This is a fresh but hearty warm and comforting dish hailing from North Africa, perfect for a chilly morning. Tomatoes form the base of this meal; though containing many vitamins and antioxidants, they are most highly regarded nutritionally for their lycopene. It is a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant best absorbed when cooked and combined with good quality fat like olive oil. Continue Reading →
Cacao Nutty Bear Droppings
These are rather unattractive… but that is advantageous because they probably will not disappear too quickly if you live with other people. Their look definitely does not betray how tasty they are. You can use basically any nuts, seeds or dried fruit, although this time I just used dates so that the cacao would have center stage. Continue Reading →
Coconut Lime Mini Flax Tarts
I like mini dessert items, mostly because they are more adorable, but also because just a few bites of something sweet and creamy is usually enough, and mini sizes offer built in portion control. Flax seeds are pretty amazing nutritionally because they have both soluble and insoluble fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and many antioxidants, but they must be ground up because our digestive systems cannot extract all these nutrients from whole flax seeds. Continue Reading →
Parfait with Orange Apricot Granola
Granola meets the Middle East through the main ingredients here with cinnamon (a natural food preserver and effective blood sugar stabilizer), tahini (a sesame paste with good levels of copper, manganese and the desirable fatty acid omega-3) and dried apricots (little powerhouses of iron, vitamins a and c and fiber). Parfaits are a really good way to use up little bits of whatever ingredients you have laying around to make a nice looking dish. Continue Reading →
Strawberry Pecan Salad
This is one of my most beloved summer meals. I recommend getting fresh greens, ideally from a local farm or market because the leaves are so tender and soft when they are just picked. The maple and balsamic in the dressing really accentuate the sweetness of the strawberries and the buttery pecans add a grounding earthy flavor. Continue Reading →
Garlicky Fried Rice
My favorite Chinese food take-out item has always been and probably always will be fried rice. It is so simple but so satisfying. You can basically add any meat or vegetables to it but I kept it basic this time. The number one trick in making this is to use rice that has been cooled completely and refrigerated, using freshly cooked rice changes the texture completely because it is lighter, stickier and fluffier. Continue Reading →
Cacao Mountain Granola Bars
Sometimes I just want to put chocolate on everything. These bars contain four different chocolatey elements, without imposters like white chocolate or diluted milk chocolate (no offense to them). There is raw cacao, roasted cacao, cacao nibs and raw carob. Dark chocolate has been making its way onto several healthy food lists because of the antioxidants and nutrients naturally present in cacao like magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc. Continue Reading →
Crispy Prawns with Citrus Poppyseed Cucumber Salad
It’s an exciting day, I had my first round of ripe cherry tomatoes from the garden! There weren’t many yet but they make a good addition to this cucumber salad which is very refreshing and nicely balances out the crispy prawns. Which, by the way are sooo good, they kind of taste like popcorn shrimp, except that they are much healthier than the original which usually calls for larger quantities of nutrient devoid refined oil and a thick white flour based coating. Continue Reading →
Eggplant Bruschetta with Deconstructed Guinness Cottage Pie
One of my brothers has been complaining that the food I have been making lately is not up to his standards. He likes his food to be beige, maybe with a bit of brown, simple and hearty. I made this with him in mind and he said I redeemed myself. It has the same basic flavors as cottage pie, which is shepherd’s pie with beef instead of lamb, but it is easier to throw together. The bruschetta is a lighter take on the classic, with the added vitamins A, B, and C and calcium and magnesium that eggplant offers. Continue Reading →
Ayurvedic Khichari
Ayurveda is translated as the science of life and originated in India several thousand years ago, making it the oldest form of healthcare we know of. Ayurvedic medicine takes a very holistic view and classifies people, body and mind, according to the three doshas (or energies). The patient is prescribed different foods and spices customized according to their dosha constitution. The idea is to heal any imbalances and cure or prevent ailments that people are particularly susceptible to. Continue Reading →