Keeping it Simple (and a recipe for Hemp & Cranberry Power Bars)

Food, like fashion has its fads. Whether it’s acai berries, kombucha, flax seeds , kale, or coconut oil – there always seems to be a new trendy food. Yet, just as all the fashion “dos & don’ts” can be overwhelming, so can food fads...

Is caffeine good for us? What’s the deal with wheat? Do we need to double up on protein? Do beets have too much sugar? Is it better to have salmon than supplements?

Nutrition is undeniably a hot topic–but it’s for a very good reason: it’s important! With that being said, conflicting information and all the differing nutrition philosophies can often leave people confused.

That’s why we feel so good about recommending real foods to our clients, readers, and loved ones. Rather than stressing about every number on nutrition labels or allowing yourself to get overwhelmed by the latest trends, we recommend you focus your efforts and energy on:

1.      eating whole, unprocessed foods – those you can imagine growing – the majority of the time.

2.      practicing moderation. Fill  half your plate with fruits and vegetables and enjoy a good quality protein and starch at each meal.

3.      nourishing your body regularly – every 3 to 4 hours.

4.      balancing nutrition with pleasure. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not cause guilt. If you’re craving something sweet, allow yourself a single serving of something you really love.

5.      sharing meals with those you love.

And now, for a recipe.

 

This is healthy bar recipe below does not make just any bar...one serving comes packed with a protein, fiber, and antioxidants! It features hemp seeds and flax meal, which like chia seeds, both provide a wonderful vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids. This recipe also highlights cranberries – a food considered to be a cancer prevention powerhouse. The American Institute for Cancer Research has recently added cranberries to their list of foods that fight cancer.

 

Hemp & Cranberry Power Bars

These bars are perfect for a quick and easy breakfast or for an on-the-go snack. Serve over a scoop of yogurt or ice cream for a sweet dessert.

 

Ingredients:

¾ cup rolled oats

1 cup almond meal
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup dried plums
¼ cup hemp seed
¼ cup flax meal + ½ cup water
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the flax meal and water until they become gelatinous.

3. Combine the dry ingredients: almond meal, oats, and hemp seed with the flax meal mixture.

4. Mix in the apple sauce and dried fruit.

5. Grease a 7x9 baking pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Spoon the mixture into the baking pan.

6. Place in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes.

7. Allow bars to completely cool before serving.

 

Enjoy, preferably with those you love.

Myth Busters: Organic IS affordable!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the inaugural class of the Family Meals Project, a pilot project to help families learn to cook nutritious and delicious meals on a tight budget – around $10 for an entire meal for a family.  Think it’s impossible?  The last meal came in at about $2 per person, including salad, entrée and dessert!

As a registered dietitian and nutritionist who cares deeply about where my foodcomes from, and the impact of its production on my body and the environment, I wondered:  Could I make an affordable $10 dinner using sustainably or organically and locally produced foods? 

The short answer:  Yes!  I didn’t hit the $10 mark, but this beautiful menu of a roasted spring vegetable salad with a lemon vinaigrette, followed by a vegetable Bolognese lasagna and poached pears with cranberries, rang in at only about $3.81 per person.   

 

 

I shopped for the class at the Bellingham Community Co-op, purchasing mostly local and organic ingredients.  And it didn’t break the bank!  You just have to be selective. 

 

This chart shows the total cost of all of the ingredients.

Dish	Cost per Meal	Cost per Serving
Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad
Serves 6 - 8
2 lemons ($0.33/each)	$0.66	$0.08
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper	pantry	pantry
extra virgin olive oil	pantry	pantry
12 small spring carrots ($1.98/lb)	$1.44	$0.18
1 bunch of radishes ($1.98/ea)	$1.98	$0.25
6 cups spring salad mix ($5.98 for 12 cups)	$2.99	$0.37
TOTAL	$7.07	$0.88
Vegetable Lasagna
Makes 8 large servings
extra virgin olive oil	pantry	pantry
1 onion ($1.29/lb)	$0.50	$0.06
1 large carrot	$0.12	$0.02
1 stalk celery	$0.10	$0.01
2 cloves garlic	$0.05	$0.01
red pepper flakes	pantry	pantry
2 bay leaves	pantry	pantry
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper	pantry	pantry
24 ounces whole tomatoes	$1.99	$0.25
4 tablespoons whole wheat flour	pantry	pantry
3 cups whole milk ($3.59 for half gallon)	$1.34	$0.17
1 cup grated parmesan cheese ($8.99/lb)	$2.13	$0.27
nutmeg	pantry	pantry
1 package frozen spinach	$1.49	$0.19
1 1/2 pkg whole wheat lasagna noodles ($3.89/ea)	$5.84	$0.73
TOTAL	$13.56	$1.70
Poached Pears with Cranberries
Serves 8
2 cups apple cider ($3.39 for 4 cups)	$1.70	$0.21
¼ cup honey ($4.99 for 6 ounces, local)	$1.66	$0.21
1 inch piece fresh ginger	$0.10	$0.01
2 star anise (or cinnamon sticks)	pantry	pantry
4 Bosc pears (firm), peeled ($2.49/lb)	$5.98	$0.75
¼ cup dried cranberries ($3.75/lb)	$0.42	$0.05
TOTAL	$9.86	$1.23
Total Cost of Meal for EIGHT SERVINGS	$30.49
Total Cost of Meal for FOUR SERVINGS	$15.25
Total Cost of Meal for ONE PERSON	$3.81

 

Here are a few tips for making organic shopping more affordable.

But cost isn’t the only focus of the Family Meals Project.  At each class, we gather together in the kitchen to learn and share stories, not only about cooking and nutrition, but about our lives.  And really, that’s what cookingfor your family is really all about.  It’s a way to connect with the people you love and care about, to give you a vehicle for conversation, one that feeds your body and your soul.

And now, for the recipes.

 

 

Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad

Serves 6 - 8

Zest of one lemon

Juice from 2 lemons, about 4 tablespoons
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
12 small spring carrots
1 bunch of radishes, washed and trimmed
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups spring salad mix
Radish greens, washed well

Make the vinaigrette by whisking together the lemon zest, juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel the carrots and place with whole radishes on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast about 10 - 12 minutes or until crisp-tender and lightly browned. 

Put spring salad mix into a bowl and add radish greens.  Add warm or room temperature roasted vegetables and toss with ½ of the vinaigrette.  Serve with additional vinaigrette on the side.

Vegetable Lasagna 

This recipe has a lot of steps, but all of the parts can be mixed-and-matched to make other dishes.  For example, make a double or a triple batch of the basic tomato sauce, and freeze it in quart containers or freezer bags.  You can just thaw and reheat to make a quick pasta dinner or add to a soup stock for a delicious soup.

Makes 8 - 12 servings

Basic Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup red wine (optional)
24 ounces whole tomatoes, crushed by hand

Basic Cheese Sauce

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons whole wheat flour
3 cups whole milk, warmed
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out completely
1 package whole wheat lasagna noodles*
½ cup grated provolone or mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Make Basic Tomato Sauce

Heat olive oil in medium-sized pot over medium-low heat.  Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, fennel, red pepper flakes, bay leaves salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are very soft and beginning to brown.  Add red wine.  Bring to a simmer and cook until wine has reduced to a few tablespoons.  Add tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, about 30 – 45 minutes, or until sauce is thick and fragrant. 

Make Basic Cheese Sauce

Place a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add butter.  Cook until butter is melted and foaming.  Add flour.  Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until a smooth paste is formed.   Continue to cook 3 – 4 minutes, stirring.  Add warmed milk, 1 cup at a time, whisking briskly, until sauce is smooth.  Bring to a simmer and continue to cook and stir until sauce is thick.  Stir in parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Stir in thawed spinach.

Assemble lasagna in a 10 x 20 inch lasagna pan. 

Place about ½ - ¾ cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Top with lasagna noodles.  Add another ½ - ¾ cup tomato sauce and then layer about ½ cup of the cheese sauce.  Top with another layer of lasagna noodles.  Repeat three more times (or until you run out of sauce).  Over the last layer of lasagna noodles, spread ¾ cup of tomato sauce.  Top with shredded cheese.

Cover tightly with foil.  Place on a baking sheet, in case sauce bubbles over.  Bake for 45 minutes with foil on top.  Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is just starting to brown and lasagna is bubbling.  If the cheese starts to get too brown, replace foil.  Let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.      

*I don’t cook my lasagna noodles ahead of time.  It has always seemed like an unnecessary step, and not cooking them actually turns out lasagna with a better texture—one that holds together beautifully and doesn’t fall apart with the first bite.  As long as you provide plenty of liquid for the noodles to absorb, your noodles will be perfectly toothsome to the bite.

 

Poached Pears with Cranberries

Serves 8

2 cups water

2 cups apple cider
¼ cup honey
1 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
2 star anise (or cinnamon sticks)
4 Bosc pears (firm), peeled, cored and quartered
¼ cup dried cranberries

Pour water and apple cider into a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Add honey and stir to dissolve.  Add ginger and star anise.  Add pears.  Simmer, making sure the pears are covered with liquid, until the pears until cooked through, about 15 to 25 minutes.

Remove from heat, add dried cranberries and let the pears cool in their liquid.  If you like, you can remove the pears from the liquid and reduce down to a thick sauce.  Spoon over the pears.  Serve warm or cold.

Ditch the Resolution. Be Kind to Yourself.

If your January 1^st resolution involved dieting or weight loss, you’re not alone.  It’s the number one resolution made by Americans at the start of every new year.  But, by February 1^st, four out of five people have ditched the effort and returned to old habits.

This year, ditch the diet resolution.  If you've already fallen off the wagon, don't sweat it.  Be kind to yourself. 

The problem with resolutions is the ‘all or nothing’ attitude that comes with them, setting you up for failure when you ‘mess up.'  Rigid rules like “I’m giving up dessert,” or “I’m never eating carbs,” or “I’m giving up gluten,” or “I’m not eating after seven in the evening” set unrealistic expectations for perfection; and the only thing being given up is the resolution.      

While restrictive diets can work in the short term, they’re not sustainable.  Depriving yourself of foods you truly enjoy, or foods essential for nourishing your body and brain, often results in overcompensation—overeating—when you get tired of the diet.  Diets can start in motion a vicious cycle of guilt and self-recrimination that usually result in despair.

This year, let’s shift our resolve from restrictive dieting to a focus on developing or reestablishing sustainable, balanced habits for healthy bodies and minds.  By practicing moderation, moving your body every day, and exhibiting self-compassion, you’ll be developing habits for a lifetime of health and happiness.

Here are a few guidelines for a new (non)diet philosophy for 2013:

1.      Eat real food.  You've heard us say this again and again.  It may sound simplistic, but simply eating real food—food you can imagine growing—as opposed to bagged, boxed, colored, bedazzled, processed food, is the first big step toward good health.  Fill at least half of your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables, and the other with good sources of non-refined carbohydrates and lean proteins. 

 

 

2.      Variety is the spice of life.  Eating well isn’t about what you can’t eat, it’s about what you can eat.  Just peruse the shelves and bins of your local grocery or Co-op to discover new fruits or vegetables, spices or ingredients you’ve never tried before.  Pick one new ingredient each week.  Not only does introducing new foods bring interest to your meals, different foods and spices contain diverse phytochemical profiles that contribute unique health benefits for our bodies and minds.     

3.      Eat often.  Nourish your body every three to four hours to keep your energy high and your metabolism humming along from morning until night.  Starving yourself by skipping meals results in a drop in blood sugar, likely sending you running straight for the vending machine.  Instead, eat smaller meals and appropriate snacks throughout the day.  Planning ahead is key.  Keep a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator (and car and desk) to prevent impulse eating.  

 

 

4.      Allow yourself to enjoy your favorite foods mindfully.  Diets tend to categorize certain foods as ‘bad,’ or ‘off-limits,’ setting you up for failure or guilt. When we allow all foods into our life, we can relieve ourselves of unconscious feelings of deprivation which often leads to subsequent overeating.  How many times have you broken your 'diet resolution' and thought “I blew it anyways, so I might as well have more…”?  Want ice cream?  Or french fries?  Or pizza?  Eat the real thing--not an imitation.  Then, enjoy your favorite foods mindfully, meaning you savor each bite, eating slowly and without distraction.  If you honor your cravings in small portions—you’ll be less likely to over-indulge in the long run.

5.      Move your body daily.  Daily physical activity has incredible health benefits-- everything from protecting your heart to controlling your blood sugar to elevating your mood.  Select activities that bring you joy—walking your dog, dancing, gardening, chasing your child around the yard—and engage in them often, and with relish.  Activity does not have to mean logging hours on a treadmill.  In fact, you’ll get more benefits from picking activities you love—partly because you’ll stick with them.   

 

 

For more in-depth information and training on a (non)diet philosophy for total health and wellness, sign up for my (Lisa's) January Healthy Connections Class No Diet Weight Loss on January 22nd.  

 

A version of this article appears in the January 2013 edition of the Bellingham Community Co-op Newsletter. 

Strapped for time? This is your no-recipe recipe!

McKenzie and I both give workshops, teach cooking classes and see clients for private nutrition counseling appointments.  Our most-asked client question is this:  How do I make healthy lunches and dinners when I don’t like (or have time) to cook?  I’m out of ideas.

Our answer:  keep a variety of ingredients on hand so you can easily assemble beautiful, balanced meals in no time.

Here’s what you do: 

1.   At the beginning of the week (or whenever you have time), make a big pot of your favorite whole grain, like brown rice, wild rice, farro, barley or quinoa.  If you can boil water, you can do it.  It will keep in the refrigerator for about four to five days.

2.   Buy a variety of your favorite vegetables, and then cook the ones you like cooked.  Think about broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes…  Cut them up, put them on a roasting pan, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 450 degrees until caramelized and tender.  Or steam or saute them.  That's okay too.  Let cool and then store in the refrigerator.  These will keep for three to five days and be used for snacking, dipping, salads, pilafs and sides of vegetables for dinners.  Just reheat as needed.

3.   For the vegetables you like to eat raw, cut them up and store them in the refrigerator.  Think about carrots, celery, bell peppers, lettuce…  If they are washed, cut and ready to go, you’re more likely to eat them.

4.   Stock up on a few pantry ingredients, like a variety of nuts and seeds, dried fruit, fresh fruit, corn tortillas, whole grain pasta, cans of beans, chicken or vegetable stock, and cheese, especially parmesan, goat cheese or feta.

If you have these ingredients on hand, you have instant meals in minutes.

Here’s one of our favorite recipes based on this concept—a roasted vegetable and farro salad with toasted hazelnuts and dried cranberries.  But the options for this idea are limitless, based on what’s in your refrigerator.  It could be…

wild rice and roasted butternut squash salad, with toasted almonds and currants, or

quinoa salad with roasted brussels sprouts, toasted pecans and dried cherries, or

brown rice & black bean salad with roasted red peppers and cilantro over a bed of cabbage, or

barley salad with massaged kale, toasted walnuts and raisins

See what we mean?

And for those who really like detailed instructions, here you go. 

Make a pot of your favorite grain, like farro.

Roast your favorite vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower and onions.

Make a basic vinaigrette with lemon juice and grapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil.  Be sure and include the zest of the lemon for a pop of flavor.

Toss the cooled grain with your favorite nuts, dried fruit, herbs and the vinaigrette.

And enjoy a delicious lunch or dinner, preferably with someone you love!

Please share your favorite combinations with us.  We love to hear from you!

Roasted Vegetable Farro Salad

Serves 12 - 15

3 cups farro or other whole grain

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

2 onions, peeled and cut in wedges

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup hazelnuts, chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 lemons

apple cider vinegar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Place farro in a large pot and cover with water by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.   Cook for about 50 minutes or until farro is tender.  Drain off excess water.  Set aside farro to cool.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss cauliflower, broccoli and onion wedges in extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper.  Place in oven and roast until vegetables are caramelized, about 20 – 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

To make the vinaigrette, zest and juice both lemons.  Add lemon zest and juice to a glass measuring cup.  Add additional apple cider vinegar to bring amount of juice and vinegar to ½ cup total.  Season with sea salt.  Add ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil and whisk to combine. 

To cooled farro add roasted vegetables, hazelnuts, cranberries, parsley and vinaigrette.  Toss gently and serve cold or at room temperature.  Farro salad will keep about 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator, covered.