We have quite a bit of pop season left here in Florida but this recipe is coming in just under the wire for some of you. Enjoy a few icy treats while you still can. I'll waste no time with paragraphs - let's chill.
Gather:
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
3 cups diced honeydew melon*
6 figs, sliced
3 tbsp honey
juice of one lime
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
*I used an orange flesh honeydew - it's like regular honeydew with a hint of citrus!
- Process melon and yogurt until smooth.
- Add honey and lime juice. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Stir in coconut flakes.
- Distribute fig slices amongst popsicle molds and top with honeydew mixture.
- Freeze until solid - if you can stand it, just let them freeze over night. (If necessary, straighten pop sticks after one hour or use tin foil caps with slits to hold sticks in place.)
Makes 8 sm/md pops.
I have a tendency to obsess over things. Right now, one of those things is le fig. I want to put them on and in everything. Mostly because they are pretty. Tasting delicious is a bonus. Let's get fancy...
Gather:
small red onion, sliced thin
5 tsp EVOO
salt
whole wheat pizza crust
ricotta, asiago and goat cheeses (amount to taste)
6 figs, sliced (I used a mixture of Brown Turkey and Black Mission figs.)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp rosemary
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Saute onion slices over low heat with 4 tsp EVOO and a dash of salt until caramelized, about 20 minutes.
- Top pizza crust with a thin layer of ricotta. Grate a layer of asiago over the ricotta and finish with goat cheese crumbles.
- Layer fig and onion slices on top.
- Drizzle with 1 tsp EVOO and honey. Sprinkle with rosemary.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
Fish is a staple of the Mediterranean "diet" - shoot for fish dinners twice a week. Being a seafood lover living on the Gulf Coast (fresh!), I am happy to dine on creatures of the sea. And bay. And river. And lake and pond. I've never met a fish that I did not like (to chew on). I often hear people say that they do not enjoy fish because it's too...fishy. If you fall in that camp, try kicking it up a notch with fruit salsas. Let's bake!
Baked Grouper
2 large or 4 small grouper fillets
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried cilantro
salt
black pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat bottom of baking dish with EVOO.
- Place a layer of lemon slices on bottom of dish.
- Top lemon slices with grouper. Salt and pepper lightly.
- Evenly sprinkle fillets with garlic powder, basil, and cilantro and top with remainder of lemon slices.
- Bake until fish flakes when you scrape it lightly with a fork, about 15 minutes.
Strawberry Salsa
1 cup diced strawberries
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp chopped chives
2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tsp honey
Mix all together and serve on top of baked grouper.
Last time I tried to give blood, Diet Dr. Pepper spewed forth from my veins. On my quest to healthier insides, I began replacing some of my soda with...soda. Fruity, pink, good for you soda. Grab a sieve and let's get girly.
Gather:
1 cup raspberries
1 tsp lime juice
2 tsp agave nectar
1 cup soda water
Optional: splash of vodka
- Place sieve over a bowl and & drop raspberries in. Mash the berries with the back of a spoon so that juice flows through the sieve into the bowl.
- Mix raspberry juice, lime juice and agave nectar in a glass and add a few cubes of ice.
- Grab the sieve full of raspberry bits and hold it over the glass of mixed juices and nectar. Pour soda water over raspberry bits and allow it to drain through sieve into your glass.
- Add a splash (or two) of vodka if you so desire.
Snack week continues with roasted cantaloupe salad and cantaloupe smoothies.
Cantaloupe doesn't stand a chance in my house. It's one of my favorite fruits and sometimes disappears before it reaches the fridge. This week I practiced restraint all in the name of food blogging. Let's roast!
Roasted Cantaloupe Salad
2 cups bite-sized pieces of cantaloupe
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup coconut flakes
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and cube cantaloupe.
- Place cantaloupe on baking sheet and roast until it begins to caramelize, roughly 35 minutes.
- Allow to cool.
- Toss cooled cantaloupe, chopped nuts, Greek yogurt and coconut flakes. Makes about 1 cup.
- Hint: if you want to serve this to folks, set aside a few of the prettiest pieces of roasted cantaloupe, a spoonful of nuts and some coconut flakes. Sprinkle each over the top of the salad. Looks matter.
- Eat!
Cantaloupe Smoothies
2 cups cubed cantaloupe
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup reduced fat organic milk
2 tbsp agave nectar
- Throw all ingredients in a food processor. Process until desired texture is reached. I let mine run about 1-1.5 minutes for a smoothie with no chunks . Makes a pint and a half.
Snack week continues with fruit & nut squares! Which coincidentally was my nickname in high school. Let's do this.
Gather:
1.5 cups mixed nuts
3 cups dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, pineapple, papaya, coconut)
1 tbsp honey
Additional 1/2 cup dried fruit for topping
- Pulse mixed nuts in food processor until finely chopped. Set aside.
- Process dried fruit and honey until it forms a paste.
- Add nuts back to mixture and pulse until combined.
- Roll "dough" out on baking sheet and cut into squares.
- Sprinkle remaining dried fruit over squares and press into top.
- Refrigerate for one or more hours prior to serving. (Squares will taste great if you skip this step but will hold up much better after spending some time in the fridge.)
Makes roughly 15 1 inch x 1 inch squares. Store in air tight container in refrigerator.
Snack week continues with black-eyed pea hummus!
I have yet to meet a hummus that I do not like. I usually eat chickpea based hummus, but black-eye based is a delicious departure from the norm.
Grab the vegetable chips we made yesterday and get cookin'.
Gather:
1 can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 head roasted garlic*
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp cajun seasoning 1 tsp
1/2 cup tahini 1/3 cup
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
dash of sea salt
- Place black-eyed peas, roasted garlic, lemon juice, paprika and cajun seasoning in food processor. Process until pureed.
- Add tahini, olive oil and sea salt. Pulse until well combined.
- Garnish with fresh chives, cilantro, a few drips of evoo and a sprinkle of paprika. Serve with baked pita chips or vegetables.
*Don't want to wait for roasted garlic? Cut the top off the head, place it in a microwave-safe dish and drizzle it with evoo. Add a little water around the garlic (about 1/4 as high as garlic) and cover the dish. Microwave for a few minutes at a time, checking to see if the garlic has softened up.
P.S. The owner of my favorite produce market/Asian grocery store questioned my use of black-eyed peas on a recent tahini trip. What's your verdict? Yea or nay?
