I never heard of okra before moving to the south. It’s popular there, where it grows easily because there is little frost. The first time I brought it home I thought that my okra was spoiled because it was very slimy and sticky when I cut it open. Turns out, that’s just how okra is. Not exactly appetizing, to say the least, but you get used to it.

Putting up with a little slime is worth it, if you ask me. Okra packs in the health benefits – it’s a great tool to stabilize blood sugar, maintain a healthy gastro-intestinal tract and prevent constipation, gas and bloating.

It’s common to pair okra with acidic vegetables, like tomatoes, to reduce some of the slime. Or you can use the slime to thicken soups. So clearly a little slime goes a long way – drama-free digestion, lots of nutrients and thick soups – not too shabby.

At the Farmer’s Market this weekend, I picked up some okra at the request of my fiancé. I figured I would roast it with some tomatoes and call it a day. Easy. Simple. Real Food. Why over-think it, right?

I spent most of the day studying so I was grateful when Ryan took a break from football to help me get our meals ready for the week. He came up with an okra red lentil combination that was both creative and tasty. Yes, I know I’m a very lucky girl.

He modified the recipe found on this website.

Ingredients:

Okra with onions

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, sliced

4 dried red hot chilis, sliced with seeds

1 cup okra, sliced into 1/4′’ slices

dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Red Lentils

1 pound dried red lentils

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 dried red chili, chopped with seeds

pinch of salt

water to just cover lentils

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large pan. Add onion, garlic and chili. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add okra and spices. Cook until is soft and dries out. Set aside.

Pour olive oil into large pan on medium heat. Add onions and spices for lentils. Cook for 5 minutes.

Pour water and lentils into pan with onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are cooked – about 30 minutes.

Add okra mixture to lentils and mix with spoon.

Serve warm. It pairs well with brown rice or pita.

Ulcerative Colitis comes with a lot baggage. Some things matter more when I’m flaring and others are just an everyday reality. One of my greatest concerns that I always have to take into consideration when deciding what to eat is how easily my body can breakdown, digest and absorb said food. My other big concern – nutrient-density of said food.

Nutrient-dense foods are just as important for the average person, whether or not you have a diagnosed digestive disease. Our bodies need the right tools to replenish and repair the cells and keep all systems running smoothly. Those tools are the nutrients that we feed it. My body will make sure I know it’s not getting what it needs pretty darn fast. Yours will too, if you listen.

Homemade bone broth is an excellent way for my body (and yours) to get a lot of nutrients without having to work too hard to absorb them.

Broths made from bones have been made and used by most of the traditional societies around the globe for centuries. And for good reason – it’s inexpensive, super easy to make and loaded with nutrients.

A little raw apple cider draws out nutrients and minerals including calcium, magnesium phosphorus, silicon and sulphur from the bones into the water. These nutrients are in a form that is very easy for the body to assimilate. It’s no wonder that broth is known for healing colds, sore throats and other health ailments! Broth also contains broken down material from cartilage and tendons – chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine – essential ingredients found in the expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.

Homemade bone broth is a great source of gelatin. Research suggests that gelatin is not only great for our joints, but it also supports the growth of our hair and nails.

I like to use it as a base for soups, sauces and a flavorful cooking medium for vegetables.

So why is the homemade version preferred to the store bought stuff? Well for one thing, if you’re using bones and meat from a healthy animal that was fed well and wasn’t given antibiotics then you’re quality of broth is going to be off-the-charts awesome. Also, store bought broths can be watered down, minimizing your nutrient intake. They may also be highly processed and your wallet will definitely notice the difference in cost. I definitely use low-sodium organic store-bought broths from time to time, but I prefer homemade when possible.

For more information about homemade bone broth I highly recommend Sally Fallon’s Broth is Beautiful.

Ingredients:

1 pound high-quality beef soup bones

1 large potato, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 large carrots, diced

3 celery stalks, diced

2 tablespoons raw apple cider

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

4 cloves garlic, chopped

6 cups water

Directions:

Add all ingredients to slow cooker

Cook on low heat until meat falls off of bones and simmers – about 9 hours

Remove meat and bones

Strain well

Cool

Freeze or place in refrigerator (Make sure broth is completely cooled before placing in ice trays. I put mine in a big glass Pyrex overnight before freezing.)

