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Recipes
Recipes from my kitchen to yours…these are quick and easy and more importantly, the resulting meals are delicious, nourishing, and made with REAL food! Bon Apetit!
Butternut Squash: A simple, delicious side dish
My new I’m-hooked-on veggie of the week is butternut squash! I’ve made a fabulous soup for Thanksgiving the past several years, but recently, I’ve begun to bake Bnut squash and I am lovin’ the taste and texture of it with this simpler preparation.
Ingredients: 
Butternut Squash
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preparation: Either
- peel the skin off of the squash with a potato peeler; cut the squash in half lengthwise; scoop out the seeds; chop it into bite sized cubes, OR
- leave the skin on; cut the squash in half lengthwise; scoop out the seeds; cut each half into 1/2 inch slices (so they look like smiles!);
- rub the cubes or the slices with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lay out the pieces on a cookie sheet.
- bake at 375 for 20-ish minutes; turning them over at 10 minutes.
The cubes can be then added to a casserole with legumes or grains, or tossed into a salad. The slices look gorgeous as a side dish, and are divine when taken out of the fridge the next day and snacked on like you’d eat an slice of an orange!
Butternut squash provides an abundance of trace minerals and vitamins and has a delightful flavor. Enjoy!
Roasted Cauliflower
Delicious and nutritious!
Ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- olive oil
- a pinch of salt
- a larger pinch of black pepper
Preparation:
- pre-heat the oven to 400.
- cut the head of cauli into 1/2 inch thick slices. Small pieces will break off of the slices, no worries–they’ll taste just as fabulous!
- place the slices on a cookie sheet or flat pan.
- drizzle with olive oil, spreading the oil around on both sides.
- sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- bake for 5 – 8 minutes, turn the pieces over, and repeat.
- Enjoy the rich, buttery taste and crunchy texture! Let the kids pick up the slices with their hands to bite off delicious mouthfuls!
Note: I’ve been bringing home orange cauliflower whenever I find it at Briarpatch, my local natural foods co-op. It’s got a fuller flavor than it’s white cousin and offers an intriguing viewing variation.
This delightful side dish was introduced to me by my colleague and friend, Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen.
Posted in Eat, Recipes, Thanksgiving recipes | 
Tags: Briarpatch natural foods community market, cauliflower, Eat, Fall Foods, In the Kitchen, recipe | 
No Comments »BOO-Nanners, a Healthy Halloween Treat
This clever treat for children (and their parents!) is a delicious, healthy, and fun alternative to big-bag Halloween treats.
Boo-Nanners
Servings: 2 per banana
Ingredients:
*peeled banana, cut in half
*orange juice
*dried shredded coconut
*currants or raisins
*popsicle sticks
Preparation:
1. Sprinkle banana with orange juice
2. Roll in coconut, you may find it a little easier and neater to use a zip top bag for this step if the little ones are making these
3. Gently press in currant eyes
4. Place on popsicle stick
These boo-nanners can be frozen to be served as a popsicle or eaten fresh. Either way, the kids will love it!
Shared from California Wellness Task Force, Fit for the Holidays newsletter.
Posted in Eat, Recipes | Tags: alternative treats, California Wellness Task Force, Eat, Halloween, healthy treats, recipes | No Comments »Best Banana Muffins on the Planet…
This summer has brought a lot of kitchen time–fulfilling me with the joy of creativity and sensory stimulation from the smells, colors and textures of my creations. An addition to my business that I had not anticipated but am thoroughly enjoying is the opportunity of cooking for my clients. I have shared quinoa casseroles, grilled veggies, fruit cobblers, all sorts of greens in various combination and styles, soups, pastas and sauces…basically, the dinners I’ve been making each night have been doubled in size, with the leftovers being shared. I enjoy seeing my clients try new flavors, textures, and combinations of grains and greens to entice and familiarize them with eating REAL food. It’s working well!
One client, a very busy woman who commutes several days a week for work and whose work often comes home with her in the evening, has been challenged time management-wise to find kitchen time to create healthy, energy producing and sustaining meals for her long days away from home. We’ve shopped together so she became acquainted with pantry staples, created strategies for prep-ahead techniques, all with a focus on healthy, quick meals and snacks that could be eaten throughout the week.
Banana muffins, using this recipe, are a delicious, healthy mid-morning snack. With a smear of good quality peanut or almond butter, you’ve got protein, fat, and carbs that will last a few hours, giving you energy and stamina, as well as a smile on your face because they taste so heavenly. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
¾ C organic sweet-cream butter, softened
1 ½ C organic cane sugar
2 eggs, locally sourced
1 ½ C mashed very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ C organic, whole-milk vanilla yogurt
½ C chopped nuts, optional
Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar until it’s as smooth as it looks like it’s going to get. It will still seem a bit lumpy. No worries.
2. Mix in the eggs.
3. Add vanilla and bananas.
4. Sift together flour and baking soda into a separate bowl.
5. Alternately add the dry sifted mixture with the yogurt into the butter/sugar mixture.
6. Pour into 24 cupcake tins (with paper liners). Bake at 350 for 25 – 30 minutes, until they are a gorgeous golden color on top and a toothpick inserted into the center pulls back clean.
7. Once cool, I freeze most of the muffins in a giant zip lock baggie so I can pull them out one or two at a time. They thaw in a half-hour or in the microwave for 30 seconds. Smear with peanut or almond butter, and you’ve got a fabulous tasting and very healthy snack filled with protein, good fat, and energy-producing carbs! Yum.
Fruit Cobbler
Not too sweet, not too tart…that’s how a fruit cobbler should be! This time of year is so rich in the bounty that is available at the natural foods cooperative market where I shop: fruit, fruit, and more fruit. I make smoothies. I chop up berries to mix with cereal. I keep a huge fruit salad cut up and in the fridge, ready to savor at any moment–alone, with yogurt, or even on top of vanilla ice cream. Grapes and cherries, papaya, mango, pineapple, apples, pears, peaches, plums, berries, bananas–you name it and I’ll include it in my fruit salad.
I am a real advocate of preparing foods ahead as much as possible to increase access to healthful small meals throughout the day. I have found a delicious twist to this that is a healthful treat, and especially useful if the fruit salad has been in the fridge a day too long! Healthful Treat. Now when’s the last time you saw those two words together?
Ingredients:
- as above, any fruit you have lying around, chopped into bite size pieces
- sugar, to taste
- granulated tapioca
- optional: a pinch of cinnamon and/or fresh ground nutmeg
- flour
- sugar
- coconut oil (in its solid form, not liquid)
To prepare:
- The amount of sugar you mix into the fruit will depend on how much fruit salad you will be using, as well as your personal taste preference. I suggest: Go Tart!
- Mix in granulated tapioca. (try 3 T for every 4 cups of fruit)
- Consider cinnamon or nutmeg here, but just a small pinch.
- Put the fruity mix into a glass baking dish.
*** Here’s where the fun begins: assembling the cobbler topping *** - In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and coconut oil until you have a crumbly mess that is not too sweet but pleasing to the palate. (see note below)
- Pour the crumble over the fruit, spreading evenly to the edges of the dish.
- Bake uncovered, in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45-ish minutes, keeping an eye on the topping. Once it starts to become golden brown, I turn the oven off, but let the dish sit happily inside for another 10 minutes or so.
- Let it cool, then enjoy this delicious and healthy treat.
- Top with yogurt or creme fraiche, and you’ve got a small meal of good quality fat, carbs, fiber, and amazing flavor.
NOTES:
- I’m not a measuring spoon type of gal; I love the free flow of creativity in the kitchen. It works out most of the time, that I am rewarded with a delish dish or meal that may never taste the same way twice, but that elicits joy and satisfaction in the process.
- My personal choice is organic food; from produce to flour, sugar, grains, spices, coconut oil, dairy, etc. See how that concepts fits into your own personal choices.
- For this recipe, I use unprocessed cane sugar and light brown sugar. I suggest that you try to shift towards less sugar when baking–the tartness in fruit is quite exciting once your mouth has a chance to savor the flavors beyond sweet.
- I love coconut oil. Yes, it is a saturated fat, but one that has the health benefits of plant foods, and woweezowee, once you get a taste of it in this topping, you’ll never go back!
Posted in Eat, Recipes, Thanksgiving recipes | Tags: Eat, fruit salad, healthy treat, recipes | 2 Comments »Grilled Veggies Extraordinaire!
It is nearly unimaginable to me that I have gone through my entire adult life–until last week–before becoming familiar with this divine, easy, and healthy method of cooking up a bunch of vegetables all at once–and having them come out as a side dish to any meal that a 5-star chef would be proud of! Where have I been hiding? Well, it’s never too late and I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I now do!
Ingredients:
- any and all veggies that you round up: zucchini, peppers (red and yellow), cauliflower, mushrooms, eggplant, broccoli, purple onion, green beans — don’t hold back!
- olive oil
- good quality balsamic vinaigrette (I use fig vinaigrette–it’s sweet flavor adds a surprise zip to the marinade)
- a small pinch of salt and a hearty pinch of black pepper
To prepare:
1. cut veggies into bite size pieces, and place into large bowl
2. add enough olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette to please your palate, and to coat the veggies uniformly
3. add the salt and pepper; mix it all up well
4. place the veggies into one of those grill pans intended for small pieces of food (see photo)
5. cook for 15 minutes on medium flame on the BBQ, stirring every 5 minutes
6. Enjoy the most delish, crunchy, healthy, aromatic, and simply marvelous veggies you have ever eaten!
Cool Summer Dinner Recipe
There are those summer evenings when cooking a hot meal just doesn’t jazz me. Last night was one of those evenings. I came up with a fabulous tasting, super easy meal that kept us cool. Give this one a try! 
Garbanzo Wrap
Ingredients:
15 ounce can garbanzo beans
lemon
cilantro
olive oil
curry
tomato
cucumber
crunchy sprouts
fresh mint
greek yogurt, plain
leftover cooked grains
spinach or tomato wraps
Preparation:
1. Blend the first 5 ingredients in a food processor.
2. Chop tomato and cuke.
3. Spread the garbanzo puree onto the wrap.
4. Layer on the yogurt, lightly.
5. Add some grains on top. Note: If you don’t have leftover grains in the fridge, cook some up! That can happen in the morning, while your house has not heated up yet. I suggest a hearty grain such as wheat berry or barley, but any ol’ grain will do.
6. The next layer will be the tomato, cuke, and sprouts. I used radish sprouts, by the way. BUT you can add a million toppings here: purple cabbage, hearty greens, sliced pepper, roasted pine nuts, grated carrots, raisins; any and all combinations will be perfect!
7. As an afterthought, I added a few mint leaves from my garden–this was a brilliant idea!
8. Roll that bad boy up and you’ve got a high protein, nutrient dense dinner that is light, delicious, and refreshing.
Are you feeling cool?
