Blueberry Mint Smoothie

Posted on March 25, 2013 by

This one sure is a treat.

  • 1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
  • 1 orange, juiced
  • 1/3 cup packed mint leaves
  • 1/2 avocado

The orange makes about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of juice depending on the orange, you can add more or less in order to make your juice sweet and liquid-y. If you don’t have a juicer, feel free to use the stuff out of a carton or substitute for water & a touch of honey/stevia. Conversely, the avocado gives it a nice creaminess. If you are using fresh blueberries you can add some extra along with an ice cube to have it colder. Blend away and enjoy :-)

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Beet Greens and Broccoli Juice

Posted on March 22, 2013 by


I love juices with broccoli. You can add too much however or the flavor is overwhelming. I used one of my favorite bases for this one romaine and a nice boost beet greens. I do recommend adding the carrots if you require a bit of sweetness and aren’t accustomed to bitter greens.

  • 1/2 head romaine
  • 1 bunch beet greens
  • 3 broccoli florets
  • Small handful cilantro
  • Carrots (optional) if you need sweetness

    • Run all the ingredients through your juicer. Stir. Bottoms up!

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    Stuffed Cabbage (Dolmeh Kalam)

    Posted on March 18, 2013 by

    I got this recipe from my mom – it’s one of those comfort foods for me – but it’s healthful at the same time. I could make a thousand variations; use any herbs/meats/no meat…but I like this one just the way it is. This time I also took a short cut because I had left over spaghetti sauce: I cheated. If you don’t, it’s still worth making from scratch! Just saute ground meat with onions and add a little tomato paste & the herbs from below. Then use your own tomato sauce or a prepared one. You’ll see…a little prep…but totally worth it.

    • 4 cups Bolognese spaghetti sauce
    • 1/3 cup parboiled quinoa*
    • Fresh Herbs: 3 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp cilantro, 1 tbsp mint**
    • 1 head of cabbage
    1. Start by preheating your oven to 350°F. Strain your Bolognese sauce reserving the liquid sauce separately from the meat portion.
    2. In a bowl, mix the meat, quinoa & herbs.
    3. Next, separate & boil all the cabbage leaves for 3 minutes in salted water
    4. Begin to assemble your stuffed cabbage leaves: Remove the hard part of the stem of the cabbage and then put the mixture of meat/quinoa/herbs at the bottom of the leaf and roll up and put them in an oven proof dish.
    5. Generously pour the reserved tomato sauce over top of your rolled stuffed, cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 1.5 hours hours.

    Bon Appetit :-)

     

    *Cook your quinoa for about 10 minutes in boiling salted water and drain. Note, you could also substitute rice instead of quinoa if you prefer.

    **In the ingredient list, I mentioned all fresh herbs, but actually I used a combination of fresh and frozen because that’s what I had. I tend to wash, chop and freeze my left-over herbs so they don’t go to waste.

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    Montreal Organic Health Show- March 2013

    Posted on March 17, 2013 by

    This year’s Montreal’s organic health show did not disappoint. The ‘Expo Manger Sante’ is held at the Palais des Congres in downtown Montreal for the whole weekend and is a trade show of organic food and beauty products.

    I love the show because you can browse all the different products, find new products, taste or try them and get coupons.  You can also buy many items which are sold at up to 25% off their regular price.  I walked out with two huge bags (or rather my wonderful husband did J).

    This year, here are the items that I picked up at the show (I didn’t have time for the beauty products so only concentrated on food this year at the show):

    -          Toasted sesame seed oil: so tasty , I use it to make a vinaigrette recipe similar to what they serve at the Japanese Steakhouse!

    -          Chia seeds: I use these every day in my juices, as well as sprinkled over my leafy salads. They are high in omega 3 just like flax but you don’t’ have to grind them up.

    -          Hemp seed: I use them the same way as chia seeds, hemp is high in iron.

    -          Quinoa and other pasta: I love this company so much I have to share the brand with you, it’s Primeal and they sell various quinoa and other grain mixes as well as pasta made out of quinoa. The pasta comes in all shapes and flavored with different savors like tomato, eggplant, spirulina, curry, turmeric and garlic and parsley. My husband and I make a mean Pasta Aioli with baked salmon (we use the curry spaghetti and make it with garlic, olive oil and rapini).

    -          Coconut oil: so healthy, I use it whenever I need oil that I will heat up.

    -          Multivitamins: currently I buy the Mega Food brand and am still searching for the brand that will best suit me.

    -          Duck terrine: the tasting was delicious so why not! They also make chicken pot pie which was equally delicious.

    -          Cleaning products: Here again I have a favorite brand for some cleaning products, Bio-vert. I love their dish washing hand soap and their all-purpose spray. They expanded their product line to include more items like toilet and floor cleaners.

    -          Plant seedlings: as I now have a yard where I can make a garden, I can’t wait to grow some herbs and vegetables.

    Along with all this I also picked up several brochures, magazines, recipes and coupons.  A few pamphlets will help me figure out which company to choose for organic produce basket delivery, for which I am currently researching.

    I hope you can join me next time!

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    Morning Sweetness

    Posted on March 14, 2013 by

    I love starting the morning with a juice that’s a little sweeter. It’s easy on my empty stomach and my tastebuds. Since I generally don’t juice fruits (you will find them in my smoothies), that probably means carrots, beets or perhaps even cabbage. Here’s a great morning juice, balance of sweet without forgetting to get the greens that will give you energy.

    • 14 small carrots or 6 large carrots
    • 1 bunch spinach
    • 1 bunch beet greens
    • 1 much parsley
    • juice of 1/2 lemon

    Run everything through your juicer, adding the juice from the lemon once it’s ready. Stir. Bottoms up!

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    Another Green Smoothie….

    Posted on March 11, 2013 by

    It’s great to wake up to a green smoothie. Gives you energy, tastes like a fruit drink and keeps you full all morning. Here’s another easy one:

    • 2 cups water
    • 1/2 head romaine*
    • 5 stalks celery
    • 4 leaves chard
    • 1 hand full cilanto
    • 1 hand full mint and micro greens
    • 1 apple
    • 1 pear
    • 1 banana (optional)

    Start by blending the water and the greens (chopped). Then add in the other ingredients one by one. Add more water if you like it to be more smooth. Enjoy.

    Note that really ripe fruit, especially banana will take over the taste of the entire fruit.

    *You need a pretty powerful blender when working with leafy greens like romaine & chard. I use a vitamix.

    Posted in Sheba's Blog | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

    Derived from the Classic Green Juice

    Posted on March 7, 2013 by

     

    Much like the classic green juice recipe, this juice has a celery base and contains spinach, ginger and lemon. However instead of kale, I put chard. To balance the rich flavor of chard and color I added a second base of carrots. It adds a nice subtle sweetness.

    • 5 celery ribs
    • 4 carrots
    • 1 bunch chard
    • 1 bunch spinach
    • 1 inch ginger (not necessary to peel)*
    • 1/2 lemon with peel, scrubbed

    Run everything through your juicer. Bottoms up!

    *Note it is not necessary to peel because I’m assuming you are using organic ingredients. If somehow you cannot get a hold of organic ingredients, then I recommend peeling. However, I would not juice regularly with conventional vegetables, it may be better to avoid altogether specially with such a concentrated dose.

     

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    Spicy grilled squid salad with vegetable slaw

    Posted on March 5, 2013 by

    If you are naturally squeamish when it comes to cleaning fish or seafood, I suggest buying already cleaned squid otherwise, go for it and make sure you scoop the spine and insides out really well and rinse thoroughly. For the tentacles, slice them just above where they connect to the head and pull out the little beak/mouth.  It’s a bit of a science experiment but the outcome is delicious and the recipe is quick and simple. This makes 4 appetizers.

