Red lentil dal recipe

I think Indian food is very misunderstood in this country.  Many people have the impression it’s overly spicy, heavy and greasy.  Perhaps it’s because there aren’t a plethora of great Indian restaurants here and very often the not-so-great ones do serve oily, creamy dishes.  Who knows, but that’s not what Indian food is all about.  I started experimenting with Indian-inspired recipes about a year ago and fell in love.

I am especially crazy about the many versions of Dal, which simply means “lentils.”  (By now you’ve figured out the name of this recipe is somewhat redundant, “Red Lentil Lentil.”)  The lentils used in Dal are not the brown or French lentils commonly eaten here, but a split lentil which almost looks like a lentil flake.  What is so fantastic about these lentils is that they cook up quickety-quick so they are perfect for a last minute meal.

What’s lucky for me is that Mr. Picky loves lentils.  Yeah, yeah, how can I call him picky if he eats lentils?  Because he won’t eat a hundred other things that most kids do eat!  Regardless, his palate has been developing slowly and I was thrilled when he tried brown lentils for the first time.  From that moment on, all lentils were fair game.  Sure enough, after I told him this dal was “lentils,” he shrugged his shoulders and said “OK, I’ll have some.”  Happy dance!

Dal is very nutritious (loaded with fiber, protein and iron) and easy to digest.  Since the lentils are split, they don’t hold their shape the way common lentils do.  In fact, they become kind of mushy which I find to be so comforting.  Mmmmmmm!  But like I mentioned, split lentils can be made so many different ways — from thin and watery to stick-a-fork-in-it-thick.  The lentils themselves have a very subtle flavor and benefit from some flavorful (and very anti-inflammatory) spices.  That doesn’t mean dal has to be hot spicy.  This version here is soupy, but not brothy, flavorful, but not overpowering — for me, it’s just right.  But the beauty of dal is that you can make this to suit your taste. Since the kids started school, I have been working quite a bit more and lately I have been feeling a little out of balance.  You know when you just need a comfy blanket and a little R&R?  Dal to the rescue!  

5.0 from 1 reviews
Red Lentil Dal
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons ghee
  • 1 ½ teaspoons mustard seeds
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons fresh grated ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
  • 2-3 teaspoons sea salt (based on saltiness of stock)
  • 1 ½ cups red lentils (or any other split lentils)
  • 4 cups water or vegetable stock
  • Accompaniments: whole, plain yogurt, cucumber raita and/or naan
Instructions
  1. Melt ghee in a soup pot over medium heat.
  2. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they start to pop, about 1 minute.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger and remaining spices. Sauté for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
  4. Stir in the onion, carrot and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and cook until just tender.
  5. Add lentils and stir to coat with the vegetables and spices. Pour in the water or stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are broken up, about 20 minutes. Taste for seasonings. Serve on its own or with a dollop of yogurt or raita.

Baked chipotle sweet potato fries recipe

Sweet potato fries have been quite popular in the last few years, usually being touted as a more healthful alternative to regular fries.  I can see why that is believable.  After all, sweet potatoes are much more nutrient-dense than white potatoes, especially if the white potatoes are peeled and have the majority of their vitamins removed.  But once you fry anything, even if it’s organically grown kale from your composted garden, it is no longer a healthful food.  This is especially true about food fried in restaurants, which use the cheapest oils, heated over and over and over again until they’re just big vats of free radicals and trans fats.  Yuck.   Dr. Mercola makes the bold statement that eating one French fry is the equivalent of smoking one cigarette.  I’ll be the first to say that Mercola can be a bit of an alarmist, but I do agree that commercially fried foods are among the worst things you can consume, even the beloved sweet potato.

My daughters and I are pretty obsessed with sweet potatoes, and not just because they are incredibly rich in beta-carotene (which your body converts to Vitamin A), as well as Vitamin C, manganese and fiber.  We just think they are super delish!   We are perfectly happy with a simply roasted sweet potato eaten out of hand like a cookie, instead of a cookie!  I’ve even eaten them the next day for breakfast with some yogurt and cinnamon.  But I just can’t bring myself to eat restaurant sweet potato fries.  Sad face.  An even bigger bummer is that I have attempted to duplicate sweet potato fries at home and I could never create the crispy crunchy texture of a real fry without actually deep frying them.  I have tried soaking them in ice water, salting them, parboiling, dipping them in an egg white wash (eeek!) all to no avail.  I hear tossing them in a little cornstarch works well, but I prefer to keep them a little more natural.  I have concluded that a home cook cannot achieve the same results in the oven.  However, you can still make very delicious, dare I say addictive, baked sweet potato “fries” that may even be classified as “healthful.”

This recipe here has some spices added for extra flavor, in fact I encourage you to lick your fingers after tossing the spices and coconut oil with the sweet potatoes and tell me it doesn’t taste like barbequed Lays potato chips!  After dozens of attempts of making baked sweet potato fries, I offer you a few tips:

  • cut the sweet potatoes into thin sticks, about 1/4 inch;
  • bake them in one layer and not on top of each other;
  • don’t allow all the sweet potato sticks to touch each other otherwise they’ll steam each other;
  • if you’re two pans don’t fit in the oven side by side, rotate them halfway during baking.

Even following these tips won’t result in fries like your local fast food restaurant, but they also won’t be soggy or limp.  Do any of you have some great tips for making baked sweet potato fries?

Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries
Author: 
Serves: 4-6 (or just me if I'm lacking self-control)
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes (sometimes labeled as "yams"), Garnet or Jewel, scrubbed (peeled if desired)
  • 4 Tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted
  • ½ teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper (or less to make it less spicy)*
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon natural cane sugar
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt + extra to sprinkle
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees (or 425 degrees if your oven runs hot.) If you can’t fit two sheet pans side-by-side in the oven, place one rack in the lower third of the oven and another rack in the upper third of the oven. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Cut sweet potatoes like French fries, about about ¼-inch by ¼-inch by 3 inches long.
  3. In a large bowl, combine oil and seasonings. Add sweet potato sticks and toss to coat well. Arrange sweet potatoes on prepared baking sheets in a single layer, evenly spaced. Sprinkle with another pinch of sea salt.
  4. Bake 15 minutes and flip potatoes over. Continue to bake until lightly browned at the edges and slightly crisp, but still tender, about 10-15 minutes. If you’d like them to be a little more crisp, put the pan under the broiler for 30-60 seconds. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
*These are probably a 5 or 6 out of 10 on the heat scale. Cut the chipotle in half to make it less spicy or substitute smoked paprika to cut out all spiciness.

 

How to Eat Your Way Through France Without Gaining an Ounce

Something bizarre happened during my recent trip to France.  After indulging in what seemed like copious amounts of incredible food for a week and feeling like I would likely need to watch my diet upon coming home, I cautiously stepped on the scale and saw that I hadn’t gained an ounce.  How was that possible?  I felt as though I had eaten more than usual and I even gave in to foods I don’t normally eat at all like bread, wine and chocolate.  Well, I wasn’t the only one.  The day after I returned home, the emails from other students were flying –  “I didn’t gain any weight!  I can’t believe it!”

Well I’ve been thinking about my experience which relates to the so-called “French Paradox,”  the idea that the French people are able to enjoy food high in saturated fat yet don’t suffer from coronary heart disease.  Of course, my experience and observations are rather personal and unscientific and I haven’t taken any blood tests, but I have come to some conclusions about the French and the benefits of their way of eating, at least where I visited in the countryside.  Here’s what I observed about their approach to food:

