Camp Food and Travel Pictures: Cape Hatteras N.C.
23 May 2012 1 Comment
in Recipes, Essay On Health Tags: avocado, bacon, beach house, Berkshires, cabbage, camp food, camping, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, candidiasis, Cape Hatteras, cast iron skillet, eggs, fish tacos, flax bread, Frisco NC, green veggies, health coach, kale, Mahi Mahi, one dish meal, onion, protein, sausage, snack, travel food, tune sashimi
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, only 4 more hours to go!
Last week Dana drove us over 600 miles from the Berkshires to Frisco, NC on Cape Hatteras and back again, whew! Our little ’84 Jetta was packed with camping equipment and of course, lots of food! The state forest camp grounds were beautiful and totally worth the long drive to get there. We camped for the first part of our trip and then moved a few miles down the road to a house on the beach that we shared with friends, what an awesome vacation!
The view of the Atlantic from our camp site in Frisco, NC
First I want to share my favorite way to enjoy avocados, with some tamari, wasabi and a spoon….
Chipolte, salt and lime on the left and my tamari and wasabi half on the right.
All you need is a spoon, and maybe someone to share the other half with : – )
Dana’s camp stove, which he took bike touring with him over a decade ago, decided it was time to retire when we tried to use it our first morning. So we had to rely on the charcoal grill at our site. Good thing we brought our cast iron pan!
Chopped cabbage, sauerkraut, bacon and eggs; everything you need for a hearty seaside breakfast.
I cooked the bacon first, then sauteed the cabbage, pushed everything to the side and fried the eggs in the rest of the bacon fat. Flax crackers and sun tea on the side. Eating directly out of the skillet means no dishes to do, we are on vacation after all!
One night for dinner we grilled asparagus and then cooked sausages and kale with mushrooms and onions in the skillet. Dinner is served.
Best beach house dinner: fresh fried mahi mahi fish tacos (‘slaw and corn tortillas not pictured) and sashimi tuna with bacon tacos. Gotta give Bill credit for the bacon and sashimi combo and the picture too! I used romaine lettuce leaves to make my tacos, wicked good guys, you gotta try it!
Curried Roasted Cauliflower
26 Apr 2012 3 Comments
in Recipes Tags: asafoetida, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, candidiasis, cauliflower, cilantro, corriander, cumin, ghee, health coach, mustard seeds, olive oil, one dish meal, organic, quick meal, roasted veggies
Here’s another quick and simple recipe. If you don’t have all the spices listed, don’t worry, use what you have, it will still be awesome!
Roasted cauliflower with Indian spices, chopped cilantro and mayo-sriracha dipping sauce.
Chop one head of cauliflower into more or less even pieces.
Toss in a large bowl with:
enough olive oil or melted ghee to coat
Add equal amounts of: cumin seeds, mustard seeds, your favorite curry powder and mashed coriander seeds
a dash of asafoetida
and as much sriracha as you like.
Mix well to coat evenly.
Spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and roast at 350 for 20-25 min. til cooked through but not mushy.
Crispify under the broiler for a few minutes at the end.
Top with chopped cilantro and serve.
Dana made a mayo/sriracha dipping sauce to go with the roasted curried cauliflower, awesome!
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!
Sunday Breakfast
09 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Recipes Tags: arugula, Beads and Beyond, Bisque, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, candidiasis, cheddar, class series, eggs, green veggies, health coach, healthy living in the Berkshires, Local food, North Street, one dish meal, Pittsfield, protein, quick meal, raw, raw cheese
On Saturday night I made dinner for Dana and I: roasted cauliflower dressed in ghee, cumin, turmeric and two of our homemade curry spice mixes with mustard seeds. Then kale with goat cheese, hot pepper and a dusting of cumin and curry. For dessert I made biscuits which I planned to use again in the morning for breakfast.
For the meal pictured I started with a bed of arugula, drizzled olive oil, sprinkled salt, black pepper and hot pepper and then grated some amazing raw cheddar cheese from Vermont. I fried up some eggs and toasted the biscuits. The eggs go on top of the greens and then I grated more cheese on top of everything. A quick meal with plenty of protein and even a serving of greens!
Coming soon: my cookbook based on the recipes in this blog and a new class series, “Healthy Living in the Berkshires” which will be hosted by Bisque, Beads and Beyond on North Street starting with two information and sign up sessions May 23rd and 24th. Mark your calendars and stay tuned!
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara
15 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in Recipes Tags: bacon, black pepper, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, candidiasis, dinner, eggs, food, health coach, low carb, low carbohydrate, one dish meal, parsley, romano cheese, sheep cheese, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti squash, tempeh bacon, wheat pasta
Spaghetti Carbonara was a staple meal when I first moved to New York City and was living on 13th street. Back then I made this dish with pasta, less than farm fresh eggs and tempeh bacon. My diet has certainly changed a lot since then! Spaghetti squash is a really versatile winter vegetable that I now use in place of noodles in soups and in place of wheat pasta. Wheat, according to the new book Wheat Belly by William Davis, is an ingredient most Americans would be better off with out. According to his book, wheat, even the organic kind, as grown in the US since the 1980′s is has been so genetically modified from it’s original form that it can not grow in the wild on it’s own and contains a protein entirely unfamiliar to our digestive systems. This so called ‘wheat’ that is used in almost every imaginable food product is nothing like it’s healthy, civilization sustaining ancestor. No wonder so many Americans are being diagnosed with gluten intolerance and Celiac disease! Wheat also acts as an opiate, the more you eat the more of a high you experience and so, the more wheat you crave, creating a viscous cycle of addictive over eating. Try skipping all wheat for a week or two and see if you notice a difference in how much you eat and how you feel energy and mood wise. Here’s a great recipe to get you started: Spaghetti Squash Carbonara!
Ingredients:
One medium spaghetti squash, baked at 350 til it’s done. Here is a post I wrote with further instructions on baking this type of squash.
2-4 slices of happy bacon
small bunch of Parsley, chopped
1-2 large farm eggs, whipped with an equal amount of….
grated Romano or Parmesean cheese
The number of eggs and the amount of cheese you use should be determined by the amount of cooked squash you have.
Warming the cooked squash in the bacon fat with cooked bacon pieces.
For the squash: I like to chop it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and fibers, oil the inside and bake the halves skin side up at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. I know they are done when given a push, the skin gives a little. Also, when I try to fork out the spaghetti like strands, they should come out without much effort. Be careful not to over cook this squash, the strands will lose their slightly crunchy, mildly sweet individuality and turn into a mushy mass.
Once your squash is baked and cooled enough for you to remove the strands you can start cooking the bacon. You will be using one pan for this meal so once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pan and add your squash to re-heat it.
Add your greated cheese to the whipped eggs and then add this mixture to the pan, stirring quickly off the heat. If there isn’t enough heat in the squash to cook the sauce you can put it back on a low flame and keep stirring til the sauce thickens.
Add lots of chopped parsley, the bacon pieces and eat immediately!
Japanese Burrito
28 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in Recipes Tags: bread alternative, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, candidiasis, canned tuna, green veggies, greens, health coach, herbs, hot sauce, mayonaise, Nori, one dish meal, onion, protein, quick meal, salad greens, sea vegetable, snack, tuna, wrap
Tuna prepared with mayo, salad mix, sheets of nori and hot sauce: combine and eat!
I love nori, it’s a really versatile sea vegetable that makes a great wrap for sandwich fillings. You can use any of your favorite cold sandwich fillings rolled up in a sheet of crunchy, mild tasting nori. Today I grabbed a bag of baby salad greens, my favorite hot sauce and a couple of cans of tuna. I prepared the tuna with mayo and onion, some spicy Dijon mustard, a splash of balsamic, salt and pepper and the juice of 1/2 a lemon.
Layer mixed salad greens, prepared tuna and some hot sauce, then roll it up!
A healthy wrap is a green wrap!
Nori is considered to be a “super food” because it is packed full of vitamins, nutrients and even some rare trace elements. Nori is very high in protein, iron and vitamin C. It is also a great source of vitamin A, vitamin B2, iodine, potassium and magnesium. Nori seaweed has been shown to moisturize dry skin, improve circulation and detoxify the skin. SeaSnax is a company that makes roasted, lightly oiled and flavored nori sheets. Their snacks are crunchy and salty and satisfy like potato chips with the added benefit of being highly nutritious!
Comfort Food: Goat Cheese Greens
13 Oct 2011 3 Comments
in Recipes Tags: candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, comfort food, fennel, garlic, goat cheese, green veggies, greens, health coach, hot pepper, one dish meal
Greens chopped into fettuccine sized slices.
The idea here is to use a whole bunch of greens, sliced into fat ribbons, and then combine them with some creamy, cheesy goodness for a dish that’s similar to mac n cheese but with way more nutrients, minerals, vitamins, fiber, good fats and all that other stuff your body gets from green food! I used to love cooking pasta and dressing it up with olive oil, grated cheese, hot pepper flakes and lots of garlic. In retrospect, the pasta was just a vehicle for the seasonings and cheese so why not replace it with the one food most missing from American diets? Why not indeed!
Ingredients:
A big bunch of sturdy greens like collards or the leaves from your broccoli, romanesco or brussels sprouts plants. Strip the leaves from the stems, stack the leaves and slice into fettuccine sized ribbons.
Olive oil, enough to saute all your greens
a clove or three of mashed or minced garlic
and any or all of these flavorful, medicinal seasonings: hot peppers, fennel, garlic salt, sea salt, black pepper, paprika smokey or hot, all to taste
Fresh goat cheese, get it local at Berkshire Organics or the Berkshire Co-op Market
So happy to have time to cook more and relax more after a very busy three weeks.
Procedure:
Heat the olive oil in your cast iron skillet on medium heat, add your garlic and any whole spices you are using like the hot pepper flakes and the fennel seeds.
Before the garlic starts to brown, add in all your pretty green ribbons and saute til wilted and cooked through.
Add salt to taste and any powdered spices you are using, like paprika.
When the greens are cooked to your liking and you’ve adjusted the seasonings, serve the greens and top with as much goat cheese as you like. Mix it well, it will melt instantly on the hot greens and make a creamy sauce, kinda like mac n cheese but with out the gluey macaroni and unsettling powdered ‘cheese’. Top with some hot sauce or sriracha if you need extra heat. Isn’t it comforting to know that your comfort food is really nourishing?
Comfort food can be green and good for you too!
Smokey Cilantro Romanesco
08 Oct 2011 1 Comment
in Recipes Tags: Berkshire Co-op Market, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, cauliflower, chipotle, cilantro, grafton cheddar cheese, health coach, olive oil, one dish meal, paprika, Romanesco
Romanesco, the cruciferous family's model vegetable!
Romanesco is similar to broccoli and cauliflower and so you can substitute either of those vegetables in this recipe. Dana and I have a lot of romanesco growing in our gardens and will be selling some to local restaurants in the coming weeks. This very cool looking plant was first discovered in Italy in the 16th century. It has a mild flavor similar to cauliflower but it certainly sets itself apart from the rest of the cruciferous veggies with its’ chartreuse coloring and cool growth pattern that makes a logarithmic spiral.
A head of romanesco chopped in half. You can see the individual branches that make up the spiral head.
For this easy roasted meal you’ll need a head of romanesco or cauliflower, chopped into 2-3 inch pieces. Set your oven to 365.
Then, on a large, shallow baking sheet, mix the chopped romanesco pieces with enough olive oil to coat, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, hot paprika, ground chipotle pepper and salt, to taste.
Use your hands to mix everything together. Make sure to lick your fingers when you are done mixing, if it tastes good, pop the tray in the oven. If not, adjust the seasonings and repeat!
Oven ready: well oiled, seasoned and tossed.
While the Romanesco roasts in the oven at 365, roughly chop a handful of fresh cilantro.
Grate some cheese, I used smoked Grafton cheddar from the Berkshire Co-op, the smokey cheese went perfectly with the hot smokey chipotle and the paprika.
The Romanesco can take anywhere from 20-35 minutes, so cook it til it’s done and finish it under the broiler if it needs more browning but not much more cooking. You want it to be browned on the outside but with a bit of crunch left inside.
The addition of shredded smoked cheddar really makes the dish!
Finally, toss the finished romanesco with the chopped cilantro, a splash of fresh lime, and the shredded cheese. Eat immediately and enjoy any leftovers hot or cold the next day.
Less Fruity, More Veggie Waldorf Salad
20 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Recipes Tags: blue cheese, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, carrots, celery, cucumbers, health coach, lemon, mayonnaise, one dish meal, Waldorf salad, walnuts
Last night I chose to go for a run rather than drive to our garden to pick food for dinner. We have not bought any produce since the beginning of the summer so I’ve been getting creative with using what we’ve grown. The brussels sprouts are coming in and Dana and I ate the first round on Sunday night, sautéed with bacon to crispy delicious perfection! Somehow we managed to blow through a whole grocery bag full of kale in less than two days so last night our dinner vegetable choices were limited to carrots and cucumbers. While I ran I mulled over my possible dinner options and started thinking about the Waldorf salads I used to make with my grandmother: crisp apples, crunchy walnuts and sweet grapes in a creamy lemony dressing. It used to be one of my favorites, I would sometimes make it with yogurt and turn it into more of a sweet breakfast or snack rather than a salad served over lettuce. When I got home I decided to make a veggie version: crisp cucumbers in place of the apples, shredded carrots for sweetness instead of grapes and a mayonnaise dressing with lemon juice and some crumbled blue cheese. I would have used celery, which is called for in most versions, but we didn’t grow any this year. Dana and I split this for dinner and I hope you find my veggie version of a Waldorf salad as filling as we did.
A seriously filling salad thanks to walnuts and blue cheese and fresh veggies from our garden.
Ingredients:
about 1 cup shredded carrot
2 medium cucumbers, chopped into small bite sized pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped into small bite sized pieces
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
For the dressing:
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (I used bottled lemon juice, if you have a lemon, zest it for extra lemon flavor)
salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
Prep the veggies and add them to a large bowl with the walnut pieces and crumbled cheese.
Whisk the mayo and lemon juice with salt and cracked black pepper. Add some lemon zest if you’ve got it.
Mix the dressing in with the rest of the ingredients and enjoy! This will be good the next day, if you have any left over.
Zucchini and Spinach Gratin
08 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Recipes Tags: bacon, candida, candida cookbook, candida diet, cheese, eggs, garlic, health coach, one dish meal, onion, parsley, spinach, zucchini
It’s been cool out recently, and this combination of garden fresh veggies in a hot cheesy one-dish meal seems perfectly suited for our current Berkshire weather.
My sister and I made this without a recipe, if you've got the basic ingredients: greens, cheese and eggs, you can make a hot, healthy meal!
The recipe I found on Simply Recipes is pretty similar to what Elise and I came up with. It calls for bacon and I think it adds a lot of flavor. For those of you who don’t eat pork, or meat, you can substitute butter and or olive oil (a couple tablespoons) to sauté the onions. Tempeh bacon could also work nicely.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lbs zucchini, grated
- Kosher salt
- 6 packed cups of fresh chopped spinach leaves, blanched and drained or 1 lb frozen spinach
- 3 slices of thick cut bacon (about 3 ounces), cut crosswise 1/4-inch pieces. Did you know you can get local bacon from your local Meat Market in Great Barrington?!
- 1 medium onion
- 1 handful of parsley (about 1/2 cup of leaves, lightly packed)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (we used half goat chevre and half sheep feta)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 eggs, whipped
- Olive oil
METHOD
1 Grate the zucchini. Toss the grated zucchini with about a teaspoon of Kosher salt. Place the grated zucchini in a large sieve (or colander) placed over a bowl to catch the water as the salt helps the zucchini release its moisture. Let sit for 30 minutes or so, then squeeze out the remaining excess moisture with your hands or a clean tea towel.
2 Blanch the spinach, drain it in a colander and squeeze out the excess moisture with you hands. Or, if using frozen spinach: thaw the spinach, let drain while the zucchini is draining. Then squeeze out the excess moisture with your hands or a tea towel.
3 Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add the bacon and gently cook until lightly browned and most of the fat rendered out, about 10 minutes.
4 While the bacon is cooking, peel and finely chop the onion. Add the onions to the bacon and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the onions have softened.
5 While the bacon and onions are cooking, prepare the parsley and garlic. Chop the parsley and garlic (I used a garlic press) and put it into a large bowl.
6 Preheat the oven to 350°F.
7 Place the zucchini and spinach into the large bowl with the parsley and garlic. With a wooden spoon, mix in the cooked onions and bacon. Mix in half of the Parmesan. Taste, and add black pepper and more salt to taste. Mix in the whipped eggs.
8 Coat the bottom and sides of a 2 quart casserole or gratin dish with a tablespoon of olive oil. Put the zucchini spinach mixture into the dish and pack it down. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top and drizzle with a little olive oil.
9 Bake in a 350°F oven for 40-45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Serve immediately. Reheats well.
Yield: Serves 4 to 6.
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