Easy Onion Soup

I have to say that this one of my favorite soup recipes.  Although spring calls for a lighter diet consisting of more raw and cleansing foods, the cold and windy weather leaves me craving cooked and comforting foods.  The following is a soup recipe that will provide the feeling of warmth and nourishment on chilly days, while still supporting the body's natural detoxification process.

Simple, healthy, and cleansing.

Onions are high in antioxidants and the vitamins B-complex, A and C.  Onions contain antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial properties, and may lower cholesterol as well!

Here's the recipe!

2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 sweet or yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 ribs of celery, diced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 cups of purple cabbage, thinly sliced
6-8 cups of homemade chicken, beef, or vegetable broth*
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 large bay leaf
2 tablespoons of olive oil, butter, or chicken/beef fat*

Heat your choice of oil or fat in a cast iron or stainless steel soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the onions with a pinch of salt until they begin to turn translucent.  Add the celery, cabbage, garlic, and another pinch of salt and sauté until soft, approximately 10 minutes.  Add the bay leaf, remaining salt, and 6 cups of broth.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes to an hour.  If you desire more liquid, add the remaining broth.

Enjoy with a piece of hearty bread or spring salad!

*My favorite version of this soup requires the pairing of the beef fat with the homemade beef stock.  
*For a VEGAN version of this soup, choose olive oil as your fat source and vegetable stock as your liquid source.

Pumpkin Seed Paté

This is one of the recipes included in my Eat to Nourish Detox.  It's absolutely delicious!  Eat it with crudité, sweet potato fries or wrap a dollop or two of it in a collard, cabbage, or romaine lettuce leaf!

 This is also a super healthy and nutrient packed snack!

Pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc, manganese, and antioxidants.

   

 

 

Recipe

⅔ cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked for 8 hours

1 scallion

1 large celery rib

1 large clove of garlic

2 teaspoons dried thyme

¼ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 large lemon, zested and juiced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large lettuce or collard leaf (if you are making a wrap).

 
To prepare the Paté. Add the pumpkin seeds, scallion, celery, garlic, thyme, sea salt, black pepper, lemon zest and juice, and extra virgin olive oil to a blender. Blend until well incorporated.

Suggested pâté toppings: shredded carrot, sliced avocado, sliced red pepper, chopped red onion, sliced cucumber, or sprouts.

Italian Herb Spring Salad

Oh Yum!  I couldn't help but share this delicious salad.  It's really easy to throw together - you just can'g go wrong with basil, tomatoes, and goats cheese.

Italian Herb Spring Salad Recipe
(serves 2)

2 cups arugula
1/2 cup of basil, torn
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup micro greens
1 Tablespoon of fresh oregano, chopped
1/4 of red onion, sliced
3/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut in halves or quarters
1/4 cup chèvre (goats cheese), broken into pieces

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and dress with the dressing below.  Note: there will be leftover dressing.

Dressing
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
5 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake it up.  Add dressing sparingly until you've properly dressed the salad to your taste and then place in refrigerator for later use.

Three Lifestyle Tips That Will Support You During This Season’s Change

Spring is almost here!  As we leave behind the cold and dark stillness of winter, a season that demanded rest and reflection, we move towards a warm and brighter season that inspires movement, activity, and a renewed energy for life.  Spring is a time of rebirth and creativity.  It is a time of leaving behind that which no longer serves us to welcome new ideas and different perspectives.

Spring is a wonderful and joyous time, but if our bodies are not attuned this seasonal transition, we can feel lethargic instead of energized, irritable instead of inspired, and sickened instead of renewed.  We must align ourselves with nature during this time of transition. Failure to do so can leave one susceptible to colds, allergies, and feeling out of sync with your body and life in general.

For thousands of years ancient medical systems like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda have emphasized the connection between our health and our environment.  Chinese medical philosophy believes that the cyclical climatic changes of the seasons have a profound influence over human development and wellbeing.  To experience vibrant health and ensure longevity, one must learn to live in harmony with the changing seasons.

To help support your body’s transition from winter to spring, here are three key practices that will keep you healthy and feeling your best:

1) Acupuncture

Acupuncture can prevent you from getting sick during the season’s transition.

 

According to TCM, transitions in our environment, like the changing of the seasons, can exacerbate the imbalances that already exist in our bodies, making us more susceptible to allergies, mood swings, and illness.

During the changing of the seasons, the energy frequency of our environment shifts.

If, during this change, the body’s energy frequency does not align with the changing energy frequency of its environment, the energy within the body, or chi, can get stuck or blocked.  When chi cannot flow freely through the body, imbalances can manifest as physical illness or emotional instability.

Receiving acupuncture during this transition can free up stuck chi and bring the body back into balance.  When chi is free to flow through the body, the major systems of the body function normally, including the detoxification the immune systems – two very important and active systems during the spring season. 

If you’re feeling lethargic, irritable, or depressed during this change, chances are your body could benefit from a tune-up from your local acupuncturist.  Other signs that you might need a dose of acupuncture this season include indecisiveness, problems with the eyes, vision, or tearing, and muscular tightness or weakness.

2) Massage

Massage helps to prevent injuries and relieve muscle tension and pain that result from new exercise routines.

Spring brings about renewed energy and activity.  As we emerge from winter’s slumber, we feel the urge to get out and be physically active.  It is important to provide the proper care for our muscles, tendons, and ligaments as we call upon them to reawaken and support us in our new workout routines.  Massage is an excellent way to help the body recover from new demanding workouts, keeping us injury-free and flexible.

Massage aids in recovery from workouts and enhances flexibility by:

• Flushing out metabolic wastes from the muscles and surrounding tissues that result from exercise and moving it towards the lymph for processing and eventual elimination. 
• Increasing circulation and the rate at which oxygenated blood is delivered to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
• Encouraging relaxation, which in turn stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system is responsible for tissue repair and recovery, digestion and absorption of nutrients from food, and the detoxification of toxins produced as a result of exercise as well as the processing of all things taken into the body.
• Breaking up adhesions in the muscle fibers that result from repetitive movement or improper alignment.
• Bringing awareness to those areas of the body that are in need of attention.

3) Eat seasonal and locally grown produce

Spring is a time of awakening, cleansing, and renewal.   We naturally tap into this urge to cleanse by eating less and craving more raw and lighter foods with bitter and astringent qualities. During this time it is important to encourage the body to let go of any fat and toxins that may have accumulated during the winter in order to prepare for the hot months of summer.  The spring’s harvest naturally provides a low-calorie, low-fat diet that supports the body’s detoxification process, aids in healthy weight loss, and encourages the elimination of stored toxins.

Cut down on: 

meat

dairy

sugar 

Eat more of these supportive seasonal foods:

• Young carrots and beets thinned from the spring garden provide vitamins and minerals necessary for the body to carry out its detoxification processes
• Fresh leafy greens like watercress, dandelion, arugula, romaine lettuce, kale and chard are high in chlorophyll, a powerful blood purifier.  Green leafy vegetables also aid in strengthening the immune system and improving liver, gall bladder, and kidney function – all organs involved in the elimination of fat and toxins.
• Sprouts – alfalfa, bean sprouts like aduki and mung, and sunflower – are easily digestible sources protein and enzymes.  Protein is a necessary for the body to carry out detoxification.
• Immature cereal grasses, like wheat or barley grass, are high in chlorophyll, help purify the blood, and help remove toxic metals from the body’s tissues.
• Lemons are particularly cleansing to the liver and are high in vitamin C, potassium, and other minerals.  Lemons are also astringent, meaning they contract and tighten tissues, which loosen up and clear toxins from deep within tissues and organs.
• The herbs basil, parsley, cilantro, peppermint, marjoram, rosemary, caraway, dill, and bay leaf are high in antioxidants, have anti-microbial properties, increase circulation, and stimulate the liver.  Herbs like cilantro are natural chelators and help to remove toxic metals from the body.
• Onions and garlic, high in sulfur, have anti-microbial and anti-viral properties, stimulate metabolism, promote growth of healthy intestinal flora, and eliminate toxins form the body.
• Spring roots like burdock, Jerusalem artichoke, and chicory root stimulate bile secretion, serve as excellent sources of inulin, and help to cleanse and purify the blood.
• Daikon radish, which contains diuretics, decongestants, and digestive enzymes, is well known for its fat dissolving properties.

 Other beneficial foods and herbs during the spring season include: artichokes, asparagus, green beans, turnips, celery, Brussels sprouts, Extra virgin olive oil, milk thistle, dandelion root, and raw sauerkraut.

And don’t forget to drink plenty of water – between meals and after massage and acupuncture treatments.

Sources:

Haas, Elson, Staying Healthy with the Seasons.  Berkley/Toronto, Celestial Arts, 2003.

Pitchford, Paul, Healing with Whole Foods.  Berekely, CA, North Atlantic Books, 2002.

Wood, Rebecca, The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia. New York, Penguin Books, 1999.

http://www.pacificcollege.edu/acupuncture-massage-news/articles/1102-what-season-change-means-for-your-body.html

http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/1656/Massage-and-Bodywork

Delicious Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been working on perfecting a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe for the last two years.  I have tried many a flour, fat, and sugar and have finally come up with the winning recipe.

Three things I was considering in settling on this recipe:
Texture: chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside.
Taste: sweet, but not too sweet, I want to highlight the dark chocolate chips.
Difficulty Level: easy to moderate.  The 'moderate' only because it requires more ingredients than the average joe cookie recipe requires, but the procedure ain't nothin' at all.

Dry Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
5/8 teaspoons baking soda (1/2 tsp. + 1/4 tsp.)
5/8 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum

Wet Ingredients:
1 organic, pasture-raised egg - room temperature
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
8 tablespoons of grass-fed butter - room temperature and soft
1 tablespoon vanilla extract - alcohol free
3/4 cup coconut sugar

Add-Ins
1 cup organic dark chocolate chocolate chips (70% cocoa)
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.  In a separate larger bowl, beat together butter and coconut sugar with a hand mixer until well blended.  Continue to beat mixture while adding the egg, brown rice syrup, and vanilla extract until well blended.

Bit by bit, add the mix of dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring with a spoon.

Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.  Spoon out tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto a non-stick baking sheet leaving 2 inches of room between the balls.  Slightly flatten dough balls with the back of the spoon.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 9 -12 minutes.

This recipe should yield about 18 cookies.

My next endeavor is to create a gluten-free and grain-free chocolate chip cookie with a maximum of 10 ingredients, maybe less.  Stay tuned!!!

Turkey Stock

 Do not throw away that turkey carcass!  The greatest gift your Thanksgiving turkey has to offer lies within its bones....

High-quality homemade stock and broth is a valuable culinary ingredient to have on hand in your kitchen.  Meat stocks add wonderful flavor to stews, soups, gravies, and sauces and are rich in valuable minerals, amino acids, and bone-building calcium. Meat stocks are known for their immune boosting properties.  For centuries, cultures all over the world have used stocks to fend off or fight the common cold and flu. Meat stock is easily digestible.  The gelatin released through the slow and gentle cooking method heals and soothes the lining of the intestines, and protects the gut from further damage due to dysbiosis.  Sipping on warm stock throughout the day or with meals can promote healthy digestion and ease digestive disorders.  If you suffer from food allergies or are healing from Celiacs disease, incorporating homemade meat stock into your diet can promote the healing and regeneration of the intestinal lining.

To read more about the health promoting benefits of meat stock go to: http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/why-broth-is-beautiful

Or check out:
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Natasha Campbell-McBride
Nourishing Traditions, Sally Falllon

I have put together a very simple and easy-to-follow, step-by-step turkey stock recipe.  It is easy, delicious, and perfect for sipping on a cold December day....

Ingredients:
1 roasted left-over turkey carcass from Thanksgiving Day (if stuffed, rinse the cavity clean)
4-5 carrots
4-5 ribs of celery
1-2 onions
5+ garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
3 sprigs of thyme
1/4 bunch of parsley
1/4 cup of raw apple cider vinegar
sea salt
black pepper
filtered water

Getting Started: Roughly chop all of your vegetables.  If you think you might  make turkey soup from this stock, be sure to remove most of the meat from the carcass and put it aside in the refrigerator for later use.

Put it all together: Put the whole picked-over turkey carcass into a large stock pot with carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves (everything, but the parsley).  Fill the pot with filtered water so that the carcass and vegetables are completely covered, about 1 gallon or so.

Suggested Add-Ins: 

Skin, Neck, Giblets, and Dark Meat

When I make any poultry stock, I always make sure to add some of the skin and meat for flavor (dark is best).  If you haven't utilized the neck or the giblets, you can add these to the stock as well.  Just throw them in with the carcass - roasted or raw.

Leeks, Celery Root, and Onion Skins

These vegetables add an earthy element that compliments the flavor of the turkey.  Add these to the stock or save them later for a turkey soup!

The Magic Step (do not skip!): Add 1/4 cup of raw apple cider vinegar to the water, turkey carcass, and vegetable mix and let sit for 1 hour before cooking.  This is an important step as it draws the minerals out of the bones and the vegetables making them available in the stock.

Boil.  Then Simmer:  Bring the stock mix to a boil over medium-high heat, and skim off any scum that rises to the top. After ten minutes at a rolling boil, cover the stock, turn down to a low heat, and let it simmer for 12-48 hours.  I suggest at least 24 hours of cooking to get a flavorful and nutrient rich stock.*  One hour before you're ready to call it done, add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

*If you live at an elevation higher than 3,000 ft., you may want to consider simmering your stock at a slightly higher heat and for a longer period of time to obtain the same amount of extracted minerals and amino acids that you would get if you were at sea level.


Drain the Stock: When the stock is finished cooking and cooled to a point where comfortable to handle, drain the stock through a fine mesh strainer so that that meat, bones, and vegetables are separated out from the liquid.

Jar the Stock: Pour the stock into quart mason jars and let cool to around room temperature.  If you plan on freezing your jars of stock, do not fill them to the brim.  Leave about 2 inches of room from the top of the jar to allow for expansion.  

Skim the Fat?: While you cool your stock, the fat will rise to the top, solidifying.   Simply skim the fat off the top with a spoon, either disposing of it or keeping it for later use.  By the way, you don't have to skim the fat off the top.  You can choose to leave it in.  The fat from the turkey has many nutrients in it.  It's all up to you.  I usually skim about 80% off and leave the rest.

Freeze it.  Use it.  When the jars of stock have cooled to about room temperature, cover them and either put them in the freezer for later use in soups, sauces, or gravies, or put them in the refrigerator to use within 4-5 days.  I usually freeze all but one, which I warm up and sip on with meals to promote digestion.  Yum!

Borsht

In my opinion, beets are one of Nature's most wonderful masterpieces.  The deep crimson-magenta color nourishes my sense of sight almost as much as the antioxidants it contains nourish my body.  Tom Robbins captures the unique and complex character of the beet in his novel Jitterbug Perfume:

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables.  The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire of discontent not of passion.  Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity.  Beets are deadly serious.   Slavic peoples get their physical characteristics from potatoes, their smoldering inquietude from radishes, their seriousness from beets.  The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer.  You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip...  The beet is the murderer returned to the scene of a crime.  The beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot.  The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies.  The beet was Rasputin's favorite vegetable.  You could see it in his eyes."

(If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy as soon as possible.)

Health Benefits of Beets:

-Acts as a blood purifier
-Rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, carotene, B-complex and vitamin C
-Moistens the intestines and beneficial for overall digestive health
-For women, it promotes menstruation
-When the raw juice of the beet is combined with the juice of spinach and aloe vera, it can aid in dissolving ovarian cysts
-Improves circulation

Borsht

This is my recipe for Borsht.  It's not very traditional, only in the sense that it is a soup made with beets.  I love this recipe because it's easy and showcases the vegetable's beautiful red color and grounding earthy taste.  

This borsht recipe is perfect for the fall as beets are in season and are available at most farmers markets and CSAs around the country.  I developed this recipe while living in NYC after Hurricaine Sandy devastated much of the land of the CSA farm from which we received our vegetables.  For weeks we only received brown paper bags of beets and potatoes.  And for weeks I experimented with incorporating these vegetables into our meals.....

Ingredients:
1/2 of a large onion (diced)
4 cloves of garlic (razor-thin sliced)
2 medium-sized beets (sliced thin and cut into half moons)
2 medium-sized russet potatoes (sliced thin and cut into half moons)
3 cups of roughly chopped cabbage
1 cup of thinly sliced cauliflower (or another cup of cabbage)
3 Tablespoons of butter or grapeseed oil
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
6-8 cups of chicken or vegetable broth (homemade is best)
2 Tablespoons or more of fresh dill
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of cumin powder or cumin seed
Greek yogurt or sour cream

Heat a large cast iron pot and add butter/oil.  Cook onions on medium heat until translucent.  Add a dash of salt and the cumin and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the potatoes to the pot and cook while stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or more.  Then add the beets and continue to stir for another 5 minutes.  It is important that the potatoes are cooked first and then the beets.  Continue adding the vegetables one at a time at intervals of five minutes.  The cabbage goes last.

After the vegetables are pretty well sauteed, add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add about 1 cup of the vegetable or chicken stock to the pot, giving it a good stir, and making sure to loosen those bits of vegetables that have stuck to the bottom of the pan so that they can mix in with the soup.  Continue to add the stock until all the vegetables are completely covered by liquid.  You may have some stock left over.  Bring the stock and vegetable mix to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. Sometime during the simmering, usually closer to the end of cooking, add the vinegar.

When finished cooking, remove the pot from the heat and add 2 Tablespoons of the fresh dill.  Next, remove 1/2-1/3 of the soup from the pot and process (either in a blender, food processor, or with a hand blender).  Add the processed portion of the soup back to pot with the unprocessed portion of the soup.  I highly recommend this step as if makes the soup creamier and tastier and gives the soup a thicker consistency.

Serve this soup with a generous dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt, then garnish with a sprinkle of fresh dill.

*You can also add parsley in addition to or in place of the dill if you prefer.

*I like to enjoy this soup with a tablespoon of raw sauerkraut.  It gives it a kick and encourages healthy digestion.

Enjoy!