Cristina Ferrare’s Mother’s Day Brunch

May 5, 2019 | RECIPES

BY CRISTINA FERRARE

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope your day is filled with love, family, and pure joy as you enjoy this special day set aside to honor mothers everywhere! Time spent with my mom cooking as a child and an adult is a memory I hold close to my heart. Just the two of us, talking, laughing, listening to music, creating, chopping, always lots of chopping, lol, and doing what we both loved the best, gathering our family and friends together at the table to enjoy a meal that was made with, as my mom put it, “Mommy Love”! Alzheimer’s took her from us too early, but her Mommy love lives on. She taught me to pay it forward….

I am sharing the recipe for the oven roasted “Shrimp with Cannellini Beans” and this Fabulous Chocolate Ganache Tartfor dessert from “Food for Thought” for your Mother’s Day Celebration!

The Menu For My Mother’s Day Celebration!

ANTIPASTO
  • Strawberry Margarita
  • Gazpacho with Mango Salsa
  • Cheese plate
ENTREE
  • Oven Roasted Shrimp with Navy Beans
  • Zucchini Frittata
  • Watercress Salad with Goat Cheese
  • Watermelon Salad
DESSERT
  • Chocolate Ganache Tart with Sea Salt
  • Fresh Strawberries

 

Roasted Shrimp With Cannellini Beans

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

  • 12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt and black cracked pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Cracked black pepper
  • 6 fresh sage leaves torn
  • 2 -15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed gently and drained
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley
  • 6 fresh basil leaves rolled tightly then sliced thin
  • 5 mint leaves chopped
  • 2 cups wild baby arugula & Spinach chopped
  • 2 cups frisee lettuce torn into small pieces
  • 12 Kalamata olives
  • 1 cup Greek or French Feta cheese crumbled
  • 1 lemon sliced thin
  • 4 tablespoons pomegranates seeds

DIRECTIONS

PRE-HEAT THE OVEN TO 375 F.

In a glass bowl add the cleaned shrimp, olive oil, salt and pepper, mix.  Arrange the shrimp in one layer 2” apart, sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked black pepper, mix to coat the shrimp. Spread the sage leaves over the top, roast for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, cover lightly with foil and set aside.

BEAN SALAD

In a glass bowl add the cannellini beans, salt, and pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, basil, mint, arugula, frisee lettuce and toss together gently.

On a large platter arrange the bean salad and top with the roasted Shrimp. Add the Kalamata olive, feta cheese, lemon slices, and pomegranate seeds.

Chocolate Ganache Tart with Sea Salt   

Yields 14 to 16 slices

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
  • ¼ cup brown rice syrup
  • 2 cups shredded coconut
  • 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
  • 2 cups coconut cream
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon organic pure Maple syrup
  • 5 ounces bittersweet 85-90% chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • Pinch (1/8) tsp. large coarse sea salt
  • 3 -6 oz. basket of fresh raspberries
  • 1- 6 oz. basket of fresh blackberries
  • 2-6 oz. basket of fresh blueberries
  • Fresh mint leaves to scatter over the top
  • Edible Flowers (available online)

Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream, or top your serving with Coconut Whip Cream or Whip Cream made from rice! If you want to use whipped cream made from milk, that’s fine.

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

For the crust melt coconut oil and brown rice syrup in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add the shredded coconut, cacao powder and mix well.

Press the mixture into the bottom and ¼” up the sides of a tart pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

Heat the coconut cream, and vanilla, maple syrup in a saucepan up to a gentle boil. Turn heat off, cover with a lid for 10 minutes. Whisk in chocolate and salt until smooth.

Pour the chocolate into the tart shell and refrigerate for 2 hours until the ganache sets.

Rinse the berries gently in cool water and place on a paper towel and pat dry. Set aside.

When the ganache has settled, scatter the sea salt, 2 cups of fresh berries in the middle and edible flower petals.

Serve the extra berries on the side with the ice cream or whipped cream.

Slice into small portions, a little goes a long way! 

These recipes are from Cristina Ferrare’s Food for Thought: Recipes for Ultimate Mind and Body Health.A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book goes to The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement.