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Fajitas recipe

You all know my seven-year-old son, Mr. Picky. I need to re-introduce you to Daughter #2, who just announced last night that she is now a vegetarian. That’s Miss Vegetarian to you. Hmmm…..She is the same child that asked to try clams and mussels when she was 3 years old and would chomp on a steak bone until it was dry. She’s 12 now and has always been my easiest child with respect to food. What a pleasure it has been to feed a child who willingly tries and eats anything and everything! Not that I can take credit for her adventurous eating; she came into the world this way. But effective today, she is no longer eating meat, fish, or eggs if they look like eggs (it’s fine if they’re baked into a cookie, of course.)

I have lots of parents in my classes who have children with dietary restrictions or predilections. We routinely discuss how to adjust each recipe to accommodate Janie’s gluten-intolerance or Jack’s aversion to the color green. I am convinced the universe gave me Mr. Picky and Miss Vegetarian so that I would be more understanding of the challenges my students face. That I am.

The good news is we had fajitas last night for dinner! The reason I say it was good news is because fajitas really lend themselves to each person customizing his or her plate. So whereas Mr. Picky likes to load up on chicken and guacamole with one token slice of zucchini, I am happy with the reverse, choosing mostly vegetables. I didn’t stress out about feeding Miss Vegetarian last night since we also had black beans and shredded raw cheddar cheese from the farmer’s market. She made two lovely roll-ups with sprouted grain tortillas and all was wonderful, at least in the protein department. (She really needs to stop borrowing her sister’s clothes without asking.) The next great thing about fajitas is that if you have leftovers, they can go into a darn good omelet or quesadilla the next day. Daughter #1 had some of the extra chicken and vegetables chopped up and added to some leftover green rice from my class the day before (I’ll have to give you the recipe one day) and brought it to school in a thermos.

I think the traditional preparation of fajitas using skirt steak is just fine, but we don’t eat much beef here. Regardless, you can use the same marinade for beef and it will be delicious. You can also broil the meat, if you don’t want to grill. But more than that, I never limit the vegetables to just bell peppers and onions. I usually make an additional pan of sauteed zucchini and shiitake mushroom strips and find that to be my favorite, although I also love julienned carrots and sauteed spinach, too. There is always something to please every palate!

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Fajitas

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

There are lots of tortillas that are more healthful than white flour tortillas. Try Rudi’s Organic Spelt or Multigrain with Flax; Food For Life Brown Rice Flour; or French Meadow Bakery's Hemp Tortillas (Mr. Picky's favorite.)
Marinade for chicken or meat:
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets (thinner pieces cook more quickly reducing the exposure of the meat to the grill) or thighs or skirt steak
2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
2-3 bell peppers (green and red is a good combo), sliced thin or mix it up with sliced shiitake or portabella mushrooms, julienned zucchini and/or carrots to mix with the peppers and onions
1-2 red onions, halved and sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Accompaniments: 12-16 warmed flour or rice tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo (salsa), sour cream, shredded cheese

Instructions

Combine garlic, sea salt, pepper, cumin, lime juice, oil and cilantro in a non-reactive container, such as glass. Add meat to marinade and turn to coat well. Marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.
Preheat the grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. Grill chicken a few minutes on each side until cooked through.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add peppers, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Saute the mixture, stirring, for 10-12 minutes, or until softened. You can add the cooked, sliced meat to the vegetable mixture and combine everything or serve both separately.
Warm tortillas on both sides over medium heat on a griddle pan. Or if you are heat a large amount, wrap the entire stack in parchment paper, then aluminum foil and heat through in a 350 degree oven. Serve with desired accompaniments.

Notes

You can also broil the meat using a broiler pan.

