Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Sage, lemon, walnut wild rice and the BEST guacamole I have ever made!



This was the BEST guacamole I have ever made! Usually I am stuck between Jay (who hates tomatoes and likes his guac very smooth) and myself (I like my guac with lots of chunks and lots of tomatoes!), but this was a pleaser for both of us! It was lots of lemon juice, garlic salt, a ton of tiny heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, lots of cumin, and cayenne. Oh yum. I cut apart some corn tortillas and fried them in coconut oil. ) :) Coconut oil has gotten a bad rap in the past, but it is now a staple in many health food enthusiasts diets. For me, when I add a little coconut oil to my smoothie in the AM I have a TON of energy and a huge increase in body temperature (which reflects metabolism).

Here is some research on coconut oil: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_oil)

*A single-blind randomized controlled trial on children with pneumonia at the Philippine Children's Medical Center found that coconut oil accelerated the normalization of respiratory rate and resolution of crackles.[23]
*A randomized double-blind clinical trial with women exhibiting obesity found that supplementation with coconut oil promoted a reduction in obesity without causing dyslipidemia.[24]


 Coconut oil also doesn't leave a coconut taste on foods when you fry with it, it is very "light" tasting and yummy! 






Wild rice is another EXCELLENT food to eat. Many many cultures consider wild rice to be a sacred food, and its nutritional importance is definitely backed up by research. It is also not technically a rice, it is a grass. It is high in protein and also the amino acid lysine.  It is also high in potassium, phosphorus, thiamine, riboflavin, magnesium and niacin. It is also, in my opinion, the most tasty rice-type food! This wild rice was cooked with lemon, olive oil, sage, walnuts, baby portabellos and sea salt. I topped it off with some avocado :) 



This was this REALLY yummy salad I had for lunch today. It was two kinds of kale (one of them was purple! I had never seen this type of kale and I'm not sure what it is called :), and a ton of these wonderful heirloom tomatoes with tahini roasted sunflower seeds and almonds, a ton of nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt, and apple cider vinegar. I eat some sort of rendition of this salad every day. Kale is VERY healthy for you, and if you don't feel like eating it raw you can make KALE CHIPS with it! I capitalize the KALE CHIPS because they are so wonderful! Just take the kale, toss it in olive oil and whatever else you like (I use oil, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, and seasalt) and bake them until they are crispy.  They turn into little addictive chips and they are SO GOOD! Kale is a known as one of those "super anti-cancer" veggies because of its high amount of phytonutrients, along with brussel sprouts and cabbage. It also has potassium, beta-carotene, iron, maganese, LOTS of calcium, and vitamin C. 

Nutritional yeast is also VERY healthy. It is a yummy inactive yeast (so it won't cause candida). It is often used by vegans because it has this "cheesy" flavor. I am addicted to the stuff. Here is a breakdown of the nutritional facts for nutritional yeast, it is pretty incredible so if you are concerned with "mind blowing syndrome" I would not read the following: 
In ONLY ONE TBS of nutritional yeast there is:

Carbohydrates: 2% DV*
Fat: 1% DV
Sodium: 0mg
Protein: 8g (for me, that is about 20% of my Daily Value (DV))
Fiber: 16% DV
Calcium: 1% DV
Iron: 3% DV
Thiamin: 640% DV
Riboflavin: 565% DV
Niacin: 280% DV
Vitamin B6: 480% DV
Folic Acid: 60% DV
Vitamin B12: 133% DV
Biotin: 7% DV
Zinc: 21% DV
Selenium: 32% DV
Copper: 6% DV
Manganese: 5%
 

In fact, it has so many vitamins prisoners of war have actually used "home grown" nutritional yeast to prevent vitamin deficiency.


You may also wonder where I have been since I haven't posted in a while. I'm going to blame world of warcraft, although I am working on my thesis and also working full time in the ED. :) Here is my photo of what has happened to my computer since WOW came back into Jay's life: 

2 comments:

  1. haha I love the WoW picture. Kyle has kind of started playing it again recently too. What is it with these mens??

    Oh and was the purpley Kale Swiss Chard by any chance? Or was it completely purple?

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  2. I bought swiss chard also so I know it wasn't chard :). This was a deep almost eggplant purple rib with green leaves. The leaves were flat (not curly) and very "maple leafish". Hmphf, I should have photographed the Kale too! :)

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