Innovative Gourmet Flavor Combinations: Beet Soup With Greens, Apple Salad, and Cilantro-Walnut Pesto

Innovative Gourmet Flavor Combinations

Welcome! I've always enjoyed unusual flavor combinations. I am committed to continuing this pleasure, while eating healthy. I hope this blog will allow me to share ideas for eating healthy without losing the excitement of innovative recipes.

I am a follower of the diet plan of Dr. Eric Berg, which in my case means gluten-free, alkaline, low-fat; my health and figure have improved vastly with this. This also fits with raw-food, vegetarian, and Weston Price (nutrient-dense), D'Adamo's Eat Right For Your Type, the Perricone Weightloss Diet, and the proportions follow Barry Sears's 40-30-30 Zone Diet. Organic, ecologic, and local-eating are also guiding principles. (Interesting how they all overlap.)

But looking around the Net, and in books, a lot of what's offered for "gluten-free" eating is versions of baked goods, and imitations of wheat dishes like pizza and burritos. You won't find that here. This site will present a complete re-thinking of how to be "gluten-free".

And followers of chef Michael Roberts and khymos, as well as lovers of Japanese creativeness (as in Iron Chef) should also find gourmet ideas here. The recipes will not just echo American cooking, but present new combinations.

Some of the reasons for this way of eating are: autism, perhaps aspergers, "celiac disease", obesity, perhaps cancer and who knows what else. You won't find the word "disease" used here though. As D'Adamo explains, a large part of the world's population (mostly with "O-blood type") never got the genes to adapt to eating the new foods of wheat, etc that came into the diet during the Neolithic. So don't call it a disease! We are actually an older human type. We're not sick; we just don't have that new-fangled adaption that some folks have. And looking into traditional diets shows that much of the world did not have wheat until very recently, and got along just fine. I know I'm eating quite well. I don't miss gluten at all.

Enough! Welcome to my kitchen . . .

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Beet Soup With Greens, Apple Salad, and Cilantro-Walnut Pesto

The soup:

15 medium beets, trimmed; greens reserved

10 cups beef broth (see recipe)

1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1. To make the soup, place beets and broth in a large pot. Bring to a

boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain,

reserving broth. When cool enough to handle, slip skins off beets. Set

aside 2 beets. Place half of the remaining beets in a food processor.

Measure broth and add enough water, if necessary, to make 9 cups.

Add half of broth to beets and puree until smooth. Repeat with remaining beets and broth. Combine batches and stir in salt and pepper. Reheat before serving and stir in lemon juice and more salt, if needed.

The beet greens:

1 tablespoon olive oil

Beet greens (see above), stemmed and coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2. To make the beet greens, heat 1-1/2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large

skillet over medium heat. Add the beet greens and saute for 10 minutes.

Add 1/3 cup of water, cover and cook until tender, about 10 minutes more. Coarsely grate the reserved beets and stir into the greens with 1-1/2 teaspoons of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, pepper and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Set aside.

The apple salad:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and grated

1-1/2 teaspoons walnut oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Stir in the apple, walnut oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Set aside.

The pesto:

3 cups cilantro leaves

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

4. Place the cilantro, walnuts and 1/2 cup of olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Add 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1-1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

Sour cream.

5. Place the beet green mixture, the apple mixture, the pesto and the sour cream in separate bowls. Ladle the soup into bowls. Serve, passing the condiments separately.

Yield: Six servings. •