Corn Cucumber Salad

Grilled corn is delicious and sweet!

4 ears of corn

1 1/2 English cucumbers

1/2 red onion, small dice

1/2 bunch cilantro

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Drizzle of olive oil 

Grill the corn without the husks on, so you can get char marks. Take a sharp knife and cut off the corn kernels. I recommend English cucumbers because they are seedless. Small dice your cucumber and add that. Toss with onions, cilantro, salt, honey, and the vinegars. Drizzle olive oil to taste. 

This salad is incredibly refreshing at BBQs or another outdoor event. It is sweet, crisp, and acidic. Feel free to add more ingredients! Feta cheese, avocado, or tomatoes are a welcome addition!

Caramelized Cocoa Nibs

Do you ever get that sudden, massive, overpowering craving for chocolate, and if you don't get any in the next three minutes you may cause serious bodily harm to those around you? Chocolate is delicious...andddd full of fat, calories, and excessive amounts of sugar. Here is a snack that is actually healthy for you, made with cocoa nibs!

3 grams cocoa nibs, raw

2 grams granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoon butter

Take your cocoa and sugar and put it in a pot. High heat is fastest, but you can use medium heat if you'd prefer. Constantly stir the cocoa. In 5-8 minutes you should begin to see the sugar melting. Continue to stir until all the sugar is melted (8-10 minutes). Gently add the butter and stir until fully incooperated. Spread out on some parchment paper until cool. Crush either in your hands or in a bag.

I use these many ways. I always sprinkle some in my oatmeal in the morning. I snack on them before bed. I put them in my cereals. They're really delicious in salads, or even on your frozen yogurt! 

Enjoy!

Sautéed Duck

Duck is a delicious protein. It is higher in fat than chicken, but worth every bite. This duck I served with a strawberry cactus pear compote and an arugula salad with some strawberries and yellow bell peppers and the duck is garnished with mushrooms. 

The cactus pear compote was the most complicated and time consuming, so  I'll explain it first. 

2 cactus pears

1 pear

6 large strawberries 

1 tablespoon honey 

Cactus pears are tricky to clean because of their excessive amounts of seeds. The easiest way is to peel the outsides off (be careful of the prickles!) and blend them. Their seeds are incredibly hard - they bite like tiny rocks. Those seeds won't get blended, and you can just strain the puréed juice. Put on the stove with the pears after skinning and dicing it. Let simmer for 15 minutes before adding the strawberries, roughly chopped. Simmer for another 10 minutes before adding your honey. I used fresh honey comb, but you can use whatever honey you'd like. Fresh honey comb is full of pollen and other nutrients that are good for you! 

The mushrooms are simply sautéed in a small amount of vegetable oil. 

The duck is hard seared on both sides, and sliced after allowing for a 3-4 minute resting period. 

Enjoy !!

Spinach, Feta, Garlic

Take your garlic and sauté in a dash of oil until lightly browned. Add spinach and sauté until wilted. Add feta cheese to taste (I added enough to have some in each bite). 

I normally have some browned onions in here as well, but all of mine were bad. 

Enjoy !

Veggie Lunch

Fiddleheads are an amazing food. They're the blossoming young fern plant. They are only in season for a few weeks each year. If you are lucky enough to see them in the store buy them up - and fast! They taste like buttery greenbeans mixed with asparagus. As soon as they are out of season they're actually terribly poisonous, so never buy them if they aren't all currled up like this. 

Asparagus 

Fiddlehead ferns 

Shitakii mushrooms 

Hummus 

Today is a nice day, so after my run I dedcided it was time for a nice sautéed veggie plate. I individually sautéed the asparagus, fiddleheads, and mushrooms. I used less than a tablespoon of olive oil to sauté and I made sure to salt and pepper each ingredient. After I took them out of the pot I set them on paper towels to help absorb the excess olive oil they soaked up. The hummus on the bottom helped contrast the harsh green flavors of the asparagus and fiddleheads. Remember to remove your stems from the shitakii before sautéing them. 

Do NOT throw away shitakii stems. They are so full of flavors, but to fibrous to eat. So what do we do with them? We use them to make mushroom broths. Simmering them in some water with onions for a few hours leaves a beautiful rich earthy flavored broth that you can use to make soups or rice or whatever you'd like!

Enjoy!

Guilt free "pancakes"

This is not your average pancake. I did not use a pancake mix, and I feel much better about eating them. Whenever you make anything from scratch you should always feel much better about eating it. Total control of ingredients is a fun key about eating healthy. 

1 banana 

2 eggs 

1 tablespoon oats 

1/2 teaspoon sunflower seeds 

1/2 scoop get lean protein powder 

You literally take your ingredients and blend them together in a blender until it appears homogenous. Lightly spray Pam on a nonstick pan and warm it up before pouring your mix onto it. Flip when golden on the bottom and cook as thought it is a real pancake. A few notes: because of the banana it will be a very moist pancake. Do not take this as being undercooked.

I like to eat mine with a drizzle of agave nectar or honey. On Sundays I like to pile on some Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. If I have vanilla extract hanging around I also like to add a dash of it into the mix. Sadly, this morning I did not have any handy. If you do not have any type of protein powder feel free to substitute in more oats or even some flour. I was using it more for the consistency than anything. 

Enjoy!! 

Grilled Octopus Stuffed Clam

I am a big lover of seafood.  Clams and octopus speak to me, and this is one of my favorite recipes that I am about to share with you.  I actually won first place in the Tapa Competition that I entered with this at the Culinary Institute of America.  

1 small octopus

1 gallon chicken stock (or water)

4 tomatoes 

1/4 stick of butter 

12 clams 

1 thick slice of toast, cubed

1 bunch scallions 

4 tablespoons Salsa Maya

dash black cyprus salt

First you need to get the octopus cooking.  It takes 3-4 hours to simmer it until tender.  If you are going to be using water to cook the octopus then I suggest you season the water with liberal amounts of salt and pepper.  Add 3 tablespoons salsa maya to the simmering liquid (for flavor).  After tender remove from the water and pull off as much of the skin as possible.  Take the liquid and place in a large pan with a lid.  Add the clams to the liquid and steam them open.  Small dice the tomatoes and set aside.  Take your butter and place in a pan until browned.  The butter should smell slightly nutty.  A good rule of thumb with browned butter is to wait until it starts foaming, and shortly after remove from the heat.  Add the tomatoes to the browned butter.  Throw the octopus on a HOT grill for a few minutes until it begins to look slightly charred.  Dice up the octopus and add to the tomato and butter mixture.  Spoon some of the mixture into the opened clams, garnishing with the cubes of toast and a dab of salsa maya.  Remember to add your chives and some black cyprus salt before you eat it!

Enjoy!