New Spring Salad
24 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Candida, Recipes Tags: raw, apple cider vinegar, candidiasis, green veggies, quick meal, Local food, organic, salad dressing, one dish meal, carrots, greens, salad, cheese, candida diet, meditation, health coach, candida, candida cookbook, tuna, yoga, kripalu yoga
Dana and I literally made room for our yoga practice.
I’ve been a bit pressed for time since there are a lot of exciting changes going on right now; the garden is growing, there are houses to bid on (woah!) and we converted an extra room in our house to a yoga/meditation room. I have been naturally waking up consistently early for the past few weeks, a change I attribute to the new season and a sign that my health continues to improve. The combination of getting up earlier and our yoga room means I’m able to do an hour of Kripalu yoga, mediate and start my day having already accomplished two of my most important goals for the day. Or I can work in an hour of yoga later in the day. Either way, having hour long classes, on line, that range from gentle restorative yoga to more vigorous, challenging classes, right on the Kripalu home page, makes a daily practice pretty easy to incorporate. If you have space for a yoga mat and an internet connection, you too can incorporate yoga into your daily routine. Give it a try!
One of 4 post cards designed to promote the market. This one is my favorite. You can see the other designs on the New Amsterdam Market Facebook page.
Dana, Brian and I are also expanding Fire Cider to a weekly market in New York City called ‘The New Amsterdam Market’ which opens next Sunday at 11 am in the Old Fulton Fish Market. This is such an exciting next step for us and there’s a lot to do to get ready! So, I find I have less time that I would like to spend writing new recipes and playing in the kitchen. In the interest of time, mine and yours, I’ve come up with a new way to write recipes so I can continue to share with you on a weekly basis…
The ingredients will be listed in the order they are added to the recipe. Simple instructions will appear throughout the list and the meal should take about 5-15 min to assemble or cook, sound good? Healthy meals fast, yes please!
One dish dinner with the daffodils my mom picked for us, thanks mama!
New Spring Salad
In a large bowl combine:
1 can tuna
3-4 T mayo
2 T spicy dijon mustard
2 T raw apple cider vinegar
2 T each: Kalamata olives halved and chopped oil cured olives
salt and pepper to taste
Mix well then add
Salad greens of your choosing: baby spinach and dandelion greens are especially nutritious.
1 grated carrot
Mix again and top with
grated cheese, I used some Vermont cheese from the co-op that’s part cheddar and part Romano
a small handful of toasted, salted sunflower seeds
Serve and eat!
Exciting Updates on Farming and Fire Cider
16 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Essay On Health Tags: apple cider vinegar, Berkshire County, Berkshires, community, farming, Fire Cider, health tonic, www.firecider.com
Dana and I met Jen Morse at the Handmade Holiday Festival last December. She asked me about our Fire Cider and what our plans were. It wasn’t long before we were talking about our farm dream and our search for affordable land in Berkshire County. Jen immediately invited us to come out to the farm she and her husband own; a family horse farm that goes back several generations called Green Meads Farm.
The fence is finished, time to start planning the garden.
During our first visit to their farm, Jen and Jeff offered us some space in their garden, they were planning on expanding it anyway. This is what I love about native Berkshireites, their generosity and understanding of real community. We helped them put up the new fencing and as soon as that project was done we started in on the planting. Well, first there was the weeding and raking and the laying out of beds and the manure hauling, shoveling and distributing and then the planting. It was all very gratifying work that will eventually reward us with delicious healthy food.
Jen's chickens enjoying the leftover grain from Dana's last batch of homebrew.
Then there’s the old farm down the road. Jeff mentioned one day in early spring that his neighbor was looking to sell his family farm and told us to stop by on our way back to Pittsfield. We did, and now, two months later we are watching our first commercial crops coming up in one of their fields. Dana and I are also in the process of working out a rent to own deal with the current owners. We may be farm owners, with the help of our friends and family, as soon as this fall, so very exciting!
Last week Fire Cider was approved by the state health inspector and is officially a legal and safe product (but we already knew that!), ready for stores as soon as our newest batch matures. We have two 55 gallon drums of organic apple cider vinegar and a pending order for a ton of produce from Albert’s Organics. We will be making an appearance at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival Saturday June 25th in North Adams, so come out and see us at the open air market. We’ll be handing out free samples and selling bottles of Fire Cider!
Sesame Spinach Salad
22 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Recipes Tags: apple cider vinegar, dandelion, garlic, greens, quick meal, salad, salad dressing, sesame oil, Sesame seeds, spinach, tahini
I know spring is finally here when I start craving things like dandelion greens and spinach salad, even if the weather has different ideas. This salad is really easy to make, it takes about 5 minutes and will feed two people as a side and one hungry lady as a meal. The toasted sesame seeds are the only time-consuming thing so make more than you need and keep them on hand!
Sesame salad with baby spinach, mesclun greens and black and white sesame seeds
Ingredients for Sesame Dressing:
1 Tablespoon each: apple cider vinegar, tahini and sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic mashed/pressed
Few drops of water.
This dressing can easily be doubled or tripled if you want to make some to have on hand.
Here’s what you do, whisk all the ingredients together in your salad bowl and then slowly add a few drops of water, whisking in between to your preferred consistency, usually all it takes is a teaspoon or two.
Add in greens: baby spinach is awesome, dandelion greens are a delicious detoxifier, mesclun mix, or all three! Toss to coat evenly with the dressing.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, swirl them around in a cast iron skillet over medium heat until they start to pop and smell super sesame, about 5 minutes.
Done! The dressing only has about 200 calories and will cover several big handfuls of salad greens, a quick and easy way to add some green to your diet. I made this yesterday for lunch and added a chopped hard boiled egg and some hot sauce for a complete meal. I bet it would be good with grilled spicy shrimps, chick peas or left over roasted chicken, ect, you get the idea. Enjoy eating this healthy and delicious salad and if you have variations, I’d love to hear about them!
Goddess Dressing: Vitamin C and Liver Detox
15 Dec 2010 2 Comments
in Detoxing, Recipes Tags: apple cider vinegar, dandelion, garlic, green veggies, parsley, raw, salad, salad dressing, tahini
Goddess Dressing with Dandelion Greens and Baby Romain
Last night I was craving Green Goddess Dressing but, looking over my recipe posting I realized I didn’t have much on hand to make it and I was too hungry to go to the store. So I searched around and found a recipe using the ingredients I was really wanting to eat; parsley, raw apple cider vinegar and tahini. I ate mine over dandelion greens, the bitter flavor of the greens goes really well with this dressing. Dandelion greens are great for supporting your liver and kidneys and the bitter taste encourages the release of digestive enzymes which aid in digestion. Dandelion is high in Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium. Parsley is also high in Vitamin C and great for liver and kidney support. I have been doing a detox diet the past week and I think my liver was asking for more support. I felt better after eating this light meal and my craving was totally satisfied. Ah, the power of green food!
Here’s version two, more like the Annie’s Naturals Brand dressing that the San Fran original but just as tasty.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 2/3 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar plus 2 Tablespoons or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- salt, to taste at the end
- 7 green onions, whole (scallions) or about 1/4 cup chopped white onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 bunch parsley, with stems (this would be about 4 cups chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup water (more or less, to taste)
Procedure:
- Combine all ingredients except water in a food processor or blender, blend well.
- Add water a little at a time, until the dressing reaches your desired consistency. Taste and add more vinegar, salt, pepper, whatever you think it needs!
- Store refrigerated, 3-4 weeks.
Cool Off with Rawh Cucumber Salad
23 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Recipes Tags: apple cider vinegar, cucumber, onion, raw
My dad’s garden is overflowing with cucumbers. The last time I went to visit I came home with a huge bag full of freshly picked cucumbers (and zucchini and basil and flowers too!). I remember my grandmother would always make cucumber salad in the summer and now I know why! This recipe is very simple and very good for you. Cucumbers are a cooling food and they are a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber and are also a great digestive aid. The raw onion in this salad has antibacterial properties as well as a lot of flavor. Raw onion has been credited with helping to raise good cholesterol, increase circulation and lower blood pressure. Using raw apple cider vinegar for the dressing will add enzymes (and a whole lot more!) which help us digest.
Ok, enough talk about the ingerdients, here’s the recipe:
Peel and thinly slice as many cucumbers as you want to eat. Remember this salad gets better with time so make enough to have for lunch tomorrow! Put the slices in a large bowl.
Thinly slice enough white onion so that you have about 3 times as many cucumber slices as you do onion. I know I justed use a ratio, don’t worry. This is not an exact science, it’s a salad.
Mix the onion in with the cucumber and add salt. How much salt? Well, how much salt do you like? The salt is to bring out the flavor and open up the pores of the veggies so they will absorb the vinegar and start to soften. Taste, add more salt, taste again. This will prevent you from dying of hunger before the salad is ready to serve. Look at you, multitasking!
Add a splash of olive oil, the good kind, extra virgin, organic, none of that swaggy processed with chemicals stuff. You don’t really need the oil but it does add a little flavor and it’s good for you so splash away!
Liberally add some vinegar, I recommend red wine vinegar for best taste but raw apple cider vinegar for best nutrition/health benefits. You could get crazy and use a little of both!
Now top with as much cracked black pepper as you like, it really adds a lot of flavor to this simple salad, the more the better!
Ok, toss everything together and get the cucumbers good and coated with the vinegar. You can eat it now or let it marinate (it will taste even better in an hour) while you make up something that actually has calories in it. This may be delicious and nutritious but it won’t fill you up.
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