Now that we all all cooking more at home, it’s a great time to learn a few simple culinary (it’s cooking!) methods.
With a plant-based way of eating, we do eat a lot of vegetables. With this in mind, it’s important to know several different simple culinary skills to prepare vegetables, such as roasting, steaming, sautéing, and raw.
One of my favorite ways to cook veggies is roasting. With this method of roasting, we cook the veggies spread out “distancing” in the oven to brown the outside, while keeping the center a little soft. We can roast all kinds of veggies which gives us a nice variety of tastes, textures, and colors. – Melanie Albert
Today’s roasted veggies were created with produce from local farmers: The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, and Blue Sky Organic Farms, Litchfield Park, Arizona. All of the veggies were in CSA’s (Community Support Agriculture) offered by the farms during our Coronavirus stay-at-home.
In Arizona, we are so fortunate that our farmers and farmers’ markets are considered essential grocery stores. Thus, we still have the opportunity to purchase beautiful food from our farmers, and they can continue to harvest and sell to our community. Thank you!
The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, April 2020
Farm-to-Table Spring Roasted Veggie Bowl
Enjoy this tasty roasted veggie culinary method and create a bowl with brown rice and beans for a perfect lunch. Use this recipe as a guide to roast crispy on the outside and soft on the inside veggies. Choose a few of your favorite vegetables from your local farmers that are right in your kitchen and enjoy roasting beautiful, tasty veggies at home.
Roasted Veggie Bowl: The Veggies, Olive Oil, Sea Salt
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
Blue Sky Organic Farms
1 fennel, root sliced
1 spring green garlic, sliced
1 leek, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
3-4 cauliflower florets
3-4 broccoli florets
The Farm at South Mountain
2 beets (golden and red), sliced
1 radish (breakfast), sliced
1 turnip ( scarlet) sliced
Grocery Store / My Pantry
1 sweet potato, sliced
2-3 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Extras
Plating: Brown rice, beans
Garnish: Edible flowers
SIMPLE STEPS
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chop all veggies into equal-sized pieces.
One-by-one, place veggies in a bowl.
Coat veggies with olive oil and sea salt.
Chopped veggies ready to be coated with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
Place veggies flat side down on unbleached, natural parchment-paper- lined flat sheet pan.
Veggies “social distancing” on the parchment-lined sheet pans.
Cook for 12 minutes.
Flip.
Cook another 12-15 minutes.
Roasted veggies. Ready to be mindfully plated.
Enjoy as a veggie bowl.
TOP 5 TIPS TO ROAST VEGGIES PERFECTLY EVERY TIME
Coat the chopped veggies thoroughly with oil.
When placing on unbleached parchment paper, be sure the veggies do not touch each other.
When placing veggies on parchment paper, place flat side down, so the side of the vegetable can brown.
Flip veggies about half-way through the cooking process.
Pay attention to veggies while they are cooking, as they cook at different speeds. More dense vegetables (like beets and sweet potatoes) take longer to cook than water-rich veggies, like onions.
Use this quick and easy culinary technique to roast any kind of veggies in your refrigerator, if possible, grown by your local farmers. All you’ll need is a few of your favorite vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. That’s it. A few simple ingredients and easy cooking method to create a tasty, healthy veggie side dish. – Melanie Albert
Thanks to our local Arizona farmers who are working so passionately to bring great, local food to our community while we’re all social distancing and cooking more at home. Thanks to my long time farmer friends at The Farm at South Mountain, Blue Sky Organic Farms, The Farm at Agritopia, Crooked Sky Farms, Rhiba Farms, Whipstone Farms, Steadfast Farm, Phoenix Pinnacle Farms, Maya’s Farm, and the Community Exchanges. From my heart, I really appreciate you.
Thank You Farmers Markets
Here in Arizona, I’d also like to thank our local farmers markets to continuing to stay open as grocery stores, so we have a safe place to purchase the quality food from our farmers, and our farmers have a place to sell the produce that is growing so abundantly right now. Special thanks to my friends at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, where I’ve been leading cooking demos for several years.
