Comfort Food: Pulled Pork Sliders for Laura's Superbowl Party

My friend Laura went looking on the blog for a dish I have served a few times at potlucks. Pulled pork sliders are a crowd favorite--and easy to make. She will be hosting a Super-Bowl party, and wanted to serve these. They are easiest made in a crockpot--but since I don't have one--I bake them in a dutch oven on low heat for most of the day. The smell is heavenly. I put a basket of mini-brioche rolls (or mini potato roll slider buns) onto the table with a big bowl of cole slaw and a party is made. So for Laura and all looking for a great party food--here you go:

Pulled Pork (for sliders)

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder-trimmed of fat

1 onion sliced thin

2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon tabasco sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

Using a large dutch oven (or 6 quart crockpot), place trimmed roast, onion, ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar and seasonings. Cover and cook at 275 degrees for 6 to 8 hours, stirring sauce occasionally and basting the roast. To check done-ness--try shredding an area of the meat with a fork. If it shreds easily, remove onto a platter, and shred with a fork. Return to sauce and stir over low heat on the stovetop--taste and correct seasoning. Serve with mini rolls and cole slaw (recipe follows)

Cole Slaw

3-4 cups shredded green cabbage

1 medium red onion, sliced thin

1 cup shredded carrots

1 /4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup seasoned sushi rice vinegar

1/4 cup neutral oil (canola or grapeseed)

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all vegetable ingredients together. Whisk oil, vinegar salt and pepper together. Stir into cole slaw mixture and turn to mix well.

Healing Foods: Mushroom Ragout and Renewed Energy

My salt-free eating plan (not a diet!) has had some very tangible results over the past month. My blood pressure has come down, my energy level has gone way up, and I have lost 7 pounds. I now scour labels to see the sodium content of any food that’s canned, frozen or packaged, and have largely eliminated them as cooking or meal options. Because I am limited to 500 milligrams (1/5 of a teaspoon) of sodium per day, I am motivated to eat foods without dressings, heavy sauces—mainly foods in their cleanest state. Because I can feel such a huge difference in my health and energy level—it has helped keep me motivated to be creative with herbs, spices and flavors without adding salt.

The mushroom ragout recipe, below, is wonderfully versatile. As an appetizer on crostini, served over pasta, risotto or polenta, or as a side to chicken breast or a filet mignon, it is delicious. You can make it with a single mushroom (like button or crimini), or mix several types of mushrooms for a richer, more complex flavor.

Mushroom Ragout

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped chives

12 ounces crimini, shitake, oyster, button or portobello mushrooms (I mix them all for the richest flavor), sliced thin

1/3 cup unsalted chicken broth (Kitchen Basics is my favorite)

1/3 cup dry red wine

2-3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 teaspoon truffle oil (for drizzling)

Saute butter and garlic together. Add sliced mushrooms. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add broth, wine, and continue cooking until the liquid reduces by about half. Add cream and chives, and cook for another minute to combine all flavors. Drizzle with truffle oil and serve with your favorite protein or starch.

Healing Foods: Caramelized Brussels Sprouts and How Much is 500 Milligrams of Salt?

1 teaspoon of table salt is approximately 2400 milligrams of sodium. That teaspoon of salt thrown into boiling water to cook pasta is now almost 5 times my daily allowance of sodium (my cardiologist told me to limit my sodium intake to 500 milligrams a day). So, how does someone not familiar with watching her salt intake learn to live with less than 1/5 of a teaspoon per day?

Stop cooking with it, for starters. That has been going on for a few weeks now, and I have been pleasantly surprised that we can go without it at mealtimes with no complaint. My daughters have been enjoying their sodium-free meals, and eating more vegetables. One of their favorite veggie dishes is caramelized Brussels sprouts.

I grew up with an English mother, and Brussels sprouts, along with mashed carrots and turnips, were staples at our house. We always ate our sprouts steamed, until one year we discovered that if you steamed them lightly and then sautéed them, they were even better. When I learned in a cooking class what caramelized Brussels sprouts tasted like—I was hooked.

