Food | thesofiamagazine

The Untethered Cook

by Laurie Richardone | Jul 27, 2021 | Asheville, Cooking, Food, Health, Recipes

I like to believe we all strive to stay true to ourselves, to our own path. It is very easy to get pulled by others’ opinions and the need for approval, even if it comes from our own striving for perfection. This applies to all paths, cooking as well.

My philosophy of cooking with the seasons allows for inspiration, rather than motivation. Where does inspiration come from? What does it mean to be motivated?

Inspiration is something that you feel on the inside, a sudden creative wonderful idea, while motivation is something from the outside, that compels us to take action. Inspiration is a driving force, while motivation
is a pulling force.

Inspiration is designed to help us get in touch with that inner knowing, and encourage us to celebrate the wondrous and precious gifts nature has given us. It’s a map, a guide, to help us along the way.

I keep this reminder on my kitchen vision board, to remind me of the place I am creating from. This allows for authenticity.

My inspiration comes from an ingredient grown in healthy soil that each season has to offer. Cooking in this way brings us what our bodies need, crave and deserve. It is the recipe for all the pleasures of the table.

Whether you are a serious artist, or a weekend amateur, remaining untethered to any expectation allows for a spontaneous, heartfelt expression of our own unique beauty.

We all deserve a treat now and again… My Raw Blueberry Pie is a summer healthy indulgence. Blueberries are in season in NC through August.

To your good health…

If you are a curious cook, join me on my Radio Show ~ “A taste for All Seasons”

We explore the world of food, with the philosophy of eating with the seasons.

And… as always, l will be sharing cooking tips, seasonal shortcuts and kitchen essentials that will make your life easier in the kitchen.

Visit: A Taste for All Seasons Show Page @ WPVMFM.ORG and listen to the July show, for a delicious conversation with farmer Gaelan Corizine of Green Toe Ground Farm.

It airs on the last Saturday of every month at 11 am, on WPVM FM 103.7 in Asheville, NC.

Laurie Richardone is a seasonal gluten free chef and certified health coach.

For more information, visit LaurieRichardone.com

For scheduled Cooking Classes in Asheville, Visit:
LaurieRichardone.com

Slow Food is Good Food

by Laurie Richardone | Jun 28, 2021 | Asheville, Cooking, Food, Nutrition, Recipes

What is the Slow Food philosophy?

It should please the senses and arrive on the plate in an environmentally responsible way. In addition, creating a connection between farmers and the community.

It is a way of eating and a way of living…

Alice Waters, founder of the legendary Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California is the mother of slow food. She was also the creator of The Edible Schoolyard.

It teaches school children not only how to grow food, but how to appreciate food.

Children that were growing their own food were inspired not only to cook it, and eat it, but enjoy the taste of food grown in healthy soil by their own hands.

This is the heart of taste education.

Slow food is contagious. When you eat a perfectly ripe peach or tomato that was organically grown locally, picked at its peak, the difference in taste will be monumental.

It becomes pleasurable and meaningful when you know who’s food you are eating, along with the love that went into growing it. BTW… Pairing a tomato and peach will delight you.

Add some buffalo mozzarella, or sheep feta, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, Viola… a delicious match made in heaven.

Another benefit of bringing this philosophy into our kitchens, is that it can spill over into living a less stressful life. When we give the ingredients we have gathered at our markets our attention, and their rightful due, we are in the present moment. Our minds will not go to the next thing we need to do, potentially creating stress.

Some of these things are easy to do – some not so easy. Perhaps the most challenging is to change our attitude and mindset about the food we eat.

We have to rethink our priorities and the way we approach life and all things in it!!

Like cooking our food slowly…

To your continued good health

If you are a curious cook, join me on my Radio Show ~ “A taste for All Seasons”

We explore the world of food, with the philosophy of eating with the seasons.

And… as always, l will be sharing cooking tips, seasonal shortcuts and kitchen essentials that will make your life easier in the kitchen.

Visit: wpvmfm.org/show/a-taste-for-all-seasons/ and listen to our June show as we cook our way through the seasons. Learn how to make an authentic Pesto, using traditional methods.

It airs on the last Saturday of every month at 11 am, on WPVM FM 103.7 in Asheville, NC.

Laurie Richardone is a seasonal gluten free chef and certified health coach.

For more information, visit LaurieRichardone.com

Edamame Hummus with Seasonal Veggies – Vegan

by Laurie Richardone | Jun 26, 2021 | Asheville, Food, Recipes

A delicious dish for a gathering, lunch or healthy snack.

Makes 6 cups

2 (10-oz) packages frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)

2 cups fresh or organic frozen peas

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus more for garnish

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint plus more for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

Endive spears

Rainbow carrots

English cucumbers, or whatever is on hand.

Blanch edamame in heavily salted boiling water, for about 5 minutes, firm but tender. Put in an ice bath, and drain. This step keeps the vibrant color, and stops them from cooking.

Repeat the process with peas for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

Add edamame and peas to the food processor and pulse a few times. Add coriander, cumin, garlic, salt to taste, and pepper. Pulse again a few times. Drizzle olive oil into mixture, pulse again. Put mixture in a large bowl, add lemon juice and fresh herbs and stir in by hand. Add more olive oil and lemon juice if needed. Garnish with more fresh herbs. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Cooks note: You can blanch veggies a day in advance.

