Edible flowers can be a really beautiful addition to a green salad. It is best to get them from a farmer’s market, produce stand or health food store when they are grown specifically to be consumed by humans. Like with mushrooms, flower foraging can end up dangerously if you do not know which ones are safe to eat (don’t worry Mom I bought these at the market). A general rule of thumb is that the flowers from herbs are a good place to start. Continue Reading →
Nourishing Buddha Bowl
This is a blue print of a well-rounded plant based meal that can give full nutritional support to vegans and vegetarians as well as major benefits to omnivores, especially those that do not regularly have vegetarian meals. Making big batches of millet (or brown rice or quinoa) and having cans of beans or lentils on hand can make this easy to throw together over a few consecutive days with some fresh vegetables. Continue Reading →
Rainbow Fruit Salad with Hazelnut Yogurt
This is something that I like to have available as much as possible, in some variation. My brothers are uncharacteristically more inclined to go more for fruit than chips when such an easy option with no work required is available. Basically any fruit works together but melon does tend to be digested faster so it is more ideal to eat it on its own. Continue Reading →
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Popsicles
Frozen bananas have become a pretty well known (in healthy food circles) ice cream substitute, known as “nice cream” but they are also a great base for popsicles. From there the coating can be any kind of chocolate and the final topping can be any kind of nuts or seeds (although my brother is watching me type this and he says that seeds are only appealing to squirrels [he’s wrong]). Dark chocolate is ideal nutritionally because it has a higher concentration of cacao and usually less sugar. Continue Reading →
Pesto Smashed Potatoes
Potatoes are a particularly great source of potassium, I’m not sure if their names start the same way for that reason or if it is just a coincidence. Potassium is an electrolyte and it is crucial for maintaining hydration and a proper pH, or acid alkaline balance in the blood and other tissues. It is also integral for nervous and cardiovascular systems, and increasing it can be potentially as effective as lowering sodium for people with high blood pressure. Continue Reading →
Cherry Chocolate Almond Energy Balls
Energy balls are kind of like baby granola bars that don’t need to be baked at all. They are really nutrient and energy dense, making for a great snack during or after any kind of physical activity or for an afternoon slump. Even my picky dad approved of them as a cookie substitute so they work for that too. Continue Reading →
Marie’s Maple Parfait
My mom’s friend Marie is one of the best cooks I know, her food is always full of love and so creatively prepared. She makes this for us in the summer, a simple dessert from her Québécois background, with blueberries over vanilla yogurt drizzled with maple syrup. It is unbelievably good! I like to eat it on its own for snacks too so I add in some nuts and seeds to make it extra filling and increase the protein and fat content to balance out the sugar, keeping blood sugar levels from spiking too much. Continue Reading →
Chocolate Hemp Milkshake
This has the healthy ingredients of a smoothie but the thick creaminess of a chocolate milkshake. Hemp is a pretty amazing plant, every part of which can be used and transformed into textiles, soap, paper, plastic, paint and more. The seeds are anti-inflammatory nutritional powerhouses rich in magnesium, protein and essential healthy fats. Continue Reading →
Subtly Spiced Nut Clusters
Most portable and quick snacks are quite sweet, with lots of stabilizers, preservatives and refined sugars so I like to make something like this when I am really busy or going on a road trip or long flight. They have lots of healthy fat, protein and fiber to fill you up between meals and they will not lead to any sugar crashes. Baking nuts and seeds into clusters with egg whites as a binder makes them a little easier to eat with your hands because there are no little pieces to fish out of a bag- much more convenient when on the go. Continue Reading →
Super Green Smoothie
The first time I had a fresh green smoothie I could not believe how energized and alive I felt. Over the past few years and lots of kitchen fails I have learned some tricks to making them totally edible and even delicious. The first trick is to blend the greens with the liquid before putting all the other ingredients in, unless you have a Vitamix, putting everything in at once can make an end product with chunks of green leaves… gross. Continue Reading →