Savory Palmiers

As we are hosting Thanksgiving this here, I wanted to make some hors d'oeuvres for people to enjoy with a glass of wine before the main event! I always think that a warm nibble is cheerier so I decided to try out some savory palmiers. It's basically puff pastry filled with pesto or other savory fillings.

For the test run, I just used pesto and parmesan cheese. However, when I make then for Thanksgiving, I will add toasted chopped walnuts, goat cheese and maybe some sun-dried tomatoes too. I thought these were delicious but I think they'll be even better with more goodies inside :)

This recipe is from Ina Garten's cookbook, "Back to Basics".

Ingredients

1 package frozen puff pastry, defrosted for 40 minutes ( you should have 2 sheets)

1/4 cup prepared pesto

1/2 cup goast cheese, such as montrachet

1/4 chopped toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomaties packed in oil, drained

sea salt (optional)

-Lightly flour a board and unroll a sheet of pastry. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to 9 1/2" x 11 1/2".

-Spread the pastry with half the pesto, cheese, tomatoes, nuts and salt.

-Working from the short ends, fold each end halfway in to center. Fold each side in again until the edges almost touch. Fold one side over the other and press lightly.

- Place roll on a parchment paper or silpat covered cookie sheet, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 40 min. Repeat with other pastry.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

- Cut the prepared rolls into 1/4 inch thick slices, and place then 2" apart on the cookie sheet.

-Bake 14 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Slow Food Potluck

I had a Slow Food Board Meeting the other night and we were all asked to bring something for a potluck dinner. As I had a busy day and also had to drive an hour to the meeting, I needed something that would easy to make and get better as it sat. The solution....?

Marinated Raw Kale Salad with Red Onion, Cannellini Beans and Tomatoes










Salad Ingredients:
1-2 bunches of kale, washed, rib removed and leaves torn into bite-size pieces
3/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 plum tomatoes, diced
Juice from 1-2 lemons
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
sea salt
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce (or bragg's)
2 garlic cloves, minced
pinch cayenne pepper

-Put kale in large bowl, and pour lemon juice, olive oil and seal salt over kale. Massage leaves with your hands for a few minutes to allow to salt and lemon juice to soften the kale.
-Mix in the soy sauce, minced garlic and pinch of cayenne.
-Add beans, onion and tomatoes before serving


This can sit for hours before serving as it just gets bettter! It will also last in the fridge for a couple of days.

Fall is Here!

I might not be in New England anymore, and fall in S.Florida only really means that the temperature is in the mid-70's, but that's enough for me to break out my boots and make one of my favorite fall dishes. Pumpkin Barley Risotto with Turkey! I'm not going to repost the recipe as I already did last year but check my earlier post and get ready to add this one to your list of favorites.
Tomorrow morning-pumpkin smoothie!

For "P"

After some prodding from my dear friend, P, who recently started her own fantastic blog (goodcleanfuneating.blogspot.com), I have decided to return to the world of blogging....even if she and I are the only ones that look at each others blogs! So this one is for P, who seems to like a green smoothie as much as I do. It really is a great way to add a extra serving or two of veggies without compromising any flavor of the smoothie.
This mornings smoothie is not pretty to look at, which I why I did not take a picture of the end result. It is however, quite delicious and ridiculously high in anti-oxidants.
Pics to come as I can't seem to download pictures right now.....

Ingredients:
unsweetened vanilla almond milk
handful organic baby spinach
half a banana
one packet Sambazon acai puree
half a scoop of green vibrance greens powder
half a scoop of vanilla Spiru-tein protein powder

Blend and enjoy.

I love adding green vibrance to my smoothies as its so good for you! A wonderful client gave it to me a few moths ago, after I had complained about the horrific taste of many greens powders. http://http//www.vibranthealth.us/?p2=/modules/vibranthealth/products.jsp&category_id=86

I also like adding the acai puree when I don't have a lot of fresh fruit i the house as its a great hit of anti-oxidants. http://http//www.sambazon.com/products/smoothiePacks/