Recently on a trip to California, my partner Joshua and I had a grape gazpacho at the de Young museum restaurant. It was so incredible, I decided to take a stab at my own version. This soup is my new hot summer night go-to. It works well because the grape isn’t overpowering and is balanced by the nuts and cucumber. But the preserved lemon is my favorite ingredient — it’s unusual and bright.
Snacks that are fun to eat, yummy, portable, and healthy are somewhat hard to find. If you want the snack to appeal to both kids and adults, the list grows even shorter. Roasted chickpeas however, fit those requirements perfectly. Chickpeas are a nutritious whole food with good amounts of protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and when tossed with avocado oil as you do in this recipe, monounsaturated fat.
It is increasingly clear that human health is directly tied to the health of our gut and the microbial community that resides there. Historically, we consumed a wide variety of foods with microbial activity, but in modern times, we’ve increasingly sterilized our foods and our gut health has suffered. Our lifestyles are also detrimental to gut health, with overuse of antibiotics in both humans and animals, over-sanitized homes and offices, and epidemic stress-levels.
Warning. This thai peanut sauce is addictive. It’s also gluten-free and vegan. I love it as a dipping sauce served with spring rolls, sweet potato fries, or fresh or cooked vegetables (it’s fantastic on top of roasted cauliflower, broccoli, or as a stir-fry sauce).
These spring rolls were inspired by my recent trip to California, where my partner and I discovered a vegetable spring roll made with a collard green wrapper. We both thought the collard green leaf worked infinitely better than lettuce and is considerably more nutritious than a rice paper wrap.
In addition to being possibly the most tasty and nutritious food on the planet, there are dozens of ways to use avocados. They’re a great source for monounsaturated fats and have the most luxurious mouthfeel. I think it’s the one-two punch of flavor and nutrition that has people going crazy for avocados. My most sincere apologies for adding to the cultural avocado obsession, but it really is well deserved.
Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite comfort foods and because of their high vitamin, mineral, and fiber content they also happen to be a very nutritious alternative to standard potatoes and grains. Although I don’t eat sweet potatoes everyday, I do eat some form of this root vegetable several times a week, making it one of my primary sources of starch. The fry variation is great way to introduce sweet potatoes to skeptical family members or friends.
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If you haven’t tried chia seed pudding, it’s time. These tiny seeds which were prized by Aztec warriors for the energy, strength, and stamina they provided, are packed with omega-3 fats, fiber, protein, and many essential vitamins, trace minerals, and antioxidants.
We don’t own a grill and until I figured out this broiling technique, I was at a loss for how to cook fish. Baking always produced dry fish and I always destroyed the fillet when I tried pan-frying. It was frustrating. Enter the easiest way to cook fish — under the broiler!
I’ve been making this delicious pesto for over a decade. Usually, I make it in bulk and store it in meal-sized portions in the freezer for an easy way to add some amazing flavor to a meal. When you prepare and consume fairly simple foods, sometimes a sauce, or pesto, or special spice combination is a really lovely change-up. This pesto is fantastic because it’s crazy versatile. I’ve used it on rice, quinoa, sautéed greens, roasted veggies, and on top of fish. It really can go with just about anything. My partner eats it by the spoonful.
