A Delicious Life

It was quite a while ago that I was experimenting with wheat/dairy free recipes. I have suspected that I might have a sensitivity to both, or at least, as a protein type, it wasn’t as adventageous for me to consume grains or dairy. So I started coming up with recipes that could be made without them.  (more…)

Spring has sprung. Finally things are starting to bloom, weather is warming up, and it’s time for some spring cleaning. Besides cleaning out old things and clothes from your home that no longer fit or that you enjoy, you can also do a holistic spring cleanse for your body, mind and lifestyle.

A dietary cleanse is a good idea in the spring after a winter of eating heartier foods. It’s a gentle way to start eating lighter and shed any winter weight that may have accumulated over the past few months. And it’s a great way to get ready for the warmer weather in late spring and summer.

You can cleanse for a few days or a couple of weeks, depending on the condition of your health and what works for your lifestyle. There are many different ways to do a food cleanse. Some people will cut back on foods that cause accumulation - dairy, meats, refined carbohydrates - and add in lighter leafy greens, fresh veggies and fruit. Some people go vegetarian for a short while, cutting out all animal products. And some do a juice cleanse and fast.

Some of the benefits you can get from it may include:

• Increased energy
• Clearer skin and shiny eyes
• Losing a habit like caffeine addiction
• Fresher breath
• Better sleep
• Weight loss

Interested in trying out a cleanse this spring? I will be holding a cleanse class starting May 7, 2008.

Details:

Teleclass – Wednesday, May 7, 8 pm - call in number to be announced when you sign up
Cleanse Days – Saturday, May 10 – Friday, May 16
Cost – Intro teleclass is free - but you must Contact me though this site to participate. Cleanse class is $50 for menus, shopping lists, and full week of support

To join the class, please sign up here

Indian curries are delicious one-pot meals that contain many healing herbs and spices, too. This one has fresh ginger (good for digestion, circulation), garlic (antibacterial, antiviral), and chilies (fights inflammation, congestion). The apple may seem like a strange ingredient, but it adds a nice sweetness to balance out the savory spice of the dish. I made this curry the other day and it turned out completely delicious. You have to try it.

Note: it was called cauliflower curry, but I renamed it because, really, you could use different vegetables. I would recommend adding in one cruciferous veggie though (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, kale) because these veggies have particularly high amounts of cancer deterring phytonutrients.

Ingredients

• 1/2 head cauliflower
• 2 medium potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored and sliced
• 4-5 large cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 two-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• 2 hot fresh chili peppers, (like jalapeno or serrano) seeded and sliced, or one large dried pepper, crushed
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup water or stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 16-oz can chick peas or 1 bag frozen shelled soybeans (edamame)
• 1 10-oz package of frozen spinach, drained
• Ground black pepper to taste

Boil cauliflower in water for 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, rinse with cold water and transfer into a bowl.

Boil potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, and transfer to bowl containing cauliflower.

Place apple, garlic, ginger and chili peppers in a food processor and process until minced.

Heat oil or ghee in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and minced apple mixture and cook until starting to soften. Add curry powder and flour, and saute 3-5 minutes.

Add coconut milk, water (or stock) and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then add cauliflower, potatoes and chick peas or soy beans, cover, lower heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in, cover and cook for a few minutes until hot. Season to taste with more salt if desired and black pepper. Serve over hot rice and enjoy!

Some of my clients have trouble with sweets. They crave them for various reasons, and frequently people will come to me for help in quitting sweets.

Getting sugar out of your diet can seem like an insurmountable task at times. If you eat anything somewhat processed, or any restaurant food at all, you’re likely to be eating sugar. The worst part is that you don’t even know it most of the time.

When you first start cutting sugar out of your diet, you might find yourself going through severe withdrawal. To ease some of the discomfort, try adding in some sweet vegetables into your diet. Add sweet-smelling spices like cinnamon and cardamom to your veggies, and you might not even notice that you don’t have a bit of sugar on them.

Start with any 2-5 of these vegetables:

Corn, carrots, onions, beets, winter squash, sweet potato, turnips, parsnips and rutabaga

1. Chop the hardest ones - like carrots and root veggies - into smaller pieces. Softer veggies, like onions, can be cut into chunks

2. Layer vegetables in a pot, hardest ones on the bottom - the bottom layer will cook more.

3. Add about 1 inch of water to the pot. Cook until veggies are soft.

4. Empty veggies into a bowl. Sprinkle with spices as desired. Use cooking water as a hot beverage or delicious sweet sauce

I had three ripe bananas sitting on the counter, starting to get just a little too soft for my taste. I haven’t baked banana bread in ages, and I wanted to make a healthier version of the old favorite. So I substituted whole wheat flour for white, and replaced the 3/4 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon of stevia - a naturally occurring herb that sweetens without the calories or effects of white sugar. It turned out pretty good - a little more dense than I thought. I’ve adjusted this recipe to include more water than I used to lighten it up a little more.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium)
1 teaspoon stevia
1/4 cup cooking oil (I used walnut)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8×4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of dry mixture; set aside.