Quick Roasted Veggies Recipe
Create this quick roasted veggie dish with a few of your favorite veggies in your kitchen and enjoy it with quinoa or brown rice.
Cooking Tip:Since some veggies cook faster than others, be sure to remove veggies from the pan when they have been cooked.
Simple Ingredients
Four to six of your favorite veggies.
For this intuitively created recipe, I pre-ordered a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park, Arizona. I then quickly picked it up at the Saturday Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market.
½ Caraflex cabbage (sweet and mild)
4-5 orange carrots, sliced
1 large green onion, sliced
½ kohlrabi, sliced
½ yellow (cheddar) cauliflower, sliced
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Sunflower seeds, arugula, edible flowers
Extras: Cooked brown rice or quinoa
Quick Roasted Veggies: Ingredients
Simple Steps
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Slice all veggies into bite-sized pieces.
Place veggies into baking pan.
Drizzle veggies with the olive oil and sea salt.
In to the Pan: Veggies, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt
Roast for 12 minutes.
Toss veggies.
Roast for another 12-15 minutes.
Enjoy veggies with quinoa or brown rice.
Plating
Plate the veggies in a veggie bowl with quinoa or brown rice, along with pumpkin seeds, arugula, and edible flowers.
To eat well, cook simple meals, and do our best to stay healthy while we are all at home during the Coronavirus “stay-at-home,” it is important to be stocked with a few basic kitchen staples, along with fresh veggies and fruit.
When we first started hearing about the coronavirus in the US, I actually started thinking about what foods would be essential to have at home. I realized that they are very similar to my list of “how to stock whole food pantry” in my book “A New View of Healthy Eating” for any time of the year. – Melanie Albert
Learn to Cook.This whole food shopping list is based on staples to be able to cook, simple, delicious meals. Throughout the next few weeks, I’ll share how to use all of these staples. Please feel free to send me a note on my new Facebook Page (Facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ), if you have any specific questions or foods you’d like to learn how to cook, or if you need to make any substitutions, based on what’s available in your area.
Go Slow. I do recognize that we are all at different levels of cooking knowledge and skill levels. If you are new with cooking, buy what you can and feel comfortable from the shopping list. Do not overwhelm yourself. Go slow over the next few weeks to gradually learn some new cooking skills into your life that may last the rest of your life.
Shopping List Guide. I personally use this shopping list as a guide and invite you to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking. I will be sharing cooking techniques and tips every day.
Key Shopping Categories
Use the Panty Shopping List as a guide for the ingredients to stock your pantry in the following food categories.
Whole Grains
Beans & Legumes
Whole Grains
Nuts & Seeds
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Seasonings / Sea Salt
Dry Goods
Fresh Produce (hopefully your local farmers markets are open)
Whole Grains
Choose a few different whole grains for breakfast and side dishes. Buy a few pounds of each. If whole grains are not available in your local stores right now, or if you’d prefer delivery to your home, I just checked, and they are available online on Amazon (not promoting, just informing). I’ll be sharing a very simple way to cook whole grains perfectly every time, right on the stovetop. I’ll also share how you can enjoy grains for breakfast, lunch, and side dishes, including Veggie Bowls with Whole Grains.
Brown rice
Quinoa
Steel cut oats
Rolled oats
Dried Beans & Legumes
I totally recommend dried beans as they are much more affordable than canned beans and taste better, as well. Buy a few pounds of dried beans and lentils to be used to make hummus, tossed in a salad, soup.
With our Food & Lifestyle Tips and Videos, I’ll be sure to share with you how to easily cook dried beans. I’ll also share recipes for tasty hummus originally made for the VIP Tailgate Party at the Super Bowl in Miami in 2009, lentil soup, raw chili, and will create other recipe ideas for you.
