recipes

Start off a cold winter day with this hearty breakfast hash! Simply seasoned with just olive oil, chili pepper and salt, this recipe allows each vegetable to shine. Sweet butternut squash is balanced by the mild flavors of cauliflower and potatoes, as well as the slightly bitter flavor of the Brussels sprouts. This blend of veggies would also go well on the side or as ingredients in another meal, but it makes for a delicious and healthy breakfast with the addition of tofu.

I am constantly searching out inventive ways to prepare eggplant. While eggplant parmesan is a classic, it can be a bit pricey and it takes quite some time to make. Messing around in the kitchen I decided to take one of my favorite seafood stews and turn it into a vegan dish. And I must say, the eggplant is so good that meat eaters are easily fooled.

Seaweed is often touted as some of the most nutrient dense food in the world. Seaweed has been used for centuries in the Far East and India, but only in the late 20^th Century did it become popular in the United States where its primary introduction was during the health food trend in the 1970s. Today it is a popular addition to sushi. Seaweed is a term that defines many plants that grow in the ocean. Kelp is one of these.

I am a predictable eater, especially when I know what I love to eat. Beets are one vegetable for which I will always reach, and so I find ways to incorporate them into classics…like this bright and beautiful beet ginger hummus, pulsing with warming, slightly spicy flavors I love. This recipe is awesome not just for the flavor, but because it brings some real vibrant color into the kitchen during the winter season. It reminds me of the strong magenta of a peony or a really rich summer fruit, and the ginger in it warms like the feeling of summer sunlight. It’s delightful!

Oh, the poor potato! Once a staple of many diets around the world, it has been unjustly maligned in recent years due to its starchiness, which lands it high on the glycemic index. In actuality this traditional food comes in degrees of starchiness depending on the variety, and also has a good amount of nutrients. There are documented reports of people living exclusively on potatoes for up to three years. In my mind, the worst thing about them is that they’re often ill-prepared, and what ends up on our plates is a soggy shadow of what a potato could be. 

Peppermint is in the genus Mentha which includes more than one hundred species, and is thought to be a natural hybrid of spearmint and forest mint. Its origin is believed to be in North Africa and the southern Mediterranean basin, and has been used in recipes and as a medicinal herb since 1500 B.C.E.  It found its way as far north as Scandinavia and was mentioned in the Icelandic Pharmacopoeias in the mid-13^th Century.

While others curse its arrival in spring, I applaud it. The spunky little dandelion is a first flower for nectar-hunting honeybees. It pains me to see homeowners yank it from their yards, not only because they are eradicating an important food source for pollinating insects, but because the little plants can offer so much before their fluffy seeds are scattered to the wind!

The hemp plant has been cultivated for approximately 12,000 years and is one of man’s earliest crops. The benefits of the seeds have been known for about 3000 years, where it has been used medicinally and is a dietary mainstay in China. Hemp seeds are a compete protein containing all twenty amino acids.

I love tea and coffee with all my heart and soul. But sometimes it’s nice to change things up over the colder months, whether it’s to cut down on caffeine or just for the sake of variety. There are so many drinks that can soothe, warm, and stimulate the body just as well as more commonplace options. Below are a few of my favorites!

Mexican Hot Chocolate

No matter how much I cook, food never ceases to amaze me, and every fall, I fall in love with apples all over again. During this time of year, many varieties are at the height of their flavor and texture. In nature they’re falling from tree branches, and in grocery stores and farmers’ markets, they’re abundantly available.