Olive Barre

Salty Saketini

| 193 Comments

Looking to jazz up your Christmas cocktail, but not ready for the hard stuff? I’ve got the perfect savory drink for you – the Salty Saketini.

After a recent visit to Japan, I became close friends with rice wine… more commonly known as sake. My whole drinking life I thought I despised this wine simply because of the way I was drinking it. You see, sake is meant to be enjoyed in it’s most pure state… not dumped in a jug of beer!

I also learned that it’s best enjoyed cold, ice cold.

PLUS – there’s some good news when it comes to sake. When consumed in moderation, sake is said to help moisturize your skin, prevent high blood pressure and reduce the risk of cancer.

So roll-up your sleeves and break out that cocktail shaker. You’re ready for your next detox-retox cocktail.

saketini ingredients

saketini recipe

Salty Saketini Recipe

What You’ll Need:

  • Ice
  • Dry sake
  • Lime
  • Salt

What You’ll Do:

  • Chill preferred glass in freezer for several minutes (don’t leave it in too long!)
  • While it’s chilling, fill up 2/3 of cocktail shaker with ice
  • Add ~4 oz of sake in shaker along with the juice of half a lime; shake
  • Remove glass from freezer and dip rim in salt
  • Pour shaken mixture in class, garnish with lime… and finish with a festive straw!

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

| 9 Comments

It’s the holidays! Which means lots of love, celebrations, family gatherings and… cookies. Lots. and lots. Of cookies. I was recently invited to an all-girls ‘Christmas Cookie’ exchange in the S.F. I jumped at the opportunity to take part and immediately started browsing the web for a recipe that was both delicious and nutritious. Just then… I stumbled upon these Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies from PaleoHacks.

Now, let’s be honest – a grain-free cookie with natural sugar has now business competing against a ‘real’ chocolate chip cookie. So I knew that bringing these cookies to the party were going to be a bit of risk.

Luckily, they turned out to be a hit! The recipe is super simple consisting of just coconut flour, coconut oil, honey, eggs, chocolate chips (dark, of course), vanilla and sea salt. That’s. It. Sure, they didn’t win top prize at the party… but they were certainly gobbled up and enjoyed!

I’ve repasted the recipe from PaleoHacks below.

You can also alter it to make it slightly more festive. On a second batch, I added in crushed peppermint (hammered some candy canes) for an extra Christmas flare!

grain-free chocolate chip cookies recipe

grain-free chocolate chip cookies on cookie sheet

finished product - grain-free chocolate chip cookies

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

What You’ll Need:

  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1/4 cup organic, cold-pressed virgin coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup raw honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

What You’ll Do:

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper
  • In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients; then with a food mixer stir in eggs, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla extract (it gets pretty sticky and coconut flour soaks up the wet ingredients VERY fast!)
  • Gently fold in the chocolate chips (I usually add double the amount – 1/2 cup)
  • Portion out the cookie dough into little balls using a tablespoon onto your baking tray (this makes about a dozen)
  • NOW, here is the KEY: gently pat down your the cookies until they’re slightly flat (they will not spread out on their own in the oven)
  • Place your cookies into the center of the oven and bake for around 12 minutes; keep your eye on the cookies as the edges will burn quicker than the middle will set*

*By the time I made my second batch… I flipped my cookies half way through baking them (about 6 minutes) to ensure they we’re cooked through

 

Sparkling Cranberry Margarita

| Leave a Comment

As suggested in previous posts, I’m very much in the holiday spirit.

I’m prepping to host a friendsgiving this upcoming weekend… and started brainstorming potential adult beverages to serve. Because margaritas are my favorite speciality – it’s no surprise that I pulled together a festive recipe for a Sparkling Cranberry Margarita.

This margarita is great because it can easily be carried from TDay to Christmas. That means… you’ll have two full months to enjoy multiple Sparkling Cranberry Margaritas!!

There’s more!

Because we tend to get a little dehydrated (cough* cough*) during the holiday season, fresh cranberry juice is a great addition to your diet. It’s been known to improve your bladder health, has cardiovascular benefits and even aids in weight lost!

Salud!!

cranberrymarg_hague_olivebarre

cranberrymarg_hague_olivebarre3

Sparkling Cranberry Margarita

What You’ll Need:

  • 1 1/2 oz. of tequila blanco (Ocho is the best!)
  • 3/4 oz. fresh squeeze lime juice
  • 1/2 oz. of orange liqueur (think Cointreau or Grand Mariner)
  • Splash of cranberry
  • Champagne or another sparkling brut

What You’ll Do:

  • Mix the first four ingredients over ice in a shaker or a mason jar
  • Gently pour into your glass
  • Top with sparkling
  • Garnish with lime wedges and cranberries

 

Christmas Frittata

| 6 Comments

Okay, it’s not quite Christmas… but let’s all agree, it might as well be. The second the first leaf hits the ground there’s a MAD rush to stock the shelves with everything Holiday. I’ve spotted toy santas at Target and turkeys at Trader Joe’s… and it’s not even Halloween! Sigh. Wait. Whoooo am I kidding? I LOVE IT ALL. AND that’s why I came up with this Christmas Frittata recipe.

christmas frittata

Why the recipe’s holiday homage? Well, the first time I made it was on Christmas. AND… secondly, the recipe sort-of/kind-of has red/green theme going on with the ingredients. Catch my drift?

Besides all that – the frittata is just super delicious and nutritious. A perfect way to bang out a brunch while impressing your guests. PLUS starting your day off with eggs and veggies is one of the kindest things you can do for your body. In terms of processing protein efficiently, eggs are one of the best things for you. Adding them into your diet (every morning if you can!) is highly recommended.

olivebarre_hague_christmasfrittata

olivebarre_hague_christmasfrittata2

olivebarre_hague_christmasfrittata3

What You’ll Need:

  • ½ bag of spinach
  • ½ sweet onion, finely chopped
  • One cup of chopped salami (it goes without saying, get the good stuff!)
  • Eight eggs

What You’ll Do:

  • Set the oven to broil (high)
  • Over medium-high heat, sauté the onions until translucent in a cast-iron/oven-safe skillet
  • Add salami and spinach until well-cooked together
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs
  • Turn pan down to low-medium heat and add eggs; cook until eggs are almost set (about eight minutes)
  • Remove pan from heat and place in oven under a high broil (this will help the top of the frittata crisp-up and brown

olivebarre_hague_christmasfrittata4

Red, Green and Quinoa

| 8 Comments

Cooking healthy is all about preparation. I try to do one large grocery run per week to get the essentials and cook a few side dishes that can be enjoyed throughout the week. My girlfriend Emmy was the inspiration for this idea as she always have vats and vats of various side dishes at the ready.

One of my favorite things she makes is a version of what I call “red, green & quinoa”. Why do I love it? Because it’s super easy to make and store. It compliments everything from steak to fish to grilled veggies. PLUS it’s even good on it’s own!

olivebarrequinoa

This grain in particularly is great vegetarian way to get your protein. Keep in mind, however, that it is a relatively fast-moving carb so it’s best to accompanying it with crunchy vegetable to help slow it down as you digest.

What You’ll Need:

  • One lemon
  • Batch of green onions, chopped
  • ½ cup of pomegranate seeds (I like to buy the ones from Trade Joe’s)
  • For the dressing:
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon of mustard
  • ½ tablespoon of EVOO
  • S&P

What You’ll Do:

  • Cook quinoa following directions on bag/box (general rule is boiling 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa, simmer and cook until quinoa is fluffy)
  • Add green onions and pomegranate seeds
  • Whisk wet ingredients together and pour over quinoa
  • Add S&P, fluff mixture together with fork

Top of the Ramen to Ya’

| 7 Comments

As you might imagine, ramen is one popular dish on the streets of Tokyo and Kyoto. During our latest visit out east, my fiancé and I scoured the streets looking for best ramen shops. No surprise, we had trouble finding ramen that wasn’t good!

Our favorite shop while traveling was in Kyoto called ICHIRAN Kyoto Kawaramachi. Like most restaurants serving this noodle dish, you order via a pictorial vending machine. You start by inserting coins and pressing a button to indicate which flavor you’d prefer (pork is most common). Once you receive your proper menu ticket, you’re escorted to extra cozy single booths where you face waist-high windows awaiting your meal.

Ramen in Kyoto

To make authentic ramen is actually quite difficult, taking up to three days! It’s all about the broth, which needs to simmer, stew, simmer & stew some more. For those who have NOTHING to do for the next three days, check out this traditional ramen recipe here.

