Mindful Cuisine at Miraval Resort
June 26, 2012 For a luxury spa resort that practices balance and wellness in everything it offers, Miraval spares no expense to keep your belly filled with healthy, delicious food. You can order room service 24/7 and their juice bar is loaded with coffee and low-fat baked goods (essential for 6am hikes). Feeling naughty? You can opt for a burger while sunbathing by the pool - and don't forget to grab an alcoholic drink while you're at it. In other words, you can indulge in anything your heart desires without the guilt.
Miraval's Caramelized Three-Onion Polenta "Lasagne."
For those who practice a hedonistic approach to life, you can step it up by doing the new Chef's Table dinner. Situated inside the bustling kitchen of the Cactus Flower Restaurant, guests will get an informative, behind-the-scenes look at how a world-class spa restaurant operates. We got to experience this during our brief stay and Executive Chef Chad Luethje kindly took care of us throughout our private dinner.
Black Kale Salad with lemon, garlic, panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese and red pepper.
Miraval's food philosophy puts a huge emphasis on lowering the fat and caloric content of each dish without sacrificing any flavor. Their food is a testament that you don't need a lot of butter and cream to make your taste buds happy. An example of this was the creamy seared scallop with sesame and soy marinade. We gobbled that appetizer within seconds.
The Dungeness Crab Spring Rolls were so refreshing with the garlic chile dipping sauce. This one was one of my favorites.
Next we sampled the Sonoran Spice Rubbed Ahi Tuna Loin and the Wood Fired Flatbread Pizza of the day (Prosciutto, Provolone and melon).
My entrée was the Line Caught Wild Alaskan Black Cod with parsnip-potato purée, saffron vanilla bean beurre monté, wilted spinach and jeweled beets. The saffron and parsnip made this dish stand out. I didn't even feel like this was a "low-calorie" dish as it had rice milk and cashew blended into the sauce.
We were completely stuffed at this point but couldn't resist dessert. This awesome Soy Caramel Ice Cream Ball is 100% vegan and dairy-free, but you couldn't tell by the way we were inhaling the rich and crunchy pecan praline topping.
Curious about Miraval's spa cuisine? They're offering a crazy 72 hour summer sale right now. From now through September 19, 2012, stay Sunday through Wednesday for $249+ per person, per night. That's a total bargain since it includes accommodations, all meals and activities.
You can also check out their new cookbook, Mindful Eating. Several dishes we had tasted were featured in this book, including their Black Kale Salad and the popular Soy Caramel Swirl Ice Cream Balls.
Credit: Miraval 2012
Big thanks to Chef Chad and his team for hosting us! We can't wait to try his culinary techniques in our own home kitchens.
Credit: Miraval 2012
For editorial consideration, a media trip was arranged by Clarins USA and Miraval Resort.
Food images by Tami Yu.
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