Beet Salad (barefoot photos)

I love this delicious, colorful, and very healthful salad. It garners rave reviews at potlucks too.

The first time I made it, I hand grated everything. Wow. It took a LONG time. Now I use a food processor.

Don’t worry too much about exact amounts. I’m sure it’ll still taste delightful. The original recipe called for a handful of walnuts, but I prefer just veggies.

Since I’ve just finished reading Joel Fuhrman’s EAT TO LIVE and am embarking upon his nutritional plan, I think I’ll add some shredded cabbage next time. I’m on a quest to eat more leafy greens.

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash, peel, and grate 5 fresh beets, 5 unpeeled apples, 5 peeled carrots.

2. Add a handful dried cranberries (or raisins or currants)

3.Add a small amount – no more than a tablespoon of a sweetener to taste. Not sure this is really necessary though.

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Roasted Chickpeas in carnival glass bowl. (barefoot photos)

This is my favorite new snack food. The entire family enjoyed them while we lived in Mumbai. Recently, I found a simple version in an Italian grocery store.

They fulfill my deep need to CRUNCH and a half cup thoroughly satisfies most snack urges.

After reading The Engine Two diet by Rip Esselstyn, we radically altered our diet in January 2010 . It’s  a low-fat vegan plan. Someone I live with was told that his cholesterol was so high; he’d need medication unless….We followed Rip’s program for a month and voila ~ M.’s cholesterol numbers came down.

Though nearly vegetarian before, we both felt great with less eggs, cheese, and milk and NO face-food anymore.Our bodies felt lighter and cleaner inside.

I didn’t lose any weight the first couple of weeks, but didn’t really expect to; I just wanted to improve my health. On the plan, I knew I was eating more variety, less salt, more fiber. And for some unknown reason, my water intake went way up!

Since, I DO need to lose some weight though, I decided to try Weight Watchers online (I detest meetings). Happily I found that there are vegetarians and even some vegans on WW! That helped me figure out portion sizes and also lent encouragement to my efforts. So far I’ve lost about twelve pounds. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s going in the right direction and I never feel as if I’m on a DIET. That’s a first for me. This is the way I plan to eat for the rest of my life.

After the first month where we were pretty strict vegans, we have settled into about 75% vegan-ism. Because of some female health issues regarding the estrogen/progesterone balance, I also wanted to limit my soy intake, so I felt small amounts of occasional cheese would be OK rather than basing too much of my diet on soy foods.

INGREDIENTS (the hot version)

Roasting Chickpeas

1lb. dried chickpeas soaked overnight in a bowl of cold water

1.5 tsp. canola oil

2 tsp. cumin

2.5 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne powder

1/8 tsp. salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1) Rinse soaked beans well.

2) All all ingredients. Mix well.

3) Place single layer on cookie sheets (we use two).

4) Bake at 275 degrees for 1.5 – 3 hours or until crunchy, stirring occasionally.Enjoy the popping sounds as they cook.

The beans continue to cook AFTER being taken out of the oven.They grow crisper in the process, so be sure to take them out while still a bit softer than you prefer.

Tahiti Daffodil (barefoot photo)

This recipe is easily varied. For instance, omitting the cayenne and chili powder yields a tasty version without the bite. Try serving them at your next party instead of chips and prepare for compliments.

R. makes them with Italian seasoning. I’ve yet to try that, but look forward to adding oregano and basil to my next batch. Am also thinking about trying to spice them Turkish-style with Zatar.

If they grow soggy, it’s easy enough to pop them back into the oven to re-crisp them.

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A Yogin’s Cuisine,

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This is an incredibly simple recipe from my childhood that I’ve adapted. It provides a fabulous and nearly fail-proof opportunity to introduce children to the culinary arts. In other words, invite them to make a mess in the kitchen.

NoBakes are best reserved for special occasions since the sugar content is beyond speaking about. It’ll cure any sweet tooth or chocolate craving.

Very adaptable to variations, such as using peanut butter or pecans instead of the walnuts, dried craisins or cherries for the raisins, adding a dash of amaretto or kirsch or, (I never tried this, though it sounds scrumptious, orange liquor) for grown-up tastes.

