Broccoli Rabe with Toasted Pecans and Currants

Is the cold weather beginning to make your cravings for salad disapear? This recipe is a simple, quick and delicious way to keep getting greens in your diet when salads aren't so appealing.

It is from one of my favorite books, Greens, Glorious Greens.





Broccoli Rabe with Toasted Pecans and Currants

1/3 cup lightly toasted pecans, coarsely chopped (you can just put them in a small pan on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes, they are toasted when you can smell the nutty aroma wafting up from the pan, be careful, they can burn quickly)

1 pound of Broccoli Rabe (about 6 cups chopped)

2 cups water

1 tbsp olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup currants or raisins

Sea salt to taste

• Chop off about 1 inch of the base of the stalks of the broccoli rabe and discard. Slice the stalks into ½ inch pieces and coarsely chop the leaves and florets. Wash well by swishing in a large bowl of cold water. Drain.
• Place 2 cups of water in a large skillet with a tight fitting lid. Bring the water to a boil then add the broccoli rabe.
• Cover and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally until tender, 3-4 minutes. Remove to a colander and drain.
• Rinse and dry the skillet. Heat olive oil over medium heat in the dry skillet, lifting and turning the pan to coat.
• Add the garlic and currants (or raisins) and sauté for 30-60 seconds, stirring constantly to prevent garlic from burning. Currants/raisins should be glossy and slightly puffed.
• Add the precooked rabe and stir to combine. Season with salt and cover for a minute until the greens are heated through. Serve hot, garnished with the pecans.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of our family favorites. My mom has been making it for years on Thanksgiving but these days we make it throughout the fall and winter just because it so yummy and so simple and quick!

Butternut Squash Soup

(as always use organic ingredients whenever possible)

2 lbs chopped, peeled butternut squash (feel free to buy it chopped and peeled to make it even easier!)

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

12 whole raw almonds

1 apple, chopped (granny smith is good, but any kind will do)

1 tsp curry powder

½ tsp of ground marjoram

½ cup white wine

4-5 cups chicken broth (you won’t need to add salt if you use regular salted chicken broth)- my favorite is Pacific Foods Free Range Organic

· Heat the oil in a large soup pot

· Sauté the onions until they are really soft and translucent

· Add the squash, apple, almonds, curry and marjoram to the onions and stir well

· Add in the wine then add the chicken broth until it just barely covers the other ingredients

· Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook until squash is tender (about 20 minutes)

· Use an immersion blender to blend all the ingredients into a creamy soup (you can also use a food processor or blender but the immersion blender makes this job super easy and neat).

Enjoy!

Crunchy Munchy Oatmeal

Crunchy Munchy Oatmeal

I love this because it goes along with my "kitchen sink" approach to nutrition- just throw in as much healthy stuff as you can to start your day yummy and satisfied!

1 cup rolled oats (not instant or quick)- I like Bob's Red Mill
2 cups water
Dash of sea salt
Agave or Raw Honey
Splash of Rice Milk (or Almond Milk, Soy Milk or Cow's Milk)
Crunchy Munchy stuff that you love- my favorites- organic raw shredded coconut, walnuts, raw sunflower seeds, dried cranberries or raisins

Bring water to boil in a small saucepan. Add in the oatmeal and salt and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until water is absorbed and oatmeal is soft. Sweeten with a little agave or honey. Add a splash of your favorite milk and then throw in all the good crunchy munchy stuff that you like. Enjoy!

Food Focus: Greens

Leafy greens are some of the easiest and most beneficial vegetables to incorporate into your daily routine. Densely packed with energy and nutrients, they grow upward to the sky, absorbing the sun’s light while producing oxygen. Members of this royal green family include kale, collard greens, swiss chard, mustard greens, arugula, dandelion greens, broccoli rabe, watercress, beet greens, bok choy, napa cabbage, green cabbage, spinach and broccoli.

How do greens benefit our bodies? They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and are a powerhouse for vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed full of fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals. Their color is associated with spring, which is a time of renewal and refreshing, vital energy. In traditional Asian medicine, the color green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity. Greens aid in purifying the blood, strengthening the immune system, improving liver, gall bladder and kidney function, fighting depression, clearing congestion, improving circulation and keeping your skin clear and blemish free.

Leafy greens are the vegetables most missing from the American diet, and many of us never learned how to prepare them. Start with a simple recipe such this one or this one. Then each time you go to the market, pick up a new green to try. Soon you’ll find your favorite greens and wonder how you ever lived without them.

For more about greens, get this great book Greens Glorious Greens

Adapted with permission from Integrative Nutrition.

Shiitake and Kale

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 bunch kale, chopped
pinch of salt


Directions:
1. Warm oil in pan on medium heat with minced garlic until aromas of garlic are released, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add chopped kale, stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
4. Add a splash of water and pinch of salt to pan, cover and let steam for 4 minutes.