  • Eating is a leisurely act.    The French take their time when they eat.  No one is in a rush to finish or to serve you if you are in a restaurant.  Lingering over over a meal, especially lunch, is very relaxing and pleasurable.  I noticed I was able to enjoy my food more and really pay attention and savor what I was eating.  I can’t tell you how much more satisfied I felt eating this way.  This is a lot different from how many of us eat, on the run, inhaling who-knows-what, only to be hungry an hour later.
  • Lunchtime is sacred.  Although I understand the French are starting to work more hours in a day, they’re aren’t messing with the 2-hour lunch.  Everyone except restaurants takes lunch from 12:00 to 2:00.  If you are headed to France, with the exception of large cities like Paris, do not expect to shop or run errands during this time.  Imagine my surprise when I was asked to leave the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum at 11:50 am.  They were closing for lunch, of course.  I’m thinking if you wanted to commit a crime in France, you’d have a great chance of not getting caught since I saw many a police officer packing it up at 11:55 am.  The point is that taking a nice long break from our hectic day is a very healthful way to restore our energy and enjoy your meal.
  • Lunch is the biggest meal of the day.  This relates to the observation above.  I found it so interesting that when I ate a very large lunch over 2-3 hours, I wasn’t hungry at all the rest of the day.  When dinnertime rolled around, I really only needed a small salad or cup of soup, if that.  Coincidentally, Ayurveda, the Indian science of life, teaches us to consume 75% of our calories before 2:00 pm.  Our digestive fire is at its peak when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, between 12:00 and 2:00.  I see many busy moms skipping lunch or eating a small salad because they have no time to sit and relax, but then the snacking starts as their energy begins to dip around 2:00 pm.  Then they’re eating cookies with the kids after school, needing a latte at 4:00 to keep their energy up, and then snacking while making dinner.  I definitely consumed fewer calories and slept better on the days I ate a larger than normal lunch.  The only tradition I won’t be able to continue at home is wine with lunch!
  • Whole, full-fat foods are more satisfying.  There’s no low-fat or non-fat goat cheese in France.  That’s not to say that if you go into a supermarket you won’t find (American) processed foods that are low-calorie, low-fat, sugar-free, etc.  But in general, the French go for the real deal and enjoy it.  Omelettes are made with whole eggs, not just the whites.  Cheese and dairy products are whole and unrefined, as well.  High quality fats fill you up and, in my opinion, taste better and are more satisfying.  You will surely be less likely to graze later.
  • Just because the French are surrounded by seriously amazing food on a daily basis doesn’t mean they eat all of it….in one sitting.  Yes, there are crazy delicious croissants on every corner, as well as chocolate, pastries, and rich desserts.  I noticed that French people will indulge, but in much smaller portions than we do and not necessarily every day.  I was thinking one day about desserts in particular and the gigantic portions we get at restaurants in the states.   Some of these offerings can total more than 1,000 calories.  That’s completely insane.  When we did indulge in dessert in France, it was a very small, but satisfying portion.
  • No eating in between meals.  The French do not snack.  This goes against what many of us have been taught about eating many small meals a day to prevent ravenous hunger and stabilize blood sugar levels.  Everyone is different and small mini-meals may work for some people, but I know it doesn’t work well for me.  I tend to consume much more food in a day if I am constantly even just a little hungry.  200 calories here, 200 hundred calories there start to add up.  You won’t need snacks if you eat enough satisfying food at breakfast and lunch.
  • Fresh is best.  You already know this, but higher quality, fresh, unprocessed food is better for you.  Period.  It is more digestible and more recognizable by our bodies.  Fresh food contains more nutrients which signal to our bodies that we have been nourished.  No need for the body to send us signals that it needs more.  Think about how obsessed Americans are with dieting and losing weight, how afraid we are of fat and carbs.  While we consume more artificial, sugar-free, fat-free, processed and refined food, we just keep getting fatter and sicker.

I am really interested to hear if you have had similar or dissimilar experiences traveling to other countries and adopting their way of eating.  Or perhaps you have noticed some strategies that have helped you maintain a healthy weight.  Please share!

Provençal Goat Cheese Gratin Recipe

If you don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you might have been wondering this week if I fell off the face of the internet.  Believe it or not, I went back to Europe!  Except this time, I traveled solo and it was all work.  Last Friday I left the land of sandy beaches for the gorgeous countryside of Southwest France where I met eight fabulous ladies, several of whom are my cooking class students, for a one-week culinary retreat.

I was invited to Saint Antonin Noble Val by a lovely American couple who visited the region several years ago and decided to stay for good.  During the summer, Alisa and Bruce run Raison d’Art, an art camp for teenagers.  But in the off-season, they host specialty retreats for adults at a restored 200 year-old farmhouse.  When they asked me last winter if I would consider leading a culinary week in their area, it didn’t take long for me to say “OUI!”

I did miss you all very much and had every intention of blogging, but my students were keeping me very busy this week and away from the computer.  We started out our days with invigorating hikes in the countryside followed by breakfast at the house.  But we weren’t here to relax.  Several mornings involved scouring the local open markets for ingredients to be used in our evening classes.  Alisa and Bruce also took us around to visit many neighboring villages and local artisans, including a family-run vineyard and a goat farm, where we bought the most insanely delicious goat cheese.  And everyday we adopted the French way by lingering for several hours over lunch, not that we had much of a choice – lunch is a serious time of day where ALL the shops and businesses except restaurants close from 12-2 (or longer) and no one is in a rush.

