Hello everybody I hope your Christmas Holidays went well and I wish you a peaceful and joyous 2009. I started the beginning of this year with a list of resolutions as I think most of us do. The difficulty is to accomplish them or at least try to. I realized that there’s one subject that never changes in all these years and it is to have an healthy way of eating. In the last few years I started to buy organic and good quality ingredients, to buy local and if I can not try at least to buy fair trade products. I try not to eat too many sweets either and if I’m craving them I prefer to prepare my own. I think that eating healthy and good food is indispensable for living in harmony with your body and mind. Food is for me one of the pleasures of life and I think that if you don’t have particular health conditions you can almost eat everything if you don’t abuse it and if you choose good quality and simple ingredients and eating less processed food as possible.

Let’s start right now with a healthy and tasty recipe. I just got back from my local farmer and bought chicory pan di zucchero “sugar loaf”, from the Asteraceae family that looks a little bit like romaine lettuce. I don’t know if it’s easy to find it for you but if you don’t you can substitute it with escarole which has the same bitterness. I usually prepare this dish for lunch and I eat it after my pasta dish.

Braised chicory Pan di zucchero

2 chicory pan di zucchero, about 21oz. If you don’t find it you can use escarole instead.
1 1/2 Tbsp. raisins
15 pitted black olives
2 Tbsp. pine nuts
1 big clove of garlic or 2 small ones
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut the “pan di zucchero” lengthwise in four parts. Wash them and steam them for 10-15 minutes until tender but not too soft. Toast the pine nuts in a small non-stick pan and set aside. Heat up the oil in a non stick pan, I used a wok, add the pressed and unpeeled garlic, the olives and the raisins and salt to taste. Stir fry for few minutes until well combined and almost at the end mix in the pine nuts. Serve warm.