We had the honor of joining Emily Szajda for an evening of dining and wining. We had a private cooking workshop with three different foods prepared. Recipes will be provided below!. If you liked what you saw and want to take part in a cooking class visit www.emilydawnyogaandwellness.com! Check out our recent interview with Emily here!
Recipes
Buckwheat Salmon Salad
2 cups buckwheat, prepared
1 cup whole wheat couscous, prepared
1 cup English cucumber, cubed
3 stalks celery, sliced
½ avocado, cubed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz baked salmon, shredded (recipe)
¼ cup green onion, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped dill
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 lemon juiced & zested
3 tablespoons olive oil
Cracked black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine buckwheat, couscous, cucumber, celery, avocado, cherry tomatoes, salmon, green onions and dill. Toss to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, zest, olive oil, salt and white pepper. Pour over the salad. Toss gently to combine.
Serve. Finish with a sprig of dill, zest of lemon and a crack of black pepper.
Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1/2 cup Millet Gluten-Free Flour
½ cup Oat Flour
1/2 cup gluten-free quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325°F or 165⁰C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the millet and oat flours, oats, ground cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the butter, stirring until thoroughly combined. Stir in the dark chocolate chunks.
Scoop the dough by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baking sheets (about 1” or 2.5 cm). Leave about 1 1/2″ or 4 cm between cookies. Bake the cookies for 13 to 14 minutes, until light golden brown. Their center may still look slightly underdone; that’s okay. The cookies will continue to bake as they cool on the pan.
Remove the cookies from the pan, as soon as they’re set enough to handle, and transfer them to racks to cool.
Almond & Toasted Coconut Biscotti
2 ½ cups spelt flour, spooned and leveled
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Zest 1 clementine
½ cup toasted almonds
½ cup toasted coconut
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350° F or 175˚C. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. One at a time, beat in the eggs. Mix in the almond extract, nutmeg, and zest.
Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the almonds and toasted coconut.
Divide the dough in half and shape into two 10-by-2-inch logs. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until barely golden around the edges and firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
Reduce oven to 300°F. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs into ½-inch-thick slices. Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake until dry and crisp, 15 to 18 minutes per side.
Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Transcript
Katrina: We are talking to Emily Szajda, who is a chef and sports nutritionist. We are trying one of her baking or cooking workshops today. So, Emily so what are we going to be baking today?
Emily: The premise was baking, but I didn’t want to bombard our sweet tooth to heavily so we are going to start off with a Buckwheat and Couscous Salad with Salmon and then we are going to move two different varieties of cookings. Showing you two different techniques. One is a drop cookie, being a gluten-free oatmeal cookie served with dark chocolate chunks. Then we are going to go towards the traditional Italian biscotti. With almonds and coconut and that’s a twice baked. So you bake it once as a log, then you slice it a bake it on both sides. Making a hard, dense cooking that is perfect with a shot of expresso.
Katrina: I can’t wait to try it. So we’ll go to the kitchen.
Katrina: So we are sitting down and trying the buckwheat salad. Which we’ve just learned how to make. Looking forward to trying it.
Emma, Gillian, Katrina: mumbles of enjoyment
Katrina: Apart from cooking, you are a yoga instructor and a writer. How did you end up learning about, well you’re practised in nutrition? But learning about cooking?
Emily: Cooking came first, right out of high school. I had the option of studying interior design or going to culinary school. I took the inspiration and motivation from my grandmother to propel me to take culinary classes. But also the big motivator for me was that the culinary program offered travel experiences. One was two Jamaica, and one was to study in Italy for a term. So I opted for the program that gave me a little more adventure.
Katrina: Do you factor nutrition into your recipes?
Emily: I do, all the time. When I bake, I always use whole wheat flour or multigrain flours. Often when I bake cakes, I use natural sweeteners. It is a little trickier when you’re working with cookies because of the consistency. You can’t work so much with a liquid or natural sugar in that direction. But you can limit how much sugar you are putting into it. So if you’re using a recipe, you can always minimise the amount of sugar you’re adding. When it comes to hot foods, I always like to work with ancient grains and a variety of fruits and vegetables first, and then protein comes as a secondary. A lot of your grains are going to be very high complex protein sources, and so you can get proteins that way. Often, especially women, have sensitive digestive systems. So eating the animal protein doesn’t always work for them. But everybody’s body is different, so it just really depends on the individual.
Katrina: Do you create your own recipes?
Emily: I do. Yes, after going through culinary school, and you put all your learning to practice. It becomes part go your life. Most chefs are creative minded, so they get away from the books right away. If they even gravitated to them.
Katrina: we are going to try the coconut and almond cookies. Wow straight out of the oven. MHM Delicious. Emily, thank you very much for allowing us to be apart of your workshop today and thank you for joining on People On The Grid.
Check out our recent interview with Emily here!
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