Red Bean Basmati Salad with Radish and Cilantro

Hello friends! I know...It's been a while since I posted a new recipe. I promise I have been pouring all of my recipe making and tasting time into my cookbook. It's alot of organizing, writing, and hopefully soon getting into some of the picture taking and testing stages too. All the recipes I want to include are some of my tried and true recipes that I make and share on a more regular basis. They are the ones that I swear by as bringing more hope for this healing journey and beyond that I am trying to share a piece of myself in a very raw and honest way. I am hoping to keep my energy up on this project, so stay tuned :)

So, I hope you are enjoying the first week of summer and finding ways to rest, play and have some enjoyment. Here is a little spring-summer-ish salad recipe I cooked up recently to share with a local community of health-loving friends and now I will share with you in hope to help add a little spice and pungent to your picnic food line-up. This recipe is as much medicine for the damp spring we've been having here in Michigan as much as it is just tasty and nourishing. It has a few pungent components of radish, cilantro, cardamon, cumin and even the red beans. They are all together almost like a summer-salad-version of a kitcheri dish in the Auyvedic food tradition. And, in the Chinese food tradition of eating to help balance your whole system by how each bite and flavor send nourishment to corresponding organs in the body. I am a very 'earthy' person so as this spring has been very wet, damp, swampy, moist, and what ever other words you can use to describe spongy wet weather that barely sees sunshine, then in a sense my body has been holding on to this wetness just like a sponge. I  am chronically a damp earthy person anyways and this means I have to work even more closely with eating foods to help expel the damp and not produce more damp in my digestion and body. I am learning, and like many of us, try and experiment with the plants and foods that might help us thrive and naturally nourish and detox our bodies as a whole.

This recipe is a bunch of those damp-expelling foods into one. It has been an easy helpful dish to pack for a picnic lunch or even share at the potluck. Yes it's flavor and colors may not be on the usual side but sometimes you must look to your food as a healing modality and perhaps an adventure to experience and try new things.

Red Bean Basmati Salad with Radish and Cilantro Recipe
{gluten, dairy, egg, nut, seed, soy and sugar-free}

2 cups of pre-cooked basmati rice, cook it, cool it and have it ready to mix together- I cooked 1 cup of dry basmati rice with a dash of sea salt and a ts. of coconut or avocado oil with the 2 cups of water

2 cups of pre-cooked small red beans (from dry beans or use 1- 15 ounce can of cooked red beans)
Pour the soft cooked beans from the can into a pot to warm with
1/2 ts. of ground cardamon
1/2 ts. of ground coriander
1/4 ts. of ground fennel
1 ts. of ground cumin
1 ts. fresh grated turmeric or 1/2 ts. of dry ground turmeric
1 ts. of fresh grated ginger or 1/2 ts. of dry ground ginger
1/4 ts. of pink sea salt
1/4 ts. of fresh ground black pepper

Cook the beans with all the spices and if needed a drizzle of water to soften them all together. Then let the beans slightly cool and get ready to mix with the rest of the salad

Chop up 3-4 fresh radishes into very tiny pieces and then save a few slices for garnish
Finely chop handful of green onion (1/3 cup chopped) 
Finely chop handful of fresh cilantro (1/3 cup chopped)

In a medium mixing bowl, dump in the cooked basmati, beans with spices and the fresh chopped veggies. Toss together and dress with some radish or cilantro garnish and serve up. It may need a sprinkle of more sea salt or back pepper, but let the flavors speak for themselves. I love how this is so simple and how the spices from the beans truly are the "dressing" of this salad. No need for more.

I hope you give it a try and ENJOY!

Much love and light as always, xoxo

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry

HAPPY NEW YEAR, friends! I hope you had only positive affirmations, dreams and goals as you process the past and look forward to the next year. I am challenging myself to a "January reset" after a few months of feasting and indulging throughout the holidays. This reset includes two things... to eat a plant based diet and to only eat fruit for sweetness, so no honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar... just fruit and veggies to get sweetness in my life. So this is my way of showing myself some self-love this month. It isn't about restrictions or rules, just a way to say to my body, "I love you and you are worth it!" I want to help my body clean out whatever needs to go and reduce inflammation, anxiety and imbalances. It is about nourishing, loving and bringing more goodness and simplicity to my diet. I am NO fan of January juice, raw, or rules diets- these to me can cause so much confusion and stress on the body when all it wants this time of year is to be WARM, nourished and replenished.

Another great thing about this recipe is how cost effective it is. I bought all of the above at my local health grocery store for around 10 dollars and add in the extra rice it is a huge meal for around $12 dollars. This recipe will be my lunches for the whole week, but it could easily feed a family of four twice! So is it nourishing...AND cheap! And did I say it's packed with fresh ginger and turmeric too?!? This means that is is perfect for warming the bones too...our temperature here this week is in the single and negative digits as is many part of the country, so I know we are all looking for a meal to warm us from the inside out!

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry Recipe
{gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and sugar-free, vegan if you use vegetable stock}

2 TB of avocado oil for sauteing
1 large onion finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves finely minced
1-2 TB of finely grated fresh ginger*
1-2 TB of finely grated fresh turmeric*

2 cups of raw washed, cut into bite sized pieces, cauliflower
2 cups of pealed and cut and cubed pieces of sweet potato

1 14 ounce can of diced organic tomatoes
1 can of full-fat coconut milk
2-3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 14 ounce can of organic pre-cooked garbanzo beans
1 ts. of curry powder
1 ts. of ground paprika
1 ts. of ground cumin
1 ts. of ground coriander
1/2 ts. of ground cinnamon
pinch of cayenne
pinch of cloves
1 ts. of sea salt
hearty pinch of fresh ground black pepper
optional: 1-2 TB of tahini, or a nut butter like almond or peanut for extra thickness and flavor

2 cups of fresh finely chopped greens (spinach, kale or chard)
handful of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 cup of raisins (I like a mix with golden raisins included ;)

for serving:
serve over prepared basmati or jasmine rice (or quinoa)
limes juice and wedges
sprinkle of fresh cilantro or parsley

In a large pot, saute the onion, garlic, tumeric, ginger with the oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, when it cooks down, add in the bite-sized cauliflower, sweet potato and spices and cook for another 5 minutes, then add in the coconut milk, tomatoes, beans and broth. Let cook, bubbling and covered for 15- 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the broth reduced. Then add in the raisins, fresh greens and herbs and let those get soft. It is ready for serving now, or you can turn off the heat and let it sit and cool a bit and thicken up. Then serve with prepared basmati or jasmine rice. With a slice of lime and a sprinkle of some fresh herbs too. 

*If you do not have access to fresh ginger or turmeric root, then you can for sure used dried spices. I would start at 1 ts. each and add in more if you desire a little more punch...

This curry recipe is an easy base recipe for a vegan curry. You could easily swap out the sweet potatoes for carrots or add in other favorite blend of veggies. I love the sweet potatoes for a little extra sweet in my life while fasting from sugar and also the cauliflower holds up so nicely and pairs so well with the spices. The raisins add just the right touch of sweetness to the spice and then get soft and plump up on the sauce so they are a must of you ask me. BUT if for some reason you don't have raisins on hand or dislike them then they can easily be nixed. This is thick, creamy, hearty, nourishing bowl of goodness that I hope you find yourself making again and again before it gets warm. Maybe a weekly occurrence until we get above the freezing point.

What new ways are you showing yourself some love and nourishment this new year? What hopes to you have to learn and challenge yourself in 2018? I know my little way of showing some love this January will come with it's ups and downs, and I hope to share a few more of my no-sugar-no meat experiments with you :) Stay warm and cozy friends!

Much love and HOPE xoxo