Category Archives: Recipes

Raw Mushroom Salad Recipe

Posted on by Allen Stern

Check out my first raw mushroom salad recipe – I really enjoyed it!

If you haven’t checked out Raw Food Rehab’s community site or their Facebook page, you should do that now. Penni Shelton founded the very popular site and she is an amazing inspiration and motivator for healthy living. While I am not 100% raw, I find that the RFR community is very encouraging when you need a push or a motivational poster to get you excited for the day. There is also a ton of info about juicing and smoothies on both the community site and the Facebook page – I’ve definitely benefited from the info Penni shares on the FB page.

She put out a call for mushroom recipes since this is the month of the ‘shroom. I decided to accept the challenge. I’ve never eaten a mushroom in my life and the cashier at Whole Foods was shocked (!) that I hadn’t experienced the apparent “pleasure” that mushrooms provide.

I wanted to create my own raw mushroom salad recipe although I did get some help from my friend Mena who is a fruit and veggie aficionado. The recipe below is very simple – since it has to be raw, all you need is a knife. The best part about this raw salad recipe is that the measurements are all approximate so just put in as much or as little of each item as you would like!

Raw Mushroom Salad Recipe

Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 1lb mushrooms (I used 1/3 each of the shiitake, white and crimini varities)
  • 2 figs cut into 8 equal sections
  • large handful of baby kale for each serving
  • sprinkling of shredded carrots for each serving
  • 1/4lb asparagus – sliced into three pieces on the diagonal
  • two broccoli florets per serving
  • sprinkling of purple cabbage per serving
  • small handful of zucchini – cut into small thin strips or matchsticks
  • one large orange – cut into 4 pieces
  • salt and pepper to taste – I used Himalayan pink sea salt

Preparation and service:

  • Remove stems from mushrooms. Cut mushrooms into small slices/strips and place into a large bowl. Cut all salad items as noted above and add to bowl. Optional: I lightly squeezed one piece of the orange over the salad – the juice gave the salad a lot of pizazz! Toss and serve on plates.

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Moroccan Steamed Salmon with Quinoa and Carrots

Posted on by Allen Stern

Moroccan Steamed Salmon with Quinoa and Carrots Recipe

For my last August recipe, I wanted to find something that was way out of my comfort zone. I keep hearing about how awesome Quinoa is and since I have never tried it, I knew that Quinoa would be part of this recipe.

Some interesting info about Quinoa – it’s closely related to spinach and beets! It’s also a “pseudocereal” which means it is like a grain but not exactly a grain. And get this – because of it’s nutritional properties – it’s being considered by NASA for future spaceflights! It’s like the 2012 Tang :) Lastly, it has taken me a while to pronounce Quinoa correctly – easiest is to say “KEEN-wah”.

I headed to Whole Foods to purchase the Quinoa – they sell 10 varieties in the bulk department. I ended up with the “Royal Rainbow Quinoa” which the store clerk told me is a combination of multiple varieties of Quinoa.

In the recipe below, I used water for the liquid to cook the Quinoa in. My sister suggested replacing the water with a vegetable or chicken broth to give the Quinoa some flavor.

Moroccan Steamed Salmon with Quinoa and Carrots Recipe:

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup water
  • Kosher salt
  • 1.5 carrots or one large carrot, finely diced
  • 1.5 cups cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
  • 3 clove garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
  • 2 5-oz. fillets wild salmon, skin removed
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

  1. Rinse quinoa under cold water. In a small saucepan, bring water and 1/4 tsp. salt to a boil. Add quinoa and carrots and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Let quinoa rest, covered, for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Note: Be careful – I found that after about 15 minutes, the quinoa started to burn and I had to add a pinch more water.
  2. Combine cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, chile flakes, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a food processor. Process until smooth.
  3. Cook the salmon using your favorite method. This is how you can steam the salmon: lightly season salmon with salt. Brush bottom of a metal steamer basket with oil. (If using a bamboo steamer, line bottom with a large leaf of lettuce or a piece of parchment
    paper.) Arrange fish in steamer and set over boiling water, covered, for 6 to 9 minutes, or until fish is cooked through.
  4. Serve salmon over quinoa. Spoon cilantro sauce on top and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves. I placed the cilantro sauce into a bowl (see image above) so that my guests can enjoy as much as they would like.