INGREDIENTS

3 c. oats

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2c. walnuts

1 c. shredded coconut

1 s. raisins

1 c. cocoa

2 c. sugar

1 stick soy margarine

½ c. rice milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix oats, vanilla, & nuts together in a large bowl

2. Combine sugar, cocoa, milk, & margarine in a saucepan and bring to rolling boil

3. Pour the hot mixture over the oat mixture & stir until mixed

4. Drop by teaspoon on waxed paper or fill tiny paper cups for a more finished look if you’d like to serve them to company.

Refrigerate for about an hour. ..or Freeze. (You won’t want to wait for these!)

I found more than a half dozen videos of No Bakes on YouTube. This one is a non-vegan version and a first video from elysium 29. Great job girls!

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Moroccan-style Butternut Squash and Couscous (barefootphotos)

Mike created this deliciously satisfying dish when I wanted “comfort food.”

It’s very nutritious with the beans, walnuts, and vegetables, tastes great with the sweetness of the raisins and squash, and it’s comforting without a lot of oil.

Try it next time you’re in a funk over dinner. It serves 4 and tastes wonderful the next day or two if there’s only one or two of you.

INGREDIENTS

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed

1 Tbs. canola oil

2 -3 cloves garlic

1 onion chopped

2 stalks celery

1 green or red bell pepper

½ tsp. tumeric

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cumin

¼ – ½ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. ginger powder

1 can cannellini or garbanzo beans (15.5 oz.) drained

½ c. raisins

½ c. water

1 cup couscous

½ walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute squash, garlic, onion, celery, and pepper for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add spices and sauté while stirring for two more minutes.
3. Add beans, raisins, and water. Continue to cook on low heat until squash is soft.
4. Meanwhile prepare couscous according to directions, adding the walnuts.

Serve the Squash mixture over couscous. Garnish with sliced oranges if desired.

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Yoga Sutra 2.40: saucat svanga jugupsa parairh asamsargah

Purity protects one’s body and brings nonphysical relationships with others. (trans. B. Bouanchaud)

Yoga Sutra 2.41: sattva suddhi saumanasya ekagrya inddriyajaya atma darsana yogyatvani ca

Then, purity, clarity, and well-being of the spirit come to flower, as well as concentration, mastery of the eleven sense organs, and perception of the inner being. (trans. B. Bouanchaud)

Is cleanliness next to Godliness? Before I began studying the Yoga Niyamas I would have been scoffing in cynicism, eyebrows raised in disbelief at the *ancient* saying. That was something our mothers said that was soooo not relevant to the twenty-first century.

The yoga sutras push the whole cleanliness concept a whole lot further than, say keeping your room picked up. Patanjali links purity of body with purity of mind. No surprise there for anyone who has practiced yoga for even a month or two.

I am reminded of my Catholic school education. When preparing for the sacrament of First Confession, or Penance as it is called now we learned many ways that we can break our relationship with God. It is not only the body that can sin, but the mind as well, Sister Mary Grace would tell us. Though at times I have pooh-poohed this teaching as one that carried a truckload of guilt in its big flat bed, I now understand from my practice that pretty much EVERYTHING I do starts in my cantankerous MIND. Clearing my mind with a hard physical practice, or focused pranayama, or chanting a mantra can have amazing results with removing toxic thoughts and feelings. My body glows when my mind shines! This is shauca, or existing in a state of purity.

And no sense getting all bogged down in guilt either; shit happens as they say, and life is all about accumulating stress. A definition of life might just be that which acquires STRESS. Our job as yogins is to reduce and cleanse our systems so that pure energy can flow and energize us.

Taking another approach: everything starts with the BODY. If I clean and honor my body, my thoughts begin to flow purely and positively. Mike and I are turning our diets to the vegan side (ahh, it’s harder than I thought it would be, but more about that later). Only a couple of weeks in though, and we both notice a growing mental clarity and wakefulness. My insides feel cleaner than ever! My thoughts grow more gentle.

Amy Weintraub writes, in Yoga for Depression, that the Yamas and Niyamas (yogic ethics and observances) constitute a program for positive mental health. She suggests mantra for attaining a state of mental purity. Tat tvam asi, or You are that, a mantra from the Advaita vedanta tradition she uses, repeating the words, You are with me. Recognizing the nondual notion that there is no difference between You and That, the practitioner can settle into a state of equilibrium, if not ecstatic bliss.