When we returned to the house at the end of each day, we all came together in the kitchen for our hands-on cooking classes.  Normally my classes back home are demonstration, but this was such fun for me to cook side by side with all the students.  I even tried a few things for the first time, such as potimaron, a delicious winter squash that I have yet to see in the states, as well as a few goat and sheep cheeses that that were so crazy good.  A lot of love went into our cooking and we enjoyed eating a delicious dinner together every night.  All the teaching wasn’t done by me, however.   After dinner, the ladies taught me how to play Canasta, an addictive card game I have yet to win.  Next time!

I wish I had been able to take more pictures while we were cooking and share some recipes along the way, but I was caught up in the energy of the kitchen and the lighting in 200 hundred year-old farmhouses isn’t all that fantastic either.  One recipe that I was able to photograph a bit of was this Provencal Goat Cheese Gratin that we ate with herbed flatbreads which we made ourselves.  Goat cheese is something I expected to see in France, but I had no idea how incredible it would be.  Nor did I expect that I’d choose to eat it twice day!

The goat cheese we bought was so fresh and made from raw goat’s milk, which is closer in composition to human milk than cow’s milk.  Raw dairy from goat, sheep or cow is also much easier for us to digest.  Several of the students commented that they can’t eat cheese in the U.S., but the goat cheese in France was no problem.  We enjoyed local goat cheese so many different ways – from super young and fresh to slightly aged.  We had it rolled in herbs or shallots, baked warm in a salad or broiled on a tartine.  By the end of the week, Bruce was making us goat cheese sampler plates to nosh on with fresh bread and local wine while we cooked.  Verrrry nice!

This baked gratin was a hit and it was super easy, too.  We simply made a bed of crumbled fresh goat cheese on the bottom of a fluted baking dish and topped it with a quick homemade fresh tomato sauce, fresh thyme, oregano and sliced oil-cured olives.  The gratin was broiled just until the goat cheese was warm.   It’s the perfect thing to make as an hors d’oeuvre since it’s easy, delicious and can be assembled ahead and broiled just when your guests arrive.  Although we baked our own flatbreads for scooping up the dip, I’ve also eaten this smeared on toast or fresh bread.  I imagine it would also be amazing with eggs.  Perhaps my next post will be titled, “How to Eat Your Way Through France Without Gaining Weight!”

Provençal Goat Cheese Gratin
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • Sauce:*
  • 6 medium tomatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Gratin:
  • 10 ounces soft goat cheese (rindless)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves, minced or a pinch of dried
  • 20 black olives (such as French Nyons), pitted and quartered
Instructions
  1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and turn off the heat. Score the bottom of the tomatoes and place in the water for 30 seconds. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon. Peel the tomatoes, cut in half around the “equator,” remove the seeds and finely chop.
  2. Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
  3. Preheat the broiler.
  4. Crumble the cheese on the bottom of a 10-inch round baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the herbs. Spoon just enough tomato sauce to evenly coat the cheese. Sprinkle with the olives and the remaining herbs.
  5. Place the baking dish under the broiler about 3 inches from the heat. Broil until the cheese is melted and fragrant, and the tomato sauce is sizzling, 2-3 minutes.
  6. Serve with crackers, toast, flatbread or fresh bread.
Notes
*You can also substitute 1 ½ - 2 cups jarred tomato sauce for the fresh.

Trail Mix Cookies Recipe

Having teenagers is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, it’s kind of cool that my girls are old enough to have adult conversations and share clothes with me.  On the other hand, it bums me out that they prefer to be with their friends over their parents.  I don’t take it personally, of course.  But if all goes according to plan, Daughter #1 will be going to college in two years and her younger sister two years after that which means I don’t have a lot of time left with them in the house.  This is one reason I encourage them to invite their friends to hang out at our house or spend the night as much as possible.  Not only does it make the house more lively, but I know what they’re up to and sometimes I’ll even overhear some good gossip.  Just recently did I figure out how to make my home the place to be.  It’s called FOOD.

Teenagers are always hungry.  No, I take that back.  They’re always “STAR-ving.”  They don’t even know what the word means.  My daughters complain that they’re starving if they haven’t eaten in two hours.  My point is that if you want to have the house that the kids want to hang out in, other than breaking the law and supplying alcohol (not recommended), you need to have some good eats.  I don’t think my house is considered to have the “best” food by any means.  There are no Cheetos, no soda and no microwave popcorn.  But I do always have tons of fresh fruit, leftovers from dinner, the makings of a quesadilla and lots of homemade cookie dough in the freezer, especially in the fall when the kids are back in school.