Do Ahead Timesaving Tip: earlier in the day or the night before, marinate the meat and/or slice all the veggies. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Mexican black beans from scratch recipe

When I am coming up with a menu for entertaining mixed company, e.g. kids and adults or carnivores and vegans, I steer most often towards Mexican food. It is always a crowd pleaser, easy to prepare and I can very often employ a topping bar of sorts. It is no surprise to me that my Mexican-themed cooking classes are my most popular of the year. I always teach them in April so that my students have some fun, healthful recipes to use for Cinco de Mayo (May 5th.) You know I am a sucker for themed family dinners on “holidays.” That and I just don’t enjoy taking the kids to crowded, greasy Mexican restaurants on one of the busiest and most inebriated nights of the year for something I can easily make at home.

These versatile black beans are a staple in our house all year long. They’re close to Frijoles Refritos, meaning “well-cooked beans” (as opposed to “twice-cooked beans,” which is what I thought it meant for years.) But I’m not frying anything in lard or vegetable oil, instead cooking the beans with some onion, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro for great flavor. We eat them simply over rice, wrapped in a burrito, as a side with fajitas or tacos, or with huevos rancheros. Daughter #1 and her friends like to toast corn tortillas over the gas flame on the stove (they’re 14 years-old) and eat the beans like a dip. They are a must with any Mexican meal. The good news is that I can tell you how to easily make them from scratch (soaking dried beans) or from a can. Even though I avoid canned food like the plague, you have a great option with Eden Foods which does not use BPA in its can liners.

Beans are an incredible source of low-fat protein and fiber, especially soluble fiber which has been shown to help lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar levels. Black, red and pinto beans are crazy high in anti-oxidants, too. Another bonus is that they are rather inexpensive, especially if you buy them dried and cook them yourself. 1 pound of dried beans might cost you about $1.00. One pound dried equates to approximately 3 15-ounce cans of black beans at about $2.19 per can for Eden Organic in my natural foods store (other brands are much less, but you’re also getting that pesky BPA.) You can also buy the cans by the case from Amazon and save some money (12 cans for $16.60 at the time of this post.) Making beans from scratch is as easy as boiling water, but you need to plan at least 6 hours in advance to soak them and an hour and a half to cook them. Or just make a ton over the weekend and freeze them. Love that!

Over the next week and a half, I’ll be posting some of my favorite Mexican-inspired dishes to wow your family and friends without letting your healthful eating take a siesta!

5.0 from 4 reviews

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Mexican Black Beans

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound dried black beans (aka turtle beans), picked over for stones or foreign objects, and rinsed*
1 (2- to 3-inch) piece kombu**(optional)
2-3 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno chile, minced (take the seeds out if you want to cut the heat)
1 Tablespoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
Fresh lime juice (optional)

Instructions

Place the beans and the kombu in a large glass bowl or pot. Add enough cold water to cover the beans by at least 3 inches. Let stand overnight or at least 6 hours. (If the weather is warm, put the beans in the refrigerator to soak.)
Drain and rinse the beans, reserving the kombu. Place the beans and kombu in a large, heavy pot with enough water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming the foam that rises to the top. Lower the heat to low and simmer gently, covered, for 1 hour.
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté gently until tender, about 10 minutes. You can cover the skillet with a lid to soften the onions and garlic without allowing them to brown. Add the jalapeno and cook 1 minute, until tender.
Remove the kombu from the beans and discard. Add the sautéed onion mixture, sea salt and cilantro to the beans and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, or until very tender.
Drain the beans and reserve 2 cups of cooking liquid. Pour 1 cup of liquid back into the beans and mash the beans with the back of a spoon until you have the desired consistency. Add more liquid, if necessary. Taste for seasoning and squeeze some fresh lime juice on top, if desired.

Notes

*Or you can use 3 15-ounce cans of cooked black beans, undrained. Follow along here:

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a medium saucepan until softened.
Add jalapeno and cook for 1 minute.
Add beans and liquid from the can (usually about ⅓ cup liquid per can) plus 2-3 teaspoons sea salt, 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
You can serve the beans as is or I like to mash them up a bit so they’re nice and creamy. Squeeze a little lime on top if you like.
**Kombu is a sea vegetable which helps tenderize the beans and improves their digestibility. It is also rich in many vitamins and minerals.

beans mexican

Seared wild salmon with beet, blood orange and spinach salad recipe

Don’t let the fancy name fool you. This recipe is as easy as it is beautiful and it’s absolutely delicious. All of this is in season right now — from the wild salmon and spinach to the blood oranges and beets — and it comes just in time for the last Friday of Lent.

