Fall wouldn’t be complete without a few delicious pumpkin recipes courtesy of our own Chef Bill Wavrin. Whether you whip up a batch of  his Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin Cookies, these tasty treats will not only fill your home with an amazing fall scent, they’ll also fill your tummy with pumpkin goodness!

Pumpkin Cookies with Walnuts

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg white
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

Step #1: 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees! Fold the baking soda into the pumpkin puree and set aside.

Step #2: 2 Sift flour, spices and salt together into a bowl and set aside.

Step #3: 3 Place the butter and sugar into a separate bowl and cream together until fluffy, beat in the eggs and pumpkin puree. Stir in dry ingredients. Stir in nutsand raisins.

Step #4: Using a teaspoon drop teaspoon full dollops onto a sheet pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment and lightly sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1/teaspoon ground cinnamon
½  teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
½ egg white
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoons white vinegar

Method:

Step #1: In a bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar until smooth. Stir the flour mix into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine. Set aside and allow to rest 30 minutes.

Step #2: Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Ladle in ¼ cup of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake. When the pancake edges start to dry and the bubbles form over the cake flip and cook until golden. Serve hot.

Cake Ingredients

4 cups shredded carrots (about 1 ½ lbs)
1 cup dates (about 16 dates)
1 cup walnuts
¾ dried apricots
½ cup raisins or currants
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
1 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ cup quinoa

Frosting Ingredients

1 ½ cups raw cashews
2 tablespoons honey or agave
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons almond milk, preferably home made

Method:

Step #1: Grate the carrot in a food processor fitted with the grater attachment. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Step #2: In the food processor, now fitted with the S blade attachment, pulse the dates, apricots, and walnuts until combined but not a paste.

Place everything in the mixing bowl add to the shredded carrots and mix. Add the spices to the carrot mixture and blend.

Step #3: Transfer the mixture to the food processor and blend in two batches until the mixture comes together and holds its shape.

Step #5: Fold in the coconut and the quinoa.

Step #6: Using a dry measuring cup and portion out the mixture and frost each cake with a heaping tablespoon of cashew frosting.

Cashew Frosting

Method:

Step #1: Place the cashews in the food processor, and blend scraping down the sides, until the cashews are butter like. Add a few tablespoons of almond milk to help in thinning out the butter

Step #2: Add the honey (or agave) to the food processor and blend until incorporated. After frosting the cake, refrigerate until needed

Do you enjoy fresh juice? Juicing with fresh, organic fruit and produce is a popular way to incorporate healthful nutrients into your balanced diet. Chef Bill now serves fresh juice daily at Glen Ivy Hot Springs and shares one of his favorite recipes, the Carrot Pineapple Spatini – a perfect summer refreshment!

Yield: 6 – 6 ounce servings

Ingredients
6 carrots
1 ounce fresh ginger root
8 ounces pineapple juice
4 ounces orange juice

Method
Wash and juice carrots.
Blend the ginger with a portion of the juice and add. It must be well blended, as to break down all the fiber so if the fiber is too tough, strain.
Place all of the ingredients in a pitcher and serve alone or with ice.

Nutritional information, per 6 ounce serving:
96 calories, trace fat
30450 units Vitamin A
31 mg. Vitamin C
1 mg Vitamin B1 Thiamine
511 mg Potassium
45 mg Vitamin B9 Folacin

Inspired by our Local Growers and Artisan Market at the Hot Springs, Chef Bill Wavrin shares his favorite recipes usine local, fresh, organic recipes:

Ratatouille is a wonderful, healthy, traditional dish from Provence in the South of France. I love the food from Provence, and I just love the South of France. Of course, I’ve trimmed some of the fat and placed my own twist on it. The marriage of the sweet, smooth roasted butternut squash with the earthy ratatouille and Pomodoro adding a bit of Italy all works very well together. This is a simple recipe, but it requires a bit of chopping (a primer to enhance your knife skills!) and a wonderful medley of fresh produce. If you live nearby or are planning a trip to Glen Ivy Hot Springs soon, we host a fantastic Local Growers and Artisan Market every Wednesday from 3:30-6:30pm in the parking lot – the perfect opportunity to stock up on local, fresh, organic produce! Enjoy!!

