Milk Chocolate-Croissant Pudding Recipe
This lush bread pudding is the signature dish of Sun Basket Pastry Chef Paul Conte. As he says, the buttery croissant pieces add richness, and their flaky texture “brings a luxurious texture to traditional bread pudding.” Use either a fresh or day-old croissant from your local cafe or bakery. And swap dark for milk chocolate if that’s how you roll. Serve the bread pudding warm from the oven, or make it ahead and refrigerate until ready to serve. Reheat in a 375ºF oven for 10 to 15 minutes to crisp the top.
Milk Chocolate-Croissant Bread Pudding Recipe
Serves 2
Shopping List
1-inch piece vanilla bean
1 cup heavy cream, preferably organic
2 large eggs, preferably pasture-raised and organic
¼ cup sugar
1 croissant
1 ounce milk chocolate
1 Prep the cream
Heat the oven to 350ºF.
• Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds; set aside the bean and seeds.
In a small sauce pot over medium heat, combine the cream, vanilla bean, and seeds. Season lightly with salt, whisking occasionally, until small bubbles appear around the edges and steam begins to rise. Immediately remove from the heat.
While the cream mixture warms, prepare the egg yolks.
2 Prep the egg yolks; make the custard
• Set out a medium and a small bowl. Crack 1 egg at a time and separate the yolk and white. Place the yolks in the medium bowl and the whites in the small bowl; save the whites for another use.
Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture in a thin stream, whisking until well combined. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher or bowl; discard the vanilla bean. Set the custard aside.
3 Prep the croissant and chocolate; assemble and bake the bread pudding
• Tear or cut the croissant into 1-inch pieces.
• Coarsely chop the chocolate.
Arrange the croissant pieces in an even layer in a small baking dish or large ramekin, then scatter the chocolate on top. Pour the custard over the croissant and chocolate. Place the small baking dish or large ramekin inside a medium baking dish and place both baking dishes in the oven.
Using a pitcher or kettle, pour warm tap water into the medium baking dish, filling it one-fourth full to create a water bath for the bread pudding. Cover both baking dishes with a sheet pan or aluminum foil. Bake until the custard is set, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully remove the small baking dish from the water bath, and let cool to warm.
4 Serve
Transfer the bread pudding to individual plates or bowls and serve.
What’s the Deal with Cauliflower Rice?
White rice may be the most widely consumed food in the world, but the truth is that it doesn’t offer much in the way of nutritional value. Enter cauliflower rice, the low carb, gluten free, paleo friendly stand-in for the globe’s most popular grain. Finely chopped granules of cauliflower are also a good source of protein and vitamins C, K, and B6. They also have a more distinctive flavor than plain rice that’s still subtle enough to play well with a range of foods.
It’s a staple here in the Sun Basket kitchen, where cauliflower plays a major role in our paleo meal plan. This week it’s available in our Steak and Eggs with Tomato Cauliflower Rice, where the cauliflower is cooked with tomatoes and paprika to make a savory bed for a high-protein dinner.
The cauliflower rice we send in our meal kits is pre-cut and ready to cook. If you ever want to make it on your own, it’s pretty simple to do. Chop the florets with a knife, grate a head on the largest holes of a box grater or use a food processor fitted with the grater attachment.
Ready to give cauliflower rice a try? Here are a few Sun Basket recipes to get you started.
Japanese Pork Curry with Broccoli and Cauliflower Rice
Spicy Blackened Sole with Citrus Pico de Gallo and Herbed Cauliflower Rice
Spiced Lamb Patties with Cauliflower Tabbouleh
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Lemon, Egg, and Cauliflower Rice
30 Days of Sun Basket—week 4
We conclude our 4 week journey cooking Sun Baskets with San Francisco couple, Kira and Brandon.
