This salad is build around a spicy cilantro pesto recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Lorna Sass’ Complete Vegetarian Kitchen. Thank you, Lorna, for the many tasty meals you have contributed to since I bought this book in 1999! Find her book here: http://lornasass.com/cookbooks/complete-vegetarian-kitchen It is a valuable kitchen resource for tasty and wholesome vegan meal ideas, or for a primer on how to cook beans or grains, or how to assemble an awesome salad, every time.
1 batch Cilantro Pesto (recipe below)
1 can black beans (Eden is BPA-free) or 2 cups cooked black beans (about 1 cup soaked and simmered)
1 cup raw quinoa, cooked in 2 cups water
1 large carrot, grated
1 red pepper, diced
1 stalk broccoli, cut into bite size florets/pieces and steamed
sprouts if you have some on hand
avocado if you have some on hand
whatever other veggie you are inspired to add
Cook quinoa in 2 cups of water with a bit of salt. While quinoa is cooking, chop veggies and put into salad bowl, leaving the avocado aside. Make the pesto. Remember that quinoa cooks faster than rice and take it off the heat when it is done (about 15-20 minutes)! Letting it sit with the lid on for a few minutes helps make it fluffy. Combine all ingredients (except avocado) and toss. Add avocado to individual bowls.
Serve warm for a 1-bowl week-night dinner, and pack up leftovers for a delicious – if garlicky – lunch.
“Coriander Pesto”
From Lorna Sass’ Complete Vegetarian Kitchen
Cilantro is not only delicious, and cleanse-friendly, it also supports detoxification as it nourishes.
Note from Lorna: Great served over plain boiled beans or grains, or on bean and grain salads.
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice, approximately
1 cup tightly packed minced fresh cilantro (coriander)
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts or sunflower seeds, finely chopped
1 large clove minced fresh garlic (or more to taste)
1 tsp mild chili powder
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
In a food processor or jar, combine all the ingredients.
Use immediately or store in a well-sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
This quick, simple dish is flavourful, and deeply nourishing.
If you have shied away from Shiitake mushrooms in the past, now is a chance to enjoy them. Their rich flavor provides an ideal counterpoint to the bitter freshness of Dandelions. Shiitakes are immune-enhancing and antiviral. For more about Dandelions, see http://dandelionnaturopathic.ca/weeds-as-nourishing-spring-food-dandelion-greens/ .
Ingredients
1/2 lb or so of fresh Shiitake mushrooms, sliced (can use dried – soak in just-boiled water first)
1 large bunch dandelion greens, washed and chopped (or substitute kale or collard greens)
1 large onion or 2 small onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (optional)
1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a sauté pan. Sauté onions, garlic and ginger in oil, adding water as needed, until onions are very soft. Add salt, shiitakes, with more water if needed, and let simmer at medium heat, covered, for about 8 minutes. Add dandelion greens/kale/collards and more water if needed, cover, and continue saute/simmering until greens are cooked (about 5 min).
Tahini, or sesame seed paste, is a great source of calcium, and an excellent non-dairy base for creamy dips, dressings and sauces. Two simple options are below.
Tahini-Garlic Sauce:
1/4 cup Tahini
1 clove Garlic, pressed or chopped
Sea salt to taste
Juice of 1/2 – 1 Lemon
Water
Combine all ingredients in a glass jar, adding enough water to reach your desired sauce consistency. Adjust seasonings to taste. Mix well. Pour over steamed veggies, grains, beans, salads… For a maximum calcium boost, try tahini sauce over kale & broccoli!
Variation: use tamari (~ 2 tbsp) instead of salt and lemon juice
Tahini-Miso Sauce:
1/4 cup Tahini
1/4 cup Miso (light or dark, depending on the taste you want – light is sweeter, dark is stronger)
Water
Combine tahini and miso in a jar, adding enough water to get your desired consistency. Adjust ratio of ingredients to taste. Use less water to make a great dip for raw veggies, or thin to make a sauce for cooked greens, grains, broiled fish, etc.
Soak 1/2 cup of lentils over night or for 8 hours.
Drain, secure mesh over top of jar, and invert on counter.
Rinse sprouts twice a day.
Harvest in 3-4 days, when sprouts are at desired length.
Day-of ingredients:
1 (organic) red pepper, chopped or diced
2 stalks of (organic) celery, diced
1 large or 2 small carrots, grated
1/4 cup dulse (seaweed) torn or cut into small pieces
juice of 1 lemon
Bragg’s liquid aminos*
Place all solid ingredients along with lentil sprouts in a serving bowl. Add lemon juice, and Bragg’s liquid aminos to taste. Add good olive oil if you like. Toss, enjoy. This salad gets better as it marinates, so don’t worry about dressing before taking to a party to impress your friends. Dress it, take it. They will be impressed!
* If sensitive to soy , subsitute sea salt for the Bragg’s
~ Vary the veggies as the contents of your crisper drawer dictate. Share your favorite combination with us!
Committed to eating locally but also to eating green veggies daily? Not sure which value to prioritize from November to May? Not wanting to spend so much of your grocery budget on imported, tired greens? Sprouting is a beautiful way around these dilemmas, and is so satisfying. Kids will love to participate in this sort of project, too. Watching their sandwich topping grow before their eyes is a great way to engage kids in learning where food comes from, and how plants grow from seeds.
Nutrient Facts
As a seed sprouts, it releases all the nutrients a seed needs to grow into a mature plant (eg brocolli, or alfalfa, or red clover). Enzymes produced by the sprouting seed make these nutrients super available, and thus super digestible for us. Nutrients include vitamins and minerals, along with highly specific nutraceutical compounds. For little ones who might not let a huge variety of veggies into their bodies in a day, and for grown-ups looking for a concentrated nutrient boost, sprouts make sense!
This herbal formula is a great harmonizer, helping to balance the body and mind in times of stress, especially during the change of seasons. It enhances the immune system and increases the body’s own adaptive energies. Thus, it is also excellent for those involved in active sports.
Traditionally, there is no separation between food and herbs in Chinese medicine. This herbal tonic was often prepared as a nourishing chicken soup using an old hen.
You may prepare the herbs as a well-simmered tea, or use the recipe below as a guide to make a soup that you will enjoy, adding seasonal vegetables and spices as desired. Find a version that you love? Curried? Harvest-style? Contact the clinic to share your recipe! Continue reading →
Black beans are a staple in my summer kitchen. Rich in nutrients from folic acid (256 mcg per cup) to calcium (46 mg per cup), black beans are a good source of plant protein (15 g per cup) and a very high source of fibre at (15 g per cup). Use this recipe as a guide, and add in whatever you have on hand. Bean salads like this one are great on nights when it is too hot to turn on the stove, and perfect as a light summer lunch. Serve with crackers and green salad if desired.
Like Forsythias in their opera of yellow, and magnolias in their pink or white blossom-song, fiddlehead season is short, sometimes only 2 weeks. Fiddleheads are wild, their joy fleeting, their origin and taste unique. The fiddlehead is the new growth of an ancient plant family, the ferns. While there are many species of ferns, the fiddleheads available in Ontario markets in late April or early May are usually those of the Ostrich Fern. Interestingly, fiddleheads resist cultivation (they prefer swampy edges of woods), and are one of the few commercially available wild-crafted foods. Fiddleheads taste like…themselves. Some people compare their flavor to a combination of asparagus, green beans and okra. They are great on their own, in pasta salad, in frittata, lightly pickled, with other delicious seasonal veggies. The joy of eating fiddleheads, though, goes beyond their fresh green flavor and nutrient density: There is also the satisfaction we get from being in alignment with what is local and in season – an intellectual satisfaction born of making an ethical, politically-correct food choices, but also a purely physical one, as we nourish our bodies with truly spring food. Increase veggie variety in your diet, join the local seasonal bandwagon, support internal detoxification: try fiddleheads this year! Below is a recipe to get you started. Continue reading →
Beets have always appealed to my aesthetic sense, with their rich colour, and the beautiful rings that show when you slice them the right way. One of the few vegetables available locally, year round, beets are affordable, nourishing, and easy to prepare. Furthermore, they are a traditional blood building and liver cleansing food. March heralds spring, the season for liver support and cleansing. What better time to get reacquainted with beets?
The pigment that gives purple beets their gorgeous colour, betacyanin, is an antioxidant known to have powerful cancer-fighting properties. In the research, it is particularly effective against colon cancer. Beets are known as a “liver food” due to their betaine content. Betaine, or trimethylglycine, specifically supports phase II liver detoxification. It is also anti-inflammatory. Beyond their fibre content, beets contain folic acid (136 mcg per cup, boiled). While folic acid’s importance for preventing neural tube defects in utero is well known, the nutrient is essential for healthy cell division in general, making a diet rich in folic acid important for cancer and dysplasia-prevention. As well, beets have been researched for their ability to help normalize elevated blood pressure, increase HDL (good cholesterol), and decrease triglycerides. Who could have guessed? For cardiovascular health, liver health, detoxification, and fertility, go, beets!
NB: If your urine or stool is red after consuming beets, don’t be alarmed! It is simply the beet pigments. You may actually use this to assess your bowel transit time and kidney function: how long until you see red?
cookbooks, Lorna Sass’ Complete Vegetarian Kitchen. Thank you, Lorna, for the many tasty meals you have contributed to since I bought this book in 1999! Find her book here: http://lornasass.com/cookbooks/complete-vegetarian-kitchen It is a valuable kitchen resource for tasty and wholesome vegan meal ideas, or for a primer on how to cook beans or grains, or how to assemble an awesome salad, every time.
veggies and put into salad bowl, leaving the avocado aside. Make the pesto. Remember that quinoa cooks faster than rice and take it off the heat when it is done (about 15-20 minutes)! Letting it sit with the lid on for a few minutes helps make it fluffy. Combine all ingredients (except avocado) and toss. Add avocado to individual bowls.
Mahalia Freed, ND