A dear friend, who not only creates and prepares some of the most delicious meals on the planet, but also writes exquisitely about food, wrote an enticing and slightly sexy piece about figs. I was inspired. Although when it comes to figs, I’m easy.

This ancient fruit may indeed be the first cultivated fruit in the Middle East, but for those of us living in the US, we can be grateful that California has risen to become the third largest producer of figs in the world, just behind Greece and Turkey. For some riveting facts about figs and their rich history, the California Fig Advisory Board supplies a healthy dose of interesting tidbits.

This unlikely sexy food only makes a brief appearance and sadly does not last very long nor refrigerate well – I suppose this is why dried figs are so popular!

Figs are attributed with mighty powers and without going into serious research as to the veracity of these claims, I will only say that there are some wild claims as to this fruit’s ability to cure or heal everything from ’sexual weakness’ (?) and venereal disease to bowel health, diabetes, earaches, abscesses and asthma.

All I know from experience is that experiencing fresh, ripe figs is a sensual experience – with their plump, round shape and multi-textured sweet meat and fun tiny seeds, figs are a riot of taste and sensation.

What is slightly more documented is the Fig’s potent mineral and fiber content. Figs are high in vitamins A, B1 and B2 and minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and manganese. According to one Suite 101 writer, dried figs have 250 mg of calcium / 100 g, which is more than 100 g of whole milk, which only contains 118mg!

I was really turned on to the magic of figs a couple of years ago when attending a Suppers Program, which is a program about getting back to basics in whole food nutrition. It was held at a woman’s home in Princeton and we all went out to raid her garden and each of us came up with a recipe (she had obviously purchased some of the main course/protein stuff). I was immediately attracted to her fig tree, which was full and ready for my greedy hands. I created a simple and delicious Fig & Tomato salad (the recipe is at the end of the old post in the previous link) using fruit from her garden. Yum.

I’ve got fig tree envy, but know without any doubt that the vigorous and tenacious critters that dwell near our home would never let one grow in my back yard. I’ll have to rely on my local producers (or my grocery store if desperate) during the short growing season.

My advice is to RUN don’t walk to find some of these sensual treats!

eat. blog. be merry!
GD Meg

So Meg calls me one day and says, “Jen I got this amazing crate of fresh fruit to try from The FruitGuys.”  “There’s so much here – more than my family can eat.  I’m going to drop off a  box for you.”

Well, I’ve never seen such a beautiful array of fresh fruit – kiwis, avocados, mangoes, blood oranges, tangerines,bananas, pears and apples.  Each piece was picture perfect, blemish free and aromatic!

Who are The FruitGuys?  The FruitGuys, a green and sustainability-focused company, delivers farm-fresh, organic and conventional fruit to offices and homes across the country. The FruitGuys works very closely with local farmers to help them succeed and employ green practices. During peak season 70-90% of the fruit mixes offered are locally grown within the regions they serve (East Coast, Midwest, West Coast) and go from the farm to home or office within 3-4 days.

Videos of select farmers The FruitGuys works with can be seen here.  Also, all fruit is packed in earth friendly crates, constructed with recycled cardboard and printed with soy based inks.

Here in the Northeast it’s a temperate climate.  It is recommended for optimal health to eat mainly cooked fruit in the colder months.  So, I decided to make a pear and apple crisp. It was a winter weekend and we all were craving something warm and sweet.  Topped it with some vanilla soy ice cream and boy was it yummy!  Here is the recipe:

Pear & Apple Crisp

6 – 8 cups pears and apples sliced (I leave the peel on – could be 6 or 7 pieces of fruit)
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of each allspice, nutmeg and ground cloves
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
5 TBSP melted butter
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Combine sliced fruit in 9-inch square pan. Sprinkle with sugar. Mix together remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Sprinkle over top of fruit and pat into place. Bake uncovered 35-40 minutes or until top is crisp and light brown and fruit is bubbling. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

The county park staff in my area are growing more and more talented!  On a recent visit to the Pyramid Mountain Natural Historic Center in Boonton Township with my two-year-old, Benjamin, to participate in Nature’s Little Explorers yielded much more than we expected a couple of weeks ago.

The class theme was ‘Digging in the Dirt’.  We learned about and put our hands in buckets of soil, sand and rocks and then took a short hike with little shovels in hand to look for the same in the woods.

After our hike,  Miss Janis, our instructor for the 6-week course, said she had a special treat for all – some ‘edible’ dirt!  She made this yummy vegan chocolate pudding and had some for everyone to sample.  My Benjamin was not impressed, but Mommy was thrilled!  It was delicious.  She said that she makes vegan treats because kids today have so many food allergies.  So it was not made with eggs, dairy or sugar.  AND she shared the recipe which I promptly attempted at home about a week later to the delight of my husband and older son, James!

Here it is.  It’s quick and easy and very delicious! Oh, likely low-fat and low-sugar content as well:

1 cup soft tofu

1/4 cup oil  (I used Canola)

1/2 cup sweetener (I chose Agave syrup for it’s low glycemic index)

4 Tbsp cocoa powder  (I used Green & Black’s organic)

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Blend everything together in the food processor until smooth and enjoy!

It’s still raining zucchini!

Well, maybe not literally, but it can feel that way at this time in the year, when home gardens, farmer’s markets and fresh produce aisles abound with these versatile and prolific veggies.

There is something kind of funny about these little green monsters. It could just be the word ‘zucchini’, which by the way has its roots in the very food-associated Italian language. ‘Zucca’ is the Italian word for squash. Not to get bogged down in an etymology thing . . . the point is that zucchini has been party to many silly jokes, such as:

What is a zucchini’s favorite sport?

Squash . . . of course!

All silliness aside, the zucchini has some serious qualities as well. While we mostly use it in a savory capacity in cooking, it is actually considered an ‘immature fruit’. No. I’m not trying to be funny, although it does have a comedic if not sort of sarcastic sound to it. Even worse is the description of it being the ’swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower’!

Okay, now we’re going to get serious, really . . . the zucchini has a lot of nutritional punch per bite. One cup of raw zucchini is only 3 calories! Those three calories are high in folate, manganese, potassium and vitamin A. According to NutritionData.com, it also has a zero glycemic load.

The zucchini is an old standby in the Americas and archaeologists have traced its origins back to Mexico between 7000 – 5500 BC! An integral part of the pre-Colombian diet, it is still a staple in Mexican cuisine known as one of the ‘three sisters’ – corn, beans and squash.

Odd as this may sound, our current cultural introduction to zucchini did NOT come from our continental neighbors, but from europe! When early european explorers were bringing back booty (after some nasty looting often), they came back with what would make its way back to Italy and be named zucchini, where it quickly gained in popularity. It made its way to France and England too, where it is called courgette.  Along with some other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo and is also referred to as summer squash.

Click here for one of Green Diva Meg’s favorite Zucchini recipes!

eat. blog. be merry!
GD Meg

The fresh berry season is upon us – yipppeeee!

Growing fresh berries may be the most exciting way to gather the little yummies – especially if you have a local bear that becomes familiar with your crop! Until our current house, I’ve always had some berry bushes and enjoyed the picked-off-the-bush freshness of berries for breakfast AND dessert! I tried container strawberries on the deck in the last couple of years, but it was such an unbelievable chore to keep them from the critters, that I gave up, surrendered my succulent beauties to some very happy chipmunks and whoever else was enjoying them.

I love to buy fresh local berries or even pick them myself from some of the U-Pick farms in my area (Northern New Jersey).  Those wonderful farmer’s markets cropping up in a neighborhood near you will be brimming with wonderful fresh berries.  LocalHarvest.org has a wonderful Farmer’s Market locator.

Knowing that berries often get the worst kind of pesticides sprayed on them, I’m careful to find out how they’ve been grown. The Organic Center has posted and published a handy free pocket guide that helps understand when you should only buy organic and when it is okay to buy non-organic fruits and veggies – the  Organic Essentials pocket guide.

Here are a few ways I enjoy berries . . .

 
1. Green Diva Meg’s Special Berry Breakfast
I eat this almost daily during the week – bring my glass container to work and savor it during a morning break (I hate eating first thing in the morning).

Ingredients

1/4 – 1/2 c. Plain Yogurt* (I prefer 2% or non-fat greek or some good organic stuff)
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. Vanilla
2 pkts. Stevia Plus powder (or sweeten as desired)
1/4 – 1/2 c. Granola (obviously your favorite – or NOT. this is optional)
up to 1 Tbs. Ground Flax Seeds
1/4 – 1/2 c. Berries!  (whatever mix you like)

*As you may have guessed, I like to make my own vanilla falvored yogurt, which cuts down on a lot of suger. I try to buy low-sugar granola too and sometimes, I cut out the granola all together, which cuts out a bunch of sugar, carbs, and fat . . . not often enough!

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the vanilla into the yogurt thoroughly, then add stevia or sweetner and mix well again. Then add granola (or not), fresh berries (cutting strawberries into bite-sized pieces, obviously), ground/roasted flaxseeds, and enjoy!

2. Green Diva Meg’s Easy Berry Crumble
I posted this prematurely (about a month ago). Please visit a previous post for the yummy details!

3. Elegant Fresh Strawberry Dessert
This one comes from my mother, who was well-known and loved for her dinner parties back in the 60s and 70s, when dinner parties were a more formal and regular occurance (at least in our household).

Ingredients

Fresh Strawberries
Sour Cream (could substitute with some good thick greek yogurt)
Brown Sugar

Wash the strawberries, but keep the green tops (unless they are yucky) and keep them whole. If you have enough small individual bowls for each guest, give them one each of a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and brown sugar. Small parties/groups can just share. The goal is to dip the strawberry into the sour cream, then into the brown sugar and eat the whole thing (double dipping isn’t encouraged in a shared environment unless you are all very close and comfortable with that sort of thing).

4. Old Faithful – Berry Fruit Salad
I like to mix up all kinds of berries (color is important – I’m not sure why, but it is – so, I like to make sure I have some red berries AND blue/black berries).

Ingredients

Berries
Peeled/Cored, sliced pears
Peeled, sliced up peaches
Fresh heavy cream (optional)

Obviously, this is a personalized thing. My daughter just LOVES to make whipped cream and so sometimes we go nuts and use it, but it really doesn’t need it.

5. Healthy Berry Smoothie
The basis of this is from Anne Louise Gittleman’s Fat Flush Plan, but as always, I tend to alter recipes to fit my own taste.

Ingredients

1/2 c. Fresh Berries (can use frozen in winter)
1 Peach or Nectarine
1/2 c. Water
1 Tbs. Flaxseed Oil
1 Pkt. Stevia (or other sweetner – to taste)
Vanilla Protein Powder (I prefer Whey, but you can use whatever type you like)

Mix it all up in the blender and enjoy!

Have a berry wonderful time . . .

eat. blog. be merry!
gd meg

Yummy Thai Coconut Fish Soup

Wayne and I have been going to Princeton, NJ one Sunday a month for a couple of months to a unique, healthy dinner club. It was founded by the mama earth of Princeton area herself, Dorothy Mullen - local vegetable garden educator, holistic nutritional advocate and certified addictions counselor. She and co-founder of Suppers for Sobriety, Cindy Foss have launched several ‘Suppers for’ programs to help people find ways to employ ‘nutritional harm reduction’ to address problems relating to blood sugar, ADHD and recovery from alcoholism and addictions.

These dinner/meetings are a wonderful blend of social interaction as the group works together to prepare a meal, informational, sharing about concerns or questions relating to food/nutrition/health, and of course always a fabulous and healthy meal.

We’ve joined in a group of ‘couples’ that are exploring additional ways to support their recovery through ‘nutritional harm reduction’. Wayne and I consider ourselves fairly informed (well, at least I do) about nutritional issues, but there is ALWAYS something new and interesting. However, these dinners are cleverly designed to accomodate people with all levels of nutritional knowledge.

This past meeting we talked about blood sugar and the consequences of consistently allowing it to drop severely. Yikes. But, we also had an extraordinary meal. Following are the recipes that Wayne and I replicated two weeks later and shared with the kids with great results.

Healthy & Colorful Chopped Salad with Dried Fig Dressing

Ingredients
Veggies
2 cups jicama (chopped into 1″ cubes)
1 yellow pepper (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1/2 head cabbage (chopped finely)
1 bunch kale (stems stripped out and chopped finely)
2 cups sprouts
1/2 red onion (chopped finely)
1 cup walnuts (chopped finely)
1/2 cup chives (chopped)
1/2 cup parsley (chopped)
1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)

Dressing
About 10 dried figs
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup flaxseed oil
Juice of 1 orange
2 cloves garlic
Stevia (sweeten to taste)
Salt (to taste)

Instructions
The chopped veggies are kind of self explanatory – wash, chop and put in large bowl. The dressing is best done in a food processor. Put the figs in with some of the vinegar and run for 30 seconds or so, then add the other ingredients pouring the oil in slowly towards the end. Mix the dressing in with the veggies and voila! Of course, you can substitute some of the veggies or herbs to accomodate your or your family’s taste.

Thai Fish Soup

Ingredients
Olive Oil to coat bottom of pot
3 onions (chopped)
3 red peppers (chopped)
2″ piece of fresh ginger root (grated or minced finely)
1 1/2 lbs. salmon, (cut into 1″ cubes)
1 lb. cod (cut into 1″ cubes)
2 cans coconut milk
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 tsp. red pepper flakes OR 3 hot chili pepper (chopped)
1 lb. firm tofu (cubed)
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp. sea salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
1/4 cup (Thai) basil (chopped)
10 oz. spinach chopped)

Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large soup pot with olive oil and add chopped onions and saute till soft. Add red and hot peppers and ginger and cook till soft and onions are transparent. Add fish, coconut milk and broth and cook till fish is cooked through. Add tofu, lime juice and salt to taste. At the very end of cooking add spinach and basil and cook till just wilted, then add the chopped cilantro.

eat. blog. be merry!
GD Meg

We had a hankerin for something different for our sunday dinner this weekend. Then I had a timely conversation with a dear friend who fell in love and moved to Tennessee and now owns and runs a restaurant called Papa Boudreaux’s Cajun Cafe & Catering Company.

I did some research and decided to try and create a vegetarian Gumbo. I had no idea what I was in for.  After getting excellent instructions from my friend and reading a few intense suggestions about creating the critical roux, I sorely underestimated how lost I would feel in my first roux-making adventure. It seemed to work out. Everyone loved it! I’ll do my best to recount what I did. I’m certain I broke all kinds of tradition and rules, but whatever I did it was delicious!

Ingredients
3/4 cup + 2 Tbls. of canola oil
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 medium yellow onion (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
several celery stalks (diced)
1 small eggplant (diced)
1/2 pound mushrooms (sliced)
4 – 5 carrots (sliced)
Tofu sausage (sliced)
several cloves of garlic (crushed)
2 – 4 Tbls. Cajun Creole seasoning
2 – 3 quarts good chicken stock
salt to tastse
brown rice pilaf*

Brown rice has always been a staple in our household. From fall to spring, we cook at least one pot of brown rice per week. My kids have come to regard it is the basis of a quick and delicious meal and have since they started eating solid food and I mashed it up for them, which was a fairly long time ago, since my baby is 16 and my oldest is 24. So, as I ate my 12,526th bowl of left-over brown rice for lunch, I was inspired to consider a wee bit more on this potent grain.

Great for girls!
There are many reasons to love brown rice. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition who published a Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women’s Hospital study, women who consumed regular whole grains, including brown rice weighed consistently less and were 49% less likely to gain weight compared to those eating foods made from refined grains.

Good for everyone
1 cup of brown rice offers over 27% of the DV of selenium, which is essential to thyroid hormone metabolism, antioxidant defense systems, and immune function. Selenium has been shown to repair DNA and synthesis in damaged cells, it inhibits the production and spread of cancer cells, and induces an awesome self-destruct sequence that the body uses to eliminate bad or abnormal cells. Go Selenium! But wait, there’s more! Selenium teams up with vitamin E to create a powerful antioxidant system that not only helps to prevent cancer, but also heart disease, and decreases symptoms of asthma and the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. Oh yea, the oil in whole brown rice lowers cholesterol. Can it eliminate cellulite and bad hair days too?????

There are many good nutritional reasons to eat more brown rice, but I’m not going to get into all of them here and now, but I will offer you a good link to learn more about the nutritional analysis of brown rice. And of course a couple of recipes . . .

GD Meg’s Favorite Brown Rice Recipes

Easy Brown Rice Pilaf

Ingredients
1 – 2 Tbs. olive oil
1 bunch scallions – cleaned and chopped, using as much green as you like
several mushrooms – sliced (optional)
1 red pepper – chopped finely (optional)
2 – 3 cloves garlic  – crushed (not optional as far as I’m concerned, but amount certainly is)
2 cups long grain brown rice*
2 – 4 cups chicken broth*

Instructions
Saute the veggies till they wilt slightly (adding scallions last unless you are using only scallions). Add the crushed garlic with the rice and stir it all well so that oil is relatively evenly distributed. Don’t wait too long to get the chicken broth in there. I use the ‘knuckle’ method for figuring out how much fluid to cook my rice in as taught to me by my big sis Lisa – have enough fluid so that when you stick your first finger (pointer) straight into the mix, the very tip of your finger should touch the top of the rice and the fluid should come to your first knuckle. I know you’ll want to know how to adjust for different sized fingers, but honestly, it seems to work for ALL sizes. I have no idea what magic makes this work, but it does – every time.  Bring the mixture to a good rolling boil and jam a good tight lid on and reduce the heat to it’s lowest setting and set the timer for 1 hour. Don’t peek at the rice until it is done.

*don’t really have to measure if you use the knuckle method described above.

What to do with leftover brown rice you ask?

Meg’s Leftover Fried Rice!

Ingredients
Scrambled Eggs – enough for each person being served to have at least 1
1 Tbs. Fresh Ginger – or as much as you like
1 – 2 Cloves Garlic – or as much as you like crushed
1 – 2 Tbs. Coconut Oil (the kind best for high-heat cooking)
Veggies! (choose your family favorites – we like carrots, peas, onions, mushrooms, peppers and sometimes even corn – try to proportion slightly less than amount of brown rice)
Cooked Brown Rice – as much as you like, proportion according to veggies
Cilantro – chopped to taste
Chopped/Slivered Almonds or Nuts – to taste

Instructions
First thing, whip up your scrambled eggs as per your favorite method and put aside in a covered dish to keep warm. If you have a wok, this is a great time to use it. If you don’t, just get out your biggest, best saute pan. Warm up the garlic and ginger in the coconut oil and add in the veggies one at a time till they are all cooked, but not overly so. Add the rice and eggs and stir it good making sure everything is heated thoroughly. After done cooking, add cilantro and slivered almonds or nuts as you like.

Please share your favorite easy brown rice recipes!

eat. blog. be merry!
GD Meg

This delicious wintry salad/slaw was concocted by committee – myself, Dorothy Mullen and Cynthia Mutterperl – a couple of Sundays ago. We were all in Dor’s kitchen on a very snowy Sunday for her monthly Suppers dinner. Usually there is a larger group, but Cindy and I were the only silly (and fortunate because we had an awesome dinner!) souls that didn’t stay home because of the weather.

We had a great discussion about blood sugar issues and the benefits of being gluten free. We are all working on eliminating wheat and gluten from our lives. Dor has developed some fascinating curriculum about her work with nutrition and blood sugar among other health concerns. Go to the Suppers website to learn more about what she is up to.

The rest of the meal consisted of delicious jazzed up rice and beans and roasted butternut squash with roasted onions and garlic – yum. But, here’s the recipe for:

Sunday Supper’s January Root Veggie Slaw Recipe

Ingredients
4 – 5 cups shredded root veggies cleaned/scraped (carrots, parsnips, beets – we threw in green beans for fun. I suspect kale would work too.)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sesame oil
2 T. ginger
3 T. toasted sesame seeds
10 drops liquid stevia (or to taste)
1/2 head roasted garlic

Instructions
We used a food processor with the shredding thing to pretty quickly get the veggies prepared. We happened to have roasted garlic prepared for another part of dinner, so if you don’t have time to roast garlic (which takes almost an hour), just use a couple of heads of crushed raw garlic. Mix it all up and enjoy!

eat. blog. be merry!
GD Meg