Black Radish Chips!

by Eden MacDonald, June 11, 2011 | Permalink

Black Radish Chips

Ingredients:
2 large black radishes
Fig infused vinegar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 210°C 

Wash and scrub the radishes.  Slice the radishes thinly (I use a mandoline) - very thin slices will be more chip-like – and put the slices on a baking sheet on parchment paper. Bake for 25 min and check to see if they are crispy.

Drizzle a little vinegar.  Serve warm, as an appetizer or a side.

Garlic Scape Pesto!

by Eden MacDonald, June 11, 2011 | Permalink

Garlic Scapes – Garlic is a member of the allium family – leeks, chives, onions.  Members of the allium family grow underground, where the bulb begins its journey, soft and similar to an onion. As the bulb gets harder a  long thin shoot (scallion) pokes its way through the earth.  This is the garlic scape! 

Try this delicious pesto with only 3 ingredients!  I like to spread this on crackers or use it as a dip for veggies.  It’s got a strong garlic taste so make sure everyone at your party has some!

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes, top flowery part removed
1/3 cup walnuts
1/4 cup water
2 T lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend until cumbly.  Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Make your own salad bar and no oil dressings!

by Eden MacDonald, May 21, 2011 | Permalink

Spring Salads and No Oil Dressing!

Create your own salad bar at home. Here are some suggestions that you might like to keep on hand to create the most delicious, interesting and nutrient dense meals.

Exciting New Whole Foods iPhone App!

by Eden MacDonald, August 22, 2010 | Permalink

I recently loaded the new Whole Foods Missions app onto my iPhone.  It’s got tons of great ideas and tips around nutrition – everything from how to store greens properly to simple cooking and wellness tips.  Best of all you get all this info for free!  Check it out!

Whole Foods Market Missions on the iPhone

Missions to better health, in your pocket

Are you ready for the challenge? Expand your palate by exploring a range of delicious, nutrient-dense foods. Learn more about healthy eating and start a conversation with your social networks about your mission to better health.

• Complete steps of varying difficulty and earn badges through fun and educational Missions.
• Get simple, practical advice on cooking, nutrition, green living, food storage and more. Save your favorites for easy reference.
• Keep track of your accomplishments and brag about them via email, Facebook, and Twitter.
• Use ZIP search or your current location to find the nearest Whole Foods Market store.

Works on any iPhone, or iPod Touch or iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.1.3 or later.

Download the Whole Foods Market Missions App FREE from the iTunes app store

Whole Foods Market Recipes for the iPhone

Whole Foods Market Recipes

Cooking with natural and organic foods? Search Whole Foods Market Recipes for delicious recipes that include everything from dinner entrees to breakfast and beverages.

• Filter by categories such as Budget, Cooking with Kids, and Quick & Easy
• Target special diets, including gluten-free, lowfat, and vegetarian/vegan
• Find recipes that use ingredients you already have with our On-Hand Search.
• Build shopping lists from recipes with one tap, or add your own items.
• Use ZIP search or your current location to find the nearest Whole Foods Market store.

Works on any iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

Download the Whole Foods Market Recipes App FREE from the iTunes app store

RAW Food Classes this Summer!

by Eden MacDonald, August 22, 2010 | Permalink

Over the summer we’ve been having some awesome raw classes put on by Organic Lives and Raw Foundation.  Summer is a great time of year to be eating more raw foods as we are so blessed here in Vancouver with a large variety of local produce.  Below I have some of my favourite recipes Janice from Raw Foundation made at her Taste of Italy Class

Upcoming Raw Workshops:

Tuesday August 31^st – Organic Lives: Raw Tapas!  6-8pm www.organiclives.org
Wednesday September 8^th – Raw Foundation: Healthy Snacks! 6pm-8pm

RAW FOUNDATION RECIPES
www.rawfoodfoundation.org

Lemon Pepper Ricotta:
1C pine nuts, soaked

1/2t black pepper

1 T lemon juice

1/2t salt (to taste- start with ¼ and add)

2T water

 Place pine nuts, lemon juice, pepper, and salt in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add water and process watching for light fluffy ricotta texture.

 Hot Garden Herb Tomato (paste):

1/4t cayenne pepper

1C sundried tomatoes, soaked for two hours or more

1 small roma tomato

2T red  onion, chopped

1t lemon juice

2T olive oil

1T agave

½t->1t  salt

½t died Thai Chili

1C basil

1T dried garlic (optional)

1T chili powder

 Remove as much liquid from the soaked tomatoes as possible and place with the remaining ingredients in the food processor and combine until  smooth.

 Basil-Pistachio Pesto:

2C  packed basil leaves

½C pistachios

¼C plus two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1t sea salt

1/2t ground black pepper

1t agave

1t lemon juice

1 clove garlic

 Combine in a food processor until still slightly chunky.

 Pasta Noodles

4 medium zucchini,ends trimmed

( 1 peeled for spaghetti, 1 unpeeled for fettucine, 2 for lasagna

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons basil

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

Pinch of sea salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

1 tomato thinly sliced for garnish

 Make noodles with either the spirooli or vegetable peeler, depending on the type of pasta you’d like; use the spriooli for fettucine or spaghetti and the peeler for lasagna.

Combine the noodles in a bowl and toss with all ingredients, except 4 tomatoes slices for garnish.

 In a separate bowl place some noodles and any of the above toppings as your sauce: pesto pasta, ricotta cheese pasta, spaghetti with tomato sauce.

 Unleash your inner chef and create a combination from your ingredients, I love to make lasagna; place noodles on your plate in a rectangular configuration, spread about tomato sauce over the noodles and top with small kisses of  lemon pepper ricotta and pesto; add a layer of tomato slices and repeat the process a few times- raw food architecture at its finest! Garnish with basil leaf, chili powder and optional red pepper flakes. Enjoy!

Local Raspberries!

by Eden MacDonald, July 4, 2010 | Permalink

When I came into Whole Foods this morning and found the fresh local raspberries from Langley it felt a little bit like summer…even though it was a bit dark and gloomy outside.  One of my favourite summer childhood memories is picking raspberries and blueberries in my family’s backyard, and then sitting down to a large bowl of fresh berries and granola for breakfast. Yum!

Raspberries rank in the top 10 for highest ANDI scoring fruits.  That means that each of the 60 calories in a cup are packed full of micronutrients!  Raspberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and K, and manganese and in one cup you’ll get more than 30% of your recommended daily intake of dietary fiber! 

Raspberries are a member of the rose family and like roses they come in a variety of colours: red, black, purple, orange, yellow and white.  Raspberries are a delicate berry and tend to go moldy and soft when they aren’t eaten within a few days of being picked.  The best way to store them is lightly packed in a sealed container in the fridge; they should last up to 3 days stored this way.  They also freeze quite well although almost 50% of their Vitamin C content is lost when frozen.

I love the tartness and texture of raspberry fruit leather.  If you have a dehydrator it’s a really simple recipe to make at home.  Just put 4 cups of raspberries in the blender with a couple of orange segments and a touch of vanilla extract or the seeds of one vanilla bean.  Puree and then spread evenly (1cm thick) onto parchment paper-make sure the edges are slightly thicker than the middle so they dry evenly.  Leave in the dehydrator for 10 hours at 46 C.  They might need a couple more hours at that point but best to make sure the edges haven’t gotten too crunchy.  The fruit leather should be pliable and easily rolled up.

Some of my other favourite ways to enjoy raspberries…

• Salad – spinach, toasted spiced pecans, red onions, and raspberries with a balsamic reduction dressing
• Smoothie – raspberries, blueberries, ginger and water – this can be quite tart so if you need a bit of sweetness add in a banana or a date
• Dessert – medium silken tofu, raspberries, ginger, mint, fresh coconut flesh and a touch of maple syrup. Blended and served like mousse.

Healthy Eating Made Easy with iPhone App

by Eden MacDonald, June 26, 2010 | Permalink

Today Wahiba creator and owner of Carrot Lines was here to promote the new iPhone app to help you learn more about the nutrition in your food.

Here’s what Wahiba has to say about her new creation:

“With the CarrotLines application, shoppers can scan those confusing labels and within seconds, have personalized nutritional information on the product – that is easy to understand – available to them.  

Users can quickly set up a nutritional, allergy and lifestyle profile. The nutritional profile lets you customize the food label to attributes that you care about: low fat, low calories, lower sugar, high fibre, high protein etc.

The allergy profile has gluten free, peanut free, dairy free, wheat free and allergy alert

The lifestyle profile has organic, vegetarian, vegan, kosher, halal, and even country of origin.

Upon scanning, you know whether the food meets your criteria and are able to access additional information regarding the food.”

If you are interested in learning more about this healthy eating tool visit www.carrotlines.com

Raw Soups and Smoothies

by Eden MacDonald, June 20, 2010 | Permalink

Yesterday Preet from Organic Lives showed us how to make 3 raw soups and a smoothie.   If you weren’t able to join us I’ve posted the recipes below.  Make sure you register as early as you can for the next Healthy Eating Kitchen workshop.  They seem to be filling up fast!

 Gazpacho
2 cups roma tomatoes
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup cucumber
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt
1/4 jalapeño pepper
1 medium garlic clove

Blend ingredients in the Vita-mix

 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
2/3 cup cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro , chopped

 chop up the ingredients listed above and add to bowl

Add salt and pepper to taste

Serve.

 Cucumber Dill
3 Cucumbers
1 Avocado
6 large Romaine Lettuce leaves
1/3 cup fresh Dill
2 T lemon juice
1 small clove garlic

Blend in the Vitamix and serve.

Creamy Red Pepper
3 large red peppers
1 avocado
5 roma tomatoes
1/4 cup cilantro
1/3 cucumber
1 t Himalayan salt
1-2 teaspoon chilli powder

Blend in the Vitamix and serve

Blue Flame Smoothie
3L almond milk (cold)
2lb frozen blueberries
1 piece of ginger

Blend in the Vitamix and Serve.

Treats and Treatments: How to make your own edible skincare

by Eden MacDonald, June 11, 2010 | Permalink

On Thursday evening Helena (our In-store educator) and I did a workshop on how to make your own skincare products from organic produce.  It was a lot of fun and everyone’s skin was glowing after our manuka honey exfoliator! 

Here are the recipes that we used incase you want to try it at home this weekend!  We’ll be doing another workshop next month. 

Cleanser
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon aloe vera juice
2 Tablespoons lavender water (steep 2 Tablespoons of dried lavender flowers in 1 cup of hot water)
½ avocado mashed
2 orange segments cut into small pieces

Method:
Place all ingredients into a bowl and thoroughly mash together with a fork or blend in a blender

Application: Smooth all over face and wipe off with a damp clean cloth.

Spritzer/Toner

For Normal/Oily Skin
Ingredients:
½ cup sliced cucumber
4 slices of orange
1 Tablespoon parsley
1 cup filtered water

Method: Place all ingredients in a jar and steep for 4 hours in the fridge. Pour mixture through a strainer and store in Fridge for up to 3 days

Application: Spritz face and neck with toner after cleansing or using the mask. If you don’t have a spritzer bottle apply with a cotton ball. Leave on.

 For Sensitive/Dry Skin
Ingredients:
½ cup sliced cucumber
1 Tablespoon dried lavender flowers
1 cup filtered water

Method: Place all ingredients in a jar and steep for 4 hours in the fridge. Pour mixture through a strainer and store in Fridge for up to 3 days

Application: Spritz face and neck with toner after cleansing or using the mask. If you don’t have a spritzer bottle apply with a cotton ball. Leave on.

Papaya Enzyme Face Mask (normal/oily)
Ingredients:
½ cup papaya peeled, seeded and chopped

Method: Place chopped papaya in the blender and pulse for 15 seconds.

Application: Smooth mask over clean face and leave on for 5- 15min. Avoid the eye area.  Wipe off with clean damp cloth.

Avocado Mask (Sensitive/Dry)
Ingredients:
¼ cup avocado mashed
1 Tablespoon Honey

Method:
Place all ingredients into a bowl and mash together.  Use immediately.

Application: Smooth mask over clean face and leave on for 5- 15min.  Wipe off with clean damp cloth.

Oatmeal Exfoliator
Ingredients:
4 Brazil nuts (optional – could be a bit rough for sensitive skin)
1 cup Oatmeal
1 Tablespoon Honey

Method: Blend Brazil nuts and oatmeal in the blender for 30 seconds.  Store in freezer.
For one application: Mix together 1 heaping Tablespoon of oatmeal and brazil nut mixture and 1 Tablespoon honey. Let sit for 1 hour to soften.

Application: In a circular motion rub exfoliator into skin concentrating on the nose, chin and forehead.  Avoid the eye area.  Leave on for 5-10min or wash off with a damp clean cloth right away.

Helena sharing her skincare expertise!

Snacks or Masks? Could be either!

Benefits of Dehydrating Food

by Eden MacDonald, June 6, 2010 | Permalink

Yesterday’s Healthy Eating Kitchen nutrition demos were on the benefits of dehydrating food.   Whether you are interested in  going RAW or just adding more raw foods into your diet or just want to learn how to  store produce without loosing nutrients dehydrating is a great way to do it all.

Just some of the many benefits:

• Almost all of the nutrients are preserved in dehydrated foods. 
• Economical way of preserving local seasonal food  i.e. buy large amounts of local seasonal produce dehydrate it and store it to use later when items are more expensive and not found locally.
• Warm foods without destroying enzymes.  Great way to incorporate foods that have a cooked taste to a raw diet
• Make your own crackers and cookies and always know what’s in them!
• Make your own granola, soup mix and trail mix to always have on hand when you need a snack, quick meal or a gift!

If you have a juicer one of the best ways to use the pulp that’s left over is in these crackers!  If you don’t have a juicer when you come into the store and order a juice ask to take the pulp home.

Recipe for Flax Crackers:

2 cups of juicer pulp (I had carrot, beet, celery and apple in my mix)
2/3 cup flax seeds
2/3 cup water
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Soak flax seeds for 30min in water or until a gluey consistency. 
Thoroughly combine flax seed and water mixture with spices.
Spread thinly on a teflex sheet or parchment paper.
Place on dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 145 degrees for 2 hours and reduce heat to 115 degrees and leave over night.  In the morning you’ll have flax crackers!

Other flavours to try: basil and kalamata olives, rosemary and garlic, cilantro

I like to serve my crackers with sprouted homemade hummus or olive tapenade (both oil free of course)!  Yum!

Gluten Free!

by Eden MacDonald, May 28, 2010 | Permalink

Yesterday evening we had Dr. Lawrence Cheng and Dr. Ashley Riskin join us for a educational talk on Celiac and Gluten.   They covered the latest research around the disease and gluten. 

For those of you that weren’t able to join us I am posting a brief synopsis of what they discussed and the resources that they offered.  For more information please feel free to contact them at info@pacificintegrative.ca

Gluten Free: Whats All the Rage About?

Celiac disease is significantly more prevalent than we previously thought. It is now thought to be one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. Evidence suggested there may be up to 300,000 people living in Canada with celiac disease. Interestingly, a large percentage – some sources suggest up to 90% – are unaware they have the disease.

 It’s important to realize that celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that results in an inflammatory process affecting the gut, but can also affect a vast array of organ systems in the body – likely either via malabsorption syndromes or via heightened autoimmune processes. In fact, we are realizing that gastrointestinal symptoms may actually be minimal or absent in individuals with celiac disease/gluten sensitivity. It turns out that the majority of people with this condition may in fact not present with gut symptoms – this is the main reason why this condition remains underdiagnosed. Furthermore, several other conditions are more prevalent in those with celiac disease (ie. type I diabetes, certain thyroid disorders, infertility, anemia, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis).

 At present, there is only one cure – and that is to have a 100% gluten-free diet. No exceptions. Unfortunately this means no wheat (including kamut and spelt), rye, barley or any products containing these cereal grains. Be careful of gluten in filler products that aren’t labelled! Oats that have not come from a contaminated source (ie. not grown in a wheat field or processed with other gluten containing grains) may be safe. Oats do contain a similar culprit protein to wheat, rye and barley but overall quantities are less. Based on the available evidence, Health Canada states that oats are acceptable in the majority of patients within reasonable quantities and if uncontaminated (50-60g/day in adults, 20-25g/day in children) – evidence suggests that overconsumption of oats can worsen symptoms. However, those with severe disease may be best to refrain from consuming oats.

There are new therapies being researched, but none are ready for prime time. One theory on prevention is to limit gluten exposure during the first year of life as the immune system matures. This is currently being researched but may be prudent in those parents with an increased risk (ie. family members with celiac disease or other autoimmune conditions).

Resources mentioned:

Health Canada link to Celiac Disease
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/cel-coe/index-eng.php

 Health Canada direct link to policy change
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/consultation/init/gluten2010/draft-ebauche-eng.php

 American Scientific article link:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=celiac-disease-insights

Gluten Free Vancouver (Blog)
www.glutenfree-vancouver.blogspot.com

Pacific Centre for Integrative Medicine
www.pacificintegrative.ca

Alternative and Integrative Medical Society
www.aims.ubc.ca

Saturday Afternoon Smoothie Workshop

by Eden MacDonald, May 28, 2010 | Permalink

Who doesn’t enjoy a good smoothie?  Preet, owner of the Vancouver restaurant Organic Lives, and Vicki, inspired us at our Smoothie Workshop on Saturday afternoon.

We spent an hour and a half learning all about the benefits of blending together organic produce and coconut water.  Did you know that coconut water has a similar electrolyte make-up to our blood plasma?  In some developing countries  where medical saline is not available coconut water has been administered intravenously instead.  See below for a list of the ingredients that went into each of our smoothies.  You can decide how much of each fruit and/or veg to put in according to your taste preferences.

Green Smoothie
My personal favourite because I love how fresh this smoothie tastes and how good I feel after it.  I usually have spinach, lemon, cucumber and pear in my morning smoothies but I’m definitely going to be adding in some cilantro or parsley from now on!

• Cucumber
• Celery
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Ginger
• Lemon
• Coconut water

Preet blending up a green smoothie

Fruit Smoothie
Take a five minute vacation to a tropical destination… tastes like sunshine!

• Papaya
• Mango
• Pineapple
• Apple
• Pear
• Banana (ripe)
• Coconut Water

Chocolate Shake
Does it sound too good to be true?  Well it tastes even better than it sounds.  I would definitely have this one after a power yoga class or serve it for dessert!

• Banana
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon
• Raw Cacao (take it easy on this one a little goes along way)
• Almond Milk

Lauren's favourite!

Everyone enjoyed the workshop so much that they didn’t want Preet and Vicki to leave!  Stay tuned for our next workshop with Organic Lives in June.  I heard Preet say something about raw soups….

Greens + Coconut water = best breakfast you can give yourself!

Quick Easy Healthy Snacks!

by Eden MacDonald, May 22, 2010 | Permalink

We’ve all had days when we’ve neglected our tummies for too long and ended up bingeing on salty crunchy foods like chips and sweet treats like chocolate covered almonds (my personal favourite).

I like to have a few healthy snacks on hand that will keep me going between meals.

Today I made some Yummy Banana Oat Bars one of our Health Starts Here recipes. It took me 5 minutes to throw together all 6 ingredients and the result is a yummy filling fiber rich snack that will keep well in your purse, car, desk drawer, or lunch bag.  You can also double the recipe and freeze half of it for next week!

Yummy Banana Oat Bar Recipe

Serves 8 Add the applesauce for a sweeter, moister version of these bars.

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 large bananas, mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Press into a 9×9 inch baking pan and bake for 30 min. Cool on a wire rack. When cool, slice into squares or bars and serve.

Other snacks that I like to keep on hand are…

• Walnuts – ¼ cup a day is enough good fat to fill your daily requirement
•  Hummus and Edamame Guacamole – both of these protein rich dips/spreads can be served on fresh veg or try some of our raw crackers from Organic Lives.  I like to have these on hand at all times.  They also work great as a sandwich spreads. (check out these recipes at the Healthy Eating Kitchen)
• Fresh berries – high in antioxidants and flavour.  These little gems will give you a burst of energy and make you smile.
• Ingredients for a smoothie – coconut water, cucumber, pears and spinach make a great combo for an after workout pick me up or for breakfast!
• Pumpkin seeds – this little seed is packed full of nutrients especially zinc which our body uses to support immune function and balance blood sugar.

Manuel from produce enjoying a Yummy Banana Oat Bar

Health Starts Here Recipes

by Eden MacDonald, May 20, 2010 | Permalink

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Whole Foods has created a simple way for you to make healthy eating choices in our prepared foods section.  Every recipe with a Health Starts Here tag is compliant with our strict healthy eating standards.

When you choose a Health Starts Here item you know for sure that its:

Plant based – Vegetables are the main focus of recipe
Whole foods – The recipe contains ONLY whole foods, ZERO processed ingredients, ONLY 100% whole grain and no refined grains & flours, contains minimum or no added salt,  and NO refined sugar, such as cane and beet sugars
Low Fat –The recipe contains ZERO extracted OILS
Nutrient dense – Top ANDI scoring items are emphasized

So the next time you are looking for a take home or eat in meal check out the hot bar and prepared foods cold cases for Health Starts Here recipes…they taste great too!

All of the recipes available and prepared at the Healthy Eating Kitchen are all Health Starts Here recipes.

Vegan Tuna Salad

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