It wasn’t until after the 19th-century where the rise of the middle class, and the mechanization of the sugar industry, brought the privilege of sweets into the general public and unreserved it exclusively for the aristocracy, or as rare holiday treat. This was because sugar became cheaper and more readily available to the general public. As sugar was widely spread, so was the development and popularity of desserts.

In today’s culture dessert recipes have become a popular item for discussion, as they are a winning way to win people over at the end of any meal. This is partly because if you serve a mediocre meal, with an excellent dessert, people will remember you for the dessert and forget about the meal.

Most cultures, have a seperate final distinction between the main course, and the sweet course. This is not true however in some cultures such as Chinese, who will mix in sweet and savoury dishes throughout the entire meal. Dessert is, often times seen as a separate meal or snack, rather than a course, and can be eaten some time after the meal by many individuals. Because of it’s wide spread popularity there are even some restaurants that specialize in desserts.

Some of the most common desserts are:
- Biscuits or cookies
- Ice creams
- Meringues
- Fruit
- Cakes
- Crumbles
- Custards
- Gelatin desserts
- Puddings
- Pastries
- Pies or tarts

So why not substitute one of your pasta dishes with this one.  Here’s why:

It’s bursting with antioxidants from the pesto herbs and vegetables, protecting your body against free radicals.  It also contains lycopene from the tomato, which is another powerful antioxidant preventing against digestive system and reproductive system cancers.  And finally it has soy protein from the tofu and whole grain from the pasta itself, which help in the healing of tissues.

Powerful Pesto Pasta

Ingredients
Pasta:
1 lb. whole grain or whole-wheat pasta
12-15 asparagus spears
1 zucchini or squash slivered into thin discs
6-8 ½ thick slices of tofu

Pesto for Tofu:
2-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 fist full of pine nuts (alternative: walnuts)

Pasta Sauce:
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 juiced lemons or limes (alternative: ¼ cup of lemon juice)
¼ cup goat cheese
¼ cup white wine
1 medium tomato, diced

Preparation
1. Place the tofu between paper towels and squeeze to remove the extra water.
2. Cook the pasta according to the provided instructions.
3. Blend pesto ingredients in a food processor.  Dip the tofu slices into the pesto for maximum flavor.
4. Option: Preheat the oven to 350°F to bake the tofu for 20 minutes or place on a skillet to grill until golden brown.
5. Option: To keep your veggies firm, blanch or boil them lightly.
6. For the pasta sauce, sauté tomatoes, with salt and pepper in olive oil.  Mix in the goat cheese to melt.  Pour in the white wine and lemon juice and let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Toss tofu into the pasta with the vegetables and the sauce.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30-35 minutes

Remember: By eating what you love AND making small substitutions like this one, you’re on your way to creating your own long-lasting style to staying fit and feeling great.

“Enjoy Healthy!”
Michele Risa
Beyond Body Mind Spirit NYC

P.S. If you’re interested in other successful tools for weight loss, check out Gourmet Fitness.

Ingredients:

2 Hass Avocados

2 Tomatos

1 White Onion

1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro

Lime Juice of half a lime

Salt (to taste)

Recipe:

1. Pit the avocados and scoop the avocado out with a spoon. Mash the avocados in a bowl with a spoon. You don’t have to completely mash them – leave some chunks for a nice texture.

2. Chop the tomatos, onion, and cilantro.

3. Mix the chopped ingredients into the bowl of mashed avocadoes.

4. Add lime and salt to taste.

Tip:

To make it spicy add a finely chopped jalapeño.

It’s December and the festivities are on their way. For the Christmas period I love to indulge and experiment with my desserts to share with you out there. The Dark Chocolate and Walnut Tart is a Christmas thing and as they say it’s the rich of the chocolate that makes it that Christmasy.

For the Dark Chocolate and Walnut Tart recipe I used my Brown Sugar Pastry which I recommend immensely but one can use also the normal sugar pastry for this recipe. A good quality dark chocolate is important in these kind of recipes. I used an 82% dark chocolate for this recipe which I found to be an excellent choice. Baileys will give you that nice flavour in this tart and also the orange zest enhances the flavour.

