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Sweet & Savory at Miraval Resort & Spa

by Organic Spa Magazine

Husband-and-wife team Kim and Justin Macy are not only the talented duo who run the kitchen at Miraval, they are the Jack Sprats of spa cuisine—sort of. According to the nursery rhyme, “Jack Sprat would eat no fat, his wife would eat no lean.” In this marriage, Executive Chef Justin’s forte is savory, while Pastry Chef Kim’s is sweet. And together they will round out your plate very nicely.

The chef-couple debut their new cookbook, Miraval’s Sweet & Savory Cooking, this month, drawing on over a decade of culinary collaboration at the Spa. The way it came about is apocryphal: One day Kim was asked to describe herself and her husband. “Sweet & Savory,” she said. When Miraval CEO Michael Tompkins got wind of the moniker, as the story goes, he said, “That’s it. That’s our next book.”

According to Kim, “It’s a collaboration of both of our work. We tried to keep the recipes simple so they can be made at home with easy ingredients,” she continues. Recipes like Kim’s Trail Mix Cookies, recipe at right, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Meringues and Justin’s Potato Leek Soup or Blue-Corn Crusted Calamari Salad with Spicy Vinaigrette are simple to prepare and a treat to eat.

If you have been a guest at Miraval, you will recognize some of the dishes in the book from the acclaimed Spa. And if you have never visited, count on this: The delicious recipes in Sweet & Savory Cooking will definitely whet your appetite!

New Life for Leftovers

JF14_Whats Cooking_02Chef and cookbook author Mary Rolph Lamontagne debuts her new book Eats: Enjoy All the Seconds (Advantage Media 2013), which was inspired by her years spent between the thrifty food cultures of South Africa and the wastefulness of North American kitchens. Lamontagne offers this well-researched statistic: On average, North Americans discard a mind-boggling 40 percent of all food either grown or bought. So she went to work, bringing the life and food lessons learned in Africa, to develop recipes for delicious meals using commonly discarded leftovers. –Nicole Dorsey

The Super Eco Lunchbox

Sandra Harris, founder of Eco Lunchboxes, was a mother with a mission. “I founded the company to help people reduce dependence on plastics at lunchtime by providing plastic-free bento and bag alternatives,” she says. “Our mission is to educate and empower people about plastics so they can make changes first at lunch, then in other parts of their lives.”

The Bento Box-style lunchboxes, made from nontoxic stainless steel, are an eco-friendly, reusable, plastic alternative that reduces waste, meets food-grade safety standards and doles out the perfect sized portion. Fair trade textiles used in the Furoshiki lunchwrap (pictured) are sourced from artisans in India. ecolunchboxes.com

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Trail Mix Cookies

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“The great thing about these cookies is that they are packed with nutrients,” says Kim Macy, pastry chef at Miraval. The really great thing? They are incredibly delicious.

Makes about three dozen

4 tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup light or dark brown sugar
¼ cup raw cane sugar
½ cup honey or agave nectar
2 egg whites
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup mixed seeds and/or nuts (pumpkin, sunflower, etc.)
½ cup mixed dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, blueberries, etc.)
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment.

Cream the butter, brown sugar and cane sugar together until smooth. Add honey and egg whites, scrape down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and continue to mix for another minute.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture and the oats to the ingredient mixture in the previous paragraph and continue mixing until just combined. Add the seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. Scoop 1 tablespoon portions onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between the scoops. Bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. 1 cookie = 96 calories.

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