Authors: Giada De Laurentiis

Giada's Feel Good Food (40 page)

BOOK: Giada's Feel Good Food

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Vegetable oil cooking spray

6 tablespoons (Â¾ stick) unsalted butter

Â¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

â cup light agave nectar

Blueberry and Spinach Puree

Â¼ cup brown rice flour

2 tablespoons flax meal

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Â¼ cup old-fashioned rolled oats, ground in a food processor

Â¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350Â°F. Spray the bottom only (not the sides) of a 9-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Put the butter and chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until the butter and chocolate are melted. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, agave, and blueberry and spinach puree. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, flax meal, cocoa powder, oats, and salt. Add to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine; do not overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12Â brownies. The brownies will keep, covered tightly, for up to a week in the refrigerator.

per brownie:
Calories 165; Protein 2g; Carbohydrates 19g; Dietary Fiber 2g; Sugar 14g; Total Fat 10g; Saturated Fat 6g; Sodium 52mg

blueberry and spinach puree

MAKES Â½ CUP

1Â¼ cups baby spinach

Â½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

Â½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Bring the spinach and 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until the spinach is wilted and very tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Combine the spinach, blueberries, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Process on high until smooth, stopping occasionally if necessary to scrape the sides. Add a little more water if necessary, to make a smooth puree.

Sometimes it's the little things that bring so much joy.
I like to keep fresh flowers in the house to bring the outdoors in. Orchids are fantastic because they stay in bloom for such a long timeâoften up to several months! Scented candles are another favorite, especially in flavors grapefruit, gardenia, and jasmine.

It's no secret that cooking for my friends and family makes me happy. When I can, I like to make lunch for Todd and surprise him at his office. He takes a break and we eat lunch together at his work.

And then there's my once-a-month girls' night, which I hold close to my heart. A few friends and I have a standing date. Sometimes we go out, but often we stay in and play board games or charades. We make it a potluck and everyone brings something. That way we can actually talk instead of shouting at each other in a noisy restaurant!

acknowledgments

Maybe it's the chef in me, but I like to think of this book as one long recipe for well-being, each part thought over, tested, and tasted in the hopes of being savored. And, just as with any good recipe, it takes a collection of carefully balanced ingredients, each one working to bring out the flavor of the next, to make a great dish.

Thanks to everyone who helped season this book:

To photographer Amy Neunsinger, for your meticulous eye, lovely energy, and inspiring connection to your lens; you and your team, Andy Mitchell and Hector Prida, make work an artist's playground for me. To my culinary testing delicious duo, Andy Sheen-Turner and Diana Bassett, for your patience, passion, and diligence to help me achieve “just right.” For clean aprons, hot coffees, good advice, and bad jokes, Ashley Reed. To Jen Barguiarena and assistant Ian Hartman, for your visionary prop styling and ever so golden forks.

To the ladies who turn words into chocolate cake for me, Pam Krauss, Rica Allannic, Marysarah Quinn, Kate Tyler, and Anna Mintz at Clarkson Potter; your guidance (and grammar patrol) is so appreciated. Thank you to Marjorie Livingston for her nutritional wisdom.

A big thank-you to Carrie Purcell and assistant Beryl Cohen, for bringing your food styling prowess to make an ordinary grape absolutely “smolder.” To Sandy and Nelson, for welcoming us to your table and letting us call it home for our shoot; you are so kind. To Julie Morgan, you are the salt to my pepper and I thank you for being so good at making a girl feel pretty with your beauty magicÂ â¦Â even at 5 a.m.

For your continued dedication, support, and willingness to try new dishes: Jon Rosen, Suzanne Gluck, and Eric Greenspan. I am endlessly thankful to have you at my table.

To my family, thank you for keeping your hearts, your mouths, and our home open to every inspiration that comes my way. You are my true secret ingredients to making life so unbelievably delicious.

credits

Target

Clairol

Table Art

H.D. Buttercup

Chantecaille

Koh Gen Doh

Jouer