Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Healthy Snack Wednesday: Bright, Fresh, and Healthy

I just came back from a fantastic weekend in Washington DC at Eat Write Retreat filled with wonderful people, inspirational seminars, and plenty of food. This food blogger conference was full of practical, hands-on activities mixed with a good dose of expert panels and networking.  I'm still trying to process all of the great information I took in, so a full recap will follow later.

Not all of the weekend eats (chili cheeseburger) make the cut for Healthy Snack Wednesday, but there was one dish that fits perfectly! On Saturday afternoon we had the opportunity to attend a cooking demonstration and class at CulinAerie, a cooking school in the heart of downtown DC. Founder Susan Holt created three delicious and easy recipes using endive and other fresh ingredients.

Left to Right: Me, Maisha, Christina, and Isabelle

My fellow participants and I learned proper knife skills techniques and tips to create beautiful and flavorful dishes.



The dish that makes the Healthy Snack Wednesday cut is a salad of endive, avocado, tarragon, and grapefruit. This was bright, fresh, and healthy! Depending on how adept at supreming a grapefruit you are, this is a quick and easy recipe (I was not very smooth...).



As I was thinking about this recipe tonight, I realized that it fits in perfectly with the celebration of May as National Mediterranean Diet Month. I've been checking out recipes and information from Oldways since I found them through twitter last year. Oldways has been promoting the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet since 1993 and are continuing to spread the word. I'm not a believer in diets - but what they really promote is eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and healthy fats. That is something that I believe in!

Take a look at their Mediterranean Diet Pyramid (you can download a copy here) - there are great tips to keep in mind for healthy eating. Looking at it, I realize that I actually do most of their recommendations. I ALWAYS eat breakfast, try to add fruits and vegetables to every meal, and include healthy dairy in my diet.

As part of National Mediterranean Diet Month, Oldways offered to give one of my readers a signed copy of “The Oldways Table,” by K. Dun Gifford and Sara Baer-Sinnott. All you need to do to win is leave a comment with your favorite Mediterranean inspired dish or tell me how you incorporate healthy habits into your diet. I'll pick the winner next Tuesday and announce the winner on Wednesday. For now, I hope that you enjoy this recipe.



Salad of Endive, Avocado, Tarragon, and Grapefruit
Recipe Created by Susan Holt, Chef/Instructor at CulinAerie
Serves 4


8 bulbs red endive
1 large grapefruit
1 medium ripe avocado
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons chopped tarragon leaves (I forgot to add this!)
Finishing salt and fresh pepper

Cut the endive bulbs on a bias into 1 inch pieces, discarding the core
Supreme the grapefruit by removing the rind with a sharp knife and separating the segments from the membrane
Set segments aside in a bowl and juice remaining membrane over the segments
Slice the avocado open lengthwise and remove the pit
Using a large spoon, remove the avocado half from the skin
Using a sharp knife, slice the avocado lengthwise into thin slices, leaving them attached at the root end
Use your hand or the back of the knife to gently press down and fan the avocado on a serving plate



Sprinkle the chopped endive around the avocado and place grapefruit segments on the avocado
Combine the olive oil with the grapefruit juice and tarragon
Spoon over the avocado, endive, and grapefruit
Sprinkle plate with finishing salt and pepper
Enjoy!

Cutting board, knives, bowl, measuring cups and spoons, serving plate and utensils


Don't forget! Leave a comment with your favorite Mediterranean inspired dish or snack to be entered to win a signed copy of the Oldways Table. Happy health snacking!

12 comments:

  1. FunandFearlessinBeantownMay 24, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    I loved all of the Mediterranean-inspired recipes on the Oldways site!  I made a yummy cannellini bean spread with truffle balsamic vinegar this month in honor of the Mediterranean diet!

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  2. I pretty much follow the Mediterranean Diet too (just with extra chocolate thrown in hehe). My favorite Mediterranean inspired recipe lately is Mediterranean Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli! http://www.confessionsofachocoholic.com/healthy/what-to-do-with-teeny-tiny-potatoes

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  3. That salad was the bomb. I must re-create it here at home. So nice to be your roommate this weekend and spend so much time together. What a blast it all was! :-) Hope to catch up with you soon!

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  4. Your salad looks beautiful and healthy. Great pictures too. I am now following you . I would love it if you visited my blog and followed back at www.glutenfreewithjudee.blogspot.com

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  5. That is brilliant :-) I wish we had something like this in South Africa 

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  6. I thought our salad looked good, but you guys rocked yours! I can see why you were the keeners at the front of the class:) Great meeting you this weekend!

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  7. I love feta dip!  Its delicious and sooooo versatile.  yumyumyum.  this salad looks like something that's right up my alley, I must try it!   Looks like EWR was an absolute blast can't wait to hear more about it!

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  8. Your salad came out so much more beautiful than our group's did!  It was really a fantastic dish and so simple to make! Hmm...maybe this is on today's shopping list.

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  9. I loved this salad. Although, I do sometimes think that tarragon tastes like baby powder. Not that I eat baby powder, but you know...I really like the cooking class. I'm just typing up my post on EWR now. Wish we were all still in DC! :)

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  10. That salad looks awesome! Although I'm not a huge tarragon fan, I could put less in and still get a nice mix of flavors.

    One of my favorite Mediterranean-inspired dishes is salmon with couscous, almond and raisin pilaf. I believe it's a Martha Stewart recipe. VERY nummy!

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  11. This salad sounds fantastic, so many of my favorite things. Looks like it was a great weekend!

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  12. How funny! This is the recipe I posted, too! So bright and fresh and pretty to look at, too. What a fabulous weekend! Wish we'd been in the same group so we could have spent some time!

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