When I need a sweet boost in recipes I’ll always turn to fruit or stevia first (whole natural foods = yay!), but when those foods simply can’t pull the weight, it’s palm sugar comes to the rescue. I teamed up with superfoods company Navitas Naturals a couple weeks ago — who offers organic palm sugar — and shot this fun Navitas-style video for their “Chef’s Notes” video series. In this video we discuss what makes palm sugar so easy to love, how to use it, and showcase my mini-recipe for Palm Sugar Limeade as well (it’s a winner). You can find Palm Sugar in natural food stores and also online.
As I attempted to use my time at the car repair station wisely by conducting an obsessively thorough purse clean-out, a man sitting across the waiting area struck up a conversation (much to his teenage son’s embarrassment, I should note).
“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):
I wish I had a brownie for every time I’ve been informed that eating naturally is simply too hard. While making fancy shmancy meals can be a fun project, uber delicious healthy food doesn’t have to be complicated. Some of my favorite “recipes” are not recipes at all. Take, for example, a fig. Bite into it and . . . whoa! All those little seeds and colors and textures are like whole universe of magnificent complexity tucked inside a shriveled-looking edible fruit package. Imagine if the fig didn’t exist, and some company “invented” the recipe for one: would the fig not be the most amazing “product?” So much of our food experience comes down to mindset.
There’s a style of Japanese brush painting called shodo – a form of calligraphy with an abstract offshoot that attempts to capture energy and kinetics through a few simple brush strokes. Whereas most styles of painting take days, months, even years to complete, shodo takes just a few calculated moments. A swish. A swash. Maybe one last accoutremental zing . . . and then, the decision to end. And within this philosophy of “less is more,” the biggest challenge becomes when to step away and recognize perfection in “just enough.” It’s an empowering judgment call – a kind of discipline in a way – embracing simplicity in this funny world of ours that is obsessed with faster, newer, hotter, and anything that begins with “now with more.”
Poor ol’ “less.”
In the realm of food — for the most part — modern cuisine teaches “just enough” is never enough. Our perfectly lovely foods are processed, packaged, mixed, mingled, extracted, added and bastardized until they’re pretty much unrecognizable. Then we process them again, add healthyish-looking colorings, artificial vitamins and preservatives, and reshape the result into forms that pass for food-like. I don’t think most people would be too impressed if I took a beautiful shodo painting, sprayed graffiti all over it until it turned grey, covered it in white-out to get to a white page again, and then drew a couple of lines mimicking the original painting in magic marker.
I find natural foods can take us back to a Tao-like state — appreciating beauty in simplicity. Take the humble parsnip: a wonderfully useful root vastly overshadowed by its more rotund cousin, the potato. While usually just reserved for an occasional hodgepodge-style stew or roasted medley of sorts, the parsnip offers a complex flavor functioning as a gorgeous balance between a potato, a carrot, and fennel . . . all rolled into one (aka a “recipe”). And it even contains more vitamins and minerals than many of its other root friends (especially potassium). What a guy.
Homemade parsnip fries utilize this idea of “ingredient economy.” Slow roasting them allows for a caramelization of their inherent sweetness, and a little coconut oil keeps them crisp on the outside and soft within. There are a billion ways to make this recipe fancier, but in pulling them out of the oven, I’m personally hard-pressed myself to add a thing. There’s simply no need. I find these parsnips perfect: Just. The way. They are.
The brownie universe isn’t exactly full of surprises. The combination of sugar, butter, flour, chocolate, eggs, a few extraneous ingredients, plus a little oven time, inevitably leads to some form of brownie action. Of course, the resulting degree of deliciousness is all in the details — just talk to the adamant nut-adders, the chocolate chip enthusiasts, or the “fudgy” versus “cakey” people that can seemingly never agree. Yet, by and large, the language of brownies is pretty much the same: delicious chocolate squares that just about everyone loves. Including me.
But I have a secret. With the exception of chocolate (which can be profoundly beneficial in its unprocessed form), I don’t use any of the “conventional” ingredients in my homemade brownies. In fact, I don’t even bake them. (I know — what a rebel.) Instead, by using exclusively natural, whole foods, the inherently gorgeous flavor of each healthy ingredient does all the sweet singing — without needing the crutch of sugar or butter. Undercover health benefits like antioxidants, good omega fats, potassium, magnesium (and more) nutritionally rank this dessert as more of an energy bar than an “extra 20 minutes on the treadmill indulgence.” Best of all, five ingredients plus five minutes is all it takes to go from zero to brownie.
Oh, and as for their decadent texture? Simply put: go team “fudgy.” Here’s the printable recipe.
Barbecues are always a hot thing to do, but with the increasing amounts of celebration surrounding a vegetarian diet, the grill game’s a-changin’. Whether you’re a proud member of the plant-based parade or just have some veg-inclined people on the guest list, chances are your veggie burger skills will be tested at some point during the warm season.
The good news is the rules are few in the “science” of making veggie patties. Pick delicious ingredients, mash ‘em up, form into patties, and throw on the grill (or skillet). The best part? Veggie patties are profoundly forgiving when it comes to perfecting a recipe. Sneak a taste before cooking and if you’re not quite in love, just mash more goodness into the mixture to cover any mistakes. While we’re at it, here’s some pointers to help make your whole food-minded mission a success, and help you build a better veggie burger.
How to construct a winning veggie patty:
The base: Choose protein-rich or savory whole foods to provide the main “meat” of the burger. Different types of beans, seeds, nuts, tofu, and mushrooms work well. Grains and pseudograins like rice or quinoa may also be added, but if you’re eventually putting burger inside a bun, don’t turn your burger into a “second bun” by packing it too heavily with grains.
The chew: Sneak a few extra minced veggies into the mix and add extra textural interest, flavor, and sneaky nutrition. Onions, carrots, celery, corn, peas, and even sun-dried tomatoes can all add tasty complexity.
The seasoning: Any from-scratch burger wouldn’t dare be complete without some seasoning and spice. Try a combination of fresh herbs, like oregano, parsley, and thyme, and don’t be afraid of raiding the spice cabinet too for some grill-worthy spices like cumin or chili powder. A little sea salt is usually friendly too.
The binder: All your choices may taste great, but they won’t be doing anyone good if they’re sitting in broken pieces on the bottom of the grill. A binder is the all important ingredient that sticks all your choice yumminess together. Two favorites in this category: flax seeds and chia seeds (ground up is preferred). Also useful are algae and seaweed — like kelp or Irish moss — which are mineral-rich natural foods whose high concentration of mucilage takes the place of less desirable ingredients like corn starch.
Here’s one of my go-to burger recipes that seems to always meet with approval and cheers:
Chia Bean Burgers
These patties can also be pre-cooked, then gently warmed as needed.
INGREDIENTS:
15 oz cooked black beans (unsalted)
1¼ cup cooked brown rice
4 oz extra firm tofu, minced or crumbled fine
¼ cup Navitas Naturals Sprouted Chia Powder (or ground chia seeds)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1½ tsp fresh oregano, minced (or ½ tsp dried)
1 tsp palm sugar
1 stalk celery, minced
1 carrot, minced
½ cup minced yellow onion
3 Tbsp organic soy sauce or Nama Shoyu
DIRECTIONS:
With a potato masher or the back of a fork, mash the black beans in a large bowl into a chunky puree. Mix in the remaining ingredients, one at a time. (Alternately, pulse ingredients together in a food processor). Form into 8-10 patties and refrigerate for about an hour.
Patties may be brushed with oil (coconut oil works well) and placed on a grill, or place into a well greased frying pan and cooked over low heat for several minutes on each side. Makes 8-10.
Variation: Soak 2 Tbsp dried wakame flakes for 20 minutes. Drain and mash into the mixture before cooking. Wakame adds an extra strong punch of trace minerals and a light savory flavor.
Oh, and my Portobello Burger Patty is another drool-worthy favorite – and can even be made using a dehydrator. Whoa!
