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How to re-create this recipe:

Ingredients:

Serves 1-2

• 1 Banana
• 2 Tbsp’s of Peanut Butter
• 1 Tbsp of Cocoa Nibs
• 1 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
• 1 Tsp of Flax Seeds
• 1 Tsp of Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp of Maple Syrup
• 2 shots of Espresso
• 1 Cup of Water
• 1/2 Cup of Ice

Putting it together:

1. Blend all the ingredients together in your Vitamix or Blender. Serve over ice if you prefer and enjoy!

Nourishment for you body: Bananas boost digestive and heart health. They are a good source of fiber and antioxidants and can satisfy your sweet tooth!

Flax seeds provide your body with Linolenic Acid which Is found in Omega 3’s. They are known to decrease inflammation in the body and help to prevent chronic diseases. Linolenic acid is highly concentrated when derived from certain plant oils. Other health benefits of Flax Seeds include being high in fiber, low in carbohydrates,  helps lower cholesterol, is Gluten free,  and aids in weight loss. 

Cacao Nibs are a fantastic ingredient to have in your pantry. It is versatile and considered a super food. You can use Cacao nibs as a topping for pretty much anything! Granola, yogurt, smoothies, ice-cream, etc. Raw Cacao aids in focus and alertness and are said to have some of the most highest levels of antioxidants. They also contain good amount of fiber and are rich in iron. Cacao also enhances your mood by stimulating certain neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for triggering euphoria like emotions. 

Tips when cooking: This is an easy shake to re-create because these ingredients are typically found in your pantry. I typically make this shake for my son about 3 days a week for breakfast. It’s a good way to incorporate nutrient dense ingredients for children with a flavor profile they would enjoy because of the chocolatey sweetness. When I make it for him I just omit the espresso shots. I recently discovered Espresso Beans produced by a local vendor called “Irving Farm” in New York. These beans were harvested from Monserrate/Colombia with notes of Dark Chocolate, Walnuts and Raisins. What I love about this particular vendor is that the label has information like the region the beans were harvested in, the elevation at which they were harvested and the process that was used in making them. The neat thing about Milled Flax Seeds are that they can be used as a substitute for breadcrumbs before panfrying chicken or fish.

How to re-create this recipe:

Ingredients:

(Serves 6-8)

• 5 Oranges (Preferably Minneola Oranges…This will yield about 2 cups of Orange Juice)
• 1 Cup of Simple Syrup (1 Cup water + 1 cup sugar)
• 2 Tsp’s of Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 a cup of non-fat heavy cream
• Zest of 1 Orange
• Candied Fennel Seeds for garnish

To Make the Simple Syrup…

1. Combine 1 cup of Water with 1 Cup of Granulated White Sugar in a small stockpot. Bring to medium heat, stirring occasionally until all the sugar dissolves. Make sure to cool down your simple syrup. 

Putting it together:

1. Set up a Juicing machine. Rinse off all your oranges. Grate the zest off 1 of your oranges into a small bowl and set aside.  Peel the other 4 oranges and juice all 5 of them. 
2. Pour all the Orange juice into a 8.5 x 11 inch rectangular glass baking dish.  To that dish add your Orange zest, 2 tsp’s of Vanilla Extract, your simple syrup and the 1/2 cup of heavy cream. With a whisk, whisk all the ingredients together until they appear well blended. 
3. Put the dish in the freezer uncovered and freeze for about 5 hours. After 4 hours take a fork and scrape the surface of the Granita so that it forms a slushy like consistency. Place back in the freezer. It should be ready 1 hour after that and you can serve it and garnish with as much Candied Fennel as you would like.

Nourishment for your body: Fennel Seeds are renowned to aid in digestion and the seeds are typically steeped to make tea to treat various gastrointestinal issues. These seeds also reduce pain (stomach cramps) and swelling while promoting hydration of the body.  Like every other Orange, Minneola Oranges are an excellent source of Vitamin C, folate, potassium and fiber. 

