Summer Squash Recipe

I am going to call it foresight...I think Greg would use a different word altogether, but whatever it is...lets just say I had A LOT of it when I planted a teeny-tiny Italian yellow squash plant last spring...

That little guy has basically taken over my garden and in the process--yielded many MANY offspring--so much so that we are having a hard time keep up with the summer squash bounty.

But instead of being overwhelmed by the deluge, we are just eating A LOT of yellow squash--which is not such a terrible thing especially since there a loads of good recipes out there.

And the best recipe I found so far this summer is one for a light & healthy salad--

works well with zucchini too.

Its basically like a squash carpaccio.

Its pretty simple...

first, I make thyme-infused oil for the dressing 

by steeping a bunch of thyme in some olive oil on the stove. 

Heat oil until bubbles appear; add thyme...turn off heat, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

Next, grab whatever zucchini or (in my case) yellow squash you have lying around

6-8 small squash total--baby squash is better; thinly sliced with either mandolin or veg peeler

(remove some outer skin and stop when you get to seeds--should have long wide swipes)

6 squash blossoms

about a cup of cherry tomatoes halved or small tomatoes sliced

about 1/3 cup, more or less, of fresh ricotta

1/4 fresh basil leaves or mint leave or combo of both, torn

one lemon, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

Arrange squash strips on platter, top with squash blossoms, dollops of ricotta, tomatoes, herbs, s+p and

red pepper flakes...drizzle with thyme oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice...

So summery, fresh, healthy and satisfying...

Its kind of amazing, really--this bounty of summer!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Clementine Cake

On Saturday, we were supposed to go see the Cherry Blossom Festival because this weekend was the end of the peak period for the one-hundred year old trees in full bloom--(in 1902, the city of Tokyo, Japan gave Washington D.C. 3,000 cherry trees, and this year, the city is celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the trees.  Very sweet, no?)  

The trees usually start to bloom around April 4 and this year they started blooming on March 20.  We had more than a few days of very unseasonably warm weather and well, all the blossoms starting going crazy, very early!  But, as luck would have it, this past weekend, we reverted back to full-on Spring weather and it was cold, rainy, gray and cloudy...I guess like how it should be.  And because its not the most fun thing to be caught in a down pour with a 4 year old and a 7 year old, we cancelled our plans...

So, no Cherry Blossom Festival for us this year.  Sad.  

Instead of going downtown, though, we stayed home and made a cake.

And because of my recent detox/cleanse, I decided to make a gluten-free cake...why not?  We had all the ingredients; I had a recipe I wanted to tweak a bit..and we happen to have A LOT of clementines on hand...so perfect, we got to baking...and juicing...

 The cake is not even close to being healthy or good for you...

about all it can claim to be, health-wise, is gluten-free.  

But its incredibly moist, with a nice refreshing sweetness from the tangerines.  

The texture is nice and light and a slice of this cake goes quite well 

with a cup of tea on a rainy, Spring day.

You could also make this with lemon and that would be nice, too.

 Clementine Drizzle Cake

adapted from Gluten Free Baking

 by Phil Vicery

Makes: one 8-inch round cake

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking: 30 minutes, plus cooling

For the cake

vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs, at room temp

2 cups brown rice flour

1 cup fine cornmeal or corn flour

1/4 cup corn starch

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil, scant

zest and juice of 4 clementines

For the syrup

2 clementines

6 tablespoons sugar

Powder sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil and 8-inch round cake pan with a removable bottom and line base with parchment paper.

Whisk the sugar and the eggs together in a food processor until thick and cream.  Sift together the flours, baking powder and corn starch and add this to the sugar and eggs.  Whisk in the milk, yogurt, oil and zest.  (reserving the juice for the syrup.)

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for about 30 minutes, until firm and springy in the center.  Test with a toothpick. Once baked, remove from oven and allow to cool in pan.

To make the syrup, squeeze the clementines, and using reserved juice (for total of about 1/2 cup) place in small pan with sugar and boil together for 1 minute.  

Prick the warm cake all over with a skewer while its still in the pan, then pour on the hot syrup, filling the holes.  Once cake is cool, carefully remove it from pan and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Dust with powder sugar and serve.

Enjoy!

A 21-Day Detox Cleanse--again...