Can you take one step today toward cleaning up your life? Making a committment to do it is the first step.

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Ashley and Leanna making Anise Cookies 2008

Today,Christmas Eve, I heard from a very dear old friend asking about the family anise cookie recipe, as she has for so many years. When we were children, her home was my home and my home was hers. I think of Lisa as a long lost sister since we’ve been out of touch for way too many years. I was so happy to receive that email, that I am posting this closely guarded recipe in her honor! This recipe came down from my Gramma Anna Theresa Ruhland, whose family came from the eastern edge of Bavaria, near the Bohemian border. Her grandmother, Eva Hetzl traveled to Buffalo NY from a small town called Untergrafenreid in Waldmunchen.

When my mother was dating my father, she first watched Gramma Anna at work making this gargantuan recipe. My kids know the recipe well as not a Christmas has gone without a batch of Anise Cookies stored the weeks before Christmas in a big pot in the garage. There’s been many a year when we invited a group of kids over for an evening of cookie frosting. Depending upon how elaborate you get with the decorations, that can be a rather long evening. Usually, the kitchen becomes a disaster zone with colored sugar and hardened frosting EVERYWHERE.

Frosting Anise Cookies 2008

When Aunt Buddie died close to Christmas in 1997, my sister Marie was visiting me. She corralled the kids and me into baking and frosting a batch of anise cookies, which we layered in a big box lined with bright tissue paper. We brought the pretty box to the funeral luncheon at Cousin Joan’s house. You would have thought they were long-stemmed roses when the motherless cousins opened the box and beheld gaily decorated cookies. Not a dry eye in the house.

Since Rebecca and my birthdays are the week before Christmas, there’s been more than once where we used the cookies in lieu of birthday cake. Once we even spelled out Happy Birthday in cookie dough and studded the letters with candles.

Last year in Texas, Nathaniel taught Elisabeth to make the cookies and she made a batch and sent them to my parents in North Carolina. I cried in grief for her as I mixed the dough this year.

Cool Dude Anise Seed Cookie (ckg photo)

In 1972 (or so) eldest brother, Greg, returned home after dropping out of college and living with a bunch of guys in Florida. Being the smart-assed, not to say surly teenager he was back then (weren’t we all?), I have fond memories of him and his buddy sitting around the metal kitchen table in Locust NJ, drinking coffee and making fun of the “anus” cookies.

Rabi mistakenly used cumin seed instead of anise seed one year. They were good -NOT!

I tried using peanut butter as a natural flavoring in the frosting ONCE. They were also good – NOT.

This year I ran out of flour and the only substitute I had in the cabinet was the finely ground Ethiopian flour, called teff that we were saving to make the huge African pancakes. Pretty sure None of the Ruhlands ever added that particular African twist to the recipe.

A week ago, cousin Kris in Maryland, sent me a box of anise cookies, figuring we wouldn’t be making them since Dad’s death. What a wonderful moment it was when opening that box! Her thoughtfulness will be long -remembered. Somehow the recipe from her side of the family does not use anise seed. They use (ouch) anise oil or extract. They are also quite tasty, though I won’t say they are as good as our recipe with the seeds, which I can’t help but think is more traditional. Sorry Kris. That family feud will continue good-naturedly for many years to come I hope.

Two of my sisters made batches this year and sent some to Mom, who now lives in an assisted living facility in Wilmington NC. I’m sending her one of my traditional fruitcakes. Look for that recipe next year.

If you are reading this post, you surely are becoming part of my, albeit rather extended family. I hope you enjoy the making of these cookies and feel the connection with the past even as it changes moment by moment into the present and future.

TRADITIONAL BAVARIAN ANISE SEED COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

5 cups granulated sugar

1 ½ cup milk

2 ½ cup butter

Approx. 3 oz. anise seed

6 eggs

11 tsp baking powder

Approx. 5 pounds flour I use as much whole wheat flour as I can get away with!

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix all ingredients. It helps if butter is at room temperature. Add the flour slowly creating a stiff dough.

2. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. This year I kept the dough in the fridge for several days with no ill effects.

3. Roll dough out and cut with cookie cutters. Thickness is an individual taste here. I like them a good half inch thick.