Experiment with a few different beans and legumes, such as:
Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Green lentils
Red lentils
Black beans
Pinto
Kidney
Tepary Beans (especially if you’re in Arizona)
Nuts & Seeds
Nuts and seeds are rich in protein and healthy fats and can be eaten as snacks, made into nut milk, used in smoothies, toppings in salads, and delicious raw desserts.
Buy a variety of raw organic nuts and seeds, such as:
Almonds
Cashews (great for desserts!)
Pecans
Walnuts
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Hemp seeds
Chia seeds (for smoothies)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
During this time (and always), you’ll need a high-quality olive oil. Recommend: Organic, First-pressed, Cold Pressed. Less than .8 percent acid.
Will be sharing tips on how to make a simple 3-ingredient home-made salad dressing, and different ways to cook veggies using olive oil as flavor. Personally, I use olive oil almost every day and believe it is a must in our kitchen all the time.
Seasonings
The top seasoning is sea salt or Himalayan salt. Salt brings out or enhances the flavor of whatever we cook. I use coarse Celtic sea salt and hand-grind it in a mortar and pestle for cooking.
A few basic seasonings you can use now while we are “at home” and continue to cook with in the future.
Dried Mediterranean herbs: Combination or separate herbs, such as basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme
Seeds: Cumin (for hummus and soups)
Dried Mexican spices: Any kind of peppers, such as chili, ancho, chipotle
Vinegar: Any kind for salad dressings, such as balsamic, red wine, rice, apple cider
Stone-ground mustard (for salad dressings)
Coconut oil. Virgin, unrefined (for desserts)
Extras: Olives and goji berries (my favorite extras)
Fresh Produce
Roots
In the Daily Food & Lifestyle Tips, I will be sharing how to cook root veggies a few simple ways: Roast, Steam, Sauté, and even Raw.
Carrots
Beets
Sweet potatoes
Radishes
Greens & Veggies
We can enjoy nutrient-rich greens in side dishes, soups, and veggie bowls.
Dark leafy greens: Kale, collards, arugula, spinach
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Celery
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Bell peppers
Your favorites
Fruit
Bananas (freeze some for smoothies)
Apples
Lemons, limes (important for salad dressings)
Avocados
Dates
Your favorite fruits, for snacking
Frozen fruit: Mixed or separate berries, such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries
Fresh Herbs
Purchase a few herbs, available at your local farmers markets or grocery stores. We’ll use the herbs to add flavor to all kinds of veggie dishes. Or, if available, plant a few of your favorite herbs. Side note, here in Arizona, one of our plant-start entrepreneurs is delivering plants, including herbs, to our homes.
Parsley
Basil, dill, oregano, marjoram
Shopping List Guide. I invite you to use this shopping list as a guide to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking. I will be sharing cooking techniques and tips every day.
Cooking Videos. I’ll keep you posted on new, whole foods, plant-based cooking videos on my Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel, so you can actually see how to prepare dishes with the basic foods in the shopping list.
Share on Facebook.Finally, as I mentioned earlier, please reach out to me with any questions on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
During our Coronavirsus social distancing, stay-at-home, this 5 minute braising greens cooking method is a simple way to cook the greens your local farmers are growing. Choose any mix of dark, leafy greens such as kale, chard, collards, mustard, bok choy, dandelion, turnip, broccoli, or cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts greens.
This recipe was inspired by farmer Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, less than a mile from my home in Phoenix, Arizona. As part of this week’s Spring 2020 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Billy harvested beautiful white and red Swiss chard leaves that are perfect for cooking with quick stove-top braising. Add flavor to the greens with green onions and fresh dill.
A look at The Farm at South Mountain…April 2020
Beautiful White Chard at The Farm at South Mountain
Nutrition Tip: Dark leafy greens are fiber-rich and good sources of vitamins (such as A, C, and K and folate) and minerals (including iron and calcium). Our body needs a little fat to absorb some of the vitamins in leafy greens.