So, last year, Greg and I did Dr. Junger's CLEAN cleanse--

It was intense and I pretty much fought it every step of the way.

(I think my problem was that we did it starting Jan 1 or 2 when all I wanted was 

cold weather comfort food, red wine and chocolate every night after work!)  

But regardless, I acknowledged the reaped benefits of giving my body 3 weeks rest by eliminating many, many foods that are hard to digest--like gluten, dairy, eggs and soy--to name a FEW.  Because, even though it was hard, at the end of last year's cleanse--I realized it was an incredibly valuable thing to do for my health and I vowed to do the cleanse every year going forward...

Well, that time has come--I have started this year.  And this is basically what it is...

For 21 Days, you eliminate:

Any kind of wheat aka gluten, pasta, bread, crackers, tortillas, baked goods, oats, couscous, dairy, butter, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, white/brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, artificial sweetners, carbonated beverages, bananas, strawberries, grapes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, white potatoes, citrus-except lemons, peanuts, eggs, mayo, ketchup, store bought salad dressings, red meat, white rice, corn, soy, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods.

For 21 Days, you embrace:

Avocado, hummus, miso, mango, pineapple, rasberries, blueberries, apples, watermelon, leafy green vegetables, zucchini, cucumber, carrot, butternut squash, broccoli, asparagus, rice milk, almond milk, brown rice, wild rice, millet, quinoa, lentils, beans, raw nuts, cold pressed oils, agave nectar, cold water fish, lean lamb, duck, chicken, turkey, garlic, onion, mushrooms, vinegars, mustards, home-made pestos, seeds, herbs & spices, green tea, almond butter, cashew butter, gluten free flours.

The foods you eliminate are potentially difficult for us to break down...if we are always eating them, its possible that we don't even realize we have trouble with them...The foods that are embraced are relatively easy to digest, highly nutritious and not typical allergens.

The other part of Dr. Junger's thinking is that the body can only heal itself when it has time to rest.  If we are always eating, we are always digesting and this doesn't allow us much down time.  On this cleanse, you have your main meal during the day at lunch time--a meal that typically contains a lean protein, greens and non-wheat grain, like wild rice or quinoa.  You then have a fresh veg/fruit juice/soup/smoothie for dinner and then again for breakfast.  You allow 12 hours to pass between your evening liquid meal and your morning liquid meal.  Smoothies can be made with almond or coconut milk, hemp protein powder, frozen fruit..etc.  Soups can be made raw or cooked. 

Freshly juiced vegetables and fruits--basically a powerhouse of health...in a glass...

There are other things you do that I will explain along the way.

  This is Day Four and here is how my weekend went...

First off...Top priority with any detox program is to drink 

PLENTY OF PURIFIED CLEAN ROOM-TEMP WATER.  

With Lemon!  All day, every day...with lemon.  Lemon is very good for the liver and really, this is what a detox is all about..There are several herbal supplements to aid and assist and I take those after the mid-day meal--will list those below.  And green tea...the whole world knows about how good green tea is for you, so I won't go into it here--but just suffice it to say...

I am drinking a lot of it!

A.M. Smoothie

Coconut milk, almond milk, almond butter, hemp protein powder, 

ground flax seeds, frozen raspberries, agave nectar...not bad!

Greg is a big fan of almond milk, blueberries, cocoa powder, almond butter and agave.

Mid-Day Snack

The point of this program is not to starve yourself or calorie deprivation.  You can have a mid-morning snack and a mid-afternoon snack.  Apples; handful of almonds, cashews or walnuts; brown rice cake with avocado; brown rice cake with almond butter & agave; hummus and baby carrots--all good choices.   I found these dried fruit & nut bites rolled in sesame seeds and a friend passed on this great recipe for lemon treats rolled in coconut.  I made different flavors of these kind of home-made LARA bars last year.

Yippee!! Lunch time--Real food...time to eat!!

Ok, this is an example of a vegetarian option...

On a bed of arugula and red cabbage-that I dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I piled on steamed broccoli--LIGHTLY steamed not over cooked...same with steamed rings of acorn squash. I topped with a home-made tahini sauce, cashews and sea salt.  Along side, I did a quinoa (a complete protein, btw) salad tossed with apple cider vinegar, olive oil, shallots, apples, raisins, chopped fresh herbs, cumin and sea salt.  It was so much, I couldn't eat it all!  As a rule, you should eat till you are 80% full.  Inspiration for recipe here.

