Cornbread (with quinoa!) Recipe

Let me just start out with a disclaimer — I am not from the South.  I am a Yankee, which means I like my cornbread with half cornmeal and half flour and a drop of sweet and that’s that.  If you are a true Southerner and wouldn’t dream of adding honey or sugar or maple syrup to your cornbread, I hope we can still be friends.  I didn’t grow up eating it and I have no recipe that was passed down from my grandmother.  But my husband and my kids love cornbread, especially at certain times of the year and I love preparing them good food that makes them happy.

After I posted my Thanksgiving menu a few months ago, I had many inquiries about my cornbread recipe, so I figured I would share it just before the Super Bowl when you might be whipping up a big pot of chili.  Even if you’re not eating something that goes well with cornbread, you will be delighted with this quick bread just by itself.  My husband loves to split a wedge of the bread, toast it and slather it with a little more butter or honey or strawberry preserves for a nice treat.  I typically like a barely sweet cornbread, which this is if you use 4 Tablespoons of honey.  You can adjust the sweetness level according to your preference, but the best part about this bread is how moist and corny it is (even after several days.)     I’m not sure anyone in my family knows that I add cooked quinoa to the batter.  And it’s not because I’m the kind of person that sneaks healthful food into recipes and doesn’t say anything.  I’m not clever enough for that.  But I do try to use food efficiently and one day I had a bit of quinoa left in the fridge and since quinoa and corn go really well together, I decided to add it to the corn bread batter.  You don’t notice it at all, except that I think the quinoa adds a nice moistness to the bread and a great boost of protein.

I’ve made this cornbread so many times with different combinations of ingredients based on whom I am feeding or what is available to me in the pantry and it has never disappointed.  Although I’ve learned something about how certain foods affect the end result.  Dairy, such as milk and butter, result in a slightly more golden color to the finished bread.  Coconut oil leaves a slightly sweet, subtly tropical aftertaste.  The whole spelt flour is slightly coarser than whole wheat pastry, and made the bread feel a little more “whole grain.”  If you use olive oil, you can taste it if the bread is still warm, but not after it has cooled a bit, but that will also depend on the kind of olive oil you use.  Take this as a foundation recipe and have fun with it.  Drop the honey and add diced cooked bacon, finely chopped jalapenos, or shredded cheese.  Or prepare as is with some vanilla extract and blueberries or raspberries for a sweet treat.

Are you entertaining for the Super Bowl?  I would love to hear what you’re making.  I am making guacamole and baked chips, but I’ll also serve it with jicama.  I’ll make a giant pot of Vegetable Chili tomorrow and reheat on Sunday.  I am also doing a Baked Potato Bar with lots of toppings (what in the world is easier to make than a baked potato?)  I actually love a baked potato topped with chili!  A big chopped salad and cornbread for sure!  Daughter #1 told me she’s in charge of desserts.  I’m nervous.  Other fun foods for the big game can be Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Enchiladas (especially the casserole version), a Taco or Fajita bar, Cilantro-Lime Slaw or a make-your-own sandwich bar with grilled chicken.  I know my family in NY will be making some form of baked pasta, meatballs, sausage and peppers.  Know your audience, I guess!

If you have leftover guacamole and/or salsa after the game, save it for a great soup recipe on Monday.   Have fun!

Cornbread (with quinoa!)

Pamela
5 from 2 votes
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour or your favorite GF baking mix
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal preferably stone-ground*
  • 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk**
  • ½ cup melted unsalted butter 1 stick or coconut oil or olive oil
  • 2 large eggs***
  • 4-6 Tablespoons honey or Grade A maple syrup I use 4 Tbs.
  • 1 cup COOKED quinoa optional
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease an 8 x 8-inch baking dish (I usually dip a pastry brush in the melted butter I’m using in the recipe and grease the pan that way.)
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl or a blender, combine buttermilk, melted butter, eggs and honey until well blended. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the corn kernels. Using an ice cream scooper, divide the batter into the muffin pan or pour it into the prepared pan.
  • Bake the muffins for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Or bake the cornbread in the 8 x 8 pan for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack before removing muffins from the pan.

Notes

*If you like a more tender, less grainy cornbread, increase flour by ½ cup and decrease cornmeal by ½ cup.
**Or ½ cup whole unsweetened yogurt + ½ cup milk of choice. Or 1 cup dairy-free milk + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
***Or 2 Tablespoons ground flax meal mixed with 6 Tablespoons warm water. Allow to sit 10-15 minutes. And then allow batter to sit 5-10 minutes before baking.
****To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa and then cook 1 cup quinoa in 1 ¾ cups boiling water covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Makes about 3 cups cooked quinoa.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Enchiladas Verdes (and a casserole version!)

