I was presented with the idea of doing a cleanse/raw food challenge as an opportunity to give my digestive system a break from starchy carbohydrates, heavy meat, cooked food, and as an opportunity to change things up and maybe kickstart some weight loss. I bravely decided to do 10 days of raw food. This is not a vegan raw diet. I am including raw dairy, raw fish, and raw egg yolks. Read about the benefits of eating raw eggs here. I emphasize that they MUST be pastured eggs, local and fresh.

Currently I am at the half way point. So far, so good. I have been face to face with lots of food cravings. I have found myself staring at cookies or at the deli counter in the grocery stores. I have not been hungry and I have eaten some really good and interesting things.

In doing some research on some raw breakfast ideas, I came across a few recipes for Chia seed “pudding”. Chia seeds are an excellent source of amino acids as well as having the interesting quality of turning gelatinous when soaked. Taking what I liked from those recipes, I came up with this delicious pudding that really could be eaten anytime of day.

Chia Seed Pudding

1 cup raw milk ( this could be any kind of nut or seed milk, coconut milk, raw cow’s milk, goat… I used goat’s milk kefir as I wanted the probiotic benefits of the kefir)

1/3 c chia seeds

1/4 c chopped dried figs ( next time, I will leave this out and just mix with fresh fruit)

1 tsp. raw local honey ( or more, depending on your sweet tooth)

the seeds and scrapings from half a vanilla bean ( or if you don’t care about it all being raw, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract)

1 T. flax oil

MIx all the above ingredients in a jar with a good fitting lid. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Shake it a few times, if you have time . In the morning, it will be nice and thick and the seeds will have swollen and softened. Eat as is, or mix with a raw egg yolk or two, and serve on top of a cup or so of fresh fruit of your choice.

( This would be good with some cinnamon or ground ginger added. You could add a few spoonsful of raw cacao or carob powder, too.)

This post is part of GNOWFGLINS  Tuesday Twister. Please head over there and read the other fabulous posts.

]]> http://forlifepersonalchef.com/2010/07/25/raw-food-challenge/feed/ 0 http://forlifepersonalchef.com/2010/07/13/gluten-free-blackberry-scones/ http://forlifepersonalchef.com/2010/07/13/gluten-free-blackberry-scones/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:39:05 +0000 Charity http://forlifepersonalchef.com/?p=667 Summer fruit abundance!

Many of my personal chef clients have special dietary needs such as gluten intolerance. As I do also, this works well for me. I have done a lot of experimentation over the years, searching for satisfying healthy ingredients. I did baking this winter and spring for a local cafe and made scones every week. Then I often used frozen blackberries. Now, we are in the height of summer fruit season and the farmers’ markets are overflowing with beautiful berries, as well as the stone fruits such as cherries and peaches, both of which would be yummy in this scone recipe. All berries, especially the dark ones, are high in antioxidants and so good for you and so satisfying.

In my own personal dietary path, I generally avoid flours of all kinds, not just the ones containing gluten. I have a hard time digesting refined carbohydrates if I eat too much. There also seems to be an almost addictive element there for me.  But, a baked good now and then is something to look forward to and savor.

Gluten Free Blackberry Scones

1 1/2 c. Almond meal ( I use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 c. Gluten Free baking mix ( again, I use Bob’s Red Mill)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/6 cup melted coconut oil ( 3 T)

1/6 cup melted butter ( 3 T )

3 – 4 T. raw local honey, depending on your sweet tooth and the sweetness of the berries

2 pastured eggs

1 c. fresh local organic blackberries ( of course ALL of your ingredients should be organic)

Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the blackberries and stir. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing gently. The dough will be sticky. Spoon it into mounds on the baking sheet. This recipe makes 6 large scones. Sometimes, I make 12 smaller ones. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes. I usually turn the baking sheet halfway through the baking to help ensure evenness.

You could substitute many other kinds of fruit. Strawberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches, or a combination. Just make sure the pieces are a nice small size.

So, make yourself and your loved ones a batch of scones. Take a break and sit a moment and enjoy the summer with a scone and an iced tea/coffee/coffee substitute. Life is sweet.

This post is part of the GNOWFGLINS  Tuesday Twister and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. Check out the other interesting reads, please.