The original recipe for the Moroccan Steamed Salmon with Quinoa and Carrots can be found on Whole Living – thanks for the inspiration!

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Grilled Island Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Posted on by Allen Stern

For this week’s recipe, I wanted to try a lettuce wrap. No idea where this urge came from but it seemed like it would make for a great presentation and could hold a full meal inside the wrap versus the entree/side dish in the past recipes.

I spent some time researching the right type of lettuce to use for the wrap and butter lettuce seemed to be the clear winner. Romaine came in as a clear second to the butter variety. I bought an organic, “still alive” head of butter lettuce at Whole Foods and was excited to get my wrap on. Sadly no matter what I tried, the lettuce just would not cooperate! It kept ripping when I tried to wrap the wrap (ha!) and finally I just decided to make “lettuce bowls”. The bowls were perfect and really looked great. I think next time I would use romaine as it seems thicker and a bit more resistant as you fold the wrap.

Side note, if you are new here, welcome and thanks for visiting! You might want to follow me on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. I share good healthy food and motivation and inspiration to help us all be the best we can be!

I also decided to select my own veggies for the wrap. I used a recipe for the grilled island chicken but the rest is all mine! I think the fruit/veggie combo I selected was really tasty :)

Grilled Island Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe

This recipe serves 2 with a prep time of 15 minutes and a cook time of 10 minutes.

Ingredients for chicken and marinade:

  • 1/3 cup oil (original recipe called for vegetable oil but I replaced with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1-2 lemons)
  • 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce – I used the Tamari variety
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • half teaspoon dried oregano
  • quarter teaspoon salt – I used pink Himalayan sea salt
  • quarter teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on size, Whole Foods has huge chicken breasts)

Vegetables for wrap/bowl:

  • lettuce – as noted above, go with butter for bowl, romaine for wrap
  • 1 large lemon
  • 1 package cherry tomatoes
  • 1 english cucumber
  • large handful of green beans with ends trimmed
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 1 pepper – could be green or red although I used a roasted Hatch chili as it appears to be popular here in Austin
  • handful of spinach
  • 1 large Fuji apple

Preparation:

Chicken – Add all of the marinade ingredients into a zip-top bag and mix well. Place chicken into bag and massage the marinade all over the chicken. Place bag in fridge for 3-24 hours (I marinaded for 12 hours). Turn bag over a few times in the fridge. Grill chicken until completely cooked. Set chicken aside to cool.

Fruit/Veggies – Juice the lemon into a bowl. Chop and dice the apple and place into bowl with the lemon juice. This will help the apple keep its color and not go brown from oxidation. Chop and dice all veggies into equal-sized small-ish cubes. Place the veggies into the bowl with the apple and lemon juice and toss with a dash of sea salt and pepper. Drain out any excess lemon juice and liquid so the bowls/wraps stay nice and dry.

Presentation:

Form lettuce into bowl shape or into long strips for wrap. Place a good amount of the veggie mix into the lettuce wrap or bowl. Slice chicken into strips and evenly place on top of veggies. If using the wrap format, carefully wrap the chicken and veggies and use a toothpick or skewer to keep the wrap closed. If you do the bowl format, serve 2 bowls to each guest.

The original grilled island chicken recipe is from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe — thanks to Mel for the inspiration!

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Raw Kale Salad Recipe With Apples and Walnuts

Posted on by Allen Stern

Check out my first raw kale salad recipe! Who knew that when I first tried kale and didn’t like it that I would be eating kale every single day?? This week I participated in my first Whole Foods culinary class. It was a basic vegetable prep class and I learned a good bit about the entry-level basics of dealing with vegetables.

One of the vegetables we worked with was kale. Oh kale you vegetable you. I never ate kale and I tried it raw about 6 months ago on my nutritionists suggestion and frankly I thought it tasted like what a rubber tire would taste like. I didn’t enjoy it at all. And yet, this month I’ve consumed kale daily in my green lemonade juice.

