Super Easy Roasted Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Pumpkin pasta sauce is velvety, sweet, rich  and super easy to make. It is very versatile and can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. Pumpkin sauce can be used in any pasta recipe that calls for tomato sauce. This sauce recipe is amazing in a lasagna. While the lasagna is baking in the oven, I warm up the leftovers and give to my son as a soup with a sprinkling of pastina. For adult palates I may serve it as a soup with a dollop of pumpkin seed butter.  I like to use full fat organic coconut milk in this recipe, but the roasted pumpkin and garlic combination is so flavorful that any liquid even water will work well.

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small  acorn, butternut, kobucha, hubbard or any other pumpkin or squash
2 heads of garlic
16-24 oz of liquid (water, veggie broth, cow milk, almond milk, coconut milk); depends on the size of the pumpkins and the desired consistency of the sauce
1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves
salt
pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375
Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds
Lay face down on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper
Wrap garlic in foil, add to the cookie sheet
Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until pumpkin is soft
Take out of the oven and let cool
With a spoon scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin in to a blender jar or a large bowl
Unwrap and without peeling queeze out the soft garlic cloves
In the blender (or a large bowl and hand emmersion blender) combine and process pumpkin flesh, garlic, liquid, basil, salt and pepper
Adjust liquid untill the sauce reaches desired consistency
Enjoy in any pasta or lasagna recipe!

Pease Pudding Please

Who said that the traditional cuisine of Great Britain lacks tasty or vegetarian dishes? This Split Pea (Pease) Pudding recipe from Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Dishes from Around the World is both yummy and veggie. In fact, it would be a great dish to bring to a pot luck gathering, make as a main dish to serve with roasted root veggies and sauteed brussel sprouts, or to use as a filling in a crepe.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
1 cup of dried yellow split peas, rinsed (soaking for several hours or overnight is optional)
4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
2oz frozen spinach, diced (optional)
dry thyme or dill

Directions:

In a saucepan with a lid cook the yellow split peas until soft but not mushy. This step may take 30-60 minutes.
While the split peas are cooking, on medium heat saute onion until golden and soft in butter or olive oil.
When the onions are golden, add frozen spinach, sea salt, ground black pepper and thyme. Mix well.
When the split peas are finished cooking, drain and add to the onions. Mix well and enjoy hot or at room temperature.

Allergies be gone! morning smoothie recipe

Ingredients:

Anti-inflammatory antioxidants:

•

• 1 cup of frozen organic berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, currants, cranberries and strawberries)
• 2000 mg of vitamin C powder

Fluid to keep mucus membranes and tissues hydrated:

•

• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, rice milk, coconut or hazelnut milk or water

Source of anti-inflammatory easily digestible protein:

•

• 1-2 tablespoons or scoops protein powder (undenatured whey, rice or hemp)

Essential fatty acids to educate the body’s immune system to be more tolerant and less reactive:

•

• 1-2 Tbsp of fish, cod liver or flax oil
• 2 teaspoons ground flax seeds
• 1 tablespoon almond, pumpkin seed, cashew, or sunflower seed butter
• 1/4 -1/2 of an avocado

Source of minerals, and trace elements:

•

• 1 teaspoon spirulina, powdered greens or chlorella

Directions:

Blend until smooth adjusting nut milk as needed

Enjoy every morning before, during and after allergies season

Healthy-ish chocolate chip cookies

I looked over what seems like hundreds of chocolate chip cookie recipes and their corresponding reviews online to create this healthy-ish version. Why? Because you asked for an alternative to the traditional crisco-laden sugar-drenched chocolate chip cookie. This healthy-ish alternative is flourless and dairy-free. Please note, it contains oats and, therefore, is not gluten-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup of coconut oil or butter (same thing)

1/2 cup of organic sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup of almond meal

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups oats

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, cashews, macadamias, or almonds)

1 cup polyphenol rich chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F

Heat coconut oil to liquefy it (it is already liquid in the summer).

In a large bowl cream together coconut oil and sugar. Beat in eggs and add vanilla.

Stir in almond meal, baking soda, salt until the mixture is creamy.

Mix in the oats, chocolate chips and nuts.

Roll the cookie dough into balls in your hands and drop onto a non-greased stainless steel cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Allium

Allium sativum, which in most homes goes by plain old garlic, has so many culinary and medicinal properties. Today's post will be a showcase of my home-grown-supremely-pungent-freshly-picked-and-hung-to-dry garlic! Oh, also I am going to discuss those culinary and medicinal properties.

Back in the fall I bought a head of garlic at my local farmer's market, divided it into individual cloves and planted the cloves 6 inches apart in my home garden. In the early spring each clove produced lots and lots of garlic greens. I used these aromatic scallion-like garlic tops in everything from soups to salads.

Over the last couple of week, the greens began to wilt and dry. This was my sign to harvest the garlic. Over the course of the winter with only a weekly watering, each little clove turned into a full head of garlic. After washing and drying the garlic bulbs, I braided and hung them to dry as my grandmother used to do. And voila ... Allium sativum in a braid!

Let's talk about the culinary properties of this lovely and supremely aromatic member of the onion mishpocha. Soups, stews, and roasted goodies just don't taste the same without a hint of garlic. Did you know that you can place a bulb of garlic in the oven while baking bread; then squeeze the bulb and spread the softened garlic on the freshly baked bread?

Allium's medicinal properties range from antibiotic, stimulation of perspiration, lowering of blood pressure, easing of tension, speeding up healing, balancing blood sugar and reducing cholesterol. Did you know that a clove of fresh pressed garlic can be mixed in an ounce of warmed olive oil to be used as drops for ear infections?

What is your favorite use of garlic?

Gloomy Sunday Split Pea Soup

While the weather on the east coast has been heating up, today was a gloomy sunday in Los Angeles. This day reminds me of Gloomy Sunday, a beautiful film set in lovely Budapest in the 1930's.

Ingredients:

2 small yellow onions, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large carrot, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 large potato, diced

1 cup of dry green or yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed

1 lemon (zest and juice)

6 cups of water

olive oil

cumin

paprika

salt

pepper

2 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (optiona)

1/4 cup quinoa (optional)

Directions:

Saute onions in a soup pot in plenty of olive oil on medium heat until golden brown.

Add lemon zest, cumin, garlic and lots of paprika and mix well with the onions.

Add carrot, zucchini, potato, split peas (and quinoa) and let saute until the veggies are well coated in olive oil.

Add water, cover and bring to boil; put the heat on low and cook for 30-60 more minutes until the split peas are soft.

Take off the heat.

Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, Bragg's liquid aminos.

Puree in a classic blender or use an immersion blender.

Enjoy with toast and avocado!

Nature Cure Cook Book

At a local library book sale, I came across Nature Cure Cook Book, penned in 1918 by Henry Lindlahr, MD, one of the pioneers of the Nature Cure movement and of Naturopathic Medicine. In fact, Dr. Lindlahr's Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics is a required text in the first semester of naturopathic education.

Before delving into specific remedies, Lindlahr warns that "even the most wholesome foods, in the best possible combination, cannot be properly digested and assimilated if the digestive organs are in a sluggish, atrophic condition. In such cases these organs must be made alive and active through natural methods of treatment." This remains one of the most fundamental principles in naturopathic medicine.

The Nature Cure Cook Book divides all food elements into five categories: starches (St), sugars (S), fats/oils (F), proteins (P), and minerals (M). Each recipe denotes which food elements it contains. This type of notation enables the patient to remain on the prescribed diet. For example, the patient who is prescribed a low-carb diet will know to exclude recipes that have starches and sugars and go straight to the Dandelion and Orange Salad recipe which contains minerals, fat, and protein.

Nature Cure Cook Book: Dandelion and Orange Salad (M,F,P)

Wash the dandelion leaves in very cold water to make them crist; cut into shreds with scissors; peel and chip sweet oranges in proportions of 1 orange to each cup of shredded dandelion.

For a dressing, rub the salad bowl with a garlic, cut a stalk of leek into fine rings, add a little salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir well, add the orange and dandelion, toss together with a wooden fork and spoon. Cover with sliced hard-boiled eggs. This salad should be served as soon as mixed.

Garlicky Black Bean Soup

This black bean soup was super easy to prepare and super tasty!

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

4 stalks of celery, finely diced

1 large bunch of garlic greens, chopped

1 large bunch of cilantro leaves and stalks, chopped

3 medium potatoes, diced

2 12oz cans or equivalent of black beans, with cooking fluid

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 Tbsp cumin

1/2 Tbsp paprika

1/2 Tbsp achiote (optional)

juice of 1/2 lemon

4-6 cups of water or vegetable broth

olive oil

salt

pepper

{Garlic greens in my home garden}

Directions:

Coat the bottom of a stainless steel or ceramic soup pot with olive oil

Add cayenne, cumin, paprika, and achiote and let cook on medium-low for 2 minutes

Add onion and saute until golden brown

Add celery and saute until it wilts and softens, about 3-5 minutes

Add potatoes, cilantro, and most of the garlic greens (reserve a little bit for garnish) and saute about 3-5 more minutes

De-glaze with 1 cup of broth or water, scraping the brown bits at the bottom of the pot

Add black beans with cooking fluid

Add the rest of the broth or water

Let simmer covered on low heat for 45-60 minutes

Before serving add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with chopped garlic greens

Enjoy!

Indian Spinach Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow or red onions, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 14-oz can of coconut milk or light coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon of indian curry
• 1 inch of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
• 16 oz bag of frozen organic spinach
• 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
• juice of 1 small lemon
• salt
• pepper
• optional ingredients: 1 12oz can of garbanzo beans or 3 small boiled and diced potatoes, or 12oz of diced paneer.

Directions:

• Saute the onions in a heavy cast iron or stainless steel pot in coconut oil. Cover with a lid.
• When the onions turn golden and translucent, add garlic, ginger and indian curry.
• Continue to saute until the onions, garlic and curry begins to stick to the bottom of the pot
• Deglaze with a 1/2 of the 14 oz can of coconut milk. This means that you pour the coconut oil into the pot and, using a wooden spatula, scrape the bottom of the pot.
• Add the entire bag of frozen or thawed spinach. Cover and cook on low fire for 20 minutes or until the spinach is soft.
• Add lemon juice, as well as salt and pepper to taste.
• Using an immersion blender, puree the spinach mixture.
• Now you can add garbanzo beans for a saag chana, or cubed poiled potatos for a saag aloo, or diced indian cheese for a saag paneer.
• Enjoy over brown basmati rice!

Quintel (aka Quinoa Lentil) Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cooked french (or brown) lentils
• 1 cup of cooked quinoa
• 1/4 cup of garlic greens (or chives), chopped
• 1 cup of cooked artichoke hearts, cut lengthwise into quarters
• 1 small tomato, sliced
• salt
• ground pepper

{Garlic chives in my vegetables garden}

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl
• Enjoy hot or at room temperature with olive or flax oil

Golden Beet Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 large golden beets, scrubbed, greens on top removed
• 1/2 of a medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, parsley or dill, finely chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Boil beets in salted water with skin on. Remove beets from water when you are able to pierce them with a knife. Peel when they cool.
• Cut beets in half lengthwise. Slice each half into thin half-moon shaped slices.
• Combine beet slices with onions, cilantro (or parsley or dill), lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Enjoy!

Zeidy's Fish

Ingredients:

• Fresh or thawed salmon or mahi mahi, filleted and rinsed
• 3 lemons, sliced into thin wheels
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 onion, finely chopped

Marinade:

• Juice of 2 lemons
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 bunch of dill, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled, minced or crushed
• 3 tablespoons of Braggs liquid aminos or tamari sauce

Directions:

• Marinade your fish in a covered stainless steel or glass container for 15minutes - 24 hours ahead of cooking.
• Put 1/2 of the lemon wheels, carrots, celery, and onions on the bottom of a flat ceramic or stainless steel baking dish.
• Put your fish on top and cover with the second half of lemon wheels, onions, carrots, and celery.
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 until the fish flakes. The cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of the fish as well as on the type of oven. To avoid overcooking, use a timer and check on your fish every 10 minutes.

Zeidy's chickpea vegetable soup

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup of medium grain brown rice
• 1 bunch of parsley or cilantro, chopped
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup of Bragg's liquid aminos or tamari sauce
• 8 cups of water
• salt
• pepper
• paprika
• cumin
• olive oil

Directions:

• In a large stainless steel covered soup pot, saute the onions in lots of olive oil until golden brown.
• Add salt, pepper, paprika, cumin and mix well.
• Add carrots, celery, bell pepper, potatoes and saute until the vegetables are soft.
• Add brown rice, chickpeas and 1/2 bunch of parsley or cilantro (reserve the other 1/2 bunch for later). Mix well so that the rice is coated in olive oil.
• Add 8 cups of water and bring to boil.
• Reduce to low and simmer on low for 1 hour adjusting water as needed.
• Add Braggs liquid aminos or tamari sauce and the rest of parsley or cilantro right before serving.
• Adjust spices and enjoy!

Amazing Full of Gluten No Knead Bread

I am in love with No-Knead Bread (NKB). I was introduced to NKB by The Minimalist, Mark Bittman from the NY Times. The recipe is super easy. All you need is flour, salt and a tiny amount of yeast. The trick is letting the dough rise for 18 hours and baking the bread in a covered soup pot. This bread comes out crusty on the outside and super soft on the inside. My adaptation includes green olives and red onions, but you can add whatever you desire. Give it a try!!!

Mushroom Polenta "Muffins"

When I recommend taking a gluten holiday to my patients, I am often asked, "but what will I eat without bread and pasta? " While there are lots of gluten-free bread and pasta alternatives on the market these days, there are also LOTS of foods that are naturally gluten-free, really tasty and very inexpensive. Polenta is a great example - it is made from corn meal, tastes yummy, and costs pennies to make.

Gluten is a protein found in grains that some individuals can develop sensitivity to. Gluten containing grains include wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oats, triticale, and kamut. Why are some people sensitive to gluten in wheat? In the last 50 years, wheat has been bred to contain 50% more gluten protein. Farming and agriculture has been around for only 10,000 years which is nothing compared to human genome. Our genetics, which haven't changed as much, are not used to this large protein content in grain causing some individuals to develop sensitivities.

Ingredients:

1 cup of course corn gritts or corn meal (Bob's Red Mill brand works well)

3-4 cups water

2 medium portobello mushrooms finely diced

1/2 yellow onion finely diced (can also use shallots or leek)

olive oil

1-2 Tablespoons of butter (optional)

1-2 Feta cheese (optional)

salt

pepper

Directions:

Saute mushrooms and onions in olive oil in a medium size sauce pan with cover until they are golden brown

Add 3 cups of water and bring to boil

Add corn meal, cover, and turn hear on low

Stir occasionally to avoid burning the bottom

You may need to add another cup of water

When the corn meal reaches soft and slightly runny consistency, turn off the heat

Add salt and pepper to taste

Add butter and feta cheese. This is completely optional. I've made polenta completely vegan and with butter/feta and both versions tasted really good.

Ladle the mixture into a muffin pan that's been sprayed with olive oil. I use ceramic muffin pans in lieu of teflon or aluminum ones and have had no "sticking" issues. One cup of corn meal yields about 12 polenta muffins.

Let the polenta cool in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Heat in the oven before serving.

Serve with garlicky spinach and tomato sauce.

Enjoy!

Black bean soup with lemon balm

My super sweet sister in law gave me a bag of dried lemon balm from her herb garden. Its proper latin name is melissa officinalis. It is a lemony smelling herb that is a member of the mint family. Dried lemon balm makes a great tea that can help with digestion, fighting viruses and is very calming. However instead of making a tea, I decided to incorporate it into a soup. While trying to decide which soup to make, I remembered that while living in Phoenix, I tried an amazing Persian lentil soup with ginseng. So, last night, I decided to make a variation on that recipe with my newly acquired lemon balm and a can of organic black beans. I bet this recipe would work well with mint or ginseng.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 stalks of celery washed and diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 3-4 tablespoons of dried lemon balm with stems/twigs removed
• 1 can of organic black beans
• 1 handful of brown rice
• 2 tablespoons of braggs amino acids
• olive oil
• cumin
• salt
• pepper
• 3-4 cups of water

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in olive oil in a medium sized soup pot until it becomes translucent
2. Add lemon balm and cumin and continue to saute until the onions begin to brown
3. Add braggs amino acid, carrots and celery and continue to saute until the celery is soft
4. Add water, cover with a lid and let simmer until the water begins to boil
5. Add black beans and rice and let simmer on low heat until the rice is soft
6. Add salt and pepper
7. Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender
8. Adjust salt and enjoy!

Garlicky greens with cannellini beans

This recipe was remixed from One Bite At a Time cookbook by Rachel Katz, a gift from Fridy (Thank YOU). You can use any bunch of green leafy vegetables from your favorite farmer at your local market. I prefer to use red swiss chard because of the color and because it takes less time to cook than say kale or collard greens.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of swiss chard, roughly chopped with stems cut off (save the stems for veggie stock or soup)

1 yellow onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed

lemon juice

olive oil

salt

pepper

cayenne (if you like)

Saute the onion in plenty of olive oil until it is translucent with hints of golden brown. Add garlic and continue to saute for 30 more seconds. Reserve the onions with the oil. Deglaze the onion pan with some water. Add the swiss chard, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cover and let cook until all of the swiss chard has wilted. Drain the swiss chard. Combine the caramelized onions and the oil they were cooked in, swiss chard and cannellini beans. Mix and add lemon juice. Enjoy cold as a salad or warm as the main dish.

Rainbow roasted vegetable salad

Yesterday, while working in my garden, I noticed that the house next door has a lemon tree full of large ripe lemons. I convinced my husband to go next door. He came back with 3 really large lemons. When I cut one in half, I realized that it was not a lemon - it was a grapefruit. I went ahead and used grapefruit juice in lieu of the lemon juice for the dressing. So, if you don't have lemons, use grapefruit... and if you don't have grapefruit, use rice, apple cider or pomegranate vinegar. And if you don't have a butternut squash or don't want to go through the trouble of trying to cut it in half, substitute with 3 white potatoes or leave it out.

Ingredients:

3 Beets, washed and ends trimmed (wash the greens well, wrap with a paper towel and put into a plastic bag to use in soup or to saute with garlic and onions)

3 sweet potatoes, washed

1 small butternut squash, washed and cut in half lengthwise

1/4 bunch of fresh or 3 teaspoons dry dill

olive oil

lemon juice, or grapefruit juice or vinegar

salt

pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 or 400. Put all the veggies into a lasagna type ceramic or stainless steel pan. Cover the bottom with 1 inch of water. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake until you are able to pierce the veggies with a knife with no resistance. Take out of the oven and let cool. Peel and cut into 1/2 - 1 inch cubes. Add olive oil, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper and mix. Enjoy!

Lentil Salad

Ingredients:

16 oz bag of dry green, brown or French lentils

2-3 medium tomatoes finely diced

½ of a red onion finely minced

2-3 persian or pickling cucumbers finely diced

1 orange or yellow bell pepper finely diced

½ bunch parsley or cilantro

juice of 1 lemon or 2 tablespoons of pomegranate vinegar

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

¼ teaspoon of cumin

salt

pepper

Directions:

Wash the lentils and pick out any stones.

Cook the lentils in 64 oz of water until soft.

Rinse the lentils with cold water and drain well.

Combine the cooked lentils with all the other ingredients in a bowl

Mix well

Adjust oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Labor Day Cole Slaw Salad

I am calling this red slaw recipe “Labor Day Cole Slaw Salad” because I made this over the holiday weekend and got a lot of compliments and requests for the recipe. I prefer to use red cabbage because it has more antioxidants than its white/green sisters. You don’t have to use honey, agave or maple syrup but the sweet addition works really well with the tartness of the lemon juice.

Ingredients:

1 small head of very thinly shredded red cabbage

2 shredded carrots

2-3 Tablespoons of lemon juice or pomegranate vinegar

1-2 teaspoons of honey, agave or maple syrup

3-6 tablespoons of mayonnaise

½ bunch of fresh dill, parsley or cilantro

salt

pepper

Directions:

Add shredded cabbage to a stainless steel or glass bowl

Using a stainless steel ladle, meat hammer or a potato masher, “beat” the cabbage to soften it

Add all the other ingredients and mix well

Adjust the mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!