Oven Roasted Baby Butternut Squash Stuffed with Ratatouille

by Chef Bill Wavrin

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 acorn or baby butternut squash
4 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves fresh garlic minced
1 yellow onion chopped
½ red bell pepper seeded and chopped
½ green bell pepper seeded and chopped
1 eggplant cut in ½” cubes
1 Portobello mushrooms cut in ½” cubes
4 ounces white wine, (Pinot Gris is great)
1 zucchini cut in ½” cubes
1 yellow squash cut in ½” cubes
1 cup tomatoes seeded and chopped
2 ancho chiles tem and seeds removed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
½ cup Pomodoro sauce, recipe follows

Method:

1. Preheat oven 400°
2. Carefully, cut the baby squash in half. Remember these babies are hard and can be slippery if you don’t use a sharp knife.
3. Clean the seeds out of the squash with a spoon.
4. Drizzle the inside of each squash with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of olive oil.
5. Place the squash cut side up and bake for 25 minutes.
6. Turn the squash over and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes or until soft. Set aside until needed.
7. Place a large sauté pan over medium high heat and add the remaining olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.
8. Add the garlic, onions, bell peppers with the eggplant and cook 5 minutes, tossing.
9. Add the mushrooms and cook an additional 5 minutes, tossing.
10. Add the wine and toss. Cook 3-4 minutes until the wine has reduced by half.
11. Add the remaining vegetables one at a time, cooking and tossing.
12. Cook until the vegetables have just softened, about 6 minutes.
13. Add the herbs and chiles to the pan.
14. Add the Pomodoro sauce and toss to combine.
15. Simmer for 2 minutes.
16. Season to taste.
17. Place each squash on a warmed dinner plate and fill each with the ratatouille, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Jack cheese over each and place in the preheated oven.
18. Roast for 10 minutes.

Serve the squash on a warmed dinner plate.

Salsa di Pomodoro Passata

By Chef Bill Wavrin

Passata is an Italian concentrated tomato sauce that is used to thicken soups and sauces. This is the vegetarian version of my passata prepared without pork and pancetta the way my Sicilian aunts Armina & Viola showed me in their kitchens cooking rustic dishes from their childhood. Bon Appetito!

Ingredients:

3 pounds plum tomatoes, halved
8 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
8 ounces Ruah or a nice Borolo
8 ounces vegetable stock
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven 250°!
2. Place the halved tomatoes in a bowl with the garlic salt and pepper and
3. 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Toss to combine.
4. Pour out on a papered sheet pan cut side down and bake in the preheated oven 2 hours.
5. Place a pan with the olive oil, over medium heat and add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring until the onions are slightly golden.
6. Add the red wine and cook 2 minutes.
7. Add the roasted tomatoes with the stock, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook 30 minutes.
8. Add the sugar and simmer very slowly for an additional 5 minutes.
9. Add the fresh basil and set a side to cool.

This passata should be refrigerated in a glass or non corrosive container, and will keep for several weeks covered.

Buen Provecho!!

The Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for his pot of gold is said to be at the end of a rainbow, and though it’s often sought after, nearly impossible to reach.  With a variety of vibrant colors and a fresh, delicious taste, you’ll consider this Rainbow Salsa Cruda your very own pot of gold – and well within reach!

Rainbow Salsa Cruda

by Executive Chef Bill Wavrin

Yield: 12 cups

Ingredients:

6 medium tomatoes, small chop

4 Yellow tomatoes, small chop

1cup finely chopped red onion

4 scallions finely chopped

¼ cup fresh cilantro finely chopped

3 tablespoons oregano finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh garlic minced

1 jalapeño, finely chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice

sea salt to taste

Method:

In a medium mixing, combine all ingredients.  Season to taste.  If you like hot salsa, add extra jalapeño.

Serving Size: 2 tablespoons

The Big Game is Sunday, February 5 and it’s usually a day when we’re munching on snacks and junk all day long.  Here are two easy-to-whip-together dip recipes that you’ll want to keep digging into and don’t have to feel guilty about!  The perfect (and healthier) way to indulge in a bowl of guacamole is my Edamole Broccomole; the addition of the edamame and broccoli cut the fat and calories by 60% plus it has all the protein benefits of edamame and cancer-fighting benefits of broccoli.  You’ll notice the guacamole continues to stay green longer but you won’t have to worry about that – this one will be gone fast!  The Salsa Ranchera is a staple and goes great with just about anything. It’s always best to use fresh ingredients so I recommend planning your trip to the grocery store or farmer’s market on Friday  or Saturday to gather all your ingredients and beat the crowds.

Game day not your bowl of dip? Check out our Spa Specials at Glen Ivy Hot Springs!

Edamole Broccomole Dip

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shelled edamame (fresh soybeans) fresh or frozen
1/2 cup peeled broccoli stalks
2 avocados, peeled and stoned, mashed in a medium sized bowl
4 cups water
1 scallion thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onion diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1 lime, juiced
1 medium tomato, diced
4 tablespoons fresh cilantro minced
Sea salt to taste

Method:
1.       Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan.
2.       Reduce to a simmer and add the edamame and simmer for 30 seconds or until cooked.
3.       Drain the beans and set aside to cool.
4.       Repeat with the broccoli spears.  Steam about 30 seconds until soft or just until cooked al dente.
5.       Drain the broccoli and set aside to cool.
6.       Place the edamame in a food processor and pulse to combine.  Run the processor 20 seconds or until the beans resemble coffee grounds.
7.       Repeat with the broccoli.
8.       Place everything in a bowl and mix well to combine.
9.       Season to taste and serve or refrigerate until needed.