This dish reminds me of a nutrition lesson I taught to some elementary school students one year about “eating the colors of the rainbow.” Nature provides us with a beautiful spectrum of colors from which to choose and those colors represent different phytonutrients — compounds found in plant foods which help protect the plants from viruses and bacteria, but also support our health, as well.

There are thousands of phytonutrients which are classified by family. But teaching the classification of phytonutrients to fifth graders (or adults) is overwhelming and confusing. All we really need to know is that each color (including white) represents an important set of different health benefits. In order to maximize our exposure to all these health benefits, we need to eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables everyday in as many colors as possible…..like the colors of the rainbow.

This salad may not cover every color, but it sure gives you a solid start. One colorful addition to the salad which does not contain phytonutrients, but is loaded with anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids is wild salmon. If you don’t eat fish, the salad is fantastic without it, but if you do eat fish I strongly encourage you to find a good source for wild salmon which is one of the richest sources of Omega-3s that you can find. Unfortunately the typical American is both lacking in Omega-3s and out of balance in the Omega 3 – Omega 6 ratio, resulting in a highly inflammatory diet. I bought this lovely piece of sockeye from Vital Choice because I need a consistent source of high quality fish for my classes, but occasionally I can find what I’m looking for in my local markets, including the farmer’s market.

Although I don’t get too worked up about the presentation of my food (I’m much more concerned with how it tastes and its nutritional benefits), it is always nice to eat something that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

To all my students and readers who celebrate Easter, have a lovely holiday!

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Seared Wild Salmon with Beet, Blood Orange and Spinach Salad

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 bunch medium beets
5 medium blood oranges (or regular oranges)
2 Tablespoons finely diced shallot
1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons raw honey
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces baby spinach leaves or arugula, washed and dried
6 filets wild Alaskan salmon, 5 to 6 ounces each
zest of one blood orange (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season the fish
4 Tablespoons cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the greens off the beets, leaving about ½ inch of the stems still attached. Save the greens for another time. Wash the beets well and place them in a roasting pan with a ½-inch layer of water on the bottom. Cover tightly with foil (if the foil touches the beets, cover first with parchment, then with foil.) Roast about 50 minutes (or longer for larger beets). When the beets are done, carefully remove the foil. Allow them to cool, and then peel them by slipping off the skins with your fingers. Cut them into ½-inch wedges.
Slice the stem and bottom ends from the blood oranges. Stand the oranges on one end and, following the contour of the fruit with a very sharp knife, remove the peel and white pith. Work from top to bottom, rotating the fruit as you go. Then hold each orange over a bowl and carefully slice between the membranes and the fruit to release the segments in between. Squeeze any juice left in the remaining membrane into a measuring cup. Add any juice from the bowl of blood orange segments to the measuring cup. (Or if you're pressed for time, just slice the oranges into rounds.)
Combine the diced shallot, lemon juice, ¼ cup blood orange juice (if you didn’t reserve enough, you can add regular freshly squeezed orange juice), honey and ¾ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil slowly. Add black pepper and additional sea salt to taste.
Remove the salmon from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to bring it to room temperature. Season the salmon with the zest, sea salt, and ground pepper.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the oil to the pan and allow to heat up for 1 minute, until very warm, but not smoking. Lay the fish in the pan, seasoned side down, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until it is lightly browned. Turn the fish over, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook a few minutes more, until it is almost cooked through. Do your best not to overcook the salmon. When it is done, the fish will begin to flake and separate a little, and the center will be slightly rare. The salmon will continue to cook a bit more while it sits.
Place the spinach in a bowl and toss lightly with some dressing. Transfer to a serving platter. Place the salmon on top of the spinach.
Place the beets and blood oranges in the bowl and toss lightly with some dressing. Arrange the beets and blood oranges around the perimeter of the platter. Drizzle the salmon with additional dressing, if desired.

Notes

Blood oranges are little more tart than regular oranges, so if you are not using blood orange juice in the dressing, you can balance the acidity with a little extra lemon juice or some rice vinegar.

Do-ahead suggestions: You can prepare your beets, oranges, greens and dressing up to 2 days before.

Asparagus salad with feta, walnuts and mint vinaigrette recipe

A great salad is part perfectly fresh and delicious ingredients and part winner dressing. And the simpler the better. But salad monogamy is not something I believe in. There shouldn't be exclusivity with salad combinations and dressings. A good vinaigrette should be able to play the field. And let me tell you, the mint vinaigrette in this recipe sees a lot of action in my kitchen.

Does it look familiar to you? If you took my class last July, you had it with a Farro, Golden Beet and Cucumber Salad. If you saw the feature in ELLE Magazine of my class at Jenni Kayne's and looked up the recipes, you saw it there, too. But what you don't know is that I have been using this dressing for years on lots of things and you will too!

Why do I love this dressing? Mint is one of my favorite herbs in both savory and sweet dishes. Combined with rice vinegar and red onion, it is fresh and tangy and I could drink this dressing with a straw, I love it so much. It is just perfect with asparagus, peas, cucumber, beets, carrots, potatoes and green beans. Here I've shown you this asparagus salad prepared two ways - either sliced and mixed with butter lettuce or whole spears drizzled with dressing. Easter is just around the corner and I think this would make a lovely light salad for brunch or a perfect complement to roast lamb for dinner.

Don't forget about how nutritious asparagus is. Asparagus is loaded with potassium, Vitamin C and folic acid, which is critical for proper cellular division (especially if you're pregnant.) It also contains inulin which we don't digest, but the good bacteria in our gut do. We want to promote the growth and activity of friendly bacteria so that they make it more difficult for unfriendly bacteria to take over our intestinal tract. Asparagus is also rich in vitamin K, calcium and magnesium, all helpful in building bone strength. I guess you could call this salad a win-win!

4.0 from 1 reviews

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Asparagus Salad with Feta, Walnuts and Mint Vinaigrette

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds asparagus (medium thickness), tough ends trimmed
6 ounces butter lettuce, torn into bite size pieces (optional)
½ cup fresh mint leaves, about half of a ¾ ounce package
1 clove minced garlic (or 1 teaspoon, chopped)
¼ cup diced red onion
3 Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon raw honey
½ teaspoon sea salt (or more if you don't use the feta)
a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
½ cup unrefined cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup raw walnuts, chopped
3-4 ounces feta, preferably goat, crumbled

Instructions

Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the asparagus spears for 3 minutes for medium thick spears (less for thinner). Remove asparagus with tongs and immediately submerge in the ice water. Once cool, remove asparagus to dry.
To prepare the dressing: place the mint leaves, garlic, rice vinegar, honey, diced onions, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Begin to blend and with the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow stream. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
Place lettuce on a platter and toss with enough dressing just to coat. Dry asparagus well and cut on the diagonal into fourths. Toss with a little dressing and add to lettuce. Scatter feta and walnuts all over salad and add more dressing if necessary.

Notes

The second photo shows how I store asparagus. When you bring it home from the market, trim the ends of the asparagus and store in a container with an inch of water at the base. Keep refrigerated. The asparagus will stay fresher for longer. When trimming asparagus to cook, bend the asparagus back close to the bottom and find the natural break in the stalk. Prepare as desired.

asparagus feta salad walnuts

Lemon ice torte recipe

I went to my first Passover seder when I was in college in Philadelphia. I was dating a nice Jewish boy from California who had some relatives living outside the city. Aunt Lulu and Uncle Stanley invited us over for the holiday and I knew it was special for my boyfriend to be with family and to be able to participate in the ritual meal. When I saw that the otherwise cantankerous Uncle Stan had a stack of food magazines, I knew we would be fast friends. Not surprisingly, he did most of the cooking that night and he did it with love.

My first Passover meal did not disappoint. Everything was delicious, and not just because I was a college student who wasn’t eating homemade meals very often. I enjoyed my first brisket and charoset, the traditional chunky paste made from apples, dried fruit and nuts. I was putting it on everything, from matzoh to asparagus (even my oatmeal the next morning.) The showstopper was the Lemon Ice Torte that was served for dessert. It was featured in Bon Appetit that month (April 1991) and my boyfriend went crazy for it. The torte was an almond crust filled with a lemon sorbet and served with a strawberry-rhubarb sauce on the side. It was simple, but delicious, refreshing and apparently a welcome change from the ubiquitous brick of a honey cake that is usually served. I went out right away to buy a copy of the magazine (no internet yet, people) and my first springform pan so I could make it again.

I can’t find the lipstick I bought last week, but I still have the same magazine and the same pan 20 years later. The boyfriend is still in the picture and I was lucky enough to marry him. Every year for 20 years, I have made that lemon ice torte for Passover with the same springform pan, but every few years I have added a new twist. I started making my own lemon sherbet when I moved to California. Wouldn’t you with all those amazing lemons? I dropped the layer of preserves from the original recipe and substituted fresh berries for the fruit sauce. More recently I experimented with sucanat instead of granulated sugar and coconut oil for butter. Sometimes, I’ll even surprise my family by filling the nut crust with homemade frozen yogurt on a day that’s not a holiday.

Uncle Stanley passed away last year, but I think he would be happy to know his grand finale that evening was the beginning of a new tradition carried on lovingly by a nice Italian girl from New York. Although I think I can hear him saying, “what the #!@ is sucanat?!”

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To all my Jewish students and readers, have a beautiful holiday and remember ~ it’s never too late to start a tradition.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Lemon Ice Torte

Author: Adapted from Bon Appetit and The Silver Palate Goodtimes Cookbook

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Crust:
12 ounces blanched* almonds (either slivered or whole), toasted**
½ cup sucanat (dehydrated cane juice) or cane sugar (I'm sure maple sugar or coconut sugar would work, but I haven't tried them)
5 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter or coconut oil
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 pints lemon ice (or sorbet, sherbet or frozen yogurt of your choice)
Fresh berries
__________________________
Lemon Sherbet (makes 6 cups):
4 cups water
1¾ cups granulated sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

If the bottom of your springform pan is not attractive and you want to remove the torte to serve on a pretty cake dish, brush the bottom of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with melted butter or oil. Line with parchment paper. If you don't care what the torte is served on, skip this step.
To make the crust: Combine almonds and sugar in food processor and chop finely. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Add melted butter or coconut oil and cinnamon to almond mixture and combine well.
Transfer to the springform pan. Press almond mixture firmly 1 ½ inches up sides and over the bottom of the pan. (A metal dry measuring cup can help do this.) Freeze 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pan with crust on cookie sheet and bake 20 minutes. If crust sides slip, press back in place with back of a fork. Transfer pan to rack and cool completely.
To make lemon sherbet: combine the water, sugar and two-thirds of the lemon zest in a saucepan and heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining lemon zest and lemon juice and allow to cool to room temperature.
Whisk the cream into the mixture and refrigerate it until chilled, at least 2 hours.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
Soften lemon ice very slightly and spread over crust. Freeze until firm. When ready to serve, unmold sides of springform pan. If you lined the pan with parchment, you will be able to transfer (carefully) the torte to another serving platter. Garnish with berries on top and serve extra on the side, if desired.

Notes

*To blanche your own almonds, place raw whole almonds in a heat-proof bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let sit for 2 minutes, but not longer or they will get soggy. Drain in a colander. The skins will slip off very easily.
**To toast the almonds, place them on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree F oven until lightly golden. Toasting freshly blanched whole almonds takes longer than slivered almonds out of a bag. The process can take anywhere from 8 to 20 minutes, depending. Watch them closely! Nuts can go from toasted to burned in seconds.

lemon ice torte

adapted from Bon Appetit

serves 8

Crust

12 ounces blanched* almonds (either slivered or whole), toasted**

½ cup sucanat (dehydrated cane juice) or cane sugar (I’m sure maple sugar or coconut sugar would work, but I haven’t tried them)

5 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter or coconut oil

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

3 pints lemon ice (or sorbet, sherbet or frozen yogurt of your choice)

Fresh berries

If the bottom of your springform pan is not attractive and you want to remove the torte to serve on a pretty cake dish, brush the bottom of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with melted butter or oil. Line with parchment paper. If you don’t care what the torte is served on, skip this step.
To make the crust: Combine almonds and sugar in food processor and chop finely. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Add melted butter or coconut oil and cinnamon to almond mixture and combine well.
Transfer to the springform pan. Press almond mixture firmly 1 ½ inches up sides and over the bottom of the pan. (A metal dry measuring cup can help do this.) Freeze 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pan with crust on cookie sheet and bake 20 minutes. If crust slides slip, press back in place with back of a fork. Transfer pan to rack and cool completely.
Soften lemon ice very slightly and spread over crust. Freeze until firm. When ready to serve, unmold sides of springform pan. If you lined the pan with parchment, you will be able to transfer (carefully) the torte to another serving platter. Garnish with berries on top and serve extra on the side, if desired.

**To toast the almonds, place them on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven until lightly golden. Toasting freshly blanched whole almonds takes longer than slivered almonds out of a bag. The process can take anywhere from 8 to 20 minutes, depending. Watch them closely! Nuts can go from toasted to burned in seconds.

lemon sherbet

(not dairy-free) adapted from The Silver Palate Goodtimes Cookbook

makes 6 cups

4 cups water

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

Zest of 3 lemons

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup heavy cream (I use raw cream from Organic Pastures)

Combine the water, sugar and two-thirds of the lemon zest in a saucepan and heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining lemon zest and lemon juice and allow to cool to room temperature.
Whisk the cream into the mixture and refrigerate it until chilled, at least 2 hours.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according the manufacturer’s directions.

Chocolate coconut macaroons recipe

If I am going to eat dessert, it better be good. It better be worth falling off the wagon for. Usually Passover desserts do nothing to tempt me from my sugar abstinence and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But I cannot in good conscience be the bringer of a sticky, heavy honey nut cake or one of those Maneschewitz Passover cakes from a mix. I want to share a dessert that I would be happy to eat any time of the year, not just on this 8-day hiatus from flour and other ingredients crucial to baking. Enter coconut macaroons!

I have tried more coconut macaroon recipes than I care to admit (about 5 pounds worth on the hips and thighs), but this is truly the best. This recipe is adapted slightly from pastry chef and cookbook author, David Lebovitz. It is exactly what I want in a macaroon — toasted on the outside, dense and chewy on the inside, but not so sweet that it will make your teeth ache (probably because I cut the sugar a bit.) I use almond meal instead of flour so that they are Passover-ready and gluten-free, because these days everyone knows someone who is not eating gluten. I have a news flash — don’t be put off by the use of almond meal. It’s nothing more than blanched almonds ground up (in the food processor, if you wish) to a fine meal. My natural foods supermarket even sells almond meal in the bulk bins.

I happen to love coconut and I am a believer in all the health benefits that coconut has to offer. It is rich in good fats, especially lauric acid which is an immune-boosting fat otherwise only found in breast milk. The key is to start with unsweetened, shredded coconut which you can find in the bulk bins at the natural foods supermarket or in bags. I try my hardest to use unrefined sweeteners whenever possible, but only if it makes for the best result. In this case, granulated sugar is best here, so let’s make these cookies small, ok?

If you would like to bake these for Passover, or for your child’s mock Seder in religious school this week, then you can start cooking lickety-split. You all know how I love a do-ahead! You can make the macaroon batter a week ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator or even freeze it. The cookies can be baked a few days in advance and kept in an airtight container far away from recovering sugar addicts, especially if they’re dipped in dark chocolate. Stay tuned for another fabulous Passover-appropriate or all-around yummy dessert later this week!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Author: Pamela, adapted from David Lebovitz

Serves: makes 30 cookies

Ingredients

2 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon raw honey or Grade A maple syrup
¼ cup almond meal or flour
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4 large egg whites
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces, bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (optional)

Instructions

In a large skillet combine coconut, sugar, honey, almond meal, salt, and egg whites. Please do as I say and COMBINE everything BEFORE placing over heat, otherwise you will end up with a coconut frittata. I'll give you one guess how I know this. Place over medium-low heat on the stove, stirring constantly. When the mixture just begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, almost about to scorch, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. You are going for sticky, not dry and pasty.
Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature. You can refrigerate the dough for up to one week or freeze up to one month.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Using a small ice cream scoop, form the dough into little mounds and space them evenly on the prepared sheet pans. Shape them into little pyramids, if desired.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
If desired, melt chocolate in a heat -proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, aka a double boiler. Dip cooled macaroons in chocolate (wherever you like -- tops, bottoms, sides) and allow to cool completely on cooling rack or on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you dipped the bottoms. If history repeats and you need to make like an Isrealite, stick the chocolate covered macaroons in the fridge to harden the chocolate quickety-quick.

Notes

You can also add some mini-chocolate chips to the cooled macaroon batter, then shape and bake.

coconut

Swiss chard frittata recipe

The conversation went like this: Daughter #1, “I don’t like eggs.”

Me, “Did you change your name to Sam-I-Am? You do like eggs.”

Daughter #1, “You’re not funny. No, I don’t.” Me, “You like frittatas, so you like eggs.”

Daughter #1, “That’s different.”

Really? Frittatas are basically baked omelets, usually with some vegetables and/or cheese mixed with the eggs. Unlike many recipes where you can substitute an ingredient and still have the same basic dish, you can’t substitute anything for the eggs in a frittata because it wouldn’t be a frittata. However, I really wasn’t going to argue with a 14 year-old about why frittatas are different from just eggs, because all I care about is that fact that she really does like them.

Eggs have been so misunderstood. For a while there, people stopped eating eggs because it was thought the cholesterol in the yolks would cause high blood cholesterol. Well guess what? There’s now a strong consensus among the medical community that food containing dietary cholesterol does not have a significant impact on the blood cholesterol level of most healthy individuals. The evidence points to saturated fat as the leading culprit, not dietary cholesterol, and eggs happen to be two-thirds unsaturated fat. Furthermore, the yolks are rich in several important nutrients including choline (a B vitamin and key component of healthy brain cells, nerves and cell membranes), lutein (a phytonutrient which supports eye health) and iodine (important for healthy thyroid function). Eggs are also a good source of inexpensive protein. If you have been advised by your physician to cut back on egg yolks, ~~get a new physician~~ you can substitute two egg whites for every whole egg and do this for a few of the eggs. Try to buy organic, free-range eggs whenever possible.

Frittatas are my friend. They are versatile as a breakfast, lunch or dinner, especially during Lent. I have even made mini-frittatas in greased muffin tins or as an hors d’oeuvre cut into bite-size pieces. They can be served hot, room temperature, or cold. I like them with a side salad or with a ladleful of warm tomato sauce. The girls have taken them to school tucked inside a pita. This frittata is one of my favorites. It is packed with lovely Swiss chard, which is everywhere right now. It is very typical of how I like to eat something rich like eggs, by balancing it with loads of vegetables. I love the flavor from the raw Gruyere, but feel free to skip it if you’re dairy-free. However, it’s only about an ounce of cheese per serving. If I ever have any leftover turkey bacon from breakfast, I will dice that up and add it in.

Mr. Picky claims he likes neither eggs nor frittatas and I believe him, although I was THIS close to getting him to try the frittata in a warm corn tortilla, one of his favorite foods. I’ll offer ketchup next time. As for me, I can eat them in a house. I can eat them with a mouse. I can eat them here or there. I can eat them anywhere.

