From the Kitchen of Katie Oberton / Adapted from "Pinch of Yum" by Lindsay Ostrom

If you know me well, you know that cooking is not something I do often. I’m lucky to have a husband who loves to cook and is great at it. However, over the course of the past few months we have been busier than ever. When we would get home from our busy days, we didn’t have the energy to grocery shop or cook, so we ordered out. Once I realized how much this was consuming our budget, I decided it was time to split the cooking duties. I started following a few Twin Cities food bloggers on social media, and can now proudly say I make dinner at least once a week. Again, if you know me, you know this is huge progress for me in the kitchen. The trick to this for me has been finding easy and delicious meals for our family. Below is one of my go to meals. It’s quick and easy, which works for our busy schedule. It also can be altered for your needs, and of course it’s delicious! It was adapted from one of my favorite new food bloggers Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of pasta
• 1 jar of tomato sauce
• 1 cup cashews
• ¼ cup water
• Salt and herbs to taste

 
Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and toss with sauce over low heat.
2. In blender or food processor, blend the cashews with the water. Blend until smooth.
3. Add cashew sauce to the pasta. Stir until well blended.
4. Top pasta with meat, salt or herbs, vegetables, or whatever you may like. I prefer to add in peas and spinach (like in the picture).

​Click here for a printable recipe.

From the kitchen of Amy Daws, CMT

This gluten-free (noodle free) take on vegetable lasagna is one of my favorite recipes for any season.  As someone who likes to eat nutritious meals packed with veggies, but doesn't like spending a lot of time each day figuring out what to eat this is a great option.  You can make a pan on a day off and have it to eat throughout the week.  This recipe can easily be made dairy free by omitting the parmesan cheese or substituting dairy free cheese.  Feel free to play with different vegetables as they go in and out of season.

From the kitchen of Ayanna Quamina, N.D.

One of the great things about having multi-cultural children is that I have an inside look into other cultures outside of my own. My father-in-law is Pilipino, and has exposed me to a variety of delicious traditional dishes. One of them is Chicken and Long Rice, and I try to make it as often as I can.

It is a perfect meal for a wintery evening, especially when you are feeling run-down or in the midst of catching a cold. It’s simple, yummy, easy to make, and fills you up without feeling bloated or uncomfortable. Plus the onion and ginger add some therapeutic qualities - who can argue with that?! 

Download a pdf to print
Serves 8

Ingredients

• 3 pounds chicken leg quarters
• 3 (32 ounce) cartons low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (1/2 inch) piece fresh ginger root, sliced and julienned
• 1 large sweet onion, cubed
• 1 (8 ounce) package uncooked rice bean thread noodles
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Place chicken broth, chicken, and ginger together into a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low. Simmer until the chicken is tender and no longer pink, about 35 minutes. Skim the chicken solids as it cooks off.
2. Place the bean thread noodles into the broth and simmer until softened, about 10-15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, take each piece of chicken, remove the skin and bones and discard. Roughly chop the remaining chicken meat and place back into the broth.
4. Scoop out the chicken, noodles and broth mixture into each bowl, and sprinkle a few green onion slices on top.
5. Enjoy!

From the kitchen of Marian Kimball Eichinger

One of the best things about fall and winter are the plethora of squashes that fill our shop aisles, adorn our front steps and brighten our dining room tables. All the different shapes, colors and sizes never fail to amaze and impress me each year. This butternut recipe is one of my favorites - it’s a little bit of heaven in a bowl!
 
In addition to butternut squash, and a plethora of warming spices, this recipe also includes chickpeas and red lentils which add protein and depth. As a vegetarian, this combination draws me in. From a TCM perspective, the winter squash and the chickpeas are sweet and warm, nourish the spleen and stomach energy systems and aid digestion. The warming properties of this dish come from the turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper. All of these spices warm the body’s interior, making it a perfect dish for the cold weather of winter. The red lentils are slightly cool and tonify the Yin which balances perfectly with the warmth of the spices, peas and squash. Lentils also drain damp from the body. So if you are feeling chilled, bloated, and fatigued, this would be an excellent dinner for you!

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until starting to turn brown. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the garlic, celery, spices and 1 tsp ground black pepper. Saute for a few minutes. 
2. Now add the red lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce, parsley and about half the cilantro. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, peel and seed the squash and cut into large cubes. Add squash to the pot with the vegetable stock and bay. Cover and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Add the pasta (or rice) and simmer until it is cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve immediately, topping with chopped cilantro.

Download a printable recipe card here.

From the kitchen of Dr. Barrett
 
I discovered this recipe courtesy of Lakewinds Food Co-op. They were sampling this recipe during one of my frequent trips to their store and I fell in love. I am dairy-free and have been missing creamy noodles! 

