Walnut Soup

(Hup Tui Woo)

2 cups shelled walnuts, about 8 oz.

1/4 cup rice flour

1 1/2 slabs brown candy (peen tong), about 3 oz. (available at H-E-B at Hancock Center)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. In a large saucepan, bring 1 quart water to a boil over high heat. Add the walnuts and boil, uncovered, 1 minute. Drain well. Spread the walnuts on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Cool on a rack. Place the cooled walnuts in a food processor or blender with 1/2 cup cold water, and process until almost a smooth paste, scraping down sides of work bowl. Add 1/2 cup cold water and process until almost smooth. In a 2-quart saucepan, whisk the rice flour and 1 cup water until smooth. Whisk in the walnut puree and 2 1/2 cups cold water. Heat over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Cut the brown candy into smaller pieces. Add the brown candy, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. The soup should be the consistency of a light cream soup. If mixture is too thick, whisk in up to 1/2 cup more water. Serve piping hot (no more than 1 1/2 cups a person).

Makes 4 servings as a tonic.

Chayote Carrot Soup

(Hup Cheung Qwa Hoong Low Bock Tong)

2 chayotes, about 1 1/4 lbs.

4 medium carrots

8 ounces pork loin, well trimmed

Peel the chayotes. Halve and remove the flat, pale seed (if there is one). Quarter lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Trim the carrots and cut them into 1 1/2- inch lengths. In a 3-quart saucepan, combine the pork with 2 quarts cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming any scum that rises to the surface. Add the chayote slices and carrots, and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 hours, or until broth is no longer pale in in color, but has a slight orange blush and has cooked down to about 1 1/2 quarts. Serve piping hot (no more than 1 1/2 cups a person).

Makes 4 servings as a tonic.

— Grace Young, “The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipe for Celebration and Healing”

If memories of sugarplum fairies (or tipsy pink elephants) are still dancing in your head, here’s a winter salad recipe that’s festive enough to keep you and your taste buds in the holiday swing and healthy enough to give you bragging rights at your next doctor visit. But the best reward comes when you sit down to eat — savory, sweet and spicy flavors harmonize with sour and salty while toasted pecans and apples add crunch. And if you’re a micro-nutrient watcher, you’re going to love the antioxidant bang you get out of this dish.

Holiday Hangover Salad

4 small orange beets

Olive oil for sautéing and roasting

Sea salt to taste

1 fennel bulb, fronds removed, sliced

4 scallions, green and white parts, chopped

1 medium sweet, crisp apple

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

About 1 cup honey toasted pecans (recipe follows)

1 pound mixed leafy greens, such as arugula, spinach, leaf lettuce, radicchio and tatsoi

Ginger Lemongrass dressing (recipe follows)

Rinse greens and set aside to drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and scrub beets, lightly oil and sprinkle with salt, and wrap in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake until beets are cooked through and tender, about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, heat a heavy bottom skillet and add a splash of olive oil. Slice fennel bulb lengthwise, in 1/4-inch slices; lightly salt slices and sauté in a single layer in skillet over medium heat until fennel is lightly browned. Flip and lightly brown the other side. Fennel should be crisp-tender, not mushy. Core and slice apple into thin wedges, toss with lemon juice and set aside. Peel beets and slice in 1/4 inch slices. In a salad bowl, toss greens with lemongrass dressing until lightly coated. To serve, garnish each salad with beet, fennel and apple slices, and 1/4 cup of pecans. Makes four generous servings.

Variation: For a protein and omega-3 boost, add a small amount of smoked, wild caught, sockeye salmon to each salad.

Ginger Lemongrass Dressing

1/4 cup lemongrass, the tender white center only, mashed and finely minced

1/2 tsp, fresh ginger, peeled, mashed and finely minced

1 clove garlic, mashed and finely minced

1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice

2 Tbsp. unfiltered raw honey, more or less to taste

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Sea salt to taste, enough to balance sweet and sour flavors

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake well. Leftovers will keep for up to week in the fridge.

Toasted Honey Pecans

Rinse and dry pecan pieces and place in one layer on a baking sheet in a 375-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until lightly brown and fragrant. Remove from oven and drizzle about a teaspoon of raw unfiltered honey over pecans and toss lightly to coat. Sprinkle lightly with salt and return pecans to hot oven for 5 to 10 more minutes, or until pecans are fragrant and toasty brown (but not burned).

Gluten-free Apple Cornflour Crepes with Honey Yogurt Sauce

If you said “yes” to every slice of apple or pecan pie you encountered in November and December, this gluten-free apple pecan crepe could be just the thing to help you wean yourself off rich, sugary desserts. Plus, it gets high points for nutrition.

Crepes

1 cup sweet apple, cored and sliced into thin (1/4 inch) wedges

1 Tbsp. raw unfiltered honey

2 Tbsp. filtered water

1 tsp. cinnamon, or to taste

Pinch sea salt

Olive oil or coconut oil

2/3 cup cornflour (not cornmeal)

1/3 cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)

1 tsp. sea salt

1 egg, separated

1 cup whole milk, or more if batter seems thick

Yogurt honey sauce (recipe follows)

1/2 cup honey toasted pecan pieces, for garnish (from previous recipe)

To a hot skillet, add water, apple slices, honey, cinnamon and salt. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble, then reduce heat and cover. Continue simmering slowly until apples are tender and liquid is reduced. If mixture becomes dry, add a bit more water.

Sift cornflour, starch, and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside. Lightly beat the yolk and egg white separately and then combine both with milk. Lightly whisk the milk mixture into the flour until smooth. Add about 1/2 tsp. of oil to an iron griddle or skillet and heat pan over medium high heat. When pan is sufficiently hot for batter to sizzle on contact, pour 1/4 cup (or less) batter into the center of the pan and give pan a slight tilt up and down and side to side to help spread batter into a circle. If crepe seems too thick, stir a little more milk into the remaining batter. Cook crepe for about 2 minutes or until edges begin to curl. Using spatula, turn crepe and cook for another minute to lightly brown the other side. Slide crepe onto a platter and keep in a warm oven until all crepes are cooked. Between crepes, add a few drops of oil to the cooking pan if it seems too dry.

To serve: Place 2 tsp. of apple mixture on a crepe, fold in half, drizzle with honey lemon yogurt sauce, and top with a few pecans. Makes about 8-10 crepes, depending on diameter and thickness of crepes.

Yogurt honey sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from a Meyer lemon if available

3 Tbsp. raw unfiltered honey, or more to taste

Mix ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve. If mixture is too thick to combine, warm the honey and/or add a little more lemon juice.

— Renee Studebaker

For tips on how to grow your own superfoods (and yin and yang vegetables) visit reneesnewblog.com.