Veggie Chocolate Mousse––Seriously!

Who doesn't like chocolate pudding? It's been my comfort food of choice since my mom made it for me way back when (we'll not that long ago, she still makes it for me. I just don't smear it on my face and the walls like I used to.) So when I recently signed up for an on-line program called "Nourishing Food Detox for Beginners: 5 Days of Easy & Nourishing Foods for Your Mind, Body & Spirit," I was intrigued by one of the recommended desserts––a Raw Chocolate Mousse. Aha! I would not suffer on this "nourishing, easy, detox"! I wondered what made this mousse healthy since I'd be off all dairy, wheat and a long list of other forbidden foods and mainly living on vegetables and grains like amaranth, quinoa and millet.

OK, ready for this? The magic ingredient that made this chocolate mousse/pudding healthy was one AVOCADO! The rest of the ingredients were amazingly simple: 1/2 cup of raw cacao powder (I used Dagoda, it's an excellent brand), 1/3 cup of maple syrup, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of water. Put all the ingredients into a blender. Blend until thick and smooth. Scoop into a serving bowl or fancy glasses and chill. Amazingly delicious, chocolatey, smooth and very satisfying. You would never know there was an avocado in there! Not a spec of its green color shows up when it's blended. This recipe is now a regular go-to for a fast and easy dessert at our house.

And, yes, the detox was successful. I've never felt better and actually lost 9 pounds...even while enjoying several chocolate mousses! Then there was the sweet potato pudding and the pear smoothies. Just know that I did not suffer for good health! The process was truly easy and nourishing. If you are interested, you can learn more at http://www.eatwellenjoylife.com

Argentinian Red Shrimp

 The checker at Trader Joe's excitedly pointed to the bag of frozen shrimp in my cart and exclaimed, "If you haven't had these before you aren't going to believe how good they are! They're from Argentina and only available for a short time. They are amazing––taste just like lobster. You're gonna love'em." And he wasn't even my checker... he was in the line next to me and had gone out of his way to tell me about the possibly unknown treasure I had. The good news is––he wasn't kidding. These shrimp are unique. If I was blindfolded, given one to eat and didn't know it was a shrimp, I'd say I was eating a sweet  bit of lobster––the texture and flavor are definitely more lobstery than shrimp-like.

I sauteed these amazing shrimp/lobsters from Argentina in butter and garlic–added some linguine and cilantro and created the main course to follow the cheese plate (see previous blog post) for New Year's Eve.

It was a delightfully, delicious way to welcome the new year–and with 3 more bags of my newly found treasure in the freezer–2012 is looking pretty good.

Just Say "Cheese"

 It was New Year's Eve Day at the Ferry Building in SF and I fearlessly took a number at the exceptionally crowded Cowgirl Creamery Cheese Store––determined not to be intimidated by all I did not know about buying imported cheeses. People whose numbers had already been called were making tasting faces as they savored the flavors and textures of their tiny cheese samples. The young woman just in front of me had her iPhone out and was checking a detailed list of exotic cheese names and her descriptions of their flavors. "Whoa!" I exclaimed, "What a great idea." I vowed that I would start doing the same. But for now, I was a novice in serious cheese country.

I heard my number called and one of the clerks looked at me expectantly. I was wondering what I was going to say...  "I'd like a creamy blue and two other different cheeses to go on a cheese plate. Maybe something hard and perhaps a goat cheese." That was the extent of my expertise but it resulted in an exciting foray into cheeses with very unusual names: Fourme d'Ambert was the "creamy blue." Divine––creamy, dreamy, with a soft blue note. Queso Leonora was the goat cheese––also creamy but very, very light with an ever so slight hint of lemon. Coolea was a Dutch Gouda that was the response to "something hard" and it was amazing. The perfect counter point to the creamy selections. My taste buds were alive! The tiny samples were promises of so much more than my usual Safeway Camembert. Emboldened by my new found cheese discoveries, I added a slice of Colston Bassett Stilton to my order.

Joe walked up with two loaves of Acme bread (this bread is the best) from their bakery two spaces down in the Ferry Building. We were good to go...one Happy New Year coming up...and here's to many more adventures at the cheese counter!