Stracciatella (Italian Egg Drop Soup) Recipe

Soup is good food.  I always teach a soup in my winter classes and it’s on my family’s dinner planner every week.  The body craves warm foods when the weather is cold and soup is also very digestible. Plus my family loves soup!

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Dinner Planner — Week of January 9th, 2017

How are those resolutions coming along?  This year my resolution is…no resolutions!  Actually, my intention in 2017 is to be more compassionate to myself and more forgiving.  As always, I am here to help you continue cooking healthful meals from scratch.  Nothing is better!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

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Big Green Detox Salad Recipe

Big Green Detox Salad | Pamela Salzman

Whereas I do not detox or Whole 30 or fast or juice myself silly beginning on January 1, I do put the breaks on the runaway train of bread, alcohol, sugar and general excess before it gets too far.  I definitely indulge a bit over the holidays and I am now at an age where I feel it afterwards.  And it’s not good!  One of my favorite quotes I ever posted on my Instagram page is below.  No big deal, but I am always eager to back to the kind of eating that makes me feel great.

Big Green Detox Salad | Pamela Salzman

I originally created this big salad for my friends who started Pressed Juicery and their book, Juice:  Recipes for Juicing, Cleansing, and Living Well.  But it has also turned out to the be the salad or meal I crave when I need some nutrients and an overall reset.  It’s fresh, vitamin- and mineral-rich and packs a detoxifying punch.  I will admit, it’s not a salad that is very kid-friendly due to the number of bitter ingredients and overall lack of sweetness, but that’s kind of the point.

Big Green Detox Salad | Pamela Salzman

Dandelion greens, which I see regularly at Whole Foods and my farmers market, help detoxify and cleanse the liver, kidneys, and digestive system,  They are loaded with nutrients.  Radishes, a very under appreciated vegetable, are also detoxifying, a diuretic, and contain sulforaphane, an anti-cancer compound. Radishes are related to cabbage and kale, which also contain sulforaphane as well as loads of other nutrients.  Sprouts contain an exceptional amount of enzymes which aid the various metabolic processes and chemical reactions within the body, especially digestion. Parsley is also one of the most cleansing and purifying herbs.  I love throwing parsley leaves into many salads for a fresh, clean flavor. And this dressing with fresh lemon juice and raw garlic is both supportive to the liver as well as antibacterial and immune-boosting.

Big Green Detox Salad | Pamela Salzman

If you wanted to make this salad more of a meal, I would add cooked lentils or poached wild salmon.  You can make the dressing a few days ahead and store it in the refrigerator.  And you can mix the whole salad and keep that in the fridge without dressing for a few days, as well. Sometimes I chop up all the ingredients very finely for a “chopped salad.”  It would be great to take to work or to have as a quick dinner to make sure don’t give in to something less than nutritious.

Big Green Detox Salad | Pamela Salzman

Whatever you do, please don’t beat yourself up if you overdid it during the holidays.  Whatever.  You probably derived a lot of pleasure from that indulgence.  I know I did!  My thought process now is that I prefer to feel light and energetic and to fit in my jeans again, so back to a way of eating that supports that.  It’s easy during this time of year to stay on that path of overeating, but all it takes is a few days of some clean food to help you reset and redirect you to the path where you feel best.

Big Green Detox Salad Recipe
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • Dressing:
  • 1 medium garlic clove, minced or 1 small shallot, finely diced
  • ¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • a few turns of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2½ – 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 head romaine or red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
  • handful of baby kale leaves or baby Swiss chard leaves
  • handful of chopped dandelion greens
  • handful fresh parsley leaves
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage
  • 1 cup shredded carrot
  • 4 radishes, julienned
  • 1 handful sprouts (such as broccoli, radish, clover)
Instructions
  1. Prepare the dressing: Either whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl or place all the ingredients in a glass jar with a lid and shake until emulsified.
  2. Place all salad components in a large serving bowl. Pour dressing all over salad and toss to combine.

 

Dinner Planner – Week of January 2nd, 2017

Oh my stars.  As I sat down to write this, I realized that I have posted an entire year of dinner planners on the blog!  Time flies when you’re having fun cooking, don’t you think?  I hope you have found the post useful.  Even if you don’t use the recipes, I hope that seeing the posts has encouraged you to sit down and organize your meals for the week.  The idea is to help you cook more from scratch, waste less, save money and just be less stressed about cooking.  Please share what helps you get organized for meal preparation during the week!

I just returned home from a much-needed and very relaxing vacation, first in Hawaii and then at my parents’ house on Long Island.  Both weeks were as perfect as I could have hoped for and I am feeling restored and ready for the new year!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

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Dinner Planner – Week of December 26th

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a general happy holidays to everyone!  So sorry I am late with this post!  I hope you all had a festive and fun weekend.  These are my favorite two days of the year and I said to my kids in the car to Christmas Eve dinner that it warmed my heart that they were doing the same drive that I have done every year of my entire life to participate in the same traditions that I did when I was a child.  Very special.

I did a little bit of cooking this weekend and I am currently in a pow-wow with my mother and my sisters planning the menu for this week.  This is not our exact menu since I have some recipe-testing to do and friends to visit for a dinner, but it’s a good start.  I need to make latkes at least once this week, and on Friday we are having a big pizza party at my cousin’s house in Scarsdale which will involve procuring pizza from at least 5 or 6 neighboring pizzerias.  It’s crazy and my husband loves every bite.  New Year’s Day we always eat lentils in some form as they supposedly bring good luck in the coming year :).  Have a wonderful week!

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Fig and Ginger Chocolate Truffles Recipe

Fig and Ginger Chocolate Truffles | Pamela Salzman

I can’t plan any holiday menu at the last minute because I get so stressed out about it that I will have trouble sleeping at night.  My head will be a storm of recipes and food that keep playing over and over again.  I visualize every and any recipe that I have taught or seen on Pinterest and then my mind will play a game of pairing foods with each other on the same plate.  It sounds like fun, doesn’t it?  But not when it’s 3 AM.

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