Posts in Main course
Best Roasted Turkey Breast

My mom shared this recipe with me recently. Here's what she has to say about it:

This recipe started when I was trying to come up with something easy for dinner that would also leave enough leftovers for another meal. I had been craving turkey, but I never cook it because it's such a big production. A whole roasted turkey isn't hard to do, but it takes a long time and is way too much food for two people. Still, I thought there must be a way to satisfy my craving without the big mess.

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Very Best Minestrone

There is one crucial component to this delicious and healthy soup — you must soak and boil your own beans and reserve the cooking liquid from the beans for your stock. This makes the soup creamy, delicious, and hearty. I've tried it several different ways and this is the way to go. Plus, it's economical and you avoid any nasty chemicals that may be present in canned beans and packaged broth (see my article in The Atlantic on obesogens for a bit on this and my book for all of the latest information).

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Eggs Over Easy with Roasted Asparagus

This meal couldn't be simpler but it tastes gourmet. The egg yolks coat the sweet roasted asparagus and the Parmesan cheese provides a salty, nutty counterpart — all you need are some delicious pastured eggs, seasonal asparagus, and a bit of good Parmesan cheese and dinner is served in less than 20 minutes. A good crusty baguette wouldn't hurt either.

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Shrimp Caesar Salad

This simple and nutritious salad and can easily be prepared for a weeknight meal. People think that making your own Caesar dressing is difficult, but with a food processor or blender it's ready in about 5 minutes. I use raw egg in mine but you can omit it if you are worried. If you're buying your eggs from a local farmer who raises his or her chickens on pasture, raw eggs are safe to eat — but I would never recommend eating a raw industrial egg! I used shrimp here but you could use salmon, chicken, or top it with hard-boiled eggs. This is a simple, delicious, and a very nutrient dense meal just in time for Spring. 

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Homemade Veggie Burgers

These veggie burgers are easy to make, have infinite variations, and are delicious — far superior than any store bought option and far more nutritious too. This is based on Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. He recommends either pan frying them or baking them but having tried both methods, I found baking them was easier, less messy, and helped with holding the burgers together. I highly recommend these! Best of all you can make a double batch and freeze half of the patties before cooking so you've prepped two dinners at once. Serve them with baked sweet potato wedges and a green salad.

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Potato Leek Soup

This is an incredibly simple soup, but it tastes like you've been cooking it for hours. Truth is, you can make it from start to finish in less than an hour, so it makes a great weeknight meal. The most time consuming part of it is cleaning and chopping the leeks. People often tell me that they are intimidated by leeks and don't know what to do with them. Well, here is your answer! The easiest way to prep them is to chop off most of the green tops, slice them down the middle and rinse them well under cold water in the sink (save the green tops for your next Vegetable Mineral Broth).

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Homemade Refried Bean Quesadillas

Making refried beans from scratch is simple — no cans necessary! This is loosely based on Mark Bittman's recipe found in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. If you must use canned beans, try Eden brand. They now makes cans without BPA lining, which has been shown to cause all sorts of problems. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be adjusted to accommodate any season. Right now, peppers are overflowing at the farmers markets as well as in our own garden. But in the winter, you can simply use onions instead. If you are lucky enough to live in a place where avocados are local and in season, they make a great addition to this meal. The recipe below is the bare bones version. Feel free to pep it up with some peppers, greens, zucchini or whatever else you can think of.

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Rustic Zucchini Galette

This recipe is adapted from one recently posted on smitten kitchen — very barely adapted. It is so delicious though, that I had to post it here. Naturally, I changed the white flour out for spelt flour and I made a few other minor tweaks — other than that, it's the same. I'm calling it rustic, because it doesn't look nearly as pretty as Deb's does, but no matter, it tastes divine. Although the instructions look a bit complex, do not be intimidated! This does involve several steps, but it's actually quite easy and well, well worth it. The pastry shell itself is so light and flaky even using the spelt flour — and the nuttiness of the spelt compliments the ricotta cheese, garlic and basil beautifully. 

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Baked Salmon with Balsamic Onions

Salmon is one of the most nutritious foods and has been prized and valued for its nourishment in traditional cultures throughout history. It is an excellent source of protein, potassium, selenium and B12. Salmon also provides high amounts of the important omega-3 fats.  Dr. Weston Price, in his travels throughout the world to find the healthiest people, concluded that those cultures who ate fish and other seafoods had the best health of all. Eating fish promotes excellent growth and bone structure and is crucial for pregnant women, babies and young children.

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"Heavenly" Quiche

This quiche is healthy and delicious — a recent eater called it "heavenly." The hardest part is making the crust, which is actually very easy. For the crust I used a combination of buckwheat and spelt flours, which was a nice flavor combination with the shiitake mushrooms, spinach, egg and parmesan in the filling. Quiche makes a hearty dinner served with a green salad and is equally great for brunch.

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Brian's Spicy Noodles

My husband created this dish and I was impressed. It has plenty of asparagus, garlic and ginger served on top of buckwheat soba noodles. He uses a combination of olive oil,  sesame oil, and tamari, as well as chili peppers for an Asian-inspired flavor. And not that it was his intention, but this dish also happens to be a nutritionally dense meal, all in one bowl.


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