Kalamata Salad Dressing

They say that every good French chef should have a good salad dressing recipe. Well I am not a chef, but I do have a superior salad dressing recipe. And it is my version of Kalamata Dressing. The dressing is made with Kalamata Olives, also known as the Greek Olive. Kalamata olives originated from the Kalamata region in Greece. Often the Kalamata olive is made into Olive Oil, but when it is not you can find the olives packed in vinegar or brine. It is purple in color and crowded with flavor. Its flavor might be described as meaty, and is often accompanied alone or with cooked meats.

I once had the opportunity to briefly visit this region. Enjoying its beauty and lush valleys filled with olive trees. We were on our way to Delphi which sits high up in the mountains. Below was the city of Itea, which sits next to the sea. In between Itea and Delphi were the fields of kalamata olive trees. The heartland of all things Kalamata. At Delphi, a city that has a view at every corner and in every direction. You could see the sea in the distance, the mountains above us, and the view of Kalamata olive trees below. That night in Delphi we enjoyed a huge Greek feast of course with fresh Kalamata Olives, sitting at an outside terrace overlooking the views below. Life doesn’t get any better or fresher then that. It is one of the prettiest places I have ever been; and it is no wonder that I love this salad dressing.

Best if served with a salad or as a dipping sauce for breads. It makes an incredible merger with an arugula, tomato, cumber, and Greek feta cheese salad.

Bon appétit.

Recipe:
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup (packed) pitted Kalamata olives without the juices
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

In a blender puree the extra -virgin olive oil, olives, and vinegar. Season dressing to taste with pepper.

*Note: if the salad dressing has a vinegary taste that is not to your liking, add sea salt to help cut the acidity taste. And next time cut down on the vinegar portions a teaspoon at a time.

Cookng Yourself Skinny with Candice Kumai

On July 27th and 28th Chef Candice Kumai taught two cooking classes at the Sur La Table Kitchen in Newport Beach, California. If you don’t know who Chef Candice is you might want to think back to the first season of Top Chef, or you can find her on Lifetime’s hit “Cook Your Self Skinny” as one of the three chefs who teach you how to make your favorite fat and carb loaded foods to healthier options with fewer calories and fat. Though she didn’t win the Top Chef prize, she did win big points in her nutritionally delicious recipes, that looked allot more like real food then the typically tasteless nutritional food you associate with hospital food.

Chef Candice’s first cooking class “Skinny Summer Grilling,” included Sweet Grilled Peach and Spinach Salad, Grilled Flatbread Mediterranean Pizza, Grilled Spicy Tex Mex Shrimp Skewers, Honey BBQ Salmon with a Mango, Papaya, and Roasted Red Pepper Salsa, and finally a Skinny Summer Grilled White Peaches and Cream. Taking advantage of the fresh fruits that were in season, the clear winner for Monday night’s menu was the grilled white peaches and cream. The peaches were cut in half and grilled to softness then topped with a non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with honey and brown sugar and candied walnuts that used egg whites to help cut the fat. It tasted just as good as the real fat and sugar packed Peaches and Cream my grandmother use to make.

On the first night Chef Candice also showed us how to make pizza without adding a pound of calorie packed cheese. Simply sauté your ingredients in a pan with a dab of olive oil till they are cooked. Then top your ingredients on a pre-made low fat pizza dough that you grilled. Lightly sprinkle with parmesan cheese, or a cheese with fewer calories and more flavor then your typical mozzarella. And poof, you have a flavor packed pizza.

For the second night the theme was “Classics Made Skinny,” including Secret Skinny Caesar Salad, Classic Lean Sliders with Golden Roasted Sweet Potato Fries, Caramelized Pear and Gorgonzola Flatbread, Fresh Fuji Apple Crab Cakes served on top of a Mango, Papaya, and Roasted Red Pepper Salsa, and finally Homemade Skinny Dreamy Chocolate Mint ‘Ice Cream Sandwiches’. Chef Candice didn’t stop pulling out the surprises. Her Sliders called for 96% fat free Lean Ground Beef, and an array of herbs to be mixed together then grilled to a delicious perfection. Not to be out done her Fresh Fuji Apple Crab Cakes packed a huge flavor punch, lightly cooking them in a sauté pan first then off to the oven to finish cooking. When served the crab cakes sit in a bed of Mango, Papaya, and Red Pepper Salsa. To add a tang of taste to the dish.

The third surprise of the night was the ‘Ice Cream Sandwiches’ not really made of ice cream, but cool whip, mint extract, and chocolate chips on low fat graham crackers. Then frozen till hard, was a light dessert that could satisfy any sweet tooth without adding a donut around your waist.

Chef Candice was a breath of fresh air, not only is she drop dead gorgeous, but she is inspiring to a world full of tasteless healthy food. The senses couldn’t tell that you were eating half the fat and calories that you would normally find in standard recipes. Now we all just want to know, when her yummy cookbook is coming out?