Tips when cooking: If you do not have a Juicing machine there are a variety of simple tools for sale that make juicing easy. You can buy a hand held regular orange juicer or a Manual little citrus juicer. I was inspired to make this recipe during a recent trip to an Indian grocery store. I absolutely love Fennel ! I grill it, shave it raw to eat in salads (including the fronds), saute it with other veggies, and use Fennel Fronds as a garnish . I typically use Fennel seeds when I make Lamb Meatballs, a sauce or a stew. When I stumbled upon these candied Fennel Seeds I got really excited and knew that I wanted to use them in some type of dessert. Besides the candied Fennel Seeds having beautiful colors and seeming to be screaming SPRING IS HERE, the flavors of this particular granita seem to compliment the Fennel Seeds really nicely.  

How to re-create this recipe:

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

• 4 – 6 oz Wild Salmon Fillets
• 1 – 3.5 oz package of Enoki Mushrooms
• 1- package of Oyster Mushrooms (0.40/Lb )
• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1 Cup of Unsweetened Coconut Milk
• 1/2 a tsp of Ground Ginger
• 1/2 a tsp of Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 a tsp of Ground Thyme
• 1 Tsp of Maple Syrup
• 4 Tbsp’s of Sesame Oil 
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste
• Lemon Thyme to Garnish (optional)

Putting it together:

1. Set up a Robot Coupe or a Blender, line a large sheet tray with parchment paper, Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees and have a medium sized saute pan handy. 
2. Peel your Butternut Squash and cube it into small chunks. Arrange them on your sheet tray and coat with 2 Tbsp’s of Sesame Oil and sprinkle the Ginger, Cinnamon and Thyme all over. Toss with your hands so the seasoning is evenly distributed. Roast in the Oven for 30 minutes. 
3. When the Squash is done cooking, lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Line a small bake pan with parchment paper, season your Salmon fillets with salt and black pepper and bake for about 15-20 minutes. 
4. While the Salmon is baking you can make your sauce and saute your mushrooms. Prep your mushrooms by slicing off the gritty bottoms (about 1/4 inch off) and slice the Oyster mushrooms into long strips. Place them and Enoki mushrooms aside.
5. Place 1 cup of the coconut milk into your Robot coupe (it helps if you pre-heat the milk first because when it is at room temperature it can be clumpy), add 1 cup of your Butternut Squash, 1 tsp of Maple Syrup and a generous amount of salt. Process in your Robot Coupe until you get a nice smooth and creamy consistency (it should be a pretty thick sauce) . Your sauce is done ! You just have to heat it up when fish is ready in a small stockpot. 
6. Heat up 2 Tbsp’s of Sesame oil in a medium saute pan, add all your Mushrooms and with a garlic masher, add the 2 smashed garlic cloves. Saute for a few minutes until they’ve softened, adding salt and black pepper to taste.
7. When fish is done cooking, plate it and garnish with a generous amount of the sauce of top, garnished with the mushrooms and a side of your reserved Butternut Squash. You can garnish with Lemon Thyme as well. 

Nourishment for your body: Salmon is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet! There are 7 varieties of Salmon; Atlantic, Chum, Chinook, Coho, Pink, Masu, and Sockeye. They contain some of the highest Omega 3 levels of the fish varieties. When purchasing Salmon, it is best to buy Wild Salmon because farmed Salmon can lose some of it’s nutritional value. Wild Salmon for example contains more Vitamin D then farmed Salmon. Due to the high Omega 3’s it contains, it is said that eating a diet regularly with Salmon or other fish high in Omega 3’s can help with the following; improving your bone health, boosting your brain functioning and nervous system, promoting heart health, eye health, and can protect against cancer by keeping developing tumors at bay. 

Tips when cooking: If you find that you have any leftover sauce, it can probably keep well in the fridge for up to a week. You can try to pair this sauce with any other delicate flavored fish such as Cod, Flounder, or Sole. I recently stumbled upon Lemon Thyme when I was looking for herbs to plant in my garden. I highly recommend this Thyme varietal. The flavor is really bright and would pair great with fish or as a garnish with other dishes. 

