Chef Blog

Parsnip - 1 (julienne)
Baby leek - 1 (julienne)
Celery - 1 stick (julienne)
Green cabbage - 1 cup (thinly sliced)
Vegetable soup stock - 3 1/2 cups
Bay leaf - 1

Kamut/brown rice/spelt or quinoa pasta- 1/4 cup
Sea Salt and pepper - add to taste
Diced green chives - to garnish

Add bay leaf, and bring the soup stock to a boil.

Add in parsnip, leek, celery, soup pasta and reduce heat. Let it simmer for 5minutes.

Add in the cabbage, cannellini, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Remove bay leaf. Add salt and pepper. Garnish with chives.

Ingredients - Fish:

¼ cup virgin olive oil
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced leeks - white and pale green parts only
2 sprigs fresh marjoram
1 ¼ pounds Copper River Salmon
sea salt and pepper

Fava Bean Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped marjoram
1 ½ cups homemade or storebought organic vegetable stock
2 cups peeled fava beans (click here to read more about fava beans)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 225°. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a heavy bottomed sauté pan. Add the chopped mire poix to the pan - onions, carrots, leeks and marjoram. Cook on low heat until softened about 10 minutes. Transfer mire poix to a roasting pan.

Season Salmon and place on top of mire poix and cook for 18-20 minutes until soft and you see the oils of the fish bead up on top of the flesh of the salmon and become a creamy opaque color.

While the fish is roasting begin making the fava bean sauce.

Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy bottomed medium sauté pan over medium heat. Stir in marjoram and garlic and cook briefly until garlic is light brown. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and add 1 ½ cups of fava beans. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes to blend flavors.

Place sauce in a blender and puree with remaining ½ cup of stock until smooth and set aside. Check on fish.

When fish is done remove and brush off any vegetables that stick to the bottom of the salmon and set aside to rest.

Return sauce to the same sauté pan that you used to make the sauce and add the remaining ½ cup of favas and gently reheat. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper, particularly pepper.

Serve roasted Salmon with fresh organic fava bean sauce and enjoy!

With all of the insane diseases and mono cultivation of crops surrounding humans there has probably never been a more important time than now to learn how to garden your own high quality and medical oriented herbs.  Herbs have an important function because they can be used as a delicious food base and can also be utilized for a variety of different diseases and physical malfunctions.

I recently ran across some great sites for herb cultivation and purchasing in addition to some pretty solid supplies and books.  If you going to plan your garden for next year now’s a great time to figure out what your going to do as by the time you have ordered all of your materials, sort out time to prepare your garden, and cultivate all of your plans for the season it will probably be the perfect time for your spring planting.

Cook 2 ounces organic whole grain fettuccine according to package directions; drain. In a skillet sauté 2 minced garlic cloves in 1 teaspoon olive oil for 1 minute. Add 1 cup sliced mushrooms (try some wild or asian mushrooms for maxium flavor and health/immune system boosting benifits),  1⁄2 cup fresh cooked artichokes, chopped, and 3⁄4 cup halved cherry tomatoes; cook for 6 minutes. Toss with pasta, and top with 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley.

Boil organic steel cut oats according to directions on package.  Added 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey chopped pecans and fresh raspberries to taste.  You can also include pieces of dark chocolate, cinnamon, sliced apples, any type of berries including goj berries, mango, maple syrup, hazelnuts, carob, ground pumpkin seeds, ground flax seeds, maca, and anything else that suits your fancy!

Oats are very good for lowering blood pressure, weight, cholesterol and giving the brain a boost!

Seeing as how its new year’s eve now is a perfect time to talk about resolutions. Everyone has them when it comes time for a new year but what exactly makes up a great resolution?  One important item here from my opinion is to create a goal that seems difficult yet attainable and truly nurtures your development as a human being instead of simply prescribing to an aesthetic or societal desire.

During the new year, many people state resolutions to lose weight, get a raise or something along these lines.  But I might suggest instead creating a large resolution that actually addresses the root issue that you’re facing.  For example, a great resolution might be that you wish to have healthy and competent self esteem.  Another resolution might be that you start taking care of your family and all aspects of your health.  You can also make a resolution to try to increase your stability and general life satisfaction.

The next step in the resolution would be to write down all the things that need to happen in order to fill this larger resolution.  You can throw in exercise, you can throw in diet, you can throw in counseling, or anything else that makes sense but you would know that you are done when you hit your target and you would take out a whole bunch of birds with a single stone.  Food is a great way to accomplish a whole variety of different resolutions.  When we eat healthier we feel better, increase clarity and our self esteem.  Here’s wishing you a healthy happy 2009!

This very tasty recipe is great on almost anything and is about 10 times healthier than any mayonnaise or alioli you can pick up in the store. Easy to make too, make sure you use organic ingredients! Pulled this off a excellent cooking blog!

Alioli (Garlicky Spanish Mayonnaise)

• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 egg yolks
• 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice or sherry vinegar
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive/hemp/flax oil (Spanish if possible)
•  sea salt to taste

1. Mince the garlic to a fine paste and put it in the blender with the egg yolks and lemon juice and 1.5 teaspoons of salt.
2. Whiz for a minute.
3. Remove the little hole in the top of the blender and drizzle in the olive oil slowly, allowing it to emulsify. You’ll know it is working if it turns thick and opaque.
4. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed.

Ingredients

• 6 ripe Hass avocados, peeled and seeded