Wednesday, July 29, 2015

(Real) GREEK VILLAGE SALAD

I've been posting recipes on this blog for a few years now, and I just realized I've never shared a recipe for a traditional Greek Village Salad with you yet. Hard to believe since it's a salad I grew up eating and which I enjoy so very often every summer. Please note I said summer. That's because this is a summertime salad, the time when tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are in season and when they taste good. Nothing kills me more than eating in a Greek restaurant in January and being served this salad made with bland tasting imported  un-ripe tomatoes and flavourless cucumbers. As with all good food from around the world, the key is to eat seasonally and locally for optimum nutrition and flavour. Period.
I just realized I forgot to add some olives to this salad. No worries, it's still a great salad without them!
GREEK VILLAGE SALAD

ripe organic tomatoes, cut into wedges
fresh local organic cucumbers, cut into pieces
fresh local organic green peppers, cut into pieces
fresh organic red onion, cut into thin pieces (optional)
fresh or dried organic Greek oregano
organic feta cheese
Greek black olives
Greek extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Method: Place all the cut vegetables in a large plate. Crumble the feta cheese on top. Sprinkle with cut fresh oregano, or sprinkle with dried Greek oregano. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Add a few olive. Then drizzle liberally with olive oil. Stir gently and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes before eating a with a nice hunk of sourdough bread. Don't forget to mop up all the olive oil with bread too.



Monday, July 27, 2015

RAW vs. COOKED FOOD


 I like vegetables, a lot. Give me the choice between a big bowl of piping hot steamed broccoli dripping in salty melted butter or a raw veggie platter and dip, hands down the cooked and buttered broccoli would win. It's because I find it more appealing and better tasting. Turns out my attraction to cooked broccoli is perhaps my body's way of communicating with me, because and as it turns out cooked vegetables can be easier to digest and have higher nutritional content.    
     The popularity of 100% raw food diets is (thankfully) fading.  I tried it out at one point in my life and found it unsatisfying and difficult to follow. Who needs that? Life is challenging enough, why do we insist on coming up with these complicated  and unrealistic "new" diets that leave us feeing deprived, incompetent and frustrated? So when I was recently introduced to a You Tube video of Susun Weed and Brigitte Mars debating the merits of Raw vs Cooked Foods, I was blown away! Finally, someone debunking many of the myths of the raw food diet. Basically, Susun Weed claims:

1. No enzymes but the ones the body makes are allowed in the body. Therefore all this raw food hype that the enzymes present in raw foods are a significant help in digesting the foods themselves once they are put in the human digestive system is not true. As far as she knows, there is no scientific evidence showing that enzymes in foods are used in the digestion of that food - with the exception of 3 fruits (papaya, kiwi & pineapple) and raw milk and raw meat. It is also important to note that those three fruits are only useful in the digestion of milk and meat proteins.
     Now, Susun doesn't mention this in the debate, but many raw faddists also claim that the body has a finite lifetime "enzyme potential" for manufacturing digestive enzymes, which is important for preserving health and longevity; and a portion of which is unrecoverably "used up" in producing otherwise unnecessary digestive enzymes each time cooked foods are eaten. Actually, no one has ever measured any enzyme potential, and according to modern theories of aging, processes such as oxidative damage to tissue, decreasing length of telomeres with each cell division, and other known processes under investigation, rather than enzymes, are the most likely reasons for the process of aging.

2. There is more nutrition from cooked food than raw food. Most nutrients are stable in the presence of heat, and in fact some are maximized by exposure to heat.

3. Most raw food preparation techniques are actually forms of "cooking" food. For example, sprouting, freezing, dehydrating, fermenting, marinating are all methods of altering food in a manner that breaks down the cell wall in vegetables in order to release the nutrients contained within the cell. Simply chopping, chewing, and juicing do not break the cell wall down. Even the digestive systems of goats and cows use heat and bacteria to "cook" the grass in order to nourish the animal.

4. There is evidence to suggest that there is a co-relation between the application of heat/fire in the preparation of food and human brain size.  Apparently 25% of nutrients we get from food is needed for the human brain. Therefore, cooking provided early humans with better nutrition which led to an increase in brain size.

      If you really want to optimize your digestion consider the following:

1. Don't eat too much.
2. Chew your food well.
3. Rule out food allergies.
4. Ingest probiotics via lacto-fermented foods or supplements.
5. Stay hydrated.
6. Exercise.
7. Maintain a healthy weight.
8. Eat slowly and in a relaxed manner.

And for goodness sake - if you prefer cooked spinach over raw, then eat what you like, just make sure you eat your veggies!


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

AWAKEN (your spine)

     I was a Hatha Yoga teacher for quite a few years before I discovered Kundalini Yoga. Well known Kundalini Yoga teacher Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa's book "The Eight Human Talents" had been sitting on my bookshelf for a long time before I finally sat down and read it and got blown away. In retrospect I think I needed to be at a point in my life where what she was saying made sense to where I was at emotionally and spiritually. I was ready to hear her words. To this day I still consider this book an essential addition to any yogi's reference collection.
    The most potent teaching I received from that book was how our physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being are interconnected, and how the state of each chakra (or power centres in the body) reflects the level of our health and well-being. The beauty of Kundalini Yoga is that it is a precise and powerful technology that helps to bring back balance in all of these areas. It doesn't cost anything, no need to swallow supplements or go to a therapist, it is your responsibility to commit to a regular practice and use the wisdom shared by Yogi Bhajan to heal your life.
     The kriya I filmed the other day is called "Basic Spinal Energy Series" and is one of the basic sets in Kundalini Yoga. It is fairly simple to do, and a good place to start your Kundalini Yoga practice. It is an excellent warm-up for more vigorous yoga sets and also stands alone as a set to energize the entire system.  The practice increases flexibility and vitality of the spine which allows energy to flow more freely to the organs and glands in your body.  All twenty-six vertebrae, your chakras, and energy bodies receive stimulation and a burst of energy, which makes this series a good one to do before meditation. Tune in with the Adi Mantra before you begin.



Monday, July 20, 2015

GLUTEN-FREE CORNBREAD

I love it when a gluten free recipe - or any un-traditional recipe adapted for special diets or preferences - tastes even better than the original. That is the case for the cornbread I made to compliment our black bean soup at dinner. This is one recipe where coconut flour really shines. My cornbread is usually a lot drier and crumblier, but this one is fluffy and moist and will be the cornbread I make from now on.

GLUTEN-FREE CORNBREAD

1 1/2 cups organic corn flour
1/3 cup organic coconut flour
1 Tbsp GMO free baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup organic coconut sugar
1 3/4 cup soured raw milk - or any milk you normally use
3 organic eggs
1/4 cup melted organic/pastured lard or butter

Method: Preheat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, sea salt, and sugar. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and melted lard. Pour the liquid into the dry mixture and stir until well combined. Pour into a greased cast iron skillet and bake for about 30 minutes.

You can find the recipe for the Black Bean Soup here.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

PRESERVING SUMMER

     My garden is a long way off from providing enough to actually feed my family, so I am very grateful for the experts at my local farmer's market who are light years ahead of us in terms of productivity. I was especially pleased to find some nice cabbages because we are all out of sauerkraut. The last time I made a batch was when I was filming this clip for my new course "How To Make The Switch To A Real Food Diet in 3 Simple Steps" which I am offering at the special price of $39 to readers of my blog.
SAUERKRAUT

5 pounds organic cabbage, grated
3 Tbsp sea salt

Method: Combine the salt and cabbage in a large bowl, toss well. Use a mallet or potato masher to pound the cabbage until juices start to be released. Press tightly into wide mouth mason jars. Use a small mason jar to weigh down the cabbage so it remains submerged with it's own brine. Leave at room temperature for 5-9 days or until sour. Cover and refrigerate.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

FIREPIT BBQ

Preparing coals for outdoor barbecuing might be a skill you already possess, but if you are anything like I was a few years ago, you may have no idea how to do it properly. Our family had such a good time cooking our dinner in the fire pit this weekend. I mean a really good time. We couldn't stop telling each other how happy we were. So try it! I swear, it will make you happy too!
The recipe for the souvlaki is here.