Another vegetarian recipe, and this one was seriously SO good...

Vegetarian Nori Rolls with Nut "Rice"

Soak walnuts and sunflower seeds for 2 hours (makes them easier to digest) and then along with a hand full of fresh herbs and half an onion, toss all into food processor...whirl/pulse around until it resembles grains of rice--it really does look like rice, kind of, and its surprisingly good...

I then laid the nut "rice" on a toasted sheet of nori, topped with carrots, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, red cabbage or baby spinach.  Roll up, slice and dip into wheat-free tamari along with wasabi and ginger.

Incredibly satisfying and does not feel like you are depriving yourself AT ALL!!

The recipe to this is in CLEAN the book by Dr. Junger (and in link to pdf at end of post)...which if you think this is something you would like to consider doing--I HIGHLY recommend buying and reading CLEAN.  Besides being very informative, this is serious stuff and its good to be as well informed as possible.  If you were to google Clean clease, you'll get to the website that offers a "kit" for a 21 day detox session.  The kit is $425.  If you read the $10 book, you will find out everything you need to know--and what to get, on your own, so you don't have to buy the kit.  

That is what we did...

 In a bit of a nutshell, what you need to get:

Supplements--

1) Garlic--great antibacterial & detox aid.

2) Fiber--you can add powder to smoothies/juice/soups 

OR you can take in capsule form...Ground flax seed is recommended.

but either way its crucial that you move your bowels at least ONCE a day.  

Fiber is a very critical piece in the whole detox puzzle.

3) Omega-3s--just good to take.

4) Papaya enzyme--that is more me; it aids in digestion.

5) Probiotics--Absolutely necessary...

what we do to our poor gut by using all those anti-biotics is pretty incredible.  

Here is a chance to put some of the good guys back.

6) An herbal liver detox supplement...because it is all about the liver.
NOW makes a good one.

7) Organic olive oil--will explain later...

8)Plus, it is necessary to add protein powder to A.M. smoothie.  

This is great non-dairy hemp protein powder.

Other things to do:

1) Dry Skin Brush--Before you jump in the shower, you give your arms, legs, back, front side a little sloughing off of the old skin..the skin is hugely important in moving out toxins and this is a great way to get things going.

2) Hot/Cold showers--Hot as you can stand it for 30 seconds; cold as you can stand it for 30 seconds.  Repeat, and then repeat again--several times. Simple, challenging, exhilarating.

3) Use pure natural oils (like jojoba) as skin moisturizers instead of store bought lotions.  Try to limit make-up as much as possible.  Use organic, basic products to wash your self, hair, face, clothes, sheets, dishes, kids, pets, house.  Basic ingredients that you can pronounce and with nothing artificial in them.

No petrol-chemicals!

4) Exercise/Sweat--To get the toxins out, you have to sweat.  There is just no way around it.  Walk at least 15 mins a day...at least...exercising may seem counter-intuitive when restricting calories like this, but TRUST ME! You will feel amazing!!  I took a 15 minute sauna session this weekend after exercising and it was GLORIOUS!!

5) Yoga/Meditation--Stretch at least 10 minute before you go to bed and meditate for at least 5...but I know you can do more!  Meditating is challenging but think of it as a cleanse for the mind.  Just try to sit still and count your exhales till you get to 4 and start again.  You will get better with pracitce--I promise!!

Limit tv/computer...catch up on good book or some creative endeavor...or just go to bed early and catch up on some much needed sleep.

BUT BEFORE YOU DO!

 Have your P.M. MEAL

A juice is simplest and easiest to digest.  But it was cold this weekend, so I made this carrot/ginger/miso soup.  I chopped 3 cups carrots, an inch of ginger and added to 6 cups of water.  After the water came to a boil, I simmered for 15 mins till carrots became tender.  Using my immersion blender, I pureed and then added a couple tablespoons of miso paste.  Stirred till smooth and enjoyed with fresh dill and sea salt.

And remember, if you have your P.M. meal at 6pm, then you do not eat again till 6 A.M...with the exception of the olive oil right before bed, water and herbal teas.

Last thing you have to do, and I promise, this is it...is take a tablespoon or two of olive oil right before turning in.  Drink down with lemon water.  It helps moves things along...

Carrot/Miso/Ginger Soup

So, that it!!  19 more days to go...After you are done, you are in this unique situation to add the more problems food back into your diet, one by one, and see how you react...you may have an allergy to something you had no idea about.  It can be very interesting to see how your blank canvass, so to speak, reacts to foods that can be hard to digest.

But the funny thing is, that this time around--this year: I am not fighting it.  I am actually kind of into it (ok, so I am day four--I am sure I could be singing a different tune on day 19...)

But I feel calm, centered, well (i.e. no stomach issues);

and I am not cursing the person's name who got us into this in the first place--

like I was last year! : )

and seriously all of this without my red wine and chocolate!!

So, there you have it...

You won't hear from me again on the subject--I don't like to preach.  But if this sounds interesting to you and you have some questions, please don't hesitate to drop me a line and I will do my best to help.  

As Magda says...HAPPY CLEANSE!  

  

Here is some additional reading that you might find helpful.
Check out this fun, informative blog report from an actual participant and
this blog for some more inspiration.


Here is Dr. Junger's website.
Here is the link to the awesome official pdf (that you can download) that basically says it all..
Loads of recipes

Finally, there are some more great recipes here and here.

As is ALWAYS the case, do check with your doctor before beginning any sort of detox program.

Recipe: Quinoa

Have you heard of quinoa but just haven't a clue what to do with it?  Have you tried it once or twice--maybe you weren't all that thrilled but you're up for trying it again?  Maybe you totally love it but you've run out of fabulous recipes??  Well, if you have answered yes to any of these pressing questions, you have come to right place.  Greg and I ate a LOT of quinoa when we were doing our cleanse/detox/elimination diet back in January and have come to truly admire and respect this...um....well, food stuff, BUT--what is QUINOA exactly??

A little bit about Quinoa from Wikipedia:

"Quinoa ( /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɪˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds.

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source ofdietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights."

The following recipe, from Dr. Junger's Clean Detox program,  is very flavorful and satisfying.  The first time I tried this dish I was surprised at how incredibly tasty it was (and honestly, before this, I never would have refered to Quinoa as "incredibly tasty"...) There is a nice crunch from the almonds and carrots.  The unexpected sweetness from the agave and currants goes surprisingly well with the acid of the lime and the spice of the cumin which dresses this salad.  And then there is the mint...I love mint and its just perfect in this.  Sometimes it just nice to eat food that is simple and uncomplicated.  We all indulge and over-do-it from time to time and I, for one, like the idea of swinging to the other end of that spectrum once in a while...just to balance things out...

Alejandro Junger’s Recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh

Ingredients:
- 2 cups Quinoa, cooked--its very easy, just follow directions on package.
- 1 TB parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1/4 cup almonds, chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots, diced
- 1/4 cup mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup scallions, sliced
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 tsp Agave Nectar
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
1.  Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well to combine.
2.  Let the quinoa tabbouleh stand for at least 30 minutes… it is even better the next day!

Recipe: Granola

At my house, we love home-made granola...its great with yogurt or straight out of the jar. When I realized how easy it was to make, I tried many different recipes--all mostly good, but then I found the easiest recipe of them all--and in my opinion, it happens to be the best.    

Honey-Pecan Granola

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups old-fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, 1/3 cup wildflower or orange blossom honey, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt; mix well to coat.  Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Bake until oats are lightly golden, 30 minutes, stirring half way through.  Let cool completely on sheet. (Store in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to three weeks.)  Makes 4 1/2 cups.

(From Martha Stewart Everyday Food, October 2010.)

I add something different every time, but I always add 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut in with dry ingredients and this particular time, I also added 1/2 cup of pepitas.  But I do mix it up; using walnuts, hazelnuts, cinnamon, ginger, sunflower seeds, etc, etc.  AFTER the granola comes out of the oven and has cooled down, I mix in 3/4 cup dried fruit, like cranberries or raisins--never bake the dried fruit with the oats; they will burn and taste yucky...can you tell I speak from experience?

For my vegan friends, I bet you could absolutely substitute olive oil for the butter and agave syrup for the honey--just use a little less agave.  

