by Brianna | Dec 8, 2020 | Cooking with Intention, food is medicine, Healing Recipes
Simple food is my hallmark. I love soup because it is typically a one pot meal that can feed us for days. With covid I count my blessings that cooking is not just one of my useful life skills but a favorite pastime. However, even I have cooking fatigue and my food although always easy has become more and more simplified. This easy-peasy recipe came out of a recipe fail and is now in permanent rotation: Black Beans with Feta 2 cans of black beans 1 small block of feta 3 TBL of Harissa (this is a specialty blend and worth having on hand because it is delicious) 1 Onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 1 small red pepper, chopped fine 1 TBL of ghee (ghee has a very high fire point so I often use when cooking but olive oil is fine too) If you have a dutch oven or a pan that can go from stove top to oven that will make this a one pot wonder but if you don’t – washing two pans is worth it. Saute the onion in the ghee over medium heat. Once the onions have some nice color stir in the garlic and red pepper, saute until fragrant (be careful not to burn your garlic as it makes the flavor bitter). Add the harissa and beans and stir together. Turn off heat and nestle slices of feta into the mixture (this is the best part so tuck as much as you can in there). Cover and bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Baked feta is revelatory....
by Brianna | Feb 4, 2018 | Beautiful Tea, food is medicine, Herbal Tea, Tea
It is POURING here. Pouring. But I think that the weather is absolutely delicious because I don’t have to go anywhere. I am writing this and then settling into a corner with a new book and a cup of Tumeric Tea. I have had arthritis in my ankle since I was in my early twenties and whenever it rains for a full day, or more, the ache begins. Since it isn’t my first time on this merry go round, I know that ache is coming and purposefully up my tumeric intake. I mix it in to a lot of my food. Everything turns yellow. But my favorite use is to make a tea with Tumeric and honey. Why? Tumeric’s main compound curcumin is a wonder at calming inflammation, and there is a lot of research supporting its healing abilities. Seems weird but to make it work add a few cracks of pepper. Black Pepper (pepperine) makes Curcumin have more bioavailability – truly – they are synergistic and the curcumin is pretty useless without it. Honey, well that makes everything better, doesn’t it? But honey is a wonder. It does so many things that it is considered a nutraceutical. Meaning, Medical Doctors are calling it medicine! To make the paste I use a 1:1 ratio. For one cup of Tumeric and Honey Tea: 2tsps tumeric + 2tsps honey + black pepper Mix into a paste. Add hot water and stir. For a week of Tumeric and Honey Tea: 3 Tbl Tumeric + 3 Tbl honey + black pepper Mix into a paste Store in fridge (no longer than a week)....
by Brianna | Jan 22, 2018 | Cooking with Intention, food is medicine, Healing, Healing Recipes
Herbal medicine is really the medicine of the people. Meaning it is for everyone. Fire Cider is an old elixir and one of my favorites to have on hand. It does take time to chop everything up and patience (because it takes about a month to come together) but I find all the effort totally worth it. This recipe is very forgiving (meaning lots of different versions exist), I simply chop up all the organic goodness and add it to a mason jar with organic apple cider vinegar. I riddle it daily after that – shake, shake, shake. Today’s Fire Cider version includes: Onion, peeled and roughly chopped Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped Tumeric, peeled and roughly chopped Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped Horseradish, peeled and roughly chopped Lemon Zest Rosemary (dried, from my garden) Cayenne Pepper Black Pepper Corns I don’t measure. I don’t worry about the veggies being chopped just so. I just fill the jar with the ingredients to a few inches shy of the brim and then add the Apple Cider Vinegar, covering everything in the jar. I close the lid and place it in the cupboard with my mugs (think cool and dark for its storage place). I store it with my mugs because that way I will see it every day and remember to give it a little love shake – I usually sing a little love song to it too. I believe in the power of intention and you can bet if I feed you something there is a message of love and light in the recipe too. After a...
by Brianna | Oct 5, 2017 | food is medicine, Healing, Healing Recipes
Kitchari is an Ayruvedic Indian food that is yummy, simple and good for you. Not only does it cook quickly, it is comforting, filling and easily digested – the perfect trifecta for days I practice and/or teach a lot. This porridge is a staple in Indian households and once you eat it you will understand why. To make it you will need Moong Dal (split mung beans). When something is “Dal” it means it is split in half. When the Mung beans are split they loose their outer skin making them even easier on the digestive system. I don’t know why but I have never seen them in a big box grocery store. Mung Beans, yes. Split Mung Beans, no. But your local Indian Grocery will have them or you can order them from a specialty shop online. Each person makes their Kitachari a little differently, here is the recipe I have been using lately: Fall Kitchari 1 Cup Moong Dal (picked through and rinsed – moong dal does not need to soak) 1/2 Cup Basmati Rice (white – because it is easier on the stomach) 5 cups water or vegetable stock (I default to veggie stock because it gives it a richer flavor but water works) 1 TBL ghee (clarified butter – it can cook at a higher temperature because the milk solids are removed) 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp grated ginger 1 cup of carrots, green beans, zucchini, etc. (optional) First, in sauce pan melt the ghee on medium heat and add the spices...
by Brianna | Sep 5, 2017 | Cooking with Intention, food is medicine, Healing
If you have read my blog at all you know that I am a SUCKER for a delicious simple soup. I eat soup all four seasons of the year – I find it incredibly comforting and soothing, especially for my voice which is often stretched to its limit by my work. When I was a young thing and had a stomach of steel I use to love cream based soups. That time for me passed in my early twenties. One day to the next and cream based soups were no longer my friends. Has that ever happened to you with food? Onwards. There are so many wonderful vegan options and potato has been long known to create a cream like consistency (think Potato Leek soup). In this soup you use both coconut milk (don’t worry the flavor of the coconut doesn’t pack a punch) and potato. Vegan Corn Chowder: 5 ears fresh corn, cut corn from cob 1 can coconut milk 4 large potatoes, peeled and chunked 4 cups vegetable stock Salt and Pepper to taste LOVE – this is the most important ingredient In a large stock pot add all of the ingredients together. Simmer until the potatoes are soft (20 – 30 minutes). Use and immersion blender and blend about half the soup (or transfer half of the soup to a regular blender and blend) – by only blending half you will keep some of the texture of the potatoes and corn. Enjoy! Vegan Corn...
by Brianna | May 6, 2017 | food is medicine, Healing Recipes
There is a great Farmer’s Market in my little town. I go every time its open, even through the winter months, because at the very least I like to buy my eggs there. I believe that happy birds produce better tasting eggs. Don’t believe me? Run a personal taste test for yourself with a small-farm fresh egg vs. one produced in a large-commercial-farm, then make up your own mind. Today is a blustery day here which is abnormal for May in the south. Having just come back from a 48-hour whirlwind visit to NYC where I walked 22 miles, visited with friends and squeezed in four yoga classes, it was the perfect Saturday to be completely cozy and do some self-care. I wore extra layers and laid around in the hammock, took a nap and made some yummy Duck-egg drop soup with ingredients I bought this morning from local farmers – all of us in the sunshine. Egg Drop Soup has just been put into permanent rotation. In my younger years I ate it a lot from Chinese Take Away but in my lifestyle – where food is medicine – it had never once occurred to me to make it. Recently I had a craving for it, read a few recipes on the Pinterest and went for it. Not only was it DELICIOUS but it is simple, forgiving (meaning lots of ingredient options) and quick – less than 30 minutes quick. Duck-Egg Drop Soup 4 Duck Eggs whisked (or 6 Chicken Eggs) 4 cups Veggie Stock (homemade is best but store bought is just fine. You can also use...
