Monday, January 24, 2011

Spinach Salad with Pomegranate and Avocado

Ingredients
*1 pomegranate
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 2 bunches flat leaf spinach, stems trimmed, well washed and dried
* 2 tablespoons roasted, hulled sunflower seeds
* 1 Hass avocado


1. Halve pomegranate lengthwise and seed. Working in a bowl of cold water, use your hands to separate seeds from membrane. Membrane will float to the top; discard. Scoop out pomegranate seeds and pat dry.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons lemon juice, mustard, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Toss spinach, sunflower seeds, and pomegranate seeds with dressing in bowl. Transfer to a serving platter.
3. Halve avocado and remove pit. Scoop out flesh and thinly slice lengthwise; drizzle with remaining lemon juice. Transfer to plate and arrange salad on top. Serve immediately.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Fruit Bowl with Apple Tahini Sauce


Oh. My. God. I love international food. Which is a plus because international food tends to love me right back.

Tahini. That is the word of the day. Familiarizing yourself with it. Become part of it. Eat it. Tahini is a sesame paste that is ground from either shucked or un-shucked seeds (depending on what culture you are getting it from). It is high in proteins and complex carbs. It has a nice nutty taste and when combine with the ingredients in this sauce has the perfect satisfying nutty after taste that can throw a sauce right over the edge of good into greatness.

Sauce (4 servings):
1/4 cup of Tahini
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp agave
2 tbsp water

Combine all of these into a food processor and blend well.

Dish:
4 cups of assorted fruit. (I used oranges, banana, pears and green grapes)
1/4 cup of toasted, unsweetened coconut flakes.

Arrange fruit in serving bowls. Drizzle with Tahini sauce and top it off with the toasted coconut.