What you need

• 1 bunch kale, washed and trimmed (cut the stalks out and compost them – aahh composting, that’s a topic for another day)
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp olive or grapeseed oil
• 1/2 tsp himalayan or celtic salt
• 1/2 cup daikon radish, matchsticked or julienned
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup broccoli sprouts
  Broccoli is one of the most nutrient dense foods and eating it at a sprouting stage results in some truly power-packed cancer fighting action. Plus they’re just plain tasty. 
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

How to make it

First, chiffonade your kale. That’s a really fancy word for saying slice it in thin strips. Put the kale and mushrooms in a large bowl and add oil and salt. Massage with your hands until well coated. Set aside.

Prepare the rest of the vegetables and make yourself a dressing. I made Green Goddess dressing from one of my instructors’ books, Rawsome. Avocado, water, lemon and a bit of celtic salt. I added a bit of fresh ginger as well.

Add vegetables to the kale and mushrooms and stir well. Serve with dressing on the side. I don’t have any dressing recipes on the site yet. Maybe my friend, Gary, will help me with some. He makes fabulous, fresh healthy dressings that taste far better than anything you can find processed in the store. Stay tuned.

What you need

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups sunflower seeds
• 1 cup cashews, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup flax seeds, 1/4 cup ground
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 orange, zested

How to make it

Note: Soaking all your nuts and seeds in advance will make them more easily digestible and enable your body to get as many nutrients from them as possible. If you have time, soak!

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a cookie sheet and lay down parchment paper. Put half the maple syrup in a bowl. Add sunflower seeds. Mix well, until coated. Add remaining nuts and seeds and spices. Fold and mix well. Add remainder of syrup and coat thoroughly.

Spread mixture on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until nuts are toasted and hardened in the midddel off the cookie sheet (not soft and sticky).

Cool, break into pieces and serve.

Feel free to add nutmeg, cardamom, dried fruit or coconut, or any type of nut and seed combination that interests you. Have fun exploring!

What you need

• 2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked overnight (soaking enables you to absorb more nutritients and digest them more easily)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 lemon, juice and zest
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small bunch broccoli sprouts (or other herbs, optional)

How you make it

This one is all in the wrists – otherwise known as a food processor. First, rinse the soaked macadamia nuts through a strainer and add to your food processor. Begin to process while slowly adding water. Be sure not to use too much liquid. You are looking for a cream cheese like texture. Scrape the sides down and pulse and blend until a good paste is formed. Add the other ingredients, continuing to scrape the sides of the processor, pulsing and blending, until all ingredients are well blended. Taste and adjust ingredient amounts as desired.

You can use this recipe for crackers, pasta dishes or as a dressing for savory main dishes as I did here, or adjust using sweet spices like cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg for a dessert or fruit appetizer accompaniment.

Enjoy!

What you need

• 2 dried mission figs
• 6 dried dates
• 4 dried prunes
• 8 dried cherries
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup red quinoa
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk

How to make it

First, soak all your dried fruit in the hot water for 5-10 minutes, until softened. Then chop fruit into bite-size pieces. 

You’re going to use the leftover water to cook your quinoa. I use a rice cooker, but you can also cook it in a saucepan just like rice. Add the agave nectar and vanilla to the water and stir. Then cook your quinoa.

While the quinoa is cooking, roast the walnuts in a frying pan. You don’t need any oil as long as you keep stirring your walnuts frequently. Remove the walnuts from heat when golden brown. Be careful not to burn.

When the quinoa is ready, mix it with the fruit, walnuts, flax seed and coconut in a large bowl. Serve in cereal bowls, with almond milk on top.

Makes 2-3 servings.

First, here’s a recipe that Chef Brigitte made for Raw Celery Soup. It was absolutely delightful.

What you need

• 4 stalks celery
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1- 1.5 tomato
• handful of cilantro
• 1 avocado
• 1 tsp celtic salt
• 1-2 cups water (don’t exceed the maximum water level of your food processor!)
• 1-2 tsp smokey paprika

How to make it

This one is beautifully simple. First, let your vegetables warm to room temperature, about thirty minutes. Then simply cut up your ingredients and combine them (minus the paprika) in the food processor. Pulse until slightly blended. You want some texture to the soup, but not more than bite size chunks. Finally, sprinkle smokey paprika on top. It’s a colorful dish and the flavors blended superbly. I’ll have to see if I can start taking pictures of all the food we eat.

Amazing foods I’m adding to my grocery list

• chia seeds – good for your kidneys and for libido
• nutritional yeast – lots of B12
• smokey paprika – lots of flavor and vitamin c
• celtic salt – more minerals and less processing than sea salt

Warning! I rarely measure anything when I cook, so these amounts are approximate. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the amounts. Let me know how it works out.

What you need

Filling

• 2 cups dates
• 1 cup prunes
• 1/2 cup figs
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 cup hot water

Crust

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 cup turbinado sugar

How to make it

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish.

Next prepare your crust. Combine flours, flax seed, baking soda and salt. Stir in oats, applesauce, margarine and sugar until ingredients are well blended and mixture is crumbly.

Then combine all filling ingredients except water in a food processor and mix. Slowly add water until ingredients are well blended and you have a thick paste.

Add half the crust mixture to the baking dish and press evenly. Spoon the filling on top of the crust layer. Tip! Use a wet rubber spatula to prevent the filling from sticking and making a mess of your crust while you do this. Finish with a layer of crust mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool then cut into squares and enjoy.

This year, I’m giving up alcohol for 3 weeks. I’m not sure what my relationship with alcohol will be when I’m done, but my goal is to connect with how good I feel without it and take it from there.

What are your resolutions this year? Do you want to eat healthier? Give your body a rest from the constant barrage it gets? Why not pledge to eat healthier this year by learning one new healthy recipe each week? In fact, I challenge you to try it.

Take the “eat in b-e-d” challenge
Each week, find inspirational recipes on the pages of this site or others that have healthy, wholesome ingredients and let your taste buds be your guide. If you like it, cook it more often! But still commit to trying a new, different healthy recipe each week. Your goal is to begin a lifelong journey with food – finding healthier ways to enjoy it each week.

Make a pledge to eat healthier for the benefit of your body, mind and spirit…

What you need

• 1 sweet potato, sliced into steak-size fries
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2-3  tbsp hot water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

How to make it

Sautee the potato in olive oil covered, over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring well to coat. Add onions and sautee covered for another 2 – 3 minutes. Add garlic and sautee for another 1 - 2 minutes. Add maple syrup and water, stir well, cover and sautee for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent burning. Add spices, cover and sautee for another 5-10 minutes until potatoes are browned and onions are slightly caramelized.

The spiciness of the pepper, onions and garlic was a beatiful compliment to the sweetness of the cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup. And cayenne pepper is great for vitamin C.

Next time, I’d love to drizzle it with a peanut butter-coconut milk sauce. Delicious.

• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/2 tsp vegetable seasoning
• 1-1/2 cup water
• 1 medium russet potato
• 1 small sweet  onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 Tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Olive oil

How to make it

First cook the lentils. I use a rice  cooker and have learned that adding a bit of olive oil to the bottom saves an enormous amount of cleanup time and prevents ruining your rice cooker from scraping the crap out of it every time the rice sticks to the bottom. Add lentils, vegetable seasoning and water and cook.

Meanwhile, peel and cube the potato and boil in water until soft. Then sautee the onion in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sautee for another 5 minutes until soft and translucent.

When everything is ready, combine the ingredients – mixing and mashing until everything is well blended and sticks together. Add curry powder and salt and blend well. Modify seasonings to taste.

Form the lentil-potato mixture into 4 cakes and sautee in olive oil over medium heat until brown on each side.

Serve with a sour cashew cream sauce.

What you need

• 1 1/2 cup red lentils, cooked
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, quartered and sliced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup braggs amino acids
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp Thai chili oil (or more to taste)
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 celery stalks, sliced

How to make it

First, cook your lentils. The original recipe uses a stove-top method which you are more than welcome to try. I prefer the rice cooker method so I can walk away and forget about it while moving on to the next step.  The original recipe also called for extra water for the lentils. I simply cooked the lentils and added an extra cup of hot water at the end of the recipe.

Sautee onions in coconut oil in a large soup pot until clear.  Be sure to stir frequently to avoid browning. Add garlic, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, red pepper, cinnamon and bay leaves and sautee for another 3 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid browning.

Turn temperature down to medium-low. Add coconut milk, braggs aminos and tomato sauce and simmer for 20-30 minutes. I didn’t have any tomato sauce. But I had 5-6 cherry tomatoes that were extremely soft and not quite ripe sitting in my window. The last of my cherry tomato harvest from the garden. So I put them in a cup of boiling water, chopped them up, and added organic ketchup.  Thank you cherry tomato plant for getting me through one last creative recipe. May you rest in peace in my compost bin.

Add cooked red lentils and vegetables and cook over medium heat until vegetables are just tender. Ready to serve! Try it over brown rice like the original recipe suggests, or add some asian rice/vermicelli noodles to the pot and serve when softened.

Yummy. And warm!