Sunchokes and Tomatoes

Posted on January 17, 2013 by chefgabi

Here is the dish and recipe I have cooked on Dubai One. It was fun to be with Ash and Tom on the show as always!

Sun Choke Puree & Crisps
2 Portions

What to Buy
300 gm sun chokes
80 g potato
1 tomato
10 gm parsley
1 organic lemon (grated skin and juice)
20 gm butter
3 ml olive oil
Salt , Pepper

How to Make It
Wash the sun chokes and slice 2 of them very thin. Place the slices on a pergament paper on a baking tray and dry for around 15 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius in the oven. Peel the remaining sun chokes and the potato, steam them until very soft. Crush them and season the puree with salt and pepper. Dice the tomatoes (preferably with the skin due to the fact that the flavonoids are fully available). Chop the Parsley. Mix tomatoes with parsley, lemon juice and grated skin, season with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange the soft puree in deep plates or small bowls. Top with the tomato parsley salad and crispy sun choke chips. Serve warm, not hot.

Chef Gabi’s Tip
The sun choke is one of the finest source dietary fibers, especially high in oligofructose inulin, which is a soluble dietary fiber. Inulin should not be confused for insulin, which is hormone. The root flesh provides 1.6 mg or 4% of fiber. Inulin is a zero calorie, sweet inert carbohydrate and does not metabolize in the human body, which make the root an ideal sweet snack for diabetics and dieters. They are very good source of minerals and electrolytes especially potassium, iron, and copper. 100 g of fresh root contains 429 mg or 9% of daily-required levels of potassium. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte; helps reduce blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium. 100 g of fresh sun choke contains 3.4 mg or 42.5% of iron, probably the highest quantity among edible roots and tubers.

Talise Nutrition on TV tonight

Posted on January 15, 2013 by chefgabi

I am excited - going to be on Dubai One TV show STUDIO ONE tonight! I am cooking something light and healthy and hope you will watch the show. The recipes will be revealed tomorrow on their website, and of course you will soon see some impressions here too.

The image below is from my last appearance on their daily TV show, aired from their temporary studio at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray. This time we will be in Studio City.

See you soon!

The Magic Cabbage Soup

Posted on January 14, 2013 by chefgabi

Even though I am far from recommending a diet restricting anything else than just one food item I admit that cabbage soup works wonders…..and is truly recommendable to be included in your healthy menu plan.
But I just wanted to use the headline. Because my cabbage soup is magic - only look at this color! It is made of red cabbage. I love purple anyway. Purple in foods is due primarily to their anthocyanin content. The darker the blue hue, the higher the phytochemical concentration. Anthocyanins are antioxidants that are particularly heart healthy and may help support healthy blood pressure. As a color is so special for food and a little bit irritating at times. But nothing to worry. Everything in the following recipe is natural. You can make it for a great entree in a menu, or just use it as the “Magic Soup”, that helps you to manage your weight and to detox. Enjoy!

Red Cabbage Capuccino
2 Portions

What to buy
300 gm red cabbage, chopped
1 shallot, diced
¼ apple, peeled, chopped
2 cloves
5 ml agave syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, pepper
1 tablespoon apple vinegar
50 ml soy milk

How to Make It
Braise the shallot, cloves, apple and cabbage in olive oil and agave syrup. Add 300 ml water and simmer for around 20 minutes. Blend the soup and work through a semi fine sieve. Season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Top the soup with soy milk foam.

New Year – New You

Posted on January 9, 2013 by chefgabi

Who has not made some New Years resolutions that are related to a fitter, healthier body?

Detox is key after the festive season just concluded and some extra pounds gained! You can easily get back to a healthy and new you with some carefully selected food that helps to flush out the toxins and in the same time is nourishing your cells with the right amount of nutrients. Especially when working out we need to have some healthy proteins, good complex carbohydrates and plenty of vitamins with our food. In the same time it should be not so heavy on calories and fat. See here one of my favorite salads, that can make a complete lunch or dinner, and is even suitable to be taken to the office in a lunch box. Try this deliciouysly nourishing salad with cleansing beetroot, liver function supporting artichokes and vegetable protein providing lentils. In the same time this dish is vegan and free of gluten. Not to mention it is easy to make and tastes great….

Beetroot Lentil Salad

What to Buy
2 large or 4 smaller portions

50 g Du Puy Lentils
500 ml Vegetable stock
2 Cloves and 1 Bay leave
1 White Onion, peeled
500 gm Beetroot, cooked
1 Artichoke bottom, cleaned
8 ml Balsamic Vinegar
5 ml Lemon Juice
10 gm Parsley and Mint, leaves picked and washed
10 ml Olive oil
80 gm Mixed Lettuce, picked and washed
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

How to Make It
Stick the bay leave with the cloves on the onion surface. Cook the lentils with onion, cloves, bay leaf and vegetable stock. This may take up to 25 minutes to get them soft. In the meantime dice the beetroot, slice the artichoke bottom and mix olive oil, lemon juice and baslamic vinegar to a dessing.
Remove the onion with the bay leaf. Toss the warm lentils with beetroot, artichokes and the vinaigrette. Season to taste and arrange with lettuce and the herbs on plates.

