So this morning at the farmers market a really strange young man started following me around.  He was one of these people that at first glance I really couldn’t tell if he was a young man, or an old man…. he had odd facial hair and just a unique way about him.

As I started walking down the isles he would stay 10-15 feet away and then all of a sudden be right behind me asking if I wanted to hang out? WHAT?

I got everything that I wanted at the market and ran back to my car… I then remembered STRAWBERRIES!!! So, I went back and there he was! Only this time, he was following around another young lady, tapping her on the shoulder every few stands.

A part of me wanted to say that I did want to hang out with him and to see what was going on in his brain, but the bigger part of me was too scared.

The good news is that my strawberries look amazing, and I got these fuchsia colored potatoes that look delightful, the bad news is I feel bad for this lonely guy who can’t seem to find anyone to hang out with….

I’m not sure why I felt the urge to write this down, but I guess it is because I always try to not judge a book by it’s cover, but when it gets down to it…I did? 

Maybe the moral of the story is always bring a buddy to the farmers market?

Or maybe it is that you should hang out with strange people that ask you to, or else you will feel guilty?

I don’t know, but I am excited to show you what I make with the purple potatoes AND ALSO, I made a stew that is SO GOOD, and I will post it later on today or tomorrow!

While all of us salad loving folk are benefiting from eating lots of raw veggies, a salad or two a day can lead to salad dressing burnout!  You know the feeling…the salad looks great, but once you dress it with the same old same, old your taste buds find themselves bored.

So I’ve shaken up my salad dressing repertoire with this Orange Vinaigrette, which is great on spring greens and brightens up anything you dress it with.  You’ll need to buy some orange muscat champagne vinegar (you can find this at Trader Joes), or another orange based vinegar. If you can find orange flavored olive oil, all the better.  Lemon flavored oil would also do the trick, but you can use your standard olive oil as well.

I just whipped up a salad of red romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes,steamed asparagus, red bell pepper and goat cheese, then tossed it in my vinaigrette.  Yum!!!

Orange Vinaigrette

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp agave

1/4 cup orange vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 small lime

1/4 tsp marjarom

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

salt to taste

Place your minced garlic in a small bowl and add agave.  Blend, then add vinegar and stir.  Slowly add in olive oil and whisk together.  Squeeze in your lime and add your spices.  

One of my requested recipe categories are healthy desserts.  But a dessert needs to be delicious, so sometimes I settle for “healthier” desserts.  This fruit cobbler definitely qualifies!

Since fresh berries are in season I love using them…and I like to mix blueberries, blackberries and strawberries which comes in handy for your red, white and blue 4th of July gatherings.

This recipe is inspired by a recipe for an old fashioned cobbler in the book “New Recipes From the Moosewood Restaurant” which was published in 1987.  The original recipe is over 100 years old!  I can tell you that the original recipe is delicious, but I’ve been making this less decadent version for years and no one hasn’t like it…except for people with a super-sweet tooth, and they just drizzled a bit of extra agave on the top and were happy campers.

In this recipe I’ve reduced the sugar and the fat, and used white whole wheat flour. Plus, berries are really, really good for you! Thus, I consider this a reasonably healthy dessert!  

So go ahead and top this with a little whipped cream, or vegan whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream, or vegan ice cream!

Fruit Cobbler

3 cups mixed berries (if berries are NOT sweet sprinkle with 2 Tbl sugar)

1 Tbl cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbl warm water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbl lemon juice

3 Tbl melted butter

2 Tbl greek yogurt

1/3 cup vanilla soy milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup agave

1 egg + 2 egg whites

1 cup + 2 Tbl white whole wheat flour, or white spelt flour

1 Tbl baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 and spray an 8x8 pan.

Place berries in a bowl and mix with cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon juice.

In another bowl blend butter, yogurt, soy milk, agave,  vanilla and eggs.  Sprinkle with flour and baking powder and gently blend.

Pour half the batter into the pan and top with your berries.  Spread the rest of the batter on top and smooth with a knife.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Serves 8

As Jerry Seinfeld said, people love it because they love saying, “salsa”!  Actually they love it because it’s awesome and healthy too.

When I want a change of pace and mangos are ripe and reasonably priced I love serving this mango salsa.  It’s great with chips and makes a nice accompaniment to fish, especially white, mild fish.  You can also serve it with grilled chicken breasts. 

If you HATE dicing mangos here is the way to do it.  Invest in a good vegetable peeler, not the dinky kind.  Ask your salesperson if you can peel a mango with it!  Hold onto your mango with a paper towel and peel the skin from half the mango, then hold the peeled end in the paper towel (gives you a better grip) and peel the other side.  Slice the mango in 1/4 inch pieces on a cutting board, then stack the slices and dice.

The other mango technique is to keep the skin on, then cut half the mango as close to the pit as possible.  Take that half and a sharp knife and cut cross sections into the flesh.  The turn it inside out and cut away.

So now you’re ready!

Mango Salsa

1 ripe mango, diced

1 jalapeno, thinly diced

1/4 red onion, thinly diced

1/2 red pepper, finely chopped

2 Tbl cilantro, finely chopped

1 lime

salt, pepper

Simply place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and squeeze with lime.  Salt and pepper to taste, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Well, I guess this is a start in the right direction!  Remember the good old food pyramid? 6-11 servings of grains a day, 2-4 serving of fruit, blah, blah, blah.  So in case you didn’t have enough on your mind you needed to remember every serving of everything you ate each day.  Sure, that’s helpful to the average person.

At least the food plate shows consumers that half the plate should be fruit/veggies, and the other half grains (larger) and protein (a bit smaller).  Dairy is a little circle off to the side.  

See what you think!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/business/03plate.html?_r=1&hpw

Hi Natasha!

My friend is trying to raise her two children, ages 1 and 3, vegan. She is having trouble finding kid-friendly vegan recipes. Do you have suggestions for how to make some of the tasty kid options, like grilled cheese and mac and cheese, quesadillas, etc. into vegan recipes? Or any other recipes you think they would love? Thanks!

Kari

Kari,

I love daiya vegan cheese, which has a tapioca base.  You can find it for sure at Whole Foods.  It has great “meltability”, a word I think I just made up, and a great mild flavor.

For grilled cheese just put a little vegan butter in a saute pan, place one slice of bread in it, sprinkle cheese on bread, cover with a lid to melt the cheese and make the bread all golden, remove the lid, top with another slice and flip.   Kids will love this made with Rudy’s Spelt Bread, and it is vegan.  I love this sandwich but like to add sun dried tomatoes and basil. You can also use it to make quesadillas of course!  

I haven’t done the mac and cheese but will work on it!

I have lots of great vegan recipes on my website, www.healthfoodstalker.com.  Just click on recipes and scroll through. You’ll find vegan desserts, soups, and lots of other kid friendly recipes.

EVERYONE loved the hot dogs!  And we’re talking about a crowd that included New Yorkers!

So for your next BBQ, instead of the serving those typically fat laden, nitrate loaded hot dogs, buy your carnivorous friends the grass feed, gluten free Great Organic Uncured Hot Dogs by Applegate.