Who Knew? Roasted Roots & Cranberries

Who knew roasted root veggies and cranberries just kind of ROCK together?  Like peanut butter to jelly and macaroni to cheese, roasted cranberries and root veggies have that same special 'je ne sais quoi'.  Next time you're roasting a pan of root veggies toss in a handful of fresh whole cranberries.  Once roasted and slightly carmelized these astringent little antioxidant rich cranners get all sweet-tart like, dance on your palette, and combined with the earthy sweetness of your favorite roots they just might make your toes curl.  Oh my.  It'll only take you a few minutes to chop your veggies, 25 minutes to cook, and there you have it... You're a chef, dahhhhling, a chef i say!

Roasted Roots and Cranberries:

*chop butternut squash, carrots, and parsnips into equal sized cubes or sticks. 
*add a few handfuls of fresh whole cranberries
*mist with EVOO or combine with 2 tsps of melted ghee,
sea salt, and lots of coarse black or rainbow pepper grinds
*put into an oven at 400 degrees.  Give it 25 minutes, let them cool.


EVEN BETTER...

saute a huge pile of kale in a large non stick pan misted with EVOO.  add sea salt
cover and stir occasionally over medium heat until wilted well and cooked.

SERVE kale, roasted roots, cranberries, and optionally the mustard sauce below into big bowls.  Eat your feast of natures bounty.  Savor and witness as your toes curl.


Mustard sauce

*a spoonful (about 1 1/2 Tbsp) of dijon mustard
*about a tsp of balsamic vinegar
*a little water to thin
*a few drops of liquid stevia to your liking (or honey)

Roasted Cauliflower

recipe and image from Whole Living

Let's face it, cauliflower is like the ugly step child of vegetables.  If it were in gym class it would be last picked for the team.  Cauliflower would have to sit on the back of the bus, and would have no one to push him on the swing.  For years it's gotten shoved aside on veggie platters and mashed up with potatoes to hide the flavor, while we've cuddled and savored it's more colorful and flavorful veggie playmates.  It's unfortunate too, as cauliflower has a WEALTH of healthy benefits, AND prepared right it actually is really, really good!

One cup of cauliflower will provide you 85% of your Recommended Daily Intake of Vitamin C....did you hear that?  85%!! Yet have you ever heard anyone suggest you eat cauliflower when you are sick?  Plus as an excellent source of Vitamin K and Omega 3's (yes, you heard that right, cauliflower contains omega 3's!), cauliflower provides us with one of the hallmark anti-inflammatory nutrients.  What more?  It's low in calories and high in fiber.  Who doesn't love that?

You can click on the link below the photo above for Whole Living's basic roasted cauliflower recipe.  I've made this many times, always using different spices.  Last night was the best batch i've ever made.

Here's the recipe:

One head of cauliflower, chopped
Olive Oil Spray
onion powder
garlic powder
celery salt
black pepper
sea salt
liquid stevia

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lay the cauliflower on a parchment lined pan.  Mist lightly with olive oil.  Squirt a few drops of liquid stevia into your palm and gently toss cauliflower.  Shake the seasonings listed above over cauliflower, lightly toss, and roast for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.

These are great as a side dish, but i love making it as a healthy snack!

Mango Salsa and Beaming Day 4

mango salsa recipe below

I'm back to feeling AMAZING!  For those of you who are just tuning in this week i've been on a cleansing journey with Beaming Cleanse.  I did end up eating 1/2 an avocado last night (so a whole avo total yesterday) which resulted in no weight reduction from wed morn to thurs morning, but I was not hungry upon waking, have incredible energy now, and have already lost almost 4 lbs!!!  The drinks today are awesome.  The green juices have a little more spice, there is a fortified nut milk in place of my superfood smoothie, and the soup today is ROCKING!

The two main differences today are:

Radiant Nut Milk instead of Superfood Smoothie:  Homemade almond milk with alkaline water, coconut butter (healthy and uber YUMMY fats), almond butter, lecithin (as an emulsifier and lowers cholesterol), probiotics, and maca (i added cinnamon to mine)

Carrot Curry Soup:  HOLLAH!  This is the bees knees.  Carrots juiced with curry, lime, ginger, garlic, basil, mint, avocado and raw cashews

The salad tonight was greens and sprout salad, corn, cucumber, red pepper, and cashew based dressing (asian inspired...i can taste the sesame.)  YUM.

One more day to go.  While i'm looking forward to inviting more solid foods into my diet on Saturday, i'll continue to start the first half of my day with smoothies and juices and indulge on salads based with kale and cabbage.  I love that this cleanse has helped me hit my reset button, regain positive habits, and put me back on track.

Already planning one of my first post cleanse foods....ohhh it'll be sooo good.

Last week before the cleanse kicked off i made one of my fave summertime recipes, mango salsa.  This recipe is inspired by Matt Amsden's recipe in the book Rawvolution; one of the first raw cookbooks i bought and still one of my favorites.

2 mangos chopped
1 bell pepper chopped or diced
any chopped onion you like (red or green) to taste
LOTS of cilantro
1 Tbsp of stone ground mustard
1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1/2 a large jalapeno pepper diced (de-seed only if you want it less spicy)
a couple smacks of cayenne pepper to taste

IF you want to keep it cleanse approved leave the mustard out and instead add a chopped garlic clove and a squeeze of lime.

Mix it all together and serve with either tortilla chips, crudites (i love using button mushrooms), or use it as a chutney with fish, chicken, or tofu steak. It's great mixed into salads too!

Clean, Green, and Lean: Roasted Okra

I love okra.  It's a vegetable that took me a long time to try because my Mom never made it and i never knew what to do with it.  Last year i really got into it and i'm so excited that it's in season again now.  Not only is it packed with vitamin C but half a cup is only going to cost you about 30 calories!  Plus it's got a high profile of antioxidants. 

roasted okra, recipe below

 We've been growing okra at home, but my plant isn't quite mature yet.  Luckily it's abundant at the farmers market now.  Check out our okra plant...it has a beautiful yellow bloom and you can see all my little okra pods starting to grow (look at the sprouts above the flower).

Roasted Okra:

Heat the oven to 400
Make sure your okra is dry (so perhaps wash it earlier and let them air dry)
No need to trim - leave it whole with the stem/tip
Mist your okra with olive oil
Season with sea salt
Put in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until they are starting to wilt and char.  Shake the pan every now and again.

Allow them to cool for a few minutes before attempting to devour!  Hold the stem end and gobble up the tasty pod.

*when selecting okra, pick the pods that are about 2 1/2 - 3 inches in length.  The very large pods can get woody.



first image from google

Grilled Greens? OH YEAH, BABY!

Who'da'thunk you could grill your greens?  We all know you can grill a zucchini, a mushroom, even a tomato.  I guess it makes sense since the Food Network demonstrated that you can grill a pizza...so why not a salad???  I know it sounds bazaar.  A few months back we received an issue of Sunset magazine that highlighted 3 recipes of grilled greens (kale, bok choy, and romaine hearts).  I had never really thought about grilling greens before that, but who am i to not to believe Sunset magazine?  Their recipes have always been a hit at my house.  That night the grill was lit, kale was clipped from the garden, and since there hasn't been a week that we haven't made this AWESOME dish.  If you are like some folks i know whose grandparents forced soggy greens on them and therefore protest eating them now, then this is the recipe to try.  The smokiness and cripsiness the grill gives the kale is INSANE, plus, if you love kale chips you are going to LUUUUURRRRRVVVVEEEE this recipe!  Start with a few bunches of kale since it shrinks up beyond belief when you cook it.  You need about one bunch of kale per person - what a great way to get your fill of green stuff!

Grilled Kale:

Step One:  De-stem the kale.  You can do this by holding the base of the kale stem and pinching your opposite hand at the bottom of the leaf.  Pull away from you to remove the leaf.  Tear the leaves into smaller 1 or 2 inch pieces.  Get rid of the stem, you don't need it for this recipe.

Step Two:  Clean your greens.  Toss into a bowl of water with sea salt to soak/clean/remove hitch-hikers (aka..BUGS!)  Pull the greens from the bowl, rinse, and salad spin to dry

Step Three:  Massage your greens.  Place in a large bowl and add about 1 TBSP of olive oil.  Massage this into all of the leaves so they are coated.  

Step Four:  Grill your greens.  Transfer to a hot grill (using a veggie basket)...you'll mostly likely need to cook in batches.  We cook it on the top shelf, cover and let cook about 5 minutes, checking it to make sure you haven't burned your greens.  Use tongs to push them around and rotate them. 

Step Five:  EAT YOUR GREENS!  Pull off when all are cooked and lightly crispy brown on some of the ends.