Printable PDF
Ingredients:

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion diced
• 1 cup mushrooms thinly sliced (optional)
• 2 zucchini, about 1 ½ cups diced
• ½ red bell pepper diced
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ lb brown rice noodles (shells work well)
• 3-4 cups butternut squash soup

 
Directions:

1. In a large sauce pan, sauté the garlic, onion, mushrooms, zucchini and red bell pepper in the olive oil. Cook until tender about 5-7 minutes.
2. At the same time cook the noodles until about halfway done.
3. Add soup, vinegar, half cooked noodles, salt and pepper to the vegetable mixture and bring to a boil. Stirring until shells are cooked.

 
Serves 3-4
 
Variations: I find that adding a spicy meat such as hot turkey or pork sausage really adds to the meal.  I add the meat to the onions and garlic until fully cooked then add the vegetables and continue with the recipe as written.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. Prepare your grains according to package directions. I used a combination of brown rice, forbidden black rice, and red quinoa for lots of color and texture. The rice I chose took about 40min to cook so I got it started first and added the quinoa in with 10min left in the cooking time. If you have bone broth on hand use it instead of water to cook the grains and get all the additional health benefits.
   
3. Wash and dry your sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes.
4. Mix 2 Tbsp each coconut oil and coconut milk and coat the sweet potato cubes with the mixture.
5. Lay sweet potatoes out on a cookie sheet (I cover mine with foil for easy clean up) and bake for about 50 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with a fork and are browning on the edges.
6. While your grains and potatoes are cooking, prepare the white miso sesame sauce by combining ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and olive oil in a food processor and blending well. After the ginger and garlic are well incorporated into the liquid add the thicker elements of honey, tahini, and white miso and blend until smooth.
7. When your potatoes and rice are close to done, steam the spinach or other leafy greens and toast enough black and white sesame seeds to sprinkle over each bowl. I had a mesh colander that fit right over my rice pot and was able to steam the spinach easily right on top. You'll know the sesame seeds are done as they start to release a lovely toasty scent.
8. The last step is layering everything in your bowl with a little miso sauce and then cooking up an egg however you like and finishing off with toasted sesame seeds and a pinch of salt.

What I love about this recipe is the how much you can experiment with variations. The original version had broccoli instead of spinach and I just swapped in a different nutrient-dense veggie that was easier for me to digest. Add as many veggies as you can! It is easy to just add something else to the roasting pan with the potatoes and not even dirty another dish. Comment below if you think of a particularly delicious addition or variation!

From the kitchen of Jesse Haas, CNS, LN

Click here for a printable PDF

Spring rolls are one of my favorite summer meals. They're light, refreshing and flavorful. Added bonus: you can really put anything in a spring roll making it a perfect "recipe" for CSA season. CSA stands for community supported agriculture, which describes a business model whereby members invest in a farm's season and in return for their financial support against weather and pests - risks inherent in organic farming - get a weekly distribution of fresh produce from the farm. I've been a member of various CSAs throughout my life, but this year I'm getting my veggies from Easy Bean CSA Farm in Milan, MN. It's a summer highlight for me!

Spring rolls are a Vietnamese dish, most often served as an appetizer in the U.S. Because they're somewhat laborious to make, I make a pile of them at a time and serve them as the main entree. What makes a delicious spring roll? Fresh aromatic herbs and a delectable dipping sauce.

Fresh Summertime Spring Rolls
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 small beet, shredded
• 2-3 carrots, shredded
• 1-2 green onions, cut into thin strips
• 12 cooked shrimp, halved the long way
• 2 cups shredded napa cabbage
• cilantro, mint and Thai basil sprigs
• 2 oz. brown rice vermicelli noodles
• 8 rice wrappers 

Directions:

1. Follow the directions on the box to prepare the rice vermicelli. When done cooking, rinse under cold water to keep the noodles from clumping together. 
2. Fill a dish or large saucepan with hot water from the tap. There's no need to boil it, but the water does need to be quite warm. Place one rice wrapper at a time in the warm water and allow it to soften. This will take 1-2 minutes. 
3. Remove the wrapper and lay it evenly on a flat surface. Layer each ingredient in the center of the wrapper, leaving 1-2 inches on either end. Fold over the uncovered sides, then tightly roll the contents into the wrapper like a burrito. 

From the kitchen of Jesse Haas, CNS, LN

There is nothing more delicious than a good stir-fry: load up on veggies doused in a flavorful sauce with minimal clean up. That's my kind of dinner!

