Food

Recipe – Walnut Spread

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Walnuts

This little nut that looks a lot like a miniature brain contains a powerhouse of important nutrients for optimal health in just a one-ounce handful.

  • An excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid (2.5g) – most ALA of any other tree nut.
  • 4g of protein
  • 2g of fiber
  • A good source of magnesium (45mg)

Walnuts are a versatile nut with a flavor profile that pairs beautifully with a variety of seasonal foods. They can be included in meals any time of year, whatever the season.

For more than 25 years, the California walnut commission has supported scientific research on consumption of walnuts and a variety of health outcomes.

Heart Health—Since 1992, published research has been investigating how eating walnuts affects various heart health biomarkers and risk markers. The subsequent evidence resulted in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of one of the first qualified health claims for a whole food in March 2004: “Supportive, but not conclusive, research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

Scientific evidence suggests that including walnuts as part of a healthy diet may play a role in helping to maintain and improve physical and cognitive health as people age.

Recipe – Walnut Spread

(A Steps to Life camp meeting favorite)

Ingredients Part 1

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1 cup water

6 oz. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. cumin

Blend together.

Ingredients Part 2

Add

2 cups breadcrumbs

¼ cup green onions, chopped

¼ cup black olives, sliced

¼ cup celery, chopped (optional)

Mix well.

Recipe – Zucchini Fritters

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Zucchini

If left to its own accord, the average zucchini would grow as big as a baseball bat. The biggest one recorded was 7 feet 10 inches long!

The zucchini or ayokonetl originated in the Americas, specifically Mesoamerica. Three centuries later, it was in Italy that the modern-day zucchini finally came to be, where it was dubbed zucchino (little squash). The French call it courgette, a name that has been adopted by the English. Britain and Ireland refer to a variety that is slightly larger and plumper as marrow. The colonists of New England adopted the name squash, a word derived from several Native American words which meant “something eaten raw.”

Mexico’s zucchini origins were an integral part of the ancient diet of maize, beans, and squashes. That pre-Columbian food trio is still the mainstay of Mexican cuisine and is known today as the “three sisters.” In Mexico, the zucchini flowers are often preferred over the fruit and are frequently cooked in soups or used for quesadillas.

While pumpkins and winter squash have been popular in the United States since the time of the Pilgrims, the most common squash grown today has only been popular in the US for the last 50 years. It is now grown by more gardeners than any other squash.

Zucchini squash is the favored jewel of all the summer squashes. Its flavor is light and sweet with flesh as delicate as a flower and texture that melts in the mouth. Zucchini’s many varieties offer countless opportunities in preparing a varied menu of colorful summer and fall dishes.

Recipe – Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients

3 cups unpeeled zucchini, yellow or green, grated (use large holes of food grater)

¾ cup chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. tahini

¼ cup green onions (include green portion), sliced

½ tsp. Himalayan salt

½ tsp. dill seed (not weed)

Process

Whisk together lemon juice and tahini. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients including lemon juice/tahini combination. Allow mixture to sit for 15-20 minutes. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon mixture into skillet, using a spatula to flatten into a fritter shape. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Flip with a spatula, and cook another 2-4 minutes. If fritters are getting too brown, reduce heat to allow centers to cook more fully. Once golden brown and set, remove and serve immediately. Serve with a dollop of vegan sour cream. Delish!

Recipe – Mushroom Gravy

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Mushrooms

While enjoying a plant-based diet, some people are reluctant to place a fungus on the menu but let me encourage you to take a second look at the benefits of including this “ill repute.”

Although it is impossible to discuss every kind of mushroom that there is, after all, there are 10,000 varieties, but here we will consider the most common ones: Portabella (the oldest variety and has a hearty flavor), Cremini, Maitake (fan shaped), Button, Hedgehog, Morel, Shiitake, Porcini, Lobster, Enoki, Chanterelle and Clamshell.

Mushrooms are low in calories, fat and sodium, free from cholesterol, full of vitamins, protein, minerals and antioxidants. Each variety of mushroom is used in a different cultural cuisine, from Italian, Chinese, Thai, Russian, Haitian, Romanian, United Kingdom, Macedonian and many more.

Mushrooms are hearty and filling. Increasing your consumption of mushrooms, which are a low-energy-dense food, will keep the calorie count down, not to mention the load of nutrients that pack a punch:

  • Riboflavin, B-2: Aids in hormone production and proper nervous system function
  • Niacin, B-3: Helps maintain healthy red blood cells
  • Pantothenic Acid, B-5: Promotes healthy skin, digestive and nervous system function
  • Folate, B-9: Produces DNA and RNA: produces red and white blood cells in the bone marrow
  • Thiamin, B-1: Produces energy and the growth and development of cells
  • Selenium: Protects the body cells from damage
  • Copper: Produces red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body and keeps the bones and nerves healthy
  • Potassium: Maintains normal fluid and mineral balance, stabilizes blood pressure, maintains the proper function of muscles including the heart muscle.

The benefits are enormous.

Favorite Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 dry pint shitake mushrooms – any mushroom will work

2 Tbsp. olive oil or avocado oil

2 Tbsp. unbleached flour

1 carton vegetable stock or broth

1 Tbsp. “chicken” seasoning, or more to taste

1 tsp. each – sage, basil, parsley

Process

Sauté the onion and garlic in a little oil until light brown, then set aside. Sauté the mushrooms until light brown and set aside. Place the flour and the rest of the oil in the pan to brown the flour. Add the broth or stock, seasoning and herbs on medium heat until the gravy starts to thicken. Then add the cooked onion, garlic and mushrooms; simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Recipe – Roasted Kohlrabi

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Kohlrabi

Yummy!

“Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family and looks like a cross between an octopus and a space capsule. The name comes from the German Kohl (cabbage) plus rabi (turnip) because of the resemblance of the cabbage-like stem to the turnip. The stem can be crisp and juicy, almost as sweet as an apple, and similar to a turnip in taste. You can eat it raw (it makes a great crudité) or cooked. It comes in two “flavors,” green and purple, with the purple kind tending to be somewhat spicier. Both the leaves and the stem are edible.

“Kohlrabi’s membership in the cabbage family of cruciferous vegetables gains it an automatic place among the world’s healthiest foods. Like its relatives (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage), kohlrabi contains important phytochemicals such as cancer-fighting indoles, sulforaphane and isothicynates. It’s also a good source of vitamin C (83 mg per cup) and an excellent source of potassium (472 mg). And for a measly 36 calories per cup, you get a whopping 5 g of fiber.”

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., page 47.

Recipe – Simple Roasted Kohlrabi 

Ingredients

4 whole kohlrabi, medium to large

Olive oil for pan

Sea salt, to taste

Process

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees; adjust rack to top third.
  • Cut off stems and greens, peel.
  • Cut about ½ inch off each end; then cut into ½ inch slices, horizontally.
  • Coat well each side with olive oil; season both sides with salt.
  • Arrange on pan leaving an inch between.
  • Bake about 8-10 minutes on first side; turn and bake 4-6 minutes on second side.
  • Ready when fork slides out easily.

Recipe – Butter Bean Mashed Potatoes

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Velvety Buttery Butter Bean

The Lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus, is commonly known as the lima bean or butter bean. These beans have a buttery, sweet, starchy taste and a smooth texture. The term butter bean is widely used for a large, flat and white variety of lima bean (P. lunatus var. macrocarpus).

Lima beans, named after its place of origin, Lima, Peru, are native to South America and are popular in Andean foods. They’re also used widely in regional southern U.S. cuisine. In the southern United States the Sieva type are traditionally called butter beans, also otherwise known as the Dixie or Henderson type. In that area, lima beans and butter beans are seen as two distinct types of beans. In the United Kingdom, “butter beans” refers to either dried beans, which can be purchased to re-hydrate or the canned variety, which is ready to use. These distinctions do not change the scientific terminology, and the two common terms used for the lima bean are often interchangeable regardless of regional or culinary preferences.

In culinary use, lima beans and butter beans are distinctly different, the former being small and green, the latter large and yellow. In areas where both are considered to be lima beans, the green variety may be labeled as “baby” limas.