Sun Signs—February 2017
The planets of love and sex hook up this month, and the relationship gets hot right around Valentine’s Day. When Venus and Mars meet, Cupid is in the house, and the potential for attracting love is on. A magical lunar eclipse on the 10th and a powerful solar eclipse on the 26th accelerate change, delivering important endings and beginnings. Checkout where these fireworks and game-changing turning points are happening in your horoscope.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb 18) Meetups with inspiring, exciting people fill your tank and fuel opportunities for communication. The lunar eclipse on the 10th shines a light on balancing your needs with those of others. The powerful solar eclipse and cluster of watery planets in your house of money and resources on the 26th, opens the floodgates to finding your worth.
PISCES (Feb 19-Mar 20) You may have sudden windfalls or unexpected expenses this month. But the force is with you, if you can keep impulsivity in check. Get your life/work balance in order, in that order. Practice healthy selfishness and avoid drama—especially at the office. You are the captain of the sea-changing eclipse in your sign at the end of the month. Whether it’s a new chapter or completion of what you’ve been creating over the past two years, you’re a swimmer and know how to navigate these waters.
ARIES (Mar 21-April 19) Charming, confident, and popular, you’re looking and feeling good. If you know your heart’s desire, shoot that arrow now. The last week of the month finds you doing yoga, meditation, or fluffing the feathers of your love nest. Who knows, maybe you’ve found your soulmate.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Easy does it, Taurus. You’re busy and burn-out is a real possibility. Don’t let others drain you. A lunar eclipse in your house of home and family may set in motion a move or an early spring cleaning. The solar eclipse on the 26th in your house of friends and groups may wash away the people you’ve outgrown. If you don’t get stuck in the mud, this magical eclipse is fertile ground for planting seeds and wishing your way to what you really want.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Your role as teacher, communicator, and salesperson is expanding and connecting you to stimulating people. You have an opportunity now to use your gifts in a way that lifts us all up. On Valentine’s Day, you could bump into true love right outside your frontgate. The powerful eclipse at the end of month in your career house could sweep you into your dream job. Listen to your intuition and inner voice, the universe is talking to you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Whether you work for somebody else or you’re your own boss, know your worth. Put your foot down and ask for more. On Valentine’s day, things might get steamy in the employee lounge with the cutie from accounts payable. With a watery eclipse at the end of the month throwing a pool party in your house of beliefs and long distance travel, you have a mainline to the divine. Take what you’ve learned far and wide or upload it to the web from the comfort of a new or improved home. Hint: You’re going to need a bigger boat, Cancer.
LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Dear Leo, you are SO loveable. The magical eclipse on the 10th in your sign sets you on a course of actually believing it. All the planetary action in your house of higher learning and long distance travel this month helps you get out of your own way. On Valentine’s Day, you might meet your soulmate at the latest ethnic fusion restaurant or a seminar in Zanzibar. As the Bard says, Love on.
VIRGO (Aug 23-Sept 22) You’ve been having a hard time. Stop complaining. You’re being asked to be more detail oriented, which should be a no brainer for you, Virgo. The lunar eclipse on the 10th highlights your inner life; study astrology, start a meditation or spiritual practice, decipher your dreams–that’s where you’ll shine. By the big solar eclipse at the end of the month, you may be ready to release a relationship or partner who’s no longer serving you; the collective needs you now.
LIBRA (Sept 23-Oct 22) With both love planets playing nice in your partnership house, there are bound to be fireworks. For those of you rare Libra’s not in a relationship, you could find love unexpectedly–online, with a friend, or even at work. With the lunar eclipse on the 10th in your house of friends and groups, decide who’s wasting your time, and who’s worth it. The solar eclipse on the 26th turns you to self-care. Get to the gym, hike outdoors, carve out time for yourself. Balance is your mantra.
