Author Archives: Lia Huber

Mama Kourtesi’s Beet and Green Salad

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This salad, which I learned from Mama Kourtesi in Greece, is the essence of “whole eating.” She boils both beets and their greens and tosses it all in a simple dressing of oil and vinegar for a surprisingly tasty, super-versatile salad or side dish.

beet-green-salad-recipe1-1/2 pounds baby beets with greens attached
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Trim the leaves from the beets a half-inch from the base of the stem. Wash, dry and chop the leaves.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add beet roots, lower heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, and cook for 20-35 minutes (depending on size), until the tip of a sharp knife can penetrate to the beet’s center without resistance. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beets to a bowl and let cool until manageable. Peel and cut into 1/2-inch wedges.

Bring water back up to a boil and add beet greens. Boil for 5 minutes, until greens are wilted and stems are tender. Drain well.

Mix together beets and greens in a large salad bowl ,and toss with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

Cultivate Your Soil

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I’ve been gardening “organically” for nearly a decade now. But up until recently, I carried a narrow definition of “organic” in my head as what I wasn’t putting on my plants—no pesticides, no herbicides, no synthetic fertilizer. And while that is part of the equation, I’ve learned that organic gardening is so much more than what you don’t do; it’s about how you nurture the soil to be healthy long-term and, consequently, produce fruitful crops.

cultivate-soil-postThis isn’t revolutionary. In fact, Thomas Jefferson wrote this advice—about pesky pests—to his daughter in 1793:

“When the earth is rich, it bids defiance to droughts, yields in abundance, and of the best quality. I suspect that the insects which have harassed you have been encouraged by the feebleness of your plants, and that has been produced by the lean state of your soil.”

There’s a strong parallel here to the NOURISH Evolution approach. One of our fundamental aims is to help people get beyond thinking of healthy eating as being what we don’t eat (fat, carbs, sugar, processed, whatever) and instead take a long-term view to mindfully nurture themselves through the foods they do. And, to come full circle, a healthy garden can be one of the best ways to achieve that.

This week, consider cultivating a garden (from the soil up) as you ponder the concept that a healthy body is as much about what you put into it as what you refrain from eating.

If you’re curious about what it takes to start a garden, here’s a helpful guide from the Sonoma County iGrow program. 

Flash-Roasted Carrot Sticks with Cumin-Carrot Yogurt Sauce

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Roasted carrots are a dinnertime staple, but this recipe spins them as more-ish finger-food appetizer or snack. The inherent sweetness of garden-fresh carrots is heightened by honey in this dish, and given a spicy kick from cayenne. Make the dip as spicy as you like with a little or a lot.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:152]

Making Sense of Salt

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If you’ve been cooking our recipes here on , you’ve probably noticed that the vast majority of them have no measurement when it comes to salt–only “sea salt” listed in the ingredients. The reason is twofold. First, range of preference varies widely when it comes to how heavily to salt a dish. Second, I’m more interested in encouraging people to wisely discern how much salt suits both their taste and needs than dictate how much to use in a single dish.

making-sense-salt-postI’ve heard it time and time and time again: Someone reads this or that saying to cut down on sodium, so the reader throws the salt dish out with the brine. But judiciously seasoning whole foods with salt both during cooking and afterwards—almost as a garnish—is not what we need to be worrying about. Way back when there were no Doritos or boxed mac ‘n’ cheese and humans lived off vegetables and meats and fruit and grain, the average person consumed about a gram of sodium per day compared to today’s average of 10-12 grams and even more. That’s not to say that salt was shunned by humans in the old days; quite the opposite in fact. Salt, which is made up primarily of sodium chloride, has been a prized ingredient for millennia, both for its ability to draw out the natural flavors of foods as well as its role in preserving them.

The issue with salt—and the hypertension and kidney problems associated with excessive sodium intake—lies more in processed food than in seasoning at the stove. One hot dog, for instance, has over 900 milligrams of sodium in it, whereas a quarter teaspoon of salt—a generous pinch that could easily season a dish for four—has only 500 milligrams.

Another element to using salt wisely is understanding what type to use for what application. A fine, crystallized sea salt works well as a cooking seasoning since it disperses evenly, but might very well overwhelm a finished dish. Salts with a coarser texture make excellent “finishing salts” to be used, almost as a garnish, at the table.

Still skeptical about salt? Here’s a breakdown of how a day’s meals can stack up sodium-wise with meals cooked from (using a 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in the tartines and 1/4 in the carbonara) versus processed and packaged foods.

Sodium Chart
Sodium Chart

If you’re salt sensitive or if you have a predisposition to hypertension, certainly you’ll want to watch your sodium intake. But the numbers above show–with processed foods coming in over 300% higher in sodium than those on –that if a pinch of salt is going to make whole foods more appealing to you, it’s probably worth it in the long run.

Go Slow

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It’s March first and, maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the year is already zooming by. Ironically, well before the year began I had slated March to be a time when we slowed down here on NOURISH Evolution. Not in the sense of fewer posts or reigned in momentum, but in terms of taking a big breath and diving deeper. Into why fresh, seasonal sustainably-farmed, -caught and -raised food tastes better and is better for our bodies and the earth. Into how our communities are strengthened and nourished when we choose to eat these foods (and, by contrast, are depleted when we don’t). Into where the choices we make at the grocery store, as isolated as they may seem, really do have an impact on things like national health care; global warming; the obesity crisis and hunger in developing nations.

That last sentence may freak you out, but it’s true. Michal Pollan wasn’t exaggerating when he said that we vote with our forks three times a day, and this month we’re going to explore to a deeper extent the wider consequences of the choices we make regarding the food we eat.

But, I believe, that requires us to slow down first. There’s vulnerability in slowing down and allowing for introspection, and I think that’s a healthy place to be as we move ahead into this month. I know it’s where I need to be, and somehow it keeps getting reinforced. By the book proposal I’m working on, about soulfulness and seasonality and themes that resonate to our very core. By the very first My Nourish Mentor group call today, where the enthusiasm and eagerness for deliberate change was electric. By being asked to be part of the leadership team of our local Slow Food chapter as the organization takes dynamic strides towards an exciting vision (you’ll find out more about the Slow Food organization this Friday in a piece by Kurt Friese). All of these experiences are humbling. All are exhilarating. And all require the presence of mind and authenticity of spirit that simply isn’t possible when whipping through them at warp speed.

This week—this month—I invite you all to join me in going “slow.” Does that mean committing to hours a day contemplating Big Things? No; in fact, my schedule is only going to ramp up over these next few months. What it does mean is that we’ll try to catch ourselves when barreling down a well-worn road of habit, take a few deep breaths and, at the very least, notice what we’re doing. At the very best, we’ll change course and, step by step, start carving out the path we really want to take.

Check back frequently on NOURISH Evolution this month to see what we uncover at this snail’s pace.

Get Your Flax Straight

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It seems talk about flax—both flax oil and ground flaxseed—heats up and cools down at various intervals. There’s no question, flax is an incredibly nutritious food. But no matter what the buzz of the moment, it’s important to understand that flaxseed and the oil pressed from those seeds bring different benefits to our bodies.

Flaxseed Oil

Flaxseed oil is nature’s greatest source of plant-based Omega-3 Fatty Acids (walnuts and Canola oil are other non-animal sources, and salmon is also rich in Omega-3s of a slightly different makeup), which are vital to our health, but that our bodies cannot produce on their own. These fats affect the function of each cell membrane throughout our bodies, so it’s no surprise to find that their impact is wide reaching. Numerous studies have shown them to play an important role in protecting against heart disease and some cancers, and perhaps even autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Ground Flaxseed

Many people seek out ground flaxseed for the Omega-3s that make the oil so healthy, but they’re looking for the wrong thing. Flaxseed’s claim to fame is its lignans (flaxseed has 100 times higher lignan count than oats, which are next in line). Lignans are powerful phytochemicals with antioxidant properties that regulate estrogen, which may explain why they appear to protect against certain cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Balancing it Out

Adding flaxseed oil to your diet—either as a condiment (it’s a fragile oil that doesn’t taste super-inspiring, so you’re best off adding a drizzle here and there) or a supplement—is not a bad idea. Most recommendations are for a bare minimum of 2-4 grams of Omega-3 Fatty Acids a day, and just a half tablespoons of flax oil will give you 4 grams. To get that much from flaxseed, you’d have to eat over 2 tablespoons a day. But don’t discount flaxseed, with its lignans and fiber and nutty taste. I like it paired with oats and dark chocolate in these beauties.

