Autumn Detox Salad with Creamy Ginger-Cilantro Dressing (vegan)

Sometimes when the weather cools it is easy to get into the habit of eating more dense, cooked foods. For some people this is just what they need. But for others, a balance between raw and cooked (or even predominantly raw) is best. We each are unique, and so should be our diets. This colorful and nutrient-dense salad provides some key ingredients to support healthy detoxification. The dressing is delicious and can be used as a dip for raw veggies or used to top your favorite salads! I've even used it to top steamed vegetables! 

What is detoxification? In functional medicine, detoxification is often considered "biotransformation" because our bodies will transform harmful substances into less harmful substance and then excrete them from the body. This process can vary in effectiveness in different people depending on the nutrients we ingest, our genetics, and what types of toxins we are exposed to. For example, if we are exposed to persistent organic pollutants, which are so complex that they recirculate over and over in our body's detoxification process, they can slow everything down, not allowing a person to properly detox the everyday exposures like mercury from dental fillings or alcohol. Persistent organic pollutants include things like dioxins, DDT, and PCBs. DDT is an insecticide that was banned from the US in 1972. My mom has told me many stories of how she and her friends and siblings used to run behind the trucks that were spraying DDT when she was growing up in the 60's because they all liked the smell of it! Unfortunately they just had no idea back then how toxic it was. DDT has a half life of 50 years, which means that she passed down this stuff to me in utero and through breastfeeding. As a result of this (and other factors), I always need to take extra care in supporting my detoxification pathways.

Toxins come in through our air, food, water, and skin. Once they are in our bodies we need to change their shape to make them less toxic and get them safely out of our systems. Toxins go though two phases of detox: Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 1 adds a chemical handle onto the toxin (usually a hydroxyl group). Phase 2 then grabs the handle and pulls the toxin out of the body (commonly this is glutathione that attaches to the hydroxyl group). Now the toxin needs to safely exit out of the body. This happens through the sweat, urine, and feces. However, if you are consuming a diet low in plant foods, while consuming a diet high in salt and acidifying foods like processed foods, meats, and dairy, then you will not be able to excrete the glutathione-bound toxins in the urine and therefore they will get reabsorbed back into the body! Same with the gut. Without enough soluble fiber from plant foods, the toxins will stick around and get reabsorbed back into the system. This is another reason why a plant-rich diet is so important.

Detox Benefits of this Salad

Raw Thai Kale Slaw with a Creamy Ginger-Almond Butter Dressing

You are going to love this nutritious raw kale slaw. It's full of detoxification and antioxidant compounds, and just bursting with the fresh, bright flavors of basil, mint, and cilantro. All tossed in a slightly spicy and gingery, creamy almond butter dressing. What I love about this salad is that it lasts up to 5 days in the refrigerator! Once it's made, you can take out portions as needed to easily fulfill part of your daily raw veggie needs.

I've been serving a large plateful of this Thai-style kale slaw with fried eggs for breakfast, or tossed with leftover rice and garbanzo beans for lunch. It's also delicious served with a thai-style main dish for dinner, such as Thai Coconut Fish Sticks, Thai Fish Curry with Garden Vegetables, or this Vegan Thai Green Curry.

And not to forget the oh-so-important nutrition information! As you might guess, this salad is rich in detoxifying compounds. Kale and cabbage both come from the cruciferous vegetable family, a family of vegetables known for their detoxification powers. Did you know that there is research showing that autistic children who consume sulforophane (one of the active compounds in cruciferous vegetables) show positive behavioral changes as a result of this nutritional superstar? Sulforophane is most concentrated in broccoli sprouts, but can also be found in raw (or lightly steamed) kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, radishes, watercress, and arugula!