SCORPIO (Oct 23-Nov 21) For those of you looking for love, someone from your past might resurface this month. You are not past your dancing days, Scorpio. The lunar eclipse on the 10th lights up your career house and positively impacts your financial resources as well as circumstances at work. Maybe you get a promotion, your shares appreciate, or you move to a new office. The super-charged solar eclipse on the 26th, gives you an opportunity to turn your dreams into reality. Express new parts of yourself; tap into your creativity. The universe has your back. Download the information; and take notes.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22-Dec 21) Things lighten up this month. You may be traveling or making plans to take a trip. With the love and passion planets firing up your house of fun and romance (and in harmony with your sun sign), you’re up for an adventure; you could meet a foreigner or start a long distance relationship. The lunar eclipse on the 10th opens your mind, bringing new insights, and expanding your voice. You may feel the big solar eclipse at the end of the month on a deeply emotional level that precipitates a shift in where or how you live. Pay attention to your beliefs and philosophy, as they are a Sag’s true north.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan 19) You’re refining your career goals this month. The lunar eclipse on the 10th shines a light on what you need and value versus what others expect from you. Don’t get sucked into other people’s dramas. Set boundaries; say, no. As you own your power, you expand your talents and resources. Around that mystical solar eclipse on the 26th, your intuition is flawless. If there’s something you’ve been working on, writing, or teaching, the ground is fertile to let it grow.
Pistou Recipe
A sauce this simple demands the best-quality ingredients. Look for the brightest, most fragrant bunches of basil you can find and pull out your good olive oil. They’ll make all the difference.
Pistou Sauce
Makes about ½ cup
Ingredients
1 bunch fresh basil
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
Tools
Food processor
1 Prep the ingredients
• Strip the basil leaves from the stems. Coarsely chop the leaves.
• Coarsely chop the garlic.
2 Make the pistou
In a food processor, process the basil, garlic, and Parmesan to a coarse paste. With the machine on, add the olive oil in a thin stream until blended. Add the salt and pulse to combine. Season to taste with more salt, if needed.
3 Serve
Transfer the pistou to a small bowl and serve.
The pistou can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days; to prevent browning, cover the pistou with a thin layer of olive oil or press a small piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface. It can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition per serving (about 2 T): Calories: 150, Protein: 2 g, Total Fat: 16 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.5 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Cholesterol: 5 mg, Carbohydrates: 1 g, Fiber: 0 g, Added Sugar: 0 g, Sodium: 700 mg
Healthy Cooking 101—
There’s a reason why there are herbs in almost every Sun Basket meal. Their fresh herbal flavor adds another dimension of flavor to whatever you’re cooking, bringing complexity and color to dishes that might otherwise fall flat.
There are two broad categories of herbs:
• Leafy herbs like parsley, basil, mint, and cilantro.
• Non-leafy ones like rosemary, thyme, and chives.
If you’re not using the herbs in your Sun Basket right away, wrap them in a damp paper towel, transfer to a plastic bag and refrigerate until ready to use. But the best way to ensure that your herbs are fresh and flavorful is to use them as soon as possible.
As usual, a sharp knife is a cook’s best friend. A dull knife will bruise herb leaves, while one that’s sharp will slice cleanly through them, releasing their volatile oils.
To chop leafy herbs, simply trim them from their stems with a knife and chop the leaves.
To chop non-leafy herbs with woody stems like rosemary and thyme, strip the leaves from the stems with your fingers before chopping.
The best way to chop chives is to snip them with kitchen shears.
Hearty herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage are typically added early in the cooking process to give them time to release their flavors and soften their sometimes rougher texture. More delicate herbs like basil, mint, cilantro, parsley can be added at the end of the cooking time for the best flavor. But as with most rules, there are always exceptions. Parsley and cilantro can play both sides, going into the pan early in the cooking process or added at the end for a bold-tasting garnish.
The Value of a Good Night’s Sleep
More than a luxury or something to indulge in on weekends and vacations, sleep is actually as essential to your well-being as diet and exercise. From your mood to your sex life, sleep is a key component to health, and the lack of it can put your health at risk in some very dangerous ways, like the ability to remember, lose weight, and fight disease. The perils of going without sleep include an increased risk of accidents, obesity, depression, impaired cognition, and even higher mortality.
Irregular sleep patterns disturb the balance of hormones, disrupting cortisol and insulin levels and, subsequently, appetite-regulating hormones such as leptin and ghrelin. The stress of sleep deficiency stimulates epinephrine release which can lead to increased appetite and a tendency to store calories as fat. It also promotes insulin resistance—studies have reported that a difference in as little as two hours is enough to wreak havoc on your endocrine system.
