Seems like I just can’t get enough kale!  Not only is this salad super yummy, but it is incredibly healthy and easy to make. This is a great raw choice for the warm months and a nice dish to bring for a potluck.

Ingredients:
-  1 bunch of kale
-  1 avocado
-  1 lemon, squeezed
-  1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Rinse the kale, remove the stems and chop. Combine the kale, lemon and sea salt in a bowl. Massage the kale with your hands for a few minutes - until the kale becomes tender. Chop up the avocado into small pieces and massage it into the greens.

Optional Add-ins:
− Grated root vegetables such as beet, carrot and daikon radish.
− Toasted sesame or sunflower seeds.
− Crumbled goat or feta cheese.
− Extra Virgin Olive Oil
− Quinoa

Farmers Markets are overloaded with squash this time of year. Here is a simple but delicious recipe that can be served at a dinner party or as a simple meal at home. This naturally sweet vegetable is also a good antidote for sugar cravings.

Ingredients:
3 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tblsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
Cayenne pepper to taste (careful!)
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups water
1 tart green apple, peeled, cored and chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large soup pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add onion and saute until golden brown. Add garlic, curry powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper; cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Add squash, vegetable or chicken broth, water and apple. Bring liquid to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 25 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove from heat and cool 15-20 minutes.Puree mixture in a blender or food processor and transfer back into soup pot. Season with salt and pepper.

• Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve.
• To serve, warm over low heat, stirring until hot.

Collard green wraps are my new favorite thing! Collard greens replace the tortilla and provide a healthier wrap option. It’s also a great way to get more greens into your diet. Get fresh collard greens from your local Farmer’s Market and fill them with your choice of fillings. You can put just about anything in the collard wrap and make them raw too.

My current favorite:

Take 1-2 raw collard leaves with the inside facing up and fill with:

- Hummus, brown rice or quinoa, grated carrot, 1/2 avocado, dash of toasted sesame oil and tamari. Yum!

Collard greens are packed with nutrition! 

Like other vegetables in the cabbage family, collard greens provide anticancer properties. They offer an excellent source of vitamins B6 and C, carotenes, chlorophyll, and manganese.  One cup of collard greens provides more than 70 percent of the RDA for vitamin C. Collard greens are also a very good source of fiber, and several minerals, including iron, copper, and calcium. They also offer a good source of vitamins B1, B2, and E.

I’ve recently discovered the grain Amaranth, which is high in protein, iron and calcium as well as wheat and gluten-free. It is a nice breakfast alternative to oatmeal. I put the same add-ins that I put in my oatmeal - making it even yummier and more nutritious! I find adding protein and good fats (Omega-3s) to my breakfast keeps me full longer and my energy nicely balanced. (more…)

Although my mom force-fed me healthy food when I was growing up and I’ve been a vegetarian or pesca-tarian (fish-eating vegetarian) of some sort since college, I wasn’t always the healthiest eater. My vegetarian diet was filled with pasta, bread, cheese and unbearable sweet cravings. In 2002, in my Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) class at Boston Shiatsu School I was introduced to the book Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford. I began studying this veritable bible of nutrition and TCM knowledge and making changes to my diet. (more…)

This is one of my favorite macrobiotic recipes as it is super easy to make and sooo satisfying. Fall is a great time to make this recipe as you can get fresh local acorn squash from the Farmer’s Market. Aduki beans are very nourishing to the kidneys and adrenal glands while the squash is beneficial to the stomach, spleen and pancreas, helping to keep blood sugar even and stabilize your mood. A great way to combat sugar cravings! Kombu is a sea vegetable, which helps soften the beans making them more digestible and is also rich in minerals. Aduki beans are also one of the least gaseous of beans!

Ingredients:

• 4-6 inch piece of kombu (seaweed)
• 1 can aduki beans
• 2 cups hard winter squash (acorn or butternut) cut into chunks (unpeeled if organic)
• 1 teaspoon tamari soysauce

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I just came back from Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. This was the first conference for the Immersion program at Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I got to connect with 250 fellow health counselors, deepen my counseling skills, take great workshops on marketing, eat delicious vegetarian food and soak in the natural beauty of the area. The nights were absolutely gorgeous with a full moon and starry nights.
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Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is not really a grain, but it tastes like a grain.  Quinoa has a light, fluffy texture when cooked, and its mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it a healthy and tasty alternative to white rice or couscous. Quinoa is high in protein, iron, magnesium, Vit. B6 and folate. It is also gluten-free.
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