Is your chocolate Easter bunny a "superfood?"

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What’s the buzz about raw cacao?  Why has raw cacao become another one of those mysterious superfoods, like acai and goji berries that people won’t stop talking about?…Let me explain…um, duh! it’s chocolate!!! Cacao is the bean from which chocolate is made! What could be more intriguing?

What you may be asking yourself is, “Does my chocolate Easter bunny pack a powerful enough punch of iron, magnesium and anti-oxidants to make it a superfood? Not sure?  Well, here’s how you can know:

1 = Organic: First of all you want to buy organic chocolate. Organic is more likely to have been raised sustainably (think rainforest preservation), no pesticides and have non-GMO soy in it if at all.

2 = Darker the Better: Then you want to choose the darkest chocolate you can find, 65% cacao or more. Why? Well, the darker the chocolate, the more cacao it contains, so the less sugar it will have.  The benefit of less sugar is obvious, but did you know that the more cacao in the product the more nutrients?  Nutrients in a chocolate bunny?  Okay, nutrient-dense chocolate bunnies are hard to come by, but healthy dark chocolate is not.  Dark chocolate has more anti-oxidants (you know those things in blueberries and colorful fruits and veggies that go around beating up free radicals and helping our systems from rusting, heart disease and cancer) than blueberries or oranges!  Chocolate also has tons of magnesium (which is good for just about everything, lowering stress, getting calcium into bones, colon health…the list goes on), calcium and iron!  I’m gnawing on a 73% Chocolove organic bar right now that boasts 33% iron!  I’m anemic…wait a minute, not anymore!
Cocoa Pods
Here’s the bad news: Milk chocolate, the kind that most chocolate bunnies are made of, is a lighter colored chocolate because it has milk added…so guess what? It is guaranteed to have the least amount of nutrients and the most amount of sugar, not to mention milk.  When searching for those bunnies look for brands that have cacao, cocoa mass, cocoa liquor, cocoa beans, crushed cacao beans, listed as the first ingredient, not cocoa powder and/or sugar.

3 = Allergens: The other things you might consider when buying chocolate are allergens. Soy lecithan, is a common emulisfier in almost every brand out there.  If it’s in your favorite brand of chocolate, make sure the brand is organic or the soy lecithan is noted as “non-GMO.” Many brands are made in factories that also produce nuts, soy and milk products, so if you have an allergy to any of these beware...even very very dark chocolate may contain traces of milk powder, so read the labels carefully!  Some decent organic brands that do not contain soy lecithan
as an ingredient, but may be processed in factories that process soy are: Theo, Equal Exchange, Pharmaca, Chocolove, and Vosges.   At many vegan or raw food websites, such as Chocolate.com, Uli Mana &  Sacred Foods) as well as at Whole Foods you can buy raw cacao nibs or chocolate chips, cacao beans and cacao powder, so can make your own bunnies (find bunny molds on eBay or  CandyMoldCentral.com).  But if you’ve got to have that bunny now check out the Vanilla Bunny at  Vosges.

4 = Heathy Fat: Finally, look for chocolate that does not contain any fats other than cocao butter.  If you see any other fats on the label you know it is not a high quality chocolate.  Usually these other fats are damaged fats i.e. hydrolyzed fats that clog up our arteries and create free radicals.  Cacao butter on the other hand, the fat naturally found in cacao, has the amazing capacity to melt at body temperature which is why when you eat it it melts in your mouth.  For this reason cacao butter does not cause hardening of the arteries.   Some studies have shown (how do I get into one of these studies you probably want to know?) that cacao butter in chocolate can lower LDL cholesterol, while leaving HDL the same, and can help lower high blood pressure.

So, stop salivating over that poor quality milk chocolate Easter bunny and go to your nearest website, health food store or gourmet food shop and get some seriously dark chocolate or cacao nibs and make your own bunny for Easter and show everyone what a superfood actually looks like!

