brown Rice (an improved version of the one I made for Mardi Gras)

Greek Spiced Buffalo Sliders with Rosemary Thyme Mashed Cauliflower

Indian Chicken Curry with Carrots and Chard over Basmati

African Sweet Potato with Peanut and Red Beans (sounds weird, but it is delicious!)

Asian Cabbage & Daikon Pita Pockets with Hoisin Peanut Sauce

Tilapia Italiano over Herbed White Beans with Capers

Salmon and Millet Cakes with Dairy-free Creamed Spinach

Oh and one dessert (not for the freezer – I just felt like I needed something sweet!):

Peanut Butter Millet Bars (mmm – MSP liked these and he doesn’t usually like PB)

Apparently I’m aiming to vacation vicariously through my cooking – my recipe list seems to hit a lot of locations: Italy, Greece, Asia, India, Africa, New Mexico…!

If you’re wondering why I don’t have almond butter in these recipes where you see the peanut butter, there are two reasons.  One is that when I’m first testing out a recipe (and especially if I’m going to change it up to fit into a healthier food style) I don’t want to use my insanely expensive almond butter when I can use natural organic peanut butter, just in case the recipe doesn’t turn out how I had hoped.  But the other reason is that I learned that peanuts may be beneficial to my digestive system (for my blood type) – if I were to follow the blood typing nutrition plan such as “Eat Right for Your Type”.  That’s a whole other discussion that we’ll have to have sometime in another post.  So I decided to have some PB on hand as well my beloved AB and switch it up every once in a while.  If I were to fully follow the nutrition plan for my blood type, I’d need to get rid of two of my all-time favorite foods: chickpeas (what, no hummus???) and mangoes, among a list of other things.

But I digress!

I can’t believe it’s Easter weekend!  Hallelujah, the Cadbury Caramel Creme Eggs will finally be off the shelves again for the next 9 months!  Wahoo!  Those little devils taunt me and I had more than my usual share this season for sure.  Speaking of devils and creme eggs, you absolutely have to go look at this link – someone with LOADS more patience than I will ever possess made Deviled Eggs out of Cadbury Creme Eggs.  They are ADORABLE!

Do you have any big Easter plans?  Large family gatherings?  Easter dinner? If the weather holds out for us, we hope to spend our Easter morning outdoors, preferably on a little hike.  I have been easing back into exercise with Bob Harper yoga this week and it feels GREAT.  Next week I’ll attempt a little more intensity.  Thank you all for hanging with me while FitFeat has been lacking in the “FIT” the last few weeks!  It feels so great to be on the road back to normal!

Have an EGGScellent Easter blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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Stuffed Kabocha Squash

Mar 19

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Recipes, vegan, Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Good morning friends!

I was a busy bee in the kitchen yesterday, trying some recipes that I want to freeze for later use.  One of the things I made I just couldn’t resist eating for dinner.

I roasted a kabocha squash then stuffed it with a revised version of my Indian Spiced Quinoa.  Because I was using what I had on hand, I substituted dried plums and basil for the dates and mint in the original version.

Stuffed Kabocha Squash with Indian Spiced Quinoa

Makes 2-4 servings (2 as a meal, 4 as a side dish)

  • 1/2 cup quinoa (measured dry)
  • 1 kabocha squash, halved and seeds removed
  • 3/4 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped and seeds removed
  • 1 small finger of ginger, peeled and minced
  • ½  teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • sprinkle of sea salt
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 3 dried plums, finely chopped
  • 3-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • ½  teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Directions

Soak quinoa for 30-60 minutes prior to cooking.  Rinse well, drain and set aside.

After quinoa is done soaking, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place halved, deseeded kabocha squash face down on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Roast for 30-35 minutes or until flesh is fork tender.

While kabocha is roasting, melt coconut oil over medium heat.  Add shallots, pepper, garlic, ginger, garam masala and a pinch of sea salt, stirring often until peppers soften, about 5 minutes.

Add quinoa and stir well to coat with spice mixture.

Add vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until quinoa begins to look fluffy and liquid has absorbed into the grains.

Allow quinoa to sit uncovered for 3-5 minutes.  Using a fork, mix in plums and basil leaves.  Divide mixture in two and stuff into the kabocha cavities.  Drizzle each very lightly with balsamic vinegar to finish.

If you are serving the squash as the entree, serve the full half like this:

If you are using it as a side dish you can serve cut into quarters (or even slice through into half-circles):

I did put half in the freezer because I’m curious how the textures and flavors will react with freezing and thawing.  I’ll come back out and update this post when I take that one out of the freezer.

Enjoy your Saturday and the LAST DAY of WINTER!  It’s definitely going to feel like spring here this weekend!  In the 70s!  Nice!

– Shari B. =)

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Getting Back to Normal

Mar 3

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Natural Chef Culinary School | 6 Comments

Wow, you know you’ve missed a couple of days on your blog when you log in to your dashboard and see that you have 827 SPAM comments!  Yikes!

So since I’ve been gone a few days – how are you?

I’m…. breathing normally again!  By that I mean that I don’t have any homework assignments due, business plans due, final presentations to practice for, final papers to write.

I’ve officially completed holistic culinary school!  I’m also OFFICIALLY a Certified Natural Chef.  Woot woot!  So what does a natural chef do after their closing ceremony?  Go out to eat and let someone else cook!  ha ha!  I kind of meant that as a joke at first, but really that’s what we did!   The students met up as a group the evening after our last (and very emotional) day at an Ethiopian restaurant in Denver.  I’d never eaten Ethiopian food so it was a real treat! Of course all my pictures turned out crazy from the dim lighting – this blurry picture below was the best of the bunch and it still hurts my eyes to look at it!  This was the deliciously sweet honey wine I tried:

And it’s served in something that resembles a bud vase!  I’m wondering if that is meant to force you to sip it slowly and savor it.

The style of Ethiopian dining was really neat – we sat around a tiny table that’s somewhat like a small circular coffee table.  So you don’t scoot under it at all.  And you use these great rolls of Injera to scoop up the food off the main tray.  The Injera was so soft and light, like airy pancakes only thin like a crepe (click HERE for more info on it and to see a picture).  It comes rolled up tight in individual servings and you tear a piece off your roll.  No forks or spoons.

It was really neat, very tasty and inexpensive.  Lots of vegetarian choices as well.  A perfect way to wrap up our schooling.

Leading up to the end I was getting so excited for school to be done – during that last month I was just mentally OVER it all.  I was tired, stressed, feeling behind on everthing.  And then at the end of our last day, our instructors had us sit in a circle on floor cushions.  We wrote something on little pieces of paper about each of our classmates, then placed the notes in front of the corresponding person.  Then we read aloud all of the things people wrote about us.  I absolutely lost it.  I could hardly get the WORDS out when I was reading mine.  I was so touched by all the things my classmates said.  We all really became very close and I know we’ll all keep in touch.  It’s amazing how you can become really attached to people or situations without consciously realizing it.

So now the real work begins – building up my personal chef business.  Currently I’m working on the website (trying to release myself from the perfectionist grasp and ALLOWING it to just be a simple site to start)   Then design/print flyers and business cards.  Then literally hitting the pavement – the scary part!  Acckkk! Sales!  Marketing!  Can’t I just skip right to having a full schedule of clients and get down to the cooking part?  :)

In between that though, I’m thoroughly enjoying “play time” in the kitchen again!  Oh my gosh it feels good to just whip stuff up, not because I’m doing recipe homework or testing a technique.  Just creating a typical ‘throw it together Shari-style build-a-meal’. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Here are some pictures of the fun I’ve had in my kitchen this week-

Seedy Softie Cookies
(almond pulp from homemade nut milk turned into cookie squares)

***
Italian Favorites on a Plate
(there actually IS whole wheat spaghetti down there at the bottom, topped with massaged kale, spaghetti sauce, crumbled Garlic Herb Sunshine Burger, butter beans, basil)

***
Wrap with tempeh, green apple, goat cheese, celery

***

Pureed Lentil Soup with Kale, Homemade Croutons (and Chicken Italian Sausage in MSP’s bowl!)

***

Tempeh, Spinach and Kelp Noodle StirFry
with tahini, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and mirin

***

And the one constant in my diet…

(You knew it wouldn’t be a complete FitFeat post without a Green Smoothie right??)  ;)

Hmmm my food pics look an awful lot like they did BEFORE I went to school, don’t they?  That doesn’t seem right!

Today the weather is in the 60′s and I’m hoping the incoming rain holds off until after 7:00 tonight because I’m going to my FAVORITE HILLY TRAIL today with a friend for some SOCIALCIZING! I can’t remember the last time I went there – I think it was OCTOBER!  And I used to go there at least once a week!

Have you done any socialcizing lately??? What was your outing?

See you soon, blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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Natural Chef Culinary School: Showcase Recap

Feb 21

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Natural Chef Culinary School, Vegetarian | 12 Comments

Hi friends!

It’s amazing how quickly school is coming to an end. I will give my Final Presentation (for 45 minutes in front of my peers and instructor – EEK!) on Wednesday.  Then Friday I’ll just be an audience member while students are giving their presentations that day.  We come in on Monday to turn in our very last homework assignment (which is basically our business plan, flyers, sample menus for our business, etc.) and then fill out some final paperwork.  Then I will have OFFICIALLY finished Natural Chef training!  And I even have all of my externship hours completed!  Wahoo!

One of the big things we’ve been working on at school as of late culminated Friday night with our Culinary Showcase.  It had been a very long week (and extremely long Friday) leading up to it.  But it was worth all the hard work.  It came together so nicely.

The theme for our event was Boulder’s Seven Sister Cities.  Which couldn’t have been more fitting, because we had 7 courses to prepare.  I’ll list the menu first then show pics of the food after.  The sister city being represented is listed under each menu item:

Welcome Beverage:

Digestive Tonic
(Yamagata, Japan)
Kuzu broth with lemon, ginger and umeboshi plums

Appetizer:

Steamed Momos
(Lhasa, Tibet)
Sprouted brown rice dumpling cups filled with crimini mushrooms, cabbage, onion and a sweet & spicy tamari sauce

Soup:

Maharagwe
(Kisumu, Kenya)
Spiced red beans and tomatoes in a tumeric coconut broth

Salad:

Vigoron
(Jalapa, Nicaragua)
Herbed cassava (yucca) and cilantro salsa over red cabbage tossed in an avocado emulsion
and topped with crispy ‘raw’ onion rings

Entree:

Vegetarian Tamales
(Mante, Mexico)
Masa Harina dough surrounding kabocha squash & blackbean filling
topped with red chile cherry chocolate mole & goat cheese
Served with a side of jicama salad

Dessert:

Banana Cassarole
(Yateras, Cuba)
Citrus caramelized bananas, almonds, and raisins with a blood orange reduction and coconut mint ice cream.

Closing Beverage:

Decaf Green Tea
(Dushanbe,Tajikistan)
Steeped with date infused water and fresh mint

***

The digestive wellness tonic:

The momos (which normally are little dumplings that I consider somewhat similar to potstickers) – my teammate and I made them into little cups instead:

I didn’t get to snap a shot of the soup as it was on its way out of the kitchen.  Imagine a gorgeous yellow soup with some red beans in it!  :)

The “vigoron” salad – I LOVE the presentation of this salad – built up tall and served on a banana leaf:

The entree (mmm tamales – the cherries and dark chocolate in this mole made this sauce over-the-top delicious!):

The dessert – topped with a scoop of homemade coconut mint hempseed ice cream:

And cheers to decaf green tea sweetened with date water and fresh mint:

I was so impressed that the students selected to be on the decorating committee were able to absolutely transform the huge eyesore dining hall into something cozy.  Since our food theme was all over the world, we decided on an airplane theme.

We had a runway:

We had blue sky and clouds:

We had window seats:

We had departures timed with the service of food for each city:

And even tearful goodbyes:

I think I was over-tired. ;)   Yeah, that was it.

It was the last time we’d all be cooking together as a team – and while I’m so excited to be done with school, I guess I really am more attached to my classmates than I thought.