Seriously delicious and it takes all of 10 minutes to make...so, so good...but don't take my word for it.  Here are the results from my official granola taste tester...

Recipe: DATE SHAKE

If you grew up in or spent any amount of time in Southern California and took trips to Palm Springs AND if you were lucky enough to go thru a little town called Indio--you know exactly what I am talking about...DATE SHAKES...loved them as a kid and with my re-discovery of the date --I really like the idea of them now...but while I remember the original shake (with vanilla ice cream; NYTs shares the recipe here) being a little bit out of the every day realm, my sis told me that she makes a dairy-free version and I thought that was a great idea; so here is my recipe...feel free to ammend to your liking.
Its really good and my kids LOVE it!!

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1 frozen banana (peeled and cut into chunks before frozen) OR not frozen but add 2-3 ice cubes
6 dates (Medjool variety are best) about 1/3 cup; give them a rough chop
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon of maple syrup or other sweetener like agave nectar--use a little less if using agave.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a little protein powder never hurt--I add a tablespoon of hemp protein powder in the morning.
dash of cinnamon and/or nutmeg (optional)


Directions:

Put the dates in a small bowl and sprinkle with the warm water. Let soak for 5 minutes to soften, then drain.  This step can be skipped but you may end up with bits of dates at bottom of blender.

Place almond milk in blender and at high speed, add dates, a little at a time until the dates are completely pulverized. Add frozen banana chunks, one at a time; blend till smooth. Add sweetener and spices--give one last whirl and serve immediately!

just a little side note: organic dates are EXPENSIVE; conventional dates--not so much.  just fyi..

Godiva--it is not...

My husband & I recently did a 28-day cleanse. We followed Dr. Alejandro Junger's CLEAN program and if you read Goop you know what I am talking about...its was basically four weeks of no dairy, no gluten, no sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine, no soy, no corn, no night shade veggies...did I mention NO ALCOHOL?? And it was challenging, for sure. But what probably the most enlightening part of the whole thing was the fact that it showed me that we didn't really eat as healthy as I thought we did. I mean we have always put a huge priority on organics and cooking at home and eating a healthy diet filled with fruits, vegetables, moderate dairy, lean protein and whole grains. But even in this healthy diet, there are still items that our bodies have a hard time breaking down and leave us feeling sluggish. Dairy and gluten are the two big culprits. Anyway, this post is about how I am kind of changing my way of thinking about food and am embracing this new way of eating as a lifestlye change...and as hard as it was to turn this moving train around (imagine The Barefoot Contessa going gluten/dairy free--simply does not compute!) we both feel good and will just see how this whole thing progresses.

Ok, so I was looking for a recipe for energy bars for the kids in this new spirit of change and I came across this recipe. It sparked a whole lot of other ideas for other tasty flavor combos. I have shaped mine into balls instead of bars because I thought the whole truffle shape was a nice touch with Valentine's Day coming up, but don't get your hopes up THAT high...But they are good, just in a different kind of way. Finally, I just have to say, the lowly date is an amazing powerhouse packed with sweet goodness...I highly recommend them!

Fruit-and-Nut Energy Bars

by Family Fun Magazine

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pecans
• 1/3 cup dried apples
• 1/3 cup pitted dates
• Cinnamon

Instructions

1. To make apple-pecan bars, grind 1/3 cup pecans in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Transfer the nuts to a bowl, then process 1/3 cup each pitted dates and dried apples. Add the nuts and a pinch of cinnamon, then process until the mixture holds together when squeezed.
2. Add the nuts and a pinch of cinnamon, then process until the mixture holds together when squeezed.
3. Divide it into six portions, mold each into a bar, and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Makes 6 bars.

More Fabulous Flavors
Follow the steps above, using 1/3 cup of the nuts and 1/3 cup of each dried fruit:
Apricot Muffin: dates, dried apricots, and almonds
Cherry Tart: dates, dried cherries, and walnuts
Peanut Butter Snap: dates (2/3 cup), peanuts, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt
Tropical: dried mango, dried pineapple, pecan, finely shredded coconut
Chocolate-Almond Truffle: sliced almonds, 3/4 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (more to taste), agave. shredded coconut (optional)

My Personal Fav--Cashew Cookie: dates, cashews...perfect.