Looking for an Asian inspired dressing or dipping sauce? Then look no further, cause this one is spicy, sweet, creamy….and good enough to drink!
I use this as a dressing for hearty salads like romaine mixed with root vegetables (think carrots, beets, radishes). It’s also AMAZING as a dip for crudites, veggie wraps, or vegetarian satays.
I really do love making homemade dressings and I hope you’ll give this one a try. Continue reading
A while ago I saw an episode of a TV show called “The Doctors.” The whole show was about 50 Dos and Don’ts for your health – with many alternative, do it yourself, methods for self care.
The show seems like it’s trying to cater to a mainstream, pop culture audience, so I was really excited when they started talking about cures, remedies, and prevention protocols using food! In particular, they cited recent studies which showed that parsley and celery can help in the prevention of ovarian cancer.
Since these are two of my favorite juicing ingredients, this episode inspired me to make a vitamin-packed, ovary friendly, cancer-fighting drink. I rounded out this antioxidant powerhouse by adding other goodies known to help prevent ovarian cancer: blueberries, spinach, collard, and beet.
I talked about the benefits of dark, leafy greens here and beets here. So, now a bit about blueberries. Continue reading
So this is another very traditional Turkish dish. I love it because it is so simple to make, yet still so delicious. It’s a perfect spring or summer dish, pairing cool crunchy cucumbers with sweet and succulent tomatoes. It’s so light; so refreshing; and so tasty. The folklore/history behind this dish is that shepherds, while out all day tending their flocks, would pick a bit of this and a bit of that..basically, whatever veggies were available out in the fields, and that’s what they would eat while working. And well that’s where the name comes from..as shepherd is “Çoban” and Salatası is, you guessed it, salad. There really is no set ingredient amount for this, so I’ll just tell you how I made it last night.
Çoban Salatası (aka Shepherd’s Salad) – Serves 4
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This juice features carrots, beets, celery and spinach. Previously, I’ve talked about the benefits of spinach (see smoothie recipe), so only I’ll talk a bit now about the other ingredients in this juice.
Celery is a natural diuretic and a great source of natural sodium. Some even claim that celery is an appetite suppressant, as this low calorie vegetable is often included as a “free for all” food in various diet programs.
Carrots, as I’m sure you’ve heard, are known for their abundance of beta-carotene, a vitamin well-known for it’s ability to protect our eyesight. Beta-carotene is also an anti-oxidant, thought to be helpful in ridding the body of cancer-causing free radicals.
Beets contain folic acid, essential during pregnancy to help prevent fetal birth defects. In addition, some preliminary studies have shown that the amino acid betaine, present in beet root, can help prevent certain types of cancer, e.g., colon cancer. There is also anecdotal evidence that beets, combined with carrots, are helpful in the treatment of gout, as well as liver and kidney disorders. Regular intake of beets is also said to aid in the lowering of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. One study even found that blood pressure was reduced only one hour after consuming beet juice, while another found that consuming beetroot juice increases stamina while exercising.
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As for this tasty beverage, I normally don’t like putting dairy in my smoothies (I’m not vegan, but I just don’t prefer it). But seeing as I’ve been chewing-challenged, I’ve made an exception. Though, the real reason why I opted for yogurt (i.e., dairy) in this smoothie is because yogurt contains the probiotic acidophilus (among others)…Check out the side of a yogurt container. They should all say something like “contains live and active cultures” followed by which strains of good bacteria are present. These live and active cultures are super beneficial in maintaining digestive and intestinal health. So although I take my probiotics in pill form, for good measure I like to ingest mass quantities of yogurt during this time as well.
Although I may be using the term “lassi” somewhat loosely, I take full advantage of creative license here. I love mango lassis ( a tasty Indian beverage), thus mangos made it into this drink. The pineapple made it for another reason. Although there’s only a small amount in this, I love pineapple because it contains the enzyme bromelain. Bromelain is great for indigestion (it’s also the active agent in most meat tenderizing seasonings) and it also is an anti-inflammatory. Since my face and mouth have been a bit swollen, I figured a little food-grade anti-inflammatory medicine wouldn’t hurt any.
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