1. Beans (including chickpeas) contain lectins which can cause abdominal distention in some people.

2. Most of us are not going to soak chickpeas overnight and will opt for the canned variety.  Canned chickpeas are cooked, re-cooked and devoid of their natural enzymes.

3. One cup of chickpeas has 54 grams of carbohydrates while 1 cup of zucchini has 3 grams of carbohydrates.

4. Zucchini is coming into season right now and I’d rather be getting on my bike to head to the farmers markets to pick up zucchini than canned chickpeas.  The latter makes me think of hibernating in a bunker.

Back to my beach image… I’m adding raw flax seed crackers such as those from Gingersnap Organic or a large vegetable crudities plate à la Sunset Beach style – radish, shallots, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli, baby beets, purple carrots, heirloom tomatoes.

The key to this recipe is to NOT add too much tahini.  Tahini can be very powerful and will wipe out the delicate flavor of the zucchini.  Just add 2 tablespoons.  I’ve used very little EVOO but you can add more or even water if the hummus is too thick.

This serving size is for sharing so don’t be greedy.  Enjoy!

I used Dumangin champagne vinegar (available at Williams-Sonama) to create the dressing.  If you can’t find champagne vinegar, a raw organic apple cider will work equally as well.  However, the more acidic the vinegar, the more oil needed to balance it. Start with equal parts then add more olive oil as needed.  I’ve recommended a 2:1 ratio for this recipe.

Taking inspiration from Donna Hay, serve the dressing in individual glass bottles.

Olives and roasted artichokes can be added for a more robust salad.

I still don’t own a wok, but a cast iron skillet will work and save precious cupboard space. The trick to wok-tossed vegetables is to add only a small amount of sauce and cook them until they are crispy. They should be lightly coated in oil and eaten immediately.

The most time consuming aspect of a stir-fry is chopping the vegetables.  Buy them already cut, if you must, but be aware that vegetables (and fruit) lose 50% of their Vitamin C content 20 minutes after being exposed to oxygen.  Instead, use the slicing, dicing and chopping of vegetables to be meditative and therapeutic. Turn on the music and drift into your own thoughts.  If I’m cooking at home, my favorite tunes are from ABC Lounge, an internet radio station that streams from Saint-Tropez. The occasional injection of French seems to help too.

Don’t scrimp on the herbs – they make all the difference. Cilantro and basil are the easiest to work with. Add some shrimp, organic chicken, tofu or fish to make this dish a meal. Enjoy!

This little Spring number made with cucumber, avocado and apple. I wish I had devised this recipe. Instead, I came across it at www.food52.com, a blog that brings together cooks and lovers of good simple food.  Their manifesto is:

If you cook, your family will eat dinner together.
If you cook, you will naturally have a more sustainable household.
If you cook, you’ll set a lifelong example for your children.
If you cook, you’ll understand what goes into food and will eat more healthily.
If you cook, you’ll make your home an important place in your life.
If you cook, you’ll make others happy.
If you cook, people will remember you.

I can only concur whole-heartedly with these words of wisdom. Don’t be fearful of cooking, particularly salads.  It’s more assembly than anything else – like a tapas plate filled with vegetables, cheese and nuts. Enjoy!

The strategy – start with a salad made of robust leaves like kale, Swiss chard or beet greens. These leaves are hearty enough to be a meal on their own and also pair well with eggs, arguably the most inexpensive protein on the planet.

Simply toss the leaves in a fat & acid based dressing and they take on a softer more delicate texture.  In fact, these salads taste better when made the night before as the leaves marinate in the dressing allowing the fibrousness of the leaves to break-down. This means dinner can be converted into a ready-to-go salad for lunch the next day. Off to Lululemon in your lunch-break not the lines at Chop’t.

This particular salad was inspired by a recipe at sprouted kitchen. It’s great in its own right.  I modified it for practicality and time efficiency. Simply add seeds and avocado and you have lunch!

My beets are cooking now… You could also buy pre-cooked beets.

This post was specifically created for Keryn Kelly Arnett, a Foodcoach FB friend. Ask away, I’ll only be too happy to help.

And the blue potatoes at Eataly were flirting with me… With the same flavonoid as blueberries and 300% more antioxidants than white potatoes, how could I fight off the blue temptresses?

I couldn’t. Instead, I dressed them up with sesame seeds, cilantro, chilies and a little lemon juice. I made them all mine and devoured them all. The perfect Sunday afternoon treat.

For more on the health benefits of blue potatoes, check out the Nov Research Round-up blog post.

Once you have the beans, it’s the simplest recipe in the world.  Cook, cool and toss with mint, greens and optional parmesan cheese. Drizzle with EVOO and lemon juice and you’re done!

If you purchase too many fresh fava beans try Hedi Swanson’s   rustic grilled fava beans with EVOO and salt. Delicious!

This was my first foray into cooking shrimp.  Normally, I’d be a New Yorker, and buy the pre-cooked shrimp.  Instead, I wandered into the newly opened Foragers in Chelsea and asked if they sold shrimp.  They came back with the uncooked shrimp (and a $24 price tag to boot). Too sheepish to return them, I convinced myself that being an Australian I must have shrimp cooking skills in my blood.  I was just missing the ‘barbie’.

Fortunately it worked. But I had to play with it. You’ll need more salt than you think and the garlic makes a world of difference. But wow, I won’t go back to the pre-cooked shrimp anymore.

Katie prepared the rest of the ingredients – we used Kumato tomatoes, which are one of my favorites, particularly pre-season, and Persian cucumbers – so much nicer tasting than the continental cucumber.

You could add mango for a hint of Summer, but we kept it Spring-like and used avocado as a taste enhancer.

Jean Georges’ Quinoa and Spinach salad was my inspiration. I upgraded it to a vegan version and used sprouted quinoa instead. Sprouting quinoa increases its enzymatic activity and enhances its B vitamins levels, both which help to elevate energy levels. I swapped the goats cheese for a raw macadamia cheese from Organic Avenue which has the same texture as goats cheese but without the potential mucus forming components of dairy.

Shiitakes help build resistance to stress by strengthening the immune system. They also contain a high concentration of pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5) which helps support the adrenals.  Beets are rich in iron and Vitamin B6 which are both energy boosting nutrients. If I had dried cherries, I would have tossed them into the salad as well.

Cherries contain melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep/wake cycle, and cell-rejuvenating antioxidants that increase vitality levels.

But when you want to be creative and have the time, there’s so much more to choose from.  Seriously, avoid the packaged snack – they will make you fat. No vegetable chips, no gluten-free pretzels, no popcorn, no 100 calorie packs, no Skinnycow ice-cream, no diet anything.  Ewh.  Be real and keep all your food clean.

I wrote this post originally in Nov 2008 and now I’m reposting with updates:

Fall/Winter Snack Ideas
- fresh pomegranate seeds with organic Greek yogurt topped with fresh mint leaves
- prosciutto and fennel
- roasted pear halves with golden feta cheese
- stewed apples with cinnamon served with buffalo yogurt
- fresh apples slices with parmesan shavings
- persimmons with organic sheep’s milk yogurt
- roasted quince with Greek yoghurt
- gold and purple beets tossed with crumbled feta cheese
- heirloom tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella with fresh basil
- sliced watermelon beets with zucchini hummus
- diced sweet potato with organic tofu, onions and cilantro
- porcini mushroom soup
- Winter squash soup
- chickpeas with red onion, olive oil, lemon and cilantro
- spicy pumpkin seeds