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Slow Cooker Turkey Broth

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Ingredients

• 1 turkey carcass, meat and skin removed
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 lemon*, quartered
• 3 celery stocks, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
• Assorted sprigs of fresh herbs: rosemary, marjoram, thyme, parsley
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (optional)
• 1 teaspoon pepper corns (optional)
• Enough water to cover

Directions

- Break up turkey carcass and place it in a 6 quart slow-cooker.
- Stud onion quarters with one clove each and add to the slow cooker.
- Squeeze the lemons over the carcass and add lemon quarters to the slow-cooker
- Add remaining ingredients and enough water to fill the cooker and cover all ingredients.
- Put temperature to Low power and cook for at least 12-18 hours.
- When done, strain the liquid from the solids. Discard solids and allow the liquid to cool.
- Skim any visible fat from the liquid. Refrigerate the liquid for one hour. More fat should have risen to the top. Remove the fat.

Storage
- Use broth in a soup or store in the freezer in ice cube trays or small Tupperware in amounts that can be used for your favorite recipes.

Variations
- Use a chicken carcass instead of turkey.

* Broth is very healthy, especially for skin and hair health. It is full of collagen and minerals. Lemon juice helps to extract as much mineral from the

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Garlic Chickpea Mashed Potatoes

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I’ve never understood what is so special about mashed potatoes. I’d rather it a whole spud any day of the week. However, in the spirit of Thanksgiving this week, I came up with this recipe for mashed potatoes which can be “doctored up” in a couple of ways to add either more flavor from roasted garlic and/or more low-fat protein and fiber and from chickpeas.

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic
• 1-2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb baking potatoes, peeled, cut into one inch chunks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
•1 2/3 cup (1 15oz can) cooked chickpeas, mashed or pureed in a food processor
• ½ cup organic milk or unsweetened almond or rice milk
• 4 T organic butter or 3 T extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch of ground nutmeg or mace
• Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350º. Cut top 1/3 of garlic head off exposing tops of each clove. Place garlic upside down on a square of foil. Drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil and wrap foil tightly around the head. Wrap another square of foil around the first for insulation. Roast garlic head for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool.

- Bring a large pot of water and 1 teaspoon sea salt to a boil. Add potatoes, bring back to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 12-15 minutes until potatoes are fork tender. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Place pot over high heat for 30 seconds to dry potatoes. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and add the butter.
- In a saucepan warm the milk for 1-2 minutes. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves out of their skins into the milk. Add the rest of the salt and stir until salt and garlic are incorporated into the milk. Pour milk mixture over the potatoes and begin mashing.
- Add the chickpeas and spices and continue mashing until smooth. Add more milk or butter if necessary to achieve a desired consistency.

Variations

- Replace chickpeas with another pound of potatoes.
- Replace the chickpeas with another kind of legume. White canelli beans work great too.
- Leave out the garlic. Flavor instead, by adding 1 T fresh herbs such as rosemary or thyme or 1 cup fresh minced parsley or watercress.
- For even more protein and less fat add 1 cup organic cottage cheese during the final mash, and reduce butter and milk by one half in previous steps.

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Revved Up Acorn Squash

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Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½ inch cubes
• 6 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 16 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced paper thin
• 8 shallots, peeled and sliced paper-thin
• 12 scallions, cut length-wise and then cut into one-inch pieces
• 4 jalapenos, cored, seeded, cut in half length-wise and then thinly sliced
• 7 inches of ginger root, peeled, cut into thin coins and sliced into matchsticks
• 3 packed cups basil leaves, cut into thin strips or “chiffonade”
• Juice of two limes (4 Tablespoons)
• Sea salt and lots of freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add acorn squash and cook until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain in a colander and set aside.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large deep-sided sauté pan. Add the garlic, shallots, scallions, jalapenos and ginger. Stir often for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes more.
- Add the cooked squash to the ginger mixture, and toss to incorporate squash without mashing squash up. Add the basil, gently tossing some more and cook uncovered another minute until basil is fragrant, but still bright green.
- Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

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Raw & Cooked Kale Salad

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Ingredients
• ½ cup pine nuts
• 2 lbs (about 4 or 5 bunches or 12 cups leaves) dinosaur kale leaves, cleaned, dried and de-stemmed (throw out the stems or save for another use)
• ½ lb (about 1 bunch or head or 4 cups) dandelion, radicchio and/or arugula
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup currants or raisins
• 3/4 cup dry sherry wine
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 4 T freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
• 6 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
• 2-3 T small capers (optional)
• Shaved Parmesan cheese or fresh burrata cheese (both optional)

Directions
For the Dressing:
- Roast pine nuts on a cookie sheet in a 350º oven for 10 minutes until toasted. Cool.
- In a small pot bring raisins or currants and sherry wine to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until raisins or currants are plump. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest and ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil. Stir in the toasted pine nuts.

