The Traveling Epicurean

Salsa

fresh cherry tomato salsa, heirloom tomato salsa, mango salsa, pineapple-cucumber salsa

Super Nutty Seed Bread at April’s

by

Super Nutty Seed Bread at April’s

This energy boosting, super nutty seed bread topped with chic pea guacamole has both healthy fats and deliciousness…what more could you ask for!

It’s amazing how a hearty, healthy, homemade bread made from ground seeds can be this easy to make! The combination that April offers in her recipe by topping this moist bread with a creamy chic pea guacamole is a win win for me. The textures of the the two really compliment each other.

You really need to check out April’s beautiful website sweetsimpledelicious.com where she offers delicious, healthy recipes along with her wellness programs enrollment availabilty! It was so much fun taping this show with April. With our similar tastes and aspirations I know we’ll be working together to bring you more shows featuring healthy, scrumptious dishes!

For other healthy and delicious dishes you should check out my Zucchini Torta, Zucchini Spaghetti, Salsa 101, or Cold Cucumber Soup with Seared Sea Scallops!…ENJOY 🙂

Ingredients for Super Nutty Seed Bread:

  • 1 cup ground oats
  • 1 cup ground walnuts
  • 3/4 cup ground pumpkin seed
  • 3/4 cup ground flax seed
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 4 egg whites
  • 3/4 cup filtered water

Directions for Nutty Seed Bread – Pre-Heat oven to 350º

  1. Add egg whites to your cold mixer bowl and whisk until fluffy
  2. Add the first 7 ingredients to a different medium size bowl and whisk together
  3. Add water to the fluffy egg whites and whisk to combine 5 seconds
  4. Stir in the wet ingredients into the dry with a spatula just to combine
  5. Add batter to 2 small loaf pans greased with olive oil
  6. Bake for 35 minutes
  7. Let bread cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out to onto cooling rack to finish cooling
  8. Slice and serve with a healthy serving of Chic Pea Guacamole! Recipe below…

Ingredients for Chic Pea Guacamole Dip:

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 1 cup chic peas
  • 1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in 1/2
  • Juice from 1 whole lime
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped red onion
  • 1 garlic clove thru press or finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
  • 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. “seasoned” rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. Siracha for extra flavor and a little kick

Directions for Chic Pea Guacamole:

  1. Add avacado and chic peas to a medium size bowl and mash with potato masher to desired texture
  2. Stir in lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, “seasoned” rice wine vinegar, red onion, garlic, cilantro, s & p
  3. At the end stir in sliced cherry tomatoes and serve on a slice of Super Nutty Seed Bread!…YUM!

Smoothie Demo at Funktion Fitness!

by

Smoothie Demo at Funktion Fitness!

Giving my favorite “Mango-Kale Smoothie” demo for the staff and members at Funktion Fitness this past Thursday morning was tons of fun! The best part was seeing all their smiling faces after taking the first sip of my Mango-Kale Smoothie. They really loved how refreshing and fruity the smoothie was. Like I always say, if it wasn’t green you wouldn’t even know there was kale in it!

In my opinion, finding a balance is the key to everything in life. Getting my dose of endorphins thru spin class at my gym, Funktion Fitness, is just as important to me as having a healthy go to energy drink. And not just any old healthy energy drink but one that’s as delicious as my Mango-Kale Smoothie! The best thing is attaining these things and enjoying yourself to the point where it just doesn’t seem like work at all!

Having an awesome motivator, like my spin instructor Heather Theriault at Funktion Fitness, is half the battle. She has so much enthusiam for life and that work ethic of hers making your workout super tough but so gosh darn fun it goes by in a flash…can’t ask for anything better then that!

So it’s up to you to find some kind of exercise outlet that makes you happy, and gets you your weekly dose of mood boosters, endorphins. As for the healthy energy drinks, I’ve got you covered with my scrumptious smoothies to give you those weekly boosts helping you to keep powering thru your day with a smile…enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO FIND THE RECIPE, INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS TO MY MANGO-KALE SMOOTHIE ! You can get really creative with your smoothies and I show you how in one of my other smoothie shows “My Energy Smoothies 101“. You’ll want to take a jump over to my Mango Salsa Recipe page as well and don’t forget to make my Best Guacamole Ever Recipe … never any left over where ever I take it!

Energy Smoothies 101

Mango-Kale Smoothie!

Best Guacamole Ever and Crostini with Skirt Steak & Guac!

Mango Salsa with Pulled Beef Tacos

Black Bean Salsa & Swordfish Recipe

by

Black Bean Salsa & Swordfish Recipe

2015 is here so let’s not procrastinated and get right down to business with some refreshing and heathy dinners. You can’t beat this black bean salsa & swordfish with its nutritional values and taste to boot! It’s so nice to brighten up our menu after the starchy celebratory holiday meals. With this black bean salsa you still get that “comfort food” feeling because the black beans are so creamy and filling. Black beans are considered to be the best “meat-free” sources of protein serving up 15 grams each of protein and fiber per 1 cup…not to mention black beans have the highest antioxidant level of all beans!