I’d like to give a special mention of thanks to my kind and beautiful friend Keri from Om of the Rockies for attending this event as one of my guests and for helping me out by taking lots of pictures of the evening.  Keri – it meant a lot to me that you were there, and I so appreciate all the support you have given me in the years we’ve been friends. You’re awesome!

Well friends, I have some vegetable stock in my pressure cooker that is needing my attention so I better get busy!  I have lots of fun food pics to show you coming soon of creations I’ve been making at home, including what I plan to prepare for my final presentation.

Have a WONDERFUL week and I’ll see you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Sinus Clearing Snack (or Dehydrator Onion Rings)

Jan 15

Posted by Shari B. in Adventures in Dehydrating, Recipes | 4 Comments

Hi friends!

Wow, I’ve missed you guys!  How have you all been?  I’m getting a TON accomplished on my project list, but I have to admit it’s been a little tough to stay away from blogging!  So I thought I’d pop in today to say hello and share a few fun things from the last 9 days (and at the end I’ll talk about that snack referenced in the title).

We had a pretty good snowstorm and some FRIGID subzero temps hit us last Sunday into Monday, so I had my first sketchy (and S-L-O-W) commute to school of this winter season.  But what a gorgeous drive it was.  I took this photo from my cell phone driving along at about 50 mph so it’s not the best quality, but it’s still pretty.  I never get tired of looking at the scenery here.  Check out all the colors!

We’re in the Therapeutic module at school and learning about cooking for diabetes/blood sugar control and candida at the moment.  Yesterday my improv recipe assignment was Kale with Arame, Ginger and Sesame.  It may not be the most colorful dish, but it turned out very nicely and felt very warming from all of the fresh ginger. I left the kale leaves raw, cutting them into very thin ribbons (known as a chiffonade cut) and then lightly dressed them with sesame oil and tamari (use your hands to “massage” the dressing into the kale – this will wilt it slightly and help to increase it’s digestibility).  I cut the kale stalks into tiny pieces and sautéed them with grated ginger (about 2 TBSP), minced garlic, sesame oil, tamari and vegetable stock (to keep it from sticking without using too much oil).  Then I added the soaked and drained arame (seaweed) to the sauté.

Using the raw kale as the “bed” I then topped it with the sauté mixture followed by some toasted sesame seeds.  Extremely mineral rich and full of fiber.

Some of the other photoless recipes I’ve done with our improv assignments have been:

Spicy Gingered Bok Choy with Arame and Goji Berries
Baked Mung Bean and Brown Basmati Burgers
Curried Adzuki Bean Soup
Skillet Tempeh Reuben with vegan Thousand Island

I am enjoying this segment of school a lot.  I’ve had the opportunity to work on recipes alone which has been a nice change.  I can’t believe how fast time has been flying by.  We only have 6 weeks left!

So yesterday for a snack, our Kitchen Manager set out some DELICIOUS no-fry onion rings that he’d made in the dehydrator.  They were insanely spicy and insanely good!  He listed off the ingredients he’d used but no amounts so I came home last night and tried to recreate it.

Now let me warn you first:

1. These are CONCENTRATED onions so they pack some punch.  Not only will your house smell like onions while they dehydrate, but your BREATH will rival that of a dragon’s after you eat them.

2. Keep a mint handy for the sake of your friends and coworkers -OR- you may only want to eat these in the privacy of your own home.

3. If you are eating these around your significant other, make sure he/she eats them too so that you can BOTH have dragon breath.  Share the love.  One person with bad breath is no fun.  Two people cancel each other out, especially when it’s time to kiss goodnight.  ;)

4. I have a feeling these will clear out your sinuses.  Mine sure seemed more open after a few bites of these!

But the flavor of this super healthy and LIGHT snack is definitely worth the breath and the long wait during dehydrating.

Dehydrator Onion Rings

Credit for this recipe idea goes to Chef Nelson Schwab, our über-creative Kitchen Manager at Bauman.  I’m not sure if he used the same measurements or not but here is my interpretation.

