Perfect Kale Crisps

By this point in time, I have more recipes for kale crisps then I care to admit. There really is no one right formula to make them, but there are a few tricks in getting them to cook properly. Here are a few suggestions . . .

The great egg substitute

One of my favorite baking facelifts is replacing eggs with “superseeds” like flax or chia, which are full of omega fats, fiber, protein and minerals. I swear: your muffins can’t tell the difference. Here’s the formula…

Out with the cane, in with the palm sugar (with video)

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.

Parsnip Fries

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…

No Bake Brownies

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.

Veggie BBQ like you mean it

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’.

Red Raspberry Pops

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.

Is agave syrup good, bad, or just kinda tasty?

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.

The “Dirty Dozen:” when eating organic matters most

Is it necessary to eat organic all the time? Well, ideally, yeah. (And in a perfect world the idea mixing chemicals and food would be absolutely egregious in the first place). However, if a tight wallet, lack of availability, or just unfamiliarity with the organic movement is an issue, chuck the idealism at the door and instead start out by taking on baby step #1: saying NO to the Dirty Dozen list – the worst of the worst non-organic offenders.

Green Mango Smoothie

There’s something about this blend, with its thick frosty creamy mangos and sweetly inviting flavor that makes it more than “just a smoothie.” I make it a little extra thick, throw it into a bowl, and eat it with a spoon as a quasi-sherbet-like dessert.