Eat. Play. Love.

Of all the flavors, we are most familiar with sweet and salty. These are the tastes we tend to gravitate towards; however, this limited palate prevents us from experiencing the benefits of the healing properties of spicy/pungent, sour and bitter foods.

So you may be asking yourself, “Kim, what the heck is a bitter food and why should I give a hoot?”

Well, bitters are actually a group of plant compounds that are used by the plant to protect itself against pathogens, predators and oxidative damage. In nature, some bitter compounds are poisonous. Yet many animals, including us, have learned over time to forage for mildly bitter plants and eat them in small amounts, thus building up an immunity to protect them from the highly bitter plants. Plus, if the bitter compounds protect the plant, perhaps they will also protect us.

Now you may be scratching your head and wondering how this benefits you. It turns out that bitters have a variety of health benefits.

Bitters stimulate your digestive system which strengthens your liver, stomach, gall bladder, pancreas and small and large intestines. Many health conditions that we experience today, such as high cholesterol, diabetes, IBS and indigestion may be due to/exacerbated by a lack of bitter foods in our diets.

Bitters increase healthy bile flow which helps your liver get rid of toxins. Bile is secreted into the intestines where it can be used to emulsify fats, alkalize the environment for carbohydrate digesting enzymes and help eliminate waste products. Bile also helps the body use important fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Bitters can be very helpful for people with hepatitis and other compromised livers conditions.

Bitters are anti-inflammatory! They help to ensure the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach which ensures good protein digestion. Often times, people with indigestion think they have too much acid in the stomach when in reality they don’t have enough hydrochloric acid (stomach pH is too high) to digest protein effectively. Undigested proteins putrefy in the gut and can cause inflammation of the bowels which leads to leaky gut syndrome. Some symptoms of leaky gut syndrome include: food allergies, eczema, skin rashes and other skin disorders, headaches, migraines, joint pain, chronic fatigue and heartburn.

Bitters help to ensure that the pancreas is secreting the appropriate amount of enzymes to break down foods which prevents putrefaction and inflammation of the gut. This means less gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. When your gut lining is healthy, you will be healthy, too, as a healthy gut is strongly correlated with a healthy immune system.

Bitters also help stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin and glucagon, two hormones that are important to stabilizing blood sugar levels.

Bitters have anti-carciongenic and antioxidant powers. Here is an article that references some of the specific bitter compounds and their benefits.

You’re convinced that you need more bitters in your diet, but what are they and how do you get them?

There are a variety of ways to incorporate bitters into your diet. The most common way is to enjoy a variety of wild and cultivated bitter greens such as dandelion, chicory, arugula, radicchio, escarole, turnip greens, mustard greens, watercress and endive. These greens can be used raw in salads, braised with garlic and olive oil or blended in a soup.

Enjoying a bitter cocktail before a meal is another way to incorporate bitters into your diet. Traditionally, concoctions using Angostura bitters, Amer Picon, Campari, Cynar, Chartreuse, Dubonnet, Fernet Branca, Byrrh, Punt è Mes, Suze, Jägermeister, and Peychaud’s or Fee Brothers bitters were considered health tonics. If you do enjoy a cocktail on occasion, consider a bitter beverage before your eat or add a few drops of a bitters formula to your water.

You can also get your bitters through teas such as dandelion root, milk thistle, red clover, and nettles. Alvita has a great line of herbal teas. In addition bitter, unsweetened chocolate and even certain wines offer some bitter benefits. Finally, you may even consider a Swedish Bitter formula from Gaia Herbs, Herb Pharm or Nature Works. Urban Moonshine makes some fantastic travel bitters sprays.

So the next time you have that sweet or salty craving, reach for something bitter instead. Your body will thank you.

I love gardening, but sometimes your best intentions can go awry. Last fall, I planted greens in my cold frame, but then I kind of…sort of…very much…completely forgot about them over the Holidays. Needless to say, the only drought survivors were a row of mache and a mess of chickweed. Knowing that chickweed (Stellaria media) is chock full of nutrients such as B6, B12, C, D, beta-carotene, iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, sodium, copper, and silica, I knew that I had to do something with it. So I made a few nutrient recipes that I will share with you today!

Sauteed Chickweed & Cabbage 

Ingredients:

•  3 TBSP olive oil
•  1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
•  tsp cayenne pepper
•  6 garlic cloves
•  several handfuls of chickweed, chopped
• 2 cups cabbage, chopped
• dash of sea salt and pepper
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds

I sautéed the cabbage and chickweed in a little water for about 10 minutes or until tender and then added the rest of the ingredients and mixed. Joe prepared a side of venison to go along with our “wild” evening, and it was pretty darn tasty except that the chickweed was a little chewy. I should have removed the stems or used “younger” chickweed. Live and learn! The beauty of this dish is that you can use a variety of seasoning combinations. Think about how you like to prepare spinach and substitute chickweed. “Wildman” Steve Brill uses cumin, chiles, Brewer’s yeast and ground cloves in his “Chickweed Delight” recipe. I’ll have to try that next!

Chickweed & Cabbage

Aduki-Chickweed Pâté

My next chickweed experiment this week was delicious! It was inspired by “Wildman” Steve Brill’s Chickweed Bean Spread.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups soaked and cooked aduki beans
• 2 TBSP coconut vinegar
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 2 tsp dried tarragon
• 2 tsp Lydia’s Organic Seasoning (a must have for your pantry!)
• 2 shallots
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup chickweed leaves
• small handful of chives
• ¼ cup of red miso
• juice of 1 lime
• sea salt and pepper to taste

I added the lime juice, miso, olive oil, shallot, garlic and seasonings to the food processor and pulsed for a bit. Then I added the aduki beans and processed for a minute or two. After the mixture became smooth, I added the chickweed and chives. Voila!

Aduki-Chickweed Pate

Unfortunately, according to my Facebook Friends, the picture of the pâté looks more like poop; however, I thought that was appropriate since chickweed is full of fiber which is helpful to elimination.

This morning, while writing this post, I sipped on fresh chickweed tea. While it tasted refreshing on its own, I added a lavender-lemon-mint tea for some extra kick. Just pour boiling water over a ¼ to ½ cup chickweed, cover and let steep for about 15 minutes. Because it’s so nutrient rich, this would be a wonderful concoction to accompany and detoxification program. In particular, it supports the kidneys. You could add other herbs and drink hot or pour over some ice for a truly refreshing beverage.

Chickweed Tea

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone!

In honor of the big day, I thought I’d share a recipe with you that I created last night. It was a soup full of flavor, beta-carotene and other powerful anti-oxidants. I call it, SunCarBochaSnip Soup. You’re thinking, what the hell is that, Kim? Well, it’s a yummy soup I concocted using sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes), carrots, Kabocha squash and parsnips. Hey, it’s what was in the fridge last night! As I was chopping these beauties, I realized that with all of this fiber, it must be a damn good soup for the heart – and the gut, too. So, I roasted them and turned them into a tasty, warming soup.

Want to know why these winter veggies are heart healthy?

Well, let’s start with our sunchoke friends. Full of inulin and fructooligosaccharides, these sunflower and artichoke relatives serve as a great pre-biotic for the healthy gut flora. Basically, pre-biotics feed the good bacteria, also known as probiotics, in your intestines which allows your digestive system to flow and work properly. Also, studies show that inulin helps your heart by lowering blood glucose, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. It’s also helpful with preventing the growth of certain cancers. One final note on this most romantic day of the year, Dr. K. M. Nadkarni, author of the Indian Materia Medica, says that sunchokes are an aphrodisiac and enhancer of semen production! Who knew?

Carrots of course are full of carotenoids which are amazing antioxidants that prevent cancer. They too can help with lowering blood sugar levels and their coumarin content can help prevent blood clotting. Of course this amazing root vegetable is important to eye health, lung health and the health of the body’s other surface tissues (such as the gut lining). If you believe in food energetics, this makes sense. Carrots are roots that are soothing to the digestive system and soak up nutrients for the carrot plant. The digestive system does the same for us which supports the theory that carrots are good for the gut! Anything that is good for the gut, is good for the heart, too.

Full of fiber and vitamin C, winter squash such as Kabocha are a great way to incorporate sweetness in your diet without the refined sugars. Dr. Thomas Levey, Board Certified Cardiologist and author of Stop America’s #1 Killer says the “the lower your vitamin C blood and tissue levels go, the greater your chances of developing significant heart disease.” Like sweet potatoes and carrots, winter squash are also high in carotenoids which protect your body from a variety of cancers. In addition, winter squash are full of potassium which is an important electrolyte for the heart and circulation in the body.

So what about parsnips? These tasty root vegetables are full of fiber and contain about the same amount of calcium as milk. Calcium, of course, is an important mineral essential for heart beat regulation among other things. They are a good source of potassium, too, which is an important heart nutrient. Parsnips are one of my favorite vegetables to add to soup; however, they do impart a strong flavor so keep that in mind.

So, I think you’re ready for the SunCarBochaSnip Soup recipe. Unfortunately, I don’t measure so you’ll have to improvise a bit. Enjoy!

SunCarBocaSnip Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Kabocha squash (you could substitute any winter squash)
• 5-6 carrots
• 5-6 sunchokes
• 2 parsnips
• 2 onions
• handful of fresh parsley
• stock (homemade is best, but you can also use water or a pre-packaged variety)
• 1 TBSP-ish curry powder
• 1 TBSP-ish paprika
• 1 TBSP-ish cumin
• ½ TBSP-ish chile pepper
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• dollop of yogurt or sour cream on top (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice squash, carrots, sunchokes and parsnips. Place in a dish with a little bit of water and roast in the oven at 375 deg for about 45 minutes. Add some olive oil towards the end.
2. Dice the onion and add to a pan with oil (coconut or olive if you keep the heat low). Add the dry the seasonings.
3. Add stock or water.
4. Add roasted veggies and simmer. Add fresh parsley. Adjust seasonings.
5. Puree with an immersion blender.

Embrace Sweet Vegetables & Sweet Spices.

Incorporating sweet winter vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, rutabagas, sweet potatoes and winter squash into your diet is a healthy way to satisfy sweet cravings or prevent them in general. They beauty of these hearty sweet vegetables is that they can be used in savory dishes as well as desserts. Aduki beans and short brown rice and also be used to create healthy sweet treats. You can also experiment with spices such as allspice, cloves, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla and cinnamon which impart a sweet flavor to any dish. Cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves have been found to triple insulin’s ability to metabolize sugar and remove it from the blood so use them liberally this Holiday season!

Experiment with Natural Sweeteners.

Why use sweet vegetables and natural sweeteners in our Holiday cooking and baking? Refined sugars interfere with the absorption and transport of many important nutrients. Sugar and refined carbohydrates increase the excretion of B vitamins, vitamin C and most minerals including calcium, magnesium and chromium. In addition, minerals such as chromium, manganese and zinc are in short supply in the average diet (partly due to diet and partly due to the lack of minerals in our soils) and are needed to control blood sugar levels. Experimenting with natural sweeteners that still contain fiber, vitamins and minerals can keep your body from depleting vital nutrients and becoming acidic.

Consider trying one or more of the following, this Holiday season:

raw honey
date sugar
blackstrap molasses
raw unrefined cane sugar (Rapadura)
coconut crystals
palm sugar
stevia
brown rice syrup

It’s that time of year again when we begin to think about cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, baked corn, collard greens, sauerkraut, oyster dressing and TURKEY. Unfortunately, so many folks get caught up on which color meat to eat from the turkey that they forget to consider the quality of the bird! One of the most important aspects of the Thanksgiving turkey is the TASTE. There are a variety of heritage breeds out there that are known for their deliciousness! There are a variety of factors that influence the flavor of the turkey including the age of the animal, how it was raised and what it was fed. When turkeys are foraging for insects and grubs in the grass, they tend to have a deeper, richer flavor.

If you were planning to order a Butterball from the grocery store, think again. This year, consider a pasture-raised turkey from your local farmer. It’s widely known that turkeys are a good source of protein, selenium, vitamins B3 and B6, phosphorus and zinc. If you’re new to pastured-raised turkeys, you may not be aware that studies have shown they are able to produce conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from the grass they eat. This fat is known to aid in weight loss, balance blood sugar levels, fight cancer due to its antioxidant properties and enhances the immune system. In addition, pasture-raised turkeys are higher in Omega-3s, vitamin A, vitamin E and folic acid than their Butterball counterparts. This makes pasture raised turkey an excellent choice for your Thanksgiving meal!

In addition, there are benefits to pastured turkeys because of what’s NOT in them. Most commercial turkeys contain antibiotics, hormones, arsenic (small amounts can be found in the pesticides that wind up in many of the commercial feeds) and chlorine (birds are soaked in high levels of chlorine to kill pathogens). These practices, combined with the health benefits of pastured turkeys, make the quest for them worth it.

So perhaps you’re sold on a pastured turkey for Thanksgiving but aren’t sure how to procure one. Fortunately, there are a variety of healthy, local sources out there waiting for your order! For the past two years, I have purchased my pastured turkeys from Lynne Ferguson of Ferguson Family Farms. She’s dedicated to providing a quality product from an animal that is happy and healthy. Lynne knows that you are what you eat! If you’re not in the Baltmore/DC area, check out your local farmers market or search for poultry farmers in your area on-line through Eat Wild.

Ferguson Family Farm's turkeys at the Greenbelt Farmers Market. Photo by Karl Gary.

Because the texture and flavor of a pastured turkey is different than your standard supermarket bird, I’m sharing a few tips from Bechard Family Farms on how to cook a pastured turkey. The key to a moist turkey is perfecting the brine and not overcooking it. My family generally incorporates water, brown sugar and kosher sea salt in the brine, but I recently found this delicious recipe from The Pioneer Woman that I had to share! My husband, Joe has had a great deal of luck the last couple of years using the rotisserie attachment on the grill. After basting it with olive oil, butter, sea salt and pepper, he and my mom throw the bird on the rotisserie for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature reached about 160 degrees.

Turkey Brine from The Pioneer Woman

While perusing Rita Calvert’s, The Grassfed Gourmet Fires It Up!, I discovered The Whole Holiday Bird on the Grill: Brined Heritage Turkey with Chunky Cherry Glaze. Yum! This recipe appears on Homestead Gardens blog so that you can enjoy it now if you don’t have the book (which I highly recommend).

Also, just because the turkey meat is gone, it doesn’t mean that the joy of the Thanksgiving meal is over. If you usually toss the carcass, think again. A mineral rich bone stock with your leftover organs and turkey carcass is just what the doctor ordered. The stock makes a nutrient-dense base for your favorite soup, grain and bean recipes. I use this recipe each fall to make my stock for the winter. It’s nutritious and adds a rich flavor to my favorite recipes.

If you explore centering your Thanksgiving meal around a feathered friend from the pasture, I do hope that you’ll post a comment about your experience here. Happy Turkey Day!

Most of us are aware of the importance of drinking enough water. Water keeps our skin clear and hydrated, cleanses our organs and tissues and helps create the synovial fluid in our joints, our digestive juices and the blood-brain barrier. Think about your sinuses, your lungs, your eyes and other moist surface in your body. Water is vital. Even with this understanding, it can still be challenging to drink all the water our bodies deserve daily. In the summer, when our activity and sweat levels increase, it’s especially important to pay close attention to our water intake. Signs of dehydration include headaches, fatigue, cravings, dark colored urine, increased heart rate or respiration, decreased sweating, muscle cramps, nausea, tingling of the limbs and even the chills.

To help you start your day right, set a large glass of water on your night stand before you go to sleep and drink it as soon as you climb out of bed. When the first thing that flows through your body each morning is water, it pulls out toxins left over from the previous day and gives you a jump start on hydration. Try to drink most of your water during the first half of the day so you don’t need to drink before bed and disturb a peaceful night’s sleep to use the bathroom. Make sure you bring a water bottle with you when you work or play so you have access to water throughout the day. Having one close by will remind you to drink when you’re thirsty. The first sip will usually let you know how much more water you need. A sip or two may be enough, or you may need a big glass.

Folks often ask me about what type of water they should be drinking. I don’t recommend bottled water, but suggest some type of filter that removes chlorine, flouride and sediment, but keeps a good amount of minerals. Although, I’m not terribly particular about types of filters, I thought I would share this interesting article by Dr. Mercola about water filtration systems should you be in the market for one. Both he and Dr. Weil recommend a KDF or Kinetic Degradation Fluxion filter. This is a high-purity copper-zinc formulation that removes chlorine, lead, mercury, iron, and hydrogen sulfide from water.

Even if the water is filtered and tastes better than straight from the tap, some folks get bored with it. So, to jazz up your water, try adding a few mint leaves, a wedge of lemon, a sprig of parsley, slices of cucumber, a twist of lime or a squeeze of orange. Also, drinking herbal tea or juice and eating raw fruits and vegetables contribute to the hydration process. One of my favorite sports drinks is coconut water because it’s electrolyte balance is similar to our blood. It is a good source of electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and calcium. How much water should you drink? Dr. Batmanghelidj recommends half your weight in ounces each day so drink up!