How to re-create this recipe: 

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

• 2 Cups of Fish Stock 
• 1/2 a cup of Quacker Old Fashioned Grits 
• 1 Tbsp of Butter
• 1/2 a Red Bell Pepper 
• 1/2 a Green Bell Pepper 
• 1 Green onion A.K.A Scallion
• 6 Large Frozen Peeled and De-veined Shrimp
• Small block of Boar’s Head Chipotle Gouda Cheese
• Salt and Black Pepper 

Putting it together:

1. Have 2 Small stock pots and 1 saute pan handy.  Small dice your Red and Green Bell peppers and slice your Green onion into thin slices on a bias. Bring 2 cups of fish stock to a boil in your small stock pot. In the other fill it up halfway with water and bring to a boil as well. Add some salt to the pot. 
2. In your Saute pan add the Tbsp of butter and on high heat saute your bell peppers (stirring occasionally) until they are tender and slightly blackened. It should take just 3 or 4 minutes. Make sure to add salt and black pepper to taste. Turn off heat and keep warm. 
3. When your fish stock comes up to a boil, add 1/2 a cup of the Grits reduce the heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes (making sure to stir occasionally to avoid the grits from clumping together. 
4. During the last 5 minutes of cooking your grits, after you make sure the other stockpot with water is boiling, drop in your 6 Shrimp. Turn the water off and let the shrimps poach in the water for 6 minutes. 
5. When everything is done cooking, plate your grits in two bowls and top with the warm bell peppers, shrimp, scallions and grate as much Chipotle Gouda cheese as you would like on top. Enjoy!

Nourishment for your body: Grits are a popular southern American dish to eat for breakfast or brunch. They are made from crushed ground corn. They are a good source or iron which helps our bodies create red blood cells that are oxygen rich. They also contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Grits are also gluten-free. In case you become a big fan of eating grits, I recommend a brand of grits called Adluh stone ground yellow grits. Stone ground grits are healthier for you because they do not go through as much processing as other types of grits. 

Tips when cooking: When buying a bag of frozen shrimp, I try to look for shrimp that are wild caught. The reason for this is because farm raised shrimp tend to be raised in environments that have unsanitary breeding conditions. It is common for farm raised shrimp to contain various types of bacteria and treated with antibiotics. However, once cooked the bacteria generally does not pose a problem to your health. The Shrimp that I bought ( a bag of 16/20) are wild caught from Argentina. You can buy fresh shrimp as well and the poaching time is the same (6 minutes). If you want to go the extra mile and make your poaching liquid flavorful, add 1 halved lemon, some bay leaves, black peppercorns, parsley and salt. This recipe that I came up with is a lighter, healthier version of breakfast grits you would typically find. Most of the time the other recipes call for cooking the grits in heavy cream or milk. 

How to re-create this recipe: 

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 Spanish Mackerel Fillets
• 1/2 a Fennel Bulb
• 8 Pitted Green Olives (preferably Castelvetrano Olives)
• 2 Kumato Tomatoes
• 1 Tsp of Capers
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1/8 tsp of Saffron
• Good quality Olive Oil
• Salt and black pepper
• Parsley Leaves to garnish

Putting it together:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a small baking pan with parchment paper. I used my toaster oven to bake this fish.
2. Place your fish on the baking pan, sprinkle salt and black pepper on them and bake for 15 minutes.
3. While your fish is baking you can prep the other ingredients and make your simple sauce. This sauce is incredibly flavorful and delicious and takes no more then 10 minutes to make (believe it or not!). Shave 1/2 your fennel bulb on a mandolin, dice your tomatoes into medium chunks, slice your olives and slice your garlic as thinly as possible or mince it.
4. Put about 1 Tbsp of Olive oil and your garlic in a medium size pan and let the garlic cook in the oil for about 2 minutes. Add your tomatoes and let them cook for about 3 minutes or so until they have softened in the pan. Add your shaved fennel, olives, capers, saffron, salt and black pepper to taste. Cook that for about 5 minutes or so until all the flavors are nicely combined and the fennel has softened as well.
5. When your fish is done and plated, add this sauce on top of your fish, garnish with Parsley and enjoy

Nourishment for your body: Mackerel fish is packed with tons of protein. Of all the fish varieties it tends to have some of the highest levels of  Omega 3 fatty acids and is high in vitamin B-12, Selenium, Niacin, and phosphorus. Mackerel  is usually available year round and is good for the environment because it is considered a sustainable species (meaning that it is not over-fished and reproduces quickly).

Tips when cooking: If you do not prefer Mackerel, this sauce will taste great on any other fish. You can pair this dish with any of the following sides; roasted potatoes, a medley of sautéed vegetables, a salad, or cous cous.  A Mandoline is a good cooking utensil to invest in. It is used to slice vegetables. They range in price and are a nice tool to have in your kitchen because your vegetables come out looking uniform in shape and size and makes prepping them faster.