Take the time to toast coriander and cumin seeds in a dry pan for about 4-5 minutes.

The flavor is superior to ground from the jar. Marinate rainbow carrots in 1 tsp ground cumin, salt, and lemon.

Not the cucumbers as it will make them soggy.

Buon Appetito

For scheduled Cooking Classes in Asheville, Visit:
LaurieRichardone.com

Strawberry Shortcake with Coconut Cream

by Laurie Richardone | May 29, 2021 | Asheville, Cooking, Food, Recipes

Cake ingredients ~ Serves 8-10

1 1/2 cups Bobs all purpose gluten free flour (or other all purpose flour)

1 1/2 tsp psyllium husk, ground

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

3 large eggs

1 cup coconut sugar, or pure cane sugar

3/4 cup whole milk yogurt (or goat)

Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
(organic)

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, a fruitier oil preferably

2 pints ripe organic strawberries, sliced, and sprinkled with 1 tsp each,.of sugar & fresh lemon, to macerate.

Coconut Cream Frosting

2 cans cold unsweetened coconut milk (see cooks note)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. maple syrup, or confectioners sugar

To remove the coconut from the can, carefully scoop out only the solid parts.

Place in a bowl with vanilla, maple syrup, or confectioners sugar, and whip on high speed until fluffy.

Place rack in center position and heat to 325 F.

Lightly oil a 9-10 inch springform pan.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, psyllium husk, and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl for 5 minutes. Or until pale and thick.

Add yogurt and zest, beat to combine. With the mixer on medium speed, add oil in a quick steady stream. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in flour mixture just to combine. Whisk batter by hand to make sure everything is incorporated.

Pour batter into pan. Bake, rotating pan once, until cake is golden and the center springs back to the touch, and edges pull away from the pan (about 40-45 minutes). Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes on the rack. Release it from the pan and let cool completely before icing.

After the cake has cooled, cut it into 2 round pieces. If you would like a taller cake, make two 9” cakes. Spread cream on bottom cake. Place sliced strawberries on top of cream. Place the other round on top. Continue to spread coconut cream to cover the cake. Place strawberries around the cake in any pattern you like. Garnish with fresh thyme, mint or basil.

Cooks Note: If you don’t mind the extra dairy, you can make this with organic whipping cream. Follow the same recipe for coconut cream. Bobs Gluten-Free flour has a blend that includes Xanthan Gum. If using it, eliminate psyllium husk.

Buon Appetito

For scheduled Cooking Classes in Asheville, Visit:
LaurieRichardone.com

Asparagus & Sorrel Soup

by Laurie Richardone | May 4, 2021 | Asheville, Cooking, Food, Health, Women

Serves 4

2 Bunches Asparagus

1 large bunch of sorrel

1/2 cup goat yogurt, or other

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tbsp. brown butter

1 tbsp. sea salt, to salt water
for asparagus

fresh herbs, like dill, or parsley, for garnish, optional

Trim asparagus spears, leaving the tips and about 2 inches.

In a shallow large pan filled with water, and sea salt, bring to a gentle boil. Place asparagus in the water, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Have an ice water bath ready, to submerge the asparagus in after cooking. This step will keep the color vibrant.

Keep out a few asparagus spears to garnish the soup. Lay in the center of the bowl.

Keep the salted water you cooked asparagus aside. Some of the water will go into the blender with other ingredients to make the soup.

Take the vein out of sorrel leaves, and set aside. The leaves will be kept raw, to blend with blanched asparagus.

In a small pan on medium heat, brown the butter until a golden color.

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Add 1 cup of asparagus water to start.
Blend until combined and the consistency you like. Taste for seasoning.

Serve in shallow white bowls. Sprinkle with herbs if using.

Cooks note: If sorrel isn’t available use watercress or arugula leaves. Keep raw.

Buon Appetito

For scheduled Cooking Classes in Asheville, Visit:
LaurieRichardone.com

The Essence of Spring

by Laurie Richardone | May 4, 2021 | Asheville, Cooking, Food, Health

Is it just me or do you think everyone feels the transformation of energy that
the spring brings?

Speaking of energy,

Yin yang energy is split into what the Chinese call the Five Elements. They represent the 5 phases of ‘Qi’ (chi) which flows through nature and in our bodies.

The springtime is the season of the Wood Element, a time of big change, forceful and upward energy that holds purpose and structure.

In nature’s wisdom the color of the Wood element is green, like unripe fruit.

This season brings the first sight of the daffodil shoots bursting out of the ground, fruit trees starting to flower, and Asparagus shoots start to make their debut. These are the signs of new birth,

How do we connect to this natural birthing of spring? What do we need to shift in this magical time of the year.?

For me, as a seasonal chef, and health coach, It begins with food.

I start to crave lighter ingredients, like the tenderness of spring vegetables, and sweet young greens. Our body with its infinite intelligence will have us lean into this opportune season.

Here is my favorite new recipe, that conjures the essence of spring.

Happy Cooking…

For scheduled Cooking Classes in Asheville, Visit:
LaurieRichardone.com

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