Le Chateau Soleil

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

2012-01-15T20:22:00.001-05:00

Want a healthy version of alfredo sauce? This recipe will really surprise you. You would never know it had cauliflower. 1 head cauliflower 1 box silken tofu (any kind) 1 T miso 1 T nutritional yeast 1 t salt 1 T onion powder 1 t garlic powder 1 C soy milk (or water) Chop and then steam the cauliflower until soft. Put cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until

Mocha Truffles

2011-12-10T20:43:00.001-05:00

This is a super simple dessert recipe that will please most anyone. It is inspired by a recipe a good friend gave me. While it is a whole-food recipe, it is not low-fat. Bring it out once at a year at the holidays and share with friends. 1/2 C nuts - raw or toasted cashews, almonds, peanuts, or walnuts 1/2 C dates 2 T cocoa powder or low-fat cocoa powder 2 t whole coffee beans (whatever your

Som Tam Thai Salad Dressing

2011-11-20T22:36:00.001-05:00

This is an amazing and simple Thai salad dressing for a Som Tam salad. I almost lost this recipe except for a single email I sent a year ago. Phew! Glad I've got it. Now I can refer to it too! Som Tam Salad Dressing 1/2 C lime juice 1T sugar 1 t soy sauce 2-3 slices of red or green chili pepper The longer the chili marinates, the hotter it gets. Enjoy! (BTW, I haven't stopped blogging.

Ethiopian Clove Coffee

2011-06-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

So, in addition to posting recipes for the world to see here, this is also my own online reference for my recipes. Here's one I picked up from an Ethiopian restaurant here in Atlanta. Ethiopia is known for their coffee and occasionally they add spice. I'm a coffee purist usually, but this one blew me away. 2T ground coffee 1/4 t ground cloves I brew this in a french press or you can run it

Recipe: Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette

2011-01-20T22:56:00.000-05:00

This is a super-easy and very tasty dressing. We use this with cooked beets for a cold beet salad. Delicious! 1/2 c orange juice 1/2 c balsamic vinegar 1t dijon mustard salt and pepper to taste That's it! Whisk it together and pour it over a salad or use it as a marinade. Enjoy!

Film: Forks Over Knives

2011-01-20T01:13:00.000-05:00

I had the distinct pleasure tonight of seeing a preview screening of the film, "Forks Over Knives" in Atlanta. It is a must-see movie. Great work on behalf of all involved. Don't miss this when it is released in March. Here are a few more pics of the special guests too! Truly an epic evening. Me and Rip Esselstyn, Author of the "Engine 2 Diet." Me and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, author of

What's Cooking At Le Chateau Soleil?

2010-12-29T12:59:00.000-05:00

Grapefruit Kanten in Shell Many people may be wondering what the heck has been happening at Le Chateau Soleil? I haven't stopped cooking. I've been learning. A LOT. Here is my favorite new cookbook:Kansha: Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions by Elizabeth Andoh. If you are serious about expanding your cooking talents, get this book. It is full of cooking techniques, ideas and

Recipe: Lemon-Rose Quinoa with Oven-Dried Sungold Tomatoes, Torn Basil and Pomegranate Arils

2010-10-20T23:27:00.001-04:00

This recipe was a late-season treat spanning end-of-summer vegetables and fall fruits. It also gave me an excuse to use the word "Arils" aka pomegranate seeds. This dish can be served at room temperature or cold. First, I have to thank Madhur Jaffrey for her recipe of oven-dried tomatoes. It is in her book Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the

Recipe: Stuffed Lychee with Citrus Coriander and Chili

2010-10-09T10:44:00.000-04:00

Finally, an easy one!!! It doesn't get any easier than this and you will blow your guests away with this appetizer. No cooking necessary, just whole delicious food, the way nature intended. 1 T coriander (aka fresh cilantro), finely diced 2 T lemon juice (about 1 lemon) 1 red chili pepper. thinly sliced 6-8 lychees (fresh or canned) Mix the cilantro and lemon juice in a small bowl and let

Awesome Cornbread!

2010-10-02T21:56:00.000-04:00

So, every once in a while you nail a recipe. I brought this cornbread to a church community meal with chili. It got rave reviews and multiple requests for the recipe. Sorry, no pictures on this one. It disappeared too quickly. Truth be told that night at church, I was wingin' in. I didn't have all the ingredients I needed and I even borrowed ideas from a banana bread recipe. Great

Follow-Up on Bill Clinton's Diet

2010-09-26T13:21:00.000-04:00

Another CNN interview about Bill Clinton's diet. This one with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish, the two doctors who Bill Clinton cites as his inspiration. You'll find both of their books on my sidebar.

Go Mom and Dad Go!

2010-09-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, what you see before you is none other than the pantry of my parents. They started eating a low-fat, high fiber plant-based diet in the past year and now look. Not sure you can see them all, but there are 30 different varieties of legumes on those shelves! If there was ever research to be done on how to live forever, this is the place to go! Way to go Mom and Dad!

