Resolve to evolve.

When it comes to food, it’s with this mindset that I dodge the idea of “diet” or limitation. Bleh, boring. Instead, I like to look at health and all of its edible backdrop as an exciting collection of ways to make my body feel, perform, and look its best … and like most people, I’m constantly adding to my healthy “collection.”

So to start things right off this year — and add to YOUR healthy collection — I’d like to announce and invite you to participate in a fun new project with me: the Smoothment. Head up by the superfood masterminds at Navitas Naturals, the Smoothment is a healthy movement that aims at improving personal well-being through the simple step of including one healthy smoothie a day. As I’ve mentioned on more than a few occasions, I think smoothies are a tremendously remedial answer for those who wish to make their health a priority, but also lead a busy (aka modern!) life. Now, with the Smoothment, you can join a growing army of like-minded people who are making the pledge to make 2012 a vibrant year, with a smoothie-a-day commitment. By joining the Smoothment (as mentioned, it’s totally free), for the first week you and I will meet in the kitchen via a series of quick recipe videos. In each video I’ll show you a new “60 Second Smoothie” recipe, so by the end of the week you’ll have a whole new library of frothy magic at your fingertips. You’ll also have access to all the written recipes, smoothie building tips, daily superfood prizes, and even a special coupon code for 30% off all smoothie ingredients at Navitas.

Personally, I can’t wait to make 2012 absolutely deliciously awesome. Will you join me?

Coming super soon…

Superfood Cuisine: Cooking With Nature’s Most Amazing Foods

I’m so, so excited to share the news with you that I have a cookbook coming out. (!!!) This has been such a fun, rewarding project to work on. In case you’re wondering, the book cover above features a shot of one of my favorite recipes: a silky-smooth Carrot & Yacon Root Soup, topped with plumped goji berries and microgreens (insanely good, fantastically easy, and majorly glow-inducing).

I’m sure you’re aware of the exciting culinary revolution that’s taking place – the beneficial mantra of natural, organic, whole foods and plant-based diets is hotter than ever before! And now, superfoods are coming to the forefront as a fabulous (healthy!) way to even further fast-track our energy levels and longevity. This book explains the philosophy behind a superfood-strong lifestyle, and demystifies how to use them through delicious new dishes.

Superfood Cuisine includes:

- Over 100 plant-based, superfood recipes
- Full-color photography
- A guide to over 30 top superfoods and healthy pantry staples
- A convenient “pantry list” of what you need and where to find these special foods
- Natural cooking techniques and product sources

The book will be available late spring of this year (launch date and ordering details announced soon)! In the meantime, please join me at Superfood Cuisine on facebook for the latest updates, inside information, and bonus material. I’d love to see you there, and I cannot WAIT to share this special book with you!

I seriously can’t believe spring is already here – it seems like just yesterday I was dusting off my pumpkin knife and looking for any and all excuses to put the oven to some loving use. But the flower buds outside have a schedule to keep. And as for the rest of us, it’s time to get recharged and re-greened.

Greens are becoming more and more popular lately, not only because they’re super nutritious, but because they’re super delicious too! Excitingly, it’s easier than ever to get the vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and alkalizing antioxidants that greens provide in inventive ways that go beyond “just a salad.” Here are a few of my key ways to keep my favorite food group in constant rotation – and ensure that this spring is energizing, clean, healthy and green!

5 Great Ways to Get Green:

1. Bars: If you eat energy bars, don’t short-change yourself with ones that just have natural ingredeints … make sure they contain some kind of green powder as well (like freeze-dried vegetables, chlorella, grasses, etc.) You won’t taste a difference, and you’ll get all the benefits of green! (Of course, you can always just make your own, too.)

2. Wraps: Time to ditch the tortilla, taco shell or bread. Instead, try using a big green leaf such as swiss chard, collard greens or kale to wrap up your favorite savory fillings. These leaves make a fantastic natural wrapper, contain very few calories, and add plenty of nutrients.

3. Smoothies: It’s no secret that one of the smartest tricks amongst healthy know-how’s is the great “Green Smoothie.” By blending up handfuls of mild greens (like spinach) with sweet fruits (like pears, apples, bananas, or mangos), the vibrant color may just be the only giveaway that your fruity treat is full of the extra good stuff.