Freezing some of your batch in ice cube trays makes it easy to use small amounts without defrosting everything at once

* No need to discard all of the veggies – you can either leave them in the broth or eat them separately. I like to put them on a bed of cooked greens with some hummus. Delicious!

Today I had a craving for potatoes, an unusual craving for me. Potatoes are actually the most consumed vegetable in the standard American diet (SAD), eaten in the form of potato chips, French fries and other processed foods.

Cravings are not something we should try to resist or feel guilty about. They are critical pieces of information that tell us what our body needs. So when I have a craving, I listen to my body and figure out the right solution that will satisfy me. Instead of running out for a bag of chips, I headed to my local grocery store and picked up a few whole potatoes, leeks, and onions – all the ingredients for potato leek soup!

On this dreary cold winter day, I couldn’t think of anything more perfect to really hit the spot. I’m sure once you taste this soup, you’ll agree.

Ingredients:

3 large Yukon gold potatoes, chopped

2 leeks, white and light green parts sliced into 1/4-inch slices

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pour vegetable broth and water into large pot

Combine other ingredients and bring to boil

Reduce to low flame and simmer until potatoes are soft, approximately 20 minutes

Serve and enjoy!

You just finished working a full day – whether that means back-to-back meetings at the office, studying for midterms or carpooling your kids around town – and you’re tired and ready to sit down, unwind with your favorite TV show while you fold laundry and pay bills. But before you can do that you need to figure out what’s for dinner. You haven’t been to the grocery store in a few days and are feeling tempted to order takeout from your favorite restaurant. Sound familiar?

Before you reach for the menu and your phone, consider this: You don’t have to be Bobby Flay to make a delicious meal or Rachel Ray to do it in 30 minutes or less. Besides, eating clean, real, simple food is one of the easiest ways to feel your best for the long haul. All it takes are a few basic foods in your pantry, freezer or fridge and you have a delicious healthy meal in no time.

So let me show you how this works in real life…

Now that I’m back in school and working with clients, my time in the kitchen is budgeted (on time and pennies). I spent most of the day studying for an exam, well actually two exams, and my sister called to make plans for dinner. She had spent the day on campus and was tired too. Sometimes you just aren’t in the mood to cook a 3-course dinner.

Step 1: Get a grain going. Brown rice, quinoa, kasha, whateva – pour it into the rice cooker, hit the switch and let it do its thing. This usually takes the longest to cook so it’s a good idea to start this first.

Step 2: Decide on a protein. Beans are my typical go-to so I always keep a supply of canned beans in my pantry for these “I don’t wanna” days. Just remember to check the ingredients listed on the back of the can to make sure there aren’t any surprises. Experiment with new beans to keep your meals fresh. There are so many to choose from. On this particular evening, my sister came over with tempeh so that was our protein. We chopped it into cubes and tossed it with some spices (paprika, tumeric, etc.) and a little olive oil and popped it in the oven.

Step 3: Veggies, veggies and more veggies. Seriously, you can’t make enough vegetables. We steamed kale, cabbage and carrots. Frozen or fresh, it doesn’t matter. Just eat ‘em!

Step 4: Get saucy. Sure you can eat your rice, beans and veggies plain or you can add a little something on top to spice things up. The right sauce will not only add flavor, but more nutrients to your already nutrient-dense meal. We used split pea soup as our sauce that I had made earlier in the week. The soup is delicious and thick – makes for a perfect topping or is great all by itself. No time to make soup? Try some hummus or a few avocado slices instead. Or try my favorite avocado spinach sauce (pictured below).

Avocado Spinach Sauce

Ingredients:

1 avocado

2 tablespoons tahini

Juice from 1 lemon

Parsley – small handful (optional)

Spinach

Directions:

Start by blending the avocado, tahini, lemon juice and parsley. Then add a small handful of spinach and water – it’s easier to blend if you add the spinach gradually. Stop to blend after each handful of spinach. Keep adding water and spinach until you get the flavor and consistency that you want.