I was skeptical when the instructor said we would be making a raw kale salad recipe but after tasting it, I was pleased. I am not sure that it will be a regular addition to my food lineup yet, but the raw kale salad is definitely something I could see enjoying from time-to-time or at a raw foods restaurant.

Side note, if you are new here, welcome and thanks for visiting! You might want to follow me on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. I share good healthy food and motivation and inspiration to help us all be the best we can be!

The best part about the raw kale salad recipe below is that it takes just a couple of minutes to make!

Raw Kale Salad Recipe With Apples and Walnuts

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

  • one bunch of dino kale – also called lacinto kale
  • a touch of olive oil (you want to use as little as possible)
  • sea salt or another coarse salt but not iodized table salt
  • black pepper
  • balsamic vinegar (optional)
  • 2 fuji apples
  • large handful of walnuts (optional)
  • 1 large lemon
  • 1 orange
  • grape tomatoes (optional)

Preparation:

First:

  1. juice lemon and orange into a bowl
  2. slice apples into thin slices and place into bowl with juice
  3. place bowl in fridge for 15 minutes

Second:

  1. pull kale off center stalk – toss stalks
  2. rough chop kale into bite-sized pieces
  3. put kale into bowl with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper
  4. work the kale with your hands – massage and squeeze the kale – you want to use good force to really work the kale -this step is the key to a good raw kale salad! Don’t be afraid to use force – get your stress out :)

Presentation:

  • Combine kale with apple slices, tomatoes, walnuts and plate
  • Garnish with salt and pepper

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Baked Tilapia With Sweet Potato Fries

Posted on by Allen Stern

Baked Tilapia with Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

As I work on each recipe this month, I am trying to find two recipes that go perfectly together to create a full meal. This week I pulled two recipes that are tied together with their spice combinations. The oregano, chili powder and pepper make for an awesome complement between the fish entree and the vegetable side dish.

I modified the recipes a bit and much like last week with the honey-lime chicken, I made the recipes twice: once with the original ingredients and once with my modifications. Overall I enjoyed the meal but the real gem is the sweet potato fries. First, you won’t know that they weren’t deep fried and most importantly both the taste and the crispiness are amazing! I will definitely be making these sweet potato fries often and you should definitely give them a try. I am always looking for new ways to make sweet potatoes after I discovered how awesome they are a couple of months ago.

The fish was good, moist and tasty but it was a bit plain. I added extra garlic in my modifications which helped but I’d probably kick up the spices a bit more next time.

The Baked Tilapia with Sweet Potato Fries Recipe below serves two with prep time of 10 minutes and cook time of 30-35 minutes.

Ingredients for Tilapia

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried mustard
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • 2 tilapia filets, fresh or thawed
 Ingredients for Sweet Potato Fries

  • 1 (or 2) large sweet potato, cut into fries (I used organic)
  • 2 tsp grapeseed oil
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp + 1/8 t. sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • scant 1/2 t. oregano
  • 1/2 t. prepared mustard (I used an organic French Dijon variety)

Preparation :
Tilapia: Combine everything but the tilapia in a bowl while preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the mixture all over the fish but be careful not to break the fish apart. Place fish onto parchment-lined baking sheet and pour any remaining seasonings on the fish. Bake for 10 minutes.

Sweet Potatoes Fries: Cut the sweet potatoes into long, evenly-sized fry strips. Place into bowl with cold water for 30 minutes. While they are soaking, mix up the oil and spices in another bowl. After the potatoes soak, rinse and pat as dry as possible with a paper towel. (the key to the crispy is to get all the water out)

Rub the spice mixture all over the potatoes and cover them well using your hands. Bake for 20 minutes at 430 degrees. Turn the fries over after the 20 minutes and bake for 12-20 minutes watching them after 12 minutes for your preferred level of crispy perfection. One note: I cooked the fries and the tilapia in the 400 degree oven then raised the temp to 430 once the tilapia was done. The fries still came out perfect so if you cook together, use my modified temp.

The original tilapia recipe is from Eat Clean Diet and the sweet potato fries recipe is from Oatmeal With A Fork. Thanks to both sites for their inspiration!

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!