Liver-cleansing recipe ideas

BookMark

excellent path cav!

watching and learning I have a friend with a liver condition.

Interesting menu; the apricot salad sounds good, what does it consist of?

I know you are a Chef, however, please take caution when eating wild mushrooms as there are so many horror stories in regard to liver damage.

The wild mushrooms would be just a few dried porcinis from the grocers, colorbook, but mushrooms of any kind in excess is indeed not great for the liver, but in moderation, it's okay. Good advice. They are fine for me, but for more severe cases, maybe not. Some chopped roasted Brazil nuts would be a good substitute for the mushrooms, in terms of flavour profile.

Seeing as colorbook asked about the apricot salad, I'll describe it. For the leaves, baby spinach should be predominant, possibly mixed with some baby romaine, oak lettuce or red leaf lettuce.

Toast the pine nuts lightly in the oven, but keep an eye on them, they burn easily.

I like to steam the octopus first, until tender, then toss it with some olive oil and cracked pepper (octopus is high in sodium and doesn't really need salt), then grill it to get a nice crust.

Cut the apricots in half, brush the flesh side lightly with some warm honey and sear on a grill, just the flesh side, just to mark, and caramelize slightly. You can cool the grilled apricots before mixing into the salad, but the octopus is nice warm. It also can be cooled, and sliced thinly. It works both ways.

Some nice additions are thinly sliced Vidalia onion, and cherry or grape tomatoes, if they are very sweet, and a few mint leaves.

For the dressing, you need some unsweetened apricot nectar (availible at health food stores), preferably organic. Acidulate to taste with unseasoned rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and add extra virgin olive oil to make a vinaigrette.

Toss everything together, and voila!

I should also add that in my research, I found that folks with liver conditions can develop distaste for previously loved foods, and develop new tastes as well. As an example, I have found myself becoming addicted to V8 lately! I hated it as a child, but all the vegetables used in the mix are liver-friendly, and high in anti-oxidants. It's also potassium-rich, and has no sugar, except for what comes from the veggies.

Hmm, I always hated V8 too. Could be time to try it again.

I was going to ask about the octopus/apricot recipe, glad to see it posted. I had some grilled octopus at a winebar in Santa Rosa a while ago that was absolutely wonderful, and I wondered how to cook it. If I find a link to that restaurant I'll post it as it had a series of great dishes served in small portions. Not that they are all liver friendly, but who knows.