  • 1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into rings
  • 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
  • 1 tablespoon almonds, finely ground
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • pepper to taste
  • water at the ready

Combine all ingredients except for the onions and water in a mini-chopper or Magic Bullet (or you can do this by hand in a mixing bowl – it just takes longer).  Add just enough water to create a dressing that is about the consistency of thin pancake/crepe batter.  Pour dressing into a Tupperware bowl, throw in the onion rounds, seal the lid onto the bowl, and shake well until all of the onions are well coated.

Place on a dehydrator sheet lined with either parchment paper or a Teflex liner.

Dehydrate overnight at 105 degrees and up to 20 hours or until your desired level of crispiness is reached.

Action shots!

Batter:

Onions after tossing in the batter:

Before dehydrating:

After dehydrating (amazing how tiny things get when you remove all the water!):

And time to snack:

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!  Let me know what you think if you give them a try!

(If you don’t have a dehydrator, no worries!  Bake ‘em in your oven. Start with a low temp around 250 and keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.)

Until next time,

– Shari B. =)

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Indian Spiced Quinoa

Oct 12

Posted by Shari B. in Natural Chef Culinary School, Recipes, vegan | 12 Comments

Here is the recipe for the Indian Spiced Quinoa from my homework assignment that I promised to share with you.  I’d love to know what you think if you try it!

This is a super easy recipe that provides a lot of flavor punch for the small amount of effort involved.  You will definitely want to use the dates and FRESH mint leaves (as opposed to dry) – the power of the fresh flavors in those two ingredients makes all the difference in this recipe.

  • 1 cup quinoa (measured dry)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 orange pepper, chopped (feel free to use red or yellow)
  • 1 finger of ginger, peeled and minced
  • ½  teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 3 medjool dates, pitted and minced
  • Mint leaves from 3-4 sprigs, finely chopped

Directions
Soak quinoa for 30-60 minutes prior to cooking.  Rinse well, drain and set aside.

Melt coconut oil over medium heat.  Add shallots, orange pepper, garlic, ginger and garam masala, stirring often until peppers soften, about 5 minutes.

Add quinoa and stir well to coat with spice mixture.

Add vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until quinoa begins to look fluffy and liquid has absorbed into the grains.

Allow to sit uncovered for 3-5 minutes.  Using a fork, mix in dates and mint leaves.  Serve immediately.

Adapted from ‘Carla’ at www.food.com (Garam Masala Basmati Rice)

Health Benefits

Quinoa:  Often thought of as a grain, but actually a seed, one ½ cup serving of quinoa provides 251 mg of potassium, as well as 4.5 grams of complete protein (www.calorieking.com).  Quinoa has a macronutrient breakdown of 71% carbohydrate, 14% fat and 15% protein (www.nutritiondata.self.com).  It is also an excellent source of manganese, magnesium and iron.  Originally a South American crop, it has an interesting Colorado connection, as it was brought here in the 1980s for cultivation by two Americans (Murray 2005, 348-349).

Dates: Dates are a delightfully sweet treat that should be a part of any diet, especially for individuals looking for whole, natural solutions for fueling their endurance exercise. This glucose-rich fruit is easily digestible and highly alkaline (Brazier 2007, 142) providing an astonishing 262% more potassium than an orange per ounce yet providing a relatively low caloric count of 23 calories per pitted date (Murray 2005, 272).  Studies have shown dates to be rich in both antioxidant and anticancer compounds, bringing new meaning to the coined term “The Tree of Life” for the date palm that bears this fruit (Murray 2005, 273).

Sweet Red Bell Pepper: Bell peppers are considered one of the highest nutrient-dense foods based on the ratio of their nutrient level to calories, at only 20 calories per 3.5 ounce pepper.  A one cup serving of bell pepper will provide you with 291% of the RDA for Vitamin C and 105% for Vitamin A (www.whfoods.com).  The red pepper is superior to green from a nutrient standpoint.  Eating bell peppers is thought to be protective against cancer, heart disease, strokes, cataracts and cholesterol levels.  Because bell peppers are members of the nightshade family (which have been thought to worsen the symptoms of arthritis), people suffering from arthritis may choose to reduce or eliminate their consumption of these particular vegetables.  (Murray 2005, 167).

Bibliography

Bauman, Edward. Eating for Health: Your Guide to Vitality and Optimal Health. Pengrove, CA:  Bauman College, 2008

Brazier, Brendan. The Thrive Diet: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life. Philadelphia, PA: DeCapo Press, 2007

CalorieKing’s www address www.calorieking.com.

Livestrong’s www address www.livestrong.com

Murray, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. New York, NY: Atria Books, 2005

SELF NutritionData’s www address www.nutritiondata.self.com

The World’s Healthiest Foods’ www address www.whfoods.com

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Shari Becht is a Fit Living Coach and ACE Certified Personal Trainer.  She is extremely passionate about teaching people how they can take the steps to fit healthy living into their busy lives.  She has decided to take her love of nutrition one step further by enrolling in the Natural Chef Culinary Program at Bauman College and will graduate in Spring 2011.

If you or someone you know could use some help learning how to fit more “FIT” into life, please feel free to email her at shari [at] fitfeat  [dot] com.  For more information, click here.

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Natural Chef Culinary School – Week 2 Recap

Oct 3

Posted by Shari B. in Natural Chef Culinary School | 3 Comments

Hi blog buds!

Happy Sunday!  Fall is DEFINITELY in the air – it’s 47 degrees this morning!  But it’s going to be another gorgeous Colorado day with a high of 80 degrees.  The leaves have been turning and our lawn has pretty much gone dormant but I found even more blooms on the rose bushes yesterday!  Our trees here seem to go from pretty fall colors to bare in NO time.  One day of high winds and they all blow away.  I miss the long daylight of summer, but I’m enjoying the cooler evenings now that I’m spending a LOT more time in the kitchen.

This week was our first homework assignment that included some cooking at home.  Prior to this we’ve mostly had a lot of reading.  We needed to create or adapt 3 recipes for one mealtime.  I chose a lunch menu.

My homework recipes included:

  • Ginger Curry Sweet Potato Soup with Apples and White Beans
  • Indian Spiced Quinoa (recipe will follow soon on FitFeat)
  • Cucumber Shallot Salad with Minted Yogurt Dressing

Then we needed to prepare one, write about our experience cooking it, including any changes we would make next time.  We also had to include a page on the nutritional data, and a page on the health benefits of some of the ingredients.  It took me a surprising amount of time, partly because I felt the need to prepare all three, partly so that I could get some practice and partly because I haven’t written ‘real’ papers for school in almost two decades!  ;)

My mise en place:

Practicing my mirepoix:

And some mincing and chopping:

My ‘trash bowl’ for vegetable pieces that don’t get used.  I turned these into homemade veggie stock later that evening:

Finished meal (obviously I was NOT practicing my presentation skills!!):

My ‘soup’ actually ended being more of a purée but the taste was great.

The lecture topics covered this week were:

  • Foundations of Cooking
  • Safety & Sanitation
  • Knife Skills

I made it through knife skills with NO cuts!  We all did, luckily!  During that class, a mobile sharpening company called Rolling Stone came by to sharpen our knives (and let us shop inside his cool store on wheels).

Then we got busy cutting all sorts of things:  garlic, onions, carrots, celery, avocado, oranges, leeks, sweet potatoes, red peppers, kale, fennel.  We learned all sizes of dice, julienne, brunoise, batonnet, bias, triangle, mince, pasting and much much more…

Our stations:

We quickly learned that a blister will form on our forefinger where we need to build up a callus.  :)   I’ve never cut so many things in my life.  It was a ton of fun though!

While we were busy being instructed on the knife skills, our Kitchen Manager was busy making all of these things into our lunch as we finished each step.

We had:

  • Gingered Carrot Leek soup
  • Raw Kale Salad with Avocado and Oranges (and a tahini-style dressing)
  • Lentil & Quinoa for our protein source
  • Curried Sweet Potato fries (baked)
  • Guacamole with Mary’s Gone Crackers

The buffet spread:

Still a lot of SHARI food, huh?  I am LOVING the food we eat there.  I haven’t had a single thing that wasn’t right up my alley! :)

Next week we’ll be working on Stocks, Soups, Stews and Sauces.  The next homework increases the recipes to 5, and we need to include costing and recipe scaling in addition to what we did for the first homework assignment.  I’m already thinking of ideas for the recipes!

Random Fun:

I put out a FeatTweet about the Wall o’Spice after I wrote that blog post, and AARTI herself commented on it!  That was so nice of her because if you follow her blog at all, she’s insanely busy right now.  And it made my day!  More celebs should be that cool!  :) I knew there was a reason we were totally rooting for her to win.  Thanks Aarti!

Click here to find me on Twitter!

Well friends, I feel like I’ve had you reading FOREVER on this post!  Sorry it’s so long!  Thanks for making it to the bottom of the page if you stuck with me that long!  And I promise to provide the recipe for the Indian Spiced Quinoa in one of this week’s posts.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

– Shari B. =)

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Natural Chef Culinary School – Week 1 Recap

Sep 23

Posted by Shari B. in Natural Chef Culinary School | 10 Comments

My first two days of school are already behind me!!  Time is flying by!!

We got our coats yesterday and now my uniform is almost complete.  My pants should arrive today or tomorrow (we had to order those on our own -  I’m one of those people who has to try on a lot of pants to find a good fit, so having to order these online should be interesting.  However, it’s not a fashion show, so I’ll take what comes!)

If it WAS a fashion show, I’d be in trouble!  How ’bout that sexy cheffer skull cap??  Hahahaha!

The good news is we can wear pretty much any type of hat.  So most days I’ll be rocking a baseball cap of some sort instead:

My friends, family, and clients will all tell you that I feel naked without a baseball hat on!   And this week I realized how much hair I actually have when I tried to contain it all rather than just wear a ponytail – it’s A LOT. Might be time to cut some off… :)

In addition to the books we had to buy prior to the start of class, on the first day we also received a canvas bag filled with 4 other books, including this gargantuan binder.  I’m really wondering if I can exchange this 15 lb workbook for the Kindle version?

And the workbook we use in the kitchen.

The first few days have been great.  My brain has been so jam packed with new info that both nights after school, I’ve literally fallen asleep on the couch before 7:00 PM while trying to do my reading.

The format for each day is set up like this:

  • 90 minutes of lecture time
  • followed by a quick healthy snack
  • then kitchen skills/cooking time
  • then late lunch as a group (eating what was just prepared in the kitchen)
  • during which time we are to critique the food
  • the last 30-45 minutes of the day, we get busy cleaning up all the messes that were made: scrubbing floors, washing dishes, resetting for the next class.

The time absolutely flies by.

During this first week our instructors are demonstrating all of the cooking for us (recipes from the workbook shown above), until next week when we get to start prepping and cooking.  The recipes typically will correspond with what our lecture covered for that day.

Day 1 recipes included an Heirloom Tomato Soup with Red Miso and a wonderful Latin Quinoa Salad.  In fact that soup was so amazing I had to make a half-batch at home on Tuesday.

Mise en place:

Practicing my knife skills by making my mirepoix (we learned that a traditional mirepoix is 2 parts onion, 1 part celery, 1 part carrot):

The onions were potent:

Will I build up a tolerance to chopping onions or will they always make me cry?

My finished product:

It’s SO good. It took a few hours to make, but it was worth it.  MSP even liked it and ate it for dinner.  :)   I will be putting the rest in the freezer today to save for those cold winter months (or when a guest comes over that I’d like to impress!).

My home batch tasted a little different than the one they made at school but our instructor told us that when we each cook from the same recipe, everyone’s will taste a little different because we’ll each have our own styles and energies.  She said by the end of the program, she can usually put on a blindfold, taste each of our meals and know who made it because she’ll come to learn the uniqueness in each of her student’s cooking.

I can’t share the recipes for what I make at school because they are from our workbooks (and copyrighted).  But by mid-term we’ll be developing our own recipes so I’ll have a lot to share then.  I will tell you that two of the ingredients in this soup (mirin and miso) were used in ways I’ve never used them and the flavor they produced was amazing!  The mirin was used as the deglazing liquid for the mirepoix vegetables, and the miso was stirred in after blending.  And I’m sure that using a homemade stock makes a ton of difference too.