BUT if you want to take the more INSTANT ramen approach, try the recipe below (and it’s g-free)!

Easy At-Home Ramen Recipe

Personal Ramen Recipe

What You’ll Need:

  • Rice Ramen Noodles (I used the Lotus Foods brand from Whole Foods)
  • Shredded cooked chicken breasts
  • 1 cups of your favorite bone broth (love the chicken flavor from The Brothery)
  • Toppings of your choosing, including diced green onions, red pepper flakes, slice of lime or lemon, etc.
  • S&P

What You’ll Do:

  • Cook the noodles (single cake will do for a single person) following the bag’s instructions, about 4 minutes
  • Defrost chicken bone broth in a super sauce pan
  • Drain the noodles and place in dish, top with additional toppings and shredded chicken
  • Pour broth over noodles and do as the Japanese do!
Hike after eating Ramen

Content after bellies full of our favorite dish!

Do the Hokey “Poke”-y!

| 1,492 Comments

salmonpokebowl__olivebarre_hague3

Back from Tokyo and reeling from all the AMAZING Japanese food I consumed. Sashimi and sushi are the obvious staples in the country of cherry blossoms, so I decided to take some of that inspiration home. Instead of tackling a sushi roll head on, I decided to start with something slightly simpler: poke (pronounced po-key). With fresh fish and a plethora of fun veggies, a poke bowl is all I need.

This particular recipe came as inspiration from the one and only GP (that’s Gwyneth Paltrow for all of those who have been living under a rock this digital age). In her latest book, she puts together several suggestions for making this essentially effortless dish with a variety of sauces.

What I love about this dish is that there are so many different ways to spice it up, keeping your palette ever excited. For this recipe, I paired salmon poke with some brown rice and zoodles. The brown rice was the perfect counter balance for my aching belly after a particularly gruesome spin/barre/duo day. There are some days when you’re craving carbs more than others… and this was one in particular. PLUS – the whole grain aspects of brown rice really rev up your energy.

As previously mentioned, I only recently jumped on the zoodles train. But, much like a relationship, once I decide to commit to a new food, I go in hard. So since they were in the fridge… they would now be added to my poke bowl.

The rest of the ingredients are pretty poke-standard: bean sprouts, jalapeños, green onion and sesame seeds. Fresh salmon or tuna can be used interchangeably depending on the mood. Whole Foods actually offers great, sushi-grade fish in their freezer aisle near the butcher.

salmonpokebowl_olivebarre_hague2 salmonpokebowl_olivebarre_hague1

Poke Recipe

What You’ll Need:

  • 1 cup of pre-cooked rice
  • ½ cup of pre-cooked, and dried zoodles
  • Salmon or tuna poke, cut into ¼ inch chunks
  • Chopped green onions
  • Slice jalapeno
  • Minced or sliced ginger
  • Slice of lime
  • Sprinkle of sesame seeds
  • GP’s classic ‘soy’ sauce

For The ‘Soy; Sauce, You’ll Need (from It’s All Delicious):

  • 2 tablespoons tamari
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

*Stir ingredients together until mixed

What You’ll Do:

  • Pre-cook rice and zoodles following instructions on package; arrange in bowl
  • Thaw sushi-grade fish, cut into ¼ inch chunks (easy to cut when they’re still slightly frozen); place next atop rice and zoodles
  • Cut remaining ingredients and arrange in bowl
  • Mix wet ingredients in small ramekin, splash over top of dish
  • Sprinkle with sesame seeds

Roasted Shrimp Skewers with Pesto Zoodles

| 2 Comments

Despite the fact that Labor Day has officially come and gone… it’s still summer, people. In fact, it’s still summer until September 22nd! I don’t know about you, but, until then, I will remain outside near the pool with the BBQ on high.

For that very reason, I’ve crafted one of my easiest summer recipes to date: roasted shrimp skewers with pesto zoodles.

grilledshrimpwithpestozoodles_hague2

Zucchini noodles – or zoodles as they are more commonly known – have become haute, haute, haute as of late. Yet, I was a little late to the trend. Let me explain.

I don’t like excessive chopping. If available, I will always pay the extra dollar to purchase pre-chopped onions, carrots, celery, etc. I enjoy being in the kitchen, so why spoil it by doing a task I dislike? In the same vein, the thought of spiraling my own zucchini was a little over the top for me. That is until my friends over at Whole Foods started offering a variety of pre-spiraled zoodles.  Finally they were talking my language.

