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Sample Recipes
Ginger Banana Energy Smoothie©
Makes 20 oz. (two 10 oz. servings)
Ingredients
½ cup of ice
1
cup of milk1
2
ripe bananas
1
cup plain low-fat yogurt
1
tsp of fresh ginger peeled and grated with a micro plane
2
tbsp Agave nectar, brown sugar, or honey
Directions
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In a blender
add the ice, milk, yogurt, banana, cinnamon, and ginger
-
Process into a
homogenous puree.
-
You can add
sugar as needed
1 We usually
use Lactaid (lactose-free) fat-free milk, but almost any
other low-fat milk could be used.
The ginger gives this smoothie some bite.
If you don’t like ginger or if you don’t have fresh ginger,
you can substitute, ¼ tsp of orange zest or vanilla or
almond extract.
Marc’s Kick-Ass Low-Fat Risotto with
Asparagus and Morels*©
No cream, no butter, no wine -- Serves 2 as a
main dish, 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
1
cup of Risotto
1
bunch of average-size asparagus (Peeled to remove the green
skin 4)
2
cups of fat-free/MSG-free chicken or vegetable stock (or 2
vegetable bouillon cubes)
3
Tbsp of dry mushrooms (Morels or Porcini) soaked for 1hour
in the stock
2
Tbsp of parmesan cheese (get very good block cheese and
grate it finely)
Thyme 4 sprig (or ¼ tsp dry)
Salt to taste
The good part about this recipe is that older
flavors are concentrated and the vitamins stay in, because
you don’t use water, you soak the mushrooms and cook the
asparagus in the stock for the risotto.
Substitutions: For people who don’t like
risotto, brown rice is an alternative that could be used for
this recipe. For the chicken stock, we used fat-free/MSG-free
Swanson canned chicken stock, but we actually prefer home
made.
Dried Morel Mushrooms
*We love the morel mushrooms; however,
they are less available and about three times as expensive
as porcini mushrooms. The latter can be substituted in this
recipe.
TIP: How to Peel and Dice Asparagus
  
When used as an ingredient in a recipe like
risotto, asparagus should be peeled; otherwise they are tough
and stringy or you just use the tips. It’s usually the bottom two-thirds that need
peeling. When dicing asparagus, cut them on a bias.
Directions
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Plan ahead.
Soak the dry mushrooms in a ½ cup of the
chicken/vegetable stock (Don’t over-soak them; when they
plump up, they are ready to use.) Save the soaking
stock, and place in a small skillet.
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Add the thyme,
bay leaf, to the soaking liquid. Use half a can of store
bought chicken stock, cook for five minutes and remove
the bay leaf and thyme.
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Dice the
asparagus in ½ - ¾ inch length (as shown above)
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Cook in the
stock for a few minutes until al dente. Remove and let
cool down immediately to preserve its green color.
-
Place the
risotto in a pan, add another ½ cup of stock, and bring
to a simmer while stirring with a wooden spoon
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Once the liquid
has been soaked by the rice, add another ½ cup following
the same procedure as earlier until the rice becomes
creamy and al dente. It should take about 20 minutes.
Towards the end, if you need more liquid (than two cans
of stock), add water ½ cup at a time
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Add the
asparagus, the mushrooms, parmesan cheese and
salt to taste
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Serve
immediately
This dish is full-flavored without any
fat, except for the
two tablespoons of parmesan that is used
for flavoring.
Jamie’s comments: This risotto is
wonderful as a brunch dish, as a side dish, or as an entrée.
I love to serve this with a large simple salad. My favorite
is just cut-up romaine lettuce with a light application of
my “every-day vinaigrette.” With a crunchy salad, this risotto is
almost like a salad topping, and the flavor and texture
combo is terrific.
Mad Mushroom Stew©
Ingredients
8 oz crimini mushrooms (trim ¼" from
stems, wash, dry and quarter)
8 oz of shitake mushrooms (remove the stems,
wash, dry and quarter)
1 lb of domestic mushrooms (trim ¼" from
stems, wash, dry and quarter)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup of red potatoes (skin on, wash, and
dice into ½" dices)
1 cup of golden fleshed potato (skin on,
wash, and dice into ½" dices)
1 cup of parsnips (peel and dice into ½"
dices)
1 Tbsp of parsley (remove from stem, wash,
dry, chop coarsely)
1 Tbsp rosemary (remove from stem, wash, dry,
chop finely)
1 Tbsp sage (remove from stem, wash, dry,
chop finely)
1 Tbsp thyme (wash, remove from stem, dry,
chop finely)
1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock if
you prefer a vegetarian dish)
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese.
Directions
Sauté the mushrooms together on high heat in
a pan with the olive oil.
When golden brown, add the potatoes, parsnip,
parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, chicken stock, bring to a
boil and simmer, and cook covered. It will take about 10 to
15 minutes to cook the potatoes.
Platter and sprinkle with the parmesan. Serve
immediately.
Tips: Cook the mushrooms on very high heat
and do not shake the pan excessively while cooking the
mushroom as they will render water and boil instead of
browning. Also, if the stock evaporates, you may add more
stock as needed, but this mushroom "stew" does not need to be
in sauce.
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