Off the Wall Yogurt: guilt-free indulging

If you are craving a sweet treat in the Union Square area, be sure to stop into Off the Wall Yogurt, which recently opened it’s third Manhattan location on 14th Street, just past Fifth Avenue. I attended the opening and got to taste a few of the flavors. Since I really love a salty/sweet combo, I headed right for the low-fat Salted Butter Pecan and topped it with some slivered almonds. It was super creamy, and satisfying to know it only had 133 calories for 3 fluid ounces. This could be habit forming.

Forager’s City Grocery

This little grocery makes me wish I still lived on the west side. I popped in on opening day (March 9) to investigate what goodies would be available and was not disappointed. There is a fantastic array of fresh organic vegetables from the Foragers’ micro-farm in Canaan, local meats aged in-house, charcuterie, pantry items, cheeses, herbs, and teas. But, like most New Yorkers, I was delighted to see a vast selection of prepared take-away foods, like rotisserie chickens, foccaccia (the mushroom came home with me, as I had guests stopping in for a glass of prosecco later), and lots of cute sandwiches. Adjacent to the grocery is Foragers City Table. Chef Douglas Monsalud, known for his whimsical approach to farm-fresh cuisine at Kitchenette, Fog City Diner and Betelnut in San Francisco is taking advantage of all the grocery has to offer. He and Executive Chef de Cuisine Ross Gill will focus on a modern interpretation of classic Asian dishes. Inventive cocktails, local beers and an eco-minded selections of wines on tap will be on hand to go with the food. Foragers City Table is now open for dinner only, but is gearing up to serve breakfast, lunch and post-work bar snacks soon. See more photos of the grocery at this link. I will follow up with the cocktail report asap. Located at 300 w 22nd st @ Eighth Avenue.

La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life

Want to escape to an ideal world where all the food is pretty, and the landscapes are to-die-for? Take a look at La Tartine Gourmande for inspiration on cooking (and for taking a trip somewhere!) Béatrice Peltre, a photographer, stylist, and food lover, brings all her talents together in this lovely book. Her recipes typically focus on one amazing ingredient, and are healthy, and simple to create—but mostly, look tantalizingly delicious. Take a peek at this piece in the New York Times, which highlights the video created to promote the book. Well done. You can see a sampling of the book on Amazon, or visit the blog for sample recipes and tons of beautiful photos. Enjoy the trip!

weight loss report

It hasn’t been all fun and games. Since the beginning of the year I have consistently restricted my daily caloric intake to 1200 or less calories. The only exception being my birthday—which I looked forward to for a week, dreaming about which cocktail I would order. 1200 calories is quite a lot of food. If you prepare all your meals, as I have been doing, it’s really not a problem to stick to the plan. What really gets tough, though, is GOING OUT!! I have put event attending to a minimum, and the ongoing Friday-night-dinner-series has been cancelled for the time being. Wine tastings are easy to get through, no swallowing allowed. At the Serafina opening I did not drink, and had exactly one bite of the two pastas, plus one small slice of pizza (I waited an hour for it!). Things would be a lot easier if my days were not packed with constant reminders of what I am missing. If I’m not designing a cookbook filled with luscious photos of food, I am on my Facebook page where I am surrounded by fantastic chefs and mixologists showing off their wares. Friends want to catch up, meet for drinks, have dinner. Don’t get me started with email! It seems like every 15 minutes another new product, restaurant, spirit, or festival is beckoning. But the good news is, due to working out like a mad woman, I am nearly halfway to my goal! And my clothes, once tight, are now hanging a bit. So, for the mean time, food and drink will have to remain a wistful musing. 

to your health: cookbooks

Superfood Cuisine Cooking with Nature's Most Amazing Foods by Julie Morris
Lobsters for Leos, Cookies for Capricorns: An Astrology Lovers Cookbook by Sabra Ricci

Health seekers can delight in 2 new cookbooks. For those who are looking to incorporate the maximum benefits of nutrient-rich superfoods, Superfood Cuisine is the perfect guide. Learn what you can do with chia seeds—soaking them works as a thickener, with the added benefits of protein and fiber, in the recipe for Tomatillo Chia Salsa. Hemp Hummus blends chickpeas with hemp seeds, thus adding a complete protein and all three Omegas. Twist up a sugar craving with a Cabbage-Pomegranate Slaw sweetened with yacon syrup or No-Bake Brownies, made from dates, cacao and walnuts. Many of the recipes use ingredients from the company Navitas Naturals, whose company specializes in making beautifully packaged super ingredients. I was always tempted to buy them, but not sure what to do with them once I got them home. Problem solved! Julie Morris makes it easy to incorporate these unfamiliar foods into your lifestyle.

For those with an astrology bent, or just wanting some new healthy fun recipes, get a copy of astrologer and Celebrity Chef Sabra Ricci’s new book. Twelve chapters focus on the astrological element each sign represents. • Aries’ focus is on brain food—stay alert with Artichoke Heart Hummus. • The thyroid is the focus of the Taurus chapter, treat your bull friends to a tasty Zucchini Bread with Toasted Brazil Nuts. • Gemini represents the lungs, and the recipe for Grilled Mahi Mahi with Orange and Ginger Beurre Blanc will have everyone rapidly breathing. • Cancer’s focus is on the stomach—start off a meal with a Green Tea, Pineapple, and Ginger Martini for Two. • Leo brings heart-happy recipes to the mix, with Heirloom Tomato and Bufala di Mozzarella Napoleon. • Virgo offers recipes for soothing the nervous system, as seen in Grilled New York Strips with Portobello Mushrooms and Horeseradish Sauce. • Kidneys are the focus for Libra. Get assistance with Roasted Cauliflower and Maui Onion Gratin with Smoked Gouda. • Scorpios’ reproductive organs can benefit in more ways than one with the Caviar Party for 2. • Sagitarius’ livers will thrive on the Lobster Guacamole. • The bones of the Capricorn stay strong with Pumpkin-Bran Muffins with Pepito Seeds. • Aquarians can get their blood pumping with a Creamy Coconut-Carrot Soup. • Pisces’ immune system gets a bonus from Crab Cakes with Julienned Mango and Red Pepper Aioli. •  The book also contains fun facts about each sign, how they like to cook, and what kind of guest they make at a dinner party. A totally fun read.

Starting the Year on 1200 Calories a Day

Unchecked grazing over the last few months has taken its toll. Extreme measures were in order. Starting January 2 of this year, I have been on a health regimen, and am determined to reduce my weight, get in amazing shape, and come up with the least objectional way of doing it.
Here’s my plan:
Eat 1200 calories a day: To keep myself on track, I am photographing everything I eat and counting calories with the help of an iPhone app. I am also working out with my trainer Eddy 5 days a week and running in between our sessions. See photos below of my regimen, and I will keep you posted on my progress. To be continued...

Honest Tea introduces Cocoa

If chocolate is on your mind, address your craving the healthy way with Honest CocoaNova, Honest Tea’s new line of low-calorie beverages. The three varieties, Mint Cacao, Mocha Cacao and Cherry Cacao each have a sophisticated, chocolate-y taste, and have only 50 calories a bottle. In addition, your drink comes packed with the natural antioxidants and theobromine found in their USDA Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified cacao beans. Available in health food stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, Whole Foods, and more—check the website to find a retailer near you.

