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Seasoned

VOLUME 14

Welcome to our Seasoned newsletter!

Sadly, this is the last Seasoned newsletter, at least for the foreseeable future. Since it’s our finale, we decided it would make sense to give you finales, too, so here are three recipes for desserts. We took our inspiration from the old Italian custom of having just a great piece of fruit for dessert, but in each case, we fancied up the fruit—berries, apples, and pears, respectively—to give it a little more pizzazz but still keep it healthy. Of course we always want to provide you with snack ideas, so we’ve also included four ways to create snacks from leftover rice. And we leave you with a balance exercise, a kitchen trick, and a brain teaser. Stay healthy, stay safe, and keep cooking.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
  • RECIPE

Layered Yogurt Parfait

Layered Yogurt Parfait

Parfait usually refers to an ice-cream concoction layered in a fancy glass, but it’s really a French word that means “perfect.” One good thing about this recipe is that you can use any fruit that you like.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 2 Servings

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 cups fresh berries or chopped fruit
  • 4 teaspoons raisins (optional)
  • ¼ cup chopped toasted almonds, walnuts, or pecans

Instructions
 

  • Put ½ cup yogurt in each glass and top with ½ cup fruit, plus 1 teaspoon raisins, if using. Repeat the layers.
  • Top each glass with 2 tablespoons chopped nuts and serve right away.

A Kitchen Trick, a Brain Teaser, an Exercise

  • EXERCISE

1. Stand with your feet together.

2. While holding on to a stable surface, step to one side so that your foot is just past shoulder width. Repeat with the other leg.

3. Perform 5 to 10 steps on each side.

  • BRAIN TEASER

Word Puzzle

There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word signifies a great woman. What is the word?

Answer: heroine

  • KITCHEN TIP

Slice, don’t peel, an avocado

One way to slice avocados is to halve them, remove the pit, then peel the halves and slice them. But this way, you’re dealing with a slippery (and messy) avocado half. We find it easier to halve the avocado and remove the pit, but then slice the halves without peeling them and slip out the slices using a spoon. 

  • RECIPE

7-Minute Apple Dessert

7-Minute Apple Dessert

Here is an ultra-quick, super-easy, healthy—and delicious—dessert. It is great unadorned, but can also be mixed with plain yogurt or topped with a tablespoon or two of granola. If you like, you can peel the apples, but the peel lends a bit of interesting texture and is good for you. Of course this recipe is very easily doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled. 
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes
Servings 1

Ingredients
 

  • ½ apple (Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, or McIntosh work particularly well), cored and sliced as thin as you can
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup, brown sugar, or honey
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1–2 tablespoons raisins or dried cranberries (if you like)
  • 1 tablespoon granola (if you like)

Instructions
 

  • Put all the ingredients except the granola (if using) in a small microwave-safe bowl, mix well, and cover loosely with a paper towel.
  • Microwave on high until the apple slices are quite soft, about 2 minutes—or longer if you use a big apple.
  • Sprinkle with the granola, if using, and eat as soon as it is cool enough.

Notes

MICROWAVE POWER DYNAMICS
Microwave ovens vary in power from 700 to 1,250 watts. This means that cooking times given in microwave recipes are necessarily just estimates; the exact time will depend on which microwave oven you are using. In a quick recipe such as this one, the difference in time is not that great, but for longer-cooking recipes, it’s a good idea to start checking for doneness about two-thirds of the way through the recommended cooking time. 

Quick Bites

Whenever you make rice, make a little extra and keep it in the refrigerator. That way, not only will you always be ready to make fried rice, you can also make one of these quick, easy, healthy snacks any time you want.

Top it with tomato sauce
Sprinkle it with soy sauce and some chopped scallions 
ricepanfried
Pan fry it with oil until crispy
Drizzle it with pesto
  • RECIPE

Fancy Roasted Pears

Roasted Pear with Cinnamon, Walnuts, and Maple Syrup

You can easily double or triple or even quadruple this recipe if you’re having people over for dinner. Because it’s delicious at room temperature as well as warm, you can also make it in advance and have it on hand for a mid-afternoon treat.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 2 Servings

Ingredients
 

  • 2 ripe (but not overripe) pears, quartered and seeded
  • ½ cup water
  • 1⁄4 cup chopped raw walnuts
  • Generous pinch ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions
 

  • Turn the oven on and set the heat to 400 degrees. 
  • Put the pears and water in a small ovenproof skillet or in an 8 x 8-inch baking pan.
  • Sprinkle the pears with the walnuts and cinnamon, then drizzle with the maple syrup and lemon juice. 
  • Transfer to the oven and roast until tender and well browned, 30 to 40 minutes. 
  • Drizzle the pears with the sauce that has formed in the pan and serve right away. 
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