I just came home from a fabulous trip to Alaska.  I am full of negative ions from the waterfalls, full of beauty from the sights and sounds of the whales, eagles, and ravens, cleansed by the rain, filled with the magic of the rainforest and the light of the almost endless days of this season, and most particularly for today’s post, filled with delicious, fresh off the boat salmon. Our cook took a boat out to the fishing boat, negotiated with the fishermen, brought home some fish, and a few hours later we ate it. It absolutely doesn’t compare to anything that we can get from any grocery store. Salmon live here, in the Monterey Bay off the coast of Santa Cruz, but the season is very short and it is very expensive. Fresh salmon season runs from early summer to early fall.  I usually buy my salmon frozen from Trader Joe’s, which is wild from Alaska and frozen right on the boat so a good choice.  There is a lot of farmed salmon available. Please, please, do not ever buy farmed salmon. The fish are fed so poorly, and they use pesticides and herbicides to keep the water “clean”. That runoff goes into our watersheds. The fish sometimes escape ( and who would blame them!) and weaken the natural fish population. Let’s support the fishermen who use wise sustainable practices and we will have salmon to enjoy and eat for many years to come. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has an excellent website with much information about sustainability and which fish we have the green light to eat.

Besides being delicious, salmon is so good for us! Low in calories, high in protein, it also contains a proper ratio of Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids, which our bodies need for heart health, for inflammation control, etc. I think, too, there is something so powerful in the energy of the salmon. It is sacred to the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest and Ireland. We can learn from the salmon’s journey, that difficult struggle to spawn, to get back upstream, to get home.

There are many many delicious ways to prepare salmon. It can be eaten raw ( when you are absolutely sure it is fresh) as sushi, sashimi, tartare. It is good cold in a salad, mixed with mayonaise or not. I like it for breakfast mixed with eggs and scrambled. Smoked Salmon is widely available and also good in many ways. Fresh salmon can be grilled outside, broiled, baked. It combines nicely with so many vegetables and pairs nicely with a glass of Pinot Noir.

Here is a recipe to try from Eating Well Magazine.

Lemony Lentil Salad with Salmon

makes 6 one-cup servings

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3c. chopped fresh dill

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 cup diced seedless cucumber

1/2c. finely chopped red onion

3 cups of cooked brown or green lentils

1 1/2 c. flaked cooked salmon

Whisk lemon juice, dill, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently.

I serve this on a bed of greens, either raw spinach or lightly cooked kale.

This post is part of GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister and Real Food Wednesdays. Please head over there and read the other interesting posts.

The USDA recently revised their dietary guidelines once again. And, once again, they are so far off the mark of what constitutes a healthy diet. I have been researching nutrition for a long time and in the last few years discovered the work of Dr. Weston Price. He advocated eating a traditional diet of meat, fats such as butter, lard, coconut oil, raw dairy products, lots of vegetables and fruit, and staying away from grains and any processed foods. I know some of you have issues and your own ideas about the fats but once you read the research and once you start eating that way, you will change your mind.

In a brief summary, the new guidelines advise the reduction of saturated fat even further, the further reduction of salt, advocates increasing the consumption of grains and low fat products and dairy.

As you can imagine there has been much discussion of this in the blogosphere and twitterverse ( this post I especially like).  My comments are that history shows us that obesity rates rose significantly after the introduction of the world of lowfat foods. And that the USDA has many ties to the food industry so the individuals involved in making these decisions benefit greatly financially from encouraging people to eat processed food!

I encourage you to read the new guidelines here and the comments from the Weston Price Foundation here . I also encourage you to leave your comments. We need to be educated and not let the government continue to wreak havoc with our health and with the livelihoods of the small farmers . We all stand to lose from these new guidelines, and I don’t mean weight!

This post is part of the Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.    

