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An easy dish for a BBQ, camping, or a potluck is baked beans.  However, most recipes call for molasses or other sugars and tons of salt.  Here's an easy, very healthy alternative I first heard about in the discussion forums of Dr. Joel Fuhrman's website.  It was created by a member there, Barb (who also writes a great blog about healthy eating ).

The key to the sweetness of these beans is soaking them and cooking them in carrot juice.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of navy beans
1 onion, chopped (sweet ones like Videlia or Texas would be good here)
4 cups fresh carrot juice (more or less, see method)

Method:

Pick over and rinse the beans.  Put them in a crockpot or slow cooker.  Top with diced onions.

 

Pour carrot juice in to cover the beans plus one inch. 

 

Cover and soak overnight.  In the morning, cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 hours, then turn down to low for another 4 hours.  If you need to leave the house, you could also cook them on low the whole time.

These smell and taste like baked beans, but have no salt, no sugar, and no additives.



For a less sweet version, you can substitute no salt vegetable broth for half the carrot juice.  Barb says these are great with parsnips cooked in with them.  I'll have to try that.

        

I just moved into a new (for me) house and finally have the right place to put a kitchen chalkboard.  I tend to have too many lists going on at the same time and wanted a place to consolidate them.  So far I love it!

 

I placed a custom order with Piazza Pisano .  Hand crafted, hand carved, cute and serviceable.  What more could you want?  The company was great to deal with, the board was very reasonably priced, and my order arrived before they said it would.  Excellent service and follow-up.

Al Pisano is the craftsman.  See Al make another of his creations below:

        

Kohlrabi is a versatile vegetable.  It can be baked, added to stir fries, soups and stews.  It's also easy to grow.  The common type found in most grocery stores is green:



Although the purple ones are pretty if you find them.



This dish is a nice side dish that can be made ahead and reheated.

Vegan Kohlrabi au Gratin

Ingredients:
2 medium size kohlrabi bulbs, peeled, halved, and sliced approx. 1/4 inch thick
1 cup unsweetened soymilk
1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TBSP lemon juice (or more to taste)
dash of freshly ground nutmeg
2 TBSP fresh thyme leaves, plus a few small sprigs for garnish if desired

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Put soymilk, cashews, mustard, lemon juice in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
Arrange half the kohlrabi slices in the bottom of a baking dish.



Pour half the sauce over the slices, then add a 1/2 dash of nutmeg plus half the fresh thyme leaves. 



Add the rest of the kohlrabi, sauce, nutmeg and thyme. 
Cover and bake at 350 for approx. 45 min., until cooked through but not mushy.  Remove cover and cook for an additional 10 min to lightly brown the top.



  Remove from oven and let sit 10 min before serving.



This dish holds well on a buffet table and has a nice presentation when garnished with fresh thyme sprigs.

        

On busy weeknights I often have something simple for dinner.  And it is hard to get much simpler than this. 

I love beets (or beetroot if you're from over the pond).  When I shop, I try to find beets with their greens still attached.  Beet greens are quick cooking, tasty, and pretty too.



I steam the well washed greens briefly:



On the weekend I roast beets then rinse and slip the skins off.  Dinner can be as simple as a plate of beet greens, topped with beets.



Drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar.  Add some freshly ground pepper.  I love this combination.

Followed by a bowl of soup, this is a great weeknight dinner.

        

I was delighted to see beautifully ripe organic strawberries in the market yesterday.  I've missed them.

Wanting to give them front row center today, I served them atop a fresh Spring greens mix for lunch today. Drizzled with a clear sweet/sour dressing comprised of only raspberry vinegar and pomegranate concentrate.  Sprinkles of raw unhulled sesame seeds.



A toast to Spring in Northern California.

        

There's nothing like a great homemade Marinara sauce that's been cooked for hours. 



 I base my recipe on this one from Cooking Light magazine.

It is rich tasting and complex when cooked for the full 3 hours.  I make a few changes to the recipe, though.  Here's the original recipe from Cooking Light with my changes in brackets.

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil (I leave this out and dry or water saute onions instead

• 6  cups chopped onion (about 3 medium)

• 1  tablespoon  sugar (I substitute 1 TBSP date syrup)

• 1/2  cup  dry red wine (you can leave this out, but it is better with)

• 1  tablespoon  extra virgin olive oil (I leave this out)

• 2  teaspoons  dried oregano

• (I add 1 fresh bouquet garni... see Preparation notes)

• 1  teaspoon  salt (I leave this out)

• 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme

• 1/2  teaspoon  dried marjoram

• 1/2  teaspoon  dried basil

• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper

• 6  garlic cloves, crushed

• 2  (24 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes, undrained

• 2  (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

• 2  (6-ounce) cans tomato paste

Preparation

Heat oil (or dry saute) in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion and sugar (date syrup). Cook 30 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally. Stir in wine; cook 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

I think that a bouquet garni adds to the sauce:



In this case it has:  fresh parsley stems, fresh thyme sprigs and a couple of bay leaves.  (Read about Bouquet Garni here.)

Great sauce.  Sometimes I leave the garlic cloves whole in the sauce.  It gives a slightly milder sauce for some dishes.  Also good is adding a lot of smaller dice mushrooms after you've cooked the onions down partially.  By the time the mushrooms cook down over 3 hours, they add a great 'meaty' texture.

        

Eating a healthy and tasty dinner doesn't have to be complicated.  Dinner a few nights ago started with a Spring greens salad:

 

which was followed by this:

 

Mashed sweet potato surrounded by grilled and roasted vegetables:  grilled onions, grilled oyster mushrooms, fennel roasted with balsamic, with some mushroom gravy.

Easy simple supper.

        

I love fennel.  It can be eaten raw in salads or slaws or cooked in any number of ways, but my favorite is roasted.

This is an easy easy recipe!  Two ingredients:  fresh fennel bulbs and a good balsamic vinegar.

Here I cut two bulbs of fennel in half, cut each half into thirds, then put the pieces in a ceramic dish, and drizzled balsamic over all. 

 

I roasted at 400 F. for about 45 minutes (turning a couple of times), then reduced the temperature to 350 F., covered the dish with tinfoil, and contined to bake for another 15 minutes or so.  Some people like their fennel a bit crunchy so might want to bake it for less time.  I like mine quite soft.  It turns out beautifully:



It looks quite browned but much of that is the balsamic glaze. This is a very simple delicious side dish.

        

If you're looking for ideas for healthy desserts, this one is easy.  The raw brownies can be made in a food processor.  The "ice cream" requires a high speed blender.

 

Raw Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup raw unalted pecans (or walnuts)
1/4 cup raw cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

Put all ingredients in a food processor and proces until it comes together.  Press into a glass or ceramic dish.

Pecan Not Ice Cream

Ingredients:
3 peeled bananas, cut in thirds, frozen for at least 24 hours
1/2 cup raw unsalted pecans
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or unsweetened soy milk)
1 tsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender.  If not using right away, store in a container in freezer.

        

I like to brighten up Winter menus with fresh fruit salads or even a combo of fresh and frozen fruits.  Here are some recent ones:

#1 Papaya, mango, raspberries, blueberries and banana.  All fresh.

 

#2 Oranges, mango, pears, blueberries, banana, frozen strawberries.

 

#3 Pears, papaya, blueberries, banana, frozen dark sweet cherries.

 

#4 A salad of chopped baby spinach topped with leftover fruit salad.

 

#5 Strawberry "Fluff" made from pureed white beans, frozen strawberries, unsweetened soymilk and vanilla, topped with raspberries and blueberries.

 

Have you had your fresh fruit serving today?