I never ate ginger much growing up, except for in gingerbread cookies at Christmas time. Since learning about its health properties I have been experimenting with it more and more and a trip to the market grocery store is no longer complete for me without grabbing some fresh ginger from the produce section. Even just throwing a couple small pieces in a cup with hot water makes a nourishing tea that helps with digestion and is very soothing for sore tummies. This soup is very simple but it features some of the best foods for fending off and recovering from colds and flus Continue Reading →
Candied Almonds on Roasted Pears
Making a dessert healthy doesn’t mean making it completely sugar and fat free, instead using fresh and nutrient dense ingredients guarantees that your body will benefit from it. I really like to make baked pears or apples and top them with granola or candied nuts and finish it off with some full fat plain Greek yogurt (it is so thick and creamy that it looks like ice cream in the photos). Here I roasted some pears in the oven and toasted almonds on the stove with a mixture of honey, butter , spices and palm sugar (it is lower GI than most sugars and a deep brown color with lots of flavor), which come together to taste like rich caramel sauce. Continue Reading →
Pumpkin Chai Smoothie
When it is cold outside it is good to eat warm foods, but the smoothie addicts out there can use warming spices to make cold smoothies a little more seasonally appropriate. Spices can be cooling or heating, affecting how we feel on a very subtle level but affecting our digestive function more noticeably. Warming spices generally promote more efficient digestion and have a detoxifying effect. We want our digestion to move along fairly quickly, if food gets blocked up (many causes can attribute to this including too much acidity, not enough acidity, not chewing thoroughly enough and pancreas and/or liver overload) it can sit in our large intestine and start to ferment, in which case toxins can be released back into our blood stream and we can experience bloating and the socially awkward body’s warning sign of flatulence. Continue Reading →
Roasted Red Pepper Butternut Soup
Technically it isn’t fall yet but I’m up in the mountains and the temperatures in the evening are cold enough to warrant warm, creamy dishes centered around squash. Smoothies are often praised for the fact that they are easy to digest because they are already blended up, leaving less work for the digestive system- but the same goes for blended soups. Unlike many traditional comfort foods, a soup loaded with fresh vegetables and other high quality ingredients can be gentle on our bodies and full of health supporting nutrients. Continue Reading →
Asian Millet Salad
Unfortunately, carbohydrates have suffered a poor reputation in many circles over the past few decades. Yet they are very simply a requirement for human life. They are our bodies’ main source of energy, and therefore they sustain us. Continue Reading →
Curry Vegetable Stew
My friend’s dad (who is East Indian) calls me “one of those white people who should have been born Indian”. It is a culture that I find incredibly interesting, and their food is one of my favorite cuisines. I usually leave their dishes to the experts but this is easy enough for anyone to prepare. Continue Reading →
Creamy Tahini Vegetable Noodles
Nourishing ourselves well in the spring can be kind of tricky, our bodies are becoming more inclined to fresh produce but it is still too cold and damp out for large amounts of light food. This kind of dish is a balanced combination of warming, grounding food that is easy to digest, with lots of lightly cooked vegetables. Continue Reading →
Comforting Rice Pudding
Choosing brown rice over white rice makes a huge difference in the nutrients of the meal. Generally, brown rice has over twice as much iron, magnesium and B vitamins. Rice pudding can be eaten cold, the more traditional way, or warm like porridge. This version has only natural sweeteners from the fruit and palm sugar and almond milk instead of cream to make it much lighter. Continue Reading →
Ayurvedic Ice Cream
Ice cream is not normally considered a health food… unless you make it with bananas! When frozen bananas are freshly blended they have the consistency of frozen yogurt, or you can put the mixture back in the freezer and it hardens to be more like ice cream. Continue Reading →
Red Lentil Stew
This is a hearty and grounding veggie stew with lots of warming spices that aid in digestion. Red lentils cook quickly and thicken up whatever liquid they are placed in, making them ideal for soups and stews. Nutritionally, they are high in magnesium and folate as well as fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and maintain a healthy digestive system. Continue Reading →