Ayurvedic Summer Salad

I’ve been reading Lee Carroll’s Kryon book, “The Recalibration of Humanity” which talks about how each person has their own unique dietary needs based on their akashic inheritance over many lifetimes.

I enjoy Indian food with it’s depth of flavorful, warming spices. I decided to try some ayurveda inspired recipes this week in an effort to stimulate my appetite and eat more healthfully. I love the fresh herbs in this recipe from The Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico.

Ingredients

Salad greens
French lentils
Fennel
Dill
Rice vinegar
Olive oil
Sunflower oil
Zucchini
Shallots
Couscous/quinoa
Parsley
Lemon
Beet
Avocado
Lime
Cilantro
Goat cheese

– Steam beet halves 20 min, cool, skin & chop then refrigerate.

– Soak 1/4 cup lentils overnight, rinse and simmer 20min in 1 cup water.

– Mix 1/4 cup chopped fennel, 2 Tbs dill, salt, pepper, 1 Tbs rice vinegar, 2 tsp olive oil.

– Saute 2 sm zucchini in chopped shallots, sunflower oil and rice vinegar.

– Mix lentils, fennel & zucchini and refrigerate.

– Saute quinoa in oil 2 min. Add 3/4 cup broth & simmer 12 min.

– Toss quinoa with 2 Tbs parsley, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 lemon’s juice, 1/4 tsp pepper.

– Blend avocado, 1 Tbs lime juice & zest, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 Tbs rice vinegar, 1 Tbs parsley, 1 Tbs cilantro, salt and pepper.

– Toss greens with avocado dressing and layer lentils, quinoa, beets and a couple spoonfuls of goat cheese on top.

Yum!

Lemon Leaf Tea

Since I learned to feed my lemon tree three times a year, it gives me fruit! Right now the fruit is still green and camouflaged in the leafy canopy. I checked in with my tree yesterday and noticed that some of the “branches” were not woody or thorny; they were suckers that need to be pruned. Without the suckers, more energy can flow to the fruit-bearing branches.

I cut and bundled the suckers in my hands and as I did, a soft hint neroli tickled my nose! The tree is not flowering yet, but looks AND smells like it’s getting ready.

As I enjoyed the sensory experience of these prickly branches, I remembered being in the kitchen of a client and his wife. We were sitting at the island and she was heating up dinner for him and the contractors who were working out back. She had beautiful citrus trees and grape vines covering her yard. As I admired them, she told me that both lemon and grape leaves make a nutritive tea. She served me a cup with honey.

I’m going to make lemon leaf tea!

It was quite the epiphany. I removed leaves from the stems, then washed and dried them. I weighed 2 ounces of leaf into a 1/4 gallon mason jar, poured boiling water to the brim and sealed with a lid for 4-12 hours. When I popped the seal and strained the tea it was an amazing almost neon yellow color! And the flavor was just as inspiring- a harmony of light, lemon and leafiness. Next time I’m going to crush the leaves a bit before brewing.

It’s hard to find any information about lemon leaf and it’s preparations or beneficial qualities. If you have any stories or recipes, I’d be happy to hear them.

Clafouti Comeback

Clafouti makes a comeback cause it’s cherry season!

This delightfully simple little custard is so yummy when served cold with my iced coffee for breakfast.

I pitted a bag of cherries, but didn’t have any milk. My neighbor saved the day by delivering me a Mason jar of “borrowed” milk, so I doubled the recipe and gave her a dish. It’s fun to share!

Then we went to practice for our Rock Painting Band and enjoyed clafouti for dessert- after the ham and cheese Hawaiian rolls marinated in butter, Dijon, Worcestershire and onion.

Don’t worry, I served it with a salad that featured sprouted lentils and pepita. Now that’s a good day!

Spill the tea, not the infusion

I was recently introduced to the work of Susun Weed and her Wise Woman Way. She is a Green Witch and teaches about green blessings from her green heart!

She is a simpler- using only one herb at a time. She teaches people how to make nourishing herbal infusions from nettles, red clover, oatstraw, comfrey and linden. Infusions are different from just herbal tea in that they can provide richer benefits.

For tea you use a teaspoon of the herb per 8 oz and steep a few minutes. In contrast, an infusion uses 1 oz of your chosen herb per quart and steep 4-10hrs.

I had been making chilled unsweetened herbal tea on the daily since it’s been so hot. Now I’m drinking nourishing herbal infusions to impart greater benefits from our plant allies!

Susun offers free courses and videos on how to build your immune system so that you only have a mild case of the flu when you get it.

Check out her website at http://susunweed.com

Or this video where she makes a nettle infusion!

Mantis Praying

At dusk, I am in the yard with the cats. I go to take a photo of our newest transplant, the lambs ear. It has a dead leaf on it, so I reach down to pull it off and the would-be dead leaf jumps around and tells me to back up! It is the tiniest white praying mantis that I have ever met- and very assertive. He is here to watch the fairies play.

I hear a clucking. It gets closer. I look up and on the block wall is a quail with his dingle dangling. I walk over to him and say, “You better scram; I have cats here.” He turns around and shuffles the other way.

Every morning I feed the cats and take my meds. Now I’ve added rinse the sprouts to this routine. Today is the second day and the buckwheat and oats are sporting roots, so they are ready to taste. I will get fresh fruit and raw milk at the farmers market tomorrow, but in the meantime I soak dried ginger, goji and cherries in a cup of warm coconut milk with honey and cinnamon. Then I pour it over a bowl of these fresh baby buckwheat and oat sprouts. Oh yeah!

As I sit and eat, the mockingbird visits my newly created birdbath. It’s a Terra Cotta drip tray with rocks and it’s refilled by the sprinklers! I put it under the lemon tree where there’s shade and a nice rock perch. The mockingbird is visiting again and again this morning, each time taking several drinks of water. It makes me so happy to see my buddy!

Burger Steak Special

Submitted by Casey Kemp on Jan. 24, 2014
Lifestyle
Food & Beverage
Go Local
I’ve got a great recipe today that features a couple of local products and is super simple; I’m talking about a Slug Slime Chicken Fried Grass-Fed Cube Steak!
I recommend that you put on some water for macaroni and start steaming green beans before executing this beefy main course nice and quick-like. My breading consists of Los Bagels famous slug slime, grated parmesan, panko breadcrumbs and flour, all adhering to an Eel River Organic grass-fed and grass-finished cut of beef with the power of an egg. Once you begin to bread and fry the meat, you are essentially done.
When we start eating, my boyfriend asks, “Is this a hamburger or a steak?” Good question. Good question, indeed. My answer? Well, it’s a burger steak!
Tenderizing meat is an absolutely fabulous process by which you take one tough piece of meat (like a London broil) and send it between two rollers with spikes on them- pretty medieval. By running the piece through several times at different angles, then folding it back onto itself, you get something that looks like hamburger, but sticks together in one meaty piece like a steak. Mmmh-eat Magic.

Humboldt Stylin’ the Hot Sauce

Submitted on Jan. 15, 2014

Food & Beverage
Go Local

Humboldt Hot Sauce is something for us locals to be proud of and excited about. Not because it\’s the new Cholula or bound to replace that bottle of Siracha you carry around in your car. Not even because it is the most super hot spicy sauce around that makes your brain boil (although their red sauce is quite a kicker). Rather, Humboldt Hot Sauce is spectacular because it is well rounded and that presents a lot of possibilities when it comes to the kitchen.

Cal and Dan make three varieties: Habanero-Mango (hot red), Island Style (medium yellow) and Emerald Sauce (mild green). Each has it\’s own unique appeal but all of them have a depth of flavor that you don\’t normally find in a hot sauce. These condiments are way more substantial than your typical Tapatio: think thick, not runny.

Cooking with Humboldt Hot Sauce is where the product shines; it is so versatile! I tend to choose the Island Style because I like my heat with a little sweet. Still, this is a savory sauce and not overly sugary. Its first ingredient is onion, so that tells me they have their priorities in the right place. (So many meals start with an onion because it creates a flavorful foundation for the meal; it seems like these guys are wise to that concept.) Then they bring the heat with spicy habanero peppers and the party really gets started! But don\’t worry, sweet pineapple, bell peppers and mango cool this mix down and finally round it off with vinegar, garlic, ginger and lemon juice- what a ride.

On its own, the Habanero-Mango sauce pushes my limits on heat. However, I do tolerate it and still appreciate its rich flavor. This red sauce really kicks it up a notch. Last week I added it to my fried halibut cakes and they turned out just wonderful and packed with flavor!

I have not had as much time to experiment with the newest addition to the lineup, but the Emerald sauce does do my nachos justice. It is milder than the rest with lime and cilantro notes. Any of the varieties can be added to a Bloody Mary, it just depends on your preferences.

As a condiment Humboldt Hot Sauce improves the taste of just about anything: eggs, salsa, burgers, oysters. Just the thought of using it to spice up red beans and rice leaves my mouth watering. No matter what you\’re making, Humboldt Hot sauces provide the perfect punch to make it a scrumptious lunch.