These Trail Mix cookies are a new favorite around here.  They’re like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies PLUS.  There are so many goodies in the cookies, it feels like you’re eating a handful of trail mix held together with some oatmeal cookie batter.  In fact, you could use trail mix in this recipe, hence the name.  I’m not sure I’ve made this recipe the same way twice since I’ll often use it as an excuse to clean out the bottom of my nut and dried fruit jars.  Before you get excited about a cookie that sounds like it might be healthful, it’s still a cookie, just maybe a higher quality one.  If you want a cookie that you can eat for breakfast, make these.  This recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour, rolled oats, flakes of unsweetened coconut, and chocolate chips.  My kids love pecans, so I generally use them here, but if I have a handful of walnuts or macadamia nuts, those can go in too.  Same idea with dried fruit — use whatever you’ve got.  The key with these cookies though, is to make sure you don’t decide to just eliminate an entire ingredient without coming up with a substitution.  All the “stuff” helps give your cookies structure and without it, your cookies will go a tad flat.  If you can’t eat nuts, I have used sunflower seeds with success, or you can just add 1/2 cup extra of chocolate chips, dried fruit and coconut to make up for the 1 1/2 cups of nuts.  What I did struggle with was the sugar in the cookies. The quantity is quite a bit less than you would find in a comparable cookie, but I didn’t have as much success substituting coconut sugar or maple syrup for the white and brown sugars.  At the end of the day, it’s still a cookie which we should enjoy in moderation.

If you like to be prepared for weekday school lunches or unexpected playdates, it’s always nice to have some cookie dough on hand.  You can make this batter and keep it refrigerated for a week, baking off as many cookies as you like at any given time.  I also like to scoop the dough onto baking sheets with my ice cream scooper, freeze them raw (the same way you would freeze fruit), and when they are frozen solid, gather them up and put them in a container to freeze for a rainy day or the next sleepover.  And from the empty containers I generally see in the morning, I have also observed that teenagers are at their most STARVING in the middle of the night.

Trail Mix Cookies
Author: 
Serves: makes 3 dozen cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup natural cane sugar (or coconut sugar)
  • ⅔ cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup rolled oats (either old-fashioned or quick-cooking)
  • 1 ½ cups chopped pecans (or walnuts or macadamia nuts)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • ½ cup unsweetened, dried coconut flakes (or use extra pecans)
  • ½ cup dried fruit, such as cranberries (or use extra chocolate chips)
  • (Or use 3 ½ cups trail mix instead of above add-ins; chop nuts)
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and 1 egg at a time until well incorporated.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add half the dry mix to the butter with the mixer on low speed. After the flour has been incorporated, add the remaining flour mixture and stir together.
  4. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
  5. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the cookie sheet and bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. (If you bake the dough directly from the fridge, add 3-5 minutes.)
  6. Remove from the oven and cool cookies for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Grain-Free Cauliflower Tabbouleh Recipe

We have had some interesting discussions in my classes lately about the latest findings concerning the presence of arsenic in rice.  Arsenic is a chemical element which occurs naturally in water, air, food, and soil.  This natural form is referred to as organic arsenic.  Arsenic is also the product of contamination from manmade fetilizers and pesticides, as well as burning coal and oil.  This inorganic arsenic is what is linked to certain cancers and has many people concerned.  Inorganic arsenic has found its way into may different foods through soil, as well as into our drinking water, but for some reason rice absorbs it much more than other foods.

Although I don’t take such reports lightly, the jury is still out on just how much arsenic is actually in rice since it varies from region to region (California-grown rice seems to contain less than rice grown in Arkansas, for example) and how much we should limit or not limit our rice consumption.  I’m generally not an alarmist in these situations, so I will be mindful of this information and continue to eat rice in moderation.  But it’s a good reminder of why it’s important to eat a well-balanced diet of a wide variety of whole foods (90% of the time, of course!).  I’m sure one can do research and find whatever it is we want to hear.  I like Dr. David Katz’s interesting point that cancer rates are generally low where rice consumption is highest.