To round up your resolutions and make them work much more effective, visit beautiful Talise Spa at Madinat Jumeirah. Be guided to a new glowing you by a consultation with Dr Erzebeth Makk and Kay Vosloo. Besides that we serve at the Spa carefully selected healthy dishes that restore energies and help to create that “feel good in the inside” supporting whatever treatment you choose.

Nevertheless as a chef I am running around all day, but specific training and guided movements are much more effective to tone muscles and build shape. I have started some workout recently and can only recommend it. Besides it is fun it makes you feel much better after only a few sessions already.
Have a look at what the new Talise Fitness at Madinat Jumeirah has on offer. I am sure there is something for everyone. And their new menu at Quay Cafe is tuned up with healthy options that suit and support deliciously your work out aspirations. Enjoy!

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and successful New Year!

Healthy Lifestyle – My Wellbeing Tip No 5

Posted on December 17, 2012 by chefgabi

The importance of food and its interconnection to health and wellbeing can’t be highlighted enough. How much each individual can influence its very own body on a daily basis with just the regular food intake is absolutely fanstastic.

Here 10 Basic Hints about Wellbeing Food:

1 WELLBEING IS EDIBLE the human body builds its cells out of the food we eat – every day. Good nutrition is in our hands, literally.

2 DE-STRESS YOUR MEAL PLAN the modern human being is exposed to a significant amount of stress – one of it is poor nutrition, snacks and meals with almost zero nutrients. A diet of junk food doesn’t make us stressful instantly, but on the long run.

3 SMALL STEPS take small steps towards your lifestyle improvement. Start with something you can implement in your daily routine easily. Because nothing is more rewarding and encouraging than the success of feeling and looking better

4 LIQUIDS the intake of sufficient amount of water, also in watery fruits and vegetables is very important to our overall wellbeing. It helps to hydrate and bolster our cells, and to dilute toxins

5 QUALITY focus on fresh, natural ingredients and prefer suitable preparation methods like steaming or grilling rather than deep fat frying to avoid damages to valuable nutrients

6 FAT is not equals fat. Unsaturated fats in nuts, seeds, avocado and vegetable oils are highly recommendable to maintain good health; however saturated fats in fatty meats, dairy and deep fried products should be kept at a minimum intake. Bear in mind we consume normally far more of the bad fats than of the good fats.

7 VARIETY eat a rainbow of colors, including black as for example black berries over purple like red cabbage and purple potatoes to white e.g. white radish, almond milk, rice milk or dairy

8 WHOLESOME eat the good carbs in all hulled starches and vegetables if possible with their skin, nuts and seeds, and avoid or reduce the bad carbs like white sugar, white flour, peeled rice and others

9 BALANCE aim for a 35 % raw 65% cooked food ratio, and avoid pH imbalance or over acidity

10 MODERATE eat slowly, chew well, consume moderate portions, don’t over indulge too regularly on less ideal food options

Currently I am working a lot on health related food themes. This is what I love most about my job. You will see and experience TALISE NUTRITION soon within Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in the near future. I am looking forward to sharing with you news, good nutritous food, tips and recipes.
Stay healthy and enjoy life!

Add some detox food….every day

Posted on December 16, 2012 by chefgabi

How to get through the festive season – nutritionally balanced? This might be a question to many of us, considering feasting is contraproductive at times.
Nothing to worry.
As long as we keep focussed on balance and try to keep over indulgence at bay, whilst we add in healthier choices where and when possible and give our digestive system a rest in between.

Some of my easy to make detox tips can be viewed in Gulf News today.

As Resort Wellbeing Chef at Madinat Jumeirah I have combined detoxing and digestion supporting ingredients into one of my favourite raw salads. Carrot, butternut squash, beetroot and ginger mingle on your plate and make the perfect detox mix, packed with vitamins, fiber, and cleansing properties. Try it and order the Talise Detox Salad when you are at the Talise Spa in Madinat Jumeirah and relax after a treatment! It rewards you with good digestion, elimination of toxins and glowing skin.

Stay healthy and optimize glow this festive season!

Healthy Lifestyle – My Wellbeing Tip No 4

Posted on December 15, 2012 by chefgabi

Understanding Food Quality

With supermarkets full of delightful offerings and an overwhelming variety of foodstuff we easlily get confused and pick what is not really beneficial for our health and wellbeing. Especially when we get trapped in storing convenient convenience food in our pantries at home, because it promises to save us time…
Most important is to bear in mind:

We are what we eat.

Let’s have a closer look on the quality of food that helps us to make our choice.

Low quality food = building weak cells High quality food = building strong cells

Leads to an acidic state in the body helps to alkalize the body

higher level of toxins better absorbtion of nutrients

fastens ageing process slows ageing process

canned, preserved food raw, enzyme rich and fresh food

processed, denaturalized food natural vitamin rich food

low fiber food (white flour, white rice) wholesome high fiber food

convenience food, fast food steamed food, raw food and sprouts

Stay healthy and energized through this year’s festive season and don’t forget: