Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Diet Direction Meal

My first Culinary Arts assignment was to create recipes for one chosen full meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The important thing was that the meal should be tailored towards one of 5 main diet directions (the last two are really one's you probably want to avoid): Cleansing, Balancing, Building, Clogging, and Irritaing. I thought about doing the irritating diet, but when my cousin decided he needed to drive back to San Diego and would miss the meal entirely, I decided to "sans" it, since it would no longer be any fun. *8)

Instead, I chose mainly a building meal (high protein, high fat, low-carb) with some balancing elements in it as well (balance of proteins, carbs,and fats).

So below is what I created for a Sunday Comfort Dinner.

The Appetizer:

Tofu, Yogurt, Natto Dip w/Ume Vinegar,
Tamari, Olive Oil & Cilantro
served with Whole Wheat Pita Slices.


The Main Course (2 Parts):

Channa Curry w/Dulse, Tomato, Zucchini in Sambar Masala (I)
served on Quinoa w/Black Sesame & Sea Salt (II).


The appetizer was meant to be an intro to the main dish -- like a "building" foundation. The tofu provided some heartiness and protein, and the fresh yogurt softened it somewhat. It actually tasted a little like cottage cheese! The whole wheat pieces provided some carbs which balanced this dish out a little.

Cilantro Garnish for the Appetizer

The main course was an experiment on a channa dish that I have always made as a hearty, high-protein kind of food. But the real surprise was what the dulse did to it! It tasted even better the next day after the dulse and channa intermingled with one another over night. The result was spectacular the next day! (And that was straight from Jasmin's mouth --- not mine!).

Main Course topped w/Dry Pan-Roasted
Pumpkin Seeds & Sliced Almonds
Garnished with Cilantro

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home