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Eat Outside of the Box With an Exotic Vegetable this Week!

Jan 18 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

It’s boring to eat the same old produce every week, especially when mother nature is giving us so much exotic variety to play with. Crazy cool celery root, bright purple kohlrabi with those cute little spaceship looking arms, and magical bulbous fennel are just a few of my winter favorites. Don’t be afraid–ugly and exotic vegetables are hidden beauties just waiting to be discovered! . This week, grab a friend (preferably a curious child) and take a little adventure with me. I’m betting you’ll discover some new favorite sides, salads, and go-to comfort food techniques that are also loaded with that healthy, not boring good stuff!

Let’s start with my new favorite comfort food recipe, Rosemary Roasted Celery Root and Potatoes. If you have never tried celery root, this recipe is a great one to get you started and you can make it in 25 minutes end-to-end. I adore potatoes but for anyone trying to pack in even more nutrition with less glycemic load, celery root is your go-to substitute. It’s loaded with fiber, flavor, vitamins like B6 and K, and here’s a bonus: it only has 30 calories per ½ cup serving! If you’re not sure how to cut into a celery root, check out my 1-minute video to learn how easy it can be!

Celery root may be an ugly vegetable on the outside, but once you peel back its hairy exterior, you find a creamy delicious inner vegetable that’s divine in a simple salad. My Crazy Cool Celery Root and Apple Salad is inspired by the way I’ve eaten it in France, with a simple tangy yogurt dressing and hints of tarragon. Crunchy and delicious, I round out this salad with a handful of warm and nutty walnuts and dried cranberries on top!

Are you ready to go full on exotic? Run, don’t meander to make my Cheesy Creamy Kohlrabi Fennel Gratin! If you’re not already familiar with fennel, this recipe will bring you to you knees in love with this anise scented veggie. After quickly blanching your diced fennel and kohlrabi in boiling salted water, you simply toss it with a generous portion of creamy Parmesan and fresh thyme, pop it in the oven, and what comes out 30 minutes later is a heavenly creamy casserole of goodness. Just be sure to always pick the more rounded, voluptuous bulbs at the market. My Italian cooking teacher says they are the female fennel, and of course they are sweeter and have more flavor! Mangia!

Cheesy Creamy Kohlrabi Fennel Gratin

2016-01-13 00:06:06

Serves 4

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

55 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

55 min

Ingredients

kohlrabi (purple or green), 3 small
fennel, 2 large
thyme (fresh), about 3 TBS
parmesan cheese (grated), 1 1/2 cups
olive oil, 3 TBS
salt, 1/2 tsp
black pepper, 1/4 tsp

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. For every eight cups of water, use ½ tablespoon of salt.
Trim fennel of the rougher outer edges and bottom core. Cut off the stems (not used in this recipe but could be used another time to flavor a soup or broth). Cut medium thick slices from the fennel bulb and then medium dice.
Peel kohlrabi. Cut each into two halves. Make medium thick slices and then cut into medium dice.
Grate Parmesan cheese, if not already grated.
Pick off the leaves from the thyme branches and chop them finely. Place in a large mixing bowl along with 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and black pepper. Note: it may feel like a lot of thyme, but this recipe can handle it!

Cook

Blanch fennel and kohlrabi by placing them into the salted boiling water for three minutes. Drain in a colander after cooking.
Immediately transfer to the bowl with the thyme and other ingredients. Stir together while still warm.
Transfer to a baking dish and top with the remaining ½ cup grated cheese. Cover and bake at 375F for 25 minutes.
Remove the tinfoil and brown the top of the gratin under the broiler, about 2-3 minutes.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Get Radical and Go Meatless One Night A Week!

Jan 11 by Chef Hollie Greene 2 Comments

Who doesn’t love being radical? At the top of my New Year’s resolutions list this year was: 1) do not take yourself too seriously in 2016, 2) find more time for play, and 3) eat even MORE veggies and less meat! So when I say get radical, I’m sort of poking fun because if you’ve been following trends over the last decade beginning with when Michael Pollan steared us in the right direction to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” you’ll already know that vegetables have clearly become the delicious center of the plate. What I’m really suggesting in this week’s “Healthy, Not Boring” Tip is to make cooking and eating vegetables more fun for your entire family. There’s no easier way to do this than by going all out “theme” one night a week–Italian night, Tex Mex night, Chinese night–oh YES! Join me this week as we take our Meatless Mondays to a whole new healthy, not boring level with these three fun and delicious meals!

What I love about pesto is that it’s a green sauce that requires zero cooking! In my Joyful 12 recipe, Betcha Won’t Believe It’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta, I’m mixing up the standard basil centric recipe with a winter veggie that most kids and adults already love. What’s super fun about this pesto is its neon green color that comes from quickly blanching the broccoli florets and stems in the salty pasta water for a few minutes before they go into the food processor. If you didn’t already know this super cool science trick, it’s the salt in the water that keeps the chlorophyll from leaching out of green veggies that have been blanched! I’ll guarantee this hazelnut, parsley, and broccoli loving sauce will become your family’s favorite Italian meal this winter!

If you’re looking for a taste explosion, you’ve got to make Elena’s Kickin Southwestern Quinoa bowl. I’m addicted. What I love about this dish is that once you make it, you can continue eating it for several days in different ways–one night in a burrito, the next alongside a grilled piece of fish, or as a packed lunch on the go. With Elena’s recipe for a sweet and spicy mango salsa to top off all of this plant based yumminess, you’re guaranteed to return to this recipe as I have time and time again.

As I write this post, we are literally making fried rice for dinner! It’s always a variation of my standard Joyful 12 recipe based on whatever veggies I’ve got on hand. What I do though to make a Monday meal just a little more civilized is I do a little prep Sunday night when I’m vegging out to Downton Abbey, i.e., that’s when I cook my brown rice ahead of time. And don’t sweat it if you lean on those frozen veggies in your fried rice. Believe me, you’re going to pack in loads of fiber and flavor with so little effort, you’ll see why I call this my go-to Meatless Monday meal!

Betcha Won’t Believe it’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta

2016-01-06 22:46:20

Serves 4

A Joyful 12 recipe

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

Pasta (fusilli), 12 oz.
Salt, 1 ½ tsp.

Broccoli Pesto

Parmesan cheese (grated), 2/3 cup
Hazelnuts, 1/3 cup
Broccoli, 1 head (medium)
Parsley (fresh), 1 bunch (2 cups measured)
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Black pepper, ¼ teaspoon
Olive oil, 1 cup
Garlic, 1-2 cloves (optional)

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for every 8 cups add 1 ½ teaspoons salt).
Grate Parmesan cheese. Set aside a little extra to sprinkle on top of your final dish.
Cut off the tops of the parsley, trying to get mostly leaves. Don’t worry if you get some stems. They will blend up in the pesto.
For the broccoli: cut off the florets (the flowering clusters at the end of the stem). Also cut most of the stem, just discarding the lower woody part. You can quickly cut off the outer parts of the stem (peel it with your knife) that are harder and chop the more tender inside of the stem into chunks.

Cook

First grind cheese and nuts together in a food processor.
In the salted boiling water, drop broccoli florets and stems. After 2 minutes, remove the broccoli and put directly into your food processor.
Add the parsley, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil and pulse until combined.
Bring the salted water back up to a boil and cook the pasta according to the box instructions.
Drain the noodles.
In a bowl, combine cooked pasta with broccoli pesto and serve with some extra Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Notes

Culinary Note: I often find that children are not as fond of raw garlic in their pesto. For this recipe, we like to gently simmer the garlic in olive oil for about 15 minutes before using.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Healthy, Not Boring! Snack Swap-outs You’ll Crave

Jan 4 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

I have always loved to snack. It helps me keep a joyful mood (!!) and prevents me from overdoing it when mealtime arrives. The key I’ve found to making sure snacks stay healthy is to utilize those one to two times each day when the cravings hit to work in just a few more vegetables and fruits in my daily intake–but with a whole lotta flavor and fun. Join me as we kick off this New Year with a snackin bang loaded with plant powered flavor and zero guilt!

The hardest part of my Beets at Sunset recipe is boiling water! Beets are in season, and there are endless reasons to eat them. That bright red pigment is nature’s way of telling you that beets contain loads of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can ward off sickness, reduce blood pressure, and assist in flushing toxins from our liver. Even the greens are full of iron and can be chopped into a salad or sautéed in olive oil. If you want a colorful snack that’s fun to assemble, easy to make, and healthy to boot, Beets at Sunset is a recipe for you.

My next two favorite snacks come from my Joyful 12® program and require a fun mix of raw veggies to dip into them. Let’s face it. Most of us could stand to eat more fruits and vegetables. Even if you love them, sometimes you don’t have the time to work them into your meals! My Sweet Potato Hummus dip is nutty and sweet and a fun new way to enjoy items already in your pantry, like almond butter and spices. And when it comes to working in more orange veggies into your winter diet, sweet potatoes are easy to cook with, loaded with nutrients and fiber, and kids love them.

Raw veggies do rule, especially when you dip, dunk, or smother them in your favorite sauce like my Super Duper Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing. First, vegetables are beautiful. Have you seen the inside of a purple cabbage or a watermelon radish? Second, they are straightforward. Nothing is hidden! Third, vegetables make a wonderful crunching sound kids and adults crave, and often are naturally sweet. So when in doubt about what to grab for that mid-afternoon snack, you can never go wrong with raw vegetables and a yummy homemade dip. I’m all about little to no kitchen preparation and snacks that can stay fresh in your child’s lunch box or your own purse!

What to do with Thanksgiving Leftovers: Sweet-n-Savory Potstickers

Nov 19 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Growing up, my dad always looked forward to his leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich piled high and slathered with mayo and cranberry relish. There is no denying it remains to be a really delicious way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers, but this year I’m excited to try a new family tradition where everyone can get in on the fun–making potstickers with a whole host of holiday leftovers.

For years, I’ve heard beautiful memories from my husband and his children about their potsticker assembly cooking sessions. That’s what’s great about potstickers. They truly are a team sport! While your extended family is in town, especially the kiddos, making potstickers is a great way to bond over a cooking activity that you’ll remember for years to come.

And for those of us who hate to waste food, potstickers help you get creative so that even those leftover cranberries get put to good use in the form of a spicy dipping sauce! The really cool thing is that I’m sure your family will find their own creative combination this year as you mix ingredients. My husband, who truly is a pro at making these, was delightfully surprised by my leftover sweet potato version in a brown butter sauce. I’m counting on the fact that we’ll have a whole tray to freeze and enjoy on another weeknight when we’re hankering for some of those delicious creations we made together with family!

Leftover Turkey Potstickers with a Spicy Cranberry Dipping Sauce

2015-11-16 23:17:59

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Ingredients

Leftover turkey, dark and white meat, approximately 2 cups
Cremini mushrooms, 8 oz., pre-sliced
Savory (or Napa) cabbage, 1 small
Green onions, 1 small bunch
Vegetable oil, 1-2 TBSP
Soy sauce, ¼ cup
Sesame oil, 2-3 TBSP
Potsticker (Gyoza) wrappers, 1 package

Spicy Cranberry Dipping Sauce

Leftover cranberry sauce, ½ cup
Soy Sauce, 1 TBSP
Rice wine vinegar, 1 TBSP
Sriracha sauce (or chili sauce), ¼ tsp
Red chili flakes, ¼ tsp

Prep

Chop leftover turkey into small pieces.
Chop cabbage, mushrooms, and green onion into small pieces (mince).
Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add enough vegetable oil to coat the surface, followed by the mushrooms, cabbage, and green onion. Saute on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes.
Once the vegetables start to wilt, add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and mix vegetables with the cut up turkey.
To make the cranberry dipping sauce, place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix together. Set aside for cooked potstickers.

Assemble Potstickers

Put tap water in a small bowl. You’ll use this to help seal the potstickers.
Hold the round potsticker dough in your hand. First, dip your finger in the water and run it around the outer edge of the potsticker round.
Next, using a spoon, put your filling in the center of the round. Be careful to not overstuff your potsticker!
Fold the dough over the filling to form a half circle. Seal the edges with your hand.
As a design technique, you can pinch a little skin and fold along the edge of the potsticker (starting at the center and working towards each of the edges).
Make as many potstickers as you can until your filling runs out! I like to line them up on a cookie sheet. We press them down a little when we set them down, which will help the bottoms to brown when you fry them in the pan. Any potstickers we don’t cook that day, we freeze on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag until ready to cook on another day.

Cook

Preheat a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil.
When the oil is warmed, place potstickers flat side down in the pan. Allow bottoms to brown for 3-4 minutes. Note: you'll have to cook potstickers in batches. Try not to overcrowd your pan.
Once you’ve gotten a good browning on the bottoms of the potstickers, add ¼ cup water to the pan and cover to help them steam and finish cooking for another 2 minutes.
Once the water has evaporated, you can add a little more sesame oil to the pan if you desire for flavor and to finish browning the potstickers in the pan.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Leftover Sweet Potato Casserole Potstickers

2015-11-16 23:25:53

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Ingredients

Leftover mashed sweet potatoes or sweet potato casserole
Potsticker (Gyoza) wrappers, 1 package
Vegetable oil, 2 tsp.
Butter, 4 TBSP (cubed)
Sage (fresh), 3 leaves, chopped

Prep

Place leftover mashed sweet potatoes (or sweet potato casserole) into a bowl.
Make the brown butter sage sauce and set aside: heat butter over medium high heat until milk solids start separating from butterfat. Swirl butter in pan. When you start to smell hazelnuts and brown bits start to form, add the chopped sage and remove from heat.

Assemble Potstickers

Put tap water in a small bowl. You’ll use this to help seal the potstickers.
Hold the round potsticker dough in your hand. First, dip your finger in the water and run it around the outer edge of the potsticker round.
Next, using a spoon, put your filling in the center of the round. Be careful to not overstuff your potsticker!
Fold the dough over the filling to form a half circle. Seal the edges with your hand.
As a design technique, you can pinch a little skin and fold along the edge of the potsticker (starting at the center and working towards each of the edges).
Make as many potstickers as you can until your filling runs out! I like to line them up on a cookie sheet. We press them down a little when we set them down, which will help the bottoms to brown when you fry them in the pan. Any potstickers we don’t cook that day, we freeze on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag until ready to cook on another day.

Cook

Preheat a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil.
When the oil is warmed, place potstickers flat side down in the pan. Allow bottoms to brown for 3-4 minutes. Note: you'll have to cook potstickers in batches. Try not to overcrowd your pan.
Once you’ve gotten a good browning on the bottoms of the potstickers, add ¼ cup water to the pan and cover to help them steam and finish cooking for another 2 minutes.
Once the water has evaporated, add the brown butter sage sauce to the pan and coat sweet potato potstickers in the sauce.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Wellness in the Schools and Joyfoodly in The Edible Schoolyard Project Network News!

Nov 13 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

I’m so grateful to Hannah Piercey and Emilie Gioia, my friends and colleagues at the Edible Schoolyard Project, for highlighting our work on their incredible network.

Can you believe that kids will go crazy for kale? My good friend, Chef Annie Hanrahan, knows it’s true. On the Edible Schoolyard Project Network News today, Chef Annie shares her interview with me about the Wellness in the Schools (WITS) Kale Cooking Labs we piloted together at Lu Sutton Elementary this fall.

Want to find out how that kale magic happens in a WITS Cooking Lab? Read Annie’s full article and interview with me on the Edible Schoolyard Network News today. And if you’re curious about how we’ll expand the WITS Cooking Labs at Lu Sutton Elementary and in the Novato Unified School District, we’re so proud to announce that we’ve just received the Growing Leaders Fund grant from The Culinary Trust of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals), which will help us make this expansion happen. Once you start an organic vegetable movement with kids, it’s impossible to stop their joy and appetite for learning more–thank goodness!

Orange Tomato Brown Butter Seared Scallops

Nov 3 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

I want to let you in on a little secret. Decadent holiday entertaining is only a seared scallop and orange tomato browned butter spoonful away. I wouldn’t lead you on…not when it comes to one of my all-time favorite recipes.

If you’ve ever tasted freshly made butternut squash ravioli pan seared in a brown butter sage sauce or petrale sole gently bathed in brown butter, capers, and lemon, you’ll know why chefs use browned butter. Learning to brown butter in culinary school, known as making a beurre noisette sauce in French, was sometimes torture. We did it again, and again, and again until we got it right which means perfect. The trick was in not just trusting your eyes to know when it was ready but really tuning into your nose to do the work–that oh so tender moment between a perfectly toasted hazelnut and a burning disaster.

But my friend Barbara, a beloved Brazilian student and amazing chef, changed my world when she came into school one night and told me about these buttery, juicy scallops she had made the night before with a creative twist. She paired them with browned butter. Wait. She didn’t stop there. Creating a complex and rounded taste, she combined that browned butter with acidic tomato puree and sweet fresh juice from an orange. I started salivating just thinking about it. So I clearly made the best rendition I could imagine from Barbara’s sensual description the minute I had a free night off from school–of course for my dearest friends.

The heady aroma and the buttery yet citrusy taste of her rich sauce will make you beg for more. I don’t often moan and groan after taking a bite of a dish, but these scallops are a spoon-type situation. Oh, yes. Drop that fork and pick up your spoon. You are going to want to scoop up every last ounce of this sauce!

And to make my version of Barbara’s brilliant scallops bullet proof for the home cook, I throw my sauce into a blender to ensure it doesn’t break (fats separating from their other liquid components), which turns the sauce into the most vibrant orange color, sure to break those winter blues. So whether you decide to hog this recipe all for yourself or serve your friends these jewels of decadence this holiday season, be sure to say a quiet “obrigada” to Barbara when you’re licking your spoon.

Barbara’s Orange Tomato Brown Butter Scallops

2015-10-27 21:42:19

Serves 4

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

Oranges, 2, juiced
Tomato puree, 1 cup
Butter, unsalted, 4 tablespoons cubed
Salt, 1 ¼ teaspoons (divided)
Scallops, 8, dried thoroughly, side muscle removed
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon
Chives, 1 bunch, diced

Prep

Blend tomato puree, juiced oranges, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt over the dried scallops.

Make brown butter sauce

Heat butter over medium high heat until milk solids start separating from butterfat.
Swirl butter in pan. When you smell hazelnuts and brown bits start to form, remove from heat and add to the other sauce ingredients in the blender. Pulse until combined.

Cook the scallops in batches of 4

Preheat aluminum pan. Add ½ tablespoon vegetable oil.
Carefully place each scallop in pan. Do not move scallops until you see a brown crust forming on the bottom of the scallop.
Turn scallops over in the pan. Turn heat down to medium low.
Cook for another minute. Let this batch rest on a plate while you cook the remaining 4 scallops.
Reheat satsuma butter sauce in a pot over low heat until warm.
Serve 2 scallops per person in shallow bowls on top of the sauce. Eat with a spoon!

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Pear Perfect Korean Chicken Kabobs

Oct 27 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

My husband loves to grill. That’s why I gave him the job of coming up with a recipe for our friend’s birthday party “grill off.” That’s right. When there’s celebration that involves a healthy dose of competition + grilling, you know it’s going to be delicious! People rise to the occasion.

With a theme of dishes from around Asia, Jim got to work on a flavorful marinade using all things he adores and a little help from his diligent internet search: ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, and garlic. And just like any great partnership, he asked me for my two cents. My suggestion was to throw in something unusual since this was a competition after all.

Pears are the perfect addition to a blended marinade. From what we later read in articles like this one I love from The Kitchn, pear juice is often used by Korean cooks as a tenderizer and sweet flavor enhancer. Assuming that many of our “bros” at the party would go big time meat centric, we opted for chicken in the form of a beautiful yellow pepper, onion, and perfect pear chicken kabob. It was a HIT. We even won a little trophy, but don’t take my word for it. Fire up that grill before the snow comes and take a little Korean BBQ adventure with pears this fall.

Pear Perfect Korean Chicken Kabobs

2015-10-21 21:53:31

Serves 4

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Prep Time

45 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

45 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

Pear, 1
White onion, 1/2
Garlic, 4 cloves
Tamari (gluten free soy sauce), 2 tablespoons
Brown sugar, 2 tablespoons
Sesame oil, 1 tablespoon
Ginger (fresh), approximately 2 teaspoons
Skinless boneless chicken breasts, 3, medium sized cubes
Red onion, 1, medium pieces
Yellow Bell Pepper, 1, medium dice
Wooden skewers, 10

Prep

Place the chopped pear (skin on), white onion, garlic, tamari, brown sugar, sesame oil, and ginger in a blender and pulse until smooth to make the pear marinade.
Marinate chicken for 30 minutes while preheating the grill. Soak wooden skewers in a bowl of water while chicken is marinating.

To make kabobs

Alternate the marinated chicken cubes, thick slices of red onion, and medium diced yellow bell pepper.
Grill for 10-12 minutes over medium high heat, rotating the skewers to sear all sides.

By my husband, Jim

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Yoga in The Kitchen

Oct 19 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Good cooking and nutrition should be a lifestyle- that’s the basic premise behind what we do here at Joyfoodly. Is it any surprise that Anna Yoga and Ayurveda share many goals in common. Here to share her thoughts on practicing yoga in the kitchen and to share a favorite recipe is Kajal Dhabalia of WholesomeSoul.com. Her chickpea flour and rice patties feature spinach and onions for a delicious vegetable kick, but can easily be adapted to any number of fresh in season vegetables year-round. -Chef Hollie

Have you ever finished a yoga class feeling grounded, quiet and joyful….and wishing you could feel like this all day long? As someone who spends a lot of time and effort on her yoga and meditation mat, I’ve learned that some of the best ways to continue my practice off the mat is through my diet and lifestyle.

The ancient yogi’s of India thought about everything in the context of how things influence our bodies, our minds and ultimately our consciousness. In fact, many people don’t know this, but there’s a whole branch of yoga called Anna Yoga– a science devoted to food for health and happiness. Combined with Ayurveda (the Indian Science of Healing), Anna Yoga and Ayurveda provide great resources for striving yogi’s who want to have a strong yoga and meditation practice…because food after all, is an amazing tool.

Food not only satisfies our hunger, but it replenishes our blood supply, helps us heal and influences the stability of our mind. Yogic cooking does not dissect food into vitamins, minerals, protein, but rather it shows that the true benefits of whole ingredients can be experienced only when they are NOT isolated and are kept true in their natural form as possible (i.e. preservatives, additives, processed foods). They explain that the most vital component to true health is to have a fresh and balanced diet so that all the faculties of digestion can work smoothly.

The core intentions of Anna Yoga + Ayurveda are:

Every body has a different constitution; therefore, not all food is made for every body. To learn what your constitution is, click here: https://www.ayurveda.com/pdf/constitution.pdf
All foods have various qualities of prana (energy) that stimulate the mind/body in different ways. To learn more about basic ayurvedic food guidelines, click here: http://www.ayurveda.com/pdf/food-guidelines.pdf
Food should be easy for the body’s digestion to work smoothly—absorption, assimilation and elimination.
Meals should consist mainly of fresh fruits & veggies and whole grains.
And, developing the understanding and awareness that, we truly are what we eat; so to be conscious of what we put into our bodies.

Hand in hand with becoming more mindful of what we put in our bodies, is the importance of being conscious of the people, places and things we surround ourselves. Just as the food we eat affects us, what we fill our lives up with soaks into our subconscious. For example, good company can inspire us to live well, a meaningful piece of art can serve as a daily reminder of something positive and an uplifting book can put a spark of magic into your day. These little but big doses of inspiration can directly and indirectly shape our perspectives, nourish our faith and foster our own personal growth.

So, here’s to taking your yoga practice off the mat and into your daily life…one bite at a time ☺.

One of my favorite go-to recipes is my Chickpea Flour and Rice Patties. Basically, they turn out like mini, eggless, omelets; easy, delicious and very nourishing. ENJOY!

Chickpea Flour & Rice Patties

2015-10-13 17:47:58

Serves 4

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Ingredients

4 cups cooked rice
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 cup yogurt
1-1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoon ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon jalapeño, finely grated
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 cups spinach, finely chopped
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoon salt (salt to taste)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon asafetida or ½ cup finely diced onions

Instructions

In a large bowl, place garbanzo bean flour, yogurt and water and beat until smooth.
Add turmeric, red chili powder, asafetida and salt to the batter and mix. Then, add ginger, jalapeño, spinach, cilantro and onions and combine again. Add then fold in cooked rice.
Place a non-stick, medium size skillet on medium heat and place 1 teaspoon of oil on pan.
When oil is heated, place 1/2 cup mixture on skillet, flatten out patty a little, if necessary.
*BE PATIENT and allow to cook 4-5 minutes on each side. I like to wiggle the spatula underneath every so often just to ensure the patty isn't sticking, but make sure to be very gentle.

Notes

*It is very important to keep the skillet well greased so that the patty does not stick.
VEGAN NOTES | Just omit yogurt and add extra water in batter for pancake batter like consistency.
GLUTEN FREE NOTES | Totally gluten free!

By Kajal Dhabalia

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

BIO | Kajal Dhabalia

Kajal Dhabalia is a graphic designer by trade, and at heart a devout lover of yoga, food and art. Basically she loves all things creative and spiritual. When she’s not cooking or doing yoga herself, she runs an online creative design boutique called Wholesome Soul (www.wholesomesoul.com) where she offers an uplifting collection of original art pieces, prints, and other home related goodies, while also sharing a few of her favorite recipes in between.

Since she knows that most of us can’t stay on our yoga mats all day, her mission is to help people stay inspired—off the mat and into their daily lives.

Find Kajal at:

Website: www.wholesomesoul.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kajaldhabalia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wholesome-Soul-by-Kajal-Dhabalia/272191999486604

Veggie Mac n Cheese–More Kale Please!

Sep 30 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Kale and Mac-n-cheese are a match made in heaven. Now, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it–especially since you’ll be feeling so much better about the heaping scoop you’ve put on your plate after you realize you’ve added a superfood to your favorite comfort meal.

If you’ve never made mac-n-cheese from scratch, it’s such a fun recipe to make with kids. There are so many tasks they can help you with from:

Grating the cheeses to
Tearing kale from its stalks into little pieces to
Checking the pasta for “doneness”–is it “al dente?!” to
Helping stir the butter and flour into a roux (which will thicken the milk) and letting you know when it starts to smell like cookie dough so you can pour that milk in and stir, stir, stir!

The most exciting part is when the cheese they grated gets mixed into the creamy bechamel sauce with the noodles and veggies, and it goes into its baking vessel. You get wafts of nutmeg smells as it slides out of the hot pasta pot and into the oven with its crunchy breadcrumb topping.

And as your kids dig their forks into this ooey gooey pasta masterpiece, you’ll relish knowing that the kale (and maybe a little broccoli) that you stuffed into this classic is pumping their brains with antioxidants, their muscles with calcium and vitamin k, and their bodies with fiber to keep them full and happy. Go ahead and crown yourself a kale hero. I surely will.

Don’t miss all of the fun that will be happening across the country on National Kale Day, October 7th, 2015. We will be serving students of Lu Sutton Elementary the Ginger Kale Salad by Wellness in the Schools that they learned the week before in our cooking labs. What kind of kale adventures do you have in store? Here’s to the kale hero in each of us!

Veggie Mac & Cheese - More Kale Please!

2015-09-29 22:56:33

Serves 8

Note on additions: we love to add in some broccoli to our kale saute!

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 15 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

elbow macaroni, 1 lb (can also use GF brand)
salt, 1 tsp
vegetable broth, 1 quart
all purpose flour, 1/4 cup (can also use GF flour)
kale, 1 bunch
olive oil, 4 TBS
butter, 4 TBS
milk (2% or full), 3 cups
nutmeg (ground), 1 tsp
emmental (type of swiss cheese), 1/2 lb
white cheddar cheese (not sharp), grated, 1/2 lb
bread crumbs, 1 cup (can also use GF breadcrumbs)

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Grate cheeses.
Thinly slice the greens.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. **Note, the pasta boxes always recommend you put way more water than is needed to cook these noodles. Just make sure you’ve put enough water to cover them completely! You don’t need a special pot.

Cook Noodles

Add macaroni to boiling water and cook until al dente (a little chewy to the tooth). The pasta will keep cooking when we bake the mac n cheese in the oven!
Remove ¼ cup of the water they cooked in before you drain the noodles. Place the cooking water into a bowl.
Drain the noodles and then add them to the bowl where you put the ¼ cup cooking liquid. This should keep them from sticking together until you are ready to add them to the final mac and cheese.
Sauté greens + add cooked noodles
Use the same pot you cooked your noodles to sauté the greens in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt for 2-3 minutes.
Add ¼ cup vegetable broth and cook another 2-3 minutes. Cook until slightly crisp.
Add your cooked noodles and about ¼ cup of the reserved pasta liquid to the pot with the cooked greens.

Make white sauce, called béchamel

In a separate medium pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter on med/high heat and add ¼ cup flour, whisking until the mixture is like sand and a golden color.
Add 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of vegetable broth.
Stay on medium-high heat, continuously stirring with a whisk until thickened—approximately 10 minutes.
Add nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Turn off the heat; add your grated cheeses and stir until melted.
Add your cooked vegetables and noodles to this pot and combine.
Place in an ovenproof dish, top with breadcrumbs with a drizzle of olive oil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Ginger Kale Salad–A Recipe by Wellness in the Schools

Sep 22 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

When I was a young chef just out of culinary school, I volunteered and worked for Wellness in the Schools (WITS) in New York City. It’s where I learned a love for how to tie healthier school lunches with the importance of teaching kids how to engage with these new foods without fear and loads of joy. You may not believe it, but in just 50 minutes, a Kale Cooking Lab can change a kid’s relationship with food forever. I’ve seen it firsthand.

The discussion around school food can get complicated really fast. There is policy involved (Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act), the politics and influence of the big food industry, the USDA, and certainly there’s the skills and will challenge of going from a heat-and-serve food culture to actually preparing whole, locally grown foods from scratch for kids. Often as adults, when we do make changes in school food, we generously pat ourselves on the back but forget that we’ve only tackled half the battle. Now, we must educate kids on how to eat that new healthier food so it doesn’t end up in the trash.

Yes, you can improve the food served in schools, but if you don’t teach children how to engage with these new foods with all of their senses and reduce the fear of trying new foods, there is a huge disconnect between what’s served and what’s eaten. I saw this first hand while working for Wellness in the Schools. Fast forward 10 years later, and WITS is bringing healthy food and fitness to 40,000 students across 75 public schools, cafeterias, classrooms, and recess yards. Clearly, there’s so much work to be done.

What I have found I love doing best is not working in the cafeteria but in the classroom. No matter what happens on the school food front, I know that when I teach a child how to cook a simple recipe and engage with farm fresh, local vegetables and fruits with all of their senses, I’ve planted a seed that will grow with them for life. That’s why I’m SO excited about this new partnership with WITS and my partner in the Novato California Unified School District, Miguel Villarreal, our pilot school’s principal and PTA, and our presenting sponsor, Whole Foods Market. Next week, we’re piloting the WITS Labs through our Joyful 12 School Pilot at Lu Sutton Elementary–350 kids will learn how to make this delicious salad and then we’ll feature it on the salad bar the following week on October 7th, National Kale Day.

I hope you’ll try this easy and delicious recipe with your kids in your home kitchens. I’m betting you’ll find some kale converts in your household after they get to help you grate the ginger, rip the kale from its stems, squeeze the fresh orange juice, and toss the beautiful strands of greens in their honey, orange and ginger soy dressing.

Ginger Kale Salad - A recipe by Wellness in the Schools

2015-09-22 23:30:37

Serves 6

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Ingredients

2 bunches lacinato (dinosaur) kale,
washed, de-stemmed, and chopped thin
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Juice from 1/2 orange
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cup olive oil

Prep

Combine vinegar, juice, soy sauce, honey, and ginger in a large bowl and whisk.
Add oil slowly while whisking so that a thick consistency is achieved.
Combine dressing with kale, a bit at a time, and mix thoroughly until salad is completely coated
with dressing. You may not need to use all of the dressing.
Using your hands, massage the kale with the dressing until covered

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

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