Healthy and Nutritional Recipes

Everyone at some time feels “My meals are just too humdrum. I’m cooking the same old things. Maybe we should go out to eat tonight.” Listen up! Falling into that thinking is like never changing one’s hairstyle, keeping the same eyeglass frames for years or wearing the same skirt or pair of pants week after week, month after month while merely changing one’s blouse or shirt with it. Of course, it’s boring.

Haven’t you noticed how many varieties of food there are? How many different squashes, potatoes, greens, apples, onions, grapes, peppers, tomatoes, etc.? Variety is the spice of life as they say, and while we’re on the subject, there’s a whole extravaganza of herbs and spices from which to choose.

When it’s coming up on mealtime and you begin the “chore” of food preparation, look upon it instead as a wonderful artistic experience. I’m going to give you a way to make the same old, same old dishes “pop” by adding a festive few additions. It’s time for fancy it up, make it fun and bring out the artist in you. Garnishing your dishes is certainly an art as any chef will tell you, but begin to appreciate how the food itself can create a palette very pleasing to the eye.

You have at your fingertips an amazing array of colors, textures, and shapes, not to mention the discovery of beautiful designs in the food itself. For example, in fresh fruit and produce, have you noticed the surprise you get when you cut into an apple? No, I’m not talking about a worm. Turn an apple on its side with the stem to the right or left, and cut down through the middle. You’ll see an amazing star in the center. Since some 10,000 different phytonutrients have been identified in an apple, it certainly deserves a star!

If you trim off the bottom of a stalk of bok choy, fennel or celery about two inches up from the end, a lovely “flower” appears which can decorate a tray of delectables.

A ripe avocado sliced length-wise in ½” strips with the peel removed, gives you a great sunburst around wheels of sliced orange, creating a green and orange sunflower. Do the same with the apple instead of an avocado, and the flower petals are a different two-toned color.

The great bonus factor to all this is that your meals will be healthy and delicious! Choose organic as much as possible for maximum nutrition.

Here are a few of my favorite original quick and easy recipes:

Coconut Basmati Rice (4-6 cups)

1. Combine in a cooking pot:

1 cup organic white basmati rice

l cup filtered water

¾ cup organic coconut milk

2. Bring to a boil. Stir once. Cover with lid. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes.

3. Remove from heat, let stand in covered pot for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork, sea salt to taste.

Poached Ginger Salmon with Pineapple (complimenting Basmati Rice above)

4 small wild salmon steaks ½ “ thick (fresh or frozen)

¾ cup fresh chopped pineapple

1” fresh ginger root, sliced thin or liberally sprinkle powdered organic ginger

½ cup filtered water

1 scallion chopped

1 tsp. arrowroot

In frying pan with lid, pour water in pan. Place salmon steaks. Add pineapple and fresh ginger root. Simmer on medium to medium low with lid on. Let poach for approx. 10 minutes; test if done by flaking end of one piece with a fork. Remove steaks to platter. Add chopped scallion to liquid. Add arrowroot and stir to thicken. Smash pineapple and stir. Pour over steaks and serve. Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro sprigs.

Goji berry - Pecan Spread

Grind 2 TB. of Goji berries into a powder

Grind 1-2 TB. of fresh pecans, finely ground

1/2 tsp. organic olive oil

1 to 2 tsp. organic brown rice syrup

(adjust to personal taste)

Mix together and spread on homemade muffins , cornbread or whole grain toast.

Sesame Tahini-Miso Spread

Combine in a small bowl:

1/4 cup organic sesame tahini

1 TB. white organic soy or brown rice miso

¼ cup of coconut water

Peel of 1 orange, grated

Mix until creamy tahini, miso and coconut water. Stir in the

grated orange peel and serve.