Category Archives: Food

Roasted (or Grilled) Summer Vegetables

I can’t say that a sweet potato is the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “summer vegetable,” but after the first bite you won’t care in which season those orange beauties belong, you’ll just be glad they’re on your plate! This dish would be every bit as good in a grill basket as it is in the oven so if it’s simply too hot to think about heating anything in your kitchen to 500 degrees, don’t say I didn’t give you an option! These vegetables can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them so they’re a great option for a busy weeknight (get them prepped the night before) paired with some grilled fish, or chicken, or even a steak. With this many veggies on your plate, you could even skip the salad if you were so inclined. Try this – let us know what you think!

 

Herb Roasted Summer Vegetables

 

Serves: 6

 

Ingredients:

2 pounds medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1″ wedges

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1″ wedges

1 red onion, cut into 1″ wedges

1/2 pound thick asparagus spears, cut into 1″ lengths

8 cloves garlic, coarsly chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/2″ slices.

3. In a large bowl combine potatoes, bell peppers, onion, and asparagus. Toss with garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oil.

4. Pour vegetables onto a rimmed baking sheet (use two if it is too crowded). Sprinkle with salt.

5. Bake vegetables for 10 minutes in the center of the oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender.

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Seasons 52

Four years ago I put this restaurant on my “must try” list. This month I was able to cross it off – don’t you love it when that happens?

When I attended the Corporate Athlete training program at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando back in 2007, my favorite nutrition instructor recommended that we check out a restaurant in the area called Seasons 52. We weren’t able to get reservations that week, but her suggestion stuck with me. When my family and I were in Orlando two weeks ago, my husband and I managed to get a table and it was, in a word, fabulous.

The instructor had billed it as a restaurant that really got it right when it came to healthful eating – delicious fresh food, beautifully prepared and presented, with reasonable portions. And, they’d pioneered a concept called “Mini Indulgences” in which they serve tiny portions of decadent desserts in shot glasses so you can end your meal with just a few bites of something really wonderful. I have a sweet tooth that does its best to run my life, so I just love this idea.  I also love that a number of restaurants have since picked up on it as well – after all, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

The menu changes with the seasons as the restaurant name indicates. We were there just a day or two after their summer menu had launched and it was simply fantastic.  Besides being able to count on fresh seasonal flavors, you’re also assured that no item on the menu has more than 475 calories. Portions are healthy but definitely not tiny! Why can’t every restaurant make this promise?

Between the two of us, we had:

BLT Flatbread applewood smoked bacon, organic arugula and summer tomatoes (shared before dinner with our friend)

Organic Tomato & Hass Avocado Salad with cilantro, organic arugula and grilled ciabatta

Caramelized Sea Scallops grilled and served with roasted asparagus and tomato-mushroom pearl pasta

Wood-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with herb polenta, broccoli, cremini mushrooms and shallot-Dijon glaze

Mini Indulgence Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse

Mini Indulgence Key Lime Pie

Everything was really good, but those desserts were just amazing. If you have the opportunity to visit a Seasons 52 yourself, I can highly recommend it. And if you don’t live near one, there’s one piece of the concept you can easily replicate – the portion size. How to do it? Just split your meal with someone and share dessert with the table. Bon Appetit!

 

Note: Seasons 52 is actually owned by the Darden Group, famous for brands like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Try it anyhow. :0)

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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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