Friday, April 23, 2010

Lettuce wraps- my favorite type of salad!

Typically I don’t like diets, especially “fad” diets (and Los Angeles is full of them) but my diet that I've been doing for the past 2 weeks has left me feeling great! I feel like I can leap buildings! Save the world! And…. Well maybe not so much, but I do feel like I have a lot more energy and don’t crave sweets and carbs, and I love my sweets! Especially when I'm baking them. This Tuna Tar-tar lettuce wrap recipe is something that I came up with last minute when I catered a party. I needed to have an appetizer salad and I didn’t just want to do a plain old chopped salad. I like more unique ideas, and it just so happened that this salad is very healthy and fits my diet! (Minus the fried tortillas.. lol) serve this at any kind of occasion. It makes for a great meal, or appetizer, and  you don’t care about being too healthy, Scoop tuna onto a cracker.

Let me know what you think!

 

 

Tuna tar-tar lettuce wraps

 

Ingredients

8 oz raw sushi quality tuna cut in ½ inch cubes

1 orange pepper, ½ inch dice

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp sesame oil

Salt and pepper (to taste)

2 heads butter lettuce, (or mini romaine lettuce) stalks removed and washed

3 flour tortillas, thinly sliced

Canola oil

 

Directions

In a large bowl, mix first 5 ingredients. Set aside.

Heat 1-2 cups of canola oil in a deep pot over high heat (or use deep fryer) fry tortilla strips for about 2 minutes. Remove onto a paper towel covered plate, season with salt and pepper immediately.

To assemble, place 1 piece of lettuce onto a plate, scoop-desired amount of tuna mixture into lettuce cup. Sprinkle fried tortilla strips over tuna. Garnish with a drizzle of lemon. Repeat until tuna is gone.

 

 

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Gazpacho! -the forgotten soup

I don’t know why, but lately I have been obsessed with coming up with delicious and healthy new soups. I have noticed that for the most part people usually stick to a few familiar “hot” soups such as, tomato, chicken noodle, etc. One thing that I always feel is left out of the “soup” category is Gazpacho! Gazpacho is a cold or room temperature vegetable soup, typically a Spanish tomato based cold soup… but who’s judging! This is my blog and I’ll call my cold soup recipe whatever I want! Lol.

Unless you are planning on going to some upscale restaurant where you are going to spend an arm and a leg to eat a tiny bowl of gazpacho, you will not typically find it.  Chances are, you will only find traditional hot soup at a lunch cafĂ© or chain restaurant. I recommend making this Avocado soup recipe because 1. I've never had it in a restaurant. 2. It’s great for diets and is less than 300 calories per serving. 3. You can keep in cold in your refrigerator for up to 5 days and eat whenever you are hungry. 4. Avocado’s contain nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, and is considered a “super fruit.” 4. I only make great soups!

 

So anyways, here it is!! Hope you like it, and if you make any of my recipes, feed back people, feed back! Lol

 

 

Avocado soup

 Ingredients 

2 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken broth

2 avocados, chopped

1 cup water

1 cup rinsed and drained navy beans

½ cup fat-free plain yogurt

1 ½ tbsp fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp Tabasco

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

salt and pepper (to taste)

¼ cup queso fresco (optional as garnish)

 Directions

Add all ingredients (accept queso) in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth, scraping the sides. To serve, distribute evenly into 4 bowls. Sprinkle quaso cheese over top.

 

 

Friday, April 16, 2010

LA lifestyle recipe

Being that this blog is about great food in LA… I was thinking that could be anything! Also being that I’m on a strict diet, it usually makes it more difficult to enjoy the indulgences of LA cuisine that I am so grown to love so much. Instead, I starve and deprive myself of nutrients, and try to wither away to almost nothing like most of the oh so trendy, glamorous LA girls. PHYCH!!  Actually not at all, I'm eating a lot of everything I like, and because I am primarily a healthy foods chef I am always to come up with new, delicious and healthy recipes. I want to share one that I came up with yesterday, its low in carbohydrates, high in freshness and flavor, and a great comfort food dish. And on any other occasion I would pair it with a nice, decadent grilled cheese!

 

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper soup

 

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs tomatoes, cut in half and de-pulped seeded

1 red peppers, rustic chop

3 sprigs Thyme

1 onion, rustic chop, no seeds

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp EVOO

6 oz tomato paste

3 cups vegetable stock

 

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss first 6 ingredients together, place on baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.

In a large, deep pot, heat ½ tbsp EVOO, add tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes on medium high heat.

Remove tomatoes from oven and disguard thyme. Add tomatoes to pot. And stir not to burn.

Add stock and stir on medium low heat, bring to a simmer. And remove from heat.

Blend with an emersion blender, or blend in a food processor or blender in portions.

Serves 4-6