We are big football fans in this house and we actually root for a few teams. Â I’ll share a little secret if you promise that it won’t affect our relationship. Â Ok, good. Â I am a lifelong NY Giants fan and my husband is a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Â So you might guess that we both had a pretty fun season since both our teams made it to the playoffs. Â But no matter how far your team goes, unless there’s a Super Bowl ring at the end of that journey, it always ends in disappointment. I am not trying to be negative, but it’s not “an honor to be nominated,” if you know what I mean.
You might think I wake up every morning and pull together a magazine-worthy breakfast spread for my family, but that would not be the case.  Weekends I can make a little effort and I will gladly pull together a casserole or a frittata with a fruit salad.  But on weekday mornings, we eat a lot of oatmeal, scrambled eggs and toast, yogurt and granola, smoothies, loaded toast, and pancakes (because I make the batter the night before.)  But these no-bake breakfast bars have changed my life.
I am so frustrated that my website has been having difficulties the last few days. Â Thank you for your patience! Â To reiterate what I’ve been saying on social media, the site is not down, but just reeeallllly slow. Â Keep trying to refresh the page you want and it will load eventually. Â I am doing my best to get the issue resolved. Â In the meantime, let’s have some fruit crisp!
Soup is good food. Â I always teach a soup in my winter classes and it’s on my family’s dinner planner every week. Â The body craves warm foods when the weather is cold and soup is also very digestible. Plus my family loves soup!
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. Â I definitely indulge a bit over the holidays and I am now at an age where I feel it afterwards. Â And it’s not good! Â One of my favorite quotes I ever posted on my Instagram page is below. Â No big deal, but I am always eager to back to the kind of eating that makes me feel great.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Place all salad components in a large serving bowl. Pour dressing all over salad and toss to combine.
It’s party season and I am always looking for fun, healthy eats to serve.  My favorite hors d’oeuvres are those that a just mini versions of foods I love, like these mini chicken tostadas, or these broccoli-potatoes, or my fave Brussels sprout sliders.  But sometimes making lots of bite-size foods can be time-consuming, especially if they have to be made at the last minute.
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. Â My head will be a storm of recipes and food that keep playing over and over again. Â 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. Â It sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Â But not when it’s 3 AM.
Hors d’oeuvres are tough, especially if you want something a little more than store-bought hummus and some pre-cut vegetables.  Not that we haven’t all done that and been ok with it.  It’s just that some hors d’oeuvres are better for watching a football game than to be served on Christmas or a New Year’s Eve party.  So what I have for you here is meant for the latter, an elegant, but doable hors d’oeuvre that is tasty and light AND tastes phenomenal with champagne.  Just saying.
Let’s break this down – you’re looking at a more sophisticated bagel, lox and cream cheese, which most people love.  Instead of a bagel, this is a tiny buckwheat pancake.  It’s earthy, gluten-free, high-fiber and I love the color.  Feel free to make your own pancake batter, just cut out the sweetener.  Cut circles out of challah and toast them if that suits you better.
Next is the lox. Â Try to find wild lox if you can. Â Whole Foods and Costco has really good options, as do most Jewish delis. You can use more than I did in these pictures, but you don’t want to use too much because these should be easy to eat.
Last is the creme fraiche.  This cuts the strong flavor of the lox and helps the lox stick to the pancake.  The lemon zest is KEY for a bright, fresh flavor, so don’t skip it. You can use lots of creamy foods here instead like Greek yogurt, sour cream or even cream cheese whipped with a little cream.  For a dairy-free version, take almond milk cream cheese or your dairy-free cream cheese of choice, and whip it with a tiny touch of almond milk to loosen it up a bit.  Don’t forget the lemon zest!  😉
Make the pancakes (or toast), lemon creme fraiche and chop up the lox two days in advance and then all you have to do is assemble right before your guests arrive. Â “Assemble” is my favorite word when I am entertaining. Â Add some chives or dill for garnish, because a little green makes everything prettier and people think we are pros.
I’ve served these bites many times and they always are a huge hit. Â If you are vegetarian, try a roasted quartered artichoke heart and some capers instead of the salmon. Or you can forgo the blini and do a roasted slice of potato. Â How great would that be?
Since I’m on vacation right now, my attitude is Do Whatever You Want. Â Do whatever is easier. Â Your friends just want to be with you and hang out. Â Everyone loves being invited over to a friend’s house and the food is so secondary. Â I love food and I couldn’t care less if you served me a tuna sandwich or tuna tartare. Â That said, I do find pleasure in trying new recipes and serving my friends (and me) healthful, delicious foods if I can do it without stressing myself out. Â It’s a busy time of year and we already have busy lives, so do what makes you happy!
Buckwheat Blinis with Smoked Salmon and Lemon Creme Fraiche
Serves: About 40
Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat flour (or half buckwheat flour and half whole wheat pastry flour)
¼ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 large egg, separated
1 cup whole milk or plain, unsweetened hemp milk
Unrefined olive oil for brushing griddle
5 ounces of crème fraiche (or sour cream or Greek yogurt)
Zest of one small lemon
Pinch of sea salt
½ pound smoked wild salmon, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives or fresh dill
Instructions
Preheat griddle over medium heat.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat egg yolk and milk together and stir into flour mixture. Combine until smooth.
Beat the egg white until soft peaks form and fold into the buckwheat batter.
Brush the griddle with oil and drop heaping teaspoonfuls of batter onto the griddle. Cook until the sides of the blini are slightly dry and small bubbles appear on the surface, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the underside is slightly browned. Brush griddle with oil in between batches. Cool blini before topping with crème friache and salmon.
In a small bowl, combine crème fraiche, lemon zest and a pinch of sea salt.
Top each blini with a teaspoon of the crème fraiche mixture and a pinch of smoked salmon. Assemble all the topped blini on a platter and sprinkle with chives. Blini can be assembled up to 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
Blini can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for a few minutes to crisp up.