Used with permission from Integrative Nutrition.

The Coffee Thing and Other Experiments

I promised several weeks ago that I would post soon about my no-coffee experiment. It has been interesting. As you may know, I am a coffee lover. I love the smell of it, I love the taste of it, I love a good coffee shop. I just love it.

Recently, however, I wasn't sure it was loving me back. I have had a really busy year and in January I was really starting to feel the stress accumulate in my body in an intense kind of way. I tried to tune in and really understand what I might need to change and I got the message that coffee might not be working for me.

My coffee consumption was about 1 cup a day of 1/2 regular coffee, 1/2 decaf. So I stopped it and switched to tea for about six weeks. It was interesting. I felt better, I lost a few pounds I had been hanging on to for a few months. I believe the weight loss was partly due to just the overall stress reduction. But there are also some folks who see a connection between coffee and blood sugar levels that could affect weight. You can check out an interesting article here.

So I was going along quite merrily without my coffee for several weeks and actually not missing it and feeling quite good. Then I decided to experiment with tweaking my diet a bit by doing an elimination of wheat and dairy for a week. The idea was not to eliminate these things from my diet permanently but just to see how I felt when I removed them and then reintroduced them.

Well guess what? I did that for about six days and then I wanted coffee again.

Am I telling you all this to confuse you? NO, hopefully the opposite. What I hope to share with you is that these past two months have been a really good reminder to me that the best changes happen slowly over time. I tried to do too much too close together and I really saw the tendency within myself to overdo the experimentation.

I think a lot of us do this. We make a change, we see some success, we want more success, we make more changes. But sometimes, if we really haven't given our bodies and our minds the opportunity to fully adjust to the last change, introducing another change may not only not succeed but it may undo some of the positive changes we have already made.

My advice (from personal experience)- go easy on yourself! Make changes slowly over time and they will be far more likely to last.

Oh, and in case you are wondering about the results of my experiment:

1. I started drinking coffee again but not daily and now mostly decaf.

2. I didn't notice any significant impact of reintroducing wheat and dairy but I am sure both of them only work well for me in real moderation.

3. I am not doing any more experimenting for a while. Well, only with my hair. I just got most of it chopped off for the first time in more than 10 years and that felt great!

What I'm eating today

I get asked this question pretty regularly so I thought I'd post a day in my food life every so often. Here goes today:

Breakfast: A smoothie. Today it included whey protein powder (I don't always do protein powder but I felt like I needed it. My choice is Jay Robb- no artificial stuff in it) and water. I also threw in some almond butter, some ground flax seeds, a little banana, some frozen strawberries and some collard greens. The greens definitely turn the smoothie green and they taste great. This is an awesome way to get your greens in!

Snack: My favorite- Ezekial Toast with Almond Butter and Agave. I also had a cup of tea with rice milk (I am day 8 no coffee here so I will post more on that soon).

Lunch: Leftovers from dinner last night- Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa (I steam them in my rice cooker to warm them up) along with some whole wheat pita and homemade hummus.

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Salad, Black Beans, Broccoli and a little Brown Rice with Barley

Ok...it isn't over yet. I stayed up too late and got hungry so, yes, I ate again (which I normally don't like to do because I think I sleep better if I stop eating a few hours before bed).

The last snack: Some protein powder and water with a spoon of coconut oil and a spoon of raw cacao nibs. Yum.

This is definately still reflecting some winter eating habits (ie: eating kind of a lot!). I sense a spring greening in my future and some lighter eating on it's way. Stay tuned...

***Disclaimer- Not every day is exactly like this. Someday I will confess about my love of the Fat Witch Bakery Brownies***

Preventative Eating and My Favorite Snack

I'm not a big fan of eating when you are not hungry but I've had enough poorly planned meal times to know that if I don't think ahead, I don't always leave myself with great choices.

So I am sitting at my desk and having my tea (more on my no-coffee experiment later!) and I decide to run out to Target to pick up a couple things I need and take a break from my computer.

I'm not really hungry yet. BUT I know I am going to be gone for an hour or more and I will probably be starving before I get back. This all sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? But how many times have you left yourself stranded without a good choice of something to eat?

In these kinds of moments, you've got to either pack a healthy snack to bring with you or do what I call some "Preventative Eating". In this case, for me, it is my favorite snack in the whole world:

Ezekiel 4:9 Toast with Almond or CashewButter (I prefer Raw Organic Tree of Life) and a little bit of Agave Syrup or Raw Honey (buy Raw Honey locally when you can and check out this link for more on the benefits of raw honey!)

Yum!

Now I'm off to the store and I know I won't get hungry because, really, what in the world are you going to eat at Target? It kind of scares me to think about it...

Preschool Cooking Class- Hummus

Alexa and Caroline at the Small Scholars Cooking Class.

Miss Cathy's class of four and five year olds had a great time talking about whole foods and making hummus.

My kids love this as a dip for carrots or cucumbers or as a spread on whole wheat pita. We tend to double or triple the recipe and it keeps well in the fridge for up to two weeks. You can always add a bit of olive oil if it starts to get a little too thick.

Everybody Loves it Hummus

1 can organic garbanzo beans – rinsed and peeled
1 clove garlic
2 tbp fresh lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
3 tbsp tahini
½ tsp sea salt
Aprox ¼ cup water (add a little at a time to get the right consistency)
Aprox 2 tbsp really good tasting olive oil

· Throw this all in a food processor and mix until smooth or put it all in a bowl and mix it up with an immersion blender (just a little more effort but it works great).
· Adjust the amount of oil and water for texture and taste
· Optional add-ins: pepper, cumin, paprika (the kids tend to like it better without these)
· You can easily double or triple this recipe
· An easy way to peel the beans is to rinse them in a colander then put them in a bowl of water while you peel them. The skins tend to float to the top. You can just skip the annoying task of peeling the beans if you want to do this super fast but the texture is a lot smoother when they are peeled. Don’t worry about getting every single one if it is driving you crazy.

Extra bonus- making hummus at home saves money! Especially if you want to make it organic.

Here it is..The Granola Recipe

Since I gave this granola as Christmas gifts, I have had countless requests for the recipe.

I have been trying to figure out why it is so fantastic and I am really not sure. Maybe we are so accustomed to eating things that have been in a box for months (or, yikes, much longer!) that having something this fresh and homemade is just simply an incredibly welcome treat.

My great friend (and cousin by marriage), Fabiana Esteves, gave me this recipe. Fabiana is a graduate of The Natural Gourmet Cooking School in New York and is a great teacher and cooking inspiration to me. (As an aside, she and her husband Fabio are also incredibly generous hosts, letting me crash at their apartment every month while I am attending school in New York. But, this generosity is, I think, a part of the big picture of who she is and the love she brings to her food and her friendships).

I made a small change to the recipe (substituted Coconut Oil for the Canola Oil she uses- you can try either) but, Fabiana deserves all the credit.

Be warned...you may not be able to stop eating this!

Fabi’s Fab Granola

2 cups rolled oats
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup chopped hazelnuts
½ shredded coconut
½ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
Pinch of sea salt
½ tsp cinnamon (optional)

· Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
· Spread on a jelly roll pan (it will be very full but it seems to cook best when it is all on one pan)
· Bake at 275 degrees for 45 minutes (turn in the pan at 20-25 minutes)
· Different nuts can be substituted,
· Use as many organic ingredients as possible

This might be the best thing I ever ate

Mango-Avocado Salad

Via greenchefs.tv & raw chef, Vanessa Sherwood

Ingredients
2 Ripe Mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 Large Avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 Tablespoon Lime Juiced
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Cilantro Leaves
1 Tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds
Instructions:Hand mix all of the ingredients together and serve.

Yum!

I am not kidding. I think this is a little bit of heaven.

I found this recipe on a raw food blog. But let me tell you, you don't need to be all that interested in raw food to appreciate this dish.

I discovered the blog when I linked through the website of raw food chef Sarma of Pure Food and Wine. I am definitely going to check her restaurant out on one of my next trips to NYC.

Roasted Kale- Simple and Quick

Check out this you tube video for a great Roasted Kale Cooking video.

Naoko does a quick (and fun!) video presentation that inspired me to cook kale for the first time. Guess what? It was ridiculously easy and delicious! I ate the whole pan!

2nd time making it update- Brace yourself: My husband and my kids LOVED it!! A success for the whole family- hurray!

The most fun part about eating this is using chopsticks (or, as Nick calls them, “pinchers”). To make it easy for kids, attach the top end of the chopsticks with a rubber band to hold them together and put a little rolled up piece of paper just below the band to create a little space to pinch. Or just buy kid chopsticks.

Roasted Kale

1 bunch of kale- organic is preferable
Bragg Liquid Aminos or Organic Shoyu (soy sauce)
Sesame Oil (Toasted or Regular)

· Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
· Rip the kale off the stem (smaller pieces are easier for kids) and throw it in a big bowl of water
· Swish the kale around in the water to wash it
· Drain the kale in a colander
· Line a cookie sheet (or two if you have a big bunch of kale) with Release Foil
· Plop the kale pieces on the cookie sheet and use a paper towel to quickly blot up the excess water
· Sprinkle the kale with a little Braggs or Soy Sauce and the Sesame Oil (a little of each of these goes a long way)
· Put the sheet of kale in the oven for 5-6 minutes, take it out and dig in
· Watch the time because it can burn pretty easily (experiment and see if you like some pieces to get crispy etc…)
· Eat as a side dish or just as a snack