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04/23/2020 12:01 AM

Using Pantry Staples with Chef Keith


These nut and seeds bars are a great way to use up the leftover items in your food pantry, and can be fun for the kids to make. Photo courtesy of Privé-Swiss Wellness

Chef Keith Urbowicz, director of culinary operations and executive chef with Privé-Swiss Wellness, offers two recipes to share to help people find new and creative ways to use pantry staples.

To help those stuck, Chef Keith is inviting the community to submit “What’s in Your Fridge” to the Privé-Swiss Wellness Facebook page (@priveswisswellness) or Privé-Swiss Fitness Facebook page (@priveswissfitness) and on Thursdays, he’ll share some out-of-the-box recipes to help use up some of those staples that most of us have stocked up on. He’s also producing some short cooking videos that will be available on the pages as well to help inspire the shoreline community in their home kitchens.

Urbowicz is part of the Privé-Swiss Wellness team, which has locations in Essex and Westbrook, with another planned in Ivoryton in 2020. Connecticut. Services include naturopathic and Chinese medicine, acupuncture, chiropractic, psychotherapy, life coaching, massage, facials, body treatments, nutrition services, and more. More information is available at www.priveswisswellness.com.

Seed Bars

This is fantastic way to use all of the nuts and seeds you may have accumulated in the cupboard. It’s also a great recipe to make with kids. The ratio is ½ cup of honey to 3 cups of nuts and seeds. This recipe uses what Urbowicz had in his pantry

1 cup sliced almonds (crushed)

½ cup chia seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup flax seeds

1 tsp almond extract

½ cup honey

• Preheat the oven to 300. Line 8x8 pan with parchment paper and grease well.

• Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Stir in warm honey until combined. Spread in the pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before cutting.

Spinach Walnut Pesto

While you may think of basil and pine nuts when you hear pesto, it can be any combination of greens and nuts.

3 cups spinach (or kale)

1 cup Parmesan or pecorino cheese

½ cup walnuts or pecans

3 cloves of garlic

1/8 cup of water

½ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients except olive oil into the food processor, blend until combined. Drizzle oil in while it’s still running until a paste is formed. Serve with cooked pasta by heating pasta in a pan with chicken stock or water to coat, and then stir in pesto.

Chef Keith Urbowicz, director of culinary operations and executive chef with Privé-Swiss Wellness, wants to help people find new and creative ways to use pantry staples. He’s taking questions on social media. Photo courtesy of Privé-Swiss Wellness