Holiday Treats! Pi Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Passover are all upon us!

Oh my goodness, Easter and Passover are right around the corner! I've been working on some chocolate treats and other holiday deliciousness, and I'll tell you about them very soon. (It is not too early to start thinking about a plague of chocolate mint frogs for Passover, or raspberry-filled zombie chocolate bunnies for Easter. A variety of chocolate treats will be available regularly, and sold by weight.)

But first, Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day! NOW IS THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT ORDERING FOR PI DAY AND ST. PADDY'S DAY! What? Ordering? Yup, I'm reviving orders and deliveries for the holidays, because I love cooking for you and I miss you! Plus I'm always happy to come cook for you and your family for a fantastic holiday or anytime! (I'm already booked for the first night of Passover and for Good Friday, but I have some other dates free. Please email me if you are interested in any menu for any date at all, and we'll talk!)

I'll be doing plenty of gluten free, real food, delicious, homemade awesome food for all those holidays. Most items will be vegan, and others will be non-vegan. All will be made with care and attention to your family's specific needs. As always, I avoid all gluten ingredients, all soy, peanut, GMOs, and weird stuff. Keeping your food delicious and safe is the top priority!

A Vegan Cottage Pie Begins

Gluten Free, Vegan Pot Pie

Sweet Potato and Local Beef Cottage Pie

For Pi Day, which is really soon, on Thursday, 3/14, I'll do a pie theme! I can do a vegan vegetable pot pie or a non-vegan, dairy-free chicken pot pie. Either way, it will be topped with a gluten free crust, similar to the one I did last year. I'll also do variations on shepherd's pie and cottage pie - I'm leaning toward a ground lamb filling with a mashed squash topping, and maybe a turkey one with a sweet potato topping, but we can figure it all out together based on customer interest. I'll pack these savory pies in recyclable foil pans so you can reheat easily - just pop them in the oven.

I will also do some sweet pies, of course! Last year's gluten free vegan pecan pie was amazing, and I'll definitely reprise that. I've also been working on a raw vegan avocado lime pie that I'm pretty excited about, and a banana cream pie with coconut custard. Yum!

This is the best pecan pie ever. Ever!

For St. Patrick's Day, which is next Sunday the 17th, I will make you delicious gluten free, vegan Irish soda bread. Remember how yummy that was last year? I miss it, and I want to make it for you again. It was so darn good. I'll also make colcannon: mashed potatoes with kale and general yumminess (can be made vegan with olive oil, or with dairy butter) AND I'll do a cabbage side - with or without bacon. If there's enough interest, I might do corned beef brisket too. If you're interested, please email me soon so we can plan! Write to me any time at rathercraftymary@gmail.com

Looking forward to cooking for you all soon!

Much love,
Chef Mary

Vegetarian cottage pie

Remember yesterday how I mentioned you can make cottage pie with almost any combination of veggies? Really, the only requirement is that there be something yummy topped with something else yummy, and the top yumminess is some kind of vegetable mash or puree.

You can use leftover or freshly made mashers, over leftover shredded or pulled or minced whatever. Yesterday for breakfast, I used lovely local sweet potatoes over ground beef with carrots and parsnips.

Then at work, I made something similar but completely vegetarian.

I roasted a bunch of different veggies separately, then combined them. The veggies were seasoned with paprika and sea salt in roasting, then sprinkled with marjoram when I combined them all together.

I topped with a mash of white sweet potato, and gave it the peanut butter cookie treatment with the back of a fork to make it beautiful.

Sprinkled with paprika, and voila! Vegetarian (easily vegan) cottage pie! Take it home, pop it in the oven until hot, and dig in!

Make topping first: White sweet potato, cooked, peeled, mashed with butter, a splash of veg broth, and a sprinkling of sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Inside:

Veggies roasted until golden and delicious with sea salt, paprika, and oil/butter/fat of choice
Sprinkling of marjoram
Suggested veggies:
Carrots
Potatoes (If you're not doing Whole30)
White sweet potatoes
Watermelon radishes
Parsnips
Turnips
Onions

Just roast off the veggies individually. I do them individually because each veggie takes a slightly different amount of time to become perfectly done. Combine in baking dish and adjust seasoning. Top with mash, make it pretty, and bake till hot. Instant veggie dish! Great with everything, including salads, egg dishes, meat dishes, and beans if you happen to tolerate them.

Enjoy!

Love,
Chef Mary

Happy MLK Day! And a cottage pie recipe

Happy birthday, Dr. King!

It is a beautiful day for the annual National Day of Service, taking place today as well. If you are not working today, you may consider participating in a service project in your community.

Today, I have a yummy recipe for cottage pie! Cottage pie is like shepherd's pie, but with beef instead of lamb. If you have ground lamb, feel free to use it because it is delicious!

You can prepare in advance for this recipe by cooking your sweet potato ahead of time. I baked it last night while making dinner, which included some delicious cauliflower patties that I'll write about later.

This recipe is totally scaleable. If you're using one pound of meat, use your 8 x 8 Pyrex baking dish. If you are using two pounds, use a 9 x 13. It is also totally adaptable to all sorts of different flavors. Any herbs and spices are great here. Almost any veggies you have on hand work in the filling, and any mashable root vegetable works on the top. Even a winter squash puree would be great on top! Want to use onions and celery in the filling and celery root mash on top? Do it. In summer, try bell peppers and zucchini in the filling and carrot mash on top. Want to make a vegetarian version? Just make a whole lot of veggies (with some properly soaked and cooked beans if you tolerate them), add a little saucy gravy, top with your puree and bake it off. Anything goes!

INGREDIENTS

1 - 2 good sized sweet potatoes (or equivalent amount of another mashable starchy veg like celery root, parsnips, carrots, turnips, squash, any combination of the above, or if you tolerate them, even regular potatoes.)
Some healthy fat, like coconut oil, olive oil, or rendered beef fat
1 - 2 pounds of grass-fed ground beef
Chopped vegetables. Today I used two big parsnips, five medium carrots, and a couple of chili peppers.
Seasonings of choice. Today I used thyme and parsley in the meat, and nutmeg, paprika and a touch of cinnamon in the sweet potato.
Sea salt to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup homemade chicken or beef stock, optional
A spoonful of arrowroot starch, optional

METHOD

Cook your sweet potatoes. I steam-baked mine in a covered glass dish with some water last night. This is easy to do while you're roasting or baking something for dinner. You can also steam them in a pot on your stove, roast them dry, or even use leftover oven fries from another meal. Peel sweet potatoes then mash them up with some of your healthy fat and seasonings to taste. Set aside.

You need to cook the filling veggies and the beef. Which one to do first? Well that depends on the veggies you chose. If it's winter and you're using carrots and parsnips, sautee them briefly in a little beef fat, then cover to allow to steam briefly, and cook maybe halfway. Stir in the ground beef and brown it.

If it's summer and you're using zucchini or other veg that cooks a lot faster, brown the meat first and then add the veg. Use your judgement here!

Add herbs and other seasonings. Whisk the arrowroot into the stock and pour over, mixing in well. You don't have to wait for it to thicken much in the pan because you're going to bake it. Don't have the patience for this part? Skip it. It just makes it a little more gravy-like. It's still great without.

Put the sweet potatoes on top, smooth out, and use the back of a fork to make it all pretty.

Bake at 400 until hot all the way through, bubbly, and maybe browning just a little on top. Let cool a little so you don't burn your mouth, then try not to eat the whole thing at once! YUM!

Leftovers keep well in the fridge. Enjoy cold or reheated. Make this every week!

Love,
Chef Mary

Recipe: Cauliflower rice

Happy Monday morning!

Remember last night I had some lovely lamb shank osso bucco in the slow cooker? Well, this morning it was ready!

It simmered overnight in a mix of beef stock, chicken stock, herbs, spices, and veggies. This morning is was incredibly tender and nourishing! I skimmed off some of the fat, re-seasoned the sauce, and served it with cauliflower "rice" and squash and a garnish of chopped parsley.

As you recall, the cooking liquid was seasoned with carrots, tomato, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, oregano, two kinds of paprika, Aleppo peppers, and bay leaf. We're cutting back on onions and garlic these days to let our tummies rest, but you would do well to add some if you tolerate them! Easy peasy. Next time, I would add even more herbs and cumin, and dial back the cinnamon just a little. It added an interesting depth of flavor, but I think I went a tiny bit overboard. Other than that, so delicious!

Now, what is this crazy cauliflower "rice" side dish?

Well, it is so incredibly easy that you should make some today! It can be vegetarian, vegan, or not. It is low in carbs, if you are the sort of person who counts those. It's rich in fiber and anti-inflammatory micronutrients. It has just enough fat to promote good digestion. It is completely customizable, so it goes with almost everything. Yum!

INGREDIENTS

Half a head of cauliflower (or a whole head if your family is larger than mine)
A spoonful of ghee, oil, or schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)
Leftover roasted butternut squash or other veggies, optional but delicious
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs to garnish - today I used parsley

METHOD

First, heat up your pot. You want something with a lid that will comfortably hold all your cauliflower, with some space above it. I used a 5 qt enameled cast iron pot that I got at a Le Creuset factory outlet years ago.

Wash your cauliflower. I like to break it into large chunks, suberge in water in the salad spinner bowl, and lift out to the strainer part. Most veggies and herbs get their cleanest in the submerge-and-lift method. Some need three or four changes of water, and others need one or two. Cauliflower is usually pretty clean. Parsley can be pretty sandy. Get your herbs clean and dry too!

Next, cut cauliflower into pieces just small enough to fit in the feed tube of your food processor. Fit the grater blade in your food processor, and grate your cauliflower. It will look kinda sorta like Basmati rice, hence the name. If you don't have a grater blade, you can pulse with the S blade until it looks to be about the size of rice, or grate on a box grater, or just chop it with a knife. Don't let lack of technology stand in your way!

Heat your cooking fat in your pan. Swirl around to coat the bottom, then add all your cauliflower. Add a pinch of salt and stir it around to coat. Put the lid on, turn down the heat, and steam gently for a few minutes. You can add a splash of veg broth or chicken stock if you like, but the cauliflower has lots of moisture in it already so you don't really need it unless you want to add a certain flavor.

Take off the lid, add in your leftover squash or whatever veggies you like. Mash the squash a little to break it up, and stir it all up. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, garnished with chopped fresh herbs.

Variations are endless - yesterday I made some with coconut. (I didn't have coconut milk, so I used a spoonful of Coconut Manna and a splash of water.) Another day, I will grate in some beets and garnish with dill. How will you make yours? What's your favorite cauliflower dish? Please leave a comment to let me know!

Love,
Chef Mary

Warming winter spices! Recipes for pork belly and lamb shanks.

Happy Epiphany!

Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings Day, or Dia de Los Reyes, is the twelfth day of Christmas. It is the day that, according to the story, the three wise men arrived and brought gifts to the baby Jesus. People of Orthodox Christian faiths give gifts on this day.

In my family, it marks the end of the holiday season. It's time to take down decorations, clean the house, and gear up to get back to regular old winter.

Earnest and I have been cleaning and organizing a lot the last few days, and the place is really shaping up! We're rearranging storage and figuring out where we can make more space. We're also finding all sorts of lost things! (Amos, your yo-yo is in the bookcase.)

It is traditional to eat foods with warming spices on this day. Remember a few days ago, when I made a dry rub for a piece of pork belly? The dry rub was made with sea salt, fennel seed, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, a pinch of clove, and black pepper, all finely ground. I wrapped it up tightly and cured it in the fridge for three days. Yesterday, I rinsed off most of the rub and braised it in the oven with some beef stock. (Soon, I'll tell you how easy it is to make your own broths and stocks!)

I braised it, covered, at 250 for about 5 hours, until very tender. You can go up to 300 for 3 hours, or down to 200 for 7 hours. It's all good - just cook it slowly and gently. I let it cool, then refrigerated overnight. Tonight, I scraped away the fat that had risen to the surface. If your pork is local or organic, you can use it to cook veggies. Otherwise, you can discard the fat. Don't throw away the lovely seasoned braising liquid, though! Heat that up and drink it! It will probably be all gelatinized in the fridge, but will melt into a nourishing, collagen-rich brew when you heat it up.

Anyway, tonight, I sliced off just a couple of pieces and baked them until brown and crispy. It's rich, so you don't want to eat a lot at once. At the same time, I tossed a whole big head of broccoli with just a little olive oil and sea salt and roasted it on another sheet pan in the oven.


Here is the result, after I couldn't resist eating half the broccoli:

This made a delicious side with some salad, and spaghetti squash scrambled up with egg!

For tomorrow, I have another warmly spiced dish going in the slow cooker. I chopped a whole bunch of carrots into bite-sized chunks, added some cinnamon, cumin, oregano, Aleppo peppers, both plain and smoky paprika, a pinch of allspice, the last of this batch of beef stock, some chicken stock from the freezer, a jar of tomato paste, a little sea salt, a bay leaf, and a little water, and stirred them all together in the bowl of the slow cooker.  I tasted it to make sure I liked the balance of flavors, knowing that the spices would become more intense during cooking.

I added some lamb osso bucco (the lower part of the shank - often a veal cut, but I prefer to use pasture-raised lamb) and set it to cook on low overnight. For deepest flavor, brown the lamb on all sides before adding to the cooker, and if you tolerate onions, sautee some onions in the same pan after the lamb. Deglaze with water, stock, or wine (if you're not doing Whole30) and scrape all that good stuff into the crockpot. If you don't have time to brown the meat first, I won't tell anyone! It will still be great! But browning the meat does add a depth of flavor that you can't get any other way.

If you don't tolerate onions, skip them. If you do tolerate garlic, add some finely minced into the cooker. If not, skip it. If you don't tolerate tomato, skip it. If you don't tolerate peppers, skip the paprika and Aleppo and use a different spice you do tolerate. Ginger and turmeric would be nice here - perhaps a curry blend that you like. Be creative! It's totally okay to be inspired by someone's recipe and make it completely differently. Want to use goat instead of lamb? Go ahead! Prefer turkey? That would be delicious, too. Want to make a rich vegetable stew with just a whole lot of nourishing root vegetables and squashes? Yum!

In the morning, I will skim the fat. Then I'll serve the lamb and braising liquid and veggies topped with fresh minced parsley. I'll probably make some cauliflower "rice" to serve with it, and sautee up some bok choy.

Have a lovely night, and I'll see you all soon!

Love,
Chef Mary

Iodine

Today I want to talk about a super important trace mineral: iodine.

Iodine is critical for the health of your thyroid, and therefore the health of the whole body. The thyroid is a tiny gland in the throat that has the big job of coordinating your metabolism. Two key hormones it produces (T3 and T4 in the diagram below) contain iodine. If you become deficient, you run the risk of all sorts of disorders from hypothyroidism to hyperthyroidism to goiter.

Iodine is also considered important for detoxification, and clearing of radiation. Once, I had a client who was undergoing very aggressive radiation therapy. Iodine is a very powerful element for removing radiation from the body. Because her therapy required that she keep the radiation in her body as long as possible in order to battle cancer, she was not permitted to consume anything containing iodine. During her treatment, she could not have anything containing fish, seaweed, or iodized salt! (Since completing her treatment, she is again encouraged to get plenty of iodine.)

Many of us are most familiar with iodine from the yucky iodized salt in the supermarket. Here's the thing about the yucky salt: you don't have to eat if you get enough iodine in your diet. You can use better-tasting, non-iodized sea salt. In fact, you can get all the iodine you need from a healthy, balanced diet. You just have to know how to get it!

Iodine is abundantly available in all seafood, especially seaweed and kelp. So even if you avoid fish and shellfish, you can get plenty of iodine from sea vegetables. It also naturally occurs in soil, but we can't count on most produce as a significant dietary source because the amounts vary so widely from region to region.

Once upon a time, people living in the middle of the U.S. didn't have access to ocean fish. Lake fish is not a good source of iodine; it must come from salt water. On top of that, the soil in the Midwest is very low in iodine. In the 19th century and into the start of the 20th, many Midwesterners developed thyroid disorders. Then the U.S. government started adding iodine to table salt, and that problem was solved.

Unfortunately, now many people think that supplements (either pills or iodized salt) are the best or only ways to get iodine. But we didn't evolve to have to take supplements. How did people maintain healthy thyroid glands before supplementation? Easy: through seafood.

If you eat sea vegetables or salt water fish once or twice a week, you are likely getting enough iodine in your diet. It is abundant in fresh, frozen, dried, and canned products. So if all you can afford is dolphin-safe, low-mercury skipjack tuna in a can and packets of dried seaweed from Super 88, you can still meet your iodine needs that way. There will be recipes for grain-free "sushi" rolls and seaweed salads on this blog in the future.

If you find yourself craving seafood, one reason may be that your body is looking for an iodine boost. If you live in the Midwest and don't have easy access to ocean fish, or if you hate all seafood including seaweed and kelp, then you are a candidate for supplementation. Otherwise, just get it from food!

In my next post, I'm going to give you a wonderful, easy iodine-rich recipe for salmon with crispy skin, with a balsamic glaze. Yum!

Dry rub recipes, fresh sauerkraut, and delicious breakfasty banana souffles!

Welcome to Whole30, day 2!

What happens when you give a chef a slightly different set of restrictions within which to work, and let her get a good night's sleep first? You get crazy levels of creativity, that's what!

Today is a day I don't have all that much work to do, so I'm experimenting and planning ahead for busier days.

This morning we had banana souffles for breakfast. I did not invent this recipe; I based it on this recipe from Primally Inspired:

http://www.primallyinspired.com/gingerbread-breakfast-souffle-with-cinnamon-spiced-bananas/

I omitted the molasses, of course. They were fantastic without it! Really sweet, actually. I got 5 small souffles out of the recipe - 4 regular ceramic ramekins and then a glass Pyrex bowl for the overage. I sliced one very ripe banana very thinly and divided it among the five dishes, so we each got about half a banana and about two eggs each for breakfast. So light, so delicious! (I also finished off the lettuce that was sitting in the fridge and had a crazy drink - soaked chia seeds, a splash of beet kvass, and fresh water to dilute it, to wash down my digestive enzyme supplement, vitamin D, and quercetin with vitamin C.)

Here they are right before coming out of the oven:

 And here they are right before being devoured! They held their shape so nicely.

Lunch is in the oven now. Last night, I took some beef short ribs (from local pasture-raised beef) and rubbed them with a mixture of paprika, chili powder, cayenne, and sea salt. I wrapped them up and put them back in the fridge. This morning, after breakfast, I went out to get more veggies, including lots of carrots. I sliced the carrots the long way, and lay them in the bottom of a baking dish. They made kind of a rack, to keep the beef just above the juices. I covered the carrots with homemade beef stock, then lay the spice-rubbed beef ribs on top.

I covered that loveliness with a piece of parchment then covered the whole thing tightly with foil. I set it in a 295 degree oven and it's still there. My estimate is that it will take a total of 3 hours or a little longer - 2 1/2 covered, and the last 30 minutes uncovered. It's going to go until it is wonderfully tender, but not quite falling apart. If it takes longer, I am okay with that. Good food is worth waiting for! They'll be so tender and flavorful they won't need any kind of sauce, though I am considering maybe blending up the roasted carrots with the accumulated juices to make a sauce. Haven't decided for sure yet...

These ribs will be a great lunch for me and Earnest (and maybe dinner too!) with the roasted carrots and a big salad. I love salad! In fact, maybe I'll make a simple kale salad with some of the kale I picked up this morning. I think this one will only need olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt to balance the richness of the ribs.

You guys, don't forget to eat tons of veggies! A pound or more a day of veggies is a totally reasonable amount. Don't skimp! Remember, on a Whole30 or other low-sugar plan, you're eating less fruit, you're skipping the grains and potatoes, so you have to eat even more veggies than usual. It's not all about the meat!

Speaking of veggies, I also got some sauerkraut started. I shredded up a cabbage that was hanging out in the fridge, and tossed it with lots of sea salt, some mustard seed, caraway, a tiny bit of celery seed, and shredded carrot. I let that sit and juice out for a few minutes, then I packed it with the juice into jars. It's going to sit and ferment and get very happy for a couple weeks, and then I will eat it!

I'm prepping a lot of things ahead today. I also made an herb rub for a beef roast and tucked that in the fridge for another day, and a spice rub for pork belly. The beef is rubbed with parsley, rosemary, thyme, sea salt, and black pepper. The pork belly is rubbed with sea salt, fennel seed, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, a pinch of clove, and some pepper.

Why do I do dry rubs and marinades ahead of time? Well, the flavor takes time to penetrate the meat. Some meats (especially fish) pick up flavors very quickly. Fish should be seasoned and cooked right away, or after no more than a half hour. Other meats are denser and take longer. Generally, count on at least an hour per inch of meat; less if you've got an acidic liquid marinade or one with lots of ginger. Very fatty cuts like pork belly can hang out in their rubs for two or three days!

I hope I have inspired you all to enjoy some wonderful food today, and make steps toward a healthier lifestyle. Have a beautiful day, and I'll see you again soon!

Love,
Chef Mary

Kale Salad Recipe and Variations

Here's a great recipe for almost everyone - it's Whole30 compliant, raw if you don't toast the seeds, and vegan, as long as you don't add cheese to it. It's WAPF compatible. It can easily be nut free. It's gluten free and grain free. It's also paleo, primal, intuitive eating, and made using only real, traditional foods and ingredients. It's also high in fiber, low in net carbs, made with good healthy fat, filling, can be mostly or all local. It's versatile, customizable, nourishing, and goes with everything!

It's barely even a recipe, really, more of a method with infinite variations.

Yesterday, we made a very similar kale salad for a new year's eve party. For the party, we added very finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. It's great with or without, but if you are dairy-free or doing a Whole30, leave it off for now. If you use fresh fruit, add it in right before eating to keep it fresh. If you use dried fruit, use sparingly and make sure it is unsulphured and has no sugar, additives, or preservatives. Another day I'll teach you to make your own dried fruit!

Lacinato Kale!

Fresh and Wintry Kale Salad

Toasted pine nuts or local pumpkin seeds
A big bunch of kale - any variety works
A few bits of diced fresh or dried apple, or other fruit you like (use moderation)
A small piece of shallot, very thinly sliced
Apple cider vinegar (preferably raw and unpasteurized)
Extra virgin olive oil

Toast your pine nuts or pumpkin seeds in the oven or very carefully on the stove top. Pine nuts need no extra oil when toasting. Keep a very close eye on them - they burn easily and they're so expensive! I love butternut squash seeds. They're delicious, and they're a free bonus with your squash! Toss with olive oil, salt, and paprika, spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350 until toasty and brown. Let cool fully.

Wash and dry your kale. Take out the stems, and use them for juice. Make a chiffonade of the leaves: Roll a couple at a time into tight little cylinders, and cut across the roll into very skinny little ribbons. The thinner they are, the more tender they will be.

Chop your apples into little dice, slice your shallots ever so thinly, and if you are adding parm grate it now. Add them all to your kale in your very biggest bowl, and toss everything together thoroughly. Add a sprinkle of sea salt, a splash of vinegar, and a glug of oil. Toss again thoroughly, until very well coated. Season to taste.

Let it all marinate for at least a few minutes before enjoying, or keep it dressed in the fridge up to overnight. A dressed kale salad stands up to storage extremely well, unlike its lettuce and spinach based cousins. This makes it a fantastic choice for your lunch at work - make it in the morning or the night before, pack it up (preferably in a glass or other BPA-free container) and it's ready and waiting for your no-fuss, healthy lunch.

Variations: You can make kale salad hundreds of ways!

*Instead of the apples, use different fresh or dried fruits - try apricots or sun dried tomatoes. Or skip the fruit entirely - kale salad is fantastic even without. Remember that dried fruit benefits from absorbing the dressing over time. Fresh fruit may discolor (though the dressing does slow that down) so you might hold the fruit back and add it closer to serving time if you're using fresh fruit and not serving the salad right away.
*Grind cashews that have already been soaked and dehydrated. Mix with some nutritional yeast and a pinch of salt, and sprinkle that on top. Cheese-like umami flavor without dairy!
*Sprinkle in hemp seeds instead of the pine nuts for even more healthy protein, good fats, and variation in texture.
*Add leftover chopped chicken, fish, or beef for a big protein boost.
*Top with a poached or fried egg.
*Serve as a lighter entree on its own, or as a side with grass fed beef or lamb.
*Try using different vinegars like pear vinegar, champagne vinegar, balsamic (great with figs!) or use lemon juice.
*If you're eating it right away, massage the dressing in a little to tenderize the kale. Add even more satisfying texture by tossing in some romaine or other lettuce after you massage the kale.

The only limits here are your imagination and what you have on hand. So make sure you always have lots of healthy veggies in your fridge, healthy oils like olive and coconut, and high-quality vinegars in your pantry.

Enjoy!

Love,
Chef Mary

Happy New Year, and a Happy Healthy New Approach!

Happy New Year!

This year, our dietary path has shifted from where it was the last couple years. I thought it was only fitting to move over to a fresh, new blog to celebrate the new focus!

Today is not just the first day of a new year. It is also the day Earnest and I begin a new sort of challenge: We are doing a Whole30 together. What's that? Well, the rules are here: http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

For one month, you eat only vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and high quality, non-dairy animal proteins. It's a particularly strict version of the currently-fashionable paleo/primal diet. Personally, I'm not so much one for labels as for just making Good, Solid Choices.

The restrictions you choose to follow when doing a Whole30 are: No grains, legumes, dairy other than ghee, alcohol, white potatoes, certain additives, or sugar (even maple and honey.) That's not all that far from how I've been eating lately, but I have been using some honey, maple, cheese, and homemade yogurt from raw milk. I've been making good progress with this approach so far. We've been gluten free for quite some time, and in fact GF has been an area of focus in my work as a personal chef. (The other primary focus for me has been delicious, wonderful veggies! Even though I'm not vegan anymore, I will always love veggies! I'll talk about them a lot more in future posts.)

From my own diet, I have already eliminated most grains and all legumes, because my body was responding to them with a range of reactions including true allergy, digestive upset, and inflammation. I was occasionally eating rice and just tasting the other gluten-free grain foods I cook for others whose digestion handles them better. By eliminating even those tiny amounts of grains, I hope to reduce inflammation in my body further, and continue my path of healing my gut. Later, I'll talk more about how far I've already travelled in search of a happy belly! I'll also talk about the challenges I run into on the way, as a professional cook with dietary restrictions.

Earnest has relied a lot more on grains and legumes, and he loves his sweets. This challenge will be harder for him, and I'm going to do my best to support him and make his experience positive and easy. There's nothing like having your own personal chef to make positive choices easier!

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I love raw veggies and fruits. I was vegan for two years, and ovo-lacto vegetarian for over ten years, split between two different times in my life. While I was vegan, I followed a very high raw approach most of the time. This was great for me at first. For the first year, I experienced high energy and abundant health.

Later, and whenever I ate too many grains or legumes, I started to experience a lot of strange symptoms, mostly of inflammation, digestive upset, and radical weight fluctuations. I started to feel fatigued and brittle, and knew I needed to make some changes again.

On top of these experiences, sensitivities, and restrictions, I have true allergies. I'm allergic to peanuts, soy, and some other legumes - and we're talking throat-closing anaphylaxis here. I actually had to quit a job once because of all the peanut and soy products on the menu. I am also sensitive to wheat and other gluten-containing grains. I have one of the genes that can cause celiac disease, and I experience lots of symptoms when I consume gluten, but I haven't received a conclusive diagnosis of celiac disease. Interestingly, Earnest experiences many of the same symptoms with gluten that I do. In fact, we stopped using gluten at home because of his sensitivities, and I only realized I was also sensitive later.


My new goals are to continue healing my digestion, tame inflammation in my body, and have abundant, glowing energy again. I am already well on my path toward meeting these big goals, and lots of little ones along the way.

I also plan to continue eating tons of fresh veggies, mostly local even in the New England winter. I will share with you tips and tricks for choosing the best produce and getting good deals. Just as importantly, I will help you navigate the different meat choices out there. Are they all healthy or ethically raised? Not by a long shot. But are there sustainable, environmentally-friendly, affordable options out there? Absolutely. I can help connect you with your local farmers, find grass-fed beef and truly, honestly free range eggs, and choose seafood that is safe for your family and sustainable for the environment.

Local Chioggia Beets

The Littlest Carrot!

If you have just found me, maybe you also have a goal. Do you want to lose weight? Get stronger? Run faster? Flush away inflammation? Learn great recipes, tips and tricks for cooking and eating great food? Ways to incorporate lots more veggies into your (or your kids') diet? Gluten free substitutions and fantastic recipes? Leave me a comment and ask me anything! I've been cooking and baking for a very long time, and I love a good challenge!

I look forward to writing for you and cooking for you a lot more soon!

Much love,
Chef Mary