Fresh Arugula Pesto

In my For Life! personal chef business, I really focus on making my clients’ meals from seasonal and local produce and products. Well, you cannot get much more local than one’s own backyard! I don’t have a great place for a garden bed. Where there is room, there isn’t full sun. So, I have a couple small garden boxes. Sadly, only one of them is productive at the moment, but, as always, in the garden, there are plans and time for planting the other one. Today I noticed that my arugula is starting to bolt ( flower) and is getting eaten by some critter, so it needed to be picked and eaten. Not a difficult or painful task. I do eat a salad every day but I wanted to do something a bit more interesting with today’s harvest. Aha! Arugula pesto. The word “pesto” comes from the Latin, meaning to crush. It is Italian in origin though they have a version, called “pistou” in France. It is usually made from basil, but essentially any green herb will do. I have made pesto from basil, arugula,parsley, or cilantro. It is combined with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese. You can substitute any nuts. When I used the cilantro, I used macadamia nuts and it became ” Hawaiian Pesto”. Walnuts are excellent to use in this way, especially if you are a vegetarian and want to ramp up your Omega 3 fatty acids. Originally, pesto was crushed with a mortar and pestle. Thankfully now we have food processors. If I had an Italian nonna ( gramma) by now she would be rolling over in her grave as she sees me moving away from the traditional basil/pine nut blend. I will shock her further by telling you that is is perfectly ok to leave out the cheese and make it dairy free. Mamma mia!

Arugula Pesto

2 cups fresh arugula, washed and dried

1 garlic clove, smashed and roughly chopped

1/4 c. toasted pine nuts ( you can toast them in a dry skillet over medium high heat. Watch carefully, and toss them around a few times. It doesn’t take long)

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil ( use the best organic oil that you can find)

1/4 c. grated Parmegiano Reggiano cheese ( grate your own. it tastes ever so much fresher)

Place all of the ingredients except the cheese in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped and blended. Put in a bowl and mix in the cheese.

Pesto is so versatile. Have it on a salad. It is a great topping for meat ( steak as I did, or chicken, fish). Toss it with some pasta. Use it in an omelet or as a pizza topping. I so appreciate recipes with multiple applications. If that Italian nonna has gotten over her shock, I am sure she would tell us to “Mangia bene!” Eat well, and enjoy the freshness of good healthy local organic food. And don’t worry about garlic breath.

This post is part of GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister and Real Food Wednesdays. Make sure you check out the other participants.

Burritos, eggrolls, crepes, summer rolls, sandwiches in a flour tortilla… food in its own edible package. These are all so yummy and so not on my list of foods to eat. There be gluten, Captain! ( my favorite Star Trek movie was the one about the whales. This is my homage to the scene where Mr. Scott, always my favorite, managed to beam these beautiful whales aboard the ship. Sorry, I digress ) Why not wrap it all up in a vegetable package. Collard greens fit that bill nicely, due to their size and “toughness” and as a side benefit they are packed with good nutrition and mostly can be found fresh year round.

The only limit to the possibilities here is  your imagination and what you have available. Use seasonal vegetables. Add beans. Get creative with the herbs and spices. Don’t like chicken ? I was wishing I had some shrimp. It certainly can be vegetarian or vegan with the addition of tofu or cheese.

Early Summer salad Collard Wraps

one serving ( I could have eaten another one), just multiply by how many people you want to serve

2 large collard greens leaves, trimmed and steamed ( cut out the tough part of the stem, you want to be able to fold it), cooled ( i used a pinch of salt in the steaming water)

for the salad:

Total of 1 – 1 1/2 cups of the following ingredients – thinly sliced fennel, mung bean sprouts, sunflower sprouts, daikon radish, grated carrots, scallions, basil, mint. ( go wild! celery would be good, summer squash, peas, red radishes, bell pepper. just keep the pieces small)

4 oz. chopped cooked chicken ( oh please make sure you used pasture raised, free range chickens. They may be hard to find but oh so worth it!)

for the dressing:

2 T. tahini

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. raw honey

1 T fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

for the dipping sauce:

1/4 c. whole milk yoghurt

curry powder to taste ( again, use your imagination. chili powder ? cilantro? rosemary or thyme? garlic ?

To assemble:

Lay out the steamed collard green on a clean surface. Smear a Tablespoon or so of the tahini mixture across a portion of the green. You will need a bit at the top of the leaf to help seal the final fold. Top that with a handful of the salad mix. Top with 2 oz of the chicken. Fold in the sides of the leave and roll from the bottom. I only got one fold . It works a bit better if the leaf is still damp from the steaming. Make it tight and neat to keep the filling in.

Dip into the sauce and eat. Easy! Delicious and good for you!

This post is part of the Tuesday Twister on GNOWFLINS .

My kitchen has been a laboratory lately. I feel a bit like a mad ( but healthy) scientist. I have discovered the fun of lacto- fermentation. Cultures( pun intended!) all around the world have known the benefits of eating fermented food. Eastern Europeans eat sauerkraut and other pickled vegetables, Europeans and Americans eat yoghurt ( though some of the yoghurt available hardly counts as healthy fermented food), the Mexican people have a lovely dish called cortida, the Japanese drink miso soup, eat natto ( fermented soy), pickled vegetables, and the Koreans are famous for their Kim Chi.  Many people drink fermented beverages in the form of beer, wine, or mead. Back in the day, before electricity fermenting was a way of being able to store food. It just so happens to also be highly beneficial for our digestive systems, adding all kind of good bacteria, probiotics.

People who follow a traditional foods diet recommend some fermented food every day. Vegetables lend themselves to fermenting or pickling beautifully. We all know about sauerkraut and pickles ( cucumbers). Perhaps you have had pickled beets. How about trying fermented carrots ?

I wrote an entry a while ago featuring strawberries and this recipe for a drink called shrub.  How about some lacto fermented ginger ale ?

Ginger Soda

2 c. coconut water

1/4c. whey ( find out how to make your own here ) or water kefir grains

pinch of salt

1 T. cane sugar

handful of peeled roughly chopped fresh ginger ( depending on how much you like ginger)

Mix all of these ingredients in a clean quart jar. Put the lid on and let sit on your counter in a cool dark place for 2 days. Strain liquid into another clean jar and add the juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon, depending on your preference. If you are using water kefir grains, rinse and reuse. Enjoy. Keep refrigerated to stop the fermenting process.

I have an almost eaten jar of beets,onions, and turnips in the fridge, along with a jar of newly fermented beet kvass. The ginger soda is on the counter, starting its fermentation, and some beautiful red and orange carrots are waiting for my attention. Fermenting is fun. It is good for you. Try it! and please let me know how it turns out.

Oh, I was tired this morning. Too much tossing and turning last night, worrying about friends, thinking about work, and dealing with some achey muscles made me a cranky woman. Fortunately, after taking care of some bill paying and laundry, I had time to venture out to my favorite State Park and let the wind blow the brain fog and the stress away. Wilder Ranch State Park is a few miles north of Santa Cruz, California. It is divided by the highway. One side goes up into the hills, the other down to the ocean. Today, my destination was the cliffs above the ocean, through beautiful wild flowers, bunnies scampering everywhere to get away from the people ( and the mountain lions and hawks, neither of which I saw today). There were runners ( young men with no shirts), birdwatchers, several groups of school children, people on bicycles. It was a glorious morning. I came home ready to tackle the list of projects to do on my day off from personal cheffing. It wasn’t a day entirely away from food however. In doing some research on the park, I learned that 12% of California’s brussels sprouts are grown here, in the park. If you come in the fall, after the harvest, there is definitely a pungency to the air. Come with me and let your stress fade away. Listen to the birds sing, the children laugh, and the waves crash. Feel the sun and the breeze. Take a deep breath.

I have been out of town the last few weekends. As a result, I have not gone to the Farmer’s Market in a while. I love my Saturday morning visits there.

Today I went a bit wild. I hope I won’t actually waste anything. I came home with eggs. I have plenty of plans for those, including a frittata for dinner tonight filled with herbs, green beans ( also from the market), onions, potatoes, a leftover roasted red pepper from a personal chef cook date. I will be making some flax bread tomorrow.  I also got a pint of strawberries, some of which I have already consumed and the rest will probably be gone tomorrow. No cooking necessary!

I got carrots and celery, which will be mainly munched as themselves, with some going in some soup in a few days, along with some some celery roots I purchased today.  The carrots may also appear in some salads, as I also got some lovely heirloom Little Gem lettuce and a bag of assorted sprouts. I have been eating a lot of raw beets lately and am looking forward to more, as well as cooking some along with their beautiful greens. I always ask the beet people for extra beet greens that they collect from people who ask for them to be cut off right there in the booth. Oh foolish people, not to try them. I love them steam fried, with a bit of olive oil and water, salt and pepper. mmmm! and so good for you.

I couldn’t resist the baby turnips. Inspired by my recent re reading of Nourishing Traditions, I will be pickling those.  A couple of English cucumbers rounded out my purchases of the day.

Here are a couple of recipes using green beans. I realize they come earlier in the season here in California, but the rest of you, take heart! We have passed the midpoint of Spring and the Summer Solstice is actually only 6 weeks away and green bean season will be upon the whole country.

from Cooking Light magazine, October 2005

Green Beans tossed with Walnut Miso sauce

4 c. green beans, trimmed

2 T. grated peeled fresh ginger

3 T. coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

2 T water

1 1/2 T. yellow miso

1/2 tsp. soy sauce

Place beans in a large saucepan of boiling water; cook 5 minutes. Drain and plunge beans into ice water; drain.  Place ginger on several layers of damp cheesecloth. Gather edges of cheesecloth; squeeze cheesecloth bag over small bowl. Set 1/2 tsp ginger juice aside; reserve remaining juice for another purpose. Discard ginger ( My experience the first time I made this was that I got NO juice. I just used the grated ginger as is.) Combine ginger juice, walnuts, water , miso, and soy sauce in a food processor and process until the nuts are minced. ( hard to do unless you have a mini processor) Combine walnut mixture and beans in a large bowl. This can be served warm or room temperature.

from a wonderful Personal Chef colleague from Georgia, Jan Harding.

Green Beans Gremolata

1 1/2 lbs green beans, washed and trimmed

1 1/2 c. Italian parsley – packed, then chopped ( it ends up being about 3/4c) ( you can use curly parsley)

1 1/2 T. olive oil ( I usually use a bit more)

1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 1/2 T lemon juice

3/4 tsp. minced garlic

3/4 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Add beans to large pot of boiling water. Cook 7 – 10 minutes until just tender. Drain well. Combine remaining ingredients in serving bowl until blended. Add hot beans to bowl and toss to mix and coat. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Strawberry season is upon us here in Santa Cruz

I wait all winter for the first strawberries. Now, Spring is here and the season is in full swing. I am happily eating strawberries almost every day. I lived in Oregon for many many years. They grow wonderful berries there and I was quite the snob about California strawberries. They always arrived in the stores before the local berries, and usually being desperate for some new kind of fruit, I would purchase some. And, every year, every time, I would poo poo them, saying that Oregon strawberries were FAR superior to California berries. ( of course, for many years, Oregon had the reputation of poo pooing anything Californian!!)  And now that I happily live in California, while not putting down Oregon berries, I do know that what makes each region’s berries “the best” is eating them when they are fresh, in season, and have not travelled in a truck to get to my kitchen!  And, of course, that they have not been sprayed with pesticides. Strawberries are high on the list of foods that are SO important to eat organic. Not only does that improve our own health, and the health of the planet, please always remember the health and well being of the workers who picked those berries ( and so much of our food).

My favorite way to eat strawberries, I must admit, is straight from the basket. Nothing added. Sometimes, the basket is empty by the time I get home from the farmers’ market or the store!

Sometimes, less is more. And sometimes, it is nice to add something special. Have you ever had balsamic syrup ?? oh my. It is a lovely little bit of elegance that is so easy to do.

In researching ideas for this blog, I found this recipe, which called out to me. Not that I go on that many picnics, but wouldn’t a glass of strawberry wine be lovely on a warm day, shared with a friend ?

And I recently made this beverage found in Eat Fat, Lose Fat .( by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon)  Shrub is an “old-timey” beverage from before the days of soda pop. Now, that is an invention that changed the course of peoples’ nutrition for sure.  You can make it with any fresh seasonal fruit.

Strawberry Shrub

2 cups crushed strawberries

1 cup coconut vinegar ( you can experiment with other vinegars such as apple cider which is what was originally used, or champagne vinegar would be good)

5 cups purified water

Mix all the ingredients in a large jar and cover tightly. Let sit on the counter for 2 days. Strain. Serve with pinch of salt, and dilute with sparkling water. You will not really taste the vinegar per se. It is tart and refreshing, and because it is fermented is so good for your digestion. Enjoy!

There are so many fabulous ways to enjoy strawberries. What are some of your favorites ?