Healthy Recipes

Whew! Snack Girl doesn’t know what temperature it is in your neck of the woods, but here it is hot.... continue reading

“Amélie has no boyfriend. She’s tried once or twice, but the results were a letdown. Instead, she cultivates a taste for small pleasures: dipping her hand into sacks of grain, crème brûlée with a teaspoon, and skipping stones at St. Martin’s canal.” — Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain Crème brûlée is the perfect dessert. Crème brûlée is French for burnt cream, or carmelized cream. It’s a dessert custard with sugar on top that is carmelized with a torch or under a broiler. Crème brûlée is sweet, creamy and decadent, but it also happens to be very nutrient-dense, especially if you use cream from grass-fed cows. Cream from cows eating green grass is rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D & K2. It also has much higher levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), a compound that protects against cancer and also helps your body build muscle rather than store fat. What? You say I can eat crème brûlée and lose fat and build muscle? I’m in, ya’ll! I’m ALL in. Crème Brûlée: So Easy, Even a 9-Year-Old Can Do It People think crème brûlée is hard to make, but it isn’t! We made this crème brûlée when some friends came over for dinner recently. Their 9-year-old son helped me. He was so excited to use the torch. I kept calling him Chef. “Can I take that for you, Chef?” “Do you think it need more sugar, Chef?” I told him that one day, when he has a girlfriend, he’s going to be able to make her the most awesome crème brûlée. Can you imagine if a boy did that for you? Tres romantique! Recipe Notes This recipe is an adaption from the crème brûlée recipe in The Balthazar Cookbook. I’ve owned this cookbook for 15 years (a Christmas present from my brother) and it has served me very, very well. It’s a (much) slimmer version of Julia Child’s, Mastering the Art of French Cooking only modernized. Everything I’ve made from this cookbook comes out fabulous, from the braised short ribs with port-wine reduction sauce to French fries to this crowd-pleasing crème brûlée. The Balthazar Cookbook List Price: $37.50 Price: $18.97 Read Reviews You need 4-inch-wide ramekins for this recipe, but you can also use smaller ones. You’ll need to allow an extra hour for the crème brûlée to chill and set. But that’s the best thing about this dessert. You can make the custard the day before and let it cool in the fridge. Then, at the end of your dinner party, you can whip out the chilled ramekins and impress your dinner guests with your torch. If you are in a hurry and didn’t get to make your custard ahead, you can always chill it fast in the freezer. You do need a culinary torch. I got mine at the restaurant supply store but you can get one on Amazon (this is the one I have: Iwatani Torch Burner Professional). Iwatani Torch Burner Professional #Cb-tc-pro List Price: $53.93 Price: $24.25 Read Reviews You’ll also need some culinary butane like this: Blazer Butane Refill. Just snap the torch on top of the butane and you are ready to roll. If you don’t have a torch, you can also just put the ramekins under the broiler. Our crème brûlée looks a shade darker than you’ll see it in a restaurant because we are using sucanat or palm sugar. This is because sucanat and palm sugar are much more nutrient-dense than granulated white sugar, which is refined and has been stripped of all the nutrition. Crème Brûlée Serves 6 Ingredients Eggs, large, organic and free-range and ideally from pastured chickens (5) Ice Cream, organic, preferably from grass-fed cows (2 cups, or 16 oz) Sugar, sucanat or palm sugar (1/4 cup + 4 TBS) Vanilla bean (1) — you can also use vanil

Molly Siegler Cookout season is upon us and burger lovers and vegetarians alike will clamor for these flavorful and filling veggie versions of our favorite grillable main. Making your own veggie burgers is easier than it sounds and such a resourceful way to use leftovers that we’re not sure why we don’t make them more often. These burgers also freeze well so you can have an easy, vegetarian-friendly addition on hand all summer. Note: Veggie burgers should bind together well before baking, but can be reassembled if they break during an overzealous flip. Mediterranean Veggie Burgers To Bind and to Hold Something soft and mashable that can be used as binder is essential. Steamed potatoes or sweet potatoes can be mashed with other ingredients to hold the burgers together. Cooked whole grains add bulk to the burger, offering great texture. Ground nuts and seeds act as flavorful binders, too, giving veggie burgers a heft often relegated to meat-based burgers. Raw oatmeal can help to pull a looser veggie burger together. Cooked beans can be mashed to serve as a binder or left whole for more texture. Indian-Spiced Veggie Burgers Add to the Mix Fresh herbs and veggies enhance the texture of veggie burgers and spices and pantry staples (like capers, olives and nuts) add to the fun. Chopped fresh herbs and spices can help to tie a veggie burger theme together – use cilantro and curry powder for Indian-inspired burgers and parsley and olives for Mediterranean-inspired patties. Mix in thawed frozen peas or diced raw bell peppers for bright color and texture. Capers and diced gherkins up the savory quotient. White Bean and Almond Burgers Top and Serve While ketchup and mustard are fine, these flavor-packed veggie burgers give you an excuse to experiment. Blend wasabi powder, fresh basil or curry powder into mayonnaise. Slice ripe avocados and shred Swiss chard for a fun spin on the traditional tomato and lettuce garnish. Grill red onion rings and bell peppers alongside your veggie burgers over the fire. Serve veggie burgers atop a bed of greens, open-faced on toast or classically between buns. Southwest Veggie Burgers Have you ever made your own veggie burgers? Share your tips and techniques in the comments section below.