All hail the naturally sweet things in life, like dates. I’m not very shy about using dates as a go-to source of sweetness in recipes because their natural fruit sugars are wrapped in a mineral-rich package that makes for a prime treat with benefits. My only gripe about them is their fiber content isn’t always a good fit for recipes that require a smoother texture.
And then, what do you know. This company comes along and makes my wildest dreams come true by introducing a fantastic new product: organic date syrup.
Date. Syrup. (OMG).
I hadn’t heard of date syrup until recently, only now finding out that it’s been used (like so many fabulous foods) in other cultures for thousands of years. I do realize I just wrote a whole article on sweeteners, but this syrup is simply too good not to share. Its most exquisite quality is perhaps its luxuriously smooth texture – extra thick like caramel, with a softness that literally just melts away in your mouth. It’s very sweet, but not squintingly so (like agave syrup) if you taste it straight. More than I care to admit, my finger found its way into the jar . . . and to be honest the taste is so inherently delicious, I found it almost a waste to mix it into the flavor chorus of a recipe. Date syrup has all the elements of a gourmet treat just flying solo.
Because of this, I’ve taken to utilizing it in applications where it is not wasted as simply a sweetener, but where it can act like a true syrup and be appreciated in all its glory . . . drizzling it atop a warm oatmeal, a homemade banana soft serve, or just a touch on my little apple pear energy tartlets. It undoubtedly has an affinity for fruit, and quickly settles into the background flavors if you’re not careful.
One of my favorite experiments thus far turns out to be one of the easiest: Red Raspberry Popsicles – enhanced by date syrup that’s added just before freezing so it stays in tight little flavor pockets throughout the popsicle. Heaven brought to you by your freezer, and an ideal summertime treat. Here’s how to make them:
Red Raspberry Popsicles
Stevia (as used below) is fickle from brand to brand in terms of sweetness — making it nearly impossible to dictate measurements — yet remains a wonderful way to cut down on sugars. In this recipe, stevia extends the sweetness of the fruit sugars from date syrup and raspberries without adding a single extra calorie. If you’re not a fan of stevia, use another natural sweetener like palm sugar, or even additional date syrup.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup frozen raspberries
white stevia powder (or liquid), to taste
2 Tbsp date syrup
DIRECTIONS:
Get popsicle vessels ready – use either a plastic popsicle mold or kit, or small cups with sticks. Recipe makes about 10-12 oz of mixture – servings will vary depending on size of molds used.
In a medium bowl, stir together the almond milk and vanilla. Add the frozen raspberries, and use a fork to “mash” them into the liquid – the milk will begin to freeze into a slush around the raspberries, which is the objective. Mix until chunky, but not blended.
Add a tiny, tiny dash of stevia and mix well. Taste the mixture and add more stevia if needed, mixing after each addition. The overall taste should be quite sweet, as freezing will bring the sweetness flavor profile down a notch.
Drizzle the date syrup into the mixture. Stir once or twice ONLY – just enough to incorporate the syrup into the raspberry mix, but allowing large date syrup swirls to remain.
Carefully spoon the mixture into popsicle molds. Freeze for 3 hours or until mixture is completely frozen through. Thaw for a minute or two just before serving.
I wish I had a brownie for every time I’ve been informed that eating naturally is simply too hard. While making fancy shmancy meals can be a fun project, uber delicious healthy food doesn’t have to be complicated…
Undercover health benefits like antioxidants, good omega fats, potassium, magnesium (and more) nutritionally rank this dessert as more of an energy bar than an “extra 20 minutes on the treadmill indulgence.” Best of all, five ingredients plus five minutes is all it takes to go from zero to brownie.
One of my favorite experiments thus far turns out to be one of the easiest: Red Raspberry Popsicles – enhanced by date syrup that’s added just before freezing so it stays in tight little flavor pockets throughout the popsicle. Heaven brought to you by your freezer, and an ideal summertime treat. Here’s how to make them.
Agave recently has been under fire with negative backlash all across the health-food spectrum. But is agave really that bad? Can it be compared to high fructose corn syrup? Should we go out of our way to avoid it? Let’s take a look.
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