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Patriotic Berry Trifle

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have plans to be waving flags and grilling out and watching fireworks and attending a parade in your hometown this weekend – we certainly do. In fact, our neighborhood hosts a bike and wagon parade for the little ones that is the cutest thing ever. There are more red, white and blue t-shirts and hair bows and bike decorations than you can shake a sparkler at! We have a fire truck leading the parade and a cookies and lemonade party at the end complete with a rendition of God Bless America sung by a neighbor who just so happens to be a professional opera singer (really!). Then everyone heads off to various parties and backyard celebrations where it’s rumored this trifle just might make an appearance this year.

This dessert is a teensy bit indulgent but what dessert worth its calories isn’t?! It’s predominantly angel food cake and fruit which are about as virtuous as dessert gets. And if you compare it to last year’s Martha Stewart Flag Sheet Cake which I made to rave reviews, it’s practically health food!  Enjoy the long weekend, and celebrate your freedom with red, white and blue wild abandon.

Note: If you don’t already own a trifle bowl, they are easy to find for relatively little money at stores like Target or Bed Bath and Beyond. 

 

Patriotic Berry Trifle

Adapted from The Food Network


Serves: 8-10

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 store bought angel food cake, cut into 1″ slices

1 pound cream cheese (2 blocks), at room temperature

2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature

2 pints blueberries

2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced

 

Directions:

1. To make the syrup: heat 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract.

2. Brush both sides of each slice of the angel food cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1″ cubes and set aside.

3. Beat the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar and cream cheese with a hand mixer at medium speed until smooth and light. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

4. Arrange half of the angel food cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Gently spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries. Add another layer of blueberries and gently top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

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Packing for a Healthy Road Trip

I was happy to be invited back to FOX19 Cincinnati this morning to share some tips for Packing for a Healthy Road Trip. It’s a topic close to my heart since I am getting lots of practice loading up the car with two adults, our three kiddos, the contents of our dressers, and a cooler full of reasonably healthy foods! Our family is spread out across the Midwest and Northeast and we try to make the rounds to visit them as often as we can – that’s a lot of miles in the car and a lot of meals on the road!

I’m sure you’re planning your own road trips this summer. How often have you fueled yourself on these trips with fast food, chips and candy from convenience stores, and bottle after bottle of soda? By the time you arrive at your destination, you feel icky and your energy is drained. That’s no way to start a vacation, and it doesn’t have to be that way. With a little advance planning, road trips don’t have to be diet disasters. In fact, you can arrive at your destination feeling terrific. And as Sheila noted this morning,  packing a cooler can save you money, too!

Here is the clip from the FOX 19 Morning Show to inspire you, as well as the recipe for the Healthy Chicken Salad I shared.

Here’s to summer of happy, healthy travel!

 

Healthy Chicken Salad

serves 4

about 175 calories per serving

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, poached, broiled or grilled, then shredded with your fingers or a fork or cut into small cubes   OR 2 – 8 oz. cans of chunk white meat chicken, drained

3-4 Tbsp. lowfat mayonnaise

1 tsp. Dijon or spicy mustard

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional: Add any of the following –  1/4 cup chopped celery, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1 c. red grapes, halved, 2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and divide among 4 tortilla wraps. I like Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Tortillas (81 calories and 12 grams of fiber per wrap!).

 

 

 

 

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Chilled Asparagus Soup

The classic name for a pureed potato and leek soup is vichyssoise….but I thought if I put that in the title, I might scare some of you off! Why complicate an easy soup with a difficult title? This soup is made terrifically creamy by pureeing the cooked potatoes and leeks; the addition of asparagus lends beautiful color and excellent flavor.  The added cream garnish is delightful, but completely optional. You won’t sacrifice texture if you omit it.

So, why such a crazy name? The origins of vichyssoise are somewhat unclear. Some consider it an American invention while others claim it has French roots. Louis Diat, a chef at the Ritz Carlton in New York City, is most often credited with popularizing it in America in the early 1900s, and he claims to have named it after the spa town of Vichy, close to his hometown in France.

No matter what you call it or who invented it, it’s delicious. And this version from Bon Appetit is particularly well suited to lunch on a hot summer’s day.

 

Chilled Asparagus Soup

Adapted from Bon Appetit June 2009

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup thinly sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only)

1/2 cup – 1/2″ cubes peeled russet potato

2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 cups – 1″ pieces trimmed asparagus

1/4 cup chilled whipping cream (optional)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

 

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan (with a lid) over medium heat. Add leek and potato and saute for 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add asparagus and simmer uncovered until asparagus is just tender, 5-6 minutes (less if you are using very thin stalks). Remove the pan from heat. Transfer 8 asparagus tips to a bowl to save for garnish.

2. Puree soup until smooth with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide soup among 4 shallow bowls. Place in freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to chill quickly.

3. If using the cream, whisk cream, mint, and a large pinch of salt in a small bowl until cream is slightly thickened.

4. Drizzle mint cream, or sprinkle mint, over soup and then garnish with asparagus tips.

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