Shaved Asparagus with Olive Oil & Sea Salt.

There's always that verrry nice bottle of fancy olive oil that you keep tucked away, that you use sparingly and not often enough, because it's one of the most expensive ingredients in your kitchen.

Well, break it out and live a little. Because this simple yet shockingly delectable snack/side calls for it.

Shaved asparagus. Not a big deal. Not breaking any major culinary boundaries or re-inventing the wheel here. But how often do you actually eat raw asparagus?

You. A mandoline. A bit of fruity, extremely high quality olive oil. Sea salt and gently crushed black peppercorns.

But first. How to tell if your olive oil is the real thing?

1. Make sure your oil is labeled Extra Virgin. Look for a Free Fatty Acidity (FFA) level of  no more than 0.8%, regulated by the USDA as extra virgin.
2. Check for a Protected Geographical Indication or Protected Designation of Origin logo on the label.

Our olive oil is from a friend's family farm in Greece and the taste of it has convinced me that most olive oil that I have bought or consumed in the past is utter crap. I am completely blown away by how fine an oil this is. I want to use it for everything. MADLY IN LOVE.

Now, to the recipe! My new favorite snack.

Shaved Asparagus

6 raw asparagus spears

A liberal drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

sea salt & crushed pepper to taste

Carefully shave each spear lengthwise with a mandoline. As you would shave a carrot. You want paper thin slices. Place in bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Gently toss with salt and pepper and serve. Simple!

Serves 1-2. (Plate in photo is 2 spears)

For some reason, this tastes like potato chips to me. It cures that salty craving. The thin asparagus is outstanding, and the better your olive oil, the better this will be. 

Barre Review

On a recent trip to Philly, I picked up a few "Barres", a new-to-me nutrition bar created by two professional ballet dancers.

What I like about these vegan, soy and wheat free bars is that they are made with different types of protein (hemp protein, flax, brown rice protein, nuts) than you see in the usual bars out there, and they offer a little something extra than the typical fruit-and-nut based bar. The bars have around 200 calories and 11-12 grams of fat with 4 grams of fiber and 5-7 grams of protein, which makes it the ideal snack for me. Plus, as if I needed to add this, I am a sucker for packaging/marketing and if you put the word "barre" on something, I probably need to try it. 

The two flavors I found were Black Swan Chocolate Berry and Pirouette Cinnamon Pecan. The Barre also comes in Ballerina Spirulina, but they were out of that flavor at Whole Foods (I spotted them at Callowhill).

Black Swan Chocolate Berry

So how do they step up? The Black Swan bar is fudgy and substantial, and got me through a 90 minute morning cardio + barre workout + brisk walk home flying high on energy. I enjoyed the tart cranberries and the rich flavor of this bar. The Pirouette Cinnamon Pecan tasted like gingerbread and had a gooey texture that I liked, but I preferred the Black Swan. You can taste the protein powder just a teeny bit in the Cinnamon Pecan, but I don't mind that. Both bars were very filling, and I don't say that about most bars.

Back to the Barre? In college I survived on protein bars and rarely felt satisfied, but didn't have the time to eat proper meals because I was a crazy person (at one point I had 7 part-time jobs). These days, I look at bars as an emergency snack to pack if I am traveling or need to supplement a meal. The truth is, I think most bars just don't taste great, and I'd rather have a piece of fruit or hummus or something that stimulates me more and makes me feel connected with what I am eating. I was very impressed with the Barre, however, and I hope to see them available at other stores in the future. The ingredient list is superb and the taste is simply delicious. Call it my new go-to.

You can find the Barre near you here. 

Pirouette Cinnamon Pecan

Blueberry Ginger Buckwheat Waffles

We could go on and on about the health benefits of ginger and why I need it in my life, but honestly? I'm a slave to its flavor. Mr. Vedge loves to make a ginger syrup for his cocktails and I always add ginger to my juice, so we usually have a few knobs on hand. I decided to add some extra ginger juice to this waffle recipe and seeing as blueberry and ginger are made for each other, the sweet & spicy flavors came right through in this recipe. 

Lately, my base waffle flour is buckwheat. Sometimes I do half buckwheat and half cornmeal, and that tastes great, too. It's heartier, lumberjack-y, and more energizing for me than a white or whole wheat flour, both of which typically make me crash within the hour. These waffles aren't going anywhere, they're here to keep you firing all morning. 

Blueberry Ginger Buckwheat Waffles

Wet:

1 cup almond milk

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1-2 tbsp coconut nectar (or maple syrup)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp fresh ginger juice (optional, but adds more zing)

Dry:

1 cup buckwheat flour (or try 1/2 cup buckwheat with 1/2 cup cornmeal for a lighter flavor)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

Organic blueberries

Preheat waffle iron. Spray with coconut oil spray or coconut oil to prevent sticking. 

Whisk together wet ingredients first, then add in dry. Mix together, then fold in blueberries.

Makes 3-4 medium sized waffles or 2 large waffles. You can double this recipe and freeze any extra waffles for later. I like to serve with raw almond butter or coconut butter and coconut nectar on top.