Recipes
Welcome to My recipe page! Cooking and eating is a great way to relax, have fun and spend time with the people you love, not to mention heal your body and soul. Below is an original recipe for a dish, baked good and/or herbal tea blend that I have recently incorporated into my life and would like to share with you. If you need help finding any herbs or ingredients listed, please visit my resources page for purchasing information and a whole lot more.
While I may still update this page from time to time, I am transitioning most of my cooking and food wisdom advice to my blog. If you are hunting for a recipe or just some advice and a few new ideas please visit Cook’n Thyme!
Winter Wonder Salad Dressing
This dressing serves as an immune boosting tonic! Lemon brings a high dose of vitamin C and garlic a strong anti-bacterial and immune boosting kick to the whole body. Also try your "Winter Wonder Salad Dressing" on steamed veggies, rice or other dishes that need a little extra punch.
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup raw apple cider vinegar
1 lemon juiced
1-3 cloves chopped or crushed garlic
1 Tbs. water
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Place everything into a jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid. Store in a cool dry place or in the refrigerator. Shake well before using.
Fresh Fall Chili
There are so many wonderful kinds of peppers at the farmer’s market this season. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes and are sweet and spicy. I recommend you keep your eyes open for the many different pepper varieties as you stroll the aisles of your favorite local market and make sure to ask what kind they are if they are not labeled or if you do not recognize them. There is also a bit of fresh corn out there, for the next week you will probably still be able to find delicious sweet corn at your market. Take advantage of the opportunity to add this special sweetness to your chili!
As always remember that if you cannot find the items on my recipe ingredient list feel free to substitute with what is fresh and available near you or with what you have in your house already!
Ingredients:
Over medium heat sauté chopped onion in 1 Tbs. coconut oil for several minutes. Then add peppers (all varieties) and sauté for another minute. Continue adding the remainder of your fresh vegetables one at a time and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes, until vegetables have begun to brighten in color and onions are more transparent. Add the ground meet and stir well, continually stir until all meat is pink and partially cooked. Add beans and canned tomatoes and stir well. Cover and bring to a simmer. Once simmering add lemon juice and spices, stir well and cover. If you want or need to add a little water or stock add until it is the consistency you like, but you shouldn’t need much. Let chili simmer on low for several hours with the lid on, stirring often.
Adjust salt, pepper and spice to your liking. Serve hot and garnish with fresh cilantro, crème fraiche, yogurt or grated cheddar cheese.
Making Fall Sauces
All over the country, and the world, fall is a time of harvest and supplies a great bounty of fresh food. People everywhere have found many ways to preserve these tasty seasonal treats to save and enjoy once the bounty of fall has come and gone. Sauces are one particularly easy and delicious way to enjoy fall foods, particularly if they are not the freshest of the bunch! While you could can or freeze these sauces so they last for many months, you can also enjoy the process of transforming these fresh or slightly worn foods and enjoy them on the spot.
Apple Persimmon sauce
In the bay area we are lucky to have fresh persimmons in great abundance. I used to get a produce box and last fall I was so overwhelmed by persimmons I couldn’t eat them all. With some fresh apples from a friend’s tree I made persimmon-apple sauce. For persimmon lovers this is a real treat!
Process:
Wash, core and thinly slice as many apples and persimmons as you have. They can be fresh and crispy or slightly old (remove any bad spots).
Place apples and persimmons in a medium saucepan with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan.
Cover and simmer until the fruit is soft and has turned into a puree (at least half an hour). Stir often. You should not need to add more water, the fruit will supply water as it cooks.
Add cinnamon and other spices such as ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice to taste.
Eat hot or cold as a snack, on breakfast cereals or as a condiment to dishes.
Store in the refrigerator. The sauce should last several weeks. You can also freeze or can it and enjoy the tastes of fall all through the winter months. Warmed fruit sauces are a nice accompaniment to any meal, especially as the months get cold and wet.
Variations:
Every climate has a different selection of seasonal fall fruits, if you don’t have apples or persimmons try using other fruits like pears or peaches!Tomato Sauce
The above instructions for fruit sauces can carry into other realms such as tomato sauce too! In general fresh tomatoes are so delicious plain and raw you don’t need to sauce them to be satisfied, but if you ever find yourself with more than you can eat, or if you just really love tomato sauce and tomato soup, give this simple sauce a try.
Process:
Wash, core and cut as many tomatoes as you have or need to get rid of and put them in a saucepan with an inch or so of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove lid and simmer for 2 or 3 hours until soft. Add oregano, marjoram, bay leaf or fresh basil and simmer for a few more minutes. If your sauce is very watery, simmer it with the lid off and continue to let some of the water evaporate until it is the consistency you like.This sauce is great for all your tomato sauce needs and can also be served as a soup. Garnish with fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, Parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper. Again this sauce will store for a week or so in the refrigerator, but you can also freeze it for enjoyment in the future. Remember a simple sauce can be used as a base and added to when you make specific dishes. For more spicy and flavorful sauces add garlic, onion, hot peppers, sweet pepper, other veggies and/or any other things you like in your sauce.