Pesto came into the scene because it’s another favorite of mine. I actually do enjoy making my own vegan version from scratch, but recently discovered more tasty news at Whole Foods: pre-made pesto from a brand called LeGrand. The best part? It’s actually good.

Now, for this recipe, all you have to do is combine three main ingredients and, PRESTO, PESTO you have dinner! Wow! You didn’t even have to break out that ten-dolla-piece-a-crap spiraler! No better words have ever been spoken.

grilledshrimpwithpestozoodles_hague1

Roasted Shrimp Skewers with Pesto Zoodles

What You’ll Need:

  • Skewers (if wooden, make sure they’re pre-soaked)
  • The most humane, environment-friendly shrimp you can find (which can be a tough-y these days); 20 is good for two people, 8-10 per-person depending on size
  • Pre-made pesto like this one here
  • Zoodles

What You’ll Do:

  • Blanch the zoodles in a boiling pot of water following the instructions on the package; this will only take a few minutes
  • Remove the zoodles and place in paper towel – work to squeeze out any excess water (this is KEY!!!) and set-aside to dry
  • Place five shrimp on each skewer, set aside in Pyrex
  • Top skewers with a splash of EVOO, salt, pepper and a dash of red pepper flakes
  • Over medium-high, grill the shrimp skewers until pink and no longer translucent (about 3 minutes per side)
  • While the shrimp is cooking, place the dried zoodles into a bowl and top with your desired amount of pesto; stir until completed coated
  • Serve zoodles in large bowls or plates; top with shrimp skewers

Express Espresso with Coconut Oil (for the Non-Coffee Drinker)

| Leave a Comment

I really enjoy tea. Coffee not so much. I can, however, handle an espresso BECAUSE it’s a shot. And an EXPRESS espresso is just as easy as hard to take as a tequila shooter, right? So, on those mornings when I’m desperate, I reach for that itty bitty bit of café to help me power through the day. My secret? I add a little somethin’ somethin’: coconut oil.

Hague_OliveBarre_ExpressEspresso1

Before we get into the recipe, let me back-up a bit. My bf fiancé was really into the bulletproof coffee trend awhile back and tried to get me on board.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, bulletproof coffee became wildly popular after a dude named Dave Asprey stumbled upon a version of the recipe while hiking in Tibet. By mixing high-grade, high-quality coffee with grass-fed butter and MCT oil, he created a magical potion that revs up fat-loss and increases energy without the typical caffeine-crash. (To learn more about the science behind it, read from the bulletproof exec himself here.)

Sounds amazing, yes? YES! The issue was that a) I didn’t like coffee and b) I don’t like butter. Even the healthiest of healthiest. I don’t like the feeling of butter on my lips, the texture is freaky, and it just doesn’t sit well with my tummy. So how was he going to get me jazzed up about the drink? Well, he had a solution. Drink an espresso instead of a cup o’ joe and replace the butter with another great fat – insert: coconut oil.

SO after brewing his favorite beans and letting them steam in a super cute Le Creuset espresso cup (this piece of ceramic alone would turn anyone into a coffee-fan) he added a dollop of daisy of coconut oil. Let it melt. And instructed me to drink. It worked! The coconut took away some of the espresso’s bitterness while ALSO giving me the same mini-benefit that the butter offers for a bulletproof coffee drinker.

As health guru Paul Chek explains it, the fat (coconut oil or butter) helps turn the coffee’s amino acids into a more digestible food source while also acting as a sort-of “energy drip” that releases gradually throughout your morning.  So you stay energized looooooonger. (Got it? If not, just dedicate 20 minutes of your life watching Chek explain it.)

And that was that. I became and occasional coffee fan.

OKAY. Now that THAT explanation is over. I’m exhausted. And need another espresso.

Hague_OliveBarre_ExpressEspresso2

Express Espresso with Coconut Oil

What You’ll Need:

  • High-quality espresso beans (ground)
  • A pretty-intense espresso machine (whoops – this post just got expensive); secret tip: you can also just make a normal cup of coffee
  • Smallest bit of coconut oil

What You’ll Do:

  • Ground the beans, process through machine to make espresso
  • Add coconut oil, stir!