Cucumber Tea Infused Ribbons with Vanilla Bean Sea Salt

Whenever I get a new ingredient I'm always looking for different ways to use it.  This new cucumber salad was inspired by a new loose tea I purchased to make my husband a healthy iced tea.

It is a loose organic tea, called Yerba Mate and it is a holly tree native to the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.  It's antioxidant properties are higher than green tea, so I was sold on it.

I brewed a big batch for my husband's ice tea and as it sat steeping and developing color and aroma my mind was racing on ways to use this with food.

I had just received a big bag of cucumbers from a friends garden and I had my Vanilla Bean sea salt on the counter - Shazam...an idea was born!

I decided to make a unique and delicate dressing with the Yerba Mate tea, extra virgin olive oil, a splash of vinegar and Vanilla Bean sea salt!  

Ingredients:

1) 2-3 cucumbers
2) 1/2 orange
3) 1/4 cup of brewed and steeped tea (your choice)
4) 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
5) 1/4 teaspoon of raw organic apple cider vinegar (or your choice)
6) 2-3 pinches of Vanilla Bean sea salt (or to taste)

Directions:

I decided to make cucumber ribbons to match the delicate nature of the dressing.  With a vegetable peeler remove the dark green skin on the cucumbers. Then slowly peel your cucumber with a bit of pressure to obtain ribbons the length of your cucumber.  Rotate  and continue peeling off ribbons until you get to the seeds, then stop.  You will have enough for an elegant side dish.  You can use the remaining cucumbers cut up in disks or use in your juicer.

Cut your navel orange in half, peel and dice into small chunks. Mix into your cucumber ribbons.  

Dressing:  Whisk your olive oil, tea, vinegar and sea salt together to get all ingredients blended together.

Pour your dressing over the cucumber ribbons and oranges and sprinkle lightly with Vanilla Bean sea salt!

This dish is simple, healthy, quick and elevated!  All of the delicate exotic flavors mingle together and bathe the ribbons.  The Vanilla Bean sea salt makes a huge impact on pulling all of the ingredients together with the delightful vanilla flavor and sea salt punch, it would not be the same without it.

Savory Short Ribs Smothered and Covered

On my real food journey, my eyes have been opened to the individual ingredient and everything it has to offer.  You have to because it does not come in a box with instructions...so it forces you to get to know it!

Take short ribs for example.  I have never really thought about what could come of these little guys until recently.  I found out that you can't just grill them and that you really need to cook them slowly and purposefully.  Once cooked it's a virtual canvas as to what you smother and cover them in.

I had some French Dijon mustard in the refrigerator and some fresh fennel so I decided to make a quick honey Dijon sauce and crispy fennel to finish these off.  The sea salt that completes the dish is my go to favorite with honey and mustard - Vanilla Bean sea salt!

Ingredients:

1)  2 lbs of short ribs
2)  4 tablespoons of French Dijon mustard
3)  1 tablespoon of raw organic honey (or to taste)
4)  1 tablespoon of raw organic apple cider vinegar
5)  1 large fennel bulb
6)  1 tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil

Directions:

First broil your short ribs in a hot oven (425 degrees) for about 15 minutes to brown and sear the ribs.  Transfer the ribs to a stock pot and fill with filtered water to cover the ribs about 2 inches above the meat. Cook in a low oven (270 degrees) for 3 hours to slowly cook the meat.  At this point the ribs are fully cooked and very tender.  Now it's time to add your sauce and broil one more time to sear in the sauce.  Arrange your short ribs on a pan and add the sauce.

Sauce:  Whisk together the Dijon mustard, honey, vinegar and olive oil and spread on top of the short ribs, reserve some for plating.  Place under the broil until the sauce begins to bubble, but does not burn.

While your preparing your short ribs slice a fennel bulb into thin strips and cook on top of the stove until browned and a bit crispy.  Top your short ribs with the cooked fennel, a bit of the reserved Dijon sauce and finish the entire dish with a sprinkle of Vanilla Bean sea salt!

Grilled Orange and Radicchio Salad

I love to try new things and radiccio was on the list!  I had seen a plate one time with grilled radiccio and orange wedges and it looked and sounded fantastic.

I am the kind of cook that sees something and goes with the idea and not necessarily the recipe or same list of ingredients.  I had a couple of ingredients in the pantry that I thought would work well with this grilled leaf vegetable and orange.

Here we go!

Ingredients:

1)  1 whole radiccio
2)  1 large navel orange
3)  1 tablespoon of raw organic honey
4)  2 tablespoons of blood orange olive oil (or plain)
5)  1 tablespoon of braggs raw apple cider vinegar
6)  Vanilla Bean sea salt

Directions:

Wash and section your whole radicchio into wedges.  Try to keep them intact with the base of the stem. Lightly coat your sectioned radicchio with olive oil and a small dusting of salt.  Peel your navel orange and divide into two sections for easy grilling.  

Get your grill up to high temp and place your radicchio and blood orange down on the hot grill.  Close the lid for about 4-5 to get the slight char on the ingredients and to heat them through.  Turn and repeat until the radicchio is soft and slightly charred.  The orange will char slightly and the juices will begin to flow.

Pull off all ingredients and plate the radicchio in sections and cover with the grilled orange sections.  

I make a quick dressing:  Whisk 1 tablespoon of raw organic honey, 2 tablespoons of blood orange olive oil and 1 tablespoon of braggs apple cider vinegar.  

Pour this dressing over the plated salad, garnish with flat Italian parsley and sprinkle the entire dish with Vanilla Bean sea salt!

Radicchio has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted.  It amazingly transforms when grilled and combined with the sweetness of the grilled orange and dressing. The salad is completely taken over the edge when you add the Vanilla Bean sea salt to finish the dish off!  The Vanilla in the salt combines so well with all the ingredients and adds another dimension to an already fabulous concoction.

Warm Kale Toasted Almond Citrus Salad

It is kale season here in Florida and we had a bunch of fresh kale to make into fabulous dishes!

I decided to make a warm salad with this fresh ingredient along with some cool elements of citrus!

Ingredients:

1)  One large bowl of organic grown kale (10-15 stalks)

2)  One large organic blood orange or orange of choice

3)  1/2 cup of slivered almonds

4)  2-3 Tablespoons of coconut oil

5)  Raspberry vinaigrette (store bought with good ingredients).

6)  Vanilla Bean sea salt and Ghost Pepper sea salt (optional)

Directions:

Wash kale and separate from the stalk into pieces.  Saute kale in a tablespoon of coconut oil until wilted.  Cut up the blood orange into sections and add to plated sauteed kale.  Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to small saute pan and lightly brown slivered almonds.  Add almonds to salad and lightly drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette.

I added Vanilla Bean sea salt to heighten the flavor of all ingredients and added a touch of vanilla.  I also added a very little pinch of Ghost Pepper sea salt to add some heat to this sweet salad!

Enjoy!

Raw Turnip and Fennel Salad Bathed in Honey Dijon and Vanilla Bean Sea Salt

Such a long name for such a simple salad!  I absolutely adore fresh produce and this was one of the freshest!

I was invited to pick fresh turnips from the ground at a friends garden.  So I packed up my two children, age 4 and 6, and off we went!  They had so much fun searching for the turnips!  They identified them by their above ground leaves and the slight bit of purplish pink poking above the ground.

We gathered 3 bags and off we went to prepare these little gems.  They had so much fun on the back patio shaking off the dirt while we used the knives to trim.

Since these were so fresh, I thought my first meal with them would be a raw salad to honor the freshness.  A raw turnip tastes similar to a radish, therefore I decided to thinly cut them and make a simple honey Dijon vinaigrette to bring some sweetness and tang to the plate.  The 'Simple Elevation' is the addition of Vanilla Bean sea salt once plated!  I found Vanilla Bean to pair very well with honey Dijon and fresh, raw vegetables!

Ingredients:
1)  8-10 small turnips or 1-2 medium turnips
2)  2 tablespoons of raw organic honey
3)  4 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
4)  1/2 tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar
5)  1 bunch of parsley
6)  Thinly sliced fennel (optional)...I had some and added it to another plate with the turnips and the combination was excellent!

Directions:

Thinly slice turnips and arrange on a plate.  Combine all ingredients for Honey Dijon Vinegarette and drizzle over turnip slices.  Sprinkle with Vanilla Bean sea salt and roughly chop and garnish with fresh parsley.

Dandelion Green Salad

What a wonderful green salad...If you have never had dandelions, it's worth a try.  They are a bit bitter, so it's best to pair it with something sweet.

I choose to use my organic fresh red beets that I used raw and shaved. 

For the dressing, I used two tablespoons of raw organic honey with two tablespoons of coconut oil heated on the stove.  Cook over the stove and add 1/2 cup of fresh walnuts into the sauce and continue to cook until the sauce is a bit brown and let cool.  Mix a tablespoon of olive oil and tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and add to the honey sauce. Once mixed pour this over the salad and enjoy!

We finished this salad with Vanilla Bean sea salt!

Vanilla Bean Dusted Parsnip Fries and Honey Dijon Dip

Making your own delicious healthy fries are quick and easy and you do not need any fancy equipment or fryers.

Parsnips are so unique and have such a distinctive sweet flavor.  Some say they are a cross between a potato, carrot and turnip.  I just find them extremely delicious!

They look just like a carrot, but they are white!  Peel the outer skin or if you know they are organic go ahead and use a vegetable brush to scrub clean.  

Once cleaned cut in half lengthwise and then cut into thin strips.  We used about 6 medium parsnips for this dish.  Place on a baking pan and add about a two tablespoons of coconut oil to coat all strips.  

Bake in the oven at 425 degrees being careful to turn and avoid burning.  Once golden brown and fully cooked pull out, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and season with Vanilla Bean sea salt.  The Vanilla Bean sea salt is amazing with the sweetness of these fries.  The vanilla shines through and elevates the already amazing fried parsnip.

To kick this up another notch...add a side of Honey Dijon Mustard dipping sauce!  So GOOD!

1)  1 tablespoon raw organic honey
2)  1/2 tablespoon of raw organic apple cider vinegar
3)  2 tablespoons of quality Dijon Mustard

Mix and use as a dip!

Trust me your going to want a bigger batch the next time!