Lima beans and butter beans add a protein-packing punch to soups, stews and even summer salads. Although slightly bland in taste, there is nothing unremarkable about the beans’ linguistic impact. Plump and creamy when fully cooked, they do in fact have a butter-like texture that is most appealing.
https://sites.google.com/site/knowyourvegetables/know-your-beans/know-your-lima-bean

Recipe – Butter Bean Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into equal size chunks

2 15-ounce cans, drained, or cook from scratch – Butter Beans

½-1 cup vegetable broth

1 onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup unsweetened plant milk

salt, to taste

Process

Place potatoes in a pot; cover with water; add a little salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low; boil uncovered for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. Saute onions and garlic in a little water or oil until golden. In a small pan, heat butter beans through (an important step). Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add hot butter beans to potatoes. Add vegetable broth, onion and garlic, and mash with a potato masher. Add unsweetened plant milk; continue mashing until smooth. Season with salt. Serve with your favorite gravy.

Recipe – Strawberry Guava Smoothie

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Fragrant Guava

Guavas are fragrant, delicious tropical fruits that many Americans know only because they are frequently used in jellies. But these red-fleshed (and sometimes white-fleshed) fruits pack an amazing nutritional wallop. New government research demonstrates that guava may indeed deserve a place among the antioxidant elite. On one widely used test of antioxidant power, the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity [ORAC] test, guava beat out strawberries, spinach, and broccoli. (Both the red and white-fleshed types of guava scored in the top ten fruits and vegetables tested, but the red flesh had a higher antioxidant score.)

Lycopene in guava fights prostate and breast cancers. It has a higher concentration of the carotenoid lycopene than any other fruit or vegetable. Tomatoes are the main way Americans get their lycopene, but guavas are an even better source. A cup of guava has 17 percent more lycopene than an equivalent amount of tomatoes. … Cooked or uncooked, you get all the benefits of Guava. This fruit is a potassium heavyweight. One cup of guava cubes gives you 688 mg of potassium—63% more than a medium banana!

(Excerpts from The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, 119, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.)

Strawberry Guava Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup quartered fresh strawberries

1/2 cup chopped guava (seeds removed first)

1/2 cup frozen mango cubes

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut or other non-dairy milk

If more sweetening needed, add a little honey or stevia drops to sweeten.

Process

  • Prepare your strawberries by removing the stems and cutting into quarters. You should have 1 cup of quartered strawberries.
  • Prepare your guava by cutting in half, scooping out the seeds, and roughly chopping. Measure out 1/2 cup chopped fresh guava.
  • Blend together all ingredients until smooth.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

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Cantaloupe!

What a yummy summer fruit! “Cantaloupe is truly a high-volume food. An entire large melon has only 277 calories, way less than most desserts, and more than most people can eat at one sitting. About 90 percent of the melon is water. But that water in the melon goes a long way toward filling you up. Water in foods seems to do this more than water that you drink alongside foods. Hence melons and soups do a better job of appetite control than solid food plus a glass of water. No one really knows why.

“But cantaloupe is not a great food just because it’s high-volume and low-calorie. It is also a potassium and vitamin A heavyweight. One cup of melon cubes gives you a whopping 427 mg of potassium (not to mention a little calcium and magnesium).

“Many studies show that people who eat potassium-rich foods have lower rates of heart disease and stroke. Potassium is also a key component in maintaining healthy blood pressure. … There is vitamin A and beta-carotene, both of which are plentiful in cantaloupe. Though a lot of people know about the role of vitamin A in vision and growth and bone development, what is not as well known is how terrific it is for the immune system. I consider it one of the best immune-system boosters around.” Excerpts from The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, 103, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Ingredients

¼ of a whole cantaloupe

1 banana

Process

Cut the banana and the cantaloupe (remove the skin and seeds) in pieces and freeze overnight.

Pulse or blend frozen banana and cantaloupe pieces until completely smooth.

Enjoy the ice cream!

Recipe – Apple Almond Flour Cookies

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Organic Apples High in Bacteria

Published in Frontiers in Microbiology, a new study shows that organic apples harbor a more diverse and balanced bacterial community, which could make them healthier and tastier than conventional apples.

“The bacteria, fungi and viruses in our food transiently colonize our gut,” says study senior author Professor Gabriele Berg, of Graz University of Technology, Austria.

