Hey everyone,

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m heading out for lunch to a little vegetarian café in the city that I have yet to visit.

Stay tuned for my review later!

In the meantime, I want to share with you a delicious smoothie recipe that is not only healthy, but also a tasty treat.

 Recipe – Valentine’s Day Chocolate Strawberry Banana Smoothie

3/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup of frozen strawberries

1/2 of a ripened banana (fresh or frozen)

1 tbsp of raw cocoa powder

Blend together until smooth and enjoy.

Note: Recipe was updated since original post to make it even better!

——————————————————————–

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

Didn’t your mama always tell you to eat your greens? Well it turns out she was right!

Leafy greens are one of the richest sources of nutrients of any foods in the vegetable kingdom, and kale is no exception. In fact, when it comes to green leafy veggies - kale is king.

Deliciously packed full of good stuff like Vitamins A, C, E, K; minerals such as calcium, iron and manganese; along with fibre, it would be a shame not to include this green in your diet.

Phyllis A. Balch, points out in her book Prescription for Dietary Wellness (Second Edition), that kale is one of the best known cancer-fighting veggies on the planet! It is the richest of all leafy greens in carotenoids and is abundant in lutein, a phytochemical known for its ability to help protect your peepers.  Furthermore, the calcium in kale is more easily absorbed and assimilated by the body than the calcium in milk, making it a super food when it comes to protecting against osteoporosis and bone-loss.

A lot of people believe that kale needs to be cooked before eating, since it’s pretty tough (fibrous) and a little bitter. Not true though! Kale can be enjoyed in its raw state as well. In fact, this is the way I prefer to eat it. You just need to know how to prepare it properly.

If you’re new to kale or have never tried it raw, below is a delicious recipe to get you started.

Recipe: Massaged Kale Salad

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale (I used curly but you can use any variety)

1 carrot grated

2 spring onions chopped

2 tbsp + 1 tsp of olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar)

¼ tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of honey

1 tbsp of sesame seeds (optional)

 Instructions

1. After rinsing the kale, rip the leaves off the large, tough part of the stem and chop into bite-size pieces (or just rip into smaller pieces).
2. Place kale in bowl and drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
3. Now the fun part! Roll up your sleeves and take off any rings. This is where the “love” part comes into the equation. Give the kale a 2-3 minute massage. That’s right, massage your kale! Make sure all the leaves are covered by the oil. You’ll notice that the kale will start to break-down and wilt, making it more tender. 
4. Set the kale aside for 5 minutes and give it a rest.
5. When it’s time, add veggies and drizzle with dressing (lemon juice, honey and remaining 1 tsp of olive oil). Give it a toss and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).
6. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
7. Serve and enjoy!

If you love simple, healthy and delicious recipes that can be made in a pinch, this is certain to become one of your favourites!

I mentioned in an earlier post that hummus is one of my favourite snacks. It’s just one of those things that makes eating raw veggies that much more enjoyable. And it’s so ridiculously easy to make, it’s almost a sin to buy store-bought.

Here’s a quick and easy recipe for your snacking pleasure.

Recipe: Simple Hummus

Ingredients

1 can of organic chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1-2 cloves of garlic crushed

½ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup of Tahini (include some of the oil that rises to the top)

1 tbsp of olive oil

½ tsp sea salt (I’m currently using Himalayan)

½ tsp of cumin

Optional: small piece of diced jalapeño pepper (if you’re not afraid of a little fire!)

Instructions

Throw all ingredients in a food processor or Vita-Mix (or other strong blender) and blend until you’ve reached a somewhat smooth and creamy consistency.

Garnish with parsley or cilantro.

……………………………………………………

Ah, sweet simplicity.

Hope your Sunday was as relaxing as mine:)

I’ve always had a love for the avocado.  Lately though, I’ve been gobbling them down as if they were going out of style. Over the last few weeks or so, it’s safe to say that I’ve eaten avocado everyday in some form or another.  I can’t get enough of them!

Avocados are the perfect complement to almost any dish or a satisfying snack eaten all on their own. Best of all though, they are delicious and packed full of health-promoting nutrients.  It’s no wonder that every nutritionist raves about them.

And for great reason.

Avocados are a good source of potassium, B vitamins (particularly folic acid), Vitamins C, E, and K, fibre and healthy fats. They also contain more protein than any other fruit (about 5 grams) and are rich in carotenoids, particularly lutein which helps to protect against eye disease. Furthermore, avocados are rich in beta-sitosterol, a natural substance shown to significantly reduce blood cholesterol levels.

With all these nutrients, it’s a shame that some people actually avoid them because they believe the high fat content makes them an unhealthy choice. This is a misconception. Most of the fat comes from monounsaturated fat in the form of oleic acid, like that found in olives. This type of fat is actually found to be good for your heart by lowering total cholesterol levels and improving HDL and LDL ratios. And remember, every one of our cells need healthy fat for metabolic processes that happen inside our bodies each second of everyday. That includes the burning of fat! As an added bonus, these healthy fats are also great for keeping hair shiny and skin smooth and supple.  

How do you eat them?

I’m sure one of the first things that come to mind when people think about eating avocados is the ever so famous guacamole. And while I do enjoy this myself from time to time, below I’ve listed the three most common ways I include avocados in my diet.

1) On top of salads. Did you know that avocados actually increase the absorption of carotenoids in vegetables when eaten at the same time? A study published in the March 2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition proved this to be true. Adding avocado to salad increased absorption of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein 7.2, 15.3, and 5.1 times higher, respectively, than the average amount of these nutrients absorbed when avocado-less salad was eaten.

2) With rice-dishes. I’m a big fan of the rice bowl. It’s like eating a salad but with rice instead of lettuce. Start with rice as your base and then add all the toppings you would normally add to your salad. For instance, this below recipe is something that made an appearance in my lunch twice last week.

Elaine’s Rice Bowl with Tahini dressing

Rice Bowl

½ cup of brown rice

½ an avocado sliced

¼ cup of raw sunflower seeds

½ cup of fennel chopped

Handful of parsley (or cilantro) chopped

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Tahini dressing

Mix together: ¼ cup of lemon juice, 1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of Tahini and a pinch of sea salt.

Drizzle over rice bowl and enjoy!

3) All by themselves. Give me half an avocado and a spoon and I’m one happy girl. A little drizzle of my Acropolis balsamic vinegar and I’m good to go! Sometimes I’ll even fill the little hole in the middle with raw sunflower seeds for some added sustenance.

Another, more creative way is to blend them into smoothies. Adding half an avocado to a smoothie will give it the same creamy consistency as adding a banana. If you have a picky little eater at home, this is a great way to “sneak” in some added nutrition without compromising on taste.

There you have it!

What’s your favourite avocado recipe? I would love to hear from you!

“Detoxification” seems to be the latest buzz word these days. Everywhere you turn it seems somebody is talking about being on the latest “detox diet” or “cleanse”, and the number of  products designed to help you detoxify your body are cropping up on store shelves every day. It seems it is almost trendy these days to be on a detox!

The word detox likely conjures up a number of different images for different people, such as running to the toilet 10 times a day, living on nothing but vegetable juices and herbal concoctions, or perhaps even going to some remote island where you meditate for hours on end while chanting to the Sun Gods.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do support a good detox diet that includes limiting certain foods, eating lighter fare, and adding specific supplements or herbs to your diet that increase the body’s natural ability to detoxify. My only concern is, how can you expect to rid your body of toxins that have built up over your entire lifetime in a detox program that lasts 3, 5 or even 10 days?

Whereas you may decide to take a break from some toxic habits such as eating  sugar or drinking alcohol, the fact of the matter is, there are many things that can be (and should be) incorporated into your life each and everyday to support detoxification and promote optimal health – not just for a few days a year before returning back to your regular bad habits.

So what exactly does the word detoxification mean? Simply stated, detoxification is the removal of toxins from the body. However, it’s not that simple!

We are exposed to a barrage of toxins daily through the food that we eat, the air that we breathe, and products that we put on our skin. In the past 75 years alone over 80,000 new chemical s have been introduced into our environment!

Then there are the internal toxins which are created inside our bodies. These include the by-products of metabolic processes and bacterial wastes.

When there is an increase in toxic build-up in the body, numerous illnesses and health complications can ensue.

With that said, there is no better determinant of health than a body that is able to detoxify effectively. A body that cannot detoxify properly is paving the road to a future of ill-health. 

The  major organ systems involved in physical detoxification include the digestive, urinary, dermal (skin), respiratory and lymphatic system. However, the primary organs are the liver, kidneys and intestines.  And based on the number of toxins we are exposed to daily, it is likely these organs need all the help they can get!

The focus of this post is to talk about “everyday” things that you can start doing right now, that can help support your body’s natural ability to detoxify.

The quality of our life and health is greatly affected by the choices we make every day; from the food we choose to put in our mouth, the products we purchase, the activities we decide to participate in, the people we choose to spend time with, to the thoughts we think.

Recently I gave a series of nutrition talks on the topic of detoxification along with my fellow nutritionista friend Joy. We gave our “top 10 tips” for everyday ways to detoxify your life. For the purposes of this blog however, I decided I would focus solely on the “diet” portion of our talk and break it down to 5 tips instead.

Other tips that we talked about that I’m not going to cover here were: ditching toxic habits like smoking and drinking excessively, getting adequate sleep and exercise, supporting your body with supplements and limiting toxins in your home.

So with that said, here is tip #1 of my “top 5 diet tips” you can incorporate into your life everyday to help detoxify your body!

Tip #1 – Boost your intake of natural detoxifying foods

Yes, that’s right! There are foods that exist which actually increase your body’s natural detoxifying properties.

These include:

1) Cruciferous Vegetables: such as kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower and turnips.

Photo credit- Flickr:tibchris

 2) High-sulphur containing foods: such as onions, garlic, leeks, shallots and eggs.

Photo credit – Flickr:mullica

3) Bitter and leafy greens: such as arugula, watercress, endive, Swiss chard and dandelion greens.

Photo credit – Flickr:muffet

4) Other natural detoxifying foods include:  beets, carrots, apples, artichokes, lemons, limes and spices such as turmeric.

Photo credit – Flickr:heathervescent

All of these foods mentioned help to protect the liver from damage, improve liver function and increase detoxification pathways in the body.

Note: Some of the foods fall under more than one category

The key is to try and incorporate as many of these foods into your diet each and everyday!

Here’s a simple and easy recipe that you can make for dinner tonight!

Recipe: Liver Lovin’ Veggie Sauté (4 servings)

Liver Lovin' Sauté

Ingredients

Approx. ½ a small red cabbage chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 beet peeled and chopped

2 cups of broccoli

5-6 leafs of swiss chard (or leafy green of your choice)

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 TBSP Coconut Oil (for cooking and added flavour)

Splash of water

Splash of Tamari (optional)

Instructions

Cooking time: Approx. 20 minutes

In a wok or saucepan:

Heat oil over medium temperature.

Add all veggies except leafy greens and garlic

Sauté until vegetables soften a bit – approx 7-8 minutes

At this point you may want to throw in a splash of water – helps the veggies cook faster

Add leafy greens – sauté for another 10 minutes or so until veggies are tender but still crispy

Throw in a splash of Tamari

Serve over Quinoa and sprinkle with fresh raw garlic (optional)

Yes – that’s right. RAW garlic! In addition to enhancing flavor and being a natural detoxifier, raw garlic has so many other amazing health benefits including boosting the immune system.  More to come on this in another post!

There you have it – a simple and delicious recipe that will help kick your body’s detoxifying powers into gear!

Click here for a Liver Lovin’ Smoothie recipe

Check back soon for Tip # 2

Last night my lovely friend Jenn had me over to her place for dinner. To my delight, she cooked for me a very yummy chicken mango chutney curry that was absolutely delish.

This got me thinking about curry and how much I love it. For those days when I return home ravenously hungry from work and need something that can be made relatively quickly and with little preparation, curry is the perfect solution.

My love affair with curry stems back to my days of backpacking around South East Asia, particularly Thailand where I took a Thai cooking course and learned to make Thai curry.  What I love about curry is that there are so many variations to be tried and when cooking at home, every batch can be unique depending on your mood or what ingredients you have on hand.

Recipe – Simple Vegetarian Coconut Curry

 Ingredients:

- 2 cloves of garlic crushed

- 1 Tbsp of minced ginger

- 1 Tbsp cumin

- 2 Tbsps of yellow curry powder

- 1 tsp of ground coriander seeds

- 2 Tbsps of unrefined coconut oil

- 1 lb of red potatoes

- 3 carrots

- 2 cups of cauliflower florets

- 1 cup of frozen peas (or if you have the time to shell fresh ones go for it!)

- 1 bunch of kale

- Tofu (Organic, non-GMO) – or other protein source

- 1 can of coconut milk

- Sea salt to taste

* Use whatever vegetables you desire or have on hand

Directions:

Steam potatoes for approx 8-10 minutes, add carrots and cauliflower and continue steaming for additional 5 minutes. Set aside.

In a large sauce pan add coconut oil. Once oil is heated add garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant.

Next add all your spices and seasonings. Give it a stir then slowly add coconut milk and bring to a boil

Reduce heat and add potatoes, carrots, frozen peas, cauliflower, chopped kale and lastly the tofu.  Make sure everything is covered by the liquid.  Cook for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Eat on its own or serve over quinoa or rice!

 * A quick note on canned coconut milk.  They are NOT all created equal.  Some of them have unnecessary additives that are unhealthy.  Usually these ones are cheaper in price.  Also, go for the full fat variety. The lighter versions are the same but just diluted with more water, which is why often times they are a little less expensive than the full-fat ones.  Remember, even though coconut milk is high in fat, this is the healthy fat that your body needs.  It’s not the same as the saturated fat found in animal products (which by the way, is fine in moderation in most cases. I’ll post more on this later though).

** A quick note on Tofu.  Soy Beans are GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and unless you are buying organic, there is no way around it.  I’m not really a huge advocate of soy products unless they are high quality ones, but I will save this topic for another post as well.

 Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Vegetarian Coconut Curry

The curry I enjoyed last night at Jenn's place!

The green coconut curry I made at a cooking class in Chang Mai, Thailand

Fun fact:  Curry in a Hurry is the name of a little eatery in Guelph, Ontario  – the city where I went to university and the first place I tried curry.  Check it out next time you are visiting.