A.C. Gallo When Whole Foods Market announced in March that by 2018, all products in our U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we said we would provide updates of progress and milestones reached along the way. We have made a start and want to share progress with you. Two methods of non-GMO verification We believe non-GMO verification needs to be robust, science-based, credible, and based on standards created by multiple stakeholders. Accordingly, we have designated certified organic, which prohibits the intentional use of GMOs, and the Non-GMO Project Verified program as the only two verification methods that we will permit as substantiation that a product can be considered non-GMO within Whole Foods Market. Although not required, some manufacturers and producers have doubly verified their certified organic products with the Non-GMO Project Verified program, a practice our customers have responded to positively. We will not be developing our own unique non-GMO labeling standard nor acting as an accreditor to evaluate additional non-GMO verification programs. Although other non-GMO verification systems for both organic and non-organic products may arise, certified organic and the Non-GMO Project Verified are the most widely used and recognized. These two methods to determine labeling are only relevant for products based on or containing ingredients created from crops approved by the U. S. and Canada for GMO production. Those crops currently are: corn, soy, canola, cotton, sugar beets, alfalfa, Hawaiian papaya, zucchini, and yellow summer crooked neck squash. Getting things moving The response from our producers to our 2018 GMO labeling transparency announcement in March 2013 has been outstanding! Since March, the Non-GMO Project has received more than 900 inquiries from producers and manufacturers to learn how to start the non-GMO verification process. And, as of June 2013, we now have thousands of products within our stores verified as certified organic and/or Non-GMO Project Verified. The Non-GMO Project is working to increase its capacity for verifying products given this increased demand. They have been approaching this objective by diligently examining the capabilities of other certifiers. These certifiers will be accredited as competent to perform third-party audits to the Non-GMO Project’s standards. This will allow a larger volume of products to be verified as we approach our 2018 deadline. We have begun the work of discussing with our vendor partners how to move forward together as they transition to ingredients from non-GMO sources, or clearly label products containing GMOs by the five-year deadline. Making plans…lots of them Our non-GMO labeling transparency initiative includes all the products we sell, going far beyond what any of the state initiatives and legislation have proposed so far.  Products based on or containing ingredients created from government approved GMO crops will need to be labeled by manufacturers. Not only that, our meat, dairy, egg, and farmed seafood vendors also will need to verify whether or not animals were fed GMO corn, soy or alfalfa. In our Whole Body department, the ingredient list of each product will have to be examined for possible GMO-derived items. As you can see, it’s complicated, and that’s why it will take us five years to work with our more than 100,000 supplier partners to complete the process. To make this happen, we will be rolling out our GMO transparency labeling program by product and category. While overall it will require five years to achieve our goal, we expect the GMO labeling to be completed sooner in some product categories. State GMO Labeling Initiatives Many states are currently considering ballot initiatives or legislation that would require GMO labeling. We believe in GMO transparency and our hope is that these state initiatives and legislation will eventually lead to a federal

I am thrilled to announce that my new cookbook, Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry, came out today, June 18th, 2013. To share my enthusiasm about the Paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nightshade-free recipes in this new cookbook, I will be doing the following events: Thursday June 20th, 6:30 pm Sur la Table, Boulder Cooking class and [...] The post Paleo Cooking from... Click on the title to be taken to the full post at www.elanaspantry.com. Please note: This email was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message.

Welcome to another edition of the Real Food Kitchen Tour. This week, we travel to Los Angeles, California to tour the kitchen of Jennifer Nervo of the blog 20 Something Allergies & Counting Down. What’s a Real Foodie? A “real foodie” is someone who cooks “traditional” food. We cook stuff from scratch using real ingredients, like raw milk, grass-fed beef, eggs from chickens that run around outdoors, whole grains, sourdough and yogurt starters, mineral-rich sea salt, and natural sweeteners like honey and real maple syrup. We don’t use modern foods that are either fake, super-refined, or denatured. This includes modern vegetable oils like Crisco and margarine, soy milk, meat from factory farms, pasteurized milk from cows eating corn and soybeans, refined white flour, factory-made sweeteners like HFCS or even refined white sugar, or commercial yeast. We believe in eating wholesome, nutrient-dense foods that come from nature. So we shop at farmer’s markets or buy direct from the farmer, or we grow food in our own backyards. This Week’s Real Food Kitchen Tour: 20 Something Allergies and Counting…Down Blog Name: 20 Something Allergies And Counting…Down Blog Author: Jennifer Nervo Location: metro Detroit (suburban cities), Michigan How Long Blogging: 2 years House or Apartment: House Things You Love About Your Kitchen: Having natural gas to cook with and my hugeamungous fridge are my top 2 loves. Having it so open to the rest of the living areas has been both a blessing and a curse depending on how clean I can keep it…and, well, we just won’t go there. Things You Would Change: I’d love to have a U-shaped kitchen with a large island for prep work and bulk cooking and more natural light. We’re giving the old gal a face lift and getting rid of the builder beige in the next few weeks, so that will go a long way toward a happy kitchen space and a happy mama. Whoop!! Favorite Tools & Gadgets: Oooooh, this is a fun one. I have been collecting new and useful tools over the last year, and they have made life in the kitchen so much better. My Cuisinart food processor, Ninja blender, juicer, microplane (love me some ginger), pressure cooker, and Dutch oven are my heavy hitters and get used almost daily. Biggest Challenges Cooking Real Food: Energy. Having adrenal fatigue and a sluggish thyroid made mustering up the energy to cook even a simple meal difficult until a few weeks ago. I’ve come a long way in healing my endocrine system lately, so the biggest challenge now is keeping the food varied and interesting. Current Family Favorite Meal: Paleo meatballs with homemade ketchup or chili paired up with 3 way veggies, spring tonic, and our favorite dessert. Favorite Cookbooks: My Betty Crocker cookbook is the only one I go back to time and time again. I can modify the recipes like crazy and they still come out well even though we’re allergen- and grain-free, and the cooking times are great for making up my own dishes. This original Joy of Cooking is a prize I keep on display. How could you not love a cookbook that includes a recipe for Hot Bacon Salad with Bacon Drippings??? Wouldn’t it be lovely if I could say this is my kitchen? Before you turn green with envy, this is the design board for our kitchen facelift. It’ll be very budget friendly, but I’m hopeful we’ll get a similar feel. :fingers crossed: Instead, this is my builder basic beige tube. It’s not too bad, but I’m pretty sure I had this kitchen in at least 4 of my old apartments. Best part of the kitchen is the magnetic chalkboard wall next to the laundry room. It’s super fun and useful. This is a more accurate view of how the counters usually look… On to the good stuff! Here’s a peek inside my fridge. Lacto-fermented veggies, raw coconut water, raw milk kefir waiting for our 6 week dairy-free trial to be over, real food supplements, tons of meat, broth, and veggies rea

What’s the deal with all they types of sugar out there? Are all sugars created equal? And are all sugars bad? ** This is only a summary of our content.**

I’ve been feeling blue lately… And rather happy about that! Blueberries are abundant once again and my appetite for the sweet, mildly tart and tangy berries is insatiable. For as many punnets as I plow through, my cravings remain unsatisfied. Even as we reach the peak of growing season, the produce on offer left something to be desired. The solution turned out to be just a few steps away, hidden in plain sight. A more intense blueberry experience lay not in the produce aisle, but the freezer case. Frozen Wild Blueberries, grown in Maine and Canada but available worldwide and year-round, are a whole lot more special than you may realize. Oh sure, frozen Wild Blueberries boast considerable nutritional advantages over conventional, cultivated varieties, such as an unbeatable antioxidant levels just for starters, but that’s not what first lured me over to the wild side. It’s all about the flavor, and they sure do pack a giant punch of it into such tiny packages. That means that you’re getting about twice as many berries per cup, each with less water and more concentrated sweetness than fresh. For a baker concerned about runny pie filling or “bleeding” muffins, such a vast advantage over the competition is invaluable. Considering the sudden an unpredictable heatwaves rippling through the east coast lately, my thoughts were focused squarely on cooler, more refreshing treats. Referring back to Vegan a la Mode for inspiration, cheesecake sounded like a luscious pairing that would best highlight these indigo gems. Bumping up the intensity with a bold pop of citrus, lemon zest turned the simple flavor pairing into a legitimate flavor party. Enjoying a slowly melting scoop in a fresh waffle cone, the jam-like Wild Blueberry swirl shaking up the creamy confection with the periodically bite of a whole berry, it was exactly the summer-loving taste I had been missing And yet, that still wasn’t enough. What could possibly take this simple, sweet delight to the next level of dessert perfection? How about sandwiching it between two thick squares of graham cracker cookie bars, adding more cheesecake character back into the equation while incidentally creating more portable treats? Yeah, that might finally do the trick. If you should find yourself at a loss for how to dress up your very own frozen Wild Blueberries, and are hungry for a slightly less indulgent sort of refreshment, a good place to turn is Cooking Light‘s latest cookbook, Chill: Smoothies, Slushes, Shakes, Juices, Drinks & Ices. Though not a specifically vegan cookbook, most of the recipes are “accidentally” vegan, and all the rest easily veganizable. Though it may seem like a random tip to throw into the ring, now is the perfect time to check it out and potentially win your very own copy. See the details over at the Wild Blueberry blog ASAP! After all, the only thing better than a Wild Blueberry ice cream treat might be one paired with a tall glass of ice-cold Blueberry-Ginger Juice (page 125.) Wild Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Sandwiches Wild Blueberry Swirl: 5 Ounces (About 3/4 Cups) Frozen Wild Blueberries, Thawed 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch Graham Cracker Cookies: 3/4 Cup Non-Dairy Margarine 1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed 3 Cups Finely Ground Graham Cracker Crumbs 2 Tablespoons Whole Flaxseeds, Ground 1/2 Teaspoon Salt 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 2 Tablespoons Vegan Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt Lemon Cheesecake Ice Cream: 1/2 Cup (4 Ounces) Vegan Cream Cheese 1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar 3/4 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract 1 Cup Plain Non-Dairy Milk 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest Pinch Salt Prepare the blueberry swirl first since it will take the longest to cook and fully chill. Combine all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan, stirring well before turning on the heat to break up any possible lumps of starch. Cook over medium heat, stirring periodically, until the mixture

Keith Harris Wild salmon season is upon us! Rich in omega-3s, wild salmon is a great choice for summer BBQs or light family meals, and Whole Foods Market® is proud to offer a variety of different options. With so many types and species available, you may have a few questions. Copper or Columbia River? King or sockeye? How can you tell if it’s a good quality fish? As Whole Foods Market’s dedicated Alaska port buyer, I spend four months of the year on docks and piers, selecting the finest salmon for our fresh seafood cases. In the process, I’ve developed a few tips for picking a delicious fish: Salmon comes in a variety of colors. “Redder” doesn’t necessarily mean better. For example, Coho is a little paler than King, but is equally delicious. What you want to avoid is any salmon that shows signs of browning. You can also check for clear eyes, minimal bruising and firmness of flesh, which should be resistant to light pressure and bounce back easily once depressed. Where the fish was caught and its level of maturity affects how it will taste. I try to buy troll-caught salmon; trollers catch fish by hook and line while moving gently through the water, dragging artificial or fresh bait. Each fish is handled individually and is well tended by the trollers, who are some of the most conscious fishermen in terms of quality and workmanship. They care about the environment and take great pride in what they deliver. King (Chinook) salmon is the most highly sought-after of all the salmon species due to its high oil content and moderate to full flavor. King comes in many shades of orange to red; there are even some tasty white-meated Kings. Some of the most highly prized are Yukon River Kings, Columbia River Spring Kings, and Copper River Kings. Omega-3s are abundant in these fish and the dining experience is exquisite! Sockeye Reds draw people in with their bright red color and extra firm texture. Premium sockeye – that with the highest oil content – comes from either very long river systems or from very cold, glacial river systems.  The best sockeye comes from the Copper River, Frasier River and Yakutat (or really any location in Alaska). Coho (Silver salmon) comes to market a little later in the summer. Its milder flavor makes it a good choice if you’re introducing salmon to kids. This variety is also particularly great for grilling. Wild salmon populations are threatened in some parts of the world. To be a responsible fish eater, ask your fishmonger if the salmon you’re buying comes from a sustainable fishery. You can always look for fish from Marine Stewardship Council-certified sources, or from fisheries that are green- or yellow-rated according to the Blue Ocean Institute/Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. Do you have questions about selecting the right wild salmon? Strike up a conversation with the fishmonger at your local Whole Foods Market seafood counter or drop me a line in the comments section below.

Here I am again, playing the guinea pig. Why me?.... continue reading