Nutrition Basics: How Serious Is This?

2010-09-22T10:30:00.000-04:00

Some people may wonder, how serious is the health problem in the United States? The figure is staggering... If you add up all the military deaths of the 20th and 21st centuries including World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, that is only 60% of the number of people who die every year from diet-related disease. Keep eating those

Bill Clinton Eats A Plant-Based Diet!

2010-09-21T23:36:00.001-04:00

We're on "This Is Why You're Thin!"

2010-09-13T21:02:00.000-04:00

Le Chateau Soleil was featured this past week on the web site: This Is Why You're Thin. It's a great site for cooking ideas and focuses on "inspiring images of the things that make and keep us healthy." Enjoy!

Cuisinart Green Gourmet Review; part 2

2010-09-06T22:36:00.001-04:00

Pancakes with no oil from the Cuisinart Green Gourmet fry pan So, I've thrown everything I've got at this pan. Eggplant with no oil, fresh tofu, pancakes and everything was a non-stick success. You can see from the picture of the pancakes above how evenly the pan heats too. Those pancakes filled the pan, so it's not like there was part of the pan that was unused that might be a hot-spot.

Cuisinart Green Gourmet Review; part 1

2010-09-01T20:39:00.001-04:00

So, I put the Cuisinart Green Gourmet fry pan to the test tonight. There are some foods that stick to EVERYTHING when you try to cook them. Things like raw potatoes or raw garlic. So, thanks to a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, I made a dish with both! First a few rules about the Green Gourmet. No metal utensils. I use wood. No dishwashers. Only wash by hand, which is fine. I hand wash my cast

Cuisinart Green Gourmet Cookware

2010-08-31T21:29:00.000-04:00

Thanks to our friends at Cuisinart, I am happy to announce that I now possess a 12" fry pan that is part of the Cuisinart Green Gourmet eco-friendly, non-stick cookware line. When it comes to oil-free cooking, I will be putting this one to the test and reporting back. For a quick summary about the pan, click here. Stay tuned for the results...

What's wrong with extra virgin olive oil?

2010-08-29T21:56:00.001-04:00

This was a question posed by a reader on a previous post and I thought the question was so important that it bears its own post. So here goes... Extra virgin olive oil falls into the category of processed oils. It is pure fat, including saturated fat and any nutrients that it once had while in an olive have been removed. So, there is no nutritional value in it. But isn't fat necessary in

What's Cooking Today at Le Chateau Soleil?

2010-08-26T22:42:00.000-04:00

Whole wheat bread with my signature "S" scoring for Le Chateau Soleil. "S" scoring from a side view. For those who aren't familiar, scoring is cuts or slashes made into bread dough before baking. The scoring provides a weak spot in the dough that allows the dough to "spring" or rise in the oven when it bakes. You may have noticed on your bread at home that it will occasionally tear in places,

Books and products I recommend...

2010-08-26T14:03:00.000-04:00

Le Chateau Soleil is happy to announce that I will be reviewing and recommending products that support us along our adventures in low-fat, plant-based gourmet cuisine. We now have a sidebar with books and products I recommend. Please know, these are not just random books from Amazon. I carefully choose every product and book for this site. If you click through from our site and purchase any

Coffee Roasting Basics

2010-08-24T15:09:00.000-04:00

People always ask me about coffee roasting in my adobe oven. Here is a great primer video on the stages of coffee roasting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYy47C0Xw0I You can even roast coffee in a simple hot air popcorn popper. Does coffee really taste better if you roast it at home? Imagine the difference in taste between a grocery store tomato and one that just came out of your garden.

Eat colors!

2010-08-19T18:00:00.023-04:00

I had to share this photo of Japanese sweet potatoes from my garden. The vibrant purple color was unbelievable. Every ad you hear for food these days talks about antioxidants and how they help prevent cancer. Interestingly, antioxidants in foods express themselves as colors. Each one has a different, yet very positive effect on your body and your health. It is also no coincidence that if you

What's Cooking Today At Le Chateau Soleil?

2010-08-18T10:14:00.000-04:00

Whole wheat and semolina sourdough bread with rye mash Let's talk bread. I'm experimenting with a new bread technique that even the most experienced bread bakers may not know about. It's the technique of sprouting and mashing grains. What does that mean? Here's a quick rundown for you. Grains are packed full of complex carbohydrates or starch. These are long chains of sugar molecules that

Recipe: Lemon Salad Dressing

2010-08-17T20:18:00.000-04:00

When eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet with no added oils, salad dressing at home becomes more of a challenge. Here is a recipe that is deceptively simple but so good. This recipe fits a lunch-sized salad for one. Juice of 1/2 a lemon 1/4 t cumin seeds salt and pepper to taste That's it. I eat this all the time. I usually chop my salad into smaller pieces, squeeze the lemon, add the