Oscar-worthy dessert

Butterscotch Pot de Creme

The Oscars are 4 days from now. Do you have party plans? Maybe you are planning on having friends over to watch the 83rd annual awards show or maybe you haven't considered doing anything for it besides tuning in? In my house, the Oscars are my equivalent of throwing a Super Bowl party except I don't have to wait until half-time to see all of my celebrity "friends."

First order of business: come up with a menu. For this type of gathering, a theme isn't necessary. The Oscars after all are your theme. Though I haven't come up with my entire menu of grabby snacks and signature drinks, I do know what's for dessert.  In fact, I may just serve it first because it's that good. The inspiration for my individual butterscotch pot de cremes comes from Town Hall restaurant in San Francisco - naturally. Though this dessert wasn't on the menu when I dined there years ago, it did steal my friend Carrie's heart just a few weeks ago. Her obsession quickly became my obsession, and I hadn't even tried it. She described it in such a way that I thought it too might deserve an Oscar (or a food Oscar if there were such a thing). Creamy, dreamy and so luscious it will make your knees weak.

Trapped in another snowstorm with all of the ingredients handy to make the chocolate pudding base and the butterscotch pot de creme top layer, I made it, loved it, shared it with neighbors and haven't stopped thinking about it since. If you do decide to give this recipe a shot, make it a day ahead or save yourself some time and use boxed chocolate pudding. I topped mine with Heath bar instead of making homemade buttercruch. This recipe makes a lot - you may want to half it. 

Whatever your plans are for this Sunday, use the Oscars as an excuse to try something new from one of those cookbooks sitting on your shelf.  You may just find yourself a winner!

Butterscotch Pot de Creme

Grain salads- surround yourself with deliciousness

Recipes from today's KSBI 52 All About You episode include:
-Mexican quinoa salad with lime jalapeno vinaigrette (gluten free recipe)
-Moroccan sweet potato and Forbidden rice salad (gluten free recipe)
-Curried chickpea, cauliflower and barley salad


Fiesta in a bowl!

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Salad: 1 cup quinoa, soaked for 1 hour in water and drained*
1/2 cup baby tomatoes, halved
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1/2 avocado, pitted and diced
1/2 cup corn kernels, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cups baby spinach
optional add-in ingredients: 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, handful of crushed tortilla chips, 3 tablespoons diced jicama, 2 thinly sliced radishes
Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice squeezed from 2 limes
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or 1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño pepper
¼ cup olive oil


Start by cooking quinoa. In a medium saucepan bring 1 1/2 cup of water to a boil.  Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and the quinoa.  Once water comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes until water is absorbed.  Let quinoa sit off the heat for 10 minutes before removing lid & fluffing with a fork.  Cool quinoa to room temperature before adding to salad bowl.


In a large salad bowl, toss together the rest of the salad ingredients except the spinach. Once quinoa has cooled, add it to this veggie mixture. Set aside while making dressing.
Dressing: in separate bowl, mix all dressing ingredients except olive oil. Whisk in olive oil slowly to emulsify. Taste dressing on a spinach leaf. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt, pepper and/ lime juice. Once ready to serve, pour a few tablespoons of dressing over salad mixture, add spinach and toss again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add more dressing as needed. Serve immediately.

Note: if you don't have time to soak quinoa but want to rid the grain of its bitter coating, simply wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a fine-mesh sieve between changes. Serves 4
Recipe inspired by Self Magazine


Roasted sweet potatoes

Moroccan Bhutanese Red Rice & Sweet Potato Salad
1 cup Bhutanese red rice or Forbidden Black Rice (Lotus Foods brand)*
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into small cubes (about 1 pound)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
¾ t. Kosher salt

Dressing:

Pinch of saffron threads
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of rice and 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Add a generous pinch of kosher salt.  Once water comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook for 30 minutes, until water has absorbed.  Let stand, covered, off heat for 10 minutes before fluffing with fork.  Let cool to room temperature before adding rice to salad bowl.

Meanwhile, spread potatoes out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Using hands, toss to coat potatoes. Bake until done, about 25-30 minutes, when pierced with a knife and there’s no resistance. Set aside.

Lastly, make vinaigrette by mixing together the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add cooked sweet potatoes, cooked rice and let sit for 30 minutes, stirring now and then. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve at room temperature.

Note: can add additional ingredients like green olives, zest of one lemon and/ green onions. Also brown rice, barley or farro would work well instead of red rice. Roast potatoes up to 2 days ahead.

Serves 4
Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters

Ready to enjoy





  



Yum on a plate

Curried Chickpea, Caulilfower & Barley Salad

Salad:
1 cup quick-cooking barley
1/2 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed & drained
5 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced at a diagonal
1/3 cup golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted & roughly chopped*
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
Cauliflower:
1 medium head cauliflower, cored, cut into 1-inch florets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt 
Dressing:
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, preferably Madras
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled & minced
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°

To cook barley, add 2 cups of water to a saucepan, add a generous pinch of salt and turn heat to high. Once water comes to a boil, add barley, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes, until barley is tender but chewy.  Side note: if you buy pearled barley know that it has a longer cooking time ~ 45-60 minutes.  Once barley is cooked, let sit for 5 minutes, covered before fluffing with a fork.  Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a large salad bowl toss the rest of the salad ingredients together.  Set aside.Roast cauliflower: toss cauliflower and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Transfer to medium rimmed baking sheet. Roast until very tender & browned in spots, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.

