Top Chef for a Healthy Heart

@RichardBlais

Bravo's Top Chef Richard Blais joined Tonia to talk about Heart Health Awareness Month. "I'm working to teach people cook (and) inspire delicious heart healthy food," Richard says. One way to accomplish this is to cook with fresh vegetables. Another tip: use low sodium products. Richard suggests, "while you're cooking, think about flavor but don't think of flavor as necessarily the salt shaker." Try using ingredients like clams, low sodium V8, or lots of herbs and spices as your source of flavor.

Spicy BouilliaBlais

Serves  1

Ingredients

3 oz halibut filet

1 scallop

1 shrimp

2 clams

2 tablespoons carrot, diced small

2 tablespoons fennel , diced small

1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried

1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried

1 tablespoon onion, diced small

1 tablespoon celery, sliced

1 teaspoon fennel seed

2 teaspoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup Spicy Hot Low Sodium V8

1 cup Low Sodium V8

2 tablespoons Healthy Request Cream of Chicken

Half lemon, juiced and its zest

2 tablespoons parsley

2 tablespoons basil, chopped

1/4 slice whole wheat bread

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method

1.  In a sauté pan, sweat 3 cloves of garlic, thyme, oregano, fennel seed, carrot, onion, celery and fennel in 1 teaspoon olive oil until they release their aroma and soften.

2.  Add the Spicy Hot Low Sodium V8, Low Sodium V8 and clams and reduce on a simmer. When the clams open, you can remove them and hold for final presentation. When reduced by a third, swirl in the chopped basil and lemon zest.

3.  Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil, and after seasoning the fish, shrimp & scallop with a 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, sear them until just done, finishing them with a sprinkle of parsley and lemon juice and zest. Hold them with the clams for final presentation.

5.  Mix the Cream of Chicken with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and remaining garlic, minced.

6.  Spread this on the toasted bread.

7.  To present, lay the sauce (stew) on the bottom of a shallow bowl and the fish fillet in the center of    the bowl. Lay the toast on top of the fish and the shellfish on top of the toast.

Recipe courtesy of Richard Blais