Cruciferous vegetables are also very beneficial in calming down autoimmunity. Once consumed, sulforophane travels to our cells and changes how our genes are read. It literally allows us to read hundreds of beneficial antioxidant and detoxification genes. The result is a cell that has less toxins, and less inflammation. Can you function in a messy, dirty house? I know I can't! The cell is the same. It can't function very well if it has lots of toxins and debris lying around. Detoxification is, in essence, cleaning up the house of the cell. Antioxidants, then we could say, are the repair crew. When your cells are "clean" you might notice increased energy, clearer thinking, and less pain!

Winter Salad with Fennel and a Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Even though it may be winter, you can still eat the colors of the rainbow and give yourself a hearty dose of powerful phytochemicals! Consuming the deep reds, magentas, and oranges you see in this salad means that you are flooding your body with plant chemicals that prevent DNA damage, stimulate the immune system, reduce inflammation, block substances we ingest from becoming carcinogens, and of course mop up free radicals. In fact, I should rename this salad to The Anti-Cancer Salad! My children even love this salad (minus the red onions). I came downstairs yesterday morning to find that they had all packed a container of it their school lunches (along with chicken-vegetable soup or turkey black bean chili)!

If you haven't worked with fennel before then you are in for a treat. This delicious vegetable adds complex flavors to this salad. I love eating it raw but it's also delicious braised or roasted! We like to added it to fresh juices, in fact, since this recipe only uses the bulb, you can save the stalks to make green juice (combine green apple, parsley, kale, lemons, and fennel stalks for a delicious elixir). If you need some visual assistance in cutting up fennel then check out the tutorial I prepared for you at the bottom of this post.

One more note on the ingredients here….this recipe calls for either chopped or segmented blood oranges. To chop them you just peel, slice, and then chop into pieces. To segment, you need to peel them and then cut into wedges around the membranes. I like to use a small serrate knife to do this. It's really very easy but if you've never done it before it can seem daunting. Food52 has a great, short video on doing this that I suggest watching for guidance if you need it. You can view it here.

Post-Holiday Detox Salad (vegan)

Indulge a little too much during the holidays? Feeling the need to cleanse and reset? Drinking too much alcohol, eating a lot of sugary foods, and just eating too much food in general can tax your detoxification pathways. If you are not detoxing properly, you can end up with lowered energy, increased pain in the body, poor circulation, and sluggish digestion.

By consuming this salad, which is rich in plant-based chemicals that promote detoxification, you can relieve some of the unwanted symptoms of a holiday hangover and begin to regain balance. In fact, if you include raw plant foods such as kale, cabbage, arugula, broccoli, collards, ginger, pomegranates, lemons and limes, blueberries, cranberries, black currants, and raspberries in your daily diet (try green smoothies, fresh juices, and big salads), you will find that indulging in (healthy) holiday treats once in a while will be easier for your body to handle. Hint, hint….try serving this salad at your next holiday gathering!

Green Smoothie Recipe for Babies and Toddlers

If you have a baby or toddler and are ready to introduce them to the lovely world of green smoothies then keep reading. If you are an adult who's curious about green smoothies or have a child who has never tasted one before, then keep reading. This post is for you too!

By about 8 months of age, most babies are ready for green smoothies. We like to avoid plastic sippy cups and instead use small glass or ceramic cups (I just go to the thrift store for these) for introducing green smoothies and other liquids. This gives babies and toddlers the opportunity to learn how to properly drink from a real cup right from the beginning. And, as an added bonus, they lessen their exposure to very toxic substances found in plastic: BPA and BPS!


                        Tom's TED talk on cruciferous vegetables

Why introduce green smoothies to a baby? This is the perfect time! Children's taste buds develop in the first 3 years of life so it's best to take advantage of this time and offer a wide variety of healthy food choices. This helps to establish a taste bud-brain connection to different flavors and textures! Kale and other dark leafy green vegetables can have a strong flavor but are also a powerhouse of nutrients. The amazing chemicals in kale and other raw cruciferous vegetables assist in detoxification. In fact, sulforophane in these dark leafy greens ramps up phase 2 detoxification in the liver, providing over 72 hours of protection from both environmentally and internally produced toxins. Considering that cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children in the US today, I think it's very important to make sure that older babies and toddlers are receiving at least one small serving of raw cruciferous vegetables every one to two days. Green smoothies are a perfect way to get them in!

Mustard Green-Lime Pesto (dairy-free, vegan)

If you've been shopping at your local Farmer's Market lately you might have noticed some beautiful purplish-green leafy vegetables for sale called mustard greens. My bet is that you've also wondered what you could do with them if you were to purchase them! Mustard greens are spicy and slightly bitter. I like to add them to soups and stir-fries. They are part of the lovely cruciferous vegetable family—the types of vegetables we highly recommend getting into your diet everyday in order to boost your body's own detoxification abilities. Read more about that in this post.

I grow mustard greens in my garden, and this summer I've had more than we can eat! I pondered for a week or so how I could preserve them, other than lacto-fermentation (as in a mustard green kim chi), and came up with this pesto recipe (which can be frozen). While I was figuring out how to preserve them, they began to bolt. This means that they send up flowers so the plant can bear seeds. When a plant bolts, the greens start to become bitter. I did not want to waste them so I used them anyway. I would suggest looking for tender young mustard greens to use in this raw pesto recipe, though it's still delicious if your greens have begun to bolt!

Green Cleansing Juice

Happy New Year! Cheers! This is our favorite green juice recipe, in fact, our children think it's the bomb! They love it. Serve it in a pretty glass with a stainless steel or glass straw. I think you'll find that this green juice is very mild tasting and quite enjoyable to drink. This recipe is part of our new Elimination Diet Program and Book! We've been receiving so many emails asking about the Elimination Diet and where to find it. Our Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook (where the old program was) is out of print now. We spent our summer completely updating the book with 100 new recipes and plenty of new up-to-date science! It will be available this spring, published through Grand Central Life & Style. We also removed the elimination diet from the book because it deserved its own book. We have a brand-spanking new elimination diet program coming for you soon online. We can't wait to share this powerful healing tool with you, complete with new recipes, menu plans, and more!

If you are setting new year's intentions that revolve around eating well (I like intentions far better than resolutions) then this juice recipe is a great one to add to your repertoire! Through our research we've found that it's quite important for all of us, children included, to add some sort of raw cruciferous vegetable to our daily diets. You can make raw salads, green smoothies, or fresh juices. Cruciferous vegetables include kale, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, arugula, bok choy, daikon radish, horseradish, radish, turnips, rutabaga, watercress, and bittercress (a common weed).

Creamy Almond Kale Smoothie

If there was one thing you could do right now to improve your health would you do it? Eating raw cruciferous vegetables daily might be our saving grace in this increasingly toxic world. Cruciferous vegetables will upregulate or "produce" the enzymes your body needs to eliminate environmental toxins and properly metabolize estrogen. They also provide the sulfur, folic acid, and magnesium these enzymes need to function optimally. Worried about cruciferous vegetables causing thyroid problems? If you closely examine the scientific literature, you will see that people who have thyroid issues after eating cruciferous vegetables are iodine insufficient. Eating nori, cooking your beans with kombu, and eating wild caught Alaskan salmon are ways to increase your iodine intake. We (including our children) also take a kelp extract supplement daily. Researchers are now finding that environmental toxicants have a major role in the rise of thyroid related disorders.....so eating raw cruciferous vegetables protects your health on many levels.

Peach Ginger Mint Green Smoothie

This fresh, summery smoothie will quench your thirst and rejuvenate your cells! My ingredients veer a little from the smoothie ingredients we typically use. This one makes use of all of the produce (except ginger) you can find at your your local Farmer's Market or food co-op right now! Since I have a smoothie recipe for winter, spring, and autumn, I thought a summery green smoothie recipe was in order. You can check out my Super Antioxidant Smoothie which does use summer produce (but it's not green!).

This recipe can be used during the Detox Phase (phase 1) and all phases of our Elimination Diet. Also, since it doesn't have citrus, it is a great first smoothie for older babies! We've been teaching our baby to drink from a cup by giving her little bits of liquid in tiny glasses (bought from Goodwill) since she was 8 months old. We started with water or fresh coconut water and now she can drink a smoothie out of a cup.....no plastic sippy cup needed!

If we give our children the opportunity to learn how to use regular silverware and cups from the beginning, they learn pretty quickly, and all of those baby products you thought you needed become obsolete. Sure, I bought plastic spoons, cups, and bowls with my first baby, even though in the back of my mind it didn't feel quite right. We gave them all away years ago and now that I understand the dangers of using plastic, there is no way I would ever purchase these things again. Babies and toddlers can use small ceramic or glass bowls, wooden bowls, wooden silverware (for young babies), small stainless steel silverware (for older babies), and small glass cups instead of plastic sippy cups.

Kale with Caramelized Onions

Did you know that the food you consume actually changes how your genes are expressed? Every time we eat we tell our bodies which genes to turn on and which genes to turn off. Did you know that there is more gene expression within two hours after eating than any other time of the day? Why? Because food contains gene signaling substances. This is the fascinating world of nutrigenomics, the idea that food is information not merely calories. The Standard American Diet (SAD) turns on genes for heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, and more. Even many gluten-free diets fall into this category. I see many people swapping out wheat bread for super refined gluten-free imitations of bread. These breads, as well as many other refined gluten-free foods, are not healthy even though they may come from a health food store. Basing your diet around organic, seasonal vegetables and fruits is a way to prevent disease, reduce allergies and inflammation, and maintain vibrant health.

This month I am participating in the wonderful blogging event, New Year, New You, hosted by the Daily Bites Blog. This week's theme is Eat More Produce! Kale is a super food, no doubt about it! We have it growing in our garden practically year round. This winter is very mild so the kale didn't die back. We go out everyday and pick what we need for whatever we are making. Kale is one of the easiest ways to Eat More Produce, especially in the wintertime when most fruits and vegetables are out of season. Kale can be chopped and added to just about any soup or stew, added to green smoothies, or sautéed alone or with other ingredients like in the recipe below. Compounds from kale and other brassica family vegetables have been shown in scientific papers to turn on genes that assist with antioxidant formation, increase detoxification, and turn on gene cell cycle arrest. In a nut shell, they help to prevent cancer, and assist in stopping cancer cell growth.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Shallots and Cranberries

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a few Thanksgiving side dish recipes to share. I don't have time to share all of the recipes I will be preparing this year but here is my menu.....squash from our garden stuffed with a Red Quinoa, Cranberry & Apple Filling; a Yam Casserole topped with Chopped Pecans & Cinnamon; Sesame Crackers; Roasted Red Pepper Dip served with plenty of raw veggies; Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls; Cranberry-Pear Sauce; Cranberry-Orange Punch; Herb Roasted Turkey; Wild Rice Stuffing; and Mashed Red Potatoes with Roasted Garlic. I will make my Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake and an apple pie for dessert. A friend of mine is bringing a few raw salads, and of course, I will be making this divine Brussels Sprouts recipe. The combination of the almonds, dried cranberries, and shallots creates a balanced, flavorful dish that is worthy to be part of any Thanksgiving Dinner.

Last week we harvested our Brussels Sprouts, just before the cold temperatures hit. This was the first year that I had grown them and I definitely plan to allot a larger space in the garden next year to grow more. We love brussels sprouts prepared most any way!

Orange-Wasabi Cabbage Salad

I absolutely love raw cabbage. I love the crispy crunch with every bite. I love the way it makes me feel...healthy and alive, my digestion strong. It feels cleansing. Luckily my children like cabbage too, though my girls have decided they like their cabbage plain, no dressing please. I gave this salad to my twin boys who turned two yesterday and one of them loved it while the other one spit it out (photo below).

I have found that the first three years of life is the most important time for introducing foods. Offering toddlers a wide variety of foods is key to their eating habits for the rest of their lives. They will most likely go through phases where they turn their nose up at foods they loved just a month ago. For example, our first daughter, Lily, decided around 3 years old that she didn't like beans. She was almost 4 until she ate them again. I just kept offering and didn't give up. One trick I have found to be helpful is to offer a child a "try-it bite" of a new food or flavor. I tell my girls they can spit it out if they don't like it. Every time we have that food I offer anther "try-it bite" and sometimes, but not always, they decide they like it. The key is to not give up on your children just because they don't like something at first.

So if you have young children, you may want to save some of this salad before dressing it. They can munch on the cabbage and carrots with their meal and then try some with the dressing too.

Fun Food Fact: Did you know that the phytochemicals in cabbage signal our genes to produce enzymes involved in detoxification? In addition, the phtyochemicals in cabbage are cancer-protective. So eat up! :)

Raw Mediterranean Kale Salad

Hope you are all enjoying this lovely weekend! We deep cleaned our house this morning. It really needed it. Now we are off to a family picnic in the park since the sun has decided to finally peek out.

Yesterday evening I made this salad along with our Sunny Sunflower Seed Burger recipe (in my Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook), Herbed Oven Roasted Potatoes, and a loaf of freshly baked gluten-free french bread. It was a delicious summer meal!

How To Roast Brussels Sprouts

Today was our daughter, Gracie's, 4th Birthday. I can't believe she is four already. Where did 3 go? It just disappeared into sleepless nights and endless days with twin babies.

We had a small birthday party for her over the weekend and spent the last few days telling her the story of her birth. A wonderful, peaceful birth-day, the day of the full moon, and her due date. She arrived in our home just after lunch with a short an easy labor on a beautiful, sunny and unusually warm February day. The cherry blossoms were already in bloom, so fittingly, Lily nicknamed her (before she was born) Cherry Blossom baby (though we had no idea we were having a girl). As Tom was floating newborn Grace in the warm water of our birthing tub my mom called out to Lily, who was also in the birthing tub, "Lily what is the baby's name?" Cherry Blossom, Lily replied. The name stuck around for a while and eventually Lily began to call her Grace.

A lot has happened since becoming pregnant with her. In the Spring of 2004, during my first trimester, Tom found out he was gluten-sensitive rather by accident. He was doing a raw food cleanse for a few weeks and noticed that all of his symptoms disappeared and then returned upon commencing his normal diet. He had a good idea what the culprit was since he was already somewhat familiar with celiac disease and working on finishing his Master's degree in Nutrition. I was happy for him to find relief in his digestive discomfort, which was sometimes extreme, but mad at the same time that he wouldn't and couldn't eat my homemade bread and cinnamon rolls (among others) anymore. I now see this in a lot of people......the anger, and then finally the coming to terms with the issues surrounding eating or not eating gluten.

It has become his crusade in this lifetime - to educate people using the knowledge of science and research to better understand the ramifications of ingesting gluten and the myriad of health problems associated with it. 

And it is my journey to keep on creating great-tasting food that everyone can enjoy, allergy-free or not. Today, for Gracie's birthday, I made her a gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and sugar-free chocolate layer cake. I used a combination of maple syrup and agave nectar to sweeten it and pureed prunes to add moisture, flavor, and extra sweetness. It is not a sugary, guilt-laden cake, but rather a whole foods based cake for those of you who "like to have their cake and eat it too."

Is this something you would be interested in me posting? I know we have a diverse audience. Some of you are on the Elimination Diet, some of you are into eating whole foods, and others are dealing with multiple food allergies. I would love some feedback in what interests you.

Ok, so now on to the Brussels Sprouts...

Little mini-cabbages. A cabbage family vegetable. Super nutritious. Assists in liver detoxification. Very tasty when roasted.