4. Bake at 325 degrees. If you use air pans, the cookies will not brown on the bottom, so keep an eye on them and you’ll come to know the look of baked cookies, especially after you have tested several!

5. When cookies are cool, frost with buttercream frosting: a mix of ¾ stick of butter and 2 pounds confectioners sugar and a tad of milk.

6. We decorate using colored sugar which we make by adding a couple of drops of food coloring to small bowls of granulated sugar.

I hope your cookie making becomes a meditation as well as your cookie eating. Enjoy each precious moment.

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Spiced nuts are a family favorite during the holidays. They provide a nice alternative to the high fat, high sugar traditional snacks. I cut the butter in half from the original recipe and I tried to cut the sugar in half, but I think that next time, I’ll use 1/2 cup sugar rather than the caramel syrup because the coating on the nuts remained soft.

Try a batch and tell us how yours came out. They’d make a delicious and welcome holiday or hostess gift.

The tablecloth in the photo is compliments of my sister Rabi ~ one she brought back from Niger years ago.

SWEET & SPICY PECANS

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup powdered sugar

10 ounces pecan halves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cardamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. cayenne powder

1 TBS. chili powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. thyme

1/4 cup caramel syrup (you can substitute another 1/4 sugar/honey/maple syrup as you prefer)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter in heavy pan or crockpot.

2. Add sugar and nuts. Stir to mix well. Heat on low.

3.Add spices. Mix well.

4. Check heat: the nuts should be just heating with the spices and herbs.

5. Add caramel syrup or other sweetener to taste. (Next time I’ll simply increase the original sugar addition to 1/2 cup).

5. Cook for two or so hours so the coating dries and becomes hard upon cooling on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

6. Cool. Enjoy.

Joe's Pink Camelia (ckg photo)

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It’s chilly.The first snow has fallen. It was only graupel or ball snow, mixed with bone-numbing rain, but hey, the psychological effects were significant! Thoughts turn to warm SOUP.Try this Mediterranean Mushroom, Onion, and Tomato concoction ~ it slides down easily, is wonderfully heart and soul-warming, and has lots of garlic to ward off winter colds.

INGREDIENTS

1 TBS olive oil

5 cups sliced sweet onions

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves chopped garlic

1 bay leaf

1 tsp.pepper

2 tsp. thyme

1 TBS oregano

1 TBS dried parsley

1 can (15 oz. or 425 g.) crushed tomatoes

1 can (14.5 oz. or 411 g.) petite diced tomatoes

8 cups veggie broth

Parmesan cheese, Parsley to garnish as desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in large pan and add onions and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat about 15 minutes.
2. In the meanwhile, chop garlic and add to soup. Add thyme, bay leaf, parsley, oregano. Continue cooking, with cover over lightly and stirring occasionally on low heat for 30 minutes until soft.
3. Add broth. Then reduce heat and simmer, covered 30-40 mins.
4. Garnish with freshly slivered Parmesan cheese, or chopped Parsley.

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corn salad or salsa with blue corn chips (carolyn grady photo)

My sister Marie first introduced me to this lovely and refreshing summer salad. It was a hit at Dad’s 90th birthday party.

As with most salads or salsas, it can be modified easily, depending upon what is available fresh from your garden or market. I like it quite limey and with a bit of heat, but you may wish to adjust according to your taste. In our house, we have served it with chips at parties, or as a side salad next to enchiladas, but it could work well as a dinner salad if the amount of beans were doubled. In that case, I’d serve it on a bed of fresh lettuces. This is enough for a big party, and it’ll last several days in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS

1 – 2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

3 c. fresh corn, stripped from the cob (about 4 ears of corn on the cob)

2 ripe avocados, pulp scooped out and chopped

1 small zucchini, finely chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

1 Bell pepper finely chopped

1 large sweet onion (Bermuda or Vidalia) finely chopped

1 bunch of cilantro, about 1/2 C. chopped

1/4 C. chopped parsley

2 Tb. Habanero sauce (I like Melinda’s brand)

1 T. cumin

1/2 C. fruity olive oil

2/3 C. lime juice (I used half key lime juice and it works nicely)

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients. Let sit. ENJOY!

Fuschia Monarda flower (Barefoot Photos)

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