Cafe Gratitude's "I Am Creamy" Hemp Seed Ranch

With all the spring greens looking for a new dress, Cafe Gratitude has shared their yummy dressing recipe in this weeks newletter.  I love their I Am Grateful cookbook that can be purchased at any of their cafes.

Today's recipe features Hemp Seeds, which can be a healthy addition to your diet. We like their nutty flavor and add them to our morning smoothies or cereal to bump up the protein in breakfast.  Berkeley Bowl and Harvest House carry them in bulk so we stock up anytime we're in Berkeley or Concord. 

Though it is believed by some that hemp seeds contain the same ingredients as marijuana, the trace amounts of THC found in hemp are not mind-altering. Instead, hemp provides a plethora of nutrients that are sometimes hard to find in vegetarian foods. Hemp seeds come in different forms and can be used in a variety of ways in the diet. Allergies to hemp are rare, and so are side effects. Read more...

RECIPE:
"I Am Creamy" Hemp Seed Ranch

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 Tbl. tamari

1 cup water

1/2 cup soaked sunflower seeds (soak for 2 hrs)

1 cup hemp seeds

1 tsp. garlic

1 Tbl. chopped jalapeno

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp.black pepper

1 Tbl. dried dill

Blend the above ingredients well

Add

• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Blend and enjoy as a dressing, dip or sauce.

A Taste of Spring - French Sorrel

I've been seduced by the flavors of Spring greens once again.  Searching for new recipes for our Farm Box Mixed Greens Kit, I found a recipe on Vegetable Matters from 2010. 

An excellent choice for diet-friendly greens, a 1/2-cup serving of fresh sorrel leaves contains 15 calories. The leaves contribute 0.5 g of fat to your diet, as well. Sorrel serves up roughage in the form of fiber, providing 2 g, or 5.2 to 8 percent of recommended 25 to 38 g. This nutrient promotes the health of your bowels, helping to prevent diarrhea and constipation. You will also get 1 g of protein per serving. This amount will not meet your daily need, so be sure to supplement your diet with protein-rich foods to consume 46 to 56 g daily     Read more...

                                                                                                 Flatbread with French Sorrel

1 Flatbread Dough
1/4 head cauliflower, broken into florets
5-6 large French sorrel leaves
2 oz crumbled goat cheese
olive oil, sea salt, black pepper to taste
                                                                                 
Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 420° and put pizza stone in oven to start warming up. Toss cauliflower florets in olive oil and sea salt to lightly coat. Roast on a sheet pan until golden and dark on edges, about 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes to cook evenly. Remove from oven to cool.
2. Raise temperature of oven to 500°.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to relax at room temperature for 15 minutes.
4. Boil water and blanche sorrel, no more than 1 minute, then drain.
5. Roll out dough on well-floured surface to an 8" circle. Spread a thin layer of olive oil on dough, then add goat cheese, cauliflower, and sorrel. You may have extra cauliflower, which you can serve on the side. Add more goat cheese on top.
6. Bake until done, about 5 minutes.

The Beautiful Beet

Here at Inspirational Nutrition we love our beets so much that a large bed at  Two Crones Farm has been planted with several different varieties to enjoy fresh from the garden all year round.  Add a little kale, blue cheese and vinagrette to the roasted beauties and you have the perfect salad or side dish.

Beetroot is a versatile vegetable and can be cooked in a variety of ways. You can eat beets raw, baked, steamed and pickled, in soups and salads, or served as a condiment and alongside entrees. Beets go beautifully in any form with duck, pork chops, and even as a little sauté of fresh foie gras. So roast away!!

Sweet and earthy beet juice will fit nicely in your juice diet. A raw or cooked beet salad could become a staple in your raw food or vegetarian menu. And with more than one type of beets to choose from, why not try one of each when you get the chance.

Beets are highly nutritious and“cardiovascular health” friendly root vegetables. Certain unique pigment antioxidants present in root as well as top greens have found to offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lower cholesterol levels in the body and have anti-aging effects.

Fun Facts:

• Beets (beta vulgaris) are a member of the order of flowering plants called Caryophyllales, which also includes bougainvillea, cacti, amaranth, carnations, spinach, and venus fly traps.
• Modern beets are derived from wild sea beets that originated around the coasts of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
• Around 800 BC, an Assyrian text describes beets growing in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Beets were an important plant for both the ancient Greeks and Romans. Beets of this period were white or black rather than red. The Roman name for the beet plant was "beta" while the Greeks referred to it as "teutlion."
• At first, the Greeks used just the leaves of the plant, both medicinally and as a culinary herb.The Romans used the leaves as a culinary herb and as a medicine and they also used the beetroot as medicine before the Greeks began doing so.
• By the 3rd century AD, the Romans had begun using the beetroot as food rather than just medicine. They are considered the first to have cultivated the plant for the root rather than just the leaves.
• The Greeks presented beets to the sun god Apollo in the temple at Delphi.Aristophanes mentions beets in two of his comedies, Acharneans and Peace, both of which were performed in 420 BC.
• Red beets get their color from a pigment called "betalain." Betalain is also responsible for the red color of bougainvillea and amaranth.
• Pliny the Elder wrote that beets were easily digested but that some doctors believed them to be more harmful to the digestive system than cabbage.
• Some Roman physicians believed that beets needed to be boiled twice if one wanted to avoid gas and stomach aches.  
• The Romans considered beet juice to be an aphrodisiac.  The Romans spread beets throughout the Roman Empire.In 812 AD, Charlemagne issued a "Regulation concerning landed property" that registered beets as something to be cultivated on the Imperial estates.
• Since the 16th century, beet juice has been used as a natural red dye. It was even used as a hair dye.
• The commercial cultivation of sugar beets began in the 19th century in France and Belgium.
• Sugar beets are about 20% sugar while beets or beetroot are usually no more than 10% sugar.
• In Australia, pickled beets are commonly put on hamburgers. 
• Beets are sometimes used to make homemade wine. 
• One cup of beets contains about 75 calories.