The researchers compared the bacteria in conventional store-bought apples with those in visually matched fresh organic ones. Stem, peel, flesh, seeds and calyx – the straggly bit at the bottom where the flower used to be – were analyzed separately.

“Putting together the averages for each apple component, we estimate a typical 240g raw apple contains roughly 100 million bacteria,” says Berg. The majority of the bacteria are in the seeds, with the flesh accounting for most of the remainder. So, if you discard the core, your intake falls to nearer 10 million.

“Freshly harvested, organically managed apples harbor a significantly more diverse, more even and distinct bacterial community, compared to conventional ones,” explains Berg.

Specific groups of bacteria known for health-affecting potential also weighed in favor of organic apples. Lactobacilli – of probiotic fame – was found in most of the organic apple samples.

For those who can “taste the difference,” “Methylobacterium, known to enhance the biosynthesis of strawberry flavor compounds, was significantly more abundant in organic apples; here especially on peel and flesh samples, which in general had a more diverse microbiota than seeds, stem or calyx.” Together the studies show that across both bacteria and fungi, the apple microbiome is more diverse in organically grown fruits.

Excerpts from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190724090255.htm

Recipe – Apple Almond Flour Cookies 

Ingredients

1 small organic sweet or tart-sweet apple (red delicious, gala, Macintosh, Braeburn)

1 cup blanched almond flour

2 tsp. coconut sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup, optional

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1/8 tsp. fine sea salt

Process

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Scrub and cut apple into chunks; process in a food processor, scraping down sides, until pureed (mixture will look like raw apple sauce).

Place the almond flour in a medium bowl. Add the apple puree (1/2 cup only, not packed), sweetener, cardamom, extract, and salt. Stir until completely blended.

Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough in 12 mounds, spacing 2 inches apart, on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake at 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown and centers feel firm to the touch. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Recipe – Basil Pesto

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Healthy Basil

Recent research suggests that basil can help fight bacteria, viruses, and chronic diseases.

Basil, an aromatic herb belonging to the mint family, is perhaps best known as the key ingredient in pesto – that savory Italian sauce made from olive oil, garlic, crushed pine nuts [or walnuts] and loads of fresh basil leaves.

The type of basil used in Mediterranean cooking – Italian large-leaf – pairs well with tomato dishes. Other common varieties like sweet, lemon, Thai and holy basil are used judiciously in Thai, Vietnamese and Indian cuisine.

There are more than 40 cultivars of this pungent plant, each with its own characteristic color and aroma. Depending on the variety, basil can be green, white or purple with a scent reminiscent of lemon, cloves, cinnamon, anise, camphor or thyme.

But it is basil’s medicinal properties, rather than its culinary value, that extend the herb’s uses far beyond the humble pesto. Like other aromatic plants, basil contains essential oils and phytochemicals in the leaves, stem, flowers, roots and seeds that have biological activity in the body.

Throughout history, ancient cultures have used herbal remedies to prevent and treat illness and disease. Basil is just one example of the wide range of medicinal flora historically used in plant-based tinctures, compresses, syrups and ointments.

For instance, holy basil, or tulsi in Hindi, has been used as a treatment for gastric, hepatic, respiratory and inflammatory disorders as well as a remedy for headache, fever, anxiety, convulsions, nausea and hypertension.

In addition to its culinary uses, basil is also used in perfumes, soaps, shampoos and dental preparations. It is recommended in herbals for the relief of dysentery, gas pains, nausea, and as a cure for worms and warts.

www.precisionnutrition.com/healthy-basil

Recipe – Basil Pesto

Ingredients

One package of fresh basil (4 oz.), always available at Trader Joe’s or any Asian market

2 handfuls walnuts

2 small garlic cloves

Juice of one lemon

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

¾ cup olive oil

Salt

Process

Blend all ingredients in blender; add more olive oil if more liquid consistency is desired. Serve on pasta. The pesto will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It can also be used as spread on sandwiches or added to salads, or anywhere instead of mayonnaise.

Recipe – White Sauce

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1 1/2 T. Arrowroot powder

1 t. chicken style seasoning

1 c. cashew milk

1/2 t. sea salt

Put Arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) into sauce pan and gradually add milk, stirring until well blended. Cook over low heat until thickened, and add seasoning. Serve over vegetables.