Joan’s Healthy RecipesHow you doin’? Writing and testing new recipes several times a week is a monumental task. I’m not complaining, but I am always grateful when people send in some of their recipes that they would like memorialized on the Perspectives’ Survival Guide website. Here is one of those recipes—Beet, Blood Orange & Fennel Salad—that was sent to us from the fine people at Gelson’s Markets in California. This salad is the harbinger of healthful eating. It’s dressed in a tart citrus vinaigrette with touches of fresh mint. It is a great companion for earthy sweet beets and Spanish-style blood oranges. We’ve topped the beets with slices of blood orange, onions, roasted fennel and chèvre (goat cheese)—so every forkful of salad is a delightful mix of sweet, tart, crunchy and creamy. Between the golden beets, the blood orange, and the bright green mint, this is a gorgeous salad, and ideally, it should be enjoyed with family as a side or entrée salad. As light and refreshing as it is, the beets give it a certain earthy flavor with hearty versatility. Try pairing this salad with a grilled salmon fillet or slices of rotisserie chicken. Prep time: 45 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Cool time: 45 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 2 medium golden beets 1 bulb fennel, quartered and sliced ½-inch strips, fronds reserved 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick 1/2 cup red onion, sliced very thin 2 ounces chèvre 1 tablespoon shredded fresh mint Flakey sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Directions
Blood Orange Vinaigrette Ingredients 2 tablespoons minced shallot 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons blood orange juice 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar (rice vinegar also works) 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tablespoon chopped mint Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Sea salt, to taste Directions
ChefSecret: This salad has great staying power—it doesn’t wilt. It’s a great salad to take to a tailgate, brunch or dinner party or a barbecue. Quip of the Day: “I normally knock on the fridge door before I open it, just in case there’s a salad dressing.” Get it? ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #SideDish #Salad #Lunch #Dinner #Beets #GoldenBeets #BloodOrange #Fennel #Vinaigrette #GoatCheese #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022
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…Joan's Healthy Recipes How you doin’? Before you’re tempted to try some of those imitation meat analogues that seem to be everywhere these days, be sure to read the ingredient declaration. They’re not all created equal. If you’re not interested in better eating through chemistry--STOP! After you try these, you may never want to eat frozen veggie or imitation burgers again. These are so easy, and you'll be proud to have crafted such a vegetarian delight. So where did all this start? In 1980, using the name Gardenburger, an early veggie burger was developed by Paul Wenner at Wenner's vegetarian restaurant, The Gardenhouse, in Gresham, Oregon. More recently with all the emphasis on “plant based” new products are popping up everywhere from Burger King and KFC to stadiums, arenas and even your local supermarket. Today’s recipe is an update on a product that we developed many years back for a client looking for vegetarian burger patties free of any artificial ingredients. Cook ‘em up like beef burger patties and enjoy them for a great vegetarian meal. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Yield: 4 patties Calories: 198 (without condiments or bun) Ingredients 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup green bell pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces 1/2 cup white onion, cut into wedges 3 tablespoons chopped, peeled garlic 1 large egg (if vegan use an egg substitute) 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon cumin 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce (Sriracha) or hot sauce (Tabasco) 1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs Directions
ChefSecret: If you don’t want to use canned, processed black beans, make them the old-fashioned way. Soak the desired amount of dried black beans in water over night, then cook according to your best black bean recipe. Quip of the Day: “Why are vegans considered to be good-natured people? Because they got ‘no beef’ with anyone.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. In this New Year, seek out the good in people and avoid conflict. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #Lunch #Dinner #HealthyRecipes #Burgers #VeggieBurgers #BlackBeanBurgers #Vegetarian #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 Joan’s Healthy Recipes How you doin’? If you watched the Rose Parade on TV this year then you know that SoCal has been much colder than usual making it soup time. Soups are the perfect warming foods… from your tummy to the cockles of your heart. This is a traditional Italian soup recipe full of healthful, nourishing ingredients including lots of vegetables, beans and tomatoes. It’s a meal you will want to cozy up with not only when it’s chilly outside, but any time of year. Minestrone has a rich history that dates back hundreds of years. Its popularity began to take off in the 2nd century BC when Rome conquered different regions of Italy. During this time of geographic growth, a wide variety of new vegetables were introduced. Minestrone varies by season and by region: In the northern region of Lombardy, minestrone might include pasta and winter squash; farther south, in Tuscany, cannellini beans and cabbage or kale; in the coastal city of Genoa in the northwestern region of Liguria, it could be finished with pesto (my favorite). Joan’s Instant Pot Minestrone Soup as written is one of the very best Instant Pot soup recipes. It's full-flavored, easy to make, and healthy, too! Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 4 minutes Pressure release time: 30 minutes Yield: 8 servings Calories: only 285 calories per serving Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup chopped yellow onion 1 cup chopped carrots 1 cup chopped celery 3 tablespoons minced garlic 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth 2 cups chopped Yukon gold potatoes 1/2-inch pieces 1/4 cup tomato paste 1 28-ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes, drained 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, cannellini beans or Great Northern beans (rinsed and drained) 3/4 cup dry short pasta (small shells or elbow pasta), cooked separately 1/2 cup chopped green beans For Finishing (optional, for serving) A splash of lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (skip if keeping vegetarian) Directions
ChefSecret: Joan’s Healthy Recipe Minestrone is merely a suggestion of ingredients that can be used. You can vary the vegetables in this soup depending on what you have in the refrigerator and your personal taste.
Quip of the Day: “I saw this guy on the scale in the gym the other day sucking in his stomach. I said, ‘that’s not going to do any good to lower the weight.’ ‘Sure it is,’ he replied, ‘that’s the only way I can see the dial on the scale.’” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. In this New Year, seek out the good in people and avoid conflict. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #InstantPot #Soup #Minestrone #Vegetarian #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 Joan’s Healthy RecipesHow you doin’? Before we share today’s blog recipe (scroll down) with you there are a few things Joan and I would like to say, starting with Happy New Year! As you can see in the headline, this is #400 in our Survival Guide blogs. We started these shortly after the outbreak of Covid-19 and the following “14-day lockdown.” Joan and I were getting phone calls and emails from family, friends and clients for recipes and cooking tips. Preparing 3 meals a day for a family was stretching their cooking talent resources. We it would be simple to provide recipes for a 2-week stint; yet here we are at #400. In research conducted when Joan and I were the co-hosts of The Food Show on ABC, we found that the majority of meal-makers had a repertoire of only 5 entrees that they regularly cooked and at least one of those were repurposed restaurant leftovers. Our intention was to provide information on, healthful recipes that were easy and quick to prepare and would have good acceptance to the family. I must admit I fell in love with three inexpensive, time saving cooking appliances—Instant Pot pressure cookers, sous vide wand and indoor grills. You will see that many recipes are made quick and easy using an Instant Pot. Our recipes are test kitchen tested before publishing and are simplified wherever possible. Shortly after we started the blogs, we added information on the source, origins and history of the various recipes along with a Quip of the Day. I only elaborate to the extent that readers who were not in at the very beginning may not know how this all started. All in all we have published over 500 recipes (some blogs have multiple recipes) and have enough copy to write a new cookbook for the next pandemic. You might ask what has happened to Perspectives over the last 22 months? Our lease expired at our building that we have been in for the last 34 years and we chose not to renew it. We have moved to smaller offices and test kitchens. We have been working with our restaurant clients to help them navigate the world of home delivery and manage their staffs to to insure they can keep as many co-workers as possible. Our CPG clients have contracted with Perspectives to develop new products that meet today’s ever-changing consumer demands. Many of which include, Non-GMO, Organic, Vegan, Familiar Ingredients, No Artificial Colors, Flavor or Preservatives. Our test kitchen and food labs have been able to fulfill our clients’ needs. Here in California, and Los Angeles in particular, Covid has decimated our restaurants, hotels, resorts, theme park, cruise ships and airline clients and we continue to work with all sectors to improve their business propositions. The pandemic has forever changed the foods we buy, eat and the delivery systems that get them to us and will continue to be a part of our lives long after Covid-19 is just a fading memory. As we celebrate the new year, Joan and I, along with the Perspectives team, thank you for being a part of our blog family and we wish you the very best for a Joyous New Year. May 2022 be the best year ever! God bless! Cooking Lesson #400: Snappy Apple Snacks Joan’s Healthy Recipes How you doin’? Let me explain the category caption. My partner, Joan, told me I had to add at least one healthy recipe per week as people are more conscientious of eating healthfully the first few weeks of the new year. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. So, when you see a recipe caption, Joan’s Healthy Recipes, give the credit or blame to Joan. At Lawry’s Foods Sy (the food scientist) and I developed a snacking food that was crispy, a little sweet and full of cinnamon flavor. We had seen similar apple chips on a recent trip to Europe. Apple chips are a perfect substitute for popcorn, cashews and, unlike regular fried chips, you won’t feel gross after finishing the whole bag. While apple crisps, apple pies, and apple pie milkshakes are all great fall treats, this apple chips recipe does not contain butter or an abundance of sugar. It’s mostly naturally sweet from the apples… and it’s vegan! Prep time: 15 minutes Bake time: 3 hours Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 2 tart apples 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1-1/2 teaspoon sugar (or less as desired) Directions
ChefSecret: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Quip of the Day: “Never sing in the shower! Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping, and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked. So remember, don’t sing in the shower!” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. In this New Year, seek out the good in people and avoid conflict. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Snacks #Apples #Lawrys #Resolutions #NYResolutions #HealthyEating #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 The Thanksgiving CollectionHow you doin’? When I plan a large holiday dinner, I never want any of my guests to feel uncomfortable or out of place when dinner is served. I try to accommodate many different tastes and diets in my holiday menus. One of the seemingly more challenging to accommodate is a vegan diet on “turkey day.” So, I serve this vegan roast with the best vegan mashed potatoes, vegan gravy and roasted brussels sprouts for the most amazing vegan feast! Impress your guests with this tofu-based loaf, made completely from scratch. Sure, you could always purchase other options, since there are now plenty of products available but why not make your own at home so you know everything that’s in it? You’ll be surprised how easy it is. Like many soy-based foods, tofu originated in China during the Han Dynasty. Legend has it that it was discovered about 2000 years ago by a Chinese cook who accidentally curdled soy milk when he added nigari seaweed. Tofu was introduced in Japan in the eighth century, tofu was originally called okabe. Its contemporary name, tofu, did not come into use until 1400. Prep time: 15 minutes Bake time: 1 hour Cool time: 10-15 minutes Yield: 6 Servings Ingredients 24 ounces firm pressed and mashed tofu 1/3 cup ketchup 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, finely chopped 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1 cup whole grain breadcrumbs or rolled oats or crushed corn flakes 2 tablespoons canola oil 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary Directions
ChefSecret: To avoid soggy tofu-syndrome, sandwich it between multiple layers of paper towel-lined plates and weigh it down from the top. Your tofu sandwich should be constructed as such: plate, paper towels, tofu, paper towels, second plate, heavy can or cast-iron pan. Quip of the Day: “The mind is like tofu. It tastes like whatever you marinate it in.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. #ThanksgivingRecipe #Thanksgiving #Entrees #TofuLoaf #VeganThanksgiving #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2021 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 |
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