Gourmet Food Prepping

I have seen the scenario many times before. Women using extreme methods and bland food to get to their “fitness” goals (I use the word fitness here loosely, as extreme dieting does not equal “FIT”). Generally speaking, ANYONE can eat white fish and vegetables for a few weeks, but what happens afterward? Usually a total avoidance of the extreme diet and a need to make their taste buds happy again with FLAVOUR, which leads to a feeling of  “gone off track” and “throw in the towel” attitude. So why embark on something that is not sustainable in the long run? You will most likely only make your metabolism sluggish and be miserable for a few weeks. Well, what if I were to tell you that you can STILL reach your fitness goals while eating AMAZING, restaurant-style food??? And the best part?  Stay this way!!  I will never compromise flavour.  I have said it many times before, if it weren’t for my fitness career, I would most definitely be in the food industry!

Pre-making and prepping a lot of ingredients ahead of time is the secret. All great chefs and restaurants have their sous-chefs prepping all day for their nightly dinner options. So why not do the same?? Yesterday I oven-roasted some tomatoes, roasted about 10 sweet potatoes, grilled a bunch of peppers, cleaned and prepped an Arctic Char,  BBQ some chicken breasts, grilled all of my zucchini from the garden and froze and bagged the wild blueberries I picked.  It is such a joy to open the fridge and see prepped food that can be pulled together in an instant to make GOURMET MEALS that sill allow me to live a lifestyle of fitness, energy, health and vitality.

It literally took me 5 minutes to prepare last nights dinner posted below. The outcome?  An restaurant-style dish made with a fraction of the price, with the pride of my own creativeness and an hour of relaxation and enjoyment with my family. After all, isn’t that what life is about???

Pan-Seared Arctic Char on a bed of Pureed Yams and ginger-wasabi avocado “mayonnaise” with local organic greens

Mash your pre-roasted sweet potato with S&P and a spray of EVOO. Spread at the bottom of a ring (most chef stores sell one) and start creating the “layers” of the dish. Next add the cleaned organic greens mixed with thinly sliced pickled ginger and pan-seared (pre cooked) green beans. Add a few dollops of the avocado mayonnaise (see below) and julienned roasted yellow pepper. Top with the pan-seared (skin side down) fillet of Arctic Char (or salmon, trout etc). I like to top with the crispy skin. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and a few drops of sesame oil. YOU MUST TRY THIS!!!!!

AVOCADO WASABI MAYO 

1/2 avocado (ripe)

4 TBS Apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon wasabi

1 tablespoon of dijon (I used the truffle infused whole grain mustard)

1 teaspoon juice of the pickled ginger

Blend all ingredients in your blender (I used magic bullet) and serve!