"What do you do to keep the riced cauliflower from tasting like a slightly solid form of boiled water?"  This is a message from my friend Marci after she read my recipe for Spring Vegetable Mishmash.  I've been swapping out cauliflower rice for regular rice recently as I have evidence that consuming rice too often has led to some recent autoimmune flare-ups.  Cauliflower rice is also popular with people who follow a Whole30 or a Paleo diet or an autoimmune protocol.   I definitely feel better after eating cauliflower rice versus eating traditional rice.  

However, Marci's question brought up a good point and that is cauliflower rice can sometimes taste like just a bunch of wet styrofoam pebbles.  Frankly, food should taste good, especially healthy food.  Through trial and error, I have found that roasting cauliflower rice produces the most flavor.  It's an easy cooking method and takes as much or less time to make as traditional rice.  

Here are the ingredients for it, if you are not starting with a whole head of cauliflower, plus what it looks like spread in the pan:

My current favorite snack is just two ingredients: dates and cashew butter.  That's it.  I discovered it in January when I chose to temporarily eliminate some foods from my diet so that my body could feel better.  Sure I enjoyed the sugar-laden desserts of the holidays and too much wine.  But between the overindulgence of the holidays and recovering from my second miscarriage, which happened in November, by January my body was asking, no it was begging for a break. 

I don't diet.  I don't cleanse or detox.  I do try to eat in a way that helps me thrive while living with an autoimmune disease.  I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease in February 1998.  For twenty years I have managed to live with one disease without developing another.  Research has shown that once you develop one autoimmune disease, you are much more likely to develop another.  One doctor told me I was 600 times more likely than someone who does not have autoimmunity.  

So in January, I eliminated some inflammatory foods, giving my body a chance to heal.  Out went dairy and alcohol and soy and legumes and sugar.   I am a snacker by nature and snacks were a real challenge until I happened upon this flavorful and nutritious combination of dates smeared with cashew butter.  The sweetness of the dates plus the creaminess of the cashew butter is incredibly delicious and incredibly satisfying.

Can I call this a recipe?  It feels more like a method so here is the method for this snack followed by the nutritional awesomeness it provides.

Dates with Cashew Butter
Serves 1

2 Medjool dates or 3 smaller dates such as Bahri or Deglet Noor
Cashew Butter

Remove the pit from the date and spread it flat.  Smear it with cashew butter.  Yum!

If you like dates, check out my recipe for date balls.  

Nutritional awesomeness:  Dates are loaded with anti-oxidants and other good for you vitamins and minerals, are considered low glycemic, and have a reputation for being the Viagra of Saudi Arabia (ahem and bada bing bada boom!).  If you want more information about the health benefits of dates, check out this article, and this one, and also this one.  The fat in cashew butter aids digestion.  You can read about the benefits of cashew butter here.  

​You can learn more about dates in this article.  

It's your turn!  What are some of your favorite two ingredient snacks?

Roasted Snow Peas.  Perhaps you are already roasting your snow peas, but we certainly were not.  Historically, when snow peas were on the menu, Brian would haul out his beloved wok and stir fry them which is a quick cooking method with a not so quick clean-up method. 

So the other night when both of us arrived home tired, one from sailing and the other from working, we wanted a quick dinner.  We had salmon fillets in the freezer and snow peas in the fridge so the menu was easy.  We would do the Maple Soy Salmon recipe from Julia Turshen's wonderfully useful cookbook Small Victories.  Brian would stir fry the snow peas.  Add our usual green salad and two glasses of wine and there's dinner.

Except I didn't want to stir fry the snow peas.  I just wanted to throw everything in the oven.  We always have leftover glaze from the Maple Soy Salmon recipe so I suggested that we toss the snow peas with the leftover glaze and roast them in the oven at the same time as the salmon.  One cooking method.  No standing over a hot stove.  Easy clean up of two sheet pans.  YES!

And it turns out that roasted snow peas are delicious!  And quick!  And easy! And nutritious!

Roasted Snow Peas with Maple Soy Glaze
Serves 4

1 lb. snow peas, cleaned with ends trimmed
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce or gluten free tamari
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (feel free to omit)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger, depending on your preference.
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.  

Toss all the ingredients together and spread evenly on a sheet pan (13 x 18 inches).  Roast for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through cooking.  Serve hot or cold or room temperature as they are delicious at any temperature.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Pairs especially well with roasted salmon. 

Nutritional awesomeness:  Snow peas have got a lot of goodness.  They are a good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin K.  As Vitamins A and K are fat soluble vitamins, the olive oil in the recipe helps your body absorb them.

Have you heard of pipian sauce?  It is one of the many sauces that Brian and I use to have a flavorful dinner without spending a lot of time and money in the process.  Traditionally, pipian sauce is made of tomatillos, onions, cilantro, sugar (ugh, why?), sesame or pumpkin seeds, and toasted bread.  You can find it in Mexico and Central American countries.  I do love a lot of flavor in my foods, and I do not love a lot of time spent for that flavor.   I imagine that done correctly, this sauce is a lot of work.  Luckily, I found a recipe for it in Rick Bayless' wonderful cookbook, Mexican Everyday, which was pretty straightforward.  Then, we did what we do often, we made it even easier and removed unnecessary ingredients, like sugar.  Rick Bayless recommends serving with with salmon and so do we.  It's great with grilled salmon.  The fat and the sweetness of the fish are cut with the spice and acidity of the sauce.  I also enjoy pipian sauce on eggs, grilled chicken, and I imagine it would be good with grilled pork.  Hey, vegetarian and vegan friends, it makes a nice dipping sauce for roasted cauliflower or green beans.  When thinking about pairing it, the sauce is spicy so it's ideal with something sweet.

How did we make this recipe our own?  Rick calls for blending the primary ingredient, a tomatillo salsa, in a food processor.  We are not doing that.  Why?  Because I am the dishwasher and heck no I will not be washing any unnecessary dishes thank you kindly.  This is just to make the sauce smooth.  I'm fine with it chunky.  We eliminated the sugar because geez louise why do you need sugar in it?  You don't.  He adds ingredients one at a time to the saucepan, such as first reducing the salsa before adding the broth and tahini.  How much time do you have?  That's what I thought:  you don't have time to be adding ingredients one at a time.  Your time is valuable!  Thus, we just pour all three ingredients in the saucepan at once, and let it reduce, thereby freeing us up to make salads, roast veggies, and grill fish or chicken.  

Quick & Easy Green Pipian Sauce
Makes enough sauce for 4-6 meals

2 cups jarred tomatillo salsa (use your favorite since it's the dominant flavor of the sauce)
1 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons tahini that has been well stirred
​Swirl of olive oil

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, lightly swirl olive oil around the pan one time.  Lift the pan and tilt it to ensure even distribution of the olive oil.  Add the salsa, broth, and tahini.  Whisk together.  It may look like the tahini has separated a bit.  This is normal and it will come together as it reduces.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Stir or whisk occasionally to prevent the sauce from scorching on the bottom of the pan.  Cook the sauce until it has reduced by half to two-thirds, depending on your preferred thickness.  Serve warm with grilled or roasted chicken, fish, and/or vegetables.  

Nutritional awesomeness:  Tomatillo salsa is an excellent source of vitamin C.  Tahini contains iron and calcium.  

I recently taught one of my favorite cooking classes, Meal Planning for Health & Vitality.    I had a terrific group of students who asked lots of good questions.   Many of these students reminded me that sometimes the most challenging part of the meal is being creative with vegetables.   As my mother-in-law likes to say, "I'd be a vegetarian if preparing vegetables were not so much work."  

My goal is to change the misconception that creatively preparing vegetables has to be a lot of work to produce a lot of flavor.  I actively avoid recipes with too many ingredients or that require the use of every pan in the house plus some kitchen tools you don't have and didn't know exist.  I don't do precious when it comes to my food.   I do do good flavor with quick and easy preparations that can easily fit into our busy lifestyles.  

I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite side dish, or, some nights when I am teaching yoga and arrive home late, dinner.  It features zucchini, which I've been told grows profusely.  When we lived in New York's Hudson Valley, friends with gardens were always giving us zucchini so I can vouch for the truth of this.  It's easy to make, has great flavor, and can be eaten on its own or served as a side dish for everything from poached fish to grilled steak.  Yes, it's that versatile!  It's zucchini with white beans and onions.

Zucchini with White Beans and Onions
Serves 4-6

1 pound of zucchini, washed and ends trimmed.  You can also use a combination of zucchini and summer squash.
1 small to medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt 
fresh ground black pepper
Italian parsley, washed and chopped for garnish (optional)

Cut the zucchini in half, lengthwise.  Then cut each half in half again so the whole zucchini is cut into quarters lengthwise.  Line the fourths up together and make a large dice at 1/2-inch to 1-inch intervals.  

Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil.  Swirl around the pan and add the onion and garlic.  Saute over medium heat, stirring often, until translucent.  Add the zucchini, and a couple of pinches of salt and pepper.   Cook the mixture over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until the zucchini is starting to soften, but still firm to the bite.  If the onions start browning too much, turn the heat down to medium low.   Add the white beans, stir to incorporate.  Cook another 2-3 minutes to warm the beans.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  If you like, garnish with chopped parsley.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Nutritional awesomeness:  Zucchini is low in carbohydrates and a good source of Vitamin C and Vitamin A.  Onions are a good source of Vitamin C, Folate, and Potassium.  Cannellini beans are a good source of protein and fiber, help regulate blood sugar levels, and are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals.  
​

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of teaching a cooking class about meal planning.   The day of the class I had an epiphany that meal planning is really about self esteem.  Meal planning is about your relationship to time and how you view time is often a reflection of how you value yourself and others.  I know you didn't expect an emotional deep dive around meal planning, and yet there it is.  Meal planning will save you time.  Your time is valuable because you are valuable.  If you devote yourself to it, not only will it save you time, it will also help you improve your health.  

It was a great group of ten women, who asked amazing questions, and who are committed to improving their overall health.  They inspired me!  It became obvious to me that they weren't meal planning because it wasn't clear to them that meal planning could be done with simple, delicious, and healthy recipes.  Often, there are fears that healthy equals tastes bad, requires special ingredients, and must be made on equipment you would only find in a restaurant kitchen.    Also, that recipes will take a lot of time, especially on weekdays when time can be most taxed.

I have good news!  None of this has to be true.  If you know me, then you know that I don't do precious in the kitchen, I will walk away from recipes with more than about six ingredients, and shake my fist at recipes that require me to use every pan in my house.  That's ridiculous.  I'm here to tell you that delicious, healthy, simple food can be yours on a regular basis.

To start, I am presenting you with my husband's enjoyable marinara sauce recipe that costs less than the jarred stuff, has no sugar (the jarred stuff usually does), and is simple to make.  The recipe is written by Brian.

Brian's Marinara Sauce
Serves 4-6
​

• One 28-ounce can crushed San Marzano tomatoes 
• Quite a lot of extra virgin olive oil.  I just drizzle it around until it looks like enough, generally coating the entire top of the tomato sauce in our copper-bottom saucepan.  1/4 to 1/3 cup.
• Minced fresh garlic.  Five or six big cloves, more if the cloves are smaller.  
• Chopped fresh basil.  I used about half the package from Trader Joes.  It probably would have been at least a cup full after being chopped.  Looking at it on the cutting board, it will look like too much, but the basil will wilt like spinach when added to the sauce.  
• Dried red pepper flakes.  I put in a few shakes, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.  
• No salt, no pepper.  

 

1. Pour the can of crushed tomatoes into a saucepan and start heating it on low flame.  Really, you need to use a low flame or the bottom will burn and stick to the pan. 
2. Pour in the olive oil and stir to emulsify.  You might be tempted to use a whisk, but you need to resist that temptation and go for something like a wood spoon.  With a whisk, the crushed tomato bits will get stuck in the whisk wires and then it'll be like stirring with the handle of a baseball bat, not very effective, and you'll have to get those tomato bits out of the whisk somehow, which will most likely result in them not being in the sauce where they belong.  So just use a spoon.  You need to stir slowly, or the oil will slosh out of the saucepan.  It's going to take some time to get it all emulsified.  Be patient.  
3. As the sauce continues to heat, mince your garlic and chop your basil and add it to the sauce as you go.  Order and timing are not too important here.  Also add red pepper flakes to taste.  
4. Once the sauce is at a consistent simmer, put a splatter guard over it and keep stirring occasionally until it has thickened to the consistency you like. You can make it ahead.  Like many sauces and stews, it's better the second day.  

Nutritional awesomeness:  Crushed tomatoes have a low glycemic load and are a good source of Vitamins A and C.  Fresh basil contains Vitamin K, which helps blood clot and builds strong bones.  You can read more about Vitamin K here.  Vitamin K is fat soluble so it's good there's olive oil in the sauce.   Olive oil is a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to help lower bad cholesterol.  It contains polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants.  Studies in Europe have concluded that olive oil consumption helps lower blood pressure. One Greek study with 36,000 participants concluded that there is an inverse relationship between eating olive oil and rates of cancer. 

I've been told by people who garden and know how to garden well, that zucchini can grow profusely.  That it just keeps coming and coming and coming.  That you will always have more than you need.  That a person with too much zucchini will exhaust all available options for dispensing of it from making muffins and soups and roasting it to just giving it away.

The seemingly endless supply of zucchini is indeed a good thing because it leads to creativity and exploration, like this grilled zucchini recipe.  It is inspired by one I found in the Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking cookbook, which I recently checked out from our terrific local library.  As an aside, a great way to test drive a cookbook is to check it out from the library.  The recipe caught my eye because it was so different from any other preparation of zucchini I've tried.  It had a tahini sauce on it, and I like tahini (you can find my tahini salad dressing here).  It included texture in the form of toasted nuts.  

However, the recipe also had some disadvantages as far as I was concerned.  It involved turning on the oven in the summertime to roast the zucchini.  It involved multiple pieces of equipment, including a food processor, which just seemed like extra time spent washing dishes to me.  Who has time for that?  Plus the nuts it calls for are hazelnuts.  I love hazelnuts.  I do not love toasting them and then skinning them (always a messy endeavor).  

With that, I decided I could use the recipe for inspiration, adapt it to be fast and easy with a minimal amount of equipment and a maximum amount of flavor!

Grilled Zucchini with Tahini Sauce
Serves 4-5

3 - 4 zucchini, thickly sliced lengthwise
Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup tahini (not tahini sauce)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (if it's a huge lemon, use 1/4 and then add more lemon juice to taste)
1/2 - 1 tablespoon anchovy paste (it's your preference how much you add).
1-2 tablespoons water (may need more)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Preheat grill to medium.

Once you have sliced the zucchini, brush it with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, stir together the tahini, the lemon juice, and 1/2 tablespoon anchovy paste.  It will thicken to the point of seizing.  Add one tablespoon of water.  Stir slowly to incorporate, avoiding splashing the water out of the bowl.  If the sauce is still too thick, add another tablespoon of water.  You may even need more water.  You want the sauce to be the consistency of salad dressing.  Taste it.  If it needs more salt and a little more personality, add more anchovy paste.

​Turn the grill heat down to low.  Grill the zucchini for 2-3 minutes per side.  

To serve:  drizzle the sauce on the zucchini and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Serving suggestion:  The original recipe calls for feta and you could certainly sprinkle feta over the zucchini after it's sauced but before you sprinkle the nuts.

Make it Vegan:  Eliminate the anchovy paste and add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt to the sauce, to taste.

Nutritional awesomeness:  Zucchini is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, folate and niacin.  Tahini has no cholesterol, and is a good source of thiamin, magnesium and zinc.  Thiamine is a B vitamin that assists in the healthy functioning of the nervous and cardiovascular systems.  Pine nuts are an excellent source of manganese, which is essential for good bone structure.  

Hello summer.  A heat wave is coming.  It will be so hot we've cancelled our plans to go camping.  It's too hot to camp.  Thoughts turn to cold, frozen, icy, cool, and anything that distracts from the heat that is coming.  It's too hot to go outside.  It's too hot to go to the store.  I want something cold and delicious and refreshing.  Don't you?  You know you do!  

This super easy and quick frozen yogurt is what you want.  You likely have all the ingredients on hand:  yogurt, frozen fruit, sugar, and lemons or limes.  The only equipment you need is a food processor.  In 10 minutes or less, cold and creamy satisfaction can be yours.

This recipe was inspired by one published in Food & Wine magazine a decade ago. Created by Ferran Adria using strawberries, I've played with it a bit as the original had too much sugar for my liking and not enough acid.  I present the mango version here.  Scroll to the end of this post for the Strawberry Frozen Yogurt variation.  

10-Minute Mango Frozen Yogurt
Makes 3-4 cups

1 pound frozen mango chunks, broken up if clumped together
5 ounces whole fat yogurt (Greek is fine), unsweetened
1/4 cup sugar (I prefer organic cane sugar)​
One lime, cut into wedges

Equipment:  7-cup capacity food processor (or larger)

Set up your food processor with the blade attachment.  Into the processor bowl add the mango chunks, yogurt, and sugar.  Process for two minutes.  Scrape down sides and stir around any chunks that have clumped together or are not broken down.  Process until smooth.  May require up to five minutes of processing.  

Serve immediately with lime wedges.  Encourage eaters to squeeze fresh lime over the frozen yogurt to added a much needed and quite enjoyable zing!

Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three days.  Though, it won't be as good as when it is first made.  

Strawberry Variation:
Substitute one pound of frozen strawberries for the frozen mango chunks.  Instead of lime wedges, cut one lemon into wedges to be squeezed over the Strawberry Frozen Yogurt.  

Are you looking for a quick weeknight meal that's full of flavor?  Here it is.  It utilizes the often neglected spice rack to create an easy chicken dinner that comes together in about 20 minutes, 30 minutes if you add a salad and a side dish. When I say flavor, I mean a lot of heat and flavor from cayenne and five spice powder.  If you have little ones, you may wish to dial down the cayenne pepper.

We've been making this recipe for years now.  It was inspired by one I found on the Food Network for chicken wings.  I've adapted it for chicken thighs and scaled down the number of ingredients in the sauce.  We are making it in particular this week as we both have colds, which means we don't have the energy to spend all evening in the kitchen.  We need something that is quick to prepare and easy to clean up.  We also need a lot of flavor as our taste buds are shot from being sick.  The spices are great for a cold as they help boost immunity and drive down inflammation.  This dish just hits the spot.  It's also a great recipe for summer since it's grilled, and the chicken is delicious hot or cold.

Fiery Five Spice Chicken Thighs with Creamy Cilantro Sauce

1.25 to 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 Tablespoon five spice powder
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust according to how spicy you like it)
3/4 teaspoon salt
5-10 grinds freshly ground black pepper

6 ounces plain yogurt (2% or whole) - Greek is fine.
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix together the five spice powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.  Add the chicken and toss (either with your hands or a spoon) until all the chicken pieces are covered in the spice mixture.   Preheat the grill to medium.  Set aside.

While the grill is heating, make the sauce.   In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Add chicken to grill.  Grill 4-5 minutes per side.  Internal temperature should be 160-165 F.  

Serve the chicken with the sauce.  

Side dishes:  This is great served with rice, quinoa, couscous, roasted cauliflower, etc.  Serve with something mild on the side since the chicken itself is so flavorful and spicy.

Nutritional awesomeness:  Five spice powder is a blend of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, and Szechuan peppercorns. Cinnamon is an anti-inflammatory.  To read about the benefits of all five, check out this article from Dr. Andrew Weil.  Cayenne pepper has numerous health benefits, including pain relief.  Cilantro is known for its amazing detox properties and helps remove heavy metals from the body.  Yogurt contains probiotics, the friendly bacteria that contribute to a healthy digestive system.