A few weeks ago, six other families and mine planned to get together for a pot luck at my friend Lana’s house.  One of the families keeps kosher, so we decided to go with a fish and dairy meal.  I thought these vegetable enchiladas verdes would be a great vegetarian option.  At least it seemed like a good idea at the time, but that’s because I wasn’t remembering Mr. Picky’s haircut after school that day and his basketball practice from 4-5.  I think I was just craving enchiladas on the day I volunteered and not thinking it was a bonehead move to offer to make them for 35 people.

Beautiful veggies ready to roast

Homemade enchiladas are one of my absolute favorite things to eat.  But I’m not talking about the overly cheesy and soggy kind.  I love a good (GMO-free) corn tortilla wrapped around either some poached chicken or vegetables and beans and then smothered in fresh tomatillo sauce.  You can even hold the cheese.  We ski a few times each year in Deer Valley, Utah, which is known not only for its great ski runs, but for pretty good lunch on the mountain.  Once in a blue moon they serve the most divine roasted vegetable enchiladas, which is how this recipe was inspired.  I actually prefer vegetable enchiladas over ones with chicken and my husband says he doesn’t miss the meat at all.

Roasted Vegetables

I also prefer the “green” version over the red and I love making tomatillo sauce from scratch.  Have you ever seen one of these cuties?  One of my students thought the supermarket prewraps each tomatillo in these paper husks, but in fact, they grow that way.  Tomatillos are related to tomatoes, but they have a tangy, puckery, sourness that Mr. Picky doesn’t care for, so his enchiladas are made with no sauce for now.  You know what I say?  More for me!  If you eat dairy, that tanginess does go particularly well with cheese or sour cream.  Just saying.  I tried several methods for making tomatillo sauce and broiling them on a sheet pan was not only easy, but that little bit of char on the tomatillos added tons of flavor to the sauce.  You can also boil them, but boiling vegetables, especially ones high in Vitamin C, isn’t usually my first choice.

Tomatillos

I’m sure you can see from my pictures that dicing up 3 sheet pans of vegetables was a bit of work.  When I do this for my family, it’s no big deal.  But besides the vegetable prep, there is also the task of rolling each tortilla around a small amount of filling and nestling them side by side in a baking dish.  So the first pan started that way until I started cursing myself for not having volunteered a lasagne, the perfect potluck dish to feed a crowd.  LIGHTBULB!  Enchilada Lasagne!  At the rate I was going, there was no way we would make it to dinner even fashionably late.  So I took 6 corn tortillas and made one layer on the bottom of the baking dish, dumped half of the remaining filling on top plus a few sprinkles of cheese, put down another 6 tortillas in one layer and covered the whole thing with tomatillo sauce and a bit more cheese.  2 minutes. Done.  Am I a genius or an idiot?  Toss-up.

Tomatillos Ready to be Broiled

Charred tomatillos and jalapenos

There are so many delicious vegetables you can use, or use up if you have a bunch of random odds and ends in the fridge.  This time around I used butternut squash, sweet bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus and red onions, but I have also added sweet potatoes, zucchini, and carrots.  I’ve never used sauteed or blanched greens, such as spinach or Swiss chard, but I think I will the next time around.  I was going to post this recipe next month, but it occurred to me that you all may be entertaining for the Super Bowl this weekend and my new discovery of the Enchilada Casserole would be the perfect thing to serve a crowd.  Here are a few ways to make this even easier for you:

  • Use pre-made enchilada sauce — but only if you have access to a good one or if you can’t find fresh tomatillos.
  • Make your own sauce, but do it the day before.
  • Dice and roast your vegetables the day before or first thing in the morning.  Keep them in a covered container in the fridge until you are ready to assemble your enchiladas.
  • Make the casserole version.  It will take sooooo much less time, especially if you are making more than one pan of it.
  • Assemble it in the morning.  That will give you time to clean up the family room and whip up some guacamole before your guests arrive.
  • Freeze it.  Thaw it out and bake for a delicious dinner another busy night.
Tomatillo sauce ingredients in the blender
About to roll

Are you planning on having people over for Super Bowl Sunday?  Other great options can be Vegetable Chili served over brown rice, quinoa or millet; a Taco bar; a Fajita bar; a Baked Potato bar; and of course, Guacamole and Baked Tortilla Chips.  As you can see, I am happy to cook before the opening kick-off, but then everybody needs to fend for themselves so I can concentrate on the game.  Go Giants!  By special request, my famous cornbread recipe coming up on Friday!

 enchilada casserole | pamela salzman

 

 
 
 

 
 
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Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Enchiladas Verdes (and a casserole version!)

Pamela
5 from 4 votes
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 5-6 cups mixed vegetables such as butternut squash, zucchini, sweet bell pepper, red onion, mushrooms, apsaragus, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • Olive oil for drizzling
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ cups cooked black beans or 1 15-ounce can drained and rinsed
  • Sauce:
  • 20 medium tomatillos about 2 ¼ pounds, husked and washed
  • 1 jalapeno stem removed (will make the sauce a 5 on a heat scale of 1 to 10)
  • ½ small onion peeled
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 10 sprigs cilantro
  • 1 Tablespoon sea salt
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • grated cheese (such as Monterey Jack) if desired or crumbled queso fresco

Instructions
 

  • To roast vegetables: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the vegetables on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, but not over-cooked, about 25 minutes. Add the black beans to the vegetables and mix together or put everything into a bowl to combine.
  • Place all the tomatillos and the jalapeno on a baking sheet. No need to line with parchment paper. Change the oven to broil. Place under the broiler for about 10 minutes, turning over after 5 minutes until tomatillos are lighter in color and contain a few brown spots. Change oven to 350 degrees if baking the enchiladas right away.
  • Transfer the tomatillos to a blender or a food processor with the jalapeno, 3 garlic cloves, ½ onion, cilantro and sea salt. Process until smooth. You should have 4 cups of sauce.
  • Heat a skillet over medium heat and warm the olive oil. Add the tomatillo sauce and simmer 5 minutes.
  • In the meantime, warm the tortillas on a griddle or skillet on both sides until softened.
  • Pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Place about 1/3 cup of vegetables down the middle of a tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with each tortilla. Cover all the rolled tortillas with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted, about 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately.
  • Casserole version: Pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Place 6 corn tortillas in one layer on top of the sauce. Spread all of the vegetables and beans on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Arrange another 6 corn tortillas over the vegetable mixture in one layer. Pour enough sauce to cover well and sprinkle with more cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted.

Notes

Leftovers? Chop up the enchiladas and add to a pot of chicken broth. Heat and serve. Enchilada Soup!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

 

 

 

Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Enchiladas Verdes | Pamela Salzman

 

Sesame Roasted Cauliflower with Nori

Sesame Roasted Cauliflower with Nori | Pamela Salzman

Sesame Roasted Cauliflower with Nori | Pamela Salzman

This recipe is embarrassingly simple. It’s so simple, I wasn’t sure if I should even teach it in a class, let alone dedicate a whole post to it. But when I mentioned this to my students this month, they gasped. “We want easy! We want easier than easy! Life is already hard enough. Please give us simple cauliflower!” Ok, they didn’t exactly use those words, but they might as well have. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that busy people like me can never have enough easy, healthful and delicious recipes to fall back on. So here ya go.

 

I’ve mentioned before that roasting is my favorite way to prepare cauliflower. There’s this crazy sweetness locked up inside those little florets that you might never know about unless you roasted them until they’re tender and caramelized. But tossing cauliflower (or any vegetable, for that matter) with olive oil or melted coconut oil and salt and pepper over and over again can get a little boring. So I’m mixing it up a little here by using both olive oil and toasted sesame oil for a totally new flavor. Keep in mind that toasted sesame oil is the dark kind, the one that is aromatic and fragrant and gives you a lot of flavor for a very little amount. Beside the oils, salt and pepper, I also sprinkle some raw sesame seeds on the cauliflower before roasting for fun and a little extra calcium. Normally I just use the tan ones, but I found some black sesame seeds in the bulk section at Whole Foods and decided to go for it. Who says I can’t be edgy?

But my favorite part of this dish is the final garnish, which is optional, but delish. Nori is a type of seaweed that is familiar to many people from sushi rolls or those very popular seaweed snacks. Seaweed, or sea vegetables as they are sometimes called, is something I’d really like to be eating more of as it is incredibly nutrient-dense and tasty. In fact, sea vegetables contain twenty times the mineral content of land vegetables. They are loaded with calcium, iron, dietary fiber and contain some protein to boot. Sea vegetables also contain some vitamin B12, which is very unusual to find in plant foods, so it’s a great source for vegans. If your family eats sushi or seaweed snacks, this recipe is a good opportunity for you to add this nutritious ingredient in another way. If you don’t think they’ll go for the plain, roasted nori crumbled on top of the cauliflower, then just open a package of their favorite seaweed snacks and use that instead. The next time you will likely be able to use plain nori.

One thing I’ve learned from all my years as a nutrition and garden educator for Growing Great is that parents often assume their kids won’t eat something and don’t even try. I have seen dozens of children eat salads and fresh vegetables only to find out from their parents “Oh, Johnny drives me crazy. He won’t eat anything green.” Well, have I got a surprise for you! I think the biggest mistake we can make is not consistently offering a variety of healthful foods at the dinner table. If the kids (or significant others) don’t eat them today, relax. One day they’ll come around. I have a former Miss Picky to prove it who once considered cauliflower her “enemy.” Yesterday she fought me for the last floret in the bowl.

 

 Sesame Roasted Cauliflower with Nori | Pamela Salzman

Sesame Roasted Cauliflower with Nori

Pamela, adapted from "Peak Cuisine: Adventures in Mountain Inspired Cooking"
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Servings 4 -6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large head of cauliflower cut into florets
  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 piece of roasted nori crumbled or cut into small pieces with a scissor

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Place the cauliflower florets in a serving bowl. Add both oils and to the cauliflower and toss to coat. Transfer cauliflower to the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with sesame seeds, sea salt and pepper to taste.
  • Roast in oven for 30 minutes or until tender and lightly golden. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with crumbled nori.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Stir-fried Grass-fed Beef and Broccoli

Happy Chinese New Year! Mr. Picky is very excited to celebrate the holiday at his school today and the girls are happy that I’ll be making a Chinese meal for dinner tonight. I’m fun that way! My whole family loves Chinese food, especially stir-fries which are surprisingly easy to make at home and so versatile. One of their favorite dishes is Beef and Broccoli which I serve with sesame spinach salad, mixed greens with miso-ginger dressing or steamed brown rice.

Typically I make beef more in the winter than in the summer since it is such a warming food, but we have really cut back on our beef consumption in general, mostly due to animal welfare and environmental reasons. When we do eat beef, it’s always grass-fed, which is just so much more nutritious than corn/grain-fed. I am fortunate to have many local farmer’s markets where I can buy excellent quality grass-fed meat. If you don’t have a good resource for grass-fed meat, check the Eat Wild website to locate a source close to you. Grass-fed beef can be a bit trickier to cook since it has a lower fat content than grain-fed beef and it can get dried out. But with this marinade and the quick-cooking of a stir-fry, it’s terrific!

I love loading up stir-fries with lots of fresh vegetables, especially from the cruciferous family. I try not to rant and rave about all the health benefits of plant foods since they are all basically good for you. But there are some vegetables that do deserve special mention here and more regular place in your diet. The cruciferous vegetables contain loads of nutrients, including some very powerful cancer-fighting compounds. Besides broccoli, other members of this group include cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, bok choy, kale and a few others.

Don’t let the list of ingredients in this recipe discourage you. This dish is really not complicated and there are many substitutions that can be made. If you’re vegetarian, you can use extra-firm tofu in place of the beef and substitute additional shoyu in place of the oyster sauce. Gluten-free folks can use GF tamari instead of shoyu.

Here are a couple of tips to making a good stir-fry:

  • Have all your ingredients prepped and ready since stir-frying goes very quickly.
  • Cut all your vegetables the same size so that they cook evenly.
  • Don’t double recipes for stir-fries and try to cook it all in one wok/skillet. It’s important for all the food to come into contact with the surface of the pan. If you need to double, cook the recipe in two batches or in two separate pans.
  • You don’t need a wok to stir-fry. A large skillet will be just fine.
  • If you want to vary the vegetables in your stir-fry, keep in mind whether they can be stir-fried raw or if they need to be blanched first. Examples of vegetables you can throw into the pan raw are cabbage, mushrooms, thinly sliced carrots, celery, bean sprouts and snow peas. Broccoli, cauliflower, shelled edamame and big chunks of carrots should all be blanched before adding to the wok.

Although it’s tempting to celebrate Chinese New Year by ordering take-out, it’s so much better for you and your family if you can cook at home. In fact, with this recipe, they might not even know the difference.

For a few more of our favorite Chinese dishes, check out recipes for Vegetable Fried Rice, Asian Noodle Salad and Sesame Spinach Salad (perhaps only Chinese-inspired.)

Stir-fried Grass-fed Beef and Broccoli

Pamela
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Servings 4 -6, depending on what else you're serving

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ pounds grass-fed top sirloin or flank steak trimmed of excess fat and cut against the grain into 1/8-inch thick slices*
  • Marinade:
  • 1 Tablespoon arrowroot or non-GMO cornstarch
  • 3 Tablespoons shoyu or gluten-free tamari
  • 3 Tablespoons water
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine such as Shao Hsing
  • 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • Sauce:
  • 2 Tablespoons oyster sauce or substitute extra shoyu, but oyster sauce makes it taste like it's from a restaurant
  • 1 Tablespoon shoyu or gluten-free tamari
  • 1 Tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine such as Shao Hsing I always use sherry
  • 3 Tablespoons water
  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar optional-for sweetness
  • 1 Tablespoon arrowroot or non-GMO cornstarch
  • 1 bunch broccoli cut into small florets, stems peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined peanut oil
  • 2 quarter-size pieces of fresh peeled ginger
  • 1 scallion thinly sliced (optional)
  • 2 cloves of garlic crushed

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients until arrowroot is dissolved. Transfer beef to marinade and stir to coat. Allow to marinate at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
  • Make the sauce: place all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until arrowroot is dissolved. Set aside.
  • Bring an inch or two of salted water to a boil in the wok and add the broccoli. Cover and steam until crisp tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and reserve.
  • Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Drain the beef in a colander. Add peanut oil and tilt to coat sides of wok. Add ½ of beef to wok, spreading it in one layer on the surface of the wok and allow to cook undisturbed for 1 minute or until brown. Turn beef over and cook for another 30 seconds. Transfer meat to a medium bowl. Cook remaining beef in the same manner, adding more oil if necessary. When the last batch of beef is almost finished cooking, add the ginger, scallion and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  • Add the sauce and reserved meat back to the wok. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Toss in the broccoli and stir to coat with the sauce.

Notes

*Freezing the meat for about an hour can make this job easier.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

Year of the Dragon

 

Chinese New Year is this Monday, January 23rd.  Although the latest passing food and health fads don’t hold my interest all that much,  traditional cultures that have been around for thousands of years fascinate me.  To better understand the symbolism behind Chinese New Year and this year’s animal, the dragon, I turned to my cousin, Marie Amato, a board certified (and very gifted) acupuncturist and student of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Sounds like it’s going to be a very interesting year!  In my next post, I’ll share one of my family’s favorite Chinese dishes that you can make at home — Stir-fried (Grass-fed) Beef with Broccoli.  Gong Hay Fat Choy!

Marie:

New Year’s resolution didn’t stick?  Oh, your resolution starts on the Chinese New Year?  Mine too.  It’s actually a great year in which to make some lasting changes in life. This year the Chinese New Year falls on January 23, ushering in the powerful year of the Dragon.

You may be wondering what exactly this means and how should we celebrate the arrival of a Dragon year?  Well, Chinese astrology is a complex system based on ancient Chinese cosmology and the Five Elements theory.  It truly is a science in itself, but let’s talk about what the Dragon year means so you have a little something to chat about at your Chinese New Year cocktail party…. or at the playground, whatever the more likely scenario.

The Dragon is the 5th animal of 12 in the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese animal symbols are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. This animal sequence recurs faithfully every 12 years.  Why 12 you ask?  Chinese shamanistic tradition uses an ancient concept of 12 energetic patterns of all natural cycles.  In ancient times, people lived closer to the cycles of nature (sunrise, go to work; sunset, time to rest) and through their observation of nature, the ancient Chinese understood that each natural cycle has 12 different stages with varying energies.  The animals chosen to represent each annual cycle illustrate the balance of yin and yang energy of that year.

This concept of “living closer to nature” is an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  Emphasis is placed on living in harmony with the season, eating dishes appropriate to the climate (no, no ice cream in the cold winter months) working and resting in accordance with the season and dressing appropriately to be protected from the weather.  As a TCM practitioner, I teach my patients how internal disharmonies can arise from failure to conform to the season.  Sure, eating salad is healthy but it’s so much more appropriate to eat soup in the winter time when our bodies have less of that warm, activating, yang qi to digest a cold, raw meal.  Many find that energy levels dip after eating foods that simply cannot be digested as easily in the winter as in the hot summer months.  These minor changes in diet and lifestyle can make a big difference in overall wellbeing.

In accordance to living closer to nature, it’s important to be mindful of not just the season but we must also pay attention to the energy of the year.  The year of the Dragon is a bombastic and festive year.  The dragon is the only mystical and legendary animal of the Chinese zodiac.  It is the ultimate symbol of success and happiness.  The Dragon stands for transformation, connection, communication, and freedom.  In fact, it symbolizes a year of transformation.  This transformation is very representative of yang qi, or life energy, growing stronger than the previous year.  It is a time and place of power and great strength.

When powerful qi, or energy, is circulating in the body, it is possible to feel a great transformation happening within.  Energetically, this is the time to change! It is a good time to cultivate your inner qi by doing exercises like qi gong, tai chi, or meditation.  At this time, you should give yourself nourishment to get ready for the next stage in life.  Nourishment certainly in the form of eating healthy, non-processed, seasonal food but nourishment also in the form of managing stress and resolving personal conflict.  The energetic situation of this year is at your advantage to alter old patterns, so get serious about eating well, getting regular exercise, proper rest and taking better care of yourself.

It is truly a great time to take control of your health.  See your acupuncturist for a treatment to help restore any imbalances or address nagging health problems.  Transform!  I want to encourage you to live closer to nature and utilize the energy of this powerful Dragon year to take charge of your wellbeing and have a healthy and happy New Year!

Marie Amato is a licensed acupuncturist and National Board Certified Chinese herbalist.  She is the founder of Westchester Acupuncture in New York with office locations in Hartsdale and Manhattan.  Marie is a general practitioner with special focus on women’s health, fertility, pregnancy and pediatrics.

Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal Recipe

We eat a lot of oatmeal in this house for so many reasons. It is nutritious, filling, inexpensive and incredibly easy to make.  Oatmeal is high in soluble fiber (the kind that helps reduce the absorption of cholesterol by the bloodstream), as well as rich in antioxidants and lignans, which protect against cancer and help stabilize blood sugar levels.    An oatmeal breakfast also allows me to employ the topping bar, which means everyone makes his or her own breakfast.  It’s a win-win.  During the school year, I usually cook a pot of oatmeal twice a week.  I prefer steel cut oats, also called Irish oats, because of their hearty, chewy texture.  They’re also only one step away from a whole oat groat since the grain has been merely sliced.  Old fashioned rolled oats have been steamed and rolled flat and are considered slightly less beneficial than steel cut.

When my sister told me recently that she brings instant oatmeal packets (loaded with sugar and who knows what else) with her kids to their day care for breakfast, I almost choked on my kale chips.  But I know my sister has a rough time of it getting two toddlers ready very early in the morning and out the door before 7:00 am.  Since steel cut oats can take up to 30 minutes to cook, it’s quite understandable why they don’t get made in her house on a weekday.  But since I can’t imagine life without steel cut oats (or maybe I can’t imagine life with instant oats), I sent her a crockpot as a very late new baby gift (I knew the right gift idea would come to me one day!) so that she could make the kids oatmeal overnight and have it ready when they woke up.  I was so pleased that I saved my sister from instant oatmeal, until she told me she loves her crockpot so much because she uses it for making dinner while she’s at work.

No problem!  I’m all about oatmeal solutions.  Turn to Plan B which is overnight steel cut oats, the answer for anyone who has absolutely no time in the morning.  You just boil water, add steel cut oats and a pinch of salt, cook for a minute and remove from the heat.  Keep it covered until the morning.  Then all you have to do is reheat, which takes about a minute.  You can also use this method in the morning if you wake up early and you want to go workout before everyone gets up and you don’t want to leave the stove on while you’re gone.  Just reheat when you get back.  It’s genius, really!

You know I have very little time to mess around in the morning with the two girls needing to be out the door at 6:40 am with breakfast AND lunches packed.  I can’t imagine what I would do if my kids didn’t like oatmeal.  But they sure wanted to find out!  Daughter #1 informed me a few months ago that she really doesn’t like oatmeal.  “Oh yes you do.”  “No, I don’t.”  “Haha! LOL!  JK!  Right?”  “Mom, you’re so weird.  I think oatmeal is boring.”  Well, stop right there, Missy.  I believe that when you have a problem with children, it’s best to nip it in the bud quickly before it turns into something major.  So, I took this recent turn against oatmeal VERY seriously.

Normally, I cook oatmeal in water, and stir in a little almond milk at the end for a creamy finish.  I set out a topping bar of cinnamon, dried fruit, jars of walnuts and pecans, homemade granola and whatever complementary fresh fruit I have on hand, such as bananas and berries.  Since this was no longer enough, I needed a new plan to bring her back.  Here are a few of the new versions that my daughter has approved of which really aren’t much trouble, but just make oatmeal seem special again.

  • Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (see photo)– upon reheating, stir in pumpkin puree (about 1/3 cup per person) + pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon and nutmeg, pinch of ginger and cloves), top with maple sugar, pecans and dried cranberries.
  • Chocolate Oatmeal (see photo)– prepare oats with water and finish with chocolate hemp milk, top with fresh berries and mini chocolate chips (and sometimes walnuts).
  • Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Banana — finish with chocolate hemp milk, add a spoonful of peanut butter and diced banana.
  • Oatmeal with Sauteed Apples or Pears (see photo below) — saute chopped, peeled apples or pears with a touch of coconut oil or unsalted butter, then cook with apple juice or water and a dash of cinnamon until tender.  Sometimes we add to oatmeal with walnuts or pecans.
  • Pamela’s Special — oatmeal finished with almond milk and topped with chopped almonds or walnuts, raw cacao nibs, goji berries or chopped dates, flaked unsweetened coconut.
  • The Hubby — hold the milk, but add fresh blueberries (when in season) or sliced bananas and homemade granola.
  • Mr. Picky’s favorite — oatmeal finished with raw milk and topped with 1/2 diced peach, 1/2 diced plum, a dash of cinnamon and a sprinkle of maple sugar.

Some of you mentioned to me that you like to stir in a little almond butter and that you freeze your oatmeal in individual portions.  I’m going to try that immediately.  Please share more of your oatmeal combos!

Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal

Pamela
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Servings 4 *

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup steel cut oats
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • optional: additional drizzle of milk such as almond milk or raw milk

Instructions
 

  • Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add oats and salt. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand overnight.
  • The next morning, reheat over medium heat, stirring in some milk (I usually use about 1/4 -1/3 cup) if desired for extra creaminess.

Notes

*To make 6 servings, increase water to 6 cups and oats to 1 ½ cups.
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Building a better breakfast

You probably know that people who eat breakfast generally weigh less and have a lower Body Mass Index than people who don’t eat breakfast.  Maybe you’ve learned from personal experience that when you skip breakfast, you have low blood sugar later in the morning and can be more easily tempted by junk food.  Or that you are ravenous by lunchtime and tend to overeat.  And it likely makes sense to you that children who skip breakfast more often have behavioral and learning problems at school.  There are even more reasons I can offer to reinforce the importance of eating breakfast, but I would probably be preaching to the choir.  So instead, let’s focus on how to build a better breakfast.

Personally, I get excited to wake up in the morning and eat something delicious.  But not only should my breakfast taste good, I want it to help me focus and feel energized until lunchtime. Ideally, my breakfast won’t trigger sugar cravings and more importantly it will keep my blood sugar stable throughout the morning.  This is even more important when I consider what to put in my kids’ breakfasts.  Here’s how:

  • Protein — everyone needs a certain amount of protein over the course of a day, but it’s essential that breakfast (as well as lunch) contains some form of protein.  Protein stimulates the brain to help us feel alert.  It is also takes a long time to digest, makes us feel full, and helps keep blood sugar levels stable, which is especially key for kids in school.  Protein does not just come in the form of animal protein.  Other high quality sources are organic, free-range eggs, nuts ( we love almonds, walnuts and pecans), seeds (e.g. hemp, sunflower, pumpkin), dairy (if you can tolerate it ; try sheep and goat yogurts or raw unpasteurized cow dairy), legumes and quinoa.
  • Complex (High Fiber) Carbohydrates — Not all carbs are created equal.  Complex carbs partnered with fiber and/or protein release energy into the bloodstream at a slow, steady rate and make us feel more satisfied throughout the morning.  Look for WHOLE grains such as steel cut oats, millet, quinoa, brown rice, farro and barley.  I am not a big fan of processed grains, such as cold, boxed breakfast cereals, instant oats or foods made with refined flours which your body turns into sugar really fast.
  • High Quality Fats — the brain is 60% fat and needs high quality fats to perform better.  Fats also help you feeling satisfied and full for longer.  Avocado, nuts and seeds, organic butter from grass-fed cows, whole eggs and whole dairy are all good sources.
  • Savory vs. Sweet — if you suffer from sugar cravings, starting your day with a savory meal can really help stave off the desire for sweets.  I find that if I start the day with pancakes and syrup or a fruit smoothie, I keep looking for sweet foods all day long.  The opposite is true when I start the day with something savory like eggs or soup.

I definitely think outside the box when it comes to breakfast.  We’re so accustomed to thinking we can only eat “breakfast” foods in the morning, but who says you can’t give your child a turkey sandwich on wheat or a chicken leg from last night’s dinner?  They sure beat sugared breakfast cereals!  The key here is balance and listening to your body’s cues to what feels right for you.  I love starting the day with a cup of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice.  Some people find their digestion is better off eating fruit on an empty stomach and then waiting an hour to eat something more substantial.  I prefer to have some fruit in the late afternoon, but my kids eat fresh fruit at the same time as their breakfast.  Here are a few of our favorite breakfasts:

Eggs — scrambled, hard-boiled, frittatas with leftover vegetables, Joe’s special (eggs scrambled with grass-fed ground beef, spinach and onions)  with or without a side of whole grain toast.

Yogurt Parfait — whole yogurt layered with granola and fruit or a mix of nuts, fruit and coconut

Whole Grain Pancakes served with or without a side of nitrate-free turkey bacon or chopped nuts

Quinoa Porridge — made with raw milk or almond milk, fresh fruit

Steel Cut Oatmeal — check back on Friday for a recipe for overnight oatmeal and a few of our favorite topping ideas; finished with raw milk, almond milk or hemp milk

Whole Grain French Toast made with eggs

Bircher Muesli

Yogurt or Kefir Smoothies

Whole Grain or Sprouted Toast with Almond Butter and Sliced Bananas

Soup (my favorite breakfast) — provided there is some protein, such as beans or lentils

Roasted Sweet Potato with Whole Yogurt

Toasted Millet Bread with Sliced Smoked Wild Salmon and Avocado

Leftovers from Dinner –  also a favorite — anything from fried rice to risotto to tacos

Do you have trouble getting the kids to eat breakfast in the morning?  What are some of your favorite breakfast foods??