    Ingredients
    1/2 kilo of squid (or calamari), cleaned and tubes scored
    1 teaspoon hot chili paste sauce (usually comes in a jar, sometimes as chili garlic sauce)
    1 garlic clove, minced
    1 teaspoon olive oil
    zest and juice 1/2 lemon
    1/2 red pepper, julienned
    1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
    1 small cucumber, julienned
    handful of fresh bean sprouts
    2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce
    1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
    1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
    salt & pepper to taste

    Directions
    Mix the squid with the chili paste, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest and season with salt & pepper.
    In a salad bowl, mix the sweet chili sauce, rice wine vinegar and lemon juice and season with salt & pepper.  Add the peppers, onions, cucumber, bean sprouts and cilantro and toss to coat.
    Heat the grill or a griddle pan on high and cook the squid pieces for about 1.5-2 minutes on each side…(they get rubbery if you overcook them!).
    Plate a bit of the salad and top with the grilled squid.
    Bon Appétit!

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    CSAs – Get Creative and Organized!

    Posted on March 4, 2013 by

    Since I moved to California I have been perusing the lovely farmer’s markets when a couple of years ago, I started getting a CSA basket (community supported agriculture). They are available almost everywhere now, depending on the season. They are an excellent way to get amazing local organic food while supporting your local farm. The quality of freshly harvested produce is outstanding. You’ll never want to go back to the supermarket for your produce. Many people ask me however how I handle the fact that I don’t get to choose what arrives in my basket each week (or biweekly). That’s actually a good thing! Here’s why:

    • You get a list of all ingredients in your basket in advance
      • I get about 20 ingredients or so in each basket
      • If the farm doesn’t email you a list, ask them for it
    • Use the list to get creative and plan several meals for the week
      • Look up some recipes for ingredients that are not familiar. It’s fun!
    • Anything missing will now go on your much smaller grocery list (hello organization!)
    • You may have extras in your baskets if you have a small household or like to eat out/travel a lot:
      • Wash it and freeze it for those lazy days
      • Throw it in the blender for a smoothie
      • Throw it in your juicer – you will start to glow in days
      • Pick up spots often have a trade in box. If you know you’re not going to eat particular items, get more of what you really need and give back what you don’t.
      • Try your hand at preserving (jams, pastes, butters, cans)
    • Great health benefits!
      • Forced to get creative due to a large amounts of fruits and veggies chosen and rotated for you means you will get more vitamins & minerals than you ever have before.

    Need I say more? Creative, organized, healthier…yet it’s cheaper! Likely due to bulk and if you pre-pay it’s much cheaper.

    Sold yet? There’s one more important factor. You are making the world a better place by reducing your carbon footprint: instead of eating questionably ripe fruit and veggies shipped from all over the world, you will be eating in season from farmers you know and trust. There is nothing better!

    Here are 3 resources to help you be a Locavore:

    1. Find a local farmer’s market:  http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/farmersmarkets
    2. Find a CSA: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
    3. Find a Farm: http://www.localharvest.org/

    “The act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the earth”. – Frances Moore Lappé

    *Disclaimer: Farm fresh organic veggies may be slightly more gritty than your well cleaned grocery produce. Don’t be alarmed if you run into a bug or two ;-)

    Link to my amazing local organic farm :-)

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    The Real V8 Juice

    Posted on March 1, 2013 by
    You make like V8 juice, you may not. Frankly I think that’s irrelevant, this juice is on a whole new level. The ingredients may be the same yet it is raw, fresh, contains no preservatives. The taste is so outstanding you won’t want to go back to the stuff in a can (if you ever had it in the first place). For those of you without juicers, try asking for this recipe at your local juice counter or a at a grocer’s (like whole foods). You may have to buy some of the ingredients as they will not be on their default ‘juice list’, but many of them will accommodate.
      • 5-6 tomatoes
      • 2-3 ribs celery
      • 3-4 small carrots
      • 1/3 head of romaine
      • 2-3 sprigs parsley (optional)
      • Salt (optional)

    If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also add a dash of hot sauce or vodka.

    Bottoms up!

    Posted in Sheba's Blog | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments