Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Want a healthy version of alfredo sauce?  This recipe will really surprise you.  You would never know it had cauliflower.

1 head cauliflower
1 box silken tofu (any kind)
1 T miso
1 T nutritional yeast
1 t salt
1 T onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 C soy milk (or water)

Chop and then steam the cauliflower until soft.  Put cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  For a thicker sauce, use less soy milk.  For a thinner sauce, use more.  Then, pour over pasta.  Usually, the hot cauliflower keeps the sauce at a good serving temperature.

Enjoy!

Mocha Truffles

This is a super simple dessert recipe that will please most anyone.  It is inspired by a recipe a good friend gave me.  While it is a whole-food recipe, it is not low-fat.  Bring it out once at a year at the holidays and share with friends.

1/2 C nuts - raw or toasted cashews, almonds, peanuts, or walnuts
1/2 C dates
2 T cocoa powder or low-fat cocoa powder
2 t whole coffee beans (whatever your favorite coffee is)

In a food processor, blend the nuts until it makes nut butter or close to it.  Then throw in the dates and coca powder and process again until smooth.  Then, toss in the coffee beans and pulse until the coffee beans are chopped into small chunks.

Roll by hand into bite-sized balls and serve.  You can even roll them in more cocoa powder if you like the taste.

Enjoy!  

Som Tam Thai Salad Dressing

This is an amazing and simple Thai salad dressing for a Som Tam salad.  I almost lost this recipe except for a single email I sent a year ago.  Phew!  Glad I've got it.  Now I can refer to it too!

Som Tam Salad Dressing
1/2 C lime juice
1T sugar
1 t soy sauce
2-3 slices of red or green chili pepper

The longer the chili marinates, the hotter it gets.  Enjoy!

(BTW, I haven't stopped blogging.  Things have just slowed down with my work to create a healthier world.  Check out my blog on health leadership for more information).

Ethiopian Clove Coffee

So, in addition to posting recipes for the world to see here, this is also my own online reference for my recipes.  Here's one I picked up from an Ethiopian restaurant here in Atlanta.  Ethiopia is known for their coffee and occasionally they add spice.  I'm a coffee purist usually, but this one blew me away.

2T ground coffee
1/4 t ground cloves

I brew this in a french press or you can run it through an espresso machine.  Great flavor addition that adds to the coffee flavor without overpowering it.  This recipe also works well with cardamom.  

Recipe: Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is a super-easy and very tasty dressing.  We use this with cooked beets for a cold beet salad.  Delicious!

1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1t dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

That's it!  Whisk it together and pour it over a salad or use it as a marinade.

Enjoy!

Film: Forks Over Knives

I had the distinct pleasure tonight of seeing a preview screening of the film, "Forks Over Knives" in Atlanta.  It is a must-see movie.  Great work on behalf of all involved.  Don't miss this when it is released in March.

Here are a few more pics of the special guests too!  Truly an epic evening.

Me and Rip Esselstyn, Author of the "Engine 2 Diet."

Me and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, author of "Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease."

Me and Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of "The China Study."

What's Cooking At Le Chateau Soleil?

Grapefruit Kanten in Shell

Many people may be wondering what the heck has been happening at Le Chateau Soleil?  I haven't stopped cooking.  I've been learning.  A LOT.  

Here is my favorite new cookbook:

Kansha: Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions by Elizabeth Andoh.

If you are serious about expanding your cooking talents, get this book.  It is full of cooking techniques, ideas and ingredients you have not likely encountered before. Kansha means "appreciation" in Japanese.  It is a philosophy of appreciating the abundance of vegetables and being frugal with them.  No waste.  Just the cover of the book alone shows many dishes you can make with the whole daikon radish, green tops included.  

While the book is not oil-free, most of the recipes can easily be adapted.  Many of them are already oil-free.  It does not take much reading to see how traditional Japanese cooking kept people healthy.  It was based on three things: rice, soup and pickles.  All plant-based, whole food cooking.  Truly an amazing and very challenging book for a Western chef.  

I am also doing a fair bit of work these days locally organizing ways to prevent obesity and diet-related disease in Atlanta.  So, my apologies for the delay in posting, but not to worry.  I'm still around and will post as often I am able.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday!