Mushroom Pate
February 3rd, 2011
This one is soo delicious, nutritious and easy to make. It is rich and satisfying for those cold, dark winter nights. You may like it so much that you never eat conventional Pate again. It is very important to use Organic mushrooms. All mushrooms are powerful suckers of pollutants from the body and the soil. Because of that that, you may not want the toxicity from pesticides, herbicides, fungicides found in conventional mushrooms. Mitake and Shitake are powerful immune stimulants. So much so that they are used in some cancer prevention protocols. Amazing and so flavourful!
VEGAN MUSHROOM PATE
Ingredients:
- 1-2 large shallots, diced
- 10-15 shitakes, cleaned, chopped, de-stemmed
- 1 package of brown mushrooms, chopped, de-stemmed
- 1 package of mitake mushrooms
- 1.5 tbls. olive oil
- 1 tbls. of fresh rosemary, chopped finely
- 1/2 tbls. of fresh parsley, chopped finely
- 1 tbls. of balsamic vinegar
- sea salt to taste
- 1/2-3/4 cup of walnuts, soaked for 6 hours, rinsed twice, then drained well
- optional: 1 tbls. of brandy, sherry or red wine added along with the balsamic
Directions:
- Heat frying pan to a medium low heat.
- Add olive oil and then shallots. Cook until translucent.
- Turn heat up to medium. Add all the mushrooms and cook for about 7-10 minutes (until they sweat and start to loose their structural integrity).
- Add in chopped rosemary and parsley. Cook until aromatic but does not turn black in colour.
- Add balsamic (and booze) and reduce temperature back down to medium-low for about 5 minutes.
- Cool Slightly
- Add to a Cuisinart with walnuts, and add additional salt and olive oil and balsamic (optional) until it has turned smooth and “chopped liver” looking or till desired richness.
- Serve warm. If you want to get extra fancy, you can fry some additional shallots to add to the top as a garnish.
Eat and enjoy!!!! This incredibly rich side dish is perfect on crackers, in an open-faced sandwich, to finish a vegetable soup, to serve with lamb or steak.
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Sexy peaches
August 10th, 2010
Nothing says summer like a juicy, round, soft peach. Just looking at them makes me think of long summer days, flowing skirts and car trips. Amazing! After few years ago after an exciting farmer’s market afternoon, I came up with this recipe after I bought the big box of organic peaches. In all of my peach-loving excitement I quickly came to the question; how many peaches can one eager lady eat? In order to avoid the oncoming rotten peach predicament (not sexy at all), I figured out what I believe to be a culinary triumph. Trust. I think I may have even swayed a man to fall in love with me once after eating my peaches. This stuff is potent! Individual results may vary.
I don’t often make dishes with alcohol but if rum was not used in this recipe, it would be called “Stewed Peaches”. The boozy really makes it pop but it can easily be eliminated for those seeking to avoid alcohol.
SEXY PEACHES:
Ingredients:
- 10 ripe peaches, de-stoned and cut into quarters
- ¼ cup of organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, cardamom, and vanilla powder
- (Vanilla extract if powder is not available)
- 1 good pinch of sea salt
- ½ tablespoon of Coconut oil
- ¼ cup of rum, I like Mount Gay Rum
- 3 tablespoons of water
- (Optional) ½ wild blueberries
Directions:
- Turn stove top onto medium
- In a large frying pan or pot, toss in peaches with a 3 tablespoons of water
- Allow to cook for a couple of minutes, until the water starts bubbling
- Add the spices and salt
- Stir
- Add in rum and coconut oil and blueberries if you are using them
- Stir
- Turn to low and simmer
Cook for 5-30 minutes depending on your desire for firmness. Tastes outstanding with vegan coconut ice cream. Last for 4 days but it will be long gone before then.
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Ch… Ch… Chia
April 1st, 2010
If you grew in the 80’s, then I guarantee that you will know what I am talking about. Chia, right up there with Slinky has been burned into our collective consciousness by crafty advertisers. But wait, there’s more… I have attached a you tube posting so the others can sing along. It is irritatingly catchy.
Chia is more than a gimmicky grow toy for children of all ages. Chia is regarded as a superfood for super people. Chia is an ancient Aztec, Mayan and Incan superfood used for thousands of years because of its valuable nutrient properties. It is sold in bulk or under the trademark “Salba”. There is also a sprouted ground variety that I love. You can buy it at a good health food store and in better grocery stores.
Chia is fairly tasteless so it is easy to add it to recipes for a quick, easy nutrient blast. Here are several ways to use chia:
- Sprout and put into a sandwich or chia pet
- Soak and eat in a porridge, smoothie or as part of a dip
- Use in your eyes for an eye treatment, excellent for eye infections, red eyes, irritation, allergies. Place 1 whole seed in each eye and leave it in. It will fall out in roughly 6 hours. This is a marvellous treatment for your eyes on an airplane when eyes tend to be dry.
- As a face mask- grind, soak and apply for 20 minutes and wash off with warm water. Afterwards Use a few sprays of an aromatherapy hydrosol to moisturize. It is wonderfully nutritious for your skin and will help calm red, inflamed skin. Try it with 1-2 drops of Chamomile, Frankincense, or rose essential oil for extra benefits
- Throw a tsp. into your drinking water. It makes water plumper.
- Make a pudding of chia, soaked, cocoa powder, maple syrup, rice bran powder, vanilla powder (fruit optional)
Chia is so valuable because it is so nutrient packed. It is very high in vegetarian source Essential fatty acids and less likely to go rancid than flax oil or hemp oil. Chia is a complete protein and very high in iron. It is an excellent source of perfectly balanced magnesium and calcium, it is a great source of vitamin C and has loads of trace minerals your body is literally dying for. No wonder Aztec warriors used chia before battle.
I find it amazingly energizing, clarifying and fortifying and notice a big difference in my digestion when it is part of my breakfast of champions.
Chia is incredibly mucilaginous, making it a wonderful aid for treatment constipation. When it is ground and then soaked, it is suitable for people with diverticulosis and IBS. I strongly recommend freshly grinding them in a clean coffee grinder and then soaking them. One of my clients made the mistake of eating chia without soaking them and called me a few days later in agonizing pain due to constipation. Two big cups of water later, she was better than new. The proportions for soaking are 10:1 water to chia. Another advantage of freshly grinding Chia means that it only takes about 3 minutes to get mucilaginous. If you are soaking from whole seed, it can take up to 30 minutes.
Breakfast of Champions:
- Quinoa- complete protein, high in calcium and magnesium,
- Berries or cooked fruit, depending on the time of year
- Agave or Maple syrup- for yum factor
- Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger because most people have cold invasion in their bodies
- Maca
- Rice Bran Powder
- Camu camu powder
- Soaked chia seeds
- Vanilla powder on sexy days
Full and thriving for hours
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