A few weeks ago I watched a fascinating series called The Healing Kitchen, which shared many traditional and ancestral healing herbs and plants. It reminded me about humble little purslane, a “weed” you see everywhere and walk right by (or on.) Not long after, I was visiting a friend whose front garden bed was filled … Read more
3 Green peppers are in season, as evidenced by the 10 peppers in my farm share box plus 8 more from my garden! Usually I think of using green peppers as a sidekick, e.g., in a breakfast scramble with tomatoes, onions and chiles, in classic Chicken Cacciatore and of course in about every Mexican dish. … Read more
Whether you shop at the farmer’s market or grocery story, both zucchini and yellow squash should be plentiful, inexpensive and at their flavorful best in mid- to late-summer and early fall. In fact, they get so commonplace that they’re easy to overlook. But in the middle of winter good summer squash is hard to find, … Read more
What’s a good way to stay motivated on your healthy eating journey? Have fun. What’s a good way to have fun? Mix things up! Try something new and different! But maybe your meal making enthusiasm is flagging? Here’s a quick fix: crunchy, refreshing jicima. And here is a quick, 6-minute video that explains how to … Read more
Green and Gold Summer Vegetables A big part of Meal Making Transformation is learning how to simplify healthy meal making without sacrificing flavor. Check out the 4 techniques in this picture recipe for bumping up the flavor in of your dishes. Technique #1: Combine Seasonal Color One of the neatest things about seasonal eating is … Read more
In a previous post I shared my “recipe philosophy” for successful Meal Making Transformation. Because we need meal making to be manageable enough to do every day, we need manageable recipes, too. That’s why I’m starting this recipe with last week’s simple Green Salad with an Asian Twist so you can build on an already-familiar … Read more
Raise a hand if you’re often bored with the food that shows up on your plate. While a little boredom here and there is fairly common and not too worrisome, a steady diet of boring meals is actually dangerous. That’s because boring meals can leave us feeling “blah,” rather than satisfied, comforted and nourished after … Read more
You’ve heard that wild caught salmon is better than farm-raised, both for humans and the environment. For some people, however, wild-caught salmon can taste dry and tough because it doesn’t have the fat content of farm-raised salmon. One solution: Cooking it “en papillote,” a fancy French term for cooking “in a paper packet,” which gently … Read more
Squashes and Roots Winter is the time for hard squashes as well as root vegetables like beets, carrots, rutabagas, potatoes, celery root, turnips and parsnips. They are at their flavorful best in winter and are also more affordable. As part of my winter farm share from Monroe Organic Farm, I get lots of squash and … Read more
To my taste buds, asparagus is high royalty in the vegetable kingdom. So what fun to go on a harvesting expedition last week at my CSA farm, Monroe Organic Farm. About 20 members wandered the field, absorbed in spying the green shoots camouflaged among alfalfa and tall grasses. It was almost like a meditation as … Read more