The Swedish Diet The Balancing Act is joined by Erin I. Fray, Marketing VP at Health for Happiness and passionate about natural and organic foods for over 20 years.   Easy2Swallow Joining The Balancing Act is Michael Hardy from Easy2Swallow Vitamins with good news for those taking supplements: they just got easier to swallow.   [...]

Press / Media Mentions of The Balancing Act Lifetime "The Balancing Act" on Lifetime Discusses Used Car Safety & Maintenance with Auction Direct USA PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 26, 2011 – (Pompano Beach, FL) BrandStar Entertainment, producers of the popular morning show The Balancing Act on Lifetime TV, welcomes back to the show Auction [...]

The following segment aired on The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television. The featured guest was Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone as he shares the benefits of cooking with organic foods like chocolate.

The Balancing Act Lifetime Television Host Danielle Knox: He’s one of People Magazine’s sexiest men alive, a clever cook and has that great Australian accent that women love. Curtis will share tips and recipes for cooking with chocolate that go way beyond desserts. Chef Curtis Stone joins us on The Balancing Act and prepares a pan-fried sea scallops dish with prosciutto and an agrodulce sauce that has 70% dark chocolate in it.

Stone: Organic food is just beautiful and anything that is not organic seems to mean that we have messed with it with chemicals, pesticides and all the horrible things that you really don’t want in your food. The whole organic movement has really expanded. It used to be just fruits and vegetables and now you can get organic meat, you can buy organic wine and even organic chocolate.

The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Besides organic chocolate, can you tell us a little about the other organic foods to purchase and what we should look for?

Stone: You can get organic everything these days and I think it’s really something important to support it. Head to the organic section of your grocery store and that is where you will find anything that they carry and is certified, organic.

The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Chef Stone. Can you also give us some tips on how to cook with organic meats and vegetables?

Stone: The basic rule is for something like ratatouille or any sort of soup with vegetable is that you add the ingredients in order of how long they take to cook.

The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: Okay, now back to the organic chocolate. What are some ideas for using chocolate in cooking?

Stone: How about pan-fried sea scallops with some crispy prosciutto, and a sauce which is what we call an agrodulce. It is made with lime juice, dark chocolate and a little bit of olive oil. I also add some salad leaves with some semi-roasted tomatoes. It’s a bit experimental, using chocolate with savory foods, but its fun to experiment.

The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: And some tips on cooking with the chocolate? I imagine that the preparation of the chocolate is a little different that the traditional fruit and vegetable that we are used to cooking with. What a common way to prepare the chocolate for most dishes?

Stone: You know how recipes say to grate it or to break it or to chop it? I am going to tell you the easiest way to get the chocolate broken and out of the packet. It’s a bit violent but let’s face it. Chocolate is so beautiful that you can’t ever ruin it. So, just give it a whack with a hard blunt object while it is still wrapped in the packaging. Then you just simply open the pack and it is all broken and ready to work with. Once you’ve broken it up, put it on the bowl and continue on with the recipe.

The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television: I am so excited to have learned how to cook entrees with chocolate, and to know that there are so many more dishes that I can prepare using chocolate. If you want to learn more about preparing this entrée that you saw on The Balancing Act or other entrees and desserts with chocolate, go to www.greenandblacks.com

The Balancing Act Lifetime Television is the only morning show in America produced by women specifically for women. Every morning, The Balancing Act on Lifetime hosts Danielle Knox and Kristy Villa tackle the issues that face today’s woman. Popular show segments include Live weather updates with Mark Mancuso, surprise celebrity visitors, and news about the latest trends affecting your life, home, career and family. The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television airs daily on Lifetime at 7 a.m. ET/PT. For more information, visit The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television’s website at www.thebalancingact.com.

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