Happy Easter everyone! I hope today is filled with family and food and cute woodland creatures, and maybe some chocolates too. But don’t get too crazy. Remember, Easter & Halloween are dentists’ favorite holidays.
I will be enjoying the day with family, having an egg hunt, dying hard boiled eggs, eating some ham, and yeah probably having more than a few pieces of candy. 🙂 (Oh, and don’t tell, but I totally want to surprise everyone with this unbelievably easy [microwave only!] carrot cake recipe and healthy cream cheese frosting! I really hope it is as delicious as it sounds.)
Enjoy the roundup below of creative, healthy ideas to make this the best Easter ever!
Towards the end of February, it seems like nothing will ever grow again, and a juicy summer tomato is but a dream. Most Americans just go to the supermarket and buy whatever exotic fruits or produce they are craving with no regards to whence it came, how many miles it has traveled, or how the nutrients have been degraded by early harvest and long travel time between dirt and plate.
I strongly encourage those yearning for the warmer days of spring where every corner bursts with greenery to make use of the oft-neglected seasonal produce. Try searching Local Harvest for farmers markets near you. Root crops store so well, while cold-tolerant crops are appearing in local markets. If you are lucky you may even have farmers with greenhouses or cold hoops that grow tender baby greens and lettuces.
Many people cannot name 5 produce items that are in season any time of the year other than mid-summer, and maybe not even then. During the coldest, bleakest times of winter it is especially hard to think of produce actually being able to withstand the harsh temperatures. But in New England, there are tons of vegetables that you can find for mere pennies at the local markets, including: carrots, fingerling potatoes, beets (red and gold), rutabaga, squash, parsnips, turnips, radishes, leeks, onions, Brussels sprouts, baby micro-greens, spinach, kale, collards, and mushrooms.
This recipe makes a large meal for one, or side dish for two. Feel free to mix up the vegetable content based on what you have available right now and what you like. But if you are wary of these produce types, just try one and see how you like it. You never know when you may fall in love with the sweetness of a golden beet, the carrot-like texture of parsnips, or the nuances of various radish strains.
Ingredients:
1 parsnip
1 leek
1 carrot
2 garlic cloves
2 green onion
1 small potato
3-4 small beets
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
Step 1: Cut the tops and bottoms off of your produce, and dice into chunks or slices. Add the olive oil & lemon to a frying pan, and add all the vegetables. Cover tightly, and steam 5-10 minutes. Stir up the veggies, cover, and steam another 10 minutes or so. You want the heat low enough that it will slowly caramelize the sugars in the vegetables, not burn them.
Step 2: Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Either serve alone or on the side with a meat and salad. I enjoyed mine with some roasted chicken, baby greens, and homemade sauerkraut on top. It is so simple, yet so wonderfully tasty!
For a quick, healthy lunch, tuna salad is always a go-to. Pretty much all you need is a can or pouch of tuna and some lemon juice, but there are infinite ways you can spruce it up.
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For example:
Add a chopped hard boiled egg
Toss in diced celery
Shred up some carrots
Add chunks of apple
Spoon in a few tbsp of relish
Hot sauce!
And many more options, as creative as your mind can dream up. This particular recipe came about because the baby oranges were on sale, and we needed to use some up before they dried out and became inedible. Oranges go great with tuna, but I wanted just a little bit more to round out the flavor. Dried cherries were just the thing. Feel free to use raisins or cranberries if that is what you have.
Ingredients:
1 can or pouch of tuna, drained
1 small orange (or 1/2 can mandarin orange slices)
1 tbsp dried cherries (or cranberries or raisins)
1 tbsp mayo or miracle whip
1 tsp lemon juice or cider vinegar
1-2 cups chopped greens, or a wrap, or 2 slices of bread
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Step 1: Open and drain a can of tuna, mix in a bowl with the mayo and lemon juice. Add in the cherries.
Step 2: Either wrap it up, make it into a sandwich, or serve it over a salad, topped with the orange slices. Season to taste and enjoy!
Hopefully you have someone or many someones close to you to celebrate with this weekend. Valentine’s Day of course causes some polarizing feelings, based on what your relationship status is it seems. But there are more types of love than romantic love. Try taking today to celebrate all your loved ones, including your family, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, and even random strangers. Everyone could use a hug or a smile or a kind word.
If you want to try impressing your loved one(s) with a home-cooked meal but feel daunted, try searching my “less than 5” section for recipes that take less than 5 minutes, less than 5 ingredients, or less than 5 dollars to make.
This recipe is a light, easy slaw using ingredients that are around in February: cabbage, carrots, and beets. Dried cherries or cranberries and honey sweeten it up, while apple cider vinegar & lemon juice gives it pucker power. And the beets give it a lovely pink color!
Ingredients:
1/4 large cabbage
1 large carrot
2 medium beets
1 tbsp dried cherries or cranberries
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Step 1: Cut the tops off the beets, place in an oven-safe sprayed pan and roast at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until tender when pricked with a fork. Dice or shred the cabbage into small strips. You will need about 3-4 cups, but can halve or double the recipe as needed.
Step 2: Julienne the carrots or shred them. (Julienne means essentially cut into very thin strips like matchsticks). When the beets are soft, let cool enough to handle and then cut them into thin strips as well.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, beets, and dried cherries or cranberries.
Step 4: In a smaller bowl, combine the oil, honey, lemon, and vinegar and whisk until well combined.
Step 5: Pour the liquid over the vegetables in the bowl. Add some salt & pepper to taste.
Step 6: Mix everything well to coat, and refrigerator for 1 hour up to 2 weeks.
The liquid mixed with the beets turns a nice red-pink color. This slaw is super healthy, and tastes great on its own or slathered onto sandwiches or hot dogs. You can also pickle it by adding slightly more vinegar to cover in a bowl or jar, and leaving it out at room temperature for 4-7 days. Then put on a lid and put it in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
One of the hardest hurdles when transitioning to healthier eating, at least for the majority of people, is eating leafy greens. We all know that leafy greens are the healthiest things out there. They contain tons of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They cost us next to zero calories to consume. Greens are full of digestible and indigestible fiber to keep your digestive system strong and healthy.
So why do they taste so bad?
Foods which to us taste bitter have an array of compounds in them that naturally protect the delicate leaves from insects who would love to snack at the salad bar of nature. It is these compounds which tend to be so beneficial for our health. Unfortunately, humans usually dislike the bitter taste at first. Fortunately, you can re-train your taste buds to enjoy bitter, and there are many cooking techniques to make bitter foods more palatable.
Adding small amounts of high quality fat like olive oil, or a sour taste like vinegar or lemon juice, can help temper the bitterness of greens. Sea salt or other salty sources like hard cheeses also helps mask the harsher flavors and draw out the sweeter notes. My recipe for simply sauteed power greens uses these techniques to create a delicious side dish that even most greens-haters can enjoy.
In this simple breakfast recipe, I combine those techniques with fresh eggs for a superstar breakfast that is ready in under 10 minutes, packed with vitamins and nutrients and protein, and will keep you happy and full all morning long. Enjoy over some brown rice or with whole wheat toast for a well rounded meal.
Ingredients:
1-2 fresh organic eggs, if possible
1 large bunch greens (kale, collards, mustard greens, etc) or a mixture of greens to make about 1 – 1 1/2 cups
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp hard, salty cheese such as Parmesan
Optional: 1-2 slices wheat bread or 1/2 cup brown rice
Step 1: Rinse your greens to remove any dirt, and slice into thin strips or shred by hand. Add the oil to the pan, then the greens, and drizzle with lemon juice. Cover with a lid, and steam the greens for 5-7 minutes. Optional: you can add a chopped clove or two of garlic
Step 2: Mix the greens, they should be bright and slightly wilted now. Use a spoon or spatula to make a small indent in the pile of greens, and crack an egg into the hole. Cover again, and steam for another 5-7 minutes. The longer you cook the egg, the more well-done the yolk becomes. 5-7 minutes will leave it slightly runny, as in above photo.
Once the egg is cooked to your desired done-ness, remove to a plate and serve! I sprinkled a little hard cheese over the egg, which gives it the perfect salty balance to the tart & bitter greens. You can also use sea salt for the same effect.
You can easily increase this recipe to feed several more people, simply increase the volume of greens and crack in one to two eggs per person. This is delightful plain with toast, or you could serve with black beans, salsa, hot sauce, relish… whatever floats your culinary boat.
Ahhh the tiny but mighty Brussels sprout. The divider of nations. The cruciferous ruiner of relationships. You get the idea.
Brussels sprouts tend to be a very polarizing vegetable. For as many veggie lovers that swear by the carmelized candy that is roasted sprouts, there are another 1-2 sad souls who have been turned off by less-than-ideal preparations of boiled, rubbery, or wilty sprouts and swear off these delicate nutrition-packed powerhouses.
Brussels sprouts grow on stalks up to three feet tall, and each bud resembles a miniature cabbage, with a diameter of 1/2 -2 inches. Typically sold in grocery stores removed from the stalk, they can be found in farmers markets and some specialty stores still attached. They also are offered canned or frozen, though I cannot vouch for their nutrient content or flavor in such preparations.
Brussels sprouts are members of the family which includes broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, known as Brassicas. These vegetables are lauded in nutrition circles for their hefty doses of vitamins A, C, and K, folate, and anti-inflammatory and potentially cancer-preventing compounds.
Brussels sprouts can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will use a steaming method when cooking them. The fiber-related components in Brussels sprouts do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they’ve been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it’s easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw Brussels sprouts still have cholesterol-lowering ability — just not as much as steamed Brussels sprouts.
Brussels sprouts may have unique health benefits in the area of DNA protection. A recent study has shown improved stability of DNA inside of our white blood cells after daily consumption of Brussels sprouts in the amount of 1.25 cups. Interestingly, it’s the ability of certain compounds in Brussels sprouts to block the activity of sulphotransferase enzymes that researchers believe to be responsible for these DNA-protective benefits.
For total glucosinolate content, Brussels sprouts are now known to top the list of commonly eaten cruciferous vegetables. Their total glucosinolate content has been shown to be greater than the amount found in mustard greens, turnip greens, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, or broccoli. In Germany, Brussels sprouts account for more glucosinolate intake than any other food except broccoli. Glucosinolates are important phytonutrients for our health because they are the chemical starting points for a variety of cancer-protective substances. All cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates and have great health benefits for this reason. But it’s recent research that’s made us realize how especially valuable Brussels sprouts are in this regard.
The cancer protection we get from Brussels sprouts is largely related to four specific glucosinolates found in this cruciferous vegetable: glucoraphanin, glucobrassicin, sinigrin, and gluconasturtiian. Research has shown that Brussels sprouts offer these cancer-preventive components in special combination.
Brussels sprouts have been used to determine the potential impact of cruciferous vegetables on thyroid function. In a recent study, 5 ounces of Brussels sprouts were consumed on a daily basis for 4 consecutive weeks by a small group of healthy adults and not found to have an unwanted impact on their thyroid function. Although follow-up studies are needed, this study puts at least one large stamp of approval on Brussels sprouts as a food that can provide fantastic health benefits without putting the thyroid gland at risk.” READ MORE HERE
For those who are wary of Brussels sprouts, from past experience or a lack of experience, try this salad to introduce them. Finely shaved sprouts are mixed with naturally sweet fruit (apples and raisins) and coated in a mixture of sweet and tangy dressing to produce a side salad, or even main dish, of healthy intent sneakily hiding under the guise of almost-dessert. Everyone can feel good about eating this. Try it at your next picnic, potluck, as a Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish, or just because it’s Tuesday night.
Ingredients:
1 pound Brussels sprouts, shredded or diced very finely
1 apple, diced very thin
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp raisins
Step 1: Rinse your sprouts, and either use a shredder or a sharp knife to finely dice them, and put in a large bowl.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, mix the lemon juice, honey, mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Use as high quality an oil as you are able.
Step 3: Very finely dice and slice the apple. The best & quickest way is to rinse the apple, then slice into fourths. Cut out the middle core & seeds and discard. Then lay each quarter on a side, and thinly slice. Slice each of those in half and you should have very thin, bite-sized slivers of apple.
