Internationally known chef and healthy eating expert Daniel Green has cooked in England, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and the USA. For his first column in our magazine the host, television personality and award-winning author introduces us to fresh and healthy Thai dishes you can try in your own kitchen.
London-born and long-time US resident, chef Daniel Green specialises in healthy eating, with a particular emphasis on flavour and weight-loss results. After he himself lost 65lb years ago and kept it off, the internationally renowned chef has continued to transform his life and that of thousands of others as an award-winning author of 12 cookbooks on healthy eating.
His latest books on the Paleo diet and healthy eating for lower cholesterol have sold millions of copies worldwide. He is also hugely in demand on TV food channels, and as a restaurant and airlines specialist menu creator for Cathay Pacific first class and business-class meals, and KLM. Daniel planned all the Dutch airline’s on-board North America meals, totalling 2 million meals per year.
Minneapolis-based Daniel moved to the States two decades ago and has since showcased his weight-loss food expertise for networks such as BBC, Food Network, Hallmark channel, NBC, UK Food, Discovery, the Travel Channel, ABC, CBS and many more. As a host on Live TV Shopping, Daniel has achieved over 11,000 hours of live broadcasting in 91 million homes.
Awarded the International Celebrity Chef Award 2022 in Malaysia in the Eating-For-Health category of the World Top Gourmet Award 2022, Daniel just designed a vegan menu for The Standard Hotel Hua Hin in Thailand, to be launched on the 22nd of April this year.
He will unveil a healthy new concept restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in May. The chef is also busy in 2023 shooting infomercials for Gotham Steel cookware.
Daniel co-hosted a successful TV series for Discovery Health called Weight Matters with UK broadcaster Vanessa Feltz, and has filmed with personalities such as Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone and the late Joan Rivers, US chef and restaurateur Andrew Zimmern and many more. He has filmed a series of travel documentary reports from Dubai, Thailand and around the world for Good Food Live on BBC’s UK Food. Daniel is a regular in the Hallmark channel in the USA.
Travel has been a huge influence for Daniel and previously he created the in-room dining menus for the 18 properties that make up the 5-star Dusit Thani hotel chain in Asia. He has also designed menus for the Shangri-La; Mandarin Oriental; Hilton; Conrad; Sheraton; Westin; and Marriott hotels; and the heritage Carcosa Seri Negara hotel in Malaysia. He has sat on the Culinary Investor panel for the first season of Food Fortunes on the Food Network to decide if he will invest in a new product being presented. Daniel was also a judge on the Food Network channel’s Kitchen Inferno show.
As a chef he has prepared private dinners for the likes of the eldest Princess of Thailand, US Ambassadors and people that love food that is low in carbohydrates, fats, calories but full of flavour. His is guilt-free food, says Daniel, and his motto is that “fat is not flavour”.
“That’s a cop-out that chefs use,” the chef says of restaurants loading on the fats and salts to make their food taste special. Travelling the world, Daniel finds ways to adapt food so no one feels they are on a diet; they just have brilliant food.
It’s fair to say Chef Daniel Green is a busy man, and we are delighted he has found the time to let Mind Jump Magazine readers have some spectacularly tasty and healthy Thai recipes for you to try at home!
Bangkok
I am just back from one of my favourite destinations in the world. Bangkok, writes Daniel Green. Bangkok holds a very special place in my heart. It was the place I discovered, that food IS NOT flavour, but great herbs and spices are. It was the place that set me on a path of weight loss over 30 years ago. It was there I shot my first cookbook back in 2001. I have cooked for the then eldest Princess of Thailand, created menus for many hotels, filmed many times, and gone back as much as I can. Always discovering new flavours and recipes.
On this trip, I was at The Food School. I was sharing my favourite healthy recipes. Healthy can mean many different things to us all. For me, healthy is about clean food, Food that’s low in carbohydrates, but full of flavour. Food that’s guilt-free.
This style of Food often isn’t showcased to students in a culinary school. But in today’s world, it’s important for chefs to get an understanding, of how to be able to replace a traditional recipe, with a healthy alternative. The hospitality business is always looking for ways to develop healthier options. From airlines to hotels and fast food to pre-prepared dishes.
Cauliflower rice has been a big food trend over the past five years. It’s a brilliant substitute for food that is high in carbohydrates, like potatoes and rice.
So I have two favourite recipes where I showcase cauliflower rice. What exactly is cauliflower rice? It’s just cauliflower that’s blended, or grated to the texture of rice. It’s then boiled, steamed or microwaved and then used in so many dishes.
First up is a dish I make for a Sunday brunch or dinner. It’s so filling, and you will never think you are missing out on anything. The cauliflower pancake is like a hash brown and I use a little avocado, which goes a long way. You can also make this with smoked salmon. The poached egg also gives a great depth to the richness of the finished dish.
Next up is a Poke bowl. I am sure you are seeing the trend in building your own Poke bowl, at many restaurants. In some places, you are seeing cauliflower rice, in place of rice, and it works. Give this a try, you are cutting down over 2/3 of the carbs by making the switch from rice.
Cauliflower Pancake with Avocado, Salmon and Eggs
Serves 2
Basil Oil
1⁄2 cup olive oil
8-10 large fresh basil leaves
2 1/2 cups riced cauliflower (purchase this way) 4 eggs, divided use
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups salad greens – tossed with a little lemon and olive oil
1 avocado, pit removed, sliced
2 salmon fillets (season and lightly fry these for 3-4 minutes each side)
4 tablespoons shelled fresh edamame
Fresh chives – chopped for garnish
micro greens garnish
handful shelled edamame to garnish
teaspoon of salmon eggs to garnish
To make Basil Oil In a food processor or blender, blend olive oil and fresh basil leaves until pureed
In a medium saucepan, heat 6 cups of water and 1⁄2 cup of white vinegar over medium-high heat until simmering.
Meanwhile, put cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl, cover and microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and season with salt and pepper. Let stand for 2 minutes. Stir in 2 of the eggs.
Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the add 1/2 of the cauliflower mixture. Cook like a pancake for about 2 minutes on each side.
Remove from pan; set aside. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the remaining cauliflower mixture. Place each pancake on a serving plate. Keep warm.
Crack each of the remaining 2 eggs into small bowls and add to the simmering water. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
To the plate Add the salad greens on top of the pancake. Top each with 1⁄2 of the avocado slices, 1⁄2 of the smoked salmon and a poached egg . top with the microgreens. Garnish with the edamame, chives and a teaspoon of the salmon eggs on top of the poached egg, drizzle with basil oil and serve.
Ahi Tuna Poke bowl with cauliflower rice
Serves 4
Sesame and Ponzu dressing, cilantro/coriander, avocado, jalapeno and spring onions
3 tablespoons Ponzu sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
6 teaspoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
600g cube ahi tuna raw
4 shallots finely chopped
2 avocados cubed
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
4 cups (660g) cooked cauliflower rice
200g shelled edamame
6 spring onions finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper slices
finely chopped cilantro/coriander for garnish
Top with 1 tablespoon Tobiko on each bowl.
Whisk ponzu, sesame oil, vinegar, ginger and garlic to make a dressing.
Add tuna, red onion, avocado and sesame seeds to the dressing. Gently combine.
Mix cauliflower rice with edamame.
To the plate Place ¼ of rice mixture in serving bowl. Top with tuna mixture, jalapeno and
tobiko. Garnish with chopped green onion and cilantro/coriander.
Daniel Green has authored 12 books sold worldwide: The Cannabinoid Cookbook, 2022; The Paleo diet Monday to Friday, 2018; The Paleo Diet, 2016; Modern Dining for Life, 2010; Healthy Dining for Life, 2010; World Dining for Life, 2009, Healthy Eating for Lower Cholesterol, 2005, selling 1.4 million copies; Green’s Greens, 2003; and Green’s Cuisine,2002. Two of his latest healthy cookbooks won the prestigious Gourmand World
Cookbook Award 2010 and 2011 for “the Best TV Celebrity Chef Cookbook”, and one book has been printed in over a dozen languages to date.