A good stir-fry is balanced equation with which you can create a delicious, nutritious feast:
2-3 cups vegetables + 3 oz. clean protein + flavorful sauce + 1/2 brown rice = 1 delicious meal

The sauce makes the difference between rice + veggies and a stir-fry, so make it count! My favorite Stir-Fry Sauce doubles as a marinade for tofu, chicken,  beef or pork.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup tamari*
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• red pepper flakes, to taste
• 2 Tbsp sesame or olive oil

Directions:

1. Whisk all ingredients together. 

* Make it soy-free by substituting coconut aminos for tamari.

Now that you've got the secret to stir-fry success, here's a Spring Chicken Stir-Fry Recipe to give it a whirl!
Click here for a printable PDF
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice, rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 1 lb. organic chicken
• 1 batch of Stir-Fry Sauce (above)
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 3-5 spring onions, sliced
• 1-2 green garlic, sliced
• 1 lb. asparagus
• 2 cups pea pods
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• tamari and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
• sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into chunks, then cover them with stir-fry sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.  
2. Bring water and rice to a boil, cover and lower heat to a simmer. Cook until done, approximately 45 minutes.
3. Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium-low heat. Add 1 Tbsp coconut oil, followed shortly by the chicken and stir-fry sauce. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Spoon chicken out onto bowl or plate and set aside. 
4. Heat remaining oil in the same pan you cooked the chicken. Add green onions, green garlic and mushrooms; cover and cook for 3 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the remaining vegetables and cook for another 3 minutes. 
5. Stir in chicken to veggies; heat through.
6. Taste and season with additional tamari and black pepper, if needed. Serve over rice with cilantro and sesame seeds (optional). 

From the kitchen of Emily Clark, LAc,

February is more than half way over and we’re (pretty much) in the homestretch of winter, folks!  However, cold and flu “season” seems to still be in full effect. Enter a simple, cost effective, and delicious food that has been used for centuries in East Asian and Chinese cultures: Congee (pronounced con-jee). It’s a grain based (usually white rice) porridge that is a nourishing blank canvas for the addition of therapeutic foods, herbs, and spices. Easily digested and assimilated, congee is a great thing to incorporate into your diet when feeling under the weather so to speak. Here is one of my favorite recipes to specifically help boost the immune system and keep you feeling great all winter long.

From the kitchen of Dr. Barrett
​
This hearty chicken soup contains mushrooms and plenty of fresh spices to help keep your immune system strong this winter. Feel free to add burdock root, astragalus root, or more dried medicinal mushrooms and other ingredients to increase the immune boosting effects.

Click here for a printable PDF
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (free range)
• 2 bay leaves
• 10-12 multicolored carrots (purple is best)
• 3 celery stalks
• Fresh rosemary sprigs (dried will work too)
• Fresh thyme sprigs (dried will work too)
• 1 red onion
• Whole black peppercorns
• 2 jalapeños
• ½-1 cup wild rice
• 1.5 pounds fingerling and purple potatoes chopped into bite sized pieces (make sure the flesh is purple as well)
• 2 Tbsp dried sage
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• Minced garlic (mince at least 10 minutes before it goes into the pot)
• ¾ cup dried mushrooms (pick an immune boosting mushroom like shiitake)
• 1 bunch green onions, dice green tops and white bulb
• Ground black pepper
• Salt

While making this chicken soup it is very easy to simultaneously make some chicken stock. This will require two large pots.

1.  Start with 1 whole chicken into a pot of water (large enough that the chicken is covered with water) with 1 bay leaf, 1 carrot cut in half, 3 celery stalks cut in half, sprig of rosemary, sprig of thyme, 2 slices of red onion, 6 or 7 black peppercorns, and 1 jalapeno cut in half. Cook until chicken is tender ~180degrees in the breast.
2.  In a small skillet and the rest of the red onion diced with 1 jalapeno diced. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Once the chicken is fully cooked (~180 degrees in the breast) pull chicken out of the pot and tear off all of the meat into bite sized pieces and set aside. Save the carcass for making stock.
4.  Remove the large vegetable chunks from the water and add to stock pot with carcass and fresh water.
5. Begin cooking the stock. Add another bay leaf and any left over vegetables you have in the kitchen such as onion skin from the red onion, stems from kale etc. Cook for at least one hour. Freeze the stock for easy use later.
6. In the water left over from cooking the chicken (soup) add 3Tbsp of salt, 1/2-3/4 cup of wild rice, chopped 1.5 lbs of fingerling and purple potatoes, 2 Tbsp dried sage, sprig of thyme, 1 Tbsp black pepper, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 clove minced garlic, 3/4 cup dried mushrooms (shiitake), ½ of the diced red onion and jalapeno mixture. Allow this mixture to simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile steam the carrots whole until slightly soft but still crisp. Chop carrots in to bite sized pieces add to soup along with pulled chicken.
8. Add 1 bunch of green onions diced. Add more salt to taste.