Honey, Flax Banana Bread
Ingredients:
1/3 Cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
½ Cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
the juice of ½ to 1 whole Meyer lemon, a more acidic lemon will work too, but be sure to taste it after you put in the first half.
Start with 3 to 4 very ripe bananas. In a large bowl with high sides mush the bananas into bite-sized clumps with a large fork. To this mixture add butter, honey, egg and vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients together with a fork or sifter. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 1 Cup intervals and stir well. At the very end add nuts if you please and the juice of a half or a whole lemon and stir well. I recommend adding one half of a lemon then tasting and adding the other half if you think it needs more, everyone is different!
Pour batter into a well-greased 4" x 8 " bread pan and cook at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. I also enjoy making this banana bread in a 9" round pie pan, bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.
Tips:
~Always use the most pure ingredients you can find: fresh and local dairy and eggs, organic bulk grains, flour and nuts, raw honey and real mineral salt.
~You can buy ground flax seeds in your natural health food store or you can grind your own golden or brown flax seeds at home in a coffee grinder or blender. Give it a try!
~ To test and see if your bread is done gently pull out the oven tray and put the prongs of a fork into the center of the bread. If the fork comes out clean then you know your bread is done, if there are little bits of dough stuck to the fork keep cooking it a little longer. Don't be deceived by appearance, this is a very soft and chewy bread, it may not have a hard outer crust like other banana bread you have seen. But then again, every oven is different!
~ Make it vegan! Substitute 1/3 Cup applesauce for the egg and 1/3 Cup olive oil or coconut oil for the butter.
The Herb Room
Special herbal teas and infusions!
People like beverages; that's just the way it is. However, almost all pre-prepared drinks are high in sugar and low in nutritional value. Most people know that drinks like soda are all empty calories, but even juices made from fresh, natural or organic fruit are high in natural sugar and low in nutritional value compared to many herb teas.I don't keep juice or any type of pre-prepared beverages in my house but I make lots of herb teas and I consider them an important part of my nutritional intake. In fact tea serves as my daily multi vitamin! Herbs contain many vitamins, minerals and constituents that are easily extracted in water and absorbed by the body. By blending together different high nutrition herbs, teas and infusions can nourish your body and set the mood for your entire day. Below you will find preparation methods and a medicinal herbal tea blend for you to try at home. Like the recipes above, these suggestions will change regularly so be sure and check back often.
For information on where to purchase high quality herbs, check the Resources page.
Julian's Morning Magic: Calming Nutritive Tonic
This herbal blend is high in vitamin C as well as Iron and Calcium and is calming and nourishing for the nervous system. I recommend it for all times of day, especially the morning. Getting a high dose of nutrients and a relaxing start to your day can make all the difference.
1 part hibiscus flowers
1 part nettle leaf
1 part chamomile flowers
¼ part lavender
Simple and Delicious Herbal Nervine
1 part Nettle leaf
1 part Lemon Balm Leaf or Chamomile flowers
1 part Oatstraw
Instructions:
To make an herbal tea/infusion place the herbs in a cup, teapot or glass jar and pour boiling water over them. The general ratio is 1-teaspoon of herb for every 1 cup of water. Place on a tight fitting lid and let stand for anywhere from 15 minutes to up to 8 hours.
The longer you let the herbs sit the better. Then strain and enjoy. You can also brew your tea with the herbs in a tea ball so you do not have to strain it afterwards.
You can also prepare larger quantities of herbal tea and keep it in the fridge for a few days after you have strained it. Drink it cool or heat it up, but try not to let it boil.
Herbal Chai
1 part Star Anise
1 part Ginger (1 part if dried, 2 parts if fresh)
1 part Cardamom (whole pods or crushed)
1 part Cinnamon
1 part Black Pepper
1 part Licorice root
Instructions:
To prepare this tea combine herbs with water in a medium saucepan. Use 1 Tbs. tea for every cup of water. With the lid on, heat the water and herbs gently until steam or small bubbles begin to emerge, do not let it boil. Continue to let it steam/ simmer for 20 minutes. At this point you can strain the tea and enjoy or continue to let it steep with the lid on until you are ready to drink it. This will last for a day or two on the stove or 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. I love to make a big batch to sip on when I need a little spice!
~The information on this site is not meant to diagnose or treat any illnesses, conditions or diseases and should not be used in place of medical advice.