Step 4: Mix the shredded sprouts, apple slivers, and raisins in a bowl. Pour on the liquid dressing mixture, and toss well to coat. You can serve hot, cold, or room temperature. You can serve immediately, or let it sit in the refrigerator up to three days for the flavors to mix.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am getting ready for cooking up all the associated goodies. If you are lucky enough to have a mom, aunt, grandmother, etc who has special family recipes that have been passed down over generations, do yourself a favor and start to learn those recipes. Instead of watching cartoons or football, get into the kitchen and help out. You never know when it will be your turn to feed yourself, your family, or your whole neighborhood.
This recipe is passed down from my fiancee’s mother. It is hands-down his favorite Thanksgiving dish, so much so that his mom usually makes a double recipe just so he can have one whole batch to himself. I also doubled the recipe, and it was still all gone within two days. You can easily multiply this recipe to make as much as you need, this makes about 10 cups of sauce.
It is a perfect blend of tangy cranberry and sweet from the sugar. The orange juice and orange peel gives it a nice depth of flavor, and you can adjust the other spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, etc to your own liking.
Ingredients:
1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 16 oz bag cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup grated orange peel
2 tbsp cinnamon
Step 1: Put the orange juice in a pan and bring it to a boil. Rinse the cranberries and add them to the pot.
Step 2: Add the sugars and the entire can of crushed pineapple.
Step 3: Then add the spices. You might want to make sure you use a pot that will be big enough to hold everything…
Step 4: Grate the orange peel. Try not to get any white pith in there. Add it to the pot, mix well.
Step 5: Simmer for at least 1 hour, until the cranberries begin to burst and liquefy. It will thicken as you cook it down, and will thicken even more upon cooling.
This stuff is so good, I don’t even have a picture of the finished product! The recipe is great for doubling or tripling, and freezes well. This can easily be made up to a month ahead of time, and simply reheated the day of, for an easy time-saver.
This dip is super easy, it takes less than 30 minutes to put together! And with just a little bit of creativity, it turns into a perfect Halloween party appetizer, sure to please all your spook-loving guests.
Ingredients:
1 can refried beans
1 block cream cheese
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup salsa
1 large head romaine or 1 cup spinach
1/4 cup shredded cheese
4-6 tbsp sour cream
1/2 can olives
1 zip-lock baggie
Step 1: Mix the refried beans and the taco seasoning together. In a casserole dish, spread the refried beans into a thin layer with a spoon. Bring the cream cheese to room temperature, or heat briefly in the microwave, until you can spread it on top of the bean layer.
Step 2: Spread the salsa over the cream cheese layer. Shred the lettuce or spinach, and layer that on top. Then add the shredded cheese. Spoon the sour cream into the zip lock baggie. Use scissors to snip off a corner, and pipe a spider web on top. Scatter black olives around.
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To make olive spiders: Take 2 olives and slice in half, then into thin slivers. These will be the feet. Take another olive and cut in half. This is the head. Lay one olive on its side, then the half-olive just next to it. Add 4 thin slices on each side for legs, and your creepy-crawly treat is party-ready!
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For those who are unsure of trying new “health craze foods” like kale or spaghetti squash, let me assure you, they are SUPER easy to cook and incorporate into your repertoire. By now the interwebs are bursting at the seams with kale related recipes, so that’s a good place to start. You can pretty much use it anywhere you would use lettuce or spinach, sometimes coating in oil or steaming first since it is much more hardy in texture.
As for spaghetti squash, this baby is coming into its own in the fall. I have written before about my “spaghetti” and turkey meatballs, where you use the strands of squash just like noodles for the same texture but way more filling fiber and nutritious vitamins than wheat pasta. You can try starting this trick by using half-and-half squash and pasta, then working up from there according to taste.
Cooking a squash is as easy as 1-2-3 with a microwave. Simply cut the squash in half, and lay cut-side down on a plate in the microwave. Add about a 1/2 inch of water, and microwave 5 minutes. Flip the squash over, and microwave again. If it is soft when poked with a fork, you’re good to go, otherwise continue flipping and microwaving a few minutes at a time. When it is done, you can take a fork and drag it down the sides, pulling out the flesh in spaghetti-like strings.