Now doesn’t that look pretty and colorful!

So there you have it. Clean, simple, real, good food made on the fly. You are what you eat and who doesn’t want to be clean, simple, good and real, right?

Today is another “snow day”… a concept I never really understood until I moved to Asheville. Growing up in the northeast, driving in the snow was a regular occurrence and school days were pretty rare. Attending college in the Midwest, classes were never once canceled because of weather conditions. Following graduation, I moved to Manhattan where nothing could slow us New Yorkers down, especially the weather!

So when schools closed before the first snowflake fell, on the very first snowstorm of the winter, I was shocked and amused. Sure enough that storm was more than a light dusting (still laughable to those of you up north), but the number of days it took Asheville to get up and running once again, shocked and amused me.

Last night it snowed, but this time I was prepared! I stopped at the grocery store yesterday to pick up a handful of ingredients that I would need to make lentil soup. Soup is perfect for snow days. It keeps you warm from the inside out and is so easy to make that you won’t spend your entire day off in the kitchen (unless that is how you prefer to spend your down time).

Have I mentioned that I am back in school? That’s right. I’m working towards my Master’s degree in Human Nutrition and plan to graduate next year. Balancing school and work is hard! That’s why everything I cook has to be quick, easy and healthy! My free time is limited. You won’t see me making any Julia Child-esk recipes here. No siree. I can’t afford to get sick so making healthy meals is a must. So now I have enough soup to last me a few days and it only took me 5 minutes to prepare. How’s that for efficient?

Snow is like nature’s way of saying “stop, slow down and listen to the serenity outside.” May be it’s living in the south, or may be I’m getting wiser with age, but instead of figuring out ways to continue the rhythm of my busy life, I am following Mother Nature and slowing down when she says to.

When was the last time you had a snow day? How did you spend it?

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried lentils (soaked for 4 hours)

3 cups of water

2 cups of vegetable broth

1 medium onion, chopped

3 large carrots, chopped ¼ inch thick

3 celery stalks, chopped ¼ inch thick

½ bunch of fresh kale, chopped

1 teaspoons Mrs. Dash

2 teaspoons Vegizest (This is a great way to add flavor and nutrients to your soup. You can skip it, but I use mine a lot, as you can tell!)

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except kale in large pot

Cover with a lid and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally

Reduce to low heat and simmer until lentils are soft – approximately 30 minutes

Remove pot from flame and add kale. It will wilt quickly and then you are ready to serve.

Even though it’s a new year, it will still be several weeks before we get a break from our hats and scarves. I always seem to be cold during the winter months no matter how many layers I have on, so to help me keep warm I drink plenty of herbal teas and incorporate soup into my daily meals. These warming foods also help keep my digestive tract relaxed and happy. It’s like yoga for my gut (yoga is great for my belly too).

Cauliflower and butternut squash might seem like an odd couple to you at first, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised once you taste this soup.

Cauliflower is a member of the cruciferous vegetable crew known for containing the largest concentrations of health-promoting nutrients. Other members of the cruciferous clan include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale and collard greens. Rich in vitamin C and sulfur compounds, cauliflower has what it takes to fight off potentially toxic substances that enter your body, causing cancer.

Winter squash, like butternut squash, is obviously ideal for the winter months. Duh. Butternut squash is the one shaped like a big pear with a creamy-colored outside and deep orange inside. For those of you with a sweet tooth, this is a great vegetable to eat often to curb your sweet tooth because of its naturally sweet taste. Get your vitamin A, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents from all kinds of Winter squash.

Ingredients:
4 cups water
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
20 oz carrot juice (fresh if possible)
2 tbs Mrs. Dash
8 cups of butternut squash (cut in chunks)
1 cauliflower head (cut in pieces)
 
Directions:
Combine in large pot and cook for approximately 50 minutes.  Let cool and use immersion blender or regular blender.

Add a raw stalk of bok choy for decoration and dipping.