But if you are concerned about your rice intake or you’re just looking to expand your horizons a little, have I got the recipe for you!  Cauliflower Tabbouleh uses barely steamed and grated cauliflower in place of the typical bulgur wheat, making this a grain-free,  gluten-free salad.  When the cauliflower is grated, it completely resembles rice in appearance and even texture a little.  It’s fun serving this tabbouleh to guests who usually have no idea what they’re eating and naturally assume it’s rice.  Cauliflower has a fairly subtle flavor, so you really pick up everything else that’s going on here with fresh herbs, juicy pomegranates and a sweet-earthy dressing.

Tabbouleh is traditionally a parsley salad with bits of bulgur wheat, onion, tomato and cucumber.  It’s such an awesome, healthful, fresh salad which I really enjoy when the weather is warm.  I make a really yummy version with quinoa that is one of my summer staples.  But this recipe with cauliflower is like an autumnal tabbouleh with some pomegranates for a sweet and juicy crunch.  Many “cauliflower rice” recipes call for the cauliflower to be raw, which I don’t enjoy as much as giving it a quick steam or blanche.  Raw cruciferous vegetables are also a tad harder to digest than lightly cooked.  Cauliflower is is very rich in fiber, phosphorus and potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, and Manganese.  Plus the entire cruciferous family contains powerful anti-cancer compounds.

I just made this for Rosh Hashana lunch last week and served it with roast chicken and a few other salads.  The girls got it in their lunchboxes the next day mixed with a few spoonfuls of quinoa and one of them had some feta mixed in as well.  By the way, I am posting photos of the kids’ school lunches once a week on Facebook and Twitter in case you’re in a lunchbox rut.  I also love this cauliflower with Spice-Rubbed Salmon, grilled chicken kabobs, and even turkey burgers. More importantly, there are so many ways to have fun with this preparation of cauliflower.  I’m thinking about using it in place of rice for a vegetable fried rice, just for fun of course.    No one here is giving up rice that fast!

Grain-Free Cauliflower Tabbouleh
Author: 
Serves: 6-8
 
Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • Kosher salt for cooking cauliflower
  • 2 cups diced celery, about 5 stalks
  • Seeds from 1 large pomegranate, about 1⅓ cups
  • ½ cup finely diced red onion or shallot (you can soak in ice water for 15 minutes to take the raw edge off)
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley leaves
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • ½ cup unrefined, cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon cumin
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper or to taste
Instructions
  1. Prepare a large bowl with ice water. Place cauliflower in a large pot with an inch of water and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and steam cauliflower for 3-4 minutes until crisp tender. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge cauliflower in ice water.
  2. Drain cauliflower and transfer to a clean kitchen towel to dry off a little.
  3. Fit the grater attachment in a food processor and gently grate/shred the cauliflower. It will look like barley or rice. Transfer to a serving bowl.
  4. Stir in remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Taste for seasonings, especially if you allow this to sit. You may need an extra pinch of salt.

How to Seed a Pomegranate

Eating seasonally means that when Mother Nature closes one door, she opens another.  I came home from the farmers’ market the other day with good news and bad news for the kids.  This would be the last of the peaches and nectarines.  “What????  OMG!  That’s so sad.”  But guess what I found?  Pomegranates!  “They’re back?  OMG!  Can we have some right now?  Did you buy a lot?”  What peaches?

During the fall, my family goes through about 7 pomegranates a week and sometimes more if the kids’ friends come over.  There’s something so addictive about these juicy and crunchy little seeds.  I very often find empty pomegranate bowls on the girls’ desks in the morning because they snack on the seeds while doing their homework.  I know, pinch me.  They aren’t the only ones who love pomegranates.  Mr. Picky eats them while he watches football and baseball games on tv.  I toss them into my morning yogurt, muesli or for a fun crunch in salads.  So good!

I will gladly support any addiction to something so super healthful.  Perhaps I’m preaching to the choir here, but let me remind you how rich in antioxidants pomegranates are.  The juice in the seeds contain ellagic acid and punic alagin which scavenge free radicals in the body and help preserve the collagen in your skin (pssst, that means they help you stay looking young!)   Pomegranate seeds also contain vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, and plenty of fiber.  All good news!  The only bummer about pomegranates is that you have to take the time to seed them, which is a little more effort than washing a piece of fruit and taking a bite, but it’s worth it!  Sure, you can buy containers of the seeds from the supermarket, but I find them to be a tad soggy.  Just do what I do and teach your kids how to seed them!