Braised Leafy Greens Recipe
Use this simple method to cook Spring braising greens while we are at home with our families and loved ones. Mix and match whatever greens your local farmers are growing to create a simple veggie side dish.
While our families and friends around the world are all at home with the Coronavirus Stay-at-Home, this might be an ideal time to create a Vision Board for the future forward view of our lives. At this point, we know our lives have changed and are changing almost daily. So, this may be the time to re-evaluate and reflect on what our ideal future looks like.
I’ve been creating vision boards for decades, nearly every year, and I have found that the process is valuable for focus and to help me reach my goals. I’ve also had the incredible opportunity to lead vision board experiences in Nosara, Costa Rica and with former NFL players! – Melanie Albert
Steps to Create Your Vision Board
Gather Your Supplies
Quiet place for you
Your favorite magazines and personal photos
Glue stick
Paper and pen
Posterboard
Candle and green tea
Vision Board Steps
Rather than start by cutting photos from magazines, this vision board process begins with written reflections for clarity, and the creation of the visual vision board with photos and words.
A Quiet Place. (2 minutes) Find a quiet place where you’ll have about an hour to focus on you. Begin by lighting a candle.
Relax. (2 minutes) Close your eyes, breathe in deeply, and exhale completely 4 times.
Goals. (5 minutes) Very quickly write 10 responses to the question: What are the top goals you’d like to achieve a year from now. Be creative, out-of-the box. And dream big!
Top Goals. (5 minutes) Look at your list. Quickly, which goal is the most important to you? Do this again 4 more times until you have your top 5 goals prioritized.
Meaning to Me. (10 minutes) Starting with your top goal, write what each means to you. Write a few keywords, a sentence, and/or paragraph.
Photos and Words. (15 minutes) Look through your magazines and photos and cut out images and words for each of your goal areas.
Vision Board.(5 minutes) Glue your photos onto your poster board or paper. Have fun!
Positive Affirmations. (10 minutes) Create positive affirmations around your vision board, in the present tense, as if they are already happening. For instance, “I am a successful international plant-based retreat leader”.
Integration.(3 minutes) Say out loud the affirmations and meanings from your vision board. Feel your future visions emotionally, and believe your future life as if you are already living your goals.
Action. (3 minutes) Based on your goals, write down your top 3 actions to achieve your goals.
[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text]Today, I invite you to take time for you!
Over the last few weeks, with the Coronavirus stay-at-home, all of our schedules, routines, work have shifted dramatically. Our responsibilities have changed.
Today, take time for you.
Just you.
Take time.
To do nothing.
To slow down.
To rest.
To relax.
To restore.
Pause and feel what you’d like to do today, just for you. A few ideas to get started:
A few minutes of quiet time, simply listening to your breath.
Light a candle. And sit.
Go out in nature, and look at the sky, listen to the birds, hear the stillness of our Earth.
Practice yoga and really feel the poses in your body.
Journal a few things you are grateful for today.
Take a warm bath with candles, Epsom salts, and quiet, meditative music.
A glimpse into my quiet moments of self care with candle, nature, and birds.- Melanie Albert
I invite you to come over to our newly updated ExperienceNutritionAZ Facebook page and share a photo or your thoughts on your personal “me time”.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
Now that nearly everyone around the world is staying at home to help flatten the Coronavirus Curve, I will be sharing simple Food & Lifestyle Tips of the Day. The intention of the tips is to give you ideas that you could incorporate easily into your day-by-day activities around living a healthy lifestyle while we are all at home. And, in the long run implement tips that resonate with you to positively affect your life. — Melanie Albert
Some of the tips will be around plant-based food, cooking, and eating with recipes, culinary (cooking) techniques, and even food art. Other tips will focus on positivity, mindfulness, and self-care.
Meet Melanie Albert
As a little background for those of you who do not know me, a few highlights. I am the founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona, and award-winning cookbook author.
