Seasonal Flavors with MVP Health Care: A Healthy Spin on Summer Fare

St. John’s and MVP Health Care‘s most recent Seasonal Flavors cooking demonstration and educational series featured A healthy spin on summer fare utilizing home grown herbs and vegetables from St. John’s Meadows’ resident tended gardens! Our own Chef Mike Schnupp sizzled up some amazing options to keep summer light and also delicious! Join us for our next installment this September which will feature soups and stews by registering with Dawn Rivera at 585-271-1000 or via email.

Lentil Burgers

Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients

• ¾ cup brown lentils, rinsed and strained
• 1 ¾ cups and 1 tablespoon low sodium vegetable broth or water
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onion, half finely chopped and half thinly sliced
• ½ lemon juice
• 8 ounces fresh baby spinach
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
• ½ cup walnuts toasted and finely chopped
• 6 whole grain hamburger buns

Instructions

• Bring the lentils and 1 ¾ cups of broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low partially cover and simmer until the lentils are fully softened and the liquie is absorbed – about 30 minutes.
• Transfer to a medium bowl with the remaining tablespoon of broth and mash well with a potato masher- set aside
• Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and lemon juice and cook stirring until softened for about 6 minutes.
• Add the spinach, garlic, black pepper, and cumin stirring until the spinach is wilted- about 3 minutes.
• Add the spinach mixture, breadcrumbs, and walnuts to the lentils and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat grill to medium-high. Form the mixture into 6, 4 inch patties and spray with cooking spray on each side. Grill until grill marks form- about 3 minutes each side.
• Place the patties in the buns with sliced onion and other toppings (arugula, basil, roasted red peppers, and/or spicy mustard) as desired and serve!

Source: www.foodnetwork.com

Seafood Taco

Yields: 8 servings

Taco Filling:

• I pound Mahi
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup cilantro
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 small tortilla shells
• 3 ounces shredded lettuce
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Assembly:

• Cut Mahi into small pieces
• Season fish with cumin, salt, and pepper
• Sauté fish until white and flakey
• Add lime juice and cilantro

Apple Relish Ingredients:

• 2 red apples
• 1 granny smith apple
• ¼ cup cilantro
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ½ red onion
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Assembly:

• Small dice both apples, jalapeno, and red onion
• Add sugar to the lime juice
• Pour lime juice into diced apple mix and add in cilantro

Chili Yogurt Sauce:

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chili paste
• Puree together

Pickled Pepper Slaw:

• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• ½ red onion
• 1 cup rice vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped chive
• 1 tablespoon cilantro

Assembly:

• Julienne peppers and red onion
• Mix rice vinegar with sugar
• Pour vinegar into pepper mix
• Add chive and cilantro and mix

 

Taco Assembly:

• Put 1 tablespoon lettuce on tortilla
• Put cooked fish over lettuce
• Put 1 tablespoon pickled peppers over fish
• Put 1 tablespoon apple relish over peppers
• Drizzle 1 teaspoon chili yogurt over apple relish

*One of St. John’s Meadows own in-house creations

Avocado Yogurt Key Lime Pie

Yields: 10 servings

Graham Crack Almond Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted whole roasted almonds
• 7 whole graham crackers
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter- melted
• 1 egg white

Instructions for Crust:

• Preheat oven to 350◦
• Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground
• Add the graham crackers, sugar, and salt together and pulse until finely ground
• Add the butter and egg white and pulse until evenly moistened and combined
• Press the crumb mixture firmly on the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until fragrant and golden
• Cool completely before filling

Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados quartered peeled and seeded
• ½ cup non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
• ½ cup light agave nectar
• 1 lime zested
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup light coconut milk
• ½ cup lime juice
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin

Instructions for Filling:

• Place avocados in the bowl of a food processor with the yogurt, agave, lime zest, and vanilla extract; pulse until well combined.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary, set aside.
• Place the coconut milk in a small saucepan and bring to a low boil. Set aside.
• Place the lime juice in a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over the juice and let stand 1 minute.
• Gently whisk in the hot coconut milk.
• Continue to whisk until the gelatin completely dissolves- about 5 minutes. Stir in the avocado mixture until well combined.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust. Carefully transfer to the refrigerator and chill uncovered until firm about 3 hours.

Source: www.californiaavocado.com

See more photos from the entire event here: https://bit.ly/2XQio57