There are several strategies for releasing pomegranate seeds from the shell.  For example, I’ve seen recommendations to cut a pomegranate in half and whack it over a bowl to release the seeds.  Don’t do that.  Pomegranates stain like heck and you’ll inevitably spray red juice on your favorite shirt as well as the kitchen walls.  Here’s what I consider to be the best way to seed a pomegranate for maximum ease and minimum seed burstage (is that a word?):

  1. Put on a dark colored apron.  (Read above.)
  2. Fill a large bowl with cool or room temperature water and set aside.
  3. Place the pomegranate on a cutting board and carefully make a slice from the top to the bottom.  Separate the pomegranate into two halves.
  4. Submerge one half in reserved bowl of water and gently push the seeds off the membrane.  Break apart the pomegranate further to access more seeds, but do it under water.  Repeat with other half.
  5. The seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl and pieces of the white membrane will float to the top.  Just skim those off and discard.  Drain the seeds and pat dry a little before storing in a container in the refrigerator.

Even though it’s the beginning of the season, I have gotten some beautiful pomegranates thus far.  In selecting a good one, in my experience, the heavier the fruit, the juicier it is.  Also, the ones that seem to be cracked (see above) tend to have the reddest and most flavorful seeds.  Check out some delicious salads which use these ruby jewels — Fennel and Green Apple Salad and Butternut Squash Salad with Pomegranates and Pecans.  Please share how you like to eat pomegranates!

Vanilla and chocolate chia seed pudding recipes

Have you ever bought something that you heard people talking about, that you thought you should start eating and would figure out how to get it into your diet soon but never did, only to have that something sit in your pantry forever?  That would be a scenario with me and chia seeds a few years ago.   I kept reading about these little nutritional powerhouses and I was easily convinced about all their benefits and that I should be incorporating them into my diet, but I hadn’t the slightest idea how to actually eat them.  Chia seeds are super high in Omega-3 fats (which many of us don’t consume enough of) and antioxidants.  They have almost double the fiber of flaxseeds, as well as lots of protein, calcium, iron and magnesium.  What is unique about chia seeds is their gel-like consistency when they are soaked in liquid.  They become thick like tapioca and that gel actually helps to keep everything moving very smoothly throughout our bodies.

Most suggestions that I originally encountered for consuming chia seeds were to “sprinkle” them on food, such as oatmeal or yogurt.  That was fine for me, but the kiddos and Mr. Picky Sr. weren’t going for it.  My next idea was to add chia seeds to cookie dough, which did make for a delicious almond butter and chia seed cookie.  But a cookie isn’t going to give you a heck of a lot of chia seeds/nutrition.  Finally I heard about chia pudding – an instant, raw, thick and silky pudding of chia seeds soaked in a barely sweetened liquid.  Sold!  Not only is chia pudding even easier to make than tofu chocolate pudding, but I think it’s even more delicious!

I have two versions to share with you because even though I love the plain Jane vanilla version, Mr. Picky thought it looked like tiny eyeballs and wouldn’t try it.  So I added a little cocoa powder to make it chocolate-y and less like, well, eyeballs.  Both versions are great.  I eat vanilla chia seed pudding for breakfast with berries or diced banana on top and it fills me up for a good long while.  Mr. Picky and his buddies love the chocolate pudding after school with lots of different toppings like coconut, raspberries or sliced almonds.  Check out the video I did below for The Chalkboard on how to make this delicious concoction.  Naturally I used date-sweetened Pressed Juicery almond milk to make it, but you can follow the recipe below.

Now that we’re hooked, I’d love to hear your favorite way to eat chia seeds!

 

Vanilla and Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding
Author: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ¼ cups almond milk
  • 3 pitted dates or sweetener of choice, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2-2 ½ Tablespoons raw cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder (if making chocolate pudding), depending on how chocolaty you like it
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
Instructions
  1. Place almond milk, dates, vanilla and cacao in blender and process until dates are pulverized. A Vitamix does a great job with this. If your blender leaves the dates too chunky, you can strain the mixture before adding it to the chia seeds.
  2. Pour chia seeds into a medium container and add almond milk mixture. Stir immediately to combine otherwise you may end up with blobs of chia seeds. Allow to sit on countertop and stir every 5 minutes. After 15 minutes, it should have thickened.
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. I usually do this the night before. Stays in the fridge for as long as your almond milk would. Fun to add toppings like fresh fruit, coconut or chopped nuts.