Raw Caramel Dip for Apples

Happy Autumnal Equinox! As the evenings become as crisp as the apples, darkness begins to triumph over light. Today we celebrate the closure of summer, the dying of the light, and prepare ourselves for a new season. Autumn. As the trees shed their leaves and the plants die back, shedding old beliefs or thought patterns and going inward to feel our roots, our connection with the earth, can be quite powerful at this time.

Last night I was part of an equinox celebration (albeit a day early). The night was crisp and the sky crystal clear with the moon almost full. A warm fire, songs, and good food shared amongst friends composed most of our celebration. One friend brought a delectable raw caramel dip and sliced fresh apples. It was so tasty that I tried to recreate it today. Success! It tastes very close to her version (thanks Janet). Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Salad with a Soy-Free Dressing

With school starting and all of the after-school activities that go with it, our schedules have been very full lately. Posting to my blog seems to be on the back burner for now. Though I recently created this very easy salad recipe that I wanted to share with you. The soy-free dressing is scrumptious and the salad can be prepared in a snap. It actually stores well in the fridge in separate containers ready to go for a quick lunch!

I make often make my Asian dressings and marinades using Coconut Aminos since we have one family member who cannot tolerate soy at all. It is dark and rich and very similar to tamari though with a hint of sweetness. I also used coconut vinegar in this recipe though you could substitute brown rice vinegar if need be.

All of the greens in these photos are from our garden except the cabbage. I ran out of space this year and didn't plant any cabbage! Our garden has been thriving this year and we now have a forest of tender kales, collards, bok choy, chard, and lettuces. It is so much fun to walk out the back door and harvest your lunch!

For info on how to cook chicken so it is tender and shreds easily, please visit my Chicken & Wild Rice Salad post. You can use a whole chicken or chicken parts (thighs, breast, wings). I used about eight chicken thighs with the bone and skin today and now have a few quarts of rich chicken stock. I freeze the stock in quart jars to use in soups later on.

Reminder: If you would like to participate in this month's Go Ahead Honey it's Gluten Free roundup on Packing a School Lunch then email me your recipe link and attached photo by September 27th, 2010. I have received some great entries so far! At the end of this month I will put all of your photos and recipe links into a blog post to share.

Ideas for Packing a Healthy School Lunch!

Well, September is here, school is beginning and it is time for packing

lunches once again! The above lunch was made by my 8 year old daughter. It is composed of a quesadilla made with refried beans and two brown rice tortillas, blackberries and sliced nectarines, sliced carrots and cucumbers, raw cashews, almonds, and chocolate chips. As you can see, very simple and nutritious, full of key nutrients for a growing and developing brain.

This month I am hosting a wonderful monthly blogging event called Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free! This event was created by the lovely Naomi Devlin of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried. And my theme, of course, is: Ideas for Packing a Healthy School Lunch! This is a way for you, a reader or blogger, to submit a link and photo of your recipe and/or ideas to me by the end of this month (please, no later than September 27th) and I will post them all to my blog on the 30th of this month. If you don't have a blog, please feel free to submit a short recipe or list of ideas with a photo and I will post it along with the links from other bloggers. Please email me your post attached with a digital photo to ali@nourishingmeals (dot) com.

In the meantime, (while we are waiting for all of your lovely ideas) I have a few ideas myself to share. First off, if you haven't read the post I did last year on Packing a Healthy School Lunch you might want to check it out. I have a colorful chart with pictures of foods in each food group that you can download, print, and post on your refrigerator for a quick reminder of what to pack. This way your child can choose a food from each category to create a healthy, balanced lunch.

Main Dish/Protein Ideas:

Quinoa Salmon Burgers

Summer Black Bean Salad (made without the spicy peppers)

Dilled Adzuki Bean and Rice Salad

Chicken and Wild Rice Salad

Rice, Garbanzo Bean, and Kale Salad (my kids love this one!)

Spring Herb Quinoa Salad (my 5yr old daughter's favorite!)

Collard Wraps with Raw Sunflower Seed Pate

Garlic Rosemary White Bean Dip on sliced bread with cucumbers

Slices of Roasted Chicken

Lentil Noodle Soup

Easy Chicken and Vegetable Stew

Spiced Chicken and Rice Stew

Soothing Red Lentil Soup

Moroccan Chickpea and Potato Soup (an absolute favorite of my kids)

Halibut and Potato Chowder

Soy-Free Tamari Roasted Nuts

Quesadilla slices made with brown rice tortillas, refried black beans, and spinach

Vegetables/Fruits:

Green Smoothie (poured into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid)

Blueberry-Cucumber Smoothie

Cucumber, Tomato, Basil Salad

Raw Mediterranean Kale Salad

Orange-Wasabi Cabbage Salad

Curried Carrot Cauliflower Soup

Mixed greens with a small container of Salad Dressing on the side

Slices of cucumbers, carrots, and celery (my kids like simple best)

Celery sticks with almond butter spread into them

Any in-season whole or sliced fruit

Grains:

Sticky Brown Rice in nori rolls (all-time favorite of my kids)

Cooked Quinoa

Cold Spaghetti Salad

Whole Grain Flatbread (yeast-free)

Quinoa Seed Crackers

Teff Banana Bread

Teff Banana Pancakes

Dark Teff Sandwich Bread

Zucchini-Almond Bread

Peach Muffin

Carrot Raisin Buckwheat Muffin (my kids beg me to make these!)

Treats:

We don't always have treats around but when we do it would be some of the following (fruit is sometimes the best and easiest treat of all):

Raw Energy Balls

Cinnamon-Sunflower Truffles

Date-Sweetened Ginger Cookie

Spiced Teff Cookie Bar

Sunflower Seed Cookies

Oatmeal Heart Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Strawberry Hazelnut Shortcakes

Maple Raspberry Scones

Mango-Coconut Pudding

Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Apple Crisp

I am really looking forward to sharing your post on Ideas for packing a Healthy School Lunch. Please remember to submit it with an attached photo by September 27th, 2010! Thanks! :)

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Fish Curry with Garden Vegetables

We love anything curry here. Thai curries, Indian curries, curry roasted potatoes, you name it. Our kids love curry too. Those flavors are passed through breastmilk, so they became addicted quite young. One of my favorite things about making a curried dish is the fact that it is fast, easy, and of course, a one-pot meal.

This Thai fish curry recipe uses fresh garden veggies, halibut, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, and Thai basil. The key to a good curry is timing. I like to keep the veggies all evenly cooked and not over-cooked. Carrots and onions take a little longer to cook, so I start with those. I will test a carrot, and when it is about halfway done cooking, I will add the other faster cooking veggies such as zucchini and bell peppers.

When purchasing the fish, I usually buy 1.5 to 2 pounds and then ask to have the skin removed. When I am ready to make the curry all I need to do is cut the fish into cubes. It is much easier this way, especially when you have twin two-year-old boys chasing each other below you arguing whether each is an airplane or not ("I'm an airplane....no you're not....yes I am....zoom!").

This curry has another key ingredient that is very beneficial to your health: Turmeric. This orangish-yellow spice will stain your clothes forever but is an excellent anti-inflammatory. In Tom's words: "Curcumin is an amazing compound found in turmeric that can change our gene expression. It has a tendency to lower inflammation, increase detox enzyme expression, and increase antioxidant protein expression. In short, it lowers the impact of life's insults, and increases your innate buffering mechanisms to minimize the residual effect of those insults."

Zucchini-Almond Bread (gluten-free + dairy-free)

Well, it's August. Harvest time. I've been busy picking berries, peaches, and apples as of late. Jam-making is in full swing, our gardens are overflowing, and the energy of summer is winding down into Autumn. You can feel it in the air here.

So why not bake zucchini bread? Now that our kitchen isn't 100 degrees anymore, I feel I can bake again! This gluten-free zucchini bread recipe is easy to make, moist, and super flavorful. It does contain eggs. You'll also notice that I use something called 'coconut sugar' in this recipe. Coconut sugar is a low-glycemic granulated sweetener that can replace white sugar in any recipe. For more information on one of my favorite sweeteners please refer to my Coconut Sugar Apple Crisp post!

Spicy Peach Chutney Recipe

One of my favorite things to cook is Indian food. We recently had a large family reunion with over 60 people. Each night a family hosted a dinner with a different theme. Our night was Indian night. Along with the contributions of a few of my cousins, we made Indian Chicken Curry, Lentil Spinach Dal, Saag Paneer, Rice with Potatoes and Saffron, Raw Cilantro Lime Chutney, and this very spicy and easy Peach Chutney; all to feed 60 people. Other family members brought some incredible side dishes and appetizers such as Chicken Satay and Chicken simmered with Onions, Spinach, and Tomatoes.

This chutney recipe was a last minute addition of mine and we all thought it was so delicious that it deserved to be photographed and added to this blog!

The trick to removing the peach skin easily is to drop the peaches into boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove the peaches with a slotted spoon and place them into an ice water bath. The skin will easily slip off with little effort. If your peaches are on the firmer side you may be able to simply remove the skin with a paring knife and skip the boiling water altogether.