My Merry Band of Tasters and I enjoyed this vibrant mixed salad at the historic Torre a Cona estate just outside Florence. It’s dressed with a light vinaigrette that enhances the pepperiness and bitterness of the lettuces.
Ingredients
One bulb fennel, about 16 ounces
5 ounces radishes, very thinly sliced
One 12-ounce head of radicchio, cut into ribbons
6 ounces frisée or curly endive
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions
Trim the bottom off the fennel bulb, then use a mandoline (or a thin food processor slicing blade or the slicing side of a box grater) to shave it into thin slices. Mince a few fronds and add them with the fennel to a large salad bowl along with the radishes, radicchio, and frisée. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well with tongs. Run a cheese plane across the surface of the Parmigiano-Reggiano to create wide shavings and scatter them on top of the salad.
Or brunch or a light dinner! Many people are surprised to learn that potatoes are extremely popular in Italy, often served with meat dishes. Present this one-pan meal right in the skillet or on a platter. It’s satisfying on its own as well as alongside soft scrambled eggs.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary needles, minced
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 large leeks
4 garlic cloves, minced
One 12-ounce burrata or six 2-ounce mini burratas, room temperature
1/4 cup assorted fresh herbs such as basil and parsley, well chopped
Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 10-inch oven-safe skillet. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and add them to the skillet along with the rosemary, tossing to coat them with the oil. Season with the salt and pepper. Roast the potatoes for 20 minutes.
Step 2
While the potatoes are roasting, trim the roots and the dark green leaves from the leeks. Slice the leeks in half lengthwise and triple-wash them under cool running water to remove any sand or soil; pat dry. Slice them into 1/2-inch half-moons and place them in a bowl with 2 more tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic; toss well.
Step 3
After 20 minutes in the oven, carefully take out the skillet and add the leeks, toss well, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the tip of a sharp knife easily pierces a few of the potatoes and they’re crispy.
Step 4
Place the skillet on a heat-safe pad and let cool for 5 minutes, then center the burrata on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle on the fresh herbs and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and more olive oil. To plate, gently pull apart the burrata so that each serving has a portion of cheese.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Use a mandoline or a 2-mm food processor blade to thinly and evenly slice the potatoes (if you only have a 4-mm blade, add up to 10 more minutes to the roasting time below). Place the potatoes in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, parsley, rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
Step 2
Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, spreading it out with a pastry brush or clean fingers. Place the fillets skin side down on the parchment and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt and pepper. Shingle the potato slices over the fillets to cover them in a fish-scale pattern (arrange any leftover potato slices around the fish) and drizzle liberally with more oil.
Step 3
Roast for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through, brown, and crispy. Use a large spatula to help plate the fish.
Mascarpone Mousse Recipe, Spotlight on Passionfruit, Chill Your Beaters, Sip Away Stress with Cocoa, and A Heart Threat Even for Active People
Whether you’re indulging à deux or hosting a large New Year’s Eve get-together, you’ll love this creamy mousse recipe with a passionfruit sauce drizzle. If you’re also looking to get a jump on healthful New Year’s resolutions, two research findings fit the bill: how to tap into the benefits of flavanol-rich drinks, and how to find motivation to sit less and stand more in 2025—both of which benefit the heart.
This is a melt-in-your-mouth mousse made without eggs. I love it topped with fresh passionfruit pulp, but since fresh fruits can be hard to find, I’ve included a rich sauce recipe that you can make with frozen pulp (with seeds) or purée (without seeds). Both the mousse and the sauce can be made early in the day or even the day before the big event.
Ingredients
For the mousse:
2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
14 ounces frozen passionfruit, defrosted
2 large eggs plus 2 yolks
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Optional: fresh berries
Directions
Step 1
To make the mousse, whip the cream until very firm, then whip in the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Step 2
To make the sauce, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar, then whisk in the passionfruit, eggs, and yolks. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and cook at a low boil for 2 minutes; it should be thick.
Step 3
Off the heat, whisk in the olive oil, then let the sauce cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Step 4
To assemble, mound equal amounts of mousse in 6 elegant stemware glasses and top with spoonfuls of sauce and fresh berries, if desired.
Yields 6 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Passionfruit
This exotic citrus fruit, a favorite of pastry chefs, is truly unique. Oval-shaped and with a hard deep purple or bright yellow shell (it’s about the size of a lemon), it has an edible inside that is a fairly runny gel of yellow pulp and crunchy black seeds—sweet and tangy at the same time. Passionfruit has vitamin C plus some vitamin A, and small amounts of iron, potassium, and fiber. It is originally from South America, although some varieties thrive in southern California and central Florida.
A passionfruit should feel full and weighty in your hand. Some people wait just until the shell starts to wrinkle as a sign of ripeness, but as long as the fruit is not green, you can enjoy it soon after purchase. Aficionados love to simply scoop it out and eat it with a spoon as is (rinse the fruit first, then cut in half on a plate or over a bowl to catch every drop). It’s also delicious when folded into yogurt, frozen into sorbet, and turned into sauces and creamy desserts.
Fresh passionfruit pulp can be frozen for future use in ice cube trays; once frozen, pop the cubes into a freezer-safe container. In the offseason, look for the Goya brand of frozen pulp in the freezer case. There are also some companies that sell pouches of purée on Amazon—choose 100% fruit, no sugar added.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Chill Your Beaters
It takes a moment of forethought, but to get the best results when whipping cream, make sure everything is cold—your beaters, your metal mixing bowl, and the cream itself. Pop the beaters and bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes or in the freezer for 10 before getting started.
For Your Best Health
Sip Away Your Stress
A new study from researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK, published in the journal Food and Function,has followed up on their earlier work that showed food choices made during periods of stress can influence the effect of stress on cardiovascular health: high-fat foods can negatively affect vascular function and oxygen delivery to the brain, while foods high in flavanol compounds, like cocoa and green tea, can protect vascular function during periods of everyday stress.
Their latest research found that drinking cocoa high in flavanols in combination with a fatty meal can counteract some of the impact of the fatty food and protect the vascular system from stress. Rosalind Baynham, PhD, research fellow in sport, exercise, and rehabilitation sciences at Birmingham and first author on the paper, explained, “Flavanols are a type of compound that occurs in different fruits, vegetables, tea, and nuts, including berries and unprocessed cocoa. Flavanols are known to have health benefits, particularly for regulating blood pressure and protecting cardiovascular health.” Recent guidelines for flavanol intake recommend between 400 and 600 mg a day—about two cups of black or green tea or a combination of berries, apples, and high-quality cocoa.
Participants in the new study were given a breakfast of two butter croissants with 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) salted butter, 1.5 slices of cheddar cheese, and 250 mL (about 1 cup) whole milk and either a high-flavanol or a low-flavanol cocoa drink. The cocoa drinks were both made from 12 grams cocoa powder and 250 mL whole milk, but the low-flavanol cocoa was alkalized to reduce total flavanols to 5.6 mg per serving while the high-flavanol cocoa was a non-alkalized powder, delivering 695 mg per serving. (Alkalization is a process typically used in chocolate making to enhance flavor, but it also reduces the flavanol content.)
Following an 8-minute rest period, participants completed an 8-minute mental math test with questions coming at progressively increased speed and with alerts when an answer was wrong—a stress-inducing exercise that leads to significant increases in heart rate and blood pressure, similar to the stress someone might encounter in everyday life. During both the rest and test periods, researchers took a variety of measurements including forearm blood flow, cardiovascular activity, prefrontal cortex tissue oxygenation, and vascular function using brachial flow-mediated dilatation, a prognostic measure for future risk of cardiovascular disease.
The researchers found that consuming fatty foods with the low-flavanol drink when mentally stressed resulted in reduced vascular function that lasted up to 90 minutes after the stressful event was over. The cocoa drink high in flavanols, by contrast, was effective at preventing the decline in vascular function following stress and fat consumption. Also, brachial flow-mediated dilatation was significantly higher in the high-flavanol group than in the low-flavanol at both 30 and 90 minutes after the math test.
“This research shows that drinking or eating a food high in flavanols can be used as a strategy to mitigate some of the impact of poorer food choices on the vascular system. This can help us make more informed decisions about what we eat and drink during stressful periods,” said Catarina Rendeiro, PhD, assistant professor in nutritional sciences at Birmingham.
Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten, PhD, professor of biological psychology at Birmingham and a co-author of the paper, added, “Modern life is stressful, and the impact of stress on our health and the economy has been well documented, so any change we can make to protect ourselves from some of the symptoms of stress is a positive. For those who tend to reach for a treat when stressed or who depend on convenient food because they work high-pressure jobs or are time-poor, incorporating some of these small changes could make a real difference.”
Fitness Flash
A Heart Threat Even for Active People
More time spent sitting, reclining, or lying down during the day may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology, and presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2024.
Insufficient exercise is a known risk factor for CVD. Achieving over 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week is recommended to promote heart health. However, study experts say exercise is only a small fraction of overall daily activity, and the current guidelines don’t provide specific guidance on sedentary behavior, which accounts for a much larger portion of daily activity, despite evidence that it’s directly linked with CVD risk.
This study examined the amount of sedentary time at which CVD risk is greatest and explored how sedentary behavior and physical activity together impact the chances of atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI), and cardiovascular (CV) mortality.
Among the 89,530 study participants, who came from UK Biobank, the average age was 62 years and 56.4% were women. Participants submitted data from a wrist-worn triaxial accelerometer that captured movement over seven days. The average sedentary time per day was 9.4 hours. After an average follow-up of eight years, 3,638 individuals (4.9%) developed incident AF, 1,854 (2.1%) developed incident HF, 1,610 (1.84%) developed incident MI, and 846 (0.94%) died of CV causes.
The effects of sedentary time varied by outcome. For AF and MI, the risk increased steadily over time without major shifts. For HF and CV mortality, increase in risk was minimal until sedentary time exceeded about 10.6 hours a day, at which point risk rose significantly, showing a threshold effect for the behavior. For study participants who met the recommended 150 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, the effects of sedentary behavior on AF and MI risks were substantially reduced, but effects on higher risk of HF and CV mortality were not significantly reduced.
“Our findings support cutting back on sedentary time to reduce cardiovascular risk, with 10.6 hours a day marking a potentially key threshold tied to higher heart failure and cardiovascular mortality,” said Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-senior author of the study. “Too much sitting or lying down can be harmful for heart health, even for those who are active. Future guidelines and public health efforts should stress the importance of cutting down on sedentary time. Avoiding more than 10.6 [sedentary] hours per day may be a realistic minimal target for better heart health.”
In an accompanying editorial comment, Charles Eaton, MD, MS, director of the Brown University department of family medicine, said the use of wearable accelerometers has shown that exercise is significantly overestimated when self-reported and sedentary behavior is underestimated. Dr. Eaton said that replacing just 30 minutes of excessive sitting time each day with any type of physical activity can lower heart health risks. Adding moderate-to-vigorous activity cut the risk of HF by 15% and CV mortality by 10%, and even light activity made a difference by reducing HF risk by 6% and CV mortality by 9%.
The study has several limitations, including lack of information on where or why people are sitting or lying down for extended periods, which could have different impacts on CV risks. Accelerometers worn on the wrist are imperfect at detecting posture and therefore may misclassify standing time as sedentary time. A longer monitoring period may provide more accurate data on activity habits and patterns.
