“We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.”  Socrates

How do you respond when introduced to a new and different food?  Why is that?

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (Ja 1:17; NIV)

Tabouli or (Tabouleh) is a Middle Eastern Arabic salad dish.  It is traditionally made with bulgur wheat, fresh parsley, tomatoes, and onions with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing.  As our final picnic food for the month of June, I’d like to introduce you to tabouli, with a twist. 

Rather than using the traditional bulgur wheat, today’s recipe uses a grain called quinoa.  Quinoa, pronounced KEEN-wah, is an amino acid-rich grain that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked.  Years ago when I was ill and was allergic to most common foods, I discovered quinoa as something I could tolerate.  I ate a lot of then.  It’s only in recent years that it has become more well-known and easy to find.  You’ll find it in the health food section of your grocery store along with other grains such as oats and bulgur.

Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is a complete protein, meaning that it includes all of the essential amino acids.  Quinoa is also a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus, all of which are vital minerals our bodies need.

Here are some tips for preparing quinoa.  A substance called saponins coats the quinoa seeds.  Even though cultivation and processing removes much of the saponins, I find it is still necessary to thoroughly wash the grain to remove any remaining residue.  I place the grain in a mesh strainer and then run water over it for a few minutes, gently rubbing the grains together with my fingers.  Then I place the quinoa in a bowl and cover it with “good” water and allow it to soak for a few hours.  I then drain that water off when I’m ready to prepare and cook the grain.  This soaking makes it easier to digest and reduces the cooking time.   Cooking directions are in today’s recipe.  When cooking is complete, the grains become translucent, and the germ of the grain will partially detach itself, looking like a spiraled tail.  It has a mild flavor and can be used as a breakfast cereal or in place of rice in other dishes.  Enjoy!

Prayer Power
Father, we continue to be amazed at Your goodness and Your mighty hand of provision for us.  We thank You for your moment by moment blessings.

Link of the Day
Quinoa Tabouli

Blessings on you as you experiment with eating tabouli and/or quinoa.
 

“Chicken salad has a certain glamour about it. Like the little black dress, it is chic and adaptable anywhere.”  Laurie Colwin

What one thing can you do this week to make a positive deposit in your health?

Solomon’s daily provisions were thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.  (I Kings 4:22-23; NIV)

Continuing with our picnic theme this month, today’s recipe highlights chicken salad.  Most people enjoy chicken salad and many people have a favorite recipe.  I can still recall the first time I had “gourmet” chicken salad on a fresh croissant at an upscale restaurant in downtown Rochester, New York.  I’m not sure if the elegance of the surroundings made it so memorable or if the chicken salad really was that good.  Chicken salad can be simple and it can be elegant. 

According to Wikipedia, chicken salad was first made by Liam Gray in the New England state of Rhode Island in the late 1800s. His original recipe consisted of leftover chicken, chicken drippings, an oil/egg mixture and small seedless grapes.  In one form, diced or shredded chicken (dark or white meat, or a combination of both) is dressed with mayonnaise, mustard , or sour cream. Fruits and vegetables may be added such as diced onions, bell peppers, celery, grapes, or apples. Some cooks add other seasonings, which might include curry powder or dill pickles.

I’ve varied the ingredients I’ve used in chicken salad throughout the years.  A few years ago, I discovered the delight of adding curry powder to chicken salad.  If you enjoy the taste of curry powder, you’ll like the distinctive flavor it brings to chicken salad.  Grapes add sweetness to the salad and pecans add a nice crunch.

As a side note, I always try and buy organically grown grapes as commercial grapes, especially imported ones are sprayed heavily with pesticides.    If you can’t locate organic grapes, then wash the grapes with a produce wash found in health food stores or in your local grocery store.  I use one called Bi-O-Kleen Concentrated Produce Wash.

Prayer Power
We thank You Lord for Your wonderful provision for us each and every day.  We thank You that Your mercies are new every morning.

Link of the Day
Curried Chicken Salad

Blessings on you as you enjoy some chicken salad.
 

“A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do.”  P. J. O’Rourke

How many servings of fruit are you eating each day?

In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  (Rev. 22:2; NKJ)

Most everyone, young and old enjoys fruit salad.  Where did fruit salad come from originally?  In ancient times, combinations of various fresh, dried, candied, and stewed fruit were used to create the salad.  The ingredients and recipes used depended on what was available during the different seasons, the specific country of origin, and the socio-economic status of the people.

Fruit salad, as we know it today is a product of the mid-19th century, with one of the most popular examples being Ambrosia.  The name “fruit cocktail” was developed when fruit was mixed with sugar and alcohol.  Non-alcoholic versions of fruit cocktail were very popular in the 1920’s. Also popular in the 1920’s were jellied fruit salads. How many of us remember all the various “jellied” salads?  Believe it or not, I could have been the “Jell-O Queen” in the 1970’s, until I began to see the light about real food!  In case you’re wondering, a Jell-O salad is not considered real food for those interested in living a healthy lifestyle.

Today we have so many varieties of fresh fruit available to us all year that we can enjoy fruit salad in any season.  However, there are times when certain fruits are more plentiful and thus a little less costly.  Although we’ll soon be entering the most prolific fruit season, today’s recipe is more designed for the winter months when we don’t have access to as many fresh fruits.  The recipe uses some fresh fruit and some canned pineapple and mandarin oranges.  Feel free to make substitutions with any of the fruit listed.  I’ve created a sauce that makes the salad creamy and rich, but it’s good without it too.

Always buy pineapple in it’s own juice as opposed to heavy syrup.  I’ve also found mandarin oranges packed in pear juice as opposed to heavy syrup.  Coconut is a nice addition to this salad.  Always buy unsweetened coconut, preferably organic and unsulfured.  Sulfur dioxide is a preservative added to commercial coconut and not something that I recommend consuming.

Prayer Power
Lord we’re so grateful for all of the many wonderful fruits that You have created.  Thank You for the beautiful color, texture and taste of it all.

Link of the Day
Easy Creamy Fruit Salad

Blessings on you as you enjoy your Easy Creamy Fruit Salad.
 

“Cooking is not a requirement for healthy eating. I found such amazing health results as an outcome of raw food that there was no turning back.”  Dr. Douglas Graham, Healthful Living International

How many raw vegetables are you eating each day?

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden.  (Deut. 11:10; NIV)

I know I’ve mentioned the many benefits of eating raw food, on more than one occasion.  There are people who eat a diet of 80-100 % raw, uncooked food.  There are countless books and several websites dedicated to raw food eating. 

There have been times in our lives when we’ve cycled through eating primarily uncooked food.  Even now, as our chronological age increases J (and as the price of groceries continues to climb), I’m preparing more and more raw food for us to eat.  Spring, summer, and early fall are the easiest times to eat more raw food, especially living on the east coast in the mid-Atlantic states.  For those Floridians and Californians in our midst, you’re blessed with abundant produce throughout the year.

Today’s recipe is a mixture of raw vegetables without it being a “regular, green salad.”  Different varieties of raw vegetables can be mixed together with a bit of olive oil and a favorite vinegar and labeled a “salad.”  The recipe today contains avocados, which are a wonderful food.  Actually, avocados are the fruit from the Persea Americana, a tall evergreen tree that can grow up to 65 feet in height.  Also known as the Alligator Pear, reflecting its shape and the leather-like appearance of its skin, avocados are a rich source of mono unsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, which has recently been shown to offer significant protection against certain serious diseases.  The fat in avocados is a good, God-given fat.  Don’t think of avocados as a “fattening” food that needs to be avoided.

A ripe, ready to eat avocado is slightly soft but should have no dark sunken spots or cracks.  I cut it in half lengthwise and then gently twist the two halves to get it apart.  I then cut each half again lengthwise and then peel each quarter.  The pit will usually come out without much difficulty.  Then the quarters can be cut into pieces for a salad such as today’s recipe, or mashed with a fork to make Guacamole!  Other vegetables used in today’s recipe are cucumbers, which can be purchased all year round.  However, I’ve been buying the English, hothouse grown cucumbers this winter as they are grown without pesticides and herbicides.  I’ve recently found colorful peppers and tomatoes that are also hothouse grown without herbicides.  Even though they’re not grown organically, they are the next best choice for this time of year.  Feel free to experiment with tossing various vegetables together.  Have fun and enjoy!

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank You for all of the wonderful, colorful produce that You created for our enjoyment.  May we partake of more of Your created foods and less of man-made foods.

Link of the Day
Raw Veggie Salad

Blessings on you as you purpose to eat more raw vegetables.
 

“But why should not the New Englander try new adventures–not lay so much stress on his grain, his potato and grass crop, and his orchards–and raise other crops than these? Why concern ourselves so much about our beans for seed, and not be concerned at all about a new generation of men.”  Henry David Thoreau

When did you last enjoy an unusual type of salad?

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  (Gen 1:12; NIV)

Have you noticed how people everywhere are talking about the cost of food?  It seems we’re getting less and less food for more and more money.  However, there are still many healthy food choices available at relatively low prices.  Beans are at the top of the list. Today’s recipe features black beans.  Black beans also called turtle beans are one of God’s finest creations. 

Black beans are high in fiber and protein.  Research published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry indicates that black beans are also rich in anti-oxidants.  The darker the beans color, the higher the level of anti-oxidant activity.  Black beans are also good sources of folate, magnesium and manganese all of which are important nutrients for our bodies.

Black beans are available in the dried form as well as canned.  Dried black beans need to be soaked before being cooked.  Place about two cups of dried beans in a large bowl and cover the beans with water.  Allow to soak in the water overnight.  The next morning, drain the beans and then begin cooking them in fresh water.  You can add a bay leaf or onions and garlic for flavor.   The time required to cook dried beans can vary according to the size and the age of the beans.  It may take several hours until they are done.  They should be soft but not mushy. Using dried beans is very economical.  However for the sake of convenience, organic beans already cooked are available in cans.  Today’s recipe uses the cans.

Often times when I mention beans to clients, they make a face and say that beans give them “gas.”  Flatulence (or gas) from eating beans is telling us that your body needs some help with digestion.  Many people have difficulty breaking down the fiber in the beans.  Food enzymes to the rescue!  If you have trouble digesting beans, feel free to contact me about what you can do to change that.  You don’t have to avoid eating beans, nor do you have to suffer in agony.  There is help!

Prayer Power
Lord we thank You for our bodies and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Thank You for wisdom on how to care for our “temples.”

Link of the Day
Black Bean/Corn/Red Pepper Salad

Blessings on you as you enjoy a different kind of salad.
 

“Lives are snowflakes–forming patterns we have seen before, as like one another as peas in a pod, and have you ever looked at peas in a pod?  I mean, really looked at them? There’s not a chance you’d mistake one for another, after a minute’s close in.”  Neil Gaiman

When was the last time you enjoyed having green peas?

They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils…  (2 Sam. 17:28b; NIV)

We had our month of vegetables and side dish recipes in February.  March brought main dishes.  For April, we’ll look at various salad recipes.  Some recipes may be rather common and others may be new to your family. 

Pea salad is one of those recipes that cause some folks to turn up their noses.  They either don’t like peas or the thought of making a salad with them doesn’t cause culinary salivation.  When most people think of peas, they remember them as the food that they loved to hate when growing up, yet one that was extremely fun to play with (mixing them in their mashed potatoes) on their plates! There are many varied pea salad recipes, and I make variations of my own recipe depending on what ingredients I have on-hand.

Green peas are a member of the legume or bean family.  According to The World’s Healthiest Foods, legumes are plants that bear fruit in the form of pods enclosing the fleshy seeds we know as beans.  There are generally three types of peas that are commonly eaten: garden or green peas, snow peas and snap peas.  Garden peas have rounded pods that are usually slightly curved in shape with a smooth texture.  Inside are green rounded pea seeds that are sweet and starchy in taste. Snow peas are flatter than garden peas. Snap peas, a cross between the garden and snow pea, have plump pods with a crisp, snappy texture. The pods of both snow peas and snap peas are edible.

Abundant with nutrients, green peas offer us good sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  Green peas are a good source of vitamin K1, important for maintaining bone health.  They also are a good source of the various B vitamins with a key one being folic acid, along with vitamin C.

I never recommend buying canned peas, as the majority of nutrients are destroyed from the canning process, and the sodium content is much higher.  Fresh garden peas in the summer are wonderful, however most of us don’t have access to fresh peas.  Frozen peas are readily available.  I buy organically grown frozen peas and notice a sweetness and flavor unmatched in commercially grown peas.  Peas can be added to various salads such as chicken salad or a green salad for a pretty accent.  For such uses, I place them in a bowl of very warm water for several minutes, and then drain them instead of actually cooking them. 

Enjoy the salad.

Prayer Power
Lord, thank You for Your goodness and love for us.  May we continue to seek ways to glorify You with every word we speak, every breath we take, and every meal we eat.

Link of the Day
Tasty Pea Salad

Blessings on you as you enjoy some peas this week!