Pomegranate
Health benefits:
Crack one open, and you’ll find hundreds of antioxidant-packed seeds bursting with juice and flavor. This messy fruit has been linked to lowered cholesterol and helps fight heart disease. Plus, it’s simply delicious.
Pomegranate Crème Sauce
Serves 4
Chef Mansour Gorji
Canary by Gorji
½ tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon butter
½ cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup red onion, julienned
kosher salt
coarse ground black pepper
½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ tablespoon pomegranate
purée or molasses
½ teaspoon sumac
Pour the olive oil in a sauté pan, then add the butter, mushrooms, red onion, salt, and pepper. Mix and sauté on high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes or until the red onion and mushrooms start to become translucent.
Turn heat to medium. Add the cream, pomegranate purée, sumac, and mix. Cream burns very fast, so turn the heat down to medium before adding it. Continue to cook until bubbles start in the center of the pan.
Simmer on low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not boil. Serve with any meat dish.
Dinosaur Kale
Health benefits:
Dinosaur Kale Salad With Artichoke Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Executive chef Graham Dodds
Hibiscus
2 packed cups of dinosaur kale,
stem removed and torn into
bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
½ packed cup watermelon radish, julienned
2 tablespoons ricotta salata, grated
2 tablespoons fresh pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons artichoke vinaigrette
(see recipe below)
Heat large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add grapeseed oil and allow to heat. Once oil is hot, add kale. Be careful. You may want to stand back, as it will splatter and pop sometimes. Toss it around in the hot pan a few times, for about 5 to 7 seconds. Add watermelon radish, and season with the salt and pepper. Add the artichoke vinaigrette; try to get as much of the minced artichoke and shallots as possible. Sprinkle the ricotta salata and pomegranate seeds over the kale, and serve immediately.
Artichoke Vinaigrette
Makes ½ cup
3 fresh whole artichokes
½ cup Texas Olive Ranch olive oil
3 lemons, juiced
2 shallots, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Combine lemon juice and olive oil. Clean one artichoke at a time, and mince the heart very small, adding it to the lemon and olive oil mixture so it does not turn brown. Add minced shallots. Season with salt and black pepper.
Carrots
Health benefits:
Pickled Ginger-Jalapeño Carrots
Yileds Four 1-Quart Jars
Chef Tim Byres
Smoke
10 to 12 large carrots (about 5 ½ lb)
6 cups distilled white vinegar
½ cup kosher salt
1 ½ cups sugar
8 thin slices of fresh ginger
1 jalapeño, stemmed and
quartered, with seeds and
membranes removed
4 dried bay leaves
Wash and peel the carrots, removing the stem and tip ends. Using a channel knife, start
at the larger end of the carrot and make a groove lengthwise from end to end, and repeat either quarterly or in thirds, depending on the size of the carrots. Slice the carrots into quarter-inch disks.
In a large stockpot over high heat, bring the sliced carrots, vinegar, salt, sugar, ginger, and jalapeño to a boil. When the ingredients have come to a boil, remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs, layer two slices of ginger, one jalapeño quarter, and enough carrots to fill each sterilized jar completely. Add one bay leaf to each jar. Using a ladle, fill each jar with the hot pickling liquid to the bottom of the mouth. Seal immediately for long-term storage. These pickles can be kept in a cool, dry place such as a cupboard. Or, you can skip the canning and place the cooled, lidded jars in the refrigerator, where they will keep for at least two weeks. Wait a few days before eating them to let the pickling effect sink in.
