It's been awhile...

So, it's been awhile. I finished classes last week, which means that in 7 weeks I need to complete 14 case studies and study for my final exam. Wahoo! Being this close to the official title of "RHN (Registered Holistic Nutritionist)", feels surreal. So many decisions to make in so short a time. I can do it though, right? Tonight I would like to share some scrumptious meals I've created in the past several months. So, old stuff. Hopefully I can remember all the details of the recipes. You will notice that most of them have goat cheese in them. This was the beginning of my love affair with that particular food. We may make it permanent.

First we have "Sweet Quinoa Potatoes!" (You must say this the same way you would if you were exclaiming a curse word or phrase). This was a surprisingly delicious discovery.

                               1/2 cup quinoa

                               1/2 of 1 medium sweet potato

                               1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

                               4 tbsp coconut oil                           

                               1/2  clove of garlic                   

Slice half of a sweet potato width-wise. Combine 2 tbsp of coconut oil with 1 tbsp of cumin powder in a bowl and dip sweet potato slices in it. Place on greased baking sheet (use coconut oil again). Cook in oven for 15-20 min at 350. Flip over at the half-way point. Pour dry quinoa (quinoa soaked overnight cooks much faster) into pot and add double the amount in water - 1/2 cup to 1 cup water. Get it to a boil then turn down to medium-low heat. Once it starts to rise above the water and look less solid turn heat down to low. Once it seems to have soaked up most of the water and it looks cooked through, drain it. Mix in lemon juice, minced garlic,1 tbsp of coconut oil and 1/2 - 1 tbsp of cumin with quinoa. Serve with the sweet potatoes and enjoy! 

                                

Next we have a very vibrant, colorful and nutritious "Goat Cheese Salad". This recipe can be changed to use any variation of nuts, seeds and greens. The key ingredients are the goat cheese, beets, radicchio and dressing.

                          Bowl full of rinsed greens (chard, lettuce, beet

                          greens, radicchio)

                          3 handfuls of raw, hulled sunflower seeds

                          2 handfuls of whole, raw almonds

                          1/2 of a medium sized beet, sliced

                          A couple sprigs of  fresh rosemary

                          1/4 cup Lemon juice

                          1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

                          Goat cheese

Mix together all the ingredients, pour lemon juice and olive oil on top as dressing, sprinkle goat cheese on top and enjoy!

This one I am especially proud of. It was a complete kitchen experiment. I call it "Sweet Artichoke Stir-fry". I had it for breakfast.
                                      
                                      
                              1/2 sweet potato
                              4 asparagus stalks
                              4 Jerusalem artichokes
                              1/4 onion
                              2 handfuls of sprouts (your choice what kind)
                              1 -2 tbsp butter
                              1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt
                              Goat cheese


Lightly steam (until softened) sweet potato, and Jerusalem artichoke in a separate pot (water only needs to be an inch above the bottom of pot). Melt butter in frying pan. Add onions and sea salt. Add asparagus. Add sweet potato and artichoke. Add sprouts at very end. Leave 1-3 minutes between additions. Mix regularly throughout, so everything gets the butter and salt on it and the flavors really come through. Don't stir fry too long, should only take a few minutes. You want the asparagus to be softened but nut squishy. Sprinkle some goat cheese on top and enjoy.

This is a very simple recipe that can be changed up or added to very easily. The basis of it is some kind of base (bread, rice cake, cracker), a spread, some greens, and a topping. Since it is so variable, and I have done several versions of it, I won't give it a name. After all, what's in a name?

                                                                

                                          2 slices of whole grain bread

                                          Sunflower seeds

                                          1/4 small avocado

                                          1 1/2 - 2 tbsp Lemon juice

                                          1 clove garlic

                                          Spinach leaves

                                          Goat cheese

Make a sunflower seed pate. To do this blend sunflower seeds, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and garlic (mince it first) together in a food processor or blender. It will turn into a thick spreadable mixture. Spread this on 2 slices of whole grain bread, top with spinach leaves and goat cheese. You could add sprouts or slices onions to this as well. Yum!

                                                                  

                                                                 

So, I discovered fiddle heads this spring. Fiddle heads seem to be a big deal out here in the maritimes, and they were in season, so I decided to try them. I searched some recipes online and combined a couple, and added an ingredient or two. This is what I came up with: "Fiddle Head Stir-fry".

                                                           

                        1-2 cups of fiddle heads

                        2 tbsp butter or coconut oil

                        1/4 cup walnuts

                        1/4 onion

                        1 clove of garlic

                        1/2 lemon (juice only)

                        1/2 tbsp honey

                        1 tsp paprika

                        Salt and pepper to taste

 Rinse fiddle heads and chop off browned ends. Chop onion. Mince garlic. Squeeze lemon juice. Melt butter or coconut oil in frying pan. Add fiddle heads, onion and garlic. Add lemon, honey and paprika. Add walnuts. Leave 1-3 minutes between additions. Walnuts only need approx. 20-30 seconds. Salt and pepper to taste. Mmmmmmmm! Way better than you might think. My roommate was shocked by how good it was. Just sayin'.

                                                              

                                                              

Waldegrave Farm http://farm.waldegrave.org/. Waldegrave farm is located in Tatamagouche, NS. I actually visited them back in April with some friends and was really impressed. They have some beautiful land and are passionate about what they do. They operate in a way that is environmentally friendly, sustainable, simple and clever. I never realized how spicy radishes were until I sampled these. They have a very fresh, spicy and zingy flavour. So, I incorporated them into a fresh summer salad which will be called "Radish Fiesta" because radishes make me think of fiesta's. Here goes:

                            2 or 3 radishes 

                            1/2 of 1 large yellow carrot

                            1/4 cup onion

                            2 or 3 handfuls of raw sunflower seeds

                            Bowlful of beet greens

                            1/2 lemon (juice)

                            1/4 cup olive oil

Slice all veggies. Toss into a bowl. Sprinkle on sunflower seeds. Pour oil and lemon juice on top. Mix. Time for a fiesta!

                                                         

             I went to see the documentary "Forks Over Knives" http://www.forksoverknives.com/ in theaters with some friends. It was a fabulous film all about the connection between diet and degenerative disease. I was most pleased that it was in theaters and therefore had the opportunity to be viewed by the masses. It was great to have the jist of what I've been learning in school be validated and explained so clearly and simply through scientific and clinical evidence. I encourage all to view it. It's already out on DVD!. Naturally, my friends felt very impacted and inspired and desirous to change their diets ASAP (that's how good it is). They also had alot of questions. So, I suggested that we gather some ingredients and make a healthy meal. We did just that and the result was me teaching them how to make a yummy and healthy, quinoa salad, including how to cook quinoa (funnily enough I managed to burn the bottom of the quinoa. Great teaching hey?!). A salad can be a full meal as you have already seen from some of my previous recipes. Add some protein or complex carbohydrate in the form of nuts and seeds, grains or meat and you have yourself a satisfying meal, believe it or not. The salad needed a tad bit more lemon, but tasted great. I think because we used endive, which is a very bitter green, it required more lemon than I've had to use with the greens I've been making meals with lately.

I bought this olive oil from a nun at the Greek Festival. How awesome is that? http://www.greekfest.org/

I thought this was pretty hilarious. I ate my extremely healthy salad in a bowl with pictures of extremely unhealthy desserts in it. Way to be.

      Bowlful of greens (we used endive, lettuce and swiss chard)

      3-5 radishes

      Several handfuls of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds

      1/2 a whole cucumber

      1/2 yellow carrot

      1/2 onion

      1 cup quinoa

      Lemon juice

      Olive oil.

Cook the quinoa. 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water (like rice). Slice all the veggies, almonds and greens. Mix olive oil, lemon juice and dulse together in a small bowl. Add greens, then veggies, then nuts and seeds, then quinoa, then dressing. Enjoy your meal!

That's all for today folks! That took a lllloong time to write!