Steamed lightly, sautéed in a little butter sprinkled with ½ teaspoon of sugar, the sautéing process gives the sprouts a sweet/savory coating that makes the outside of the sprout a caramel brown color. They are tender, sweet/savory, delicious bites full of goodness. Steaming helps bring out the cholesterol lowering benefits of these healthy cruciferous vegetables, and they are loaded with vitamins K, C, and manganese—and fiber.

Paired with any protein, these are a healthy and delicious accompaniment.

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, stems cut and sprouts cut in half (or quartered, if they are large)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter or olive oil

½ teaspoon sugar

Pepper to taste

Place Brussels sprouts in a steamer basket over boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain to remove excess water/steam.

In a skillet, heat butter over medium heat until completely melted, and sprinkle sugar over butter. Add sprouts and sauté, stirring gently ever 3-4 minutes for about 15 minutes, until outsides of sprouts become caramelized. Serve immediately.

Healing Foods: Zucchini, Onion and Tomato Tian-Delicious Without Salt!

As I continue to eliminate salt from my diet—I am, of course, shocked at the amount of it that I was consuming on a daily basis. Not only did I salt as I was cooking, but most condiments, stocks, and processed food ingredients contain very generous amounts of sodium. I have had to rethink using canned tomatoes, ketchups and other condiment sauces, chicken, beef and vegetable stock, and other key ingredients as I scour the labels to assess the sodium level in all of them.

The other evening, I was pleasantly surprised (again!) at how tasty a dish completely devoid of my once favorite seasoning can be. I made veal cutlets that were sprinkled with pepper and sautéed in a little olive oil. Once they were cooked, I deglazed the pan with a little white wine, and added my favorite salt free Kitchen basics chicken stock. I added a teaspoon of spicy Dijon mustard to the liquid and let it reduce. With that, I made a vegetable tian of thinly sliced layered vegetables that are roasted with olive oil and fresh herbs. It was delicious—and with the fresh thyme and other herbs added to it—very flavorful. The vegetables, all heart-healthy and nutrition dense, meld deliciously into a tender side dish that you can serve with many different main courses.

My daughters didn’t notice that salt was missing, and ate it all. So, if you are looking to cut down on sodium—here is a recipe that is so yummy you won’t even know it’s not there.

Vegetable Tian

2 medium zucchini sliced thin

1 large onion sliced thin

2 tomatoes sliced thin or chopped into small dice

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped herbs (I use rosemary, thyme and parsley)

pepper to taste

Coat the bottom of a 9X11 roasting pan with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of zucchini, and top with herbs and pepper to taste. Add the layer of onion, and sprinkle more herbs. Add the tomatoes to the top and drizzle remaining olive oil and herbs over it. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Serve with your favorite protein (it goes well with the veal cutlets above).

Healing Foods: Asian Inspired Slaw and Cooking Chinese with Marilyn

It has become a bit of a custom for my friend Marilyn and I to combine ingredients from each of our kitchens to cook (and eat!) dinner together with our families. We did that on Sunday, in order to make the spring rolls that Marilyn’s Chinese mother-in-law makes from scratch. I would love to write about Mrs. Lee’s spring rolls, which are delicious. But Marilyn’s husband broke the news to us that our attempt was not at all authentic—so we need to keep perfecting our technique.

We did, however, create a lovely Asian inspired slaw to go with our dinner, and I am happy to share the recipe. It is a salad of shredded cabbage and carrots, with chopped broccoli, mung beans, scallions and cilantro tossed with a vinaigrette of seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, grapeseed oil and toasted sesame seeds. It is refreshing, light, super healthy and easy—and it goes great with the spring rolls made by a nice Jewish girl from Long Island and a nice Irish Catholic girl from Grove City, Ohio.

Loaded with fiber, vitamins and nutritional goodness, this slaw is a great accompaniment to many main courses. It is packed with vitamins C, K and A, is a good source of protein, potassium, and heart healthy and cholesterol lowering enzymes.

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 cup mung beans

½ cup chopped scallions

½ cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar

¼ cup sesame oil

¼ cup grapeseed oil or other neutral oil

1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Adjust the seasoning (may want to add more seasoned rice vinegar, pepper or salt)

Healing Foods: Onion Soup, Green Juice and some TLC

My friend Nancy is going through chemo….again. She has been brave, stoic, and strong throughout. But the other day, when I ran into her, she looked bone tired. Concerned about how pale she was, I suggested she needed some green juice shots to give her a vitamin boost.

She came over on Saturday with my friend Marilyn, and we made a green juice for her. Kale, spinach, carrot and pear juice to cleanse the liver, eliminate toxins, and infuse the blood with vitamins A,K, C folate, and magnesium. The pear and carrot are a sweet balance to the kale and spinach, and combined they pack a vitamin wallop. She liked the juice, and even took some home to drink the next morning for breakfast.

Sometimes during chemo, with a lessened appetite and not much taste for any kind of food, the best thing to eat is a hearty, comforting soup. Since I know Nancy loves onion soup, I decided to make some for her. It is nice to have a steaming bowl of comfort soup to help fortify your body and boost your spirits. And the onions are great for promoting heart health, to boot.

So for Nancy, I am offering this oh-so-easy onion soup recipe with a heaping dose of TLC….

Onion Soup

2 large onions, sliced thin

1 tbsp. margarine or olive oil

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp flour

I ½ cartons beef stock (Kitchen Basics is a rich, tasty broth that I prefer)

2-3 beef bouillon cubes

1 tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master (optional—but makes the broth richer)

Freshly grated gruyere/parmesan cheese toasts for garnish

In a large soup pot, heat oil. Add sliced onions and pepper and sauté for about 10 minutes until onions are soft. Add 1 tbsp. flour to onions and stir to coat. Add beef stock, bouillon cubes, and gravy master. Bring to a boil, reduce and let simmer 30 minutes.

Make cheese toasts by sprinkling cheese on baguette slices or sliced bread. Broil 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Ladle soup into bowl and top with cheese toast.

Nancy’s Green Juice

1 bunch kale

1 bunch spinach

1 large carrot

2 pears

Juice all ingredients together and serve.

Healing Foods: Carrot Ginger Soup and Carrot Ginger Juice and Remembering Glenn

A year ago at this time, my friends and I were in the full throes of cooking for our dear friend Glenn. Diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer in early March, Glenn hoped to beat the 3-15 month time left given by his doctors and stay here as long as possible to be with his partner and children.

I offered to be Glenn’s personal chef and nutritional coach, and assembled a team of our friends to help with research, cooking, shopping and food delivery. I bought a Breville juicer, and started making him freshly squeezed juices, soups and teas that would be comforting and nutrient dense during his first chemo treatments.

Glenn never lost his wicked and wonderful sense of humor during his illness. In an email to us on April 2, when three girlfriends got together to make him carrot and ginger soup and some other treats, he wrote “I cannot thank you all enough! I have an image of the three of you over a pot, chanting, circling, chanting, circling, spitting on the pot, burning sage and chanting up the boil in the pot, toss in left ear of a dead man, POOF! and then y'all toss heads back and cackle and howl with delight! All to make the perfect Carrot and Ginger soup! Well, that's the image I have, and I like it.” We loved that image, too, and when he took to calling us Catherine’s Coven after that, the name stuck.

The carrot ginger soup was a puree of carrots, a bit of sautéed onion, and some chopped ginger simmered in a rich chicken stock and pureed. The beta-carotene and vitamins in the carrots were fortifying, and the ginger helped to soothe digestion and stave off nausea. In the early days of cooking for Glenn, both the soup and carrot ginger juice were staples in his fridge, ready anytime he had a bit of an appetite or needed some soothing food. More than the food, Glenn enjoyed the love and community that came with our nutritional gift, and was bowled over by all the love, care and concern coming his way.

Sadly, Glenn lost his battle with cancer, but we all still think of him daily as we remember our journey together last year, and the amazing father, partner, friend and man that he was. To carry out his wish that I write a cookbook, I started a food blog, and continue to cook for others and share healing recipes for people going through illness.

