During the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of working as a contractor for the Department of Health in NYC. One of the things that I’ve been doing is teaching cooking and nutrition demos at Headstart programs. Last week, the season came to an end, and one of my last hurrahs was making an awesome kale salad with apple dressing for the parents and kids.

This recipe from Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables was a huge hit. My favorite was one woman who looked at it with a crinkled and puzzled face and said, “this is kale? I don’t like vegetables”. And, she tried it (people have a hidden desire to like vegetables… I can just see it) and she loved it! She came back for 3 more samples.

What I really like about this recipe is that the sweetness from the apple really compliments the kale. It’s also really quick to make. So, go grab your grater and get to it!

Kale and Apple Salad

Ingredients:

2 apples
12 cups kale (about 2 bunches)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Wash the kale and remove the leaves from the stem. Chop or rip (great for kids to help with) into bite-sized pieces. Gently massage the kale in a large bowl. This will help reduce the bitterness
2. Chop one apple and add to a bowl with the chopped greens.
3. Shred one apple in a separate bowl using a grater. Add the vinegar, lemon juice and oil.
4. Add dressing to the salad and enjoy!

There are lots of different ways you can make this salad. You can switch the kale for any other green like spinach or arugula, and you can switch the apple for another fruit, like pears (which also happen to be in season… hint hint). Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or almond slivers would also add a nice crunch.

Let me know what you think and how you made yours in the comments below!

One key to good digestion is good chewing habits! Can you believe it? The cows definitely have something to teach us in this department (except it is ok to keep your mouth closed).

When you chew your food well, not only are you making it easier on the rest of your system, but you’re mixing up all those lovely food particles with the miracle that is digestive enzymes. Each digestive enzyme works on a particular type of food, whether it’s carbohydrates, proteins, or fats.

Your saliva contains digestive enzymes that help break down your food before you send it on down to your stomach. The more you chew, the less your body has to work to digest your food. It also gives your body time to rev up for the digestive process, since once you start chewing, your body knows what comes next.

Chewing your food well also forces you to slow down a bit, which means you’ll be able to feel when you are full and you’ll be less likely to overeat. This can prevent bloating, heart burn, acid reflux, and help you lose weight. Chewing your food slowly is also a great exercise in mindfulness. Phew! Who knew there were so many benefits of chewing your food?!?

  So let’s get started! Here’s your action item:

First do an experiment. Take a bite of food and see how many times you chew it before swallowing (without consciously trying to change it).

Now, take another bite and at least double that number. What’s that like?

Try to see if you can chew your bite 50 times.

The funny thing I learned about chewing is that junk food tastes awful when you chew it for a long time, whereas natural whole foods can taste even better the longer you chew them. That’s some food for thought 🙂

Happy chewing!

Samantha

Do you remember being shown two lines in grade school and being asked to choose which one was longer. Only, to your dismay, you got the answer wrong because the lines are the same size. How did that happen? How could your eyes have tricked you? In case you don’t remember, here’s a picture.

Well, it’s an optical illusion. And here’s another one:

Can you guess which bowl has the most food in it? The answer is none. All of the bowls have exactly 1 cup of vegetables in them. The same 1 cup actually, just to make sure nothing has changed (you can see that lovely piece of fennel hanging out in the different corners if you don’t believe me lol). All the pictures were also taken at the same distance and angle.

I love all my bowls, but the beautiful white bowl on the right was recently gifted to us. When I eat out of that bowl, I feel like I’m at a fancy restaurant. The white bowls are so elegant and I feel so nice eating out of them. But, shortly after I started using them, I realized that I was feeling very full before I finished my meal. So why didn’t I just stop eating when I was full? Great question! I, like many others, have a tendency to eat whatever is in front of me, regardless of portion size.

If you’re trying to lose weight, that’s definitely not the best way to eat. But, this is also important for those of us who are looking to improve our digestion. When we eat to the point where we are stuffed, there is very little room for our digestive juices and stomach acid to do their work. Sometimes it’s helpful to think of your stomach like a bottle. If you fill the bottle all the way to the top with water, and then add some soap and shake it up, it’s very hard to mix together. But, if you only fill it ¾ of the way, it’s easy to shake up. It’s the same thing for your stomach. If you fill it all the way to the top with food, it’s hard for your digestive enzymes to break down the food. It can also contribute to “food comas”, gas and bloating, heartburn and reflux.

So what is there to do about it? Buy small bowls! Buy beautiful small bowls so you feel good when you eat from them. If you are still hungry, you can always serve yourself more food, but it’s way better to start with less than to start with too much. Happy bowl shopping!

The strangest thing happen to me while I was at the grocery store earlier this week to buy some nectarines. I realized I don’t remember how to choose ripe fruit. I’ve been on a candida diet for so many years now that fruit has really just fallen off my radar (for those of you unfamiliar with a candida diet, it requires eliminating all forms of sugar, including fruit).

Being on a strict candida diet has been hugely helpful and beneficial for me. But when I fall off the wagon because of stress, fear, low energy or any other unwanted emotion, I forget about fruit and immediately go for something completely off limits, like a cookie or brownie. When I do this, I end up feeling crappy both physically and emotionally, and the sugar high comes with an equally dramatic crash.

As a person who has usually fallen on the extreme ends of anything with two ends lol, I’m using this as an opportunity to train myself in moderation. I’ve gotta say, I’m catching on! And sometimes, that means going for the deliciously ripe fruit when I need an extra boost, rather than the forbidden and oh-so-tempting baked goods. Can fruit still effect my health, absolutely! But stress also has a tremendous effect on my candida and IBS, so if choosing fruit once in a while eliminates a large chunk of stress and gives my body the sugar it is craving, I’m all for it.

So what did I do with my semi-ripe (still learning) nectarines? I’m glad you asked! I made a delicious raw, vegan, paleo, gluten-free nectarine parfait with cashew cream and walnut crumble. Fancy, right? Check out the recipe below with my adaptations or visit Gourmande in the Kitchen for the original recipe and some beautiful photos. My favorite part of the dish was actually the walnut almond crumble. It also makes a great granola.

Ingredients

For the lemon cashew cream:
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
• ½ cup filtered water (for the cream)
• The juice of one lemon
• The zest of one lemon
• 1 Tablespoons raw honey (or maple syrup for a vegan version)

For the walnut crumble
• ½ cup walnuts
• ½ cup almonds
• ¼ cup raisins
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

For the parfaits:
• 4 small or 3 large nectarines or peaches
• The juice of ½ a lemon
• 1 batch of walnut crumble
• 1 batch of lemon cashew cream

Instructions

Make the lemon cashew cream:
1. Put the cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover. Soak the cashews for at least 30 minutes (or up to one night in the fridge), then drain, rinse and pat dry.
2. Place the soaked cashews, fresh filtered water and the rest of the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. (If you don’t have a high-speed blender you may want to strain the cashew cream through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother final consistency.)
3. Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Make the walnut crumble:

4. Place the nuts and the rest of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until even chopped but still chunky. (The mixture should have a crumbly appearance but clump when you pinch it together.) Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Assemble the Parfaits:

5. Slice or dice the nectarines into bite-sized pieces and toss with the lemon juice to coat.
6. Place a spoonful of fruit in the bottom of a serving glass and top with a layer of crumble and a layer of the cashew cream. Repeat to create multiple layers if desired and serve.

This past week I was visiting my family and my dad was raving about these carob* covered raisins he had tried. He had googled a few recipes to make it on his own, but it just wasn’t working out for him. I looked up a few recipes and had the same problem. I could only find 3 and none of them seemed like they would work out well. So, I took to the kitchen with my favorite problem solver – coconut oil! According to my dad (who’s honest, I promise), the results were awesome. He called me the next day to tell me he had eaten all of them and was already making more!

I didn’t actually measure the ingredients as I made this. I tend to view cooking like painting, it’s a creative process and you can always add a little more yellow, or blue. Feel free to also substitute the carob for cacao powder (that’s what I would do!) and add a little sea salt, cayenne, stevia or cinnamon. You can also sub out the raisins for your favorite nut, pumpkin seeds, or other dried fruit. The combinations are endless!

Carob Covered Raisins

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs coconut oil
• approximately 2.5 tbs carob powder
• approximately 2 tbs raisins

Directions:

1. Melt the coconut oil by placing the closed jar under hot running water (or use straight from the jar if it’s warm out and the coconut oil is already liquid).
2. Measure the coconut oil and put it in a large bowl. Add the carob powder and stir until the oil is saturated with the carob powder. You can add more or less carob powder depending on how rich you want the coating to be. You do want the mixture to stay wet, you don’t want any dry powder or carob chucks.
3. Add the raisins and stir until they are completely coated. If you have more of the coating, just add more raisins.
4. Place the raisins on a plate, piece of wax paper or tray. Keep them spread out to keep them from sticking. If you like, you can sprinkle some carob powder on them at this time to give them a different appearance.
5. Place the raisins in the fridge. After about 10 minutes they should be good to go! Store them in the fridge to keep the coating from melting. If it’s cold in your home, you can leave them out.

Enjoy!

*carob powder is sometimes used as a replacement for chocolate for people who are sensitive to caffeine or other properties of chocolate. It has a very unique taste to it, and while it looks like chocolate, the flavor is very different. It’s also low in fat, high in calcium and high in fiber. You can read more about carob here.