Say hello to Bai the superfruit energy drink

Owner Ben Weiss, immersed in the coffee business, discovered that the fruit encasing the coffee bean, normally discarded in processing, was loaded with antioxidants. This discovery inspired him to create Bai, a line of fruit drinks that have a little bit of caffeine, a little bit of sugar, and a little bit of exotic juice. About half a gram of the superfruit averages 2000 orac units which is 40 to 50 times more antioxidants than pomegranate or acai. I don’t know if it was the power of suggestion, but at a recent gathering, when mixed with Prosecco, I found the juices put me in a euphoric mood. The mixes are slightly sweet, much like a VitaminWater, and come in 140 calorie 16 oz bottles, or 10 calorie versions sweetened with organic Stevia. Usually, I cannot stand the taste of any of the low-calorie sugars, but these are quite palatable, and a great choice if you are looking to cut a few calories. Exotic fruits featured: Tanzania Strawberry, Mango Kuai, Jamaica Blueberry (the crowd favorite), Kenya Peach; and the low-calorie versions: Panama Peach, Sumatra Dragonfruit, Costa Rica Clementine, and Congo Pear (sophisticated). I mixed up vodka, the juice from a tangerine, a dash of Urban Moonshine organic citrus bitters, and filled the glass with the Costa Rica Clementine (see photo). At around 70 calories, I was feelin’ guilt free!

Quorn: meaty non-meat

I am a hard-core meat lover, but still am always on the lookout for meat substitutes for myself, and especially for my guests. Quorn makes a line of meat-like products, made from mycoprotein— a member of the fungi family, that’s high in protein, plus low in fat and calories. This ingredient successfully disguises itself as chicken, meatballs, and burgers, and can be found in the frozen food section. The texture is actually quite similar to meat, and has a surprisingly enjoyable taste. I grilled the Chicken Cutlets version for 7 minutes on each side, and chopped it up with herb salad, sprouts, yellow peppers, zucchini, scallions, and added mayo. After stuffing it into some puff pastry, I would defy anyone to say that it was not the real thing. (The buttery-ness of the puff pastry crust gave me the idea to do a chicken-pot-pie-type appetizer—will have to work on that.) The Meatballs could totally come in handy for impromtu gatherings, just heat them in tomato sauce, or sauté with onions and peppers in garlic and wine, and add to pasta, like I did.

Go Slow: Hurom Slow Juicer

If you have experience with juicers, as I have, you might have been frustrated by the amount of vegetables you had to have on hand to produce one measly glass of juice. Then came the ordeal of cleaning. I was convinced that paying $6 at the health food store was a simpler alternative till I encountered the Hurom Slow Juicer. What makes it a great appliance at a gathering is that in between uses, you can just run water through it to clean it, without having to take the whole thing apart, thus enabling fresh—and different—juices to be enjoyed throughout the party. Plus, since the juicer works at a slower speed, it does not destroy vitamins with heat, and takes EVERY BIT of juice from food, leaving the pulp virtually dry. The mechanism inside works more like a mortar and pestle, crushing and pressing foods—releasing the nutrients, enzymes, and phytonutrients—resulting in a rich-colored juice that does not separate. Put in your favorite fruits, vegetables, even soybeans, walnuts or wheatgrass, to make super-nutritious drinks in an instant. Watch the video (it has a hypnotic quality) and review the nutritional tests on their website. $349.  A good excuse to try this super-fresh cocktail from Joseph Shuldiner, soon to be appearing in his upcoming cookbook “Pure Vegan” coming out in Spring 2012 from Chronicle Books.

LAVENDER-TANGERINE MARTINI
Makes 1 drink
Preparing this cocktail is like bartending in a citrus orchard. The floral scent of lavender with the bright, fresh taste of tangerines is positively Mediterranean. The gorgeous color of tangerine juice is also such a welcome change from the usual palette of pinkish Cosmopolitans and greenish Appletinis. Your “Trend Meter™” will enjoy the evening off. To prepare enough for a party, juice tangerines and lemons in a Hurom Slow Juicer by peeling the fruit, cutting in half, and dropping in to the juicer.
2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier, or other orange liqueur
2 ounces fresh tangerine juice
1 ounce lavender simple syrup, (recipe below)
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
Lavender sprigs or a twist of fresh tangerine peel for garnish
Place all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds or until well chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lavender sprig or fresh tangerine peel twist.

Lavender Simple Syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoon dried or fresh lavender flowers
In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add lavender. Allow to steep for 30 minutes, then strain. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated.

