Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What I did with my French Lentils



French Lentil Sheppard’s Pie
1 ea celery root (celeriac), peeled and large dice
2 cup potato, large dice
1 T olive oil
1 cup onion, small dice
½ cup carrot, small dice
½ cup celery, small dice
2 T garlic, mince
2 sprig thyme
1 ½ cup French Lentils
¼ cup parsley
2 T butter, Earth Balance or extra virgin olive oil
½ to 1 cup milk, heavy cream or cooking liquid
Salt & pepper

1. Combine potato and celery root in a pot. Season and cover with water.
2. Bring to boil and turn down and simmer until tender.
3. Mean while, heat olive oil in pan just until smoke point. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
4. Add thyme and lentils and stir in for one minute or so.
5. Cover with water and bring to boil.
6. Turn down to simmer and cook until lentils are tender.
7. Season with a little salt and continue to cook to evaporate some of the moisture. Do not let the level of water fall bellow the lentils though.
8. Drain the potato and celery root.*
9. Bring butter and milk to simmer.
10. Add Parsley and crush potatoes until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper.
11. Place the lentil mixture in a lightly oiled baking casserole and top with whipped potatoes.
12. Lightly spread potatoes covering entire lentil mixture.
13. Bake in a 350f oven for thirty minutes.
14. Let stand for five minutes outside oven before serving.

NOTE: You can save this water and use it to make your mash if you like. Make it vegan by replacing the butter with Earth Balance or olive oil.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Thoughts and Prayers to Japan


Please send all your prayers, thoughts and white light to everyone in Japan and those affected by this morning's earthquake. They have never had an earthquake this big. It happened 80 miles off the coast and minutes later a tsunami hit with no warning. Many lives have been and will be affected.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Dirty Dozen


The environmental Working Group publishes a Dirty Dozen list. This list includes the 12 vegetables that are grown with the most chemicals and pesticides. The list also includes the "Clean Fifteen." These are the veggies that are produced with the fewest chemicals and pesticides. Go HERE to check it out. Sign up for their newsletter if you like. It is full of good info and our environment and the fight to keep it clean.

PS Apples are good for you. Eat organic or local low spray in abundance.

Absolutely Confusinig

Nutrition is a very absolute science. Absolute in the sense that it is absolutely not absolute. There is no one dietary theory that works for everyone. There are many philosophies and approaches to finding health and well being for oneself. At times these become confusing for everyone, myself included.

Every day it seems there is a new diet cookbook, diet fad or scientific study touting the latest take on what's going to make us all skinny, happy, attractive in a bathing suit, etc. I am sorry to break the news to you that "diets" don't work. Most people that loose weight on diets put it back on and more. There is only one person that knows what is best for you and that is YOU.

The basis of health and well being is YOU. If I asked what are three things you could do differently to improve your health right now, almost everyone could answer without thinking.

The first step to finding health and well being to to start listening to yourself. You are a lot smarter than you might think.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Save the Bees


Some of you may have heard about Colony Collapse Disorder. For those of you that haven't, it is a devastating phenomenon that decimates bee populations. The causes are not fully understood, but most believe that the increased use in pesticides throughout the world is a major factor.

Why should you care? One word....Pollination. Bees are natures pollinators. They fly around pollinating at least 30% of our fruits and vegetables. As their population goes down so does the pollination rate. This in turn leads to lower yields on crops which leads to higher prices and less food security for poorer populations.

It has been estimated that it would takes trillions of dollars to research a way in which pollination can be recreated by science. Currently farmers pay around zero dollars to pollinate their fields. (Some do actually pay bee keepers to bring their bees to their farms for pollination, but that is another story.) I am speaking about small local growers. The ones that we should all be supporting right?

Slow Foods has started a petition targeting Steven P. Bradbury, Director EPA Office of Pesticide Programs. Bellow is the copy.

"As a consumer, I am concerned about the impact that a world without honeybees will have on our food system. Please make good on your commitment to urgently examine whether systemic pesticides like neonicotinoids are an underlying cause of colony collapse disorder, and act on the results to safeguard our food system,"

Please show your support by going HERE and signing the petition.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Omega Classes 2011

Hi All, I will only be teaching two classes this year at Omega. I am very excited about my classes and love sharing, teaching and learning in each workshop. The first will focus on Spring/Summer dishes and the second will be late summer/fall dishes. Can't wait. More info HERE.