March 24 I first learned how to make these beans from my dear friend Shoshana, who spent time living with a family in Guatemala in the nineties. I was so taken by the mix of flavors. I can still picture the moment I first tasted them in her dilapidated, artsy kitchen in Somerville. I have since made them for hundreds of people of all ages.
1 cup dry black beans, soaked in water for 6-8 hours
1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon dulse flakes (optional but highly recommended)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1. Heat oil in a medium sized soup pot. Sauté onions in oil until translucent.
2. Add sweet potatoes and sauté until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add black beans, and all spices EXCEPT salt. Add water, just enough to cover the beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 40 minutes, or until beans are soft. Add salt to taste.
4. Serve with rice or tortillas of any kind. Top with avocado, cheese, plantains, mango, and any other fixings that you love. You can also serve them alongside fried eggs for a hearty breakfast.
March 24 These pancakes are not the healthiest, but they are filled with a decent amount of protein and fat, and they do bring huge amounts of joy to all of the children in my extended family. They are a great treat for the weekends. They can be altered to be as healthy as you would like them to be. Just know that when you alter the flour and milk choices you loose out on the fluffiness factor.
1 cup flour (white, whole wheat pastry, a GF alternative, or a mixture of your choice)
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk (or a dairy alternative)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons neutral oil (like avocado or canola)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup wild blueberries (can be frozen)
1. Preheat the griddle on medium heat.
2. If you are using frozen berries defrost first. You can do that quickly by soaking them in boiling water for 5 minutes.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
4. Mix wet ingredients and add to the dry. Whisk together taking care not to over mix the batter.
5. Add blueberries last and stir.
6. Melt butter on the griddle and cook pancakes. Flip when they start to bubble.
Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup.
February 11 This soup is a great winter alternative to green smoothies. It is especially nice when you want something that will warm you gently from the inside yet is also light and mildly cleansing. The recipe was inspired by a green cleanse soup I came across in The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook by Kate O’Donnell. It is great at any time of day, in a bowl, a mug, or in a glass cup so you can take in the green vibrance with all of your senses!
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped. Add inner celery leaves if you have them.
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon turmeric
1-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped finely
4 cups kale, remove stems, chop coarsely.
1/2 cup parsley, no stems
1 tablespoon of oil—olive oil, coconut oil or ghee
1 teaspoon sea salt
Pepper to taste
Lemon to taste
In a medium sized pot heat oil on medium for 1 minute. Add onions and sauté until they are translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
Add celery and sauté for another 3 minutes.
Add ginger root, turmeric, salt, pepper and 3 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
Add kale and parsley and simmer for 3-5 more minutes, until the greens are wilted yet still a vibrant color of green.
Remove from heat. If using an immersion hand blender blend in the pot until smooth. If using a carafe blender add the fourth cup of vegetable broth to cool the soup before transferring liquid to the blender. Blend until smooth.
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon to each bowl just before serving.
Enjoy this soup with toasted seeds sunflower seeds or toasted sesame seeds.
January 3 This simple 10 day morning detox practice benefits the liver and is a powerful way to recharge and get back on track after the holiday season. I first learned about it in my mid-twenties from one of my mentors, Halé Sofia Schatz (heartofhourishment.com). I was amazed at how powerful this simple combination of foods could be. If the garlic feels like too much you can omit it entirely. This is a great practice to do once or twice a year.
Grapefruit is contradicted with some medications. If that is the case for you, simply use a fresh squeezed orange instead of the grapefruit.
Length: 10 days
The Recipe
• Juice of one grapefruit (If you can't have grapefruit due to your medications use an orange instead.)
• Fresh squeezed juice of a lemon
• 1-2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 Tablespoon flax seed oil or olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of soy lecithin (organic/non-gmo) optional
• Eat a sprig of parsley to eliminate the garlic from your breath.
Guidelines
Drink the grapefruit-garlic mixture first thing in the morning, then wait at least 20 minutes before eating.
The grapefruit and lemon should be squeezed fresh each day.
If the garlic is too harsh for your stomach, you may omit it.
