Please resist the temptation to spray weed-killer on your lawn as it is filled with nutrition free for the taking. Eat your “weeds” instead! Wild garlic mustard, for example, is considered an invasive weed but is also a nutrient-dense green with a spicy garlic flavor. This green is filled with antioxidant vitamins and minerals, and eating a little something wild every day connects us more deeply to nature.
I love the fact that just when we need to brush out the sludge from that long cold winter, the very tonics we need to help that happen literally spring up under our feet. Dandelion, ramps, wild strawberry and garlic mustard to name a few are everywhere now, and all we need to do is accept the invitation and support to detoxify deliciously.
Here is a nice light green spring soup recipe that I whipped up with the crew of people coming for Detox at Kripalu in mind. And of course, all my friends who are Kripalu Detox alums. Between the garlic mustard and asparagus (which is bursting with glutathione, the mother of all antioxidants and a detox power food) this recipe is made for spring nutrition. Enjoy!
Most commercial salad dressings, I am sorry to say, are filled with chemicals. Choose them carefully, and consider making your own. It’s easier than you think.
Dressings and sauces are an opportunity to perfect and balance vegetables with nutrient-dense oils, vegetable proteins, and spices. Here’s a nice tahini dress to serve over cooked or raw greens, sprouts, carrots, peppers, and scallions. I am waiting impatiently for my Thai basil to grow to add to this one.
You can make a base of this dressing, and change it up by adding one or more of the following to small batches of it: Cilantro, lots of garlic, Thai chili, peanuts, lime
My boon of elderberry enabled me to, in addition to making tons of elderberry syrup, make elderberry ginger cider – a variation of fire cider. For this one, I relied on ginger and honey as a base and kept it simple yet strong. It’s delicious and I’ll use it the way you would fire cider – take a shot during cold and flu season to warm up and keep the creeping crud away.
Want to explore Elderberry and Elderberry Flower Essence? Immerse yourself in the transformative powers of elderberry, boost your immunity, savor culinary delights, and embark on a spiritual journey. Learn through my blog post Elderberry and Elderberry Flower Essence: Heal with Nature’s Wisdom.
My elderberry ginger cider is a variation on fire cider. Use it the way you would fire cider – take a shot during cold and flu season to warm up and keep the creeping crud away.
Course Drinks
Keyword Elderberry, Elderberry Ginger Cide
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Equipment
Medium Saucepan
Ingredients
4cupsfresh elderberriesclean and free of stems
2slivers of fresh peeled gingerabout 1 Tsp
1/2onionchopped
3garlic cloves
1cupapple cider vinegar
2Tbsplocal honey
Instructions
Warm elderberries in a medium saucepan for 15-20 minutes over medium-low heat. Let cool.
Place ingredients in a clean bottle.
Place top on the bottle, and mix by inverting the bottle several times. Make sure the liquid covers the berries
Leave in a cool dry place for six weeks, inverting the bottle to mix every 3 or 4 days.
Remove elderberries from the cider.
Notes
The cider is the elixir, but you might use the elderberries in a pickle also.
If you have high cholesterol and don’t want to go on medication, beans are your friends. Studies have shown that eating beans a few times weekly can help lower LDL (the blood cholesterol most closely associated with heart disease). Actually, if you want to control your weight and not eat a lot of meat, beans are your friends.
I’ve been experimenting with spice blends over the last few seasons and if you are a fan of flavor but don’t want to purchase lots of expensive spices to mix and experiment with, this might be your flavor hack (shortcut). If you want to try lentils for their health benefits but haven’t liked them so far, this might be your recipe. It’s a snap. Tasty.
I’ve been using Mountain Rose Herb’s spice blends – I particularly like 5 Spice (which gives a Chinese flavor) and West Indies blends. They have nice clean fresh spices (not to mention lots of other goodies if you are herbal-inclined). Warning – their website is an herbal and culinary wonder-emporium…you may spend more time there than you intend.
Potato head? Me too. Will work for mashed potatoes. While I think white potatoes have been much maligned in the era of glycemic (the degree to which foods act like sugar) awareness, many of us will overdo them left to our own devices. Enter cauliflower, that healthy brassica with the dubious distinction of, when well cooked and mashed, filling in for its starchier cousin the white potato. This is a bit of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too recipe. Here is a simple recipe using both spring red potatoes and plenty of cauliflower, along with water-carmelized onions. If you have some fresh green herbs, like chives, rosemary, or sage, that would make a lovely addition.
Ingredients
1 pound spring red potatoes – 1-2″ diameter, washed and sliced
1/2 yellow (Spanish) onion, chopped and skin removed
1 medium head cauliflower, washed, flowers separated or sliced
Black pepper and sea salt (less is more of any type of salt) to taste
Directions
Water-brown onions. Place chopped onions in a heavy skillet (cast iron is great), with 2-3 Tbsp water, at med-high heat. As the water dissipates, add another couple Tbsp, tossing so as to slowly brown the onions without burning them. When they are light golden brown (please don’t brown too much- browning is for taste, not health), remove from heat and put aside.
Boil spuds. Place sliced potatoes in a med pot with water to cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Once potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork, remove, drain (potato water is a great soup-stock, if you’re organized enough to take advantage of that), and set aside.
Water-saute cauliflower. Place cauliflower in the skillet you’ve cleaned after browning your onions, along with a few Tbsp water. Water saute over medium heat until soft.
Mash with olive oil. Place cooked potatoes, browned onions, and cooked cauliflower in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil, and mash with a strong fork, potato masher, or pastry blender (a handy little kitchen tool).
Serve. Top with a dollop of grass-fed yogurt, and salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with fresh herbs if you have them. This is a great replacement for regular mashed potatoes.