Edible Garden @ the New York Botanical Garden

Just a 20 minute train ride from Grand Central whisks you to a 250-acre sanctuary in the Bronx. Now, you can not only see the most beautiful displays, you can taste them. A fabulous array of chefs will be doing daily demonstrations featuring the spoils of the four spectacular kitchen gardens. The Home Gardening Center is where you can learn how to make your garden the best it can be, and also view the celebrity chef patches from Daisy Martinez, (who had some very intertesting choices!), Dan Barber and Jack Algiere of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Michael Psilakis and Mario Batali, with accompanying audio tours. Of interest to those without a plot of ground, the Conservatory Container Garden has a wealth of surprises coming in that might inspire you to experiment. Martha Stewart’s Culinary Herb Garden has over 50 herbs. Bring the kids to the Children’s Vegetable Garden and show them the wonders of nature. To see who’s cooking and to buy tickets click here. Special festival weekends dot the summer weekends till the harvest. Try this delicious recipe from Michele Di Pietro (see photo), for a unique pesto, whose main ingredient is zucchini. The most important part of the recipe is to make sure that you pull all the water out of the zucchini before mixing with other ingredients. To make the roasted garlic, cut off the bottom of an entire head of garlic and place in a 400º oven, roast for 35 minutes. A handy item to have around, it can be wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge. There’s more photos from the gardens and demo at this link.

CHOCOLATE, circulate this!

Could you believe in chocolate that’s good for your circulation? The makers of Cirku have developed a method of processing chocolate that keeps most of the flavanols intact—the active component in cocoa, tea, and wine that helps maintain healthy circulation. Their cocoa comes in individually wrapped packets, sweetened or unsweetened, that you can add to water, a smoothie, or to a cup of coffee, my prefered method. After you have tasted it you will not believe it has only 30 calories! (think Ovaltine, but more intense) Mars Botanical, the company behind this product, works sustainably and consciously with Indonesian farmers bringing environmental, economic and social benefits to their communities. Once you are hooked, they make being healthy an easy process. When you sign up for the Auto-ship Program, you will receive a monthly delivery of 28 packets, with free shipping for life.

just beachy

It’s not warm enough for beach weather, yet I almost felt like I was out at the end of Long Island this afternoon. Sagaponack is serving a lunch buffet, with light green salads, creative sandwiches, soup, chicken (with 2 sides) and a taco bar. My friend JD and I had the salads—and remarkably, both our lunches together came in under $10.

black bean BOMB

In week five of my meatless quest, I learned that my body is not built for consuming massive quantities of beans. I began by making my first pot of black beans from scratch, which looked so beautiful in the pot. Day one, I was inspired by a recipe online for a black bean burger, which had the visual appeal of a real burger, and almost as satisfying. This was looking pretty good. On Day Two, I decided to mix the black beans with broccoli, carrots, celery and some stale bread. Well, I might as well have set off a bomb in my abdomen. I felt sick for about three days thereafter. So it looks like a beans as a main course is out of the question! Live and learn, as they say. Let’s move on to the couple of fantastic meals I had, that were fish centered. Aquamarine, had a special appetizer with guacamole and spicy tuna that was served on wasabi chips. Bob and I had to get a second round of the chips, because the 4 they offered were not enough to service the dippins. I flipped one over so you could see the seaweed on the back of the chip. For my entree, I had the chilean sea bass in a black bean sauce. It was really out of this world, a bit on the sweet side, and extremely flavorful. I am pretty sure these dishes do not qualify as low-cal, but, hey, I needed to live a little. Friday night’s dinner destination was Clerkenwell, which I chose because my British friend Rupert Kirby had a catering business in that part of London (Panini was the name of his company). In this Lower East Side spot, they served upscale Fish and Chips, and a fine piece of salmon. See more photos from our dinner here.

