Recipe

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.

Recipe – Millet Supreme

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Place in Mini-Crock Pot:

1 cup millet

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups water

Let cook overnight. In the morning stir well and add:

½ cup chopped nuts

½ cup date rolls or pieces.

Stir well and cook another thirty minutes. Serve as a delicious and nutritious breakfast cereal. Left over may be molded, sliced and baked. Delicious, topped with Fruit Sauce.

Recipe – Cream of Asparagus Soup

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Spring Spears

After months of cold temperatures asparagus starts the spring season at the top of the list as a delectable fresh green vegetable delicacy. Asparagus shoots are one of the most sought-after vegetables during the spring season.

Asparagus was first grown in Greece nearly 2,500 years ago. The name asparagus comes from the Greek asparagos, meaning shoot or sprout. A distant cousin of the onion, the distinguished asparagus is also a member of the lily family.

Asparagus spears can be green, white or purple. Sweet white asparagus, a favorite of Germans, is green asparagus but is grown underground, without access to sunlight which prevents photosynthesis, thus inhibiting production of chlorophyll. Purple asparagus changes to green with prolonged cooking.

During medieval times, raw asparagus tips were crushed and used to treat swelling and pain due to stings, wounds, and infections.

“One of the primary asparagus benefits is that it is an excellent source of glutathione, the ‘superhero of antioxidants,’ a deficiency of which is associated with increased heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer risk.

“Asparagus contains a significant amount of saponins. These naturally occurring plant glycosides have been shown to inhibit liver, gastric, and colon cancers as well as leukemia. Saponins are known to help regulate blood pressure as well.

“A 2006 study in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, found that saponins extracted from asparagus not only slowed the growth of cancer cells but actually induced death of cancer cells.” www.memory-improvement-tips.com/asparagus-benefits.html

Recipe – Cream of Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, divided

1 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds fresh asparagus spears, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces (reserve 8 spears)

4-6 cups vegetable broth

1 cup russet potato, diced

½ cup raw cashews

1 ½ Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

salt, to taste

coconut milk or other non-dairy milk, for serving

fresh chives, for serving

Process

Sauté onion in 1 Tbsp. oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and all but 8 asparagus spears. Sauté until asparagus begins to soften (another 5 minutes).

Stir in 4 cups of broth, potato, and cashews.

Bring liquid to a boil. Lower heat; simmer for about 20 minutes until potato and asparagus are soft.

Transfer mixture to food processor in batches; blend until smooth.

Return mixture to pot. Thin with up to 2 cups of additional broth, if desired. Stir in lemon juice and nutritional yeast; season with salt. Reheat.

Coat bottom of skillet with remaining tsp. oil; add reserved asparagus spears and cook just until bright green and tender-crisp.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with non-dairy milk, sprinkle with chives; arrange asparagus spears on top. Serve!

Food For Life – Common Sense in Dietetic Reform

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“There is real common sense in dietetic reform. The subject should be studied broadly and deeply, and no one should criticize others because their practice is not, in all things, in harmony with his own. It is impossible to make an unvarying rule to regulate everyone’s habits, and no one should think himself a criterion for all. Not all can eat the same things. Foods that are palatable and wholesome to one person may be distasteful, and even harmful, to another. Some cannot use milk, while others thrive on it.* Some persons cannot digest peas and beans; others find them wholesome. For some the coarser grain preparations are good food, while others cannot use them….

“The practice of eating but two meals a day is generally found a benefit to health; yet under some circumstances persons may require a third meal. This should, however, if taken at all, be very light, and of food most easily digested. `Crackers’-the English biscuit-or zwieback, and fruit, or cereal coffee, are the foods best suited for the evening meal.

“Some are continually anxious lest their food, however simple and healthful, may hurt them. To these let me say, Do not think that your food will injure you; do not think about it at all. Eat according to your best judgment; and when you have asked the Lord to bless the food for the strengthening of your body, believe that He hears your prayer, and be at rest.

“Because principle requires us to discard those things that irritate the stomach and impair health, we should remember that an impoverished diet produces poverty of the blood. Cases of disease most difficult to cure result from this cause. The system is not sufficiently nourished, and dyspepsia and general debility are the result. Those who use such a diet are not always compelled by poverty to do so, but they choose it through ignorance or negligence, or to carry out their erroneous ideas of reform.” The Ministry of Healing, 319-322.

Recipe – Millet-Oat Cookies

Place in Blender:
1 cup water
1/3 cup pineapple concentrate
½ cup date rolls or pieces
2 apples peeled and cored
1 t. sea salt
2 t. vanilla

Blend thoroughly then add:
1 cup walnuts or pecans

Blend again and then add:
1 ½ cup millet flour
1 ½ cup oat flour
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 t. coriander powder

Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet and flatten with fork. Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes

*Further statements about dairy foods: “We know that a free use of these things [salt, sugar and milk] is positively injurious to health, and in many cases we think that if they were not used at all, a much better state of health would be enjoyed.” Counsels on Diet and Food, 468. “Let the people be taught how to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will soon come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men. The time is near when, because of the iniquity of the fallen race, the whole animal creation will groan under the diseases that curse our earth. God will give His people ability and tact to prepare wholesome food without these things. Let our people discard all unwholesome recipes.” Ibid., 356.