Category Archives: Recipes

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Basil-Artichoke Pesto

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This year I grew a very respectable herb garden in pots out on the back patio. Years ago I used to grow all kinds of herbs, but life got in the way, and all kinds of other projects grew up in their place, so I didn’t have fresh herbs for a long time even though I thought wistfully of those long-ago days and wished I’d gotten organized enough to grow more than the chives and lemon balm that grow wild all around my house. And then it happened.

This year I stopped at the garden center in early summer, and brought home small pots of just a few herbs: creeping thyme and lemon thyme, rosemary, sage, and lavender. I repotted them, placed them in the bright sun, and kept them watered and happy. Last week, I added a pot of basil to the group. And I thought about what I could do with that basil, which filled my entire kitchen with its glorious scent. I experimented with a few ingredients that were already in my kitchen and took it over to my friend’s house, where we sat in the backyard under an almost full moon and devoured practically the entire plate. A late summer gift.

5-6 marinated artichoke hearts (quarters)
12-15 basil leaves
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-2 Tbsp. marinating liquid (use 1 Tbsp. if making dip, 2 Tbsp. if making sauce)
1/4 cup raw almonds
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender, and blend for 30-60 seconds until smooth. Refrigerate at least one hour to allow flavors to blend. Serve as a dip with a few raw vegetables (such as peppers, kohlrabi, jicama, carrots, radishes, green onions) or crackers. Or spoon it over a white bean salad or cold cooked salmon just before serving. Makes approx 1 cup.

 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Scrumptious Seed Crackers (NF, GF, DF, vegan, grain-free)

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A couple of months ago, my friend Michele shared with me a jar of the ingredients to make this recipe. This is just the most recent recipe she’s shared with me — there have been quite a few over the years, and all of them have been fantastic.

Since receiving this most recent gift, I’ve gathered together my own little permanent collection of seeds and I’ve made the recipe probably half a dozen times already. Now that I have everything I need, I can throw together the recipe and get it into the oven in a very short time. As Michele emphasized to me, it is an extremely forgiving recipe. Continue reading →

The Heat of Summer, with a Recipe for Hot Peppers

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My love of spicy food goes back a long way, to when I was a child. My parents had friends, Ted and Freida Roland, who grew acres and acres of hot peppers on their farm in Muncie, Indiana. We drove out to visit them one summer, and I earned the nickname “Hot Pepper” after completing a careful comparison of all the various types laid out for me on the kitchen counter by Ted. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Apple Pie Muffins for the Fourth!

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If you’d like to make a dessert that captures the feel of July fourth, try these apple muffins from Honest Cooking and Travel. They have a streusel topping reminiscent of some fancy apple pie recipes I’ve seen, but feel free to substitute graham cracker crumbs if you like. Save one for yourself for breakfast tomorrow morning, along with your cup of tea or coffee. Continue reading →

Chemistry Experiments Disguised as Food

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It’s not always easy to figure out what’s food and what’s manufactured calories. Some items have the best names, names that make it seem as if the product is definitely food, and quite nourishing at that. So I didn’t realize that Nutrigrain bars had 52 ingredients until someone pointed it out to me. That’s not food, that’s a chemistry experiment. Continue reading →

Your Healthy Grocery Cart

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The other day, a thought crossed my mind. Maybe we’re focused on the wrong part of the equation: Maybe the time for constructive decision-making about what we eat is not when it’s time to prepare the food, but when it’s time to purchase the food. Waiting until you’re hungry for dinner is like chasing a horse after it’s left the barn. That’s why I want to start this conversation by examining the standard shopping cart. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lentil Soup with a Splash

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I’ve come across a really good and relatively simple recipe for lentil soup, and thought I’d share it right away before I misplace it! I wish I knew where I got it from, but that information will sadly have to wait until I figure it out and can add it to this post. I made this recipe for the first time on a rainy day in early spring a few weeks back, and was so pleased with the results that I decided to write a post about it. Lentils are a special food, a special type of legume, with all kinds of important benefits for your health. And they taste good. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

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This recipe made its way into my house in a booklet provided by Vitamix with the purchase of our high-speed blender many years ago. It is really delicious whether all by itself, sprinkled over a circle of warm brie, or tossed onto a tomato salad. Pumpkin seeds are a great substitute for nuts when you are feeding people with nut allergies, but they are also extremely nourishing in and of themselves, and worth the time you spend making them. 

Over the years I have collected plenty of recipes for sweet spiced nuts and seeds, but this is the only recipe I have for a savory version.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tsimmes

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Preparing for the holidays with my mom was a major highlight of my childhood. Although my father was the main cook in our family, my mother took over the kitchen on the holidays, and dad’s primary responsibility was to make the brisket.

Like many other special dishes that we ate on dedicated holidays throughout the calendar, my mother made tsimmes twice a year, in the fall for Rosh Hashanah (it is traditional to eat sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah), and in the spring, for Passover. She never used recipes, preferring instead to combine ingredients as her grandmother and mother-in-law did. Truthfully, though, tsimmes is one of those dishes that probably doesn’t really need much of a recipe anyway. Continue reading →

A Simple Salad

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I’ve been eating this salad for breakfast, yes breakfast, for many years. I know Americans consider it somewhat unconventional to eat salad for breakfast (though not Europeans and in the Middle East), but I believe it is such a great way to start the day. The success of this salad is built on simplicity. My strategy remains similar, week in and week out. It is never quite the same, but it is always delicious. On occasion, I make it with a sweet potato instead of a white potato. Thank you to Alice Waters for teaching me to eat simply. This salad makes one single serving, but is infinitely flexible if a friend or an army is coming to share a meal. Continue reading →