Dragon Boat Atlanta

I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 kickoff meeting of Dragon Boat Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. It's a group of breast cancer survivors and supporters who want to increase the awareness of breast cancer, share the belief that there is quality of life after breast cancer, and believe that exercise plays a role in helping to achieve the highest quality of life. Sounds great, doesn't it? And the group that advocates this mantra is too! We zoomed up to the Lake Lanier area to join them, our saddlebags packed with a bottle of wine and this rice salad. I promised I'd pass on the recipe:

Eating Better Potluck Rice Salad

The Salad

1 Package *Wild and Brown Rice Mixture, prepared with low fat, low salt chicken broth

1 Cup Shredded Carrots

1/2 Chopped Pecans, Toasted

1/2 Cup Chopped Dried Apricots

1/2 Cup Raisins

1/2 Cup Craisins

1/2 Cup Dried Blueberries

1/4 Cup Chopped Green Onions

Juice from 1 Lemon

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Finely Shredded Romaine Lettuce

The Dressing

1 Garlic Clove, mashed to a paste with 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 TB Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tsp Curry Powder

1 Tsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 Tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Step 1 

While the brown and wild rice mixture is cooking, make the dressing. Mash the garlic together with the kosher salt to make a paste. Add the garlic paste along with the remaining ingredients to a jar and shake. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 2  

To the warm rice mixture, add the carrots, apricots, cranberries, raisins, blueberries and green onions, toss gently. Add the lemon juice. Finally, add the dressing, a little at a time.(You will not need all the dressing.)  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 3

Serve the salad on top of the shredded romaine. (You can make it dinner by tossing the rest of the dressing with boneless skinless chicken breasts. Salt and pepper the breasts, and grill or broil them - slice the cooked chicken on top of the salads.)

*My favorite rice mixes are Lundberg. They are widely available at most grocery stores.

To find out more about Dragon Boat Atlanta: dragonboatatlanta.org

Perfect Soup and Sandwich

Headed over to Roswell today to check out a new lunch spot. Tough to find and tucked away at the end of a long street of restaurants and cafes is Artisan Bakery. The great news is that it is worth the hunt. My friend and I both chose the daily special, a shrimp and avocado stuffed pita accompanied by 5 bean soup. The pita was incredibly light and fresh, the sandwich overflowing with veggies and fat, pink shrimp and the soup was "beany" and hardy. We checked out the surrounding tables to spy on other entrees and they all looked wonderful. For dessert we split an order of lemony hot powdered sugar beignets - 3 big boys that disappeared quickly. A hot and foamy and strong cafe au lait is the quintessential partner, and the Artisan version did not disappoint.

A Slice Well Worth the Drive!

Who doesn't love New York Pizza? Eureka! We've discovered an authentic New York slice here in Atlanta. Well...not exactly Atlanta. Alpine Bakery lives in Alpharetta - about a 30 minute drive from the city. We celebrated the warm weather today by cranking up the bike and cruising OTP, (that's outside the perimeter for you non-Atlantans). It was a beautiful sunny day, and we took backroads up to the burbs, giving us lots of time to get hungry. We arrived to find the New York style bakery and pizzeria in a strip mall. The bakery was pristine and sparkling, packed with case after case of temptations. We ordered our pizza, and tried not to drool as we chose a dessert to share. In 10 minutes we had our pie. There is no dining here - so we sat outside on a concrete bench and enjoyed the warm fresh tomato sauce and melting cheese. Heaven in a box!

Risotto Champs

What do you do with a group of foodies who not only love to cook, but work in the food biz? Challenge them to an Iron Chef Competition! This corporate group took the job of preparing risotto seriously, and came up with lots of good ideas. Cajun-Asian Shrimp Risotto anyone?

Have it Your Way!

Here's a delicious twist on customization. How would you like to pick up what looks good to you at the fish counter, take it right over to a cook who will grill, blacken or fry it in front of you. Instant satisfaction - Whole Foods has got a great idea! Not only can you take your fishy selection and get it prepared instantly, you can also purchase items in the store and customize your meal further - want whole wheat for your blackened halibut? Just grab the buns from the bread aisle and you have a personalized sandwich. I met a friend there for lunch last week. We had a great time "fishing", sharing a bottle of wine, (which we bought right off the shelf), and catching up. Try it yourself for a fun, fast and inexpensive good fish dinner. 

Iron Chef Risotto

Happy Birthday Toni! I taught a fun cooking class last night at Cooks Warehouse here in Atlanta. Paul threw a 5oth party for his wife Toni. We had an iron chef competion. Even the "non cooks" did a great job - take a look at the evening's results.

Organic or Natural, What Does it All Mean?

I receive lots of questions about eating "Organic" when I teach cooking classes. I thought I would give you a quick run down of some of the things you may want to think about when choosing groceries. First of all some quick definitions:

Organic: In the United States, this means that at least 95% of the ingredients in the food must be organically produced to wear the USDA Organic label. This means 95% of the foods must be produced without any hormones pesticides or other dangerous chemicals.

Natural: There is no official USDA definition of "Natural" so a food manufacturer can use this term how ever they wish.

Locavore: Someone who tries to eat foods produced in their own area. If you shop at a farmers market or a store that specializes in food grown nearby, you are a Locavore.

You can do a quick web search to find lists of foods that are best to buy organic.  The best advice I share is to eat a variety of different foods, always wash your produce and try to eat organic when possible - especially those foods you and your family eat often. For my family that means buying organic skim milk, yogurt, and other dairy products, celery, carrots, lettuce and organic poultry and meats. Even the large grocery stores are posting the country or state of origin for produce. Since I live in Georgia - I look for produce from Florida during the winter. This gives me the best options for "local" or at least regional produce.