4. Sauces: Customize a pasta sauce with some hearty minced kale or spinach. My method: saute finely chopped greens for 1-2 minutes in a little safflower oil and minced garlic to soften, then stir them into the finshed sauce-of-choice for an exceptionally tasty and textural addition.

5. Plate fillers: You’ve probably heard dietitians recommend portioning out foods groups by size: such as a serving of cereal equaling the size of your hand. In the case of greens, aim to make them cover the base of your plate (placing the entree on top of the green bed). Not only will they instantly make your dish look more beautiful, the greens will also lend an extra-tasty touch (green vegetables go with almost everything). Try lightly-dressed arugula, fresh and peppery watercress, or marinated kale for a seriously boosted plate.

“Can you believe what they put in these things?” he asked, pointing to his bottled iced tea. “All I wanted was some iced tea and I look at the can and there’s 56 grams of sugar in here.”

Cool. Yes. Glad you’re in the know.

“It’s so awful what they put in our foods these days. All this corn syrup, this sugar, in everything,” he continued.

Sure is.

“Even when you think you’re eating well you find out all this other stuff’s been hiding inside the ingredients.”

Well, the ingredients are always listed on the back of a package, but I hear ya.

“And then there’s all these people with diabetes and obesity… something’s gotta change. That’s why I . . . ”

Nice – bring it home, brother!

“That’s why I stopped drinking juice.”

Wait. What?

Whether it’s sugar, fat, carbs, protein, etc, we have a nasty habit of isolating food elements without looking at the big picture. Some people, such as my new iced tea friend, are afraid of juice because of reports claiming the sugar content in fruit juice is equivalent to soda. Unquestionably yes, juice — especially fruit juice — contains natural sugars, in particular fructose.

Yet it’s not really sugars per se that earn the Big Bad Wolf title as much as it’s those creepy empty calories that compose the food that sugars often reside in. Context is everything. In juice’s case, that “context” is a drink naturally filled with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients (it’s just a fruit/vegetable without the fiber). As far as the context of iced tea and soda go . . . cue the crickets.

Understanding nutrition can be very, very simple through the idea of nutrient density (the amount of “good stuff” you get per calorie). And because juice is essentially condensed nutrition (you can fit 3-4 servings of fruit or 5-6 servings of veggies in a glass), I’d unquestionably rank juice in the “premium fuel” department. General rules apply: fresh is best, veggies are better than fruit, green veggies are even better than that, and of course, with everything (say it with me): balance.

Here are a few potent juice combos I paricuarily love (you can juice them yourself at home or custom order at a juice bar):

Lean & Green: cucumber + celery + kale + spinach + lemon

Purify & Cleanse: beet + carrot + ginger + fennel + parsley

Restore & Rejuvenate: orange + coconut water + wheatgrass

Sweet & Warming: apple + burdock root + ginger + cinnamon (just dash)

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again. Just as all the trees burst forth with flowers, and brilliantly colored buds open wide to catch the warm sun . . . I seem to blossom into a sneezing, watery-eyed, allergic, phlegm-ball. Nature can be so cruel.

Seasonal allergies are the result of excessive immune response to substances that are not normally harmful — like pollen. Daniel Gagnon, the medicinal herbalist for Herbs Etc., puts it well: “Think of it as having a fly in the house. Instead of using a fly swatter to get rid of it, a shotgun is used to dispose of the intruder. You may get rid of the fly, but the damage to the room will be extensive.” The damage Daniel is referring to is the unfortunate result of a stressed out immune system, often leading to compromised immunity and weakened adrenal glands. Annoying sniffles aside, fighting allergies often leaves the body tired and more exposed to new allergies as well as illness.

I like to adjust my diet during this time of year to help give my body some extra support as it goes to battle with the pollen. I strengthen the bodily systems most affected by allergies by using nutrient-rich foods. Because animal fats cause inflammation which exacerbates allergy symptoms, eating for allergy relief is all the more reason to focus on food derived from plants.

Here are some particularly good foods to emphasize:

Apples, broccoli, & blueberries: These have a high concentration of the nutrient quercetin (for the apples, it’s actually in the skin). Quercetin is great for people with allergies, according to National Allergy, as it has been “shown to stabilize the cells that make histamine, which mediates many allergic responses.”

Oranges & bell peppers: Both foods have high levels of vitamin C, which has a special synergistic relationship with quercetin. Vitamin C is also an excellent immunity booster on its own.

Carrots & goji berries: Both foods are extreme vitamin A machines. Vitamin A goes hand in hand with Vitamin C in aiding the immune system.

Nettles: Though many people just take nettles in capsule form, you can also use them fresh, juiced, or dried and steeped as a tea. The Prescription for Nutritional Healing states that nettle “reduces inflammation in the sinus cavities. It is also a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent free radical damage and aids in preventing allergy attacks.” Depending on where you live, you can actually forage wild nettles where they grow like weeds!

Flax, hemp and chia seeds: These seeds have a good concentration of anti-inflammatory Omega-3 oils. Keeping inflammation at a minimum reduces stress within the body.

Long-term dietary support is one of the most beneficial changes you can make to help control allergic reactions. And, with the inclusion of these helpful foods, you and I may just be able to stop and actually SMELL the roses.

Around this time, a lot of us may be considering a dietary cleanse of sorts — you know, to kinda to kick our new, better, and noticeably more awesome selves into high gear. A cleanse is essentially eliminating accrued toxins from the body and/or allowing the digestive system to “rest” by means of a full throttle consumption of detoxifying herbs, juices, elixirs or fancy concoctions . . . and not eating much else. Many times cleanses don’t even allow solid food.

A small cleanse (say, a few days long) can certainly have its place in a natural lifestyle. But rather than such a regimented approach, I prefer utilizing a style of cleansing I call “organic cleansing.” Instead of taking the extreme measures of a fast, simply eating really good-for-you food on a daily basis (essentially “cleansing” daily) allows your body to stay “clean” at its own natural and organic rate. Really good-for-you foods include whole, plant-based foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Also, eating more “raw” foods – foods that haven’t had many of their vitamins and enzymes destroyed by cooking and heat — is among the easiest and healthiest ways to cleanse (or stay cleansed!) at an organic pace. Basically: eating natural food keeps you clean & energized. It’s that simple.

Eating this way is fun, as you can genuinely feel good about each and every positive choice made. It feels like you giving to you, with, I imagine, the inner conversation going something like this:

Outer You: Hey, here, I made this smoothie for you.
Inner You: Oh, hey, thanks.
Outer You: Yeah, no worries.
(processes smoothie)
Inner You: Wow this is GOOD! Yum yum yum yum.
Outer You: I know, I had some.
Inner You: Here, I have something for you too: it’s called “a lot of energy.”
Outer You: Nice – I like a lot of energy.
Inner You: Do you think you could make me a salad later?
Outer You: Sure, but we’re going for a long hike first.
Inner You: You’re the greatest.
Outer You: You are.
Inner You: No you.
Outer You: YOU.
(group hug).

Here’s 5 foods to incorporate right away to get your great tasting, group-hugging, “organic cleanse” on:

Juice – You don’t have to go on a juice fast to get the benefits! Make sure it’s fresh and not from concentrate. No juicer at home and no juice bar around? Even a handheld citrus squeezer to make some fresh-squeezed orange juice will make the difference – and what a heavenly difference at that!

Herbal Tea – Herbs are amazingly powerful (!) and steeping them in tea is an excellent way to take advantage of their benefits while staying warm inside at the same time. Right now I’m big into nettle tea and peppermint tea.

Smoothies – The no brainer approach to a better meal. Fill up a blender with fruit, a plant-based milk or water, and your favorite superfoods for a flavorlicious meal. I think if everyone substituted their breakfast for a smoothie each day, the world would be a better place.

Leafy Greens – Eat them. Have a salad, juice them, stick a couple in your smoothie, serve them as a steamed side; just eat them. Your body loves them, and the more you can incorporate them into your diet, the better and cleaner you will feel. Sea vegetables are excellent detoxifiers as well.

Kombucha – This 2000 year-old elixir is ideal for daily organic cleansing. Kombucha is not only a delicious bubbly beverage, but one that contains copious amounts of enzymes, micronutrients, and also contains lactic acid – a dietary component which increases oxygen in the blood.

And of course, here are more recipes for a natural diet.