Those who do not like the darkl chocolate at all can substitute the dark chocolate with milk chocolate or by mixing them up half and half.

Here’s the recipe…

Dark Chocolate and Walnut Tart

Ingredients

• 600g dark chocolate
• 3 eggs
• 3tbsp baileys
• 75g walnuts
• 450ml cream
• 150ml whole milk
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1  zest of an orange
• grated nutmeg for the top
• 250g Brown Pastry Dough

Method for Dark Chocolate and Walnut Tart

- In a deep pot add the dark chocolate cinnamon sticks, cream & milk till the chocolate is melted on a low heat

- Add the baileys, zest of orange and the hand crushed walnuts and set aside till it cools a bit for 5 minutes.

- Finally add the beaten eggs to the dark chocolate mixture.

- Open the Brown Sugar Pastry with a rolling pin on a floured surface.

- Use a Fluted 12 inch Tart tin to cook blind the pastry for 10 minutes at 190°C.

- Take out the cooked Brown Sugar Pastry and fill it with the Dark Chocolate and Walnut mixture.

- Bake in a medium heat oven 180°C for 25-30 mins till the chocolate is set.

 - Take the Dark Chocolate and Walnut Tart and cool down and finally dust with grated nutmeg on top.and Walnut Tart

I’ve had a special request for this Hungarian typical dish lately. It is a great stew dish from the Eastern Europe part that has been famous for decades.

The Hungarian Goulash Stew recipe is originally a soup but have been converted into a stew in many countries. The word Goulash in english means a cattle stockmen which they made in other ages. The Hungarian GoulashStew is a poor dish with great source of protein plus it is a very healthy earthy dish to cook. Goulash can be prepared with veal, pork or lamb instead of beef.

Paprika is the main ingredient of the Hungarian Goulash which you can find pretty everywhere as sweet paprika or spicy paprika. I used the sweet paprika for my version of the Goulash. The paprika is important to be cooked along with the vegetables to releases its flavors. I mixed some of the paprika with the flour to coat the beef chunks to seal the meat before continuing the Hungarian Goulash Stew process.

Hungarian Goulash Stew

Ingredients

• 1kg Topside beef, cut into cubes
• 4 tbsp Sweet Paprika
• 2 medium sized Onions cut into rings
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 3 fresh Tomatoes cut into chunks
• 250ml Red wine
• 6 Mushrooms, cut into small cubes
• 600ml Beef stock
• 3 Potatoes, cut into cubes
• 150g Flour
• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Rice or Pappardelle (to serve with)

METHOD FOR HUNGARIAN GOULASH STEW

- Place topside beef chunks in a large bowl. Sprinkle liberally with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss with the flour and 1 tablespoon of the paprika.

- Heat a heavy casserole pan over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Place beef chunks in a single layer and brown on two sides. You will probably need to do this in batches. Do not crowd the meat or it will boil instead of brown. Remove browned beef chunks to a bowl.

- Reduce heat to medium-low. To the heavey casserole, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, onion rings, mushrooms and garlic. Toss to coat with the olive oil. Cover tightly and sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until onions are limp but not browned and mushrooms are releasing their liquid, about 5-8 minutes.

- Add red wine to the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes, scraping up browned bits from the bottom. Add beef broth, potatoes and the remaining of the paprika. Return the beef cubes and any accumulated juices to the pan. Stir until well-combined. Cover tightly, reduce heat, and simmer on low heat for 1 hour 30 mins, stirring occasionally, until beef is fork-tender.

- Remove the casserole from heat and set aside. Taste and add additional salt if necessary.

- (Optional) Stir in 3 tablespoons of sour cream until completely incorporated into the gravy preferably when the Goulash is not hot as the cream will split up.

- Serve the Hungarian Goulash over hot buttered pappardelle with chopped parsley or boiledwhite rice

For More Healthy Recipes… Click Here