YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chickpeas & Kale As You Like It

To understand why this dish is such a great (and delicious) choice, check out this post of mine about a very special patient who taught me a lot about how to take good care of your health. Try this recipe scooped onto a salad, slid into a pita, slathered on a tortilla, snuck in a wrap, or slid into a scooped-out tomato or red pepper. It’s good for lunch, dinner, or any other time you get hungry. Thank you to Nava Atlas at vegkitchen.com.

Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pomegranate Coleslaw

This is the time of year when the pomegranates ripen and come to market. While I was growing up, my family made a regular annual ceremony of opening the beautiful pomegranates to find them filled with shiny, red, juicy jewels. We shared them among ourselves, appreciating the fruits of our table, gobbling up the seeds, and counting our blessings.

Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Granola with Vitamin Z, a Seasonal Secret

It’s zucchini time! Zucchini has to be one of the best vegetables to hide in food. It contributes moisture and nutrients, not to mention happy bellies. And kids never suspect a thing. But it’s not just for little ones. This recipe is great for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and all kinds of food emergencies. This recipe, from Cookin’ Canuck, will blow your mind. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chickpeas on Cucumber Cups

One thing I learned from The Gardener (my mom) is that if you have a can of beans in the cabinet, you have a meal. And since it was a rare day that there weren’t a few cans of garbanzo beans (also known as chick peas) in the cabinet, there was always a meal to be had. This recipe comes from glutenfreeeasily.com.  It makes a great lunch, a great snack, a great contribution for a potluck. I think you’ll like it.

Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pasta-ta-DIE-for

When a former Jersey girl tells you that she likes tomatoes, there’s a pretty good chance that she ain’t kiddin’ around. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is only one time of year when a tomato is really worth eating at all, and now is it. Think about it this way: This time of year I celebrate tomatoes. The rest of the year I just go through the motions. So here’s one magnificent recipe for my fellow tomato lovers. It comes to you courtesy of cooks.com. If you can’t get Jersey beefsteaks, use the juiciest tomatoes you can find.

Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

A few weeks ago I got the idea to make a special treat for our friends. It had to be easy and, since the supermarket was already closed, it had to be made from ingredients already in my house. What do I always have around? That’s easy — chocolate and peanut butter! Even though I had never made peanut butter cups before, they turned out fantastic.

Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: It’s-All-Good Brownies

Lots of my friends think I never eat treats, sweets, or anything fun AT ALL. They are so wrong. Now it’s true that I don’t eat stuff that I would categorize as “food-like,” such as corn syrup, or white flour, or maltodextrin. But I definitely enjoy my share of desserts. For example, the peanut butter cups that I made a couple of weeks ago from quality dark chocolate and organic peanut butter (one ingredient — peanuts), were absolutely sublime, and easy. And yesterday I ate a chocolate macaroon that was pretty yummy. Continue reading



YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Mint Fruit Sorbet

Thank you to Healy Real Food Vegetarian for an exceptional, delicious, and super cool sorbet made from mint, pineapple, and mango. That’s it. Stay cool!
  • 1 /2 cup frozen pineapple
  • 1 /3 cup frozen mango 
  • 6-8 mint leaves, chopped
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender (like a Vitamix), and process at high speed until it reaches the consistency of sorbet. Serve in a stemmed wine glass with a mint leaf on top.  P.S. The mango is optional; if you don’t have any, double the amount of pineapple.

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Macadamia Parsley Pesto

I found a wonderful site called Rubies and Radishes with lots of wonderful and creative recipes. Here’s one that I especially like. I can see pouring a couple of teaspoons of this magic green elixir over an omelette, or roasted asparagus, or a cup of rotini; or stirring a spoonful into a mug of vegetable soup. If you have basil, parsley, and oregano growing in your garden like I do, then you are practically there.
  • 1 cup flat leaf parsley
  • 2 cups fresh basil
  • 3-4 cloves garlic
  • 1 /2 cup olive oil
  • 1 /4 cup macadamia nuts
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. fresh oregano
  • 1/4 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
Combine all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender until smooth.