Like eating healthy and working out, getting enough sleep requires a commitment and a shift in priorities. Happily, these three components support each other—eating well and regular exercise can help you sleep better, while a good night’s sleep makes it easier to make better food choices and get to the gym.
To make it easier to get your eight hours every night:
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Don’t go to bed hungry. A light snack at bedtime can help you fall asleep. Dairy foods and carbohydrates (think cereal with yogurt and bananas, sardines on crackers, an open-faced turkey and cheddar sandwich) are great late-night combinations. Together they help increase the level of sleep-inducing tryptophan in the blood. Cherries, one of the few natural food sources of melatonin, have been shown to provide some relief for insomnia.
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Avoid a high fat dinner. Research shows that people who often eat high-fat foods before going to bed experience a disruption of their sleep cycles.
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Skip the nightcap. Alcohol may help you fall asleep faster, but you may have less restful sleep and are more likely to have headaches, night sweats, and nightmares.
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Turn down the spice. Spicy foods can tax the digestive system. If you are going to have a dinner with some kick, try to finish the meal at least four hours before turning in.
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Limit protein after dark. Protein-rich foods are harder to digest and contain the amino acid tyrosine, which promotes brain activity.
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Eat more fish. Most seafood (especially salmon, halibut, and tuna) are good sources of vitamin B6, which your body needs to produce melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone triggered by darkness).
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Get outside. Make sure you spend some time outdoors every day. Sunlight is the body’s main regulator of wakefulness and sleep.
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Start an exercise routine. Even a small amount of exercise can have a dramatic effect on the quality of your sleep. Ideally, you should work out 150 minutes a week, but as little as 10 minutes of aerobic exercise on a regular basis can help you sleep better.
Turmeric Tonic Recipe
This powerhouse pick-me-up boasts so many good-for-you ingredients that it should probably require a prescription. Though it may look like a simple list of pantry staples, when combined, they deliver a surge like an electrical current, powering up energy levels with what feels like the flip of a switch. It’s got a grown-up flavor with a gentle spicy kick that’s easy to drink all day long. The carbonation from seltzer or kombucha helps to aerate the flavors and gives the drink a lively effervescence.
Turmeric Tonic
Serves 4
½ cup lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
1/3 cup agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup
5 ounces grated fresh turmeric, or 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
Ice
Tonic water or kombucha
Freshly ground black pepper
Tools
Fine-toothed grater, blender, fine-mesh strainer, large glass measuring cup or pitcher
1 Prepare the turmeric-ginger syrup
Using a blender, blend the lemon juice, agave syrup, grated ginger, and turmeric until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a large glass measuring cup or pitcher.
2 Serve
Fill 4 glasses with ice. Pour the turmeric-ginger syrup over the ice. Top with the seltzer or kombucha and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.
Nutrition per serving: Calories: 100, Protein: 1g (2% DV), Fiber: 1g (4% DV), Total Fat: 1g (2% DV), Monounsaturated Fat: 0g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g, Saturated Fat: 0g (0% DV), Cholesterol: 0mg (0% DV), Sodium: 5mg (0% DV), Carbohydrates: 25g (8% DV), Total Sugars: 17g, Added Sugars: 16g (32% DV). Not a significant source of trans fat.
30 Days of Sun Basket—week 3
Kira and Brandon are starting their year with a renewed focus on clean eating and cooking together. We’re following them for 4 weeks as they cook and eat Sun Basket meals. Watch what happens in week three.
Waste Not…
The average American will throw away $80,000 worth of food in a lifetime. Each Sun Basket recipe helps reduce this food waste by providing only what you need to prepare healthy, organic meals.
Bananas, bread, and lettuce are more likely to be bought but never eaten before becoming covered in mold or spoiled.
TOP 10 FOOD ITEMS THROWN AWAY AFTER BEING STORED IN THE FRIDGE
Bananas
Lettuce
Bread
Milk
Sandwich Meat
Tomatoes
Grapes
Cucumber
Potatoes
Bread
Broccoli
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