Thin and Chewy Oatmeal-Flax Cookies

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These are just about my favorite cookie in the world. They’re feather light, crispy-chewy and seemingly held together with dark chocolate chips.

oat-flax-cookies-recipe3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips, or semisweet

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together flour, flax, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar for one minute, until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg and vanilla; scrape down sides, and continue to blend until incorporated. Add flour mixture a little at a time until  incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spray three large cookie sheets with cooking spray and mound 12 rounded tablespoonfuls of batter on each sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, swapping sheets half way through, until golden. Let cool slightly, for 5 minutes, and slide cookies onto a cooling rack.

Makes 3 dozen cookies (serving size, 2 cookies)

Change Your Oil

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One of the most frequent questions I get is, “Which oil am I supposed to use for what?” My answer is a combination of unwavering advice and “it depends.” Here are three questions to ask for choosing wisely in all circumstances—from grocery store shelf to pan on stove.

How was it extracted?

The first thing you want to ask—no matter what you’re going to use it for—is how was the oil extracted? I like to steer clear of any that are not expeller pressed.

  • Expeller Pressed — Expeller pressed means it was literally squeezed from the nut, seed or olive paste using pressure. Oils that are not expeller pressed are extracted by soaking the grounds in a chemical solvent (usually hexane) and then boiling it off, which removes any flavor or aroma. If an oil does not expressly state that it is expeller pressed, it is probably hexane extracted.
  • Cold Pressed – All extraction methods create friction and, consequently, heat—even expeller pressing. Yet heat is the bane of an oil. For especially delicate oils, cold-pressing (technically defined as expeller pressing below 120 degrees Fahrenheit) keeps both flavor and nutritional compounds in tact.

How was it refined?

The next thing you’re looking at is how it was refined and to what state. I keep a combination of refined and unrefined oils in my cupboard for different uses, although for refined oils, I opt for brands that use natural methods.

  • Refined — Refined oils have had impurities filtered out; in many cases through chemical processes. Look for oils that have been naturally refined to steer clear of unwanted chemicals. The upside to refined oils is that they’re more shelf-stable and have a higher smoke point.* The downside is that much of the flavor and nutritional content—like antioxidants—are removed during refining. Use refined oils when stir-frying or high-heat sautéing.
  • Unrefined and Unfiltered – Unrefined oils are unprocessed, although they may have been filtered of particulate matter. Unfiltered oils are essentially crude oils left in their virgin state after pressing. The solids in them make them flavorful, healthy (powerful polyphenols are what make your lips tingle when you taste a cloudy, unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil) . . . and unstable—all of which means they’ll spoil quickly and will smoke over even moderate heat. For this reason, unfiltered oils are best kept refrigerated and used only as finishing oils. If an oil solidifies when refrigerated (a function of a higher level of saturated fat), simply set it out on the counter to soften before using.

How are you going to use it?

In general, the more flavor an oil has, the lower its smoke point will be. The higher an oil’s smoke point, the more neutral its flavor will be. If you’re looking for a full-flavored oil to use in a vinaigrette, break out your best bottle of unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil or toasted nut oil. But if you’re making a high-heat stir-fry, reach for an oil that may have a milder flavor but can take the heat, like peanut or canola oil.

Oils can add enormous dimension and variety to your cooking—whether in the pan or on the plate. Now that you know how to choose wisely, buy a few and experiment with different uses.

* The smoke point is the temperature at which an oil begins to emit fumes (the flash point is the temperature at which it will ignite). While not an exact science, each type of oil will generally begin to smoke within a given temperature range due to its fatty acid makeup (some fats are more stable than others), but particulate matter in unfiltered and unrefined oils will also cause an oil to smoke at lower temperatures. When an oil smokes, it’s releasing unhealthy compounds into both the air and the oil and should be (carefully) discarded.