Recipe: Simple Winter Seasonal Salad

This winter was my first time as a seasonal shopper. What’s a seasonal shopper? Well, it’s someone who buys food in season.

Back in the day, when you wanted something like a tomato or blueberries, you had to wait until the spring crops to arrive. Now, you can find these things on any given day at the supermarket. Convenient? Yes. Good for us? Not really.

This is why I have chosen to become a seasonal shopper because when you buy things seasonally and locally not only are you supporting your local community, getting the freshest, best tasting foods, you are also leaving a smaller carbon footprint on the planet.

“If it’s organic, why not just buy them out of season?”
My cousin brought up a good question when I was making the salad for our Christmas dinner (check out recipe below). This is what I told her: (I’m going to be using a tomato as all my examples)

When you purchase a tomato or any other veggie out of season it has traveled a long distance to get to you. The distance it takes for a fruit or vegetable to go from farm to plate and the effect it has on the environment is also known as food miles. Please keep in mind, food miles do not take into account for the amount of energy and materials it takes to grow, process and package the food. Whichever way the food arrives in our country it is then transported by HGV to the depot and then to the store (also not accounted for).

So if you think of terms of your own carbon footprint, well, buying things out of season is bad news for the environment. On average a food travels 1,500 miles to get to our plate. You can go ahead and add way more miles if they are being imported from places like Brazil or Chile.  Take grapes, for example. Every year, nearly 270 million pounds of grapes arrive in California, most of them shipped from Chile to the Port of Los Angeles. Their 5,900 mile journey in cargo ships and trucks releases 7,000 tons of global warming pollution each year, and enough air pollution to cause dozens of asthma attacks and hundreds of missed school days in California.

If you think of terms of freshness, well, how fresh do you really think that tomato is? In order for it to be ripe when you purchase it at the grocery store, it needs to be picked way before it’s done ripening. The longer it takes to get from farm to plate, the less nutrients you actually get. While it’s being transported the fruits and vegetables can also be exposed to oxygen, light and heat, all which will rob nutrients. Not only do the nutrients diminish quickly, the taste becomes blander, the crispness is lost and the juiciness dries up.  So how organic is that really? Read my post What does the word organic mean to you?

On a side note: This is part of the reason why when someone tastes a tomato fresh from the market they can not believe the amount of flavor that it produces. I am one of those people. It wasn’t until a year ago when I started buying tomatoes from my local farmer’s market that I remembered what a tomato was actually supposed to taste like! The first bite I had, I traveled back in time to when I was little and we would eat the tomatoes straight from our home garden. That is what a tomato the true flavor of a tomato is. My tastes were affirmed when I ate a salad at a family dinner a couple weeks ago and the tomatoes tasted like straight plastic. Yuck!

Have I convinced you to become a local, seasonal shopper yet? A good indicator to find out if something is in season is to head to your local farmer’s market and see what kind of fruits/vegs you can find. And next time you make a salad, try this version instead. Please add or substitute anything that my not be in season at the time.

Simple Winter Seasonal Salad
Ingredients:

• organic romaine lettuce (or whatever other type of lettuce you like [stay away from iceburg])
• organic olives (try and get fresh olives)
• organic grapes
• hormone and antibiotic free mozzarella cheese (grass-fed is best!)
• hormone and antibiotic free feta cheese (raw and grass-fed is best!)
• unfiltered, unrefined olive oil
• organic balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Prep: Chop romaine lettuce. Cut grapes and olives in halves. 
2. Add all of the first 5 ingredients in a big bowl
3. Drizzle olive oil first, then balsamic vinegar
4. Add unrefined sea salt and black pepper
5. Mix well and serve!

It’s not as healthy as your tomato, cucumber, avocado salad but it sure is tasty. It also is a better alternative when you think of the little to no impact you are making on the environment by choosing to not purchase things out of season. We’ve grown into a culture of instant gratification and because of that we are now facing the consequences. If we can learn to be patient and wait for things, it might just do us (and the environment) a whole lot better!

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul 

This post is part of:  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Make Your Own Monday, Mix it Up Mondays, Natural Living Monday, Thank Goodness It’s Monday
 

Recipe: Quick and Easy Italian Soup

I love how comforting soups are. And how versatile they are too. They are perfect in the cold winter months but can also be a deliciously simple and light accompaniment to a dish in the spring or summer.

I also love that soups can be such an easy way to drink more homemade nutrient dense, mineral rich, joint healing broth.

With it being winter and all, I am on a soup kick and decided to dig out a favorite recipe I haven’t used in a while. Scott got it from a friend I believe, or maybe a customer of his. I can’t remember which one but big thanks go to her because this soup is awesome. It’s almost like a sausage chili.

It’s hearty and bursting with flavor. There is lots of good stuff in it. It’s quick. And easy (hence the name). It’s totally delicious and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Quick and Easy Italian Soup
*****Please remember to use as many local, pastured, organic ingredients as you can to maximize the nutrient quality of this recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup onion (chopped)
• 1 cup celery (chopped)
• 3 carrots (chopped thin)
• 2 Tbl Garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 Tbl butter
• Drizzle of olive oil
• 8 oz hot (or mild) italian sausage (from pastured pork please!!)
• 2 15oz cans diced tomatoes
• 3 15oz cans cannelloni beans (Eden Organic has BPA free lined cans)
• 50-64oz homemade chicken broth (or if absolutely necessary, 2 32oz  boxes of free range chicken broth)
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp italian seasoning
• 2 cups rotini or piccolini pasta (optional, or whatever kind of pasta you have on hand that would work well with recipe)
• unrefined sea salt to taste (I use Real Salt brand)
• black pepper (I use Frontier spices because they are not irradiated)
• organic full fat sour cream (optional garnish)
• freshly shredded cheddar cheese (optional garnish)

 Directions:

1. Saute the onion, celery, garlic and carrots in the butter and olive oil until soft. I sauteed them in the 6qt soup pot I used so I didn’t have to dirty more dishes than necessary. Season veggies with black pepper and salt
2. While veggies are cooking, remove the sausage casing, break up the sausage and add to the veggies. Brown
3. Add diced tomatoes, cannelloni beans, chicken broth, basil and italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste
4. At this point, you can add the pasta if you want. **Originally the recipe called to cook the pasta in the soup but because I end up freezing half the batch, I cook the pasta separately so I can add what I need to my bowl. That way when it comes time to use my frozen batch the noodles aren’t soggy. I’ve also found that when I keep noodles in the soup and refrigerate, the noodles tend to suck up the juice
5. Allow the soup (if you can) to sit for 30 minutes.
6. Add a dollop or two of sour cream and freshly grated cheese, serve

This batch was unusually spicy (I can not handle spicy) so I added a dollop of sour cream and freshly grated cheddar cheese and it was excellent! We had never done that before but it totally works with the soup and makes it extra creamy and tasty!

Enjoy!

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

This post is part of : Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Made from Scratch Mondays,
 Better Mom Mondays, Make Your Own Monday, Mix it Up Mondays,
Natural Living Monday, Thank Goodness It’s Monday Wonderful Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday

Recipe: Crispy Rosemary Pan Fried Chicken

Yesterday was the start of my “clean out my freezer” cooking spree. I’ve got a lot of meat that has added up from my monthly CSA boxes so I figured I might as well save some money and work with what I’ve got. I’ve got a lot of red meat (chunks of roasts) but because we had some red meat the other night, I figured I’d make some chicken.

Oh chicken…. You are so good but you can be so…. boring sometimes.

It’s easy to get caught up in making a certain food a certain way, all the time. I had some drumsticks laying around and was trying to come up with an idea. Hmmm, fried chicken was the first thing that came to mind and it sounded super delicious! I also had an emotionally draining day so I really was unmotivated to cook but the time was ticking away and dinner hour was creeping up quick. With a cranky toddler and a hungry husband, mama’s gotta work quick!

So, I searched around the internet to get inspired and came across a pan fried chicken recipe. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), the recipe called for vegetable oil, potato flakes, and a bunch of other unhealthy ingredients. Good thing is, it is not hard to convert a recipe with unhealthy ingredients to ones that you are satisfied with feeding to your family. I took a chance and decided to be a little creative. I skipped the potato flakes, used expeller pressed coconut oil to fry the chicken instead and kept it simple with the spices. The end result? Deli-cious, crispy chicken!!! The only unhealthy thing is the bread crumbs but hey, sometimes you’ve got to bend a little.

It was so good I had to share the recipe with you!

I only used 4 drumsticks because I portion out my meat so the amount of ingredients will call for that. If you are feeding more people, adjust accordingly and use whatever type of cut of meat you’d like. I suggest sticking to only parts of chicken with bone-in. The bone keeps the meat more moist.

The cool thing about this recipe is that it’s easy to just add a little more when needed.  You can also experiment with different herbs if you favor one over the other.

Crispy Rosemary Pan Fried Chicken
Ingredients:

•  4 drumsticks, patted dry
• 1/2 cup- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (find it here)
• 1/4 cup (or less) sprouted whole wheat flour (find it here)
• unrefined sea salt (find it here)
• pepper (find it here)
• 1/2 TBL dried rosemary (find it here)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup-1/2 cup expeller pressed coconut oil for frying (find it here)

Directions:

1. Grab 3 bowls. In one bowl, whisk egg. In second bowl, add sprouted flour. In third bowl, add panko breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and rosemary- mix well
2. Salt and pepper drumsticks
3. Grabbing 1 drumstick at a time, dip first in egg mixture, dip in sprouted flour (don’t coat heavily), and then dip in panko breadcrumb mixture. Make sure you pat the breadcrumbs in very well on the chicken
4. Repeat until all chicken is coated
5. Turn heat on medium, add coconut oil and fry the chicken on the pan. This will take a while (15-25 mins). Keep an eye out and keep turning so it gets golden brown on all sides

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

Recipe: Easy Carrot Soup

With the weather cooling here in Northern California it brings me back to my childhood spent sitting in front of the fire and eating delicious soups that my mom used to make. There is just something about mother’s home cooking… I don’t mean to brag, but my mom is an amazing cook! I wish I would have taken advantage of the opportunity when my mom wanted me to stay in the kitchen and help her cook– I would have learned so much! I only hope to be as good of a cook as she is one day.

One of my favorite soups that she used to make was a simple pureed carrot soup. It was thick, creamy and oh so delicious– especially on those cold winter days.

I called her one afternoon (with no intentions of asking about the soup) and we got to talking about how Andrew has been really picky with his veggies all of a sudden and she had mentioned the carrot soup! I couldn’t believe how simple it was to make. It’s easy, quick, nutritious and filling!

I encourage using as much organic ingredients as possible– especially the potatoes because they are one of the top foods with the most levels of pesticide residues. Using a good full fat like raw cream will initiate greater absorption of the vitamins and minerals that the veggies have to offer.

Pureed Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

• 5-7 organic carrots
• 2-3 organic yukon gold potatoes
• 1 yellow onion
• cream (raw cream preferably, organic at the least)
• salt, pepper
• organic cream cheese
• fresh dill (optional)

Directions:

1. Take cream cheese out of the refrigerator to soften
2. Steam carrots, potatoes and onion until soft (not mushy)– save the water
3. Put somewhat cooled steamed veggies in a blender (immersion blenders work best) and puree **If using a blender do not fill all the way, take the top part of lid off and cover with dish towel so the soup doesn’t splatter out
4. Add cream until desired consistency is obtained– use left over veggie water to thin out if needed
5. Season with salt and pepper
6. Put pureed soup back into pot, turn heat on low, stirring continuously
7. Once the soup is hot, pour into bowls and add a dollop of cream cheese in the middle
8. Sprinkle with fresh dill (if you have it on hand) and serve

If you are serving this for a picky child, omitting the dill may be the best case scenario as dill has an interesting flavor!

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

This post is part of: Monday Mania

Recipe: Soaked Quinoa Muffins

As I mentioned in my most recent post I am trying to become creative with ways of giving Andrew his veggies. He has been really picky and it can get frustrating when it seems like he’s not getting any of his veggies in. Tonight I got lucky and he was chowing down on some green beans I boiled in water and coconut oil- made me smile inside! But for the days I am not so lucky, I am going to turn to these quinoa muffins that I got inspired by a good friend of mine. They look like muffins, are finger friendly and yummy- all things that are appealing to toddlers!

These have a nice savory taste to them and if you make sure to soak your quinoa the night before, you will be making these little puppies extremely digestible and extra nutritious. Grains contain phytic acid. Phytic acid is a mineral inhibitor… meaning it blocks mineral absorption! What’s the use of eating something nutritious when most of the nutrients are not even making it to where they need to be? When we break down that phytic acid by soaking grains over night in an acidic medium we enable ourselves to absorb more minerals which I’m sure we can all agree, is most desirable. I feel it’s especially important to do this for young children since their bodies are still developing and they may not be able to digest foods as well as adults.

Another cool thing about this recipe is you can mix and match with whatever veggies, meat and cheese you have hanging out in the fridge. For this recipe I used ham, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, yellow onion, kale, and broccoli. I did not really measure out any of the veggies but I’m assuming it was around 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup each. I also cooked my quinoa in homemade chicken stock because it gives it an extra nutrient boost.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quinoa
• lemon juice, raw apple cider vinegar, yogurt or fresh whey
• 3 eggs
• vegetables of choice (diced)
• meat of choice (optional, diced)
• cheese
• salt, pepper to taste

To soak (do this the night before you plan to make the muffins):
Take 2 cups of quinoa and place in a bowl with 2 cups warm water. Add 1-2 TBL lemon juice, raw apple cider vinegar, yogurt or fresh whey. Cover and let sit overnight. Rinse with water until water runs clear.

To make muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Put 2 cups homemade chicken stock in pot with 2 cups soaked and rinsed quinoa. Cook until done
3. Meanwhile, mix 3 eggs and whatever other ingredients you will be using in a large bowl
4. Once quinoa is cooked, add to egg/veggie mixture and mix well
5. Grease muffin pan with butter (stay away from spray can oils as they contain rancid vegetable oils and unnecessary chemicals)
6. Scoop mixture into muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown

Sonja (who inspired me with this recipe) mentioned different combinations like a mushroom and swiss quinoa muffin or adding bacon to it. Umm…yum! Let your imagination run!

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

This post is part of: Fight Back Friday