In another bowl, combine the egg, bananas, stevia, cooking oil and water. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan. cool on rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes one loaf.

I am a big fan of kichadis (sometimes pronounced kitch-e-rees), especially in the winter. The cool thing about them is that they are a really easy one-pot dish that is a complete meal - you get your veggies, grains and beans all in one bowl.  They’re  easy to digest, and they are very good for balancing and healing your digestive system.

I made this one last night and I ate it for breakfast. Think soup is weird for breakfast? Try it yourself and see if you change your mind:

1 cup brown basmati rice
1/2 cup split mung dal
1-2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1 tablespoon garam masala
6 cups water
1 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 more tablespoon garam masala
1 more tablespoon ghee
2 more cups water
2-4 cups chopped vegetables - try carrots, turnips, celery, greens, green beans, or whatever else you like
salt to taste

Method: Rinse rice and split mung, removing any debris.  Heat ghee in a large pot and add garam masala. When spices start to heat up and smell good, add in rice and split mung and saute for a couple of minutes. Add water, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In a saute pan, heat up ghee and add chopped onion, garlic and more garam masala. Saute  until veggies get soft and fragrant. Remove from heat, and place in a blender with the 2 cups of water. Blend until smooth. Add mixture into pot with the cooking rice and beans. Stir, and add in chopped vegetables. Cook until veggies are soft, about 20 more minutes. Add salt at the end. Enjoy

This soup is hearty and warming, perfect on a cold winter day. Lentils provide a good source of easily digestible vegetable protein.

Heat in a large soup pot, over medium-low heat:

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Add and cook, stirring, until tender but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes:

3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
3 medium celery stalks, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz prosciutto or pancetta, or 4 slices bacon, diced (optional)

Stir in:

8 cups water
2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
One 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Bring to a  boil, reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Stir in

1 1/4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons salt (1 teaspoon if using the meat)
1 teaspoon  ground black pepper

Ladle into warm bowls

Recipe from The Joy of Cooking: All About Soups and Stews

This is one of my favorite breakfast recipes. It is especially soothing in the winter months when you need a little more warmth and heat to keep you going. It’s spicy and just a little sweet - and a good chance to try out some cinnamon. This is a very forgiving recipe that can be adapted and changed to your tastes.

Breakfast Rice
Serves 1

Ingredients
3/4  cup cooked brown rice
3-4  tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1-2  teaspoons ghee (clarified butter)
1-2  teaspoons raw honey
dash of sea salt

Method

Combine rice, water, and spices in a small saucepan over the stove on medium high heat, stirring occasionally or in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.  When heated thoroughly, remove from heat and place in serving bowl. Add ghee, honey and salt as desired. Eat and enjoy.

Variations

• Try different grains such as buckwheat, millet, oat groats, rye, or quinoa
• Instead of water, you can try heating will a little soy or almond milk for a more creamy flavor
• For a savory version, omit the honey and add savory spices instead of sweet ones - try cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin or sage.
• For a lower-fat version, reduce or omit the ghee

There is a great piece about the history of spices on NPR - how they were brought around the world and contributed to the discovery of the Americas. Columbus was really looking for spices, not the new world. Most of what he took back were not actually spices, but he did manage to bring one — the chili pepper.

I love to use spices in my cooking, and I frequently experiment with different flavors. I don’t really like using recipes when I cook - I prefer to imagine what flavors would go with whatever it is that I’m making. Most of the time, my dishes come out pretty good.

Many spices have amazing healing properties. If you cook with a variety of them regularly, you can greatly improve your health. I will start posting short articles about health benefits of different herbs and spices, and maybe you, too, will be inspired to spice up your dishes.

Who says sweet potatoes need to be slathered in marshmallows. I made these the other night much to the delight of my dining companion. Try them out for yourself - they’re super-easy to prepare. Sweet potatoes are loaded with beta carotene, vitamin B6 which can help lower your levels of homocysteine, and they can stabilize your blood sugar and lower insulin resistance. So try some today if you want to get healthier

Spiced Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 -4  organic sweet potatoes, washed and cut into quarters
1-2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil
Cinnamon powder
Cardamom powder (optional)
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Sea salt

Method: Place cut sweet potatoes into a steamer over a pot of boiling water. Steam until soft (about 10 - 15 minutes depending on size - check by poking with a fork). Sprinkle quarters with spices as desired and drizzle with oil or ghee. Serve and enjoy.