healthy meat-free dinners and snacks

It’s been an interesting meat-free journey over the past month. I will declare January the month of experimenting with tofu.
1. I got some medium firm tofu, sliced it and fried it in a pan with avocado oil with a little sesame oil added in, then sprinkled sesame seeds on it while it was still in the pan.
2. To the tofu, I added sauteed tomatoes and onions.
3. And later in the week, mushrooms, red onions and spinach.
Despite all the flavorings, the tofu was still pretty bland, but an okay departure.
4. I defrosted a butternut squach-cauliflower soup I made a while back, then added the sauteed tomatoes and onions that I had left over from the tofu topping and tore some raw spinach leaves for texture.
5. This meal was very filling. While cooking whole wheat cous cous (5 minutes on the stove), I chopped up into tiny pieces some raw cauliflower, carrots and arugula. This was great to have in the fridge to fend off hunger. I also added a handful of hemp seeds.
6. Pea pods and broccoli stems got sauteed with olive oil and garlic, and I opened my bag of frozen, pre-cooked shrimp for a very fast, healthy dinner. I love broccoli stems, after removing the hard skin on the outside, the inside has a wonderful texture.
7. Have you heard of Hemp Butter? It’s made from hemp seeds (which look a little like sesame seeds). Think peanut butter with an earthier, greener taste. Not bad! I am trying different hemp products to write about in Organic Spa Magazine, so stay tuned! In this photo, is the hemp butter spread on a crispbread of rye and sesame, from Ryvita.
8. I whipped up this snack in seconds: tofutti, avocado and halved cherry tomatoes with a sprinke of cayenne pepper on a Wasa Rye Cracker. So good, I had another.
For the month of February I will be experimenting with beans.

dine-out diet: week two

When you are cutting calories, you tend to focus more on the ones you are getting. So, the lesson after week two, is to be more selective with my restaurant choices, which were hit and miss. The Hit: On Wednesday, I attended i Trulli’s 15th anniversary party, and managed to stay on course. As you would imagine, they had an Italian bounty on display, featuring all sorts of goodies. I passed by the pork, turnips, breaded fried olives, mountain of cookies and focused on the table of seafood. There I was able to scoop up cold seafood salad, oysters, and octopus. I confess to having one mussel with bread stuffing on top! My favorite taste of the night, though, goes to Patti Jackson’s sauteed dandelion leaves, which were lightly bitter tasting. (see photo, left) I am still thinking about them and put i Trulli on my list of places to return to. Friday night, we headed west to Trestle on Tenth. I’m not saying it was bad, but just not fantastic. For the appetizer, I split some oysters and smoked trout salad with Bob. The strange thing about the oyster dish was how it arrived on the table. I am surprised nobody noticed this, or maybe that was the way it was intended to look? (click here to see more photos from that night) When the fish arrived on the table my heart sank. (top photo) How did I miss that this fish was served whole? It freaks me out to have to deal with the bones with every bite, and plus look at the tail and face of the fish, feeling bad as I am eating it. Sigh. It did taste good, but was tainted by the presentation. Saturday, I stayed in the ‘hood and visited Beppe. Everyone at our table loved the food, I thought my dish was good too, the halibut with brussel sprouts and cauliflower (photo, left). There was supposed to be something almond with the dish, but it didn’t come through, as opposed to the Commerce dish of last week. Sunday, my friend Judith came to visit, so a return visit to i Trulli seemed appropriate, especially since her father is from the Puglian area of Italy. After reading the menu online we slogged through the icy rain, excited to try most of the appetizers. Unfortunately, we arrived between lunch and dinner, only the bar menu was available. We still managed to do extremely well, with the endive salad, which had a hard boiled egg and parsley and matched it with grilled octopus with the tiniest fingerling potatoes, black olives, cauliflower and lemon confit. (photo above) It was a treat to sit by the window, have the restaurant to ourselves and catch up. More next week.

dine-out diet: week one

After fully enjoying the inevitable debauchery at the end of 2009, I felt ready to clean up my act. Here is my experiment. Every time I go out to eat for the next three months, I am going to order what I think to be the least caloric and healthiest items on the menu, and report back. At the end of week one, I am feeling slightly lighter—and not at all deprived. I could get used to this. From the top: At the beginning of the week I stopped in at Marc Forgione, in Tribeca. Lucky for me, one of the specials that day was Oyster Shooters, at $3 apiece. I downed that Virginia Olde Salt oyster with jalapeño-pineapple vinegar with delight. For my entree, I chose the Long Island striped bass, with black pepper-meyer lemon emulsion, braised daikon, and James Beard salad (I guess that is the parsley). The sauce was absolutely out of this world. For lunch on Thursday, I met my friend Maya and had the arugula salad with mushrooms, lemon vinaigrette and shaved parmesan at Bar Breton. The portion was quite generous, and the mushrooms added an earthy, smokiness to the salad. Friday night, Bob and I went to Commerce, which was crazily bustling and busy. For my appetizer I ordered the marinated hamachi ceviche with yuzu, tomato, chili and cilantro, which was sliced like sashimi. Excellent. Both Bob and I had the black sea bass with crushed sunchokes, spiced almonds and heirloom apple. The almonds lent a nice crunch into the mix. Tune in next week for more healthy choices. See more pics of the restaurnant's ambiance here.

R.W. Knudson Sparklin Essence: get your juices flowing

R. W. Knudsen, known for their natural and organic juices, has come out with a line of pretty little cans of organic sparkling water infusions. My favorite, the cucumber, is a natural in cocktails. I have been adding about a third of a can to a mix of vodka, apple juice (or pineapple), and fresh lime juice—a great way to stretch the drink without adding calories, yet still providing a complexity of flavor. Sparkling Essence also comes Organic Lemon, Organic Blueberry and Organic Mint. Play around with your own mixes and tell me which one is your favorite...

Save the harvest

This is a great method for preserving excess herbs that you’ve grown or bought. My dear friend, Maya, has been doing this for the past 5 seasons, allowing her to enjoy her garden spoils throughout the year. As a bonus, the herbs’ fresh-tasting flavors get more intense as time passes. She makes 3 varieties: an equal mixture of oregano, thyme, and sage; a basil batch; and a rosemary batch. Use them in salad dressings and marinades, and of course, when cooking. The rosemary is heavenly on steamed or roasted potatoes, the basil is a nice surprise in mashed potatoes or tasty on a green bean salad.
Maya’s method:
- Harvest herbs early or late in the day when they are cool, to avoid wilting
- Herbs must be thoroughly DRY before you begin, since it is water that causes spoilage. After washing, remove excess water with a paper towel, then spread herbs out for an hour or till all the water evaporates. (It may not be necessary to wash the herbs from your own garden, use your judgement)
- Strip the leaves, discard stems. Mince the herbs as finely as you can. This will release the most flavor into the oil. Maya likes using a ”mezza luna” knife (a curved Italian blade with a handle at each end that allows you to rock back and forth).
- Spoon herbs into small mason jars leaving about 1/2" from the top, then fill with olive oil (use cooking not extra virgin). Let the jars stand for an hour or so, topping them up as the oil is absorbed. There should be a 1/2" layer of just oil at the top, which will act very much like a wax seal.
- Label and refrigerate the jars. When using, spoon out what you need, and be sure to cover any exposed herbs with additional oil. Don't worry if you leave the jar out of the fridge and the oil liquefies, this will not cause spoilage, but do remember to put them back in the fridge when you are finished cooking. The photo on the right shows how it looks when it first comes out of the refrigerator.

low-cal dessert SUBSTITUTE

My trainer, Steve Zullo, of Sal Anthony's Movement Salon, turned me on to this. One of the bonuses in working out in a former German Rathskeller, is that Steve and I repeatedly discuss dieting tips and eating to train. If you love coconut, as I do, you must get yourself a pack of this gum. The taste is really super—just like you are eating a coconut, and mellows without the rubbery end-taste. We agreed that it’s a great way to address sugar cravings, and take care of your teeth at the same time. See the adorable Trident website for amusing videos, and facts on whitening.