You can omit the garlic and continue this cleanse throughout January and February as a quick mid-winter pick-up.
September 25 This recipe comes from a baking book called Sweet and Natural, by Meredith McCarty. All of her recipes are sugar free and dairy free. This apple cake, made with mostly whole wheat flour and sweetened with maple syrup, is a fall family favorite. It is best eaten the day it is baked.
Cake
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup cornmeal or almond meal
2 1/4 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I use avocado oil or refined coconut oil)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup apple juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Topping
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 pound apples (2 or 3), peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts chopped, optional
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a baking parchment circle or square in the bottom of a cake pan, a deep dish pie pan, or an 8-inch square baking dish to ensure that all the fruit will be released from the pan. Oil the sides.
2. To prepare the cake batter, mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together and mix into dry.
3. Spread the oil and sweeter evenly over the paper lining in the pan. Toss fruit with spices and arrange in a single layer of fruit close together or overlapping in a spiral or concentric circles. Or layer fruit slices in 3 rows to cover the bottom of the square pan. Sprinkle with walnuts and pour batter evenly over fruit.
4. Bake until cake tests done in the middle and apples are tender, about 35-40 minutes.
5. Cool the cake in the pan set on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and leave it there for about 2 minutes. Lift off the pan and peel off the paper.
September 18 Prep: 15 min • Cook: 4-6 hours • Yield: varies depending on pot size. I use a 22 quart pot, which yields approximately 4 gallons of broth.
Ingredients:
3 or more pounds raw* chicken bones/carcasses (from about 3 or 4 chickens)*
One whole chicken and additional wings or thighs, optional*
6-8 chicken feet
Enough purified water to just cover the bones when they are in the pot
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
4 -6 carrots, scrubbed and roughly chopped
3 stalks organic celery, including leafy part, roughly chopped
2 medium leeks, use the white part only, wash well, cut into large chunks
1 medium rutabaga, cut into large chunks
2 medium parsnips, cut into large chunks
1 turnip, cut in half
2 teaspoons peppercorns
1 bunch parsley, add in the last hour
1 bunch of dill, add in last hour
Directions:
1. Place all the bones in a very large stockpot. (My broth pot is 22 quarts, made by Tramontina. ) Add the vinegar and enough purified water to cover everything by 1 inch. Allow bones to soak in this vinegar water for 30 minutes.
2. On medium high heat, bring the water to a boil and then turn heat to low, allowing broth to simmer. Use a shallow slotted spoon to carefully skim the film off the top of the broth. You want the broth to barely simmer for the remainder of the cooking time. Cook bones with POT TOP OFF for 2-4 hours. Skim occasionally over the first 2 hours.
3. Add all the vegetables and spices (except parsley and dill) and cook for an additional 2-3 hours more. You want the soup to reduce by 1-2 inches during the cooking process. Cook for at least 4-6 hours in total.
4. Add parsley and dill in the last hour of cooking.
5. When the broth is done, turn off the cooker or remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs and/or a large slotted spoon remove all the bones and the meat. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer and compost or discard the solids.
6. Let broth cool on the counter before refrigerating. Chill broth in refrigerator. You can skim off the fat easily after the broth is chilled if desired. When chilled the broth should be very gelatinous.
The broth will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 or more months in your freezer.
Note: I order kosher chicken soup bones, chicken necks, and chicken feet online from Grow & Behold. If you are not kosher there are many local farmers who can source your bones. Ask around at your local farmers market for recommendations.
September 9 This recipe comes from a great website, Comfybelly.com. You will find a host of simple and wholesome recipes of all kinds here. I encourage you to check it out.
Ingredients
1/4 cup (26 g) coconut flour
3/4 cup (60 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup (159 g) maple syrup or honey
6 tablespoons butter (85.2 g), ghee or coconut oil, melted
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F
2. Prepare an 8 inch x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, or grease well.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add the coconut flour, salt, and cocoa powder and mix them a bit to blend.
4. Next, add the eggs, maple syrup, butter, and vanilla and mix until well blended.
5. Pour the batter into the pan.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Store sealed for several days at room temperature, or in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Makes 16 squares
