Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Alright! This is the last post in my Green Mountain at Fox Run contest series that I've been doing this week. If you haven't read the other two (Super Smoothie and Berry-Lemon Muffins), please do!

Today I made Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti.



It turned out to be a surprisingly frustrating recipe, but that was mostly my fault. It calls for dried cranberries, reconstituted with some hot water and then drained. Well, we had a bag of fresh cranberries in the freezer, so I figured I'd thaw those out and use them. Well, they had way too much juice in them and I didn't drain them nearly well enough. So, when I added them to the dough, it was waaay too watery and I had to add about a cup and a half more flour. Lesson of the day...? Follow the recipe.

After all of my problems, they actually came out pretty good, and they're totally delicious. Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup salted shelled natural pistachios

Method
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, cover dried cranberries in boiling water and soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until dough forms. Add cranberries and pistachios and mix well (using spoon or by hand).

- Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead several times. Halve dough and then form each half into a 13-by-2 inch slightly flattened log. Place logs on a greased and floured baking sheet, using floured hands and spacing logs about 3 inches apart.



- Bake in middle of oven until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet on a rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer logs to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut-side down, in a single layer on baking sheet (don't worry if slices touch each other) Bake in middle of oven, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 20 to 25 minutes total.



They're just so pretty! The little dots of red and green are fun, and biting into the crunchy pistachios and sweet/tart cranberries make this probably the best biscotti I've ever had. My only deviation from the original recipe was my whole fresh cranberry debacle. Next time I make this, I'll use the dried instead, and it will be much quicker and easier!



Well, that wraps up my contest post series. You can find lots more awesome/delicious/healthy recipes at the Green Mountain at Fox Run website. Under the "support" tab, click on "healthy recipes". I'll definitely be making more of them once we finish up all the baked goods we have in the house right now. They have also gotten me hooked on smoothies! So check them out, and if you find a recipe you'd like me to try and post about, leave a comment and let me know!

Enjoy!

Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.

Whole Wheat Berry-Lemon Muffins

This is the second in my series of contest posts this week. If you didn't read Super Smoothie, you should. Basically, Green Mountain at Fox Run is a women's healthy living spa in Vermont and they're having a contest for bloggers to make some of their healthy recipes.

I found this contest at the perfect time. I'm back on the health bandwagon, trying to workout regularly and be smart about my eating. So making these recipes is the perfect way to have some healthy snacks around so I can stay on track.

Today I made their Berry-Lemon Muffins. They were appealing because I still had berries and skim milk from making the smoothie, and I happened to have a bag of whole wheat flour that I've been looking to use. They were simple, quick, and turned out to be delicious!



Here's their recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Zest of one large lemon
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries or combination)

Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil standard 12-cup muffin tin.

- Mix together dry ingredients and lemon zest in a medium bowl. In another small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add liquid ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter should be lumpy, thick and moist, not smooth. Carefully fold in berries.



- Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.



- Bake 20-30 minutes or until browned.



I made a couple of minor changes, but nothing that made them less healthy or really changed the taste. First of all, I used vegetable oil instead of canola, because that's what I had on hand. If you compare the nutrition facts on vegetable and canola oils, they're virtually the same, so you should be good as long as you don't use lard.

Also, I added in the juice of half of the lemon that I zested. The zest just didn't seem like enough lemon to me, and the juice gave it a bright taste and made them perfectly moist.

A tip on the recipe page was, "If you like them sweeter, try sprinkling each one with a pinch of brown sugar, which will add to the flavor and produce a beautiful crunchy golden top to enjoy." I did just that, and I have no regrets. A bit of brown sugar to crunch into made them perfect!




Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.

Super Smoothie

So today is the first in a series of three posts this week. I found a contest from this healthy living spa, Green Mountain at Fox Run. It's a spa/weight loss retreat just for women in Vermont. So while I couldn't actually go there, the contest says nothing about only women being able to enter. I think most of my readers are women anyway, so I'm reaching their target demographic.

The contest is to make some of their healthy living recipes and post them on your food or healthy living blog, and the best post gets a cookbook and a gift card. So I've decided to pick three recipes to make this week and blog about. Today I made their Mixed Berry Smoothie.



It acted as my breakfast/pre-workout sustenance today. It's a pretty basic smoothie, and super easy to make. Here's their exact recipe:

Ingredients
1 fresh or frozen banana
1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries or blackberries)
1/3 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon honey

Method
Place all the ingredients in the blender or food processor. Cover and blend on high speed about 30 seconds or until smooth. Pour in tall glass; garnish with a fresh berry or sprig of mint and serve.

I followed it pretty much exactly. The only change I made was using about a quarter cup of plain orange juice instead of the o.j. concentrate. I used an overripe banana since we had some to use up, and frozen berries - the mixed kind with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I also did not happen to have any sprigs of mint on hand with which to garnish, but it was just for me and I didn't have to impress me.



It made a LOT of smoothie, but since it has practically no fat, and not many calories, I don't feel bad that I totally drank it all. I think smoothies may become my go-to breakfast. It was quick, delicious, and super healthy. I'm excited for summer to get here so I can use fresh berries!



Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.