My passion is plant-based farm-to-table culinary, and I’ve led hundreds of cooking experiences, courses and retreats. I’m trained with 610 hours of plant-based culinary training.
2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition / Certified International Health Coach
9 years marketing, branding, and licensing consultant with Weil Lifestyle, LLC/Andrew Weil, MD
5 years nutrition and cooking with former NFL players, catering and events at Super Bowls, and official Health & Wellness Partner of the NFL Alumni Association in 2011.
200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and nearly 20 years practicing yoga.
For decades, I’ve lived my passion around healthy lifestyle, cooking, and eating, and am happy to share ideas with you.
I’ve been a work-from-home entrepreneur for 25 years; thus I have decades of personal experience with being at home, and enjoying it.
I hope you are inspired by some of the motivational food and lifestyle tips I share with you.
Experience Nutrition: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: Cook Intuitively…with what’s in Your Refrigerator.
What is Intuitive Cooking?
With Intuitive Cooking, we pay attention to food. We notice the shapes, colors, flavors, and aromatherapy. By listening to our heart or gut, we choose a few foods we wish to purchase (at local farmers markets, if possible). When it’s time to cook, we pay attention to our bodies. What are we craving. Which foods are we visually attracted to. Then we cook with those foods and enjoy our meals.
During our stay-at-home, it is also important to cook with our intuition. We listen to our bodies and senses. And, we cook with what’s available in our kitchens during these days when our food options may be limited.
5 Simple Steps to Get Started with Intuitive Cooking
Learn basic culinary (or cooking) skills or techniques and then use those skills to intuitively create dishes and meals with ease and confidence.
Cook with what’s in your kitchen.
Use a recipe as a guide.
Substitute ingredients in the recipe with what you have in your refrigerator.
Have fun experimenting and enjoy your creation.
Intuitive Cooking Avocado Salsa Recipe
Today, with intuitive cooking in mind, I created a very simple Avocado Salsa with what was in my refrigerator and little edible garden. This is a quick and easy lunch or snack. You’ll need an avocado, an aromatic (any onion), garlic (if you have it), a small tomato, citrus (lemon or lime), a fresh herb (parsley, basil, cilantro, marjoram), and sea salt. Plus, include optional ingredients for plating (such as broccoli or cauliflower).
Use this recipe as a guide for Avocado Salsa with whatever veggies are in your refrigerator. Some ideas: Green or red bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, olives.
Serves 1
Simple Ingredients
1 avocado
2 tbsp onions
½ tsp garlic cloves, minced
1 small tomato or ½ cup mini tomatoes
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro, or marjoram
Pinch sea salt
Optional: few broccoli stems
Simple Steps
Chop ingredients.
Avocado Salsa: Ingredients Chopped & Ready
Toss all ingredients into a bowl.
Mix with a fork.
Mindfully plate.
Enjoy.
Please share your Avocado Salsa creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor #experiencenutrition and let me know if you have any cooking questions.
Since October 2018, I have had the honor to create weekly recipes for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) at The Farm at South Mountain, an urban farm less than a mile from my home. To date, I’ve intuitively created 47 recipes for the members of the CSA. Each Friday, I pick up the incredible just-harvested CSA produce and herbs at The Farm from lead farmer Billy Anthony, and then come home and create a recipe for the Saturday morning CSA bags.
Cooking at Home. Right now, while more and more people are cooking at home with the Coronavirus “stay-at-home” I’m finding it even more important to share my recipes to more and more people, beyond the CSA members.
For those of you who are cooking at home, I invite you to use this recipe as a guide to sauté a simple, tasty roots and greens dish. Use whatever roots (radishes, turnips, beets, carrots) and greens (kale, collards, dandelion greens) your local farmers are growing. And, for citrus, feel free to use a lemon, orange, or grapefruit.
For the CSA members, I hope you enjoy creating this recipe with the beautiful local Arizona produce in