Salsa Ranchera

Yields: 4 cups

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion chopped
6 cloves garlic
6 Roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno halved
6 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
sea salt to taste

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 375°
Place the onions, garlic, tomatoes and chiles in a bowl with the oil and toss.
Place on a sheet pan and bake [30] minutes.
Remove from the oven and add to a blender and pulse [10] seconds.
Add the cilantro and blend pulsing [10] seconds.
Salsa should be slightly chunky.
Season to taste.

Serving size: 1 oz.
Calories: 20; Fat: 2g

—Chef Bill

“If you keep only healthy food in your fridge, you will eat healthy food.”

1. Stop by a Farmers Market or Farm Stand. Pick something colorful and build a meal around it. How about fresh tomatoes and basil for the start of an easy caprese salad? Or try one of these other quick and delicious tomato recipes from Fine Cooking.
2. In the kitchen prepping dinner? Take an extra 10 minutes to portion fresh veggies and fruit for healthy snacks and next meals, saving time later and the temptation of sugary alternatives.
3. Meal plan, Phase 1: Jot down a list of your favorite healthy meals, and then make a grocery list to have the basics on hand for the upcoming week. Need inspiration for fast and fresh recipes? Check out these from WIlliams Sonoma
4. Meal plan, Phase 2: Sit down with your morning coffee for 10 minutes to plan dinner that evening. Choose a meal from your list. Do you need to take anything out of the freezer or stop by the market on the way home? A few moments thought early in the day can mean the difference between a tasty homemade meal and takeout.
5. Does your dinner recipe freeze well? Double it and put the rest in the freezer for a quick meal on a busy day.
6. Always keep a glass a water nearby, and carry a water bottle. When you feel the urge to snack or low energy, try a few sips of cool water first and see if that staves the craving.
7. Plant a kitchen container garden of your favorite herbs. Easy to care for, lovely to look at, you can add zing and flavor instantly to any meal or drink!
8. Get inspired! Pick up a new cookbook, magazine, browse online recipes, or take in 10 minutes of your favorite cooking show. My two current favorites are Jamie Oliver and Tastespotting.
9. Use your BBQ or grill more often, a delicious way to prepare vegetables. Grilled dishes often have less fat than stove top ones because they don’t sit in a pan and absorb more fat (oil, butter, etc) while they cook.
10. Dish plates with slightly smaller portions before bringing them to the table, then take your time eating, enjoying conversation. Eating too fast can be one reason for over indulgence, another is convenience. If you stretch out your dining time, you may find you are full when you finish the first serving, especially if there isn’t more tempting you at arm’s reach.

Tell us your healthy food short cuts!

This August the Glen Ivy Challenge is to use 10 minutes of your day towards making yourself healthier and happier. I have noticed in my family that dining habits can be the first thing to suffer, heading for take out when we are short on time and energy. Instead of hitting the drive thru, here are my top 10 favorite recipes that can be thrown together in a flash, from a New York Times article written a few years back, you can check out the full list of 101 here.

Add a salad and a loaf of bread and you can turn any dish on this list into a meal that will be better than takeout! Try these and let us know what you think, or share your favorite quick and easy meal below.

13 Gazpacho: Combine one pound tomatoes cut into chunks, a cucumber peeled and cut into chunks, two or three slices stale bread torn into pieces, a quarter-cup olive oil, two tablespoons sherry vinegar and a clove of garlic in a blender with one cup water and a couple of ice cubes. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, then serve or refrigerate, garnished with anchovies if you like, and a little more olive oil.

15 Call it panini: Grilled cheese with prosciutto, tomatoes, thyme or basil leaves.

22 Make wraps of tuna, warm white beans, a drizzle of olive oil and lettuce and tomato.

29 Chop prosciutto and crisp it in a skillet with olive oil; add chopped not-too-ripe figs. Serve over greens dressed with oil and vinegar; top all with crumbled blue cheese.

40 Put a large can of chickpeas and their liquid in a medium saucepan. Add some sherry, along with olive oil, plenty of minced garlic, smoked pimentón and chopped Spanish chorizo. Heat through.

64 Pasta with fresh tomatoes: Cook chopped fresh tomatoes in butter or oil with garlic until tender, while pasta cooks. Combine and serve with grated Parmesan.

68 Brush portobello caps with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil until tender. Briefly sweat chopped onions, then scramble eggs with them. Put eggs in mushrooms.