Creamy miso-ginger dressing

When I was at Whole Foods the other day, at I was amazed by the dozens of people cradling ingredients for the big Cleanse.  I can’t imagine choosing to drink lemon juice and maple syrup mixed with cayenne pepper even once, let alone for several days straight in order to detoxify my body.  Sorry peeps, no cleanse recipes here!  I hate to disappoint you if you were expecting instructions on how to starve yourself cranky, but why not just eat clean, real food?  I know, it’s not a fad and we are obsessed with fads, especially diet-related.  If a cleanse is the only way for some people to break some bad habits, then ok.  But I haven’t seen any research-based evidence that our bodies need such a crazy drink to get rid of toxins.  In fact, I actually think it’s pretty cool how efficient our bodies can be at eliminating toxins, provided we don’t overload our systems non-stop.  Just a thought.

I personally have never done a “cleanse.”  I really don’t do well when I’m told there are entire food groups that are off limits.  So I indulge a little more than normal during the holidays, but then I make a commitment to start eating normally again.  I especially like to pay particular attention to vegetables which never seem to be controversial in any diet, new or old.  I think it’s pretty unanimous advice that we should be consuming loads of vegetables.  In the winter I eat fewer raw vegetables since they tend to be more cooling to the body, but I do love my salads.  So to “warm” them up a bit, I like to make this delicious cream-less dressing which is based on fresh gingerroot and miso.  Ginger is perfect for winter since it’s warming to the body, and did you know it’s incredibly anti-inflammatory?  Fresh ginger has a real hot and spicy kick to it, so a little goes a long way.  I found that out the hard way when I juiced a big piece of ginger once with some kale and celery and I thought my eyes would pop out of my head.  Peel it like I did here with a vegetable peeler and then get into the hard-to-reach spots by scraping the peel with a small spoon.

Although most of you are likely familiar with ginger, I don’t meet a lot of people who know what miso is or how to use it.  It’s your lucky day!!  Miso is a fermented soybean paste made by combining cooked soybeans, mold (called koji), salt and various grains.  Then it’s fermented for 6 months to several years.  There are dozens of varieties of miso, as well as different colors from pale beige.  As you would imagine, each type has its own distinctive flavor ranging from meaty and savory to sweet and delicate.  In general, the darker and deeper the color, the longer the miso has been fermented and the richer the flavor.  The first time I tasted miso straight out of the tub, it reminded me of parmesan cheese, which is how I came to use miso to make a vegan/dairy-free pesto.

I usually buy the white miso to make soup and use in sauces and dressings, like this one.  It seems to be the most versatile, although a word of caution — not all miso pastes are gluten-free.  Miso is a live food with many microorganisms that are beneficial to your digestion.  That said, you must only buy unpasteurized, refrigerated miso and you must avoid boiling it otherwise you will kill the good bacteria.  Since most soy in this country is genetically modified, also look for miso labeled “organic” or at least “non-GMO.”  I prefer to buy miso sold in glass jars, like South River Miso, but I can’t always find it, so Miso Master packaged in this plastic tub is the next best thing.  My family has eaten at enough Japanese restaurants and Benihanas to know what miso soup and miso salad dressings are, so that’s how I introduced miso at home.  It’s always easier for me to present a “health food” to the kids if it looks reasonably familiar, and most importantly, if it’s delicious.  Because for this girl, deprivation ain’t no way to welcome a brand new year.

Mixed Greens with Creamy Miso-Ginger Dressing

Pamela
5 from 3 votes
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • Vinaigrette:
  • 2 Tablespoons unpasteurized organic white miso
  • 2 Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons raw honey
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger (use less for a more subtle ginger flavor)
  • 1 small clove garlic peeled
  • ¼ cup unrefined cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces mixed baby greens
  • Optional vegetables: thinly sliced radishes julienned carrots or sweet bell peppers, sliced avocado, thinly sliced unpeeled Japanese cucumber

Instructions
 

  • Puree all vinaigrette ingredients in a blender until smooth. Taste for salt.
  • Place greens and any vegetables you are using in a serving bowl. Add enough vinaigrette to coat lightly and gently toss.

Notes

You can also use this dressing on top of poached or roasted fish, lightly cooked broccoli or greens with brown rice, and quinoa salads.
Fresh ginger freezes really well. Peel it first, then tightly wrap it before storing it in the freezer. Allow it sit on your countertop a few minutes before cutting it. It is not a good idea to use a ceramic knife to cut frozen ginger (ask me how I know this.)
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