I first learned how to make salsa almost 20 years ago from a Chef in San Franciso name Barclay. He was a chef at one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco called Bix (on Gold St.) Bix had foie gras that was to die for and the most outrageous bar burgers that had to be made from filet mignon because they melted in your mouth like butter! Needless to say Barclay made a killer salsa and I’m thankful to him for starting me out on the right path when it came to making salsa.

This black bean salsa is almost identical to my “best mango-avocado salsa ever” on my website except I minus one mango and add 2 cans of Goya black beans. This is a such a quick and easy recipe and if you don’t have time for the chopping you’ve got to check out the produce department at your local store because most of them do offer a section of pre-chopped vegetables or you could pre-chop everything yourself the night before you put this dinner together.

Fresh swordfish is now being caught off the Carolina’s so it’s an ideal fish to buy. Swordfish is a hardy kind of fish and eats like a steak so it is very filling. The oils in the swordfish are also as nutritious for you, if not more, as eating that black bean salsa. So what a team this black bean salsa & pan seared swordfish makes…you just can’t beat it! The best thing is it doesn’t have to be summer to whip this meal up either…enjoy. Make sure to watch my YouTube cooking show that goes with this recipe and don’t forget to subscribe on my YouTube channel so that you can receive my latest cooking show releases!

You may want to try baked asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, or roasted chick peas for an appetizer and the chocolate avocado mousse for dessert to go along with this dinner.

003  004  006  

007  009  013

014  011  027

034  036

INGREDIENTS: You need approx. .30 lbs per person for the swordfish

NOTE: CLICK HERE If you need some guidance on cutting up the avocado and or mango AND look to directions in that recipe

  • 2 cans Goya black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 lg mangoes chopped 1/4″ cube
  • 1 avocado chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 1 cup or 2 med/lg size tomato’s or 5 small tomato’s chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 1 cup or 1/2 extra LG Vidalia onion (or yellow) FINELY chopped
  • 1 FINELY chopped jalapeno
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
  • a dash of Siracha (optional)
  • S & P
  • 1-2 lbs of fresh swordfish cut up into .30 lbs pieces per person

DIRECTIONS: Pre-Heat oven to 350º

  1. Add all of the salsa ingredients ( all the first items in the list except the fish) into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. Cut up the swordfish into .30 lb pieces and salt and olive oil them
  3. Heat cast iron pan or heavy bottom pan to med/high
  4. When pan is hot add in swordfish and sear 3 minutes on each side and then put into the oven for 5 minutes to finish
  5. Spoon up salsa in the center of the plate and place a piece of swordfish on top
  6. Squeeze a piece of lemon over the top and mangia mangia : )
  7. We really love to eats this salsa with blue chips.
  8. I have also served this salsa up on the tips of endive leaves, and or with a cooked shrimp on top of that ….yum!
  9. I must warn you this salsa is highly addictive……consume at your own risk! LOL

Best Mango-Avocado Salsa Ever

by

Best Mango-Avocado Salsa Ever

This truly is the most amazing salsa ever!  In fact I found salsa difficult to photograph so I took many pictures of the finished salsa worried that you won’t be able to tell how delicious it is just by looking at the pictures.  Gotta love those sweet and hot flavors together and just knowing that it is all so good for you makes it even better, if that’s possible.   I make this for friends when they come over it’s the first thing gone.   There really is nothing like refreshing mango-avocado salsa in the hot summer months but why should we have to wait until then when we can enjoy ripe mangoes in the winter too!  When I go to the market to buy mangoes this time of year they are usually not quite ripe enough to eat right away.  It’s one of those things where you need to plan a few days ahead so you have time to leave them on your counter to fully ripen.   It’s definitely worth the 2-3 day wait for the mango to soften slightly and the juicy flesh to turn a deep golden color and taste as sweet as honey.  Be sure not to let them get too soft….better to be slightly soft then mushy because that lovely golden flesh starts to turn brown.

iphone pictures 381iphone pictures 386

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 lg mangoes chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 1 avocado chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 2 med/lg size tomato’s or 5 small tomato’s chopped 1/4″ cubed
  • 1/2 vidalia onion (or yellow) FINELY chopped
  • 1 FINELY chopped jalapeno
  • juice from 1 lime
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
  • a dash of Siracha (optional)
  • S & P

Directions:

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. We really love to eats this salsa with blue chips.
  3. I have also served this salsa up on the tips of endive leaves, and or with a cooked shrimp on top of that ….yum!
  4. I must warn you this salsa is highly addictive……consume at your own risk! LOL

iphone pictures 718iphone pictures 732iphone pictures 721

 

 

 

 

iphone pictures 722iphone pictures 724iphone pictures 738

 

 

 

iphone pictures 739

iphone pictures 740

TIP:  There is an easy way to get the pit out of a avocado which I have displayed in the pictures above.  After running the knife around the flesh of the avocado against the edges of the inside pit… put the knife down and twist the avocado halves and pull apart. Then stick the knife into the pit and do the same thing holding on to the knife with one hand and carefully twist the avocado pit and it will pop right out.  Then knock the pit off onto the board away from your hands.  This can be a little tricky the first time so I would advise that this would be for an adult to try.   Finally, Insert a large spoon and scoop the avocado along the edge of the avocado skin to remove avocado flesh.