Truffle Vegetable Medley Orzo Salad

This weekend my daughter and I went to the farmer's market to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables for the house. While we were there, I came up with my dinner idea for the evening. It was a hot summer day in Los Angeles and I did not feel like cooking in a hot kitchen so I decided to make a cold meal for dinner. The idea was healthy, simple and good. I came up with this recipe:

Ingredients:

3 Lemons
2 tablespoons truffle oil
1 box of cooked orzo
6 persian cucumbers
4 red, green, and yellow peppers
2 avocados
1 red onion fried up for the topping
1/2 log of goat cheese
a bunch of green onions
1 bag of arugula
1 pint of grape tomatoes
chicken from leftover rotisserie chicken
3 tablespoons of salt or to taste

Cook orzo according to box instructions and drain. Toss with juice of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon of salt.  Chop all vegetables and toss altogether in a large salad bowl. Cut up avocado and put on top. Add orzo and mix everything together including cooked rotisserie chicken or any cold chicken or salmon you have leftover. If you do not have any leftover chicken or salmon, you can omit or prepare some chicken to your taste to add to the salad. Add remaining juice of lemons, salt, and truffle oil and toss. Top with goat cheese and serve with a nice glass of pinot grigio.


Sit outside and enjoy the light meal on a hot summer night.

The Ivy Chopped Salad Recipe

Do you notice that as soon as summer starts to heat up people are eating more cold soups and salads? I love the summer because it means linen pants and tee shirts. Summer is about taking it easy and taking it slow. Salads are an easy way to eat healthy and keep the kitchen cool. One of my favorite salads is The Ivy chopped salad. The Ivy chopped salad is served at The Ivy Restaurant on the famed celebrity filled Robertson Boulevard. Celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, and many others are often seen at this restaurant. If you do not live in LA or just want to make this recipe at home on your own.

Here is a recipe inspired by the Ivy Chopped Salad.

• 1 head green leaf lettuce, finely chopped
• 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 3 ears corn, grilled then remove the kernels
• 1 large bunch asparagus, grilled then chopped
• 2 bunches green onions, grilled then chopped
• 3 medium zucchini, grilled then chopped
• 2 avocados, diced
• 
  
• Dressing:
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp crushed basil
• 1/2 tsp crushed oregano

1. Make the dressing first and put in the fridge.
   
2. Brush the zucchini, asparagus, corn, and green onions with olive oil, use salt and pepper to taste and grill.
3. Chop all your grilled vegetables and mix with avocado, lettuce, and tomatoes.
   

Lychee Mango Coconut Panna Cotta recipe from Cinnamon

Summer is coming and everyone is thinking about nautical stripes, shorts, and flip flops already. What I love most about summer is the way we can eat lighter because there is so much fresh vegetables and fruits available to use in soups, salads, and everything else.

I found this recipe online by a blogger named Cinnamon from India and I wanted to share her recipe with you because it is just that good. I love panna cotta, mangoes and coconuts. When I found this recipe online and saw that it also included the lovely lychee fruit, it was love at first bite. Try this recipe for yourself. It is pretty easy to follow.

Let us know your favorite recipes for summer. Email them to Info@megafruitventures.com. We will post 4 of them on our blog one a week and you can vote on your favorite recipe of the 4 and we will give a prize to the number 1 favorite. Send us your recipes now.

Here is the recipe from Cinnamon.
This version is a little different, which includes Lychees, Coconut cream and Ginger!!!

Ingredients:
Cream : 200 ml
SemiWhipped cream : 200 ml
Coconut Cream : 100 ml
Sugar : 50 gms
Lychees : 100 gms, pureed
Ginger : 1 tsp, grated
Vanilla essence : few drops
Gelatin : 6 leaves

Method:

1. Soak Gelatin in cold water to soften and keep aside.
2. Take cream, coconut cream, sugar, ginger in a heavy saucepan and bring to light simmer, just till boiling for 10 mins.
3. Remove from heat and add the Lychee puree and vanilla.
4. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin and stir into the hot cream.
5. Allow the cream to cool completely.
6. Fold in the semi whipped cream and pour the mixture into moulds.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till fully set.
8. Serve with Mango Syrup and chopped lychees... errr... mine was actually Mango puree :)
9. To serve, carefully pass a knife through the edges of the mould, and place the mould in warm water for few mins and then invert on to the serving plate.

Check out Cinnamon Trail here for other great recipes from India.

Dried Fruit with Persian Rice YUMMY

One of my all time favorite Persian dishes is the dried fruit with Persian rice recipe that I always have with the chicken kabobs at Shamshiri in Westwood in Los Angeles. I cannot get enough of it. Today, I decided to go to the market and pick up ingredients for this dish so I could make it at home for dinner. I found a great recipe on Epicurious and I adapted it a little by adding some of Megafruit's baby pineapple. Wow was it a great addition to this traditional dish. The baby pineapple added an extra layer of flavor that was so different from the raisins and cranberries while perfectly complimenting the rice dish. Try it out for yourself sometime. Happy Eating.

Here is my adapted recipe:

I added 1 of the 2 oz. bag of Megafruit baby pineapple to the recipe.

• 3 cups basmati rice (1 1/4 lb)
• 4 qt water
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 1/2 cup dried apricots (3 1/2 oz), quartered
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (3 oz)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (2 oz)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped shelled unsalted pistachios (not dyed red; 2 1/2 oz)

Rinse rice in several changes of cold water in a large bowl until water runs clear. Drain in a large sieve.

Bring water and salt to a boil in a 6-quart heavy pot, then add rice and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes from time water returns to boil. Drain rice in sieve.

Toss together dried fruit in a bowl. Melt 6 tablespoons butter with cardamom and pepper in cleaned and dried pot, stirring to combine, then alternately layer rice and dried fruit over it, beginning and ending with rice and mounding loosely. Make 5 or 6 holes in rice to bottom of pot with round handle of a wooden spoon, then cover pot with a kitchen towel and a heavy lid. Fold edges of towel up over lid (to keep towel from burning) and cook rice over moderately low heat, undisturbed, until tender and a crust forms on bottom, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let rice stand, tightly covered and undisturbed, at least 30 minutes.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small skillet over moderate heat and cook pistachios, stirring, until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes.

Spoon loose rice onto a platter, then break crust into 1-inch pieces and scatter over rice. Sprinkle with pistachios.

Cooks' notes: • Rice can be parboiled and drained 4 hours ahead and transferred to a bowl. Keep, covered with a dampened kitchen towel, at room temperature. • Rice can stand off heat up to 1 hour. • If you're short on time, you can skip letting the rice stand after cooking: Spoon loose rice onto a platter and then dip bottom of pot into a large bowl of cold water for 30 seconds to loosen crust.

photo by: Mikkel Vang - recipe credit www.epicurious.com