Nourish Blog

April01

Weekend Radar :: Food for Thought Exhibit

If you're looking for something to do to buck tomorrow's rainy afternoon forecast, pop into the "Food for Thought" food photography exhibit at the Robert Mann gallery (11th Ave & 24th St). The exhibit highlights artists including Iriving Penn and Ansel Adams, food signs, photos from French markets and more, all spanning the past 80 years. A nice dose of culinary imagery to spark up your senses. The exhibit runs through May 14th.

The Cutest Darn Granola Bar

I've expressed my love of 18 Rabbits granola and granola bars many times over--great ingredients (organic, sustainably-sourced and delicious), great packaging and design (come on, we all know it helps) and great minds behind the brand (my close friend Alison and her savvy team of granola ). The San Fran-based team has now introduced Bunny Bars, petite 120 calorie versions of their bars made with kiddies in mind--no nuts included. The bars are just as tasty and energizing as the full-size version and are quite satisfying for the adult who's hit the wall around 4pm and needs an afternoon pick-me-up. The bars come in 4 flavors, or rather 4 rabbit-eared friends (Mimi Merry Mango Strawberry, Rocco Choco Banana, Squeaky Cheeky Choco Cherry and Deedee Dot Cherry Apricot) to make them that much more kid-friendly, healthy and fun at the same time. Given their commitment to encouraging healthy eating in kids and to nutrition education, the brand has partnered with the San Francisco Food Bank to give back more than 1% of sales from bars to local SF urban schools.
You'll find 18 Rabbits's big bars at various Whole Foods locations nationwide, Wegmans, Fairway, Cibo (in a number of airports) as well as online. For a full list of stockists or to snag them online, click here.
Happy weekend!

Beets :: Quick Clean Up for Spring

I'm willing warm temperatures to come on strong...any day now. If nothing else, sunshine and a bit of spring cleaning is a decent place to start. If you're looking for a nice 'jumpstart' towards beach season, give a thought to a nice bowl of roasted beets, or a simple beet salad, or some more creative uses for the colorful root veg. Beets are like your personal springtime cleanup crew. Jammed with antioxidants and nutrients to detox the liver along with a good dose of fiber, they'll flush out toxins and kick up digestion super fast. Just beware, they'll stain virtually anything they come in contact with, nothing a good washing can't take care of. Check out these brilliant photos and easy beet recipes from my latest column in Rue Magazine's fourth issue. Click here for Bright Beet & Feta Dip with Grilled Toasts; Golden & Ruby Beet Salad with Oranges, Hazelnuts & Fiore Sardo Cheese; Dark Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Goat Cheese-Hazelnut Frosting (oh yeah, they're crazy good!).

...and a few more gorgeous pics from the talented Rima Campbell.

Dark Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Goat Cheese-Hazelnut Frosting

Serves :: 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

• 5 ounces good-quality dark chocolate (64% cacao or higher)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, divided
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups beet puree*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

goat cheese-hazelnut frosting
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 8 ounces soft goat cheese (1 large log)
• 8 ounces Neufchatel cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons Frangelico liqueur

*For the beet puree, trim roots and tips of 4 large beets and place in a large pot, cover with water. Simmer for about 40 minutes until tender. Drain water and allow beets to cool. Remove skin by rubbing off with your fingers or a paper towel. Cut beets into quarters, place in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Directions

Preparation - Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line mini muffin trays with mini paper liners. Melt dark chocolate and 4 tablespoons butter over a double boiler. Cream remaining butter with sugars in a large bowl with an electric beater or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add eggs one by one until well blended. Beat in chocolate, beet puree and vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into batter and mix well. Spoon batter into cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 7 minutes and swap the position of trays in oven. Bake another 7 to 9 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool and transfer to a cooling rack.
Frosting - Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat until well-blended. Frost each cupcake using a knife or piping bag and tip for icing.
*For the beet puree, trim roots and tips of 4 large beets and place in a large pot, cover with water. Simmer for about 40 minutes until tender. Drain water and allow beets to cool. Remove skin by rubbing off with your fingers or a paper towel. Cut beets into quarters, place in a food processor and blend until smooth.

images via :: Rue Magazine & Rima Campbell