One of my dreams has been to write and produce coffee-table books on cooking and entertaining. My preferred entertaining styles are global/authentic/eclectic and Neo-Zen. People have asked me if I own a restaurant and have suggested I apply for The Next Food Network Star.
I've received a request for vegetarian dishes and, being primarily vegetarian myself, happily supply these recipes for vegetarian spa cuisine. Use organic produce when possible, and go ahead and splurge on artisanal salts, vinegars, and oils. A little goes a long way, and I can taste the difference. My supplies primarily come from Williams-Sonoma, Formaggio in Cambridge, and Whole Foods Market.
Spa cuisine emphasizes simplicity and purity of flavors, enhanced in part through the infusion of marinades, dipping sauces, and dressings.
My calorie count is kept low using seafood and white meat poultry as a source of protein and controlling portions to a 2 oz. serving of protein for lunch and dinner. You can lose weight and eat flavorful foods through a judicious and balanced diet. You will lose weight more quickly if you incorporate 90 minutes of exercise each day, aerobic and free weights. I can lose 7-10 lbs in 2 weeks on a strict diet and exercise program.
One of my favorite meals is salad with enough texture and variety that I'm not bored eating the same thing for several days. I usually prepare sufficient quantities for 6 individual servings lasting 2-3 days.
organic mesclun
mache
baby arugula
tomatoes
fennel
carrots
radish
red onion
asparagus
haricots verts
1/4C fresh, thinly minced dill
optional: pomegranate seeds, olives, and/or feta cheese for garnish
Clean, wash, and prep all vegetables. Spin dry the mesclun and mache. If using grape tomatoes, cut in half, otherwise cut a larger tomato into 8 half wedges. I use a small Japanese slicer with ceramic blade to thinly slice the fennel, carrots, radish, and red onion. Blanche the asparagus and haricots verts by plunging into salted boiling water for 3 minutes, then removing and placing in cold water with ice cubes to quickly cool down.
Incorporate the dill into the leafy vegetables. You can store by placing all the vegetables in a large bowl, covering with plastic wrap, and refrigerating. I have a special square, covered glass container for this purpose and store by separately mounding the individually cut vegetables in the container. To serve, simply create a photogenic presentation of the assorted vegetables with garnish, sprinkled sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and homemade salad dressing.
In all the following recipes, it's important to taste and to correct the seasonings. For this reason, I recommend adding ingredients such as salt and liquids a little at a time rather than all at once. If the recipe seems too salty, cut with water or vinegar or use less salt. If the texture seems too thick, you can thin with liquid. If you don't like too much garlic, then simply use less.
I actually have a staple repertoire of a half dozen varieties of salad dressings. Here are two of the simplest.
Basic Oil and Vinegar Dressing: Drizzle walnut vinegar and first pressing artisanal olive oil to taste, plus sprinkled sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the entire salad. Gently toss with your fingers so that a little salad dressing goes a long way. You can also substitute fresh lemon juice for the walnut vinegar.
Basic Vinaigrette: 1/4C olive oil, 1/4C balsamic vinegar, few grinds of black pepper, 1/4t sea salt (I use hand harvested fleur de sel from France), 1/2t Dijon mustard, 1 clove crushed garlic. Place in a covered bottle and shake vigorously.
Before he became nationally famous, I once ate at Emeril's restaurant at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. I had ordered an oyster po'boy and noticed that the flavorful greens that accompanied the dish were mixed in a large bowl with a splash of dressing. The cook used a gloved hand to vigorously incorporate the greens with just a sheen of dressing. This avoided the gloppiness that can sometimes weigh down a delicate leaf and, considering that 1 tablespoon of olive oil has 119 calories, also minimized the amount of olive oil used.
Here's an artichoke recipe that can be added to the salad composition or eaten as a separate vegetable dish.
Clean, prep, and quarter 2 large artichokes. Place in a pan and cover with water, 1T salt, juice from 1 lemon, 1 bay leaf, whole peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then gently simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes or until soft enough to eat. The seasonings enhance the flavor of the artichokes.
I like to dip the leaves and heart in either a garlic aioli or tahini sauce.
Easy Garlic Aioli: To 1/3C mayonnaise, add 1T fresh lemon juice and 2 cloves of garlic squeezed through a garlic press. Mix completely and add sea salt to taste.
Easy Tahini: To 1/3C tahini (I like the tahini made by Tarazi Specialty Foods with no preservatives, no additives, and no salt), add 1T of chilled, filtered water, or enough to mix into a smooth, velvety paste. Add 1T fresh lemon juice, 1 clove of garlic squeezed through a garlic press, and sea salt to taste.
The salad goes well with this simple preparation for flavorful poached salmon.
Place a 4 oz. piece of salmon in a small pan and just cover the fish with water and a splash or two of any kind of white wine lying around the house. Add a pinch or two of sea salt. Bring liquid to a gentle boil, then immediately place on a gentle simmer and cover the pan, leaving a slight opening. Poach for 5-7 minutes, depending on how well done you like your fish.
I'll usually defrost a few pieces of fish in the chiller compartment of the refrigerator and poach individual portions as needed since the fish takes no more than 7 minutes to cook.
Bon appetit!