On Day 2, our instructors made us a Millet, Lentil and Chard Cake (in a springform pan) and a Wilted Spinach Salad with a Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette and Toasted Dulse.  You know I’m at the right school when you see that salad had dulse and nutritional yeast on it, right?  Sounds like a lot of salads I’ve made in the past!  Only this was elevated beyond my normal salad (and I may never buy bottled salad dressing again).  It was amazing!  I already know I’ll be making my own version of this salad for lunch or dinner today.  I’ll be massaging the olive oil onto the spinach leaves first, warming my vinegar in a pan with some sort of nut or seed and then enjoying.

As far as the mix of people in our class, three of the seven are from out of state and living here temporarily until the program is done.  One from Maryland, one from Pennsylvania and one from Indiana.  To me that speaks volumes for this school, knowing how far people have come to be a part of this particular program.  I feel so honored to be a part of it.

I haven’t whipped out the camera yet at school – I’m waiting until I get to know everyone a little better and if at some point it feels like it is acceptable to take photos during our kitchen time, I will.

Day 3 tomorrow will consist of ALL class time because we’ll be doing Culinary Math all day, so I don’t imagine I’ll have a lot of exciting news to share.  Instead, the next post will include a killer upper body/core/cardio workout that you can try!

Fun tip to share:

GHEE (clarified butter) doesn’t contain the casein or the lactose that you find in regular butter.  We’ll be using this a lot to cook and sauté with because it’s very stable at higher temperatures.  As someone who doesn’t like to eat cow’s dairy specifically because of the casein in it, I was happy to know that GHEE doesn’t contain it (be sure to look for one that says “casein free” and “lactose free”).

OK friends, I have a LOT of homework reading to do and I have to go try & buy my required 8″ chef’s knife today.  I’ll see you next time!  Make it a GREAT day!

– Shari B. =)

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A Veggie-versary of Sorts

Jul 24

Posted by Shari B. in Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Hi friends!  Hope your weekend is already off to a great start.  My what a busy busy week it was.  So glad the weekend is here now!

One year ago today, July 24, my sweet hubby agreed to go see “Food, Inc.” with me and a couple of our friends.  I told him before we went in that I thought it might be something that would strongly affect me, but neither of us could have known the understatement those words would really  be.  And that the BBQ chicken sandwich I’d had at lunch that day would be that last time I’d be eating chicken, among other things!

It’s been a year chock full of veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouts, fermented teas, and so much more with an occasional egg or piece of fish or a little raw goat cheese here and there.  What a wild and adventurous ride it has been so far!  I have tried foods that I would never have even considered before or known about if I hadn’t needed to “find an alternative” for our typical meals, especially when eating out.

Like some of these awesome eats…

Delicious Vegetarian Enchiladas with Carrot Puree at Tres Margaritas:

Beautiful Berkeley Vegan Pizza from ZPizza (where I also discovered dairy free Daiya cheese!)

Fabulous Falafel and Hummus Plate at Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill:

Tasty Three Beet Salad at Root Down:

The best Quinoa dish I’ve ever eaten (at Boulder Organic Pizza):

And that’s just a few!  I could go on all day (but then I might start drooling on my laptop…!)

My tastebuds definitely thank me for the change I’ve made!  If I’d still been eating meat when visiting the restaurants above, I would never have even known about these delicious dishes.

Yesterday I decided to pay it forward, so to speak, by giving the DVD to a coworker who seems close to making similar changes.  I hope he finds it just as life-changing as I did, especially in the culinary sense.

Am I trying to change people’s minds or get them to give up meat?  Not at all.  I just want people who are considering cutting back on meat and animal products to see that when it comes to the question of “but what’s left to eat if I don’t eat meat?” the answer is “a heck of a lot of fun foods!”

I’m looking forward to what the next year will bring!

– Shari B. =)

***

If you’d like to read more on how I eat, you might enjoy these previous posts:

Shari Becht is a Fit Living Coach and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer offering coaching services to people across the U.S.  She is extremely passionate about teaching her clients how to start making small changes every day to their own lives, built around steps customized to fit their needs.

If you or someone you know could benefit from Shari’s coaching, please feel free to email her at shari [at] fitfeat  [dot] com.  For more information, click here.

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