Category Archives: Nutrition

Allow me to make a food-fashion analogy. Salad is like jeans and a t-shirt. Reliable, plain, maybe even a little boring. But just like you can add accessories to jeans and a t-shirt (a patterned scarf! big earrings! sparkles! a colourful belt! a parrot on your shoulder!) to spice up your basics, you can add accessories to your greens. I happily have a salad every single day, and it’s not because I’m one of those strange breeds of people who don’t need variety. Eating the same thing every day for me would be like telling a designer they could only ever use one colour. Salad greens are like a blank canvas that invite you to decorate it with colour, texture, and flavour.

Start with a few cups of salad greens and then go nuts with the possibilities. Add sugar snap peas, nuts and seeds, fresh berries, grated beets, roasted sweet potato or cauliflower, seaweeds like arame or nori, caramelized onions, sliced apples, thinly sliced red pepper or green onion, fresh herbs, sauerkraut or kimchi, sprouts, beans/lentils, shaved fennel, marinated artichokes, asparagus, good olives, radish cut in matchsticks, whole grains, grilled eggplant, avocado, or sweet cherry tomatoes. The options are truly endless

And then comes the dressing, the best food accessory of all. Most days I am an oil and vinegar type of girl, for the sake of convenience. However, I do enjoy a jazzy dressing. Here are three.

Parsley Picante Dressing*

1 cup parsley, chopped, loosely packed (cilantro works well too)

4 small green onions

1 green chili, seeds and stem removed

1 clove garlic

5 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

Asian Carrot Dressing*

1 large carrot, diced

1 inch knob of ginger

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp tamari

1/4 tsp sea salt

Creamy Red Pepper Dressing*

1 red pepper, seeds and stem removed, coarsely chopped

3 Tbsp tahini

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp salt

*Directions for all three dressings are the same: Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend! (For the Asian Carrot dressing, you may need to steam the carrots first if your blender is not very strong)

Happy accessorizing
Take care,

Alex

Sometimes, like all of you, I don’t feel like making dinner. Sometimes I get tired, cranky, and hungry, and don’t want to wait an hour for my food to be ready. However, I still manage to avoid convenience packaged foods (which often have artificial flavours, preservatives, high levels of sodium and sugar, and very little nutrition). Even if you’re buying an organic can of soup, it doesn’t even come close to the goodness provided by a homemade soup. That’s why it can stay on the shelf for a year (or more) without going bad!

As a holistic nutritionist, I like to focus on fresh, whole foods. Maybe a good quality can of chili is ok in a pinch every once in awhile, but if you are eating packaged foods every night, your body is likely missing out.

This soup is a Thai-inspired variation on the I-don’t-feel-like-making-dinner soup I sometimes make. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare and make, and is incredibly satisfying and delicious. My Thai coconut soup also happens to be a great tummy-healing soup, as the ginger, turmeric, and lemongrass all have anti-inflammatory and digestion-promoting properties.

Thai Coconut Soup

1 can of coconut milk

4 cups of filtered water

2 Tbsp honey

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp coriander

1.5 tsp salt

1 1-inch knob of ginger, minced

2 6-inch stalks of fresh lemongrass, chopped into 5 or so pieces each*

1 delicata squash, seeds & pulp removed, slice into thin moons (can substitute 1 large sweet potato)

1 large red pepper, sliced into thin strips

3 baby bok choy, leaves separated

juice of 1 lime

Directions:

-Add water, coconut milk, honey, ginger, lemongrass, coriander, turmeric, squash, and salt to a pot and cook on high until a rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes.

- Reduce to a simmer, and simmer for 1o minutes. While the broth and squash is simmering, you can wash and slice the red peppers and bok choy.

-Add the red pepper slices and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.

-Turn off heat, add bok choy and lime juice and leave covered pot over burner for a few minutes while you set the table and the bok choy wilts.

-Ladle soup into large bowls, add protein of choice, if desired (eggs, shrimp, white fish, chickpeas, or chicken go well in this soup), and garnish with fresh basil. Enjoy!

*Note: Don’t try to eat the lemongrass. It’s not bad for you, just very tough & woody. So unless you’re a beaver, you can fish these out of your soup as you eat it.

Have a great weekend!

Take care,

Alex