Hence the name.
You can of course also bake it cut-side down in a shallow oven-safe pan with a little water, 45-60 minutes or until softened. These preparation methods work well for pretty much all types of winter squash as well, from spaghetti to acorn to butternut.
For this recipe, spaghetti squash, kale, and other yummy veggies come together in a warming, filling fall favorite. You can make this in a frying pan or in the oven, and once made can be stirred into omelets, served alone or with sauce, or like I did wrapped into a burrito!
Ingredients:
1/2 small spaghetti squash
Handful kale (about 1 cup)
2 slices bacon — optional
1 tbsp olive oil — if not using bacon
1/4 white onion, sliced
1/4 pint mushrooms
Nuitritional yeast
Sprinkle of sea salt
Step 1: In a frying pan, add the onions and bacon if using. (Otherwise, cook onions in olive oil). Cook 1 minute, then add the mushrooms and kale, and flip the bacon. Cook, stirring, about 5-7 minutes. Then add in the spaghetti squash. Cook until everything is heated through.
Step 2: Now you can enjoy as is, add some sauce, scramble some eggs into it for a lovely omelet, or wrap it up into a burrito!
Since between my own backyard garden and my generous neighbor who has a football-field-sized garden I still had a bumper crop of tomatoes, even after canning oodles of quarts and pints of sauce and tomato broth and salsa, I decided to try my hand at oven-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil.
Dried tomatoes in olive oil are delicious little flavor bombs to add to garlic bread for a simple bruschetta, toss into salads or pasta, or top a pizza. The oil itself can also be used in salad dressings or anywhere tomato-flavored infused oil would be tasty. Very popular in the Mediterranean region such as Greece and Italy, this preservation method has been around for a very long time, and I had bags of romas just begging to be bathed in high quality oil that was on sale.
But a jar can be quite pricey, up to $10 in the supermarket. It is far cheaper to can your own! You must invest in the jars and good-quality oil, but it is worth it for the superior taste and nutrition of using local tomatoes, and you can re-use jars forever.
All you need is some wire racks, an oven, and some time. If you have the oven on anyways, to make a roast or cookies, or perhaps to heat the house in the chill of autumn, this is the perfect project. This oven heat is conducive to drying many things, so you could also make a platter of dried apples or sweet potato chips at the same time.
There is some debate over the safety of dried tomatoes and botulism risk. It is possible that small droplets of water may stay inside the tomato and provide a medium for botulism or bacterium to grow. Obviously read up on facts and use your own best judgment when deciding whether to refrigerate, process, freeze, or store at room temperature. This article is not advice, just what I chose to do in my own kitchen with my own produce.
2 wire racks (cookie sheets work too, you’ll just have to flip them halfway to make sure they dry on all sides)
2-3 cups extra virgin olive oil
1-3 canning jars, lids, & rings
Step 1: Cut the tops & cores out of the tomatoes, slice them in half, and push out as many seeds as you can with your fingers or a knife. Save the seeds for planting, drink them, use in a soup, or compost.
Step 2: Place the tomato halves on a wire rack or baking sheet, cut side up, and put into the oven at 200 degrees. Crack the door open if you don’t mind the heat to allow more air circulation. Let them dry for 1 hour, then flip them if using baking sheets and check the dryness levels.
Step 3: Take the completely dry tomatoes and begin packing them into sterile mason jars. The tomatoes are ready if they are rubbery with absolutely no water when squeezed, but you don’t want them so dry they are crunchy with no give. If you choose to use a vinegar dip, use tongs to dip each tomato prior to placing in a sterilized jar.
Step 4: Pour in olive oil to cover the tomatoes. Make sure they are completely covered. If you feel okay with it, you can now store your tomatoes this way in a dark cabinet, or in the refrigerator.
You may also choose to water-bath or pressure can your jars at this point. Totally up to you.
These little jars will store for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator, and potentially up to a year in the cupboard if processed. They make lovely presents, if you can bring yourself to part with them. I recommend putting them somewhere easily accessible as you are likely to want to use them all up within days.