Vinaigrette: in small bowl whisk together all but the olive oil.  Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Thirty minutes before serving, add cooked barley & roasted cauliflower to salad bowl.  Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat salad.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Serve at room temperature, cold or warm.

Note: to toast shelled pistachios, bake in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Dried apricots and almonds are good substitues for golden raisins and pistachios. Roast cauliflower up to 2 days ahead.  Try roasting another veg if you don't like cauliflower.
Serves 4

Recipe inspired by Ad Hoc at Home

Sandwich show and tell

In response to this Men's Health article recently circulating the internet, KSBI Channel 52 Oklahoma City responded by asking me to come on set and make a few healthy sandwiches to inspire viewers.  Making lunch for yourself in the form of a sandwich is easy as long as you have done some grocery shopping and/ keep a well-stocked pantry.  Avoid falling into a PB&J-in-a-hurry rut by making a grocery list and sticking to it.  A few things to keep in mind:

1. Consider cutting back on caloric extras such as mayo, anything "toasted" and bacon as well as those sneaky "salad" sandwiches such as tuna, egg and chicken.
2. Choose whole wheat bread over white and look for 3 grams+ of fiber per slice. Or treat yourself to artisan bread from a local bread company. OKC friends - you must try Prairie Thunder's Wheat Berry, 5-Grain Levain and Prairie Harvest Levain.
3. Don't skimp on the veggies - they will fill you up without weighing you down (so cliche!)
4. Buy respectable lunch meat brands that don't contain fillers, gluten, artificial coloring or trans fats. My recommendation is Boar's Head as found at Kamp's, Crescent Market & Forward Foods in OKC.

The sandwiches featured on the show today all have less than roughly 500 calories (pictures are shown in yesterday's post):

Turkey, Brie and Chutney Sandwich 
2 slices of whole-grain bread
1 tablespoon of chutney, such as Major Grey's, divided and spread onto both slices of bread
3 slices of brie (or 2 slices of provolone)
2 oz. deli turkey breast (about 3-4 thin slices)
1-2 leaves lettuces, such as butter lettuce
5 slices of apple, thinly sliced, such as Pink Lady or Gala

Assemble, slice and serve! 

Note: Cut back on ~100 calories by making this an open faced sandwich as pictured below (with a quinoa salad).
Serves: 1

Hamcado Sandwich (Ham, Cheddar and Avocado)
2 slices of whole-grain bread
1 tablespoon of good quality dijon mustard, divided & spread onto both slices of bread
2 slices of cheddar cheese, thinly sliced and sized to fit your bread
2 oz. low-sodium deli ham (about 3-4 thin slices)
3-4 slices ripe avocado, thinly sliced
small handful of arugula, washed and spun dry

Assemble, slice and serve!

Note: when tomatoes are in season, consider adding a few slices. For an extra 17 calories, add a pickle for extra crunch. Side note: this sandwich could also be called a California Ham & Cheese because anytime I see avocado on a sandwich it seems to be associated with California (or Napa). Sigh! I could also call it Hubby's Hammy because my husband Michael never strays from a ham sandwich...ever.
Serves: 1

Spicy Horseradish Roast Beef Sandwich
2 slices of whole-grain bread
1 tablespoon light mayo mixed with 1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish, divided & spread onto both slices of bread
2 oz. roast beef, thinly sliced (about 3-4 thin slices)
small handful of baby spinach leaves, washed and spun dry
8 slices cucumber, thinly sliced rounds
1/8 small red onion, thinly sliced

Assemble, slice and serve!
Serves: 1

Veggie Pita
1 whole wheat pita, halved or something like Flatout brand Multi Grain flat bread  
2 tablespoons hummus, spread on inside of pita pocket or on both sides of flat bread
2 slices jarred roasted red pepper, patted dry
6 slices cucumber, thinly sliced rounds
2-3 slices feta (from a block)
1/8 small red onion, thinly sliced
6 kalamata olives, pitted and halved
4 artichoke heart quarters, patted dry and halved
handful of alfalfa sprouts, rinsed and spun dry

Assemble and serve!

Note: add any veggies you like.  Avocado in place of the feta would be a good substitute.
Serves: 1

In short: be an advocate for your own health and for those you feed.  Choose wisely when you dine out. Lastly, consider making your own and bringing it to work with you for a show & tell that will make your co-workers jealous!

Sandwiches that might surprise you



Turkey, Brie & Chutney



Hamcado (Ham, Cheddar & Avocado)







  
 Find out what all of these sandwiches have in common tomorrow morning on Oklahoma City's KSBI 52 at 10:00 am.  I will be giving a brief demo on a new program called All About You.  Record the show or tune in!







Spicy horseradish roast beef

 


Veggie pita

 

Blizzard conditions call for banana honey ice cream



Banana honey ice cream on the fly - no toppings needed



Growing up in the Clark household, we were always partial to banana and peanut butter anything thanks to my dad, Randy (also known as RC).  RC would also put molasses and wheat germ on his banana/peanut butter combos but that's another story.  Gross (period).

Today I survived what I think was a huge snowstorm far from my roots in Northern California.  Homesick for something that reminded me of that place that has never seen a flurry, I made ice cream.  The natural peanut butter in our fridge wasn't going to cut it in my ice cream creation so I decided to make banana honey ice cream instead.  My timing was good because my generous neighbor Linda cooked up a feast and invited us over for a wonderful home cooked meal.  I was in charge of dessert.  This ice cream is pure, simple and great any time of year!  Ingredients - milk, cream, ripe bananas, acacia honey, pure vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and egg yolks.  What's not to love during this blizzard that has everyone in OKC suffering from cabin fever?