Keen on collard greens

By now, most of us know how important it is to get an adequate amount of dark leafy greens into our diets on a regular basis. And the best kind of dark leafy green to eat a lot of is any dark leafy green that belongs to the cruciferous family. Collard greens are one of […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: My heart skips a beat for beets

There’s nothing like a gorgeous purple beet sliced onto a salad, roasted in the oven, or juiced with some greens and other veggies to make a beautifully colored glass of deliciousness. What’s this you say? You don’t love beets? Well, maybe you’re just not doing it right! Beets are in season now and they are […]

Dive into Belgian Endive

How often have you passed by the Belgian Endive in the grocery store and wondered what to do with those oblong pale green heads of lettuce? Belgian endive is closely related to frisee and, like its curly-leafed cousin, it does have a rather bitter yet pleasant flavor. Enjoyed raw in salads or as a cooked […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: Star of the spice rack

Have you spotted one of those pretty star-shaped spices at the health food store and wondered what you could do with it if you brought it home with you? Star anise is a beautiful flavoring spice. The fruit of an evergreen tree native to southern China, it gets its name from its star shape (the […]

What is lurking in your tea cup?

You’ve been paying close attention to the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists to help you make the best food choices that you possibly can for yourself and your family. You try to make sure that the food you buy is as free of chemicals as it can possibly be. But, how much thought have […]

Nothing to cry over: An onion primer

It’s hard to imagine a kitchen without an onion. I use onions in almost all of my savory dishes. You probably have some yellow or red onions kicking around your kitchen right now! Onions come in yellow, white, and red and can range in flavor from mild and sweet to quite pungent and sharp. And, […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: Nuts over apple butter

There is no actual butter in apple butter. Apple butter is a very concentrated type of apple sauce. It’s made by the long, slow cooking of apples. You cook those apples down until they are caramelized and deep brown in color. If you like apple sauce, you’ll love that apple butter has an even more […]

Slow cooker meals with kids

As many of our readers know, I am big on involving the children in dinner prep. Cooking is an invaluable life skill and I’m a firm believer in getting the kids in the kitchen at a very young age for many reasons. Having the children help with dinner teaches them many things, including: • what […]

Shout out for mung bean sprouts

Those long white bean sprouts you see in pad thai, chop suey and other Asian dishes are actually mung bean sprouts, and they grow from (you guessed it) mung bean seeds. Sprouts are essentially vegetable seeds that have just begun to grow and are the very symbol of life. Packed with life-giving enzymes and nutrition, […]