For the Salad:
- Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and continue cooking 1 minute. Add 12 cups of kale and stir until coated with oil. Stir in ½ cup water, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1 hour. Remove from heat and toss with about ¾ of the dressing.
- Tear or slice the raw arugula, dandelion and/or radicchio into thin strips. Toss with the remaining dressing and set aside in the refrigerator for at least one hour to marinate.
- In a large salad bowl, toss the marinated greens with the cooked greens (cooked greens can be warm or cold) and capers (if using) adding all of the remaining dressing.

To Serve and Store:
- Place salad on a platter or divide between individual serving plates and then top with grated Parmesan or place a couple dollops of burrata cheese alongside.
-Salad keeps in the refrigerator for 3 days. Eat cold straight from the refrigerator, room temperature or slightly warmed if desired.

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Vegan Creamed Corn

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Ingredients

• ½ cup dried chanterelle mushrooms
• 12 ears corn
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Zest of two lemons (2 teaspoons)
• Juice of one lemon (1 Tablespoon)
• Sea salt and lots of freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk (optional/as needed)

Directions

- Soak mushrooms in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse well. Slice into ¼ inch pieces.
- Cut the corn from 6 ears of corn and blend in a Vitamix blender, adding small amounts of almond milk if needed to get a blend going. Pour blended corn kernels through a nut milk bag held over a medium-size mixing bowl or large liquid measuring cup. Squeeze out all of the corn “cream” and set aside. (Throw out the corn pulp).
- Bring a pot full of salted water to a boil. Cut the corn kernels from the remaining corn and add to the boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes. Drain.
- Heat the extra-virgin olive oil over low heat in a large sauté pan. Add the shallots, garlic and soaked chanterelle mushrooms and sauté until soft about 10 minutes.
- Increase the heat and add the corn kernels, the corn “cream” and cook stirring constantly for about 3 more minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper and serve.

Variations

- Try using shitake mushrooms instead of chanterelles.
- Leave out the mushrooms and substitute coconut milk for the almond milk.
- Purée entire completed dish or leftovers with some broth in the Vitamix and eat as a soup instead.

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So Simple Smoky Carrot Soup

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Soup Ingredients

• 2 poblano chiles
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 1-2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 lbs carrots, cut into coins
• Leaves from 8 sprigs fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• Sea Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 cup Greek-style plain yogurt (optional for garnish)
• Chopped fresh oregano or cilantro leaves (optional for garnish)

Directions

- Preheat oven to 375º. Place poblano chiles on a baking sheet and brush with a tiny bit of the extra-virgin olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes (10 minutes each side) until skins start to brown and puff. Remove chiles from oven and immediately place them in a brown paper bag. Roll the top of the bag closed tightly, so that the chiles can steam for 10 minutes. Steaming will make the skin removal easier. Remove chiles from bag and peel and seed them. Discard peel and seeds.
- Meanwhile, in a large soup pot sautée the onion and the oregano in the remaining extra-virgin olive oil for about 5 minutes until onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the carrots and vegetable broth to the onions and bring to a boil. Boil about 10 minutes until carrots are soft.
- In a blender purée the poblano chiles with the carrot soup. Taste for seasoning and add sea salt and pepper if desired.

To Serve:
- Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with a dollop of plain yogurt and freshly chopped oregano and/or cilantro.

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Pureé of Greens with Plain Yogurt

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This is the healthiest comfort food I can think of.

Ingredients

• 3 bunches of greens, (use a mixture of greens such as mustard greens, dandelion, chard or kale with some spinach for sweetness)

• 1-2 large yellow or red onions, peeled

• 2 inches fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced in rounds

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

• 2 T extra-virgin oil, such as sesame, unfiltered grapeseed or olive oil

• Sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

• 1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt (optional)

Directions

- Bring a large soup pot of water to a boil.  Wash greens, discard stems and roughly chop leaves.  Place leaves in pot of boiling water and boil for two minutes.  Drain greens and set aside.

- In a food processor puree the onion, garlic, ginger. Heat the oil in the soup pot and add the puree’d vegetables to the pot.  Add the chili flakes and sauteé for approximately 10 minutes.

- While vegetables are sauteéing puree the greens in the food processor and when vegetable mixture is done, add the pureed greens to the pot and stir gently to combine.  Taste for seasoning and add sea salt, freshly ground pepper and more chili flakes if desired.

Serve

- Eat hot or cold with some plain Greek-style yogurt to cut the heat of the chili flakes and ginger.

- Or serve alongside your favorite grain, or mixed with cooked lentils.

- Or try wrapping greens and a dollop of yogurt in a warm sprouted corn tortilla.

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Ceviche

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Ceviche

Making ceviche is so magical.  How is it possible that citric acid in limes can “cook” raw fish?  Well, it doesn’t “cook” the fish actually; it “cures” the fish ridding it of impurities and making the flesh a firm heavenly texture.  Allow at least six hours to cure.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs raw white flesh flat fish, such as tilapia, flounder or sole, cut into bite-size pieces

• Juice of 8-10 limes

• 4 large red or regular watermelon radishes, finely julienned on a mandolin

• 2 jalapenoes, seeded and minced or 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

• 1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

• 6 kumquats, sliced in 1/16 inch thick rounds and quartered

• 20 yellow and/or red cherry tomatoes, halved and quartered

• 1 medium red onion, minced

Directions

- Place pieces of fish in a glass or non-reactive bowl or baking dish.  Pour the lime juice over the fish making sure all of the pieces of fish are submerged.  Refrigerate fish for at least 6 hours or overnight, until fish is cured.  (Cured fish will no longer be transparent, but will be opaque and white in color).

- Meanwhile combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl making a salsa-esque mixture. Refrigerate salsa until fish is cured.

- When fish is cured, mix with the salsa and serve.

Serve

- Eat with a fork or scoop up with a tortilla chip.

- Try wrapping ceviche in warm tortillas or lettuce leaves and squirt with a little plain Greek yogurt, guacamole or Raw Sour Cream.

Variations

- Add some chopped avocado to the ceviche just before serving.

- In place of the kumquats, try a mango, a papaya or 8 thinly sliced pitted green olives.

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Cooking with Kids!

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One of my favorite bands from the early 90′s, Arrested Development, had a line in one of their songs that went “Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day.  Teach him how to fish, and he’ll eat forever.” Point taken.

Now that school is out teach your kids to cook! Cuz cooking is survival, and they don’t teach it in school.

Best of all, when it comes to eating healthy, kids tend to eat what they had a hand in making.  They may not eat your broccoli, but they will eat the broccoli they prepared themselves.

Tips for cooking with kids:

• kids love noisy appliances – blenders, juicers, food processors, mix masters

• kids love action – salad spinners, dicing gadgets, mallets for pounding chicken breasts, stirring, kneading, forming

• kids love to play with – spirooli pasta makers, rolling pins, sushi mats

• kids love science experiments – rising dough, dissolving stuff, ice cream makers, blanching tomatoes and fruits to remove skin

• kids love to pick produce – take them to an organic farm or start a vegetable garden/raise your own chickens

• kids love instant gratification – keep recipes short (no more than 5 ingredients)

• kids love to teach other kids how to cook – get your kids inspired by checking out our first 2 Kids and a Cuttingboard Productions‘ orange juice video.

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Spaghetti Squash

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Spaghetti squash is one of those amazing miracles. It looks like any other squash when you cut it open, but after cooking and a few strokes with a fork, it transforms into spaghetti!

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup grated Reggiano cheese or Vegan Parmesan
• Any or all of the following fresh herbs: parsley, chervil, basil
• Sea salt and tons of freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

- Cut squash in half and scrape out the seeds.
– Fill a large pot with water (enough to cover squash), and bring to a boil.
– Place squash in the boiling water and boil until tender for 15-20 minutes.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water and put in a large pasta bowl before draining pot and removing the squash.
- Allow squash to cool enough to handle.  Then take a dinner fork and scrape out the spaghetti-like strands and put them in the bowl with the reserved cooking water.
- Toss squash with remaining ingredients and serve.

Note: spaghetti squash is very delicious cold.  Save some for lunch the next day.

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