I have also continued my food research, and continue to learn more about the healing and nutritional power of food. I have begun juicing in earnest, and love the energy packed shots of juice in various fruit and vegetable combinations throughout the day. The recipes for carrot ginger soup, and carrot ginger juice have become regular menu items in my family--both the soup and the juice are delicious, healthy, and comforting.

Carrot Ginger Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ chopped onion

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

5-7 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet, sauté onion and ginger. In a saucepan, put carrots and stock and simmer for 20 minutes until carrots are tender. Add onion/ginger mixture. Puree in batches in a food processor until smooth. Return to saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Carrot Ginger Juice

4-5 carrots

1 inch piece ginger

½ granny smith apple

Juice all ingredients together and serve!

Healing Foods: Beet Celery Orange Juice and Another Believer!

I have been telling my sister and brother-in-law how much I love the fresh vegetable and fruit juices I have been making to give the family a much needed vitamin boost for breakfast. This morning, I made a beet, orange and celery juice that was a big hit. The juice is part sweet from the beets, part zingy with fresh squeezed orange and calming with the celery juice, and it is a nutrient packed glass of deliciousness.

I have been experimenting with this one for a bit, trying to find good, healthy combinations using beets that are tasty enough for two picky daughters. All of my waxing about the power of green vegetable juice and fresh juicing even made my brother-in-law John go out and get his own Breville super juicer. He has been making his own green juices for about a week now. I told him about this juice combo, and he asked for the recipe.

According to www.whfoods.org, beets have been shown to provide anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support, and help to promote eye health. Beets also include enzymes that aid in the prevention and treatment of certain cancer types. 1 orange provides 100% of our daily dose of vitamin C, and is a good source of A and B vitamins, beta-carotene and potassium. Celery is a powerful anti-inflammatory, and is a good source of iron, folic acid, potassium and calcium.

So, when I let John know how wonderful this juice was, he suggested that I send him the recipe. I am sending this with love to my brother-in-law, and to all looking for delicious fresh squeezed juice recipes to set their day…

Beet, Celery and Orange Juice

2 beets, washed and quartered

2 stalks celery

2 oranges, quartered and skin removed

Add all ingredients to juicer. Makes 2 servings.

Healing Food: Ayurvedic Green Juice and an Inspiring Family

Dana (second from right) and Dan with their cousins and Grandma in 2009

On my recent trip back to Ohio, I was elated at the amazing recovery my niece Dana has made.

She and my nephew Dan met and fell in love in college, and became each other’s biggest fans at soccer matches (hers) and golf matches (his) that they played with their now alma-mater Dennison University’s teams.

Not long after they were married, she was coaching high school soccer and teaching, and the two lovebirds spent time running, hiking, following their dreams and loving their new life together. Then Dana started to experience excruciating back pains that sidelined her active lifestyle, and eventually kept her housebound trying to manage the pain and learn how it could be cured.

Over the course of two years, she visited doctor after doctor with my nephew, traveling from Ohio to Minnesota in search of a specialist who could help her. She grew weary of the pain, and fearful of the pain medication that she needed every day to perform the simplest of tasks. A degenerative disk disease was diagnosed, and surgery followed. She continued to have terrible pain after surgery, and to suffer side effects from the medication. She lost weight and muscle, and much of her appetite.

Her doctor recommended an Ayurvedic healer, who helped her with pain management strategies through meditation and breathing. She also began to follow an Ayurvedic diet, which helped to rid her of the toxins the pain medication had produced. She began to respond to the treatments, and began to wean herself from the medications she depended on for two years. She is now able to sit comfortably, travel on planes, drive, tie her shoes and cut the food on her plate—tasks that were impossible with the pain she felt in her back and limbs. When I saw her at my birthday dinner, she was radiant, healthy, beautiful and smiling—I was thrilled for her.

It inspired me to get out my Ayurvedic cookbooks and do some online research on Ayurvedic diet. One of my happy discoveries was a website called Joyful Belly (www.joyfulbelly.com) . This website, founded by John Immel, is a wealth of food information, and has some wonderful recipes that I have tried over the past week.

One of them, kale ginger lemonade, is a healthy, cleansing and nutritionally dense drink that I would love to make part of my daily breakfast routine.

Rather than post the recipe and photo of this amazing green drink, I invite you to visit the website and get the recipe for yourself, and explore some of John’s wonderful recipes and healthy living tips. I saw first hand how this path helped my niece, and am happy to spread the good word.

www.joyfulbelly.com

Healing Foods: Crusted Tuna Steaks with Quinoa Salad and the Facts on Flax

I have tried to maintain my healthy juicing and eating in 2011, even as I went through my 50^th birthday bender—a series of dinners and parties to celebrate my launch into a new decade. It’s been fun—but I am definitely craving the energy level that my healthy eating and juicing have given me after all the champagne drinking and cake eating of the last several weeks.

My daughter and I have been trying to get more flax into our diet, sprinkling flax seeds into salads and using flax seed oil in our dressings to give ourselves more of the powerful healing agents flax contains. According to my research, flax is rich in lignans, powerful antioxidants that help prevent many types of cancer. Flax is also a natural food that is the richest source of essential fatty acids (Omega 3’s and alphalinolenic acid). It is packed with fiber, and helps in fighting cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, constipation, menopausal symptoms and heart disease. It is also an immune system booster and powerful anti-inflammatory. Why wouldn’t we want more of that in our daily diet?

So, in order to test some flax recipes I created, I invited my favorite food critics and friends, the Lee family, to try a flax-inspired dinner. I made flax seed and sesame crusted tuna steaks, and paired it with an Asian inspired quinoa vegetable salad with cucumber, crunchy sweet peppers, shallots and cilantro. To satisfy my friend John’s love of spice, I made a dipping sauce to accompany the tuna with tamarind sauce, sushi vinegar and Korean red pepper paste. Marilyn added delicious garlic sautéed broccoli and a yummy green salad to the healthy mix, and we had a lovely weeknight meal. They assured me that the tuna and quinoa were blog-worthy, so I am inviting my friends to get on the flax wagon and try some recipes of their own with flax seed and flax seed oil. Here are mine…I hope you enjoy them!

Flax and Sesame Crusted Tuna

3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil

2 tuna steaks (about 1-1 ½ inches thick

¼ cup black and white sesame seeds

¼ cup flax seeds

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chili pepper

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix all dry ingredients on a shallow bowl or plate. Dredge steaks on each side to crust with seed/spice mixture. Heat oil on high heat in a shallow skillet. When hot, add steaks. Cook for 3 minutes each side for medium rare steaks (less if you like them rare). Allow to cool for 5 minutes, slice into ½ inch thick slices and serve.

Quinoa Salad with Vegetables

1 cup dried organic quinoa

2 cups water

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

1 shallot, chopped fine

1 small yellow pepper, chopped fine

1 small red pepper, chopped fine

½ cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons sushi vinegar (seasoned rice vinegar)

4 tablespoons flaxseed oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp flax seeds (optional)

Put quinoa, water and 1 tbsp.oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and cook for about 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Cool slightly.

Stir shallots, peppers, cilantro, vinegar and oil together. Add quinoa. Season to taste with salt, pepper and flax seeds.

Spicy Dipping Sauce

¼ cup organic tamarind sauce

1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

1 generous teaspoon Korean red pepper paste

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve with tuna steaks

Comfort Foods: Superbowl and Spinach Dip

Let me start by saying that I started my day on Sunday on a healthy note by drinking freshly squeezed juice of kale, cucumber and celery, and parsley. I got my superdoses of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants all in one glass (see My Juicy New Year, prior post), and energetically plowed into preparing a Super Bowl feast to enjoy with our neighbors. And there the waxing of healthy and nutritious comes to a screeching halt.

This year’s Super Bowl feast was a potluck with four neighbors. Rob, the owner of the 58 inch Visio flat screen and my next door neighbor, brought 3 different types of marinated chicken wings: Cajun, buffalo and teriyaki. Marilyn added her tequila and lime marinated wings to the platter, Connie brought pigs in a blanket and other passed hors d’oeuvres and I rounded out the buffet with cheeseburger sliders, sausage with sautéed onions and peppers (on potato buns), a garlic blue cheese dip with bacon, and a spicy spinach, cheese and sausage dip, served with corn chips and kettle chips. In a fit of guilt, I made a zucchini carrot slaw to have something more than celery and carrot sticks to offer the health conscious among us. As it turned out, there was lots of slaw left over for tonight’s healthy back on track meal!

My inspiration for the dips came from my friend Debbie, who brought the spinach dip to my last indoor tailgate party for the OSU/Michigan game. It was such a hit with everyone, and so deliciously satisfying and decadent, that my Super Bowl guests asked for the recipe.

When you are looking for a bubbling, spicy, cheesy spinach and sausage dip to cure your junk food cravings—try this one. And don’t ask me who won—I spent most of my evening at the food table!

Debbie’s Delicious Spinach Dip

8 ounces Velveeta (I know, I know….)

8 ounces sharp cheddar

8 ounces Monterey jack

8 ounces salsa

1 box frozen chopped spinach

8 ounces of ground sausage, cooked

Thaw and drain spinach, squish with your hands for best results.

Chop all cheeses into small chunks.

Sauté and drain sausage.

Mix all ingredients and place in pottery or glass dish.

Bake on 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Stir after the first 15 minutes and again at 30 minutes. If cheese becomes too crispy on top, cover the last 15 minutes with a lid to prevent crunchy top. Serve with chips or pita triangles.

Healing Foods: Glazed Baby Bok Choy with Sauteed Chicken Breasts

As I continue to try to maintain the healthy eating that we started in January, I have been seeking out my favorite food research and recipe sights (and cookbooks!) for inspiration. My friend Marilyn brought me some baby bok choy from Chinatown last Sunday, and I was thrilled when I found out how healthy these vegetables (part of the group of cruciferous vegetables) really are.

According to World’s Healthiest Foods (www.whfoods.org), in terms of conventional nutrients (vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs, and fats), we cannot find another vegetable group that is as high in vitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber as the cruciferous vegetables. As a group, the cruciferous vegetables are simply superstars in these conventional nutrient areas.

Vitamin K helps regulate our inflammatory response, including chronic, excessive inflammatory responses that can increase our risk of certain cancers. The amazing K content of cruciferous vegetables is definitely related to their cancer-preventive properties through mechanisms involving better control of inflammation. The concentration of vitamin A,C and manganese are key components in their growing reputation as a powerful antioxidant. One hundred calories' worth of cruciferous vegetables (about 5-6% of a daily diet) provides about 25-40% of your daily fiber requirement. Two additional macronutrients-proteins and fats-also deserve special mention with respect to recent research on cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables can contribute a surprising amount of protein to the diet-over 25% of the Daily Value in 3 cups-and at a very low calorie cost.

So tonight, I am making simple sautéed chicken breasts, and glazed baby bok choy. The caramelized coating that comes from glazing gives a richer taste to the bok choy, and pairs well with the chicken. Healthy and kid friendly—what more could you want for a weeknight meal?

Simple sautéed chicken breasts

2 chicken breast halves, cut in half (makes 4 servings)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. Olive oil

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil until hot. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Saute about 5 –7 minutes on each side at medium high heat.

Glazed Baby Bok Choy, rinsed and patted dry

12 baby bok choy

2 tbsp butter

1/2 teasp. Sugar

In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add butter and swirl around pan to melt. Sprinkle sugar over butter, and place bok choy in pan side by side. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, and turn over. Cook again 5-7 minutes. They outside leaves should have a bit of brown caramelized coating over them. Serve with chicken breasts

Healing Foods: My Juicy New Year

The recent holidays are a blur of great family, friends, fun and food. Lots of rich, delicious, decadent food. I had planned to write about the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Christmas Eve, the poached foie gras and lentils on Christmas day, the oysters, foie gras and lobster on New Year’s eve and all of the sumptuous eating and drinking in between….but was either too busy eating or too sated from all the food and drink to sit down and type. I promised myself that I’d go back to blogging in earnest in January.

And here it is—the first month of the new year—filled with infinite possibilities. I am not much of a resolution maker, but my daughter asked that January be a true “healthy eating” month. I am happy to comply. We made a pact to eat more vegetarian meals, and I pulled out my juicer to give our healthy eating plan a kick-start. January will be filled with lots of great juicing—and I have tapped my Ayurvedic and yogic cookbooks for some great green juice recipes.

According to Lissa Rankin MD, an integrative medicine practitioner in California and green juice enthusiast (www.owningpink.com), organic green juice is a readily assimilated, easily digestible, unbelievably nutritious superfood. 
 Drinking green juice fills your body with living enzymes, vitamins, oxygen, and phytonutrients. Because of this, green juice feeds your cells the necessary nutrients, allowing your cells to uncover the body's innate healing power, thereby boosting your body's ability to fight infection and heal chronic diseases.


Because the juicer eliminates the fiber that keeps you from being able to eat 3 pound of green veggies in one sitting, green juice allows you to consume more veggies and provides your digestive tract with much-needed rest, allowing the body to focus on repair, healing, detoxification, and renewal. Using organic produce, the nutrition you introduce to your body via green juice has very few, if any, of the chemicals and toxins we usually put into our bodies.

I have been making green juices to drink first thing in the morning and as a nightcap before going to bed. In the morning, our potassium filled energy juice is a medley of carrot, celery, spinach and parsley juices for an energy packed breakfast. At night, a juice of celery, cucumber and parsley is both calming and healing. In between, we eat healthy, vegetable rich meals, and drink lots of water. All of these recipes will be shared eventually, but I am including the juice recipes today for both inspiration and suggestion. I feel great….and want this feeling to carry me through all of 2011!

A happy, juicy new year to all….

Morning Green Juice

3 carrots, 3 stocks celery, ½ bunch parsley, 1 bunch spinach.

Juice all veggies together, mix and drink. Makes about two 6 oz servings.

Bedtime Calming Juice

1 large cucumber, 6 celery stalks, ½ bunch parsley.

Juice all veggies together. Makes 2 servings.

Dr. Lissa Rankin’s Green Superjuice (for daytime energy boost)

3-4 large kale leaves, ½ bunch swiss chard, 1 bunch sunflower sprouts, 3 stalks celery, 1 large cucumber, juice of 1 lemon, small piece fresh ginger, and 1 seeded jalapeno.

Juice all veggies together. Makes 2 servings.

A Pumpkin With a Purpose: Curried Pumpkin Soup

My daughter Sophie thought it would be a good idea to recycle our Halloween pumpkins this year. Of the 4 pumpkins that we picked on our apple and pumpkin picking excursions, only one was carved into a jack-o-lantern. After watching me struggle with a bevy of sharp, dangerous carving and x-acto knives to make the first one, Sophie suggested we draw faces on the rest. Phew.

When I suggested that by not cutting the pumpkins we could actually repurpose them after Halloween and make them into something delicious, she was all for it. We roasted the seeds with olive oil and salt (a big hit), and made pumpkin and sweet potato puree (not so big). With more than 6 cups of purée after cleaning, roasting and scraping the pumpkin from its skin (and throwing it into the food processor to mash), we had enough pumpkin to try a couple of experiments. Curried pumpkin soup was the big favorite—a creamy, spicy and warm bowl of goodness, and I am pleased my girls will eat something so healthful.

I have gone on before about the nutrient dense winter squashes (see sweet potato puree and butternut squash farfalle recipes) so I will be brief about the many health benefits. These beta carotene and vitamin rich foods help lower the risk of asthma, heart disease, arthritis, colon cancer and diabetes. In addition to all that has been mentioned before--we all have good reason to get more winter squashes into our meals.

So feel free to give your pumpkin an even better purpose than creating an eerie ambiance on Halloween. Cook it up and make some healthy and delicious fall foods!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons curry powder

3 ½ cups fresh pumpkin purée (or use canned pumpkin)

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 (14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup olive oil

Cook onions in butter in a wide 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, curry and cardamom and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in salt, red pepper flakes, pumpkin, water, broth, and coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. In batches, purée soup in a food processor or blender until smooth (be careful when blending hot liquids!), and return soup to pot. Keep soup warm over low heat. Correct seasonings and thin with additional chicken stock, if needed.