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162 Gluten-free

White Bean Kale Stew: How to Infuse This Goodness with Flavor

Looking for a bowl of comfort this season? How about a nourishing, vegetarian, gluten-free soup that requires minimum of your active time? The White Bean Kale Stew is perfect for your entire family.  Infused with fresh rosemary and parmesan rind or pieces, this stew takes white beans (cannellini) to a new level.  The stew is creamy, but without any cream (parmesan rind or pieces work magic!).  Because it’s hearty and mild,  even your kids will enjoy it.  Most amazingly, this soup simmers quietly by itself while you’re working from home or enjoying your personal time. And don’t despair if you can’t find the main ingredients at your local grocer’s nowadays. I included below a recommendation for you where to find organic cannellini beans online.

Here’s a personal tip:  When cooking beans (but not lentils) of any kind, I usually change the water twice. This step makes them easier to digest. The recipe below, however, calls for a single change of water.  If you have the time, I recommend changing the water twice and then proceeding to cook until they are soft.  

Low Glycemic • Gluten-free • Vegetarian • Nutrient-dense • Delicious • Easy

61 Vegan

Mung Dal to Delight Your Senses and Your Body

In a starring role of our mung dal are the healing super spices.  And all of them are familiar:  cardamom (or cardamon), garam masala, turmeric, ginger, chili flakes, pepper and caraway seeds.  Did you know that cardamom has powerful antioxidant and blood-pressure lowering properties? Take a look at : https://www.livestrong.com/article/338907-health-benefits-of-cardamom/.  Did you know that turmeric absorbs by your body substantially better when combined with with black pepper? See, e.g., University of Massachusetts article.   And garam masala comprises of all the healthiest spices. See https://www.healingplantfoods.com/health-benefits-of-garam-masala/. 

Mung Dal, red lentil dal, vegan, turmeric, cardamon, easy by foodjoya

For this recipe, we simmer the magical spices in a warming tomato sauce and then combine them with mung beans.  Are you out of mung beans? Be sure to improvise and use red or green lentils or both.  We recommend making this dal several hours, or up to a day, in advance to give the flavors a chance to blend and deepen.  Although the ingredients are few, and the dish is very easy to make, you will be impressed with its intense flavors!  Make this mung dal for dinner and you’ll be licking your fingers!  This is a recipe to treasure. 

Vegan • Starch- and Sugar-free • Grain-free • Aromatic • Low Glycemic • Nutrient-dense • Delicious • Easy

58 Paleo-friendly

Open Paleo Cherry Pie: A Decadent Fruity Treat

Sweet cherries are a versatile fruit with natural sweetness. Their perfect companions are cinnamon, cardamon and pecans. These wholesome ingredients meet together in this decadent paleo cherry pie. Just like all my dessert recipes, it is gluten-free, sugar-free, and overloaded with fruit. In place of flour, I use almond flour and ground pecans. (I don’t use coconut because, according to a renowned anti-inflammation expert, it may not be the healthiest choice. Take a look at https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/nutrition/thumbs-down-on-coconut-oil/. ) When you bake it, you will find the filling luxurious and the crust perfectly moist and flaky.

Curious how this recipe came about? I invented this dessert on a rainy wintry day, craving summer fruit. When I was growing up, one of my favorite summer fruits was sweet cherries. When they were in season, I would gobble fresh cherries by the pound. But we also concocted a medley of desserts out of this versatile fruit. We boiled black cherry preserves, wild cherry jams and compotes, layered jellos, and blended smoothies! And so, on a cold murky day, this pie pays homage to my fruit-filled memories of childhood summer. Because it is overloaded with fruit (as most of my desserts are), the paleo cherry pie is quite light. And the ingredients are simple and easy to find: frozen sweet cherries, almond flour, pecans, cinnamon, cardamom, honey and eggs. If you are not into spices, let me explain why I am using them. Cinnamon is probably the perfect companion to cherries (its flavor is even similar to cherry pit), and cardamom gives depth to cinnamon. (This fact I learned from the experts at Cook’s Science. ) With an extra egg yolk, the crust turns out juicy and flaky. You will also notice that the crust is of a perfect golden color, not burned. The recipe below will tell you how to accomplish the crust of a perfect color. Every time I bake this pie, the delicious sweet smell of the summer fills up my entire home. That alone makes baking worthwhile. And a slice of this decadent pie is a cherry on top!

If you wish to make this pie in advance, the unbaked crust can be refrigerated overnight. You can assemble and refrigerate even the entire pie the day before baking it.

Paleo Cherry Pie close up by foodjoya
Paleo Cherry Pie close up by foodjoya

Nutrient-packed dessert • Paleo • Dairy-Free • Gluten-free • Delicious • Easy

59 Paleo-friendly

Paleo Kabocha Squash Pie: a Festive, Healthy Delight

Would you like to bake an unmistakably delicious, tried-and-true pie for your holiday table? The custard will inevitably turn out fluffy, sweet and glossy, and the crust perfectly moist. Then read on. From this post, you will learn how to make a perfect and healthy delight destined to become the glory of your holiday dinner. This decadent dessert (Paleo Kabocha Squash Pie) is sugar-free, flourless and requires only a limited number of ingredients (kabocha, olive oil, almond flour, pecans or walnuts, honey, eggs, a dash of milk and spices). Did you know that kabocha squash is sweeter, fluffier and richer in flavor than pumpkin? (Take a look at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabocha.) Thanks to these properties, bite after bite the custard made with kabocha squash tastes better than the one made with pumpkin. Now let me tell you why my crust turns out moist and perfect. To avoid burning and drying, I place the crust only on the bottom. Although I tried various techniques for a wraparound crust, none of them were up to snuff. Prebaked crust was a disaster, and even unbaked crust and frozen unbaked crust burned and hardened. Only when I concentrated the crust on the bottom, it turned out moist and tasty, complementing the fluffy custard. I recommend that you do what I did – place the crust only on the bottom. For further tips and your perfect festive Paleo Kabocha Squash Pie, follow the recipe below!

Nutrient-packed dessert • Paleo • Gluten-free • Delicious • Easy

73 Dairy-free

Polish Red Beet Soup: Where Delicious Meets Easy

Polish red beet soup, or borscht, is nourishing, delicious and loved by children and adults alike!  But ordinarily it takes a long time to cook the traditional version with shredded cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, parsnips etc.  To make the matters worse, most common recipes would have you cook the broth separately and then sautee the vegetables likewise separately.  For this reason, I was quite skeptical when my husband told me about the holiday Polish barszcz that requires absolutely no sauteeing or shredding.  Instead, this beet soup consists of chopped beets, carrots, parsnip, celeriac, herbs and spices.  And the headline for this recipe may well be “set it and forget it.”  To my surprise, and I am surprised every time I make it, this soup is incredibly delicious.  For the sake of your taste buds and health, try it.  The red beet soup is perfect all around. 

Heart Healthy • Vegan • Low Glycemic • Gluten-free • Dairy-free • Nutrient-dense • Delicious • Easy