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Swiss Chard Frittata

Author: Pamela

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 bunch Swiss chard
2 Tablespoons cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil or clarified butter
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
4 garlic cloves, chopped
8 large free-range eggs
⅓ pound grated gruyere, optional
Handful of grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup milk or water
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Wash the Swiss chard but do not dry all the way and chop the stems off the leaves. Coarsely chop the stems and keep separate from the leaves. Coarsely chop the leaves.
Heat olive oil or clarified butter in a 10-inch oven-proof pan. Cook the onions and chard stems over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the chard leaves and season lightly with a pinch of sea salt and pepper and sauté until wilted.
Whisk eggs together and add cheeses and milk. Stir in the chard mixture and blend well.
Add extra oil or butter to the pan if it seems dry. Put the egg-chard mixture back in the pan and place in the oven for about 50 minutes until puffed and golden. (If you're making minis, spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until puffed and golden.)

Notes

Variations: substitute lightly steamed broccoli or sautéed spinach for the chard;

Use sautéed onions and peppers with parboiled diced potatoes for a Spanish classic;

Can add 3 ounces of diced cooked turkey bacon and/or 1 c. ricotta cheese;

Can be served with a ladleful of warm tomato sauce.

eggs swiss chard

Almond butter and chia seed cookie recipe

Remember the commercials for Chia Pets, the clay animals with a green furry layer of sprouted chia seeds covering their bodies? Did your parents let you have one? I SO wanted a chia puppy! I can’t help but chuckle at the fact that 30 years ago chia seeds were popular as an arts and crafts project and now they are the latest super food. Chia is giving flax and hemp a run for their money. So what’s all the hype? Chia seeds are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, contain lots of protein and fiber and are rich in antioxidants. Unlike flaxseeds, chia seeds do not need to be ground up or soaked for you to be able to benefit nutritionally. What’s kind of cool about chia seeds, though, is their gelatinous quality. If you add them to a smoothie or yogurt, they swell up and thicken whatever they’re in. My Whole Foods sells them in the bulk bins if you just want to buy a few spoonfuls and play round with them in your oatmeal or salad dressing.

But chia seeds are not in these cookies because I think they will magically turn this dessert into a healthful food — it’s still a cookie, or as my husband calls them — the “Chia Pet Cookies.” Nutrition aside, chia seeds just add a really fun crunch, almost like a poppy seed. You can add more crunch and texture if you like by adding finely chopped almonds, dried cranberries or chocolate chips. No matter how you make them, these cookies are really quite tasty and a nice change from peanut butter, which Mr. Picky eats enough of.

My friend Peggy invited me to a large dinner at her house a few weeks ago and asked if I would bring a dessert. The dinner happened to fall on a busy day for me (whom am I kidding? Everyday is a busy day, isn’t it?), so I whipped up two batches of batter the night before and hid them in the fridge way back there so certain people who can’t keep their fingers out of raw cookie dough wouldn’t see them. The next day while I tested someone on vocabulary words, I scooped dough onto cookie sheets and baked them off. Everyone at the dinner asked, “what kind of cookies are these?” “Almond butter and chia seed,” I replied. “Like the Chia Pet??!!” Never fails.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Almond Butter and Chia Seed Cookies

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 20 3½-inch cookies

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup natural cane sugar (e.g. Sucanat) or regular granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup raw, unsalted, creamy almond butter
1 large egg
½ teaspoon 100% pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free oat flour*
¼ cup ground almond meal (buy this already ground or make your own by processing blanched almonds in a food processor until powdery)
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
¾ teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
2 Tablespoons chia seeds (optional, but fun!)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter, sugars and almond butter with an electric mixer until light in color, about 4 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until well blended.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, sea salt, baking soda and chia seeds. Add to the mixing bowl and stir until just combined.
Using a 1 ¾ -inch ice cream scooper, drop batter onto prepared pans. Press down lightly on the cookie with the tines of a fork, making criss-cross marks. Bake 14-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

To make a smaller cookie, use a 1 ¼-inch scooper and bake for 9-10 minutes.

If you like a thicker cookie, refrigerate the dough for a few hours before scooping.

*Oat flour results in a more tender, cake-ier cookie.

almond butter