Recipe

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.

Recipe – Berry Cobbler

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Place in a large saucepan:

1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz.)

1 1/2 lb. sliced strawberries (unsweetened, fresh or frozen)

1/2 pkg. frozen peaches, diced

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 cup date sugar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2-3 Tbsp. Agar Agar (or Cornstarch)

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick. Pour into a large baking dish, and top with Cashew and Oat Pie Crust. Bake at 350° until golden brown. For variety, blackberries, boysenberries or blueberries may be substituted.

Recipe – Millet Pudding

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Place in Blender:

3 cups cooked millet

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup honey

Then add enough soy milk or cashew milk to soften to a pudding consistency.

Pour enough Grape Nuts in a baking dish to make a one-inch layer and then add the pudding. Bake on a low heat in the oven for about thirty minutes. After baking, remove from oven and place any seasonal fruit, sliced, on top.

Recipe – Rice Croquettes

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2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup bread crumbs or Grape Nuts

3/4 cup cashew or soy milk

4 T. chopped onion

1 cup chopped nuts

1/2 t. sea salt

Combine milk, onion which has been simmered slightly in water and sea salt and pour over the bread crumbs or Grape Nuts and let stand for about 10 minutes. Then add the rice. Form into croquettes, and place on a cookie sheet or baking dish and bake about 45 minutes at 350º.

Recipe – Mulberry Pie and Cobbler

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Place in a large saucepan:

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple

2 lbs. fresh purple mulberries

½ t. salt

1 cup date sugar

1 T. lemon juice

2 T. agar powder (or cornstarch)

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Place in an unbaked pie shell with a full or lattice top and bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. May also be used as filling for a cobbler.

Recipe – Nut, Lentil and Rice Loaf

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1-2 tablespoons water

2 cups streamed brown rice

1 cup mashed lentils

2 tablespoons chopped onions

1 tablespoon whole wheat flour

Sauté onion and sage in small sauce pan with the water. Mix browned flour and milk, stirring till smooth. Add this to the onion. Add remaining ingredients. Pack in non-stick loaf pan and bake at 350° for 20–30 minutes.