77 Sear corn kernels in olive oil with minced jalapeños and chopped onions; toss with cilantro, black beans, chopped tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and lime.

78 Cook shrimp in a skillet slowly (five minutes or so) to preserve their juices, with plenty of garlic and olive oil, until done; pour over watercress or arugula, with lemon, pepper and salt.

98 Rub flank steak or chuck with curry or chili powder before broiling or grilling, then slice thin across the grain. Delicious on salad with bread.

Check back later this month as Glen Ivy’s Chef Bill Wavrin will be sharing his tips and tricks to fast and easy healthy eating!

Another Fabulous Glen Ivy Spa-tini from Executive Chef Bill Wavrin

Hibiscus and Blueberry Refresco

What a great way to start off any day. They call it the drink of the Pharaohs, who enjoyed it as a cooler on those hot North African days. In Mexico hibiscus teas, or Jamaica, can be found on almost any corner and our neighbors south of the border they have been enjoying this tea as a sweetened refresco for centuries.

Studies have shown that drinking [2] cups of hibiscus tea can lower systolic blood pressure, lower cholesterol and is a wonderful cooler. The hibiscus flower contains many antioxidants that help in protecting cells from free radicals. Marrying the hibiscus teas with blueberries gives a huge boost to benefiting one’s healthy regiment by heightening the antioxidants levels over the top. The chiles offer a surprising piquant twist to a wonderful traditional drink. Zest it up & Buen Provecho!!

Hibiscus and Blueberry Resfresco
Yield: 8 – 8 ounce servings

Ingredients

4 ounces hibiscus flowers
½ gallon water
4 ounce lemon juice
2 ounces fresh lime juice
brown sugar to taste
8 cups ice or as needed
8 hibiscus flowers for garnish
2 chiles del arbol toasted
4 mint leaves
8 lime slices
8 lemon slices
8 ounces blueberries

Method

Step #1: Bring the water to a boil in a stock pot and add the dried hibiscus flowers. Take off the heat and allow the tea to steep [30] minutes. Strain, toss the flowers and set aside to cool. Refrigerate and cover the tea until needed.

Step #2: Place everything in a pitcher and stir. Add sugar to taste. Add ice to the glasses and garnish with a mint leaf, blueberries, lemon and lime slice and a hibiscus flower.

Buen Provecho and Salud!!

It is National Nutrition Month, and the 2011 theme is “Eat Right with Color.”  This is a rule that Chef Bill Wavrin speaks of often, and he shares some tips below to make it easier for you to include vegetables in more meals.

I want to keep encouraging you to use fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs as much as possible in your at-home cooking.  As we all know, you should be ready to use cut fresh vegetables as soon as possible in order to benefit from the wonderful nutrients each delivers but with our busy lives and hectic schedules it’s often hard to find the time to do all that prep work for every meal.  Here are a few “do aheads” that will maximize your time in the kitchen so you can still cook healthy meals for your and your family.

On a day when you’re less busy spend some time in the kitchen doing prep work that will get you ready for quick meal making in the days to come.  Let’s call it chopping day, which will do two things for you — enables one to stock up on cut vegetables, herbs and fruit, and also helps practice knife skills, so each time you’ll become a bit handier with that kitchen knife.

• I always have a Mirepoix – a French term which is a combination of 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 rib of celery – all chopped and at the ready for soups and sauces and as the beginnings of a vegetable medley. Place the chopped veggies in a sealed container or baggy and refrigerate up to 1 week.
• You can do the same with zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, scallions, string beans, cilantro, fresh chiles and cucumbers. These will stay good for 3 days.
• I recommend NOT cutting tomatoes ahead of time.
• Potatoes can be chopped and placed in a sealed container filled with water to cover the potatoes, refrigerated until needed for up to 1 week.
• Chop fresh garlic in a food processor with a bit of olive oil. Remove to a sealed container and refrigerate until needed for up to 1 week.
• Chop fresh herbs and place in a sealed container and refrigerate until needed for up to 3 days.
• Oranges, lemons can be cut 1-2 days in advance. Always refrigerate.
• Apple & pears can be cut ahead of time, but will oxidize if you don’t squeeze some lemon over them. The citric acid stops these guys from darkening and they’re good for 1-2 days.
• Melon, rind removed and cut as needed, into bite-size pieces can be placed in a sealed container and refrigerated 1-3 days.
• I love watermelon with a drop of balsamic vinegar. So for a pretty and delicious snack I stack geometric square or triangle pieces and drizzle it on top…don’t eat your fingers!

Keep cooking healthy!
Chef Bill Wavrin

Ready to color your plate? Why not this energy boosting  Spa-tini recipe while you’re at it?