While this is delicious on it's own, it's EVEN BETTER with a little dressing.  Here's the BOMB GRILLED KALE DRESSING:

2 Tbsp Tamari
2 Tbsp Tahini
1Tsp of honey (to taste)

Drizzle Bomb Dressing over your greens, top with toasted sesame seeds, and eat up.  HOLY GREEN DELICIOUSNESS!

i suggest you cook more than you think you'll need since you'll gobble up the whole lot guiltlessly and then want more!

For The Fast Foodie: Oven Roasted Frenchy Fries

Sometimes you just gotta have a fry.

Who doesn't love french fries?  They're rich, creamy, salty, and delicious.  If they weren't so darn fattening i would eat french fries all the time!  Here's my double take on the YUMMIEST, CRISPY EDGED, CREAMY CENTERED, frenchy fries that keep you fit as a fiddle and won't cause you to have to run an extra mile the next day. 

SOOO YUMMY!!!

 Frenchy Fingerlings:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Scrub 1 lb of fingerling potatoes (leave the skin on)
Cut finglerings in half long way down the center.  If some of the halves are very large slice those in half as well.
Place on a greased baking sheet (mist with EVOO) and drizzle with about 2 TBSP of olive oil.
Mix with hands to coat well.  Add coarse sea salt, cracked black pepper, and fresh rosemary
Roast at 400 degrees about 20-25 minutes (or until nearly done), taking the pan out once or twice to shake or flip potatoes.
Once they are cooked through turn your oven to broil for 5 minutes to crisp.  Watch them during this process to make sure they do not burn, you may need to take the pan out and shake or flip the potatoes.

That's it.  serve them with organic ketchup for an authentic frency fry feel.

These puppies are AWESOME!!!  And will surely fix any fast food french fry craving only without the guilt or saturated fats.

And last but not least, what would my blog be these days without a shameless plug for my jewelry line?  Check out the newest Jane Jewels at meredithgnau.etsy.com.

turquoise and silver necklace and earrings

Gobble This: Acorn Squash & A Grateful Thanksgiving

So here it is the day before thanksgiving and i haven't planned what i'm making.  hrrrmmmm....  Let's figure this out together.

This year is all about EASE.  We have some friends coming over for dinner, but it's all very informal.  A casual day/evening of hanging out, eating, drinking, socializing, and enjoying the wonderful friends and company that we keep.  I just hit the market (a complete zoo and parking lot hell-zone) and still need to pick up a couple of harder to find essentials.

So what's on the menu?

Boyfriend is taking care of the bird (so not my thing), and he's picked up Trader Joes gravy and stuffing, and beer for the boys.  He also picked up some brussel sprouts which he's recruited me to roast.  Simple enough task.

I have one friend bringing dessert and one bringing a salad and a rutabaga dish.

I made sure we had ample vino for the wino-friends i keep (God love'em).  I know i'm making a tagine of carrot, butternut squash, and yam (all from my csa this week) with prune, gold raisins, onion, and warm spices.  The chopping will take some time, but the tagine cooks slow without much attendance or effort on my part.  The outcome is always worth the chopping time!  I'll also whip out some cranberry sauce tonight, no sweat...and i don't have to think of it tomorrow.  Oh yea, and the persimmons....what to do with the insane amount of these i have.  I tell you, from the csa, i have persimmons out the hoo-ha.  Perhaps i'll make the persimmon salad i blogged about on halloween, as well as a little persimmon in a second dinner salad if we need.  My favorite salad right now is a 6 oz bag of spinach, some thinly sliced red onion, 1 persimmon sliced and chopped, 1/3 - 1/2 an avocado, a dash of seasoned rice vinegar, a squeeze of lemon, and a few solid cranks of sea salt...you have to mush it all together in a bowl with your hands so the juices from the persimmon and the avocado squish into the salad...it's sooo good).

My final act will be acorn squash.  It's so simple to prepare and so delicous with warm holiday spices.  That's the effortless recipe i'm sharing with you today. 

I hope your Thanksgiving is full of warmth, love, smiles, hugs, and lots and lots of healthy delicous foods.....and maybe a spirit and/or dessert.  Tis the season, right?!

Half Moon Squash:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Clean the outside of the squash well with a scrubby brush.  The often pushed aside skin is edible.
Slice your acorn squash in 1/2 and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh in the inner circle.
Place halves flesh side down onto a cutting board and cut into slices (half moons) about 3/4 inch thick
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Place half moons on parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle lightly with EVOO
Gently rub the EVOO into the half moons to coat all sides
sprinkle with cinnamon and garam masala
Roast in the oven at 400 until soft, about 45 minutes.



*acorn squash images sourced from google images, but the last one looks exactly like this dish does!

Absolutely Smashing Dahhh'ling!: Fall Harvest Carrot Smash

One of my first entry's ever on this blog was "Mama Make' Again" Carrot Mash.  This dish is so simple, delicious, warming and comforting, and very reminiscent of mashed squash you might be served at Thanksgiving.  I've lightly adjusted the recipe adding in a few fall warming spices, but feel free to play with the original recipe posted, or any other spice mixtures you might like (perhaps chili powder, honey, and ghee).  Make as much or as little as you like, but the amount below is enough to feed four as a side dish.

Fall Harvest Carrot Smash

2 lbs of organic carrots, scrubbed or peeled and trimmed
**(regular sized bagged carrots, farmers market carrots, or the mini bagged cocktail carrots.)
1 - 2 Tbsp local honey
garam masala spice, scant amount
cinnamon, scant amount

Steam the carrots until they pierce easily with a form.  Transfer to a food processor.  Add in one small dash of cinnamon, 1-2 tbsp of honey, and a few small dashes of garam masala.  Go easy on the spice, you can always add more, but you can't pull it back out! Process down into a creamy-ish mash, and serve.



**image from google images

Still Scared Of Seaweed? Dive Into This: Easy Nori Rice

Back in September i talked about some of the great health benefits of Sea Vegetables. Many of you still haven't taken the plunge and incorporated these amazing super foods into your diet. Seaweed acts as a giant sponge, absorbing a wealth of minerals from the sea. If you read my earlier post you learned that it also absorbs heavy metals from the water...but here's the clincher. Sea Vegetables Chelate (pronouned Key-Late) heavy metals. This means it absorbs them, but helps to carry them away. So while seaweed absorbs heavy metals from the water, research has shown that it does not release the heavy metals in the body, but rather continues to chelate toxic heavy metals out (the ones we have stored). Everyday we breathe in heavy metals from our environment, we drink them in our water and absorb it through our skin when we bathe, we also unknowingly eat heavy metals while dining on fish. Eating seaweed is one healthy way to help to get these toxic metals out of the body. Seaweed also contains a good deal of iodine, a nutrient that used to be supplied to us through our diet/vegetable consumption, however over time our soil has become iodine deplete, therefore rendering our food deficient. Iodine is a necessary nutrient for the thyroid gland and VERY important to help strengthen a low thyroid (hypo-thyroidism). Here's an easy way to incorporate sea vegetables into your diet, using nori sheets (the same sheets we wrap sushi in).

Easy Nori Rice:

1 piece of nori
2 cups of cooked brown rice
1 - 1 & 1 /2 tbsp of soy sauce or nama shoyu
1/2 - 1 tsp of agave nectar

Cook your brown rice, following package directions. Using a pair of scissors, fold up and cut your nori into small squares. Add the soy sauce/nama shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce) and the agave to the rice, mix well, then add the nori flakes, stir again, and serve. This makes two servings of nori rice. Add additional seasoning (soy sauce/agave) to suit your palette.

Keeping Holiday Sides Healthy: Cranberried Brussel Sprouts

As a kid i would cringe at the thought of a bitter brussel sprout that wasn't slathered in vivid orange colored sweet and salty melted cheese, but as an adult brussel sprouts have made their way to the top of my veggie preference list. Considered a cruciferous vegetable, brussel sprouts are basically a small cabbage. Soaring in Vitamin K, Vitamin C, high in Vitamin A, folate, calcium, and potassium, brussel sprouts have about 3-5 grams of fiber per cup and are packed with phytonutrients that work to combat cancer cells. These precious sprouts are best eaten from autumn to early spring, so get your fill of antioxidant rich sprouts while their flavor is at its peak! My favorite (and easy) way to eat them is to steam them and finish with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic, and sea salt, however here's a beautiful healthy holiday alternative adding the brightness of dried cranberries.

Cranberried Brussel Sprouts:

This recipe makes about two servings...double or triple the recipe if you have more guests.

1 lb brussel sprouts, rinsed, bottoms trimmed, and sliced in half top to bottom (if they are extra large you may want to cut into 1/3rds or quarter them)
1 small shallot finely chopped (1 tbsp)
1 small clove garlic chopped (1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup plus about 3 tbsp veggie stock (low sodium)
1/4 cup crushed walnut pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional, will darken the end result but makes a nice flavor)
coarse sea salt and pepper

Start by rinsing the brussel sprouts, trimming the bottom nub, then slicing them from top to bottom. Set aside. Chop your shallot and garlic. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over low to medium heat. Place the shallot and garlic in the olive oil and add 1 tbsp veggie stock. Cook for a couple minutes making sure the garlic does not burn (it will become bitter if it does). Add to this the brussel sprouts and the crushed walnuts, stirring well. Toast these for a couple minutes stirring often (the brussel sprouts will become a vibrant green). Add to this 1 cup of veggie stock and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Cover and cook over medium to high heat. Check after a couple of minutes (3-5min), most of the stock should be evaporated. Check for doneness. If not done and liquid has evaporated, add a tbsp more of veggie stock, stir and cover. Check again in another minute, if still not done, again add a little veggie stock cover and cook. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic (or omit if you'd like to keep the color vibrant), and a few good cranks of a coarse sea salt and black pepper. Plate and serve.

Oh Gala, You Give Good Sauce: Updatin' & Recreatin' Grammy's Appy Sauce

Okay...so it's not Gram's recipe, but it's sooo good you would think someone's grammy made it. The best part of all is NO cooking...it's absolute instant gratification! How better to curb your sweet tooth than with a beautiful ripe and delicous gift from nature?... a shiny apple!

So i used Gala for this recipe, cuz it's what i had on hand in the kitch - however, gala season really ended in September, so you might look for a variety still in season, such as Jonathan, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Suncrisp, or Fuji (which are in season til November/December). Because of the abundance of apple trees planted everywhere we are able to get apples year round, but it's still always best to pick what's in season. That way you are getting the freshest, ripest, most nutrient dense produce available.

Since we peel the apples in this recipe, if you're feeling snacky I would recommend eating the peel as you prepare your appy sauce. The peel is where most of the insoluble fiber is located, and it also has about 4mg of the antioxidant, quercertin. Don't let those nutrients go to waste!... of course composting this peel and the core are also great options.

Grammy's Appy Sauce:

(you'll need a food processor, though i'm sure a blender would work)
makes approximately 2 cups of appy sauce

3 medium apples
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp maple syrup (Grade B recommended)
1 or 2 pinches of fine ground sea salt

Peel and core your apples. Toss them into the food processor with the cinnamon and the maple syrup. Blend together well. Taste. Add a pinch of sea salt, blend, taste. And maybe just one more, blend, and taste. Perfection! Just a pinch of sea salt always balances the sweet taste.

"Soy you can't cook?" - Quick, Easy, and Yummy Recipe For The Kitchen Catastrophe-Prone Cook

Here's a super simple salad loaded with healthy protein from soybeans! Great side dish with salmon, yummy lunch or snack, and great on top of some mache salad greens.

What you'll need:
1 bag of frozen shelled edamame
1 bunch of fresh basil
dried cranberries
feta cheese
olive oil
pepper

okay.....i don't even know if i'm going to need to explain this one...but here goes.
Boil the edamame per directions on the bag. Strain and cool completely. Pull the basil leaves from the stem, rinse, dry (salad spinner helpful), stack in groups and slice cross ways to make thin strips. Place both into a large salad/mixing bowl. Add dried cranberries, feta cheese, 1 tbsp olive oil, and pepper to your liking. Toss and serve, or chill and enjoy later.

'Mama Make'm Again' Carrot Mash

easy yummy wholesome recipe. Side dish for 2 or 3, can easily double the recipe to feed 4 to 6:

1 bag organic baby carrots
1 small sprig fresh rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil (preferably cold pressed extra virgin)
black pepper
dulse flakes (can use sea salt)
optional cinnamon
(will need a food processor or high speed blender, or a hand masher)

Boil the carrots until soft - easily pierced with a fork
strain and trasfer to food processor/blender/or large mixing bowl if mashing by hand
add 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 small sprig of rosemary leaves cut small (omit stem), add black pepper and dulse or sea salt to taste
option to add 1 dash of cinnamon (for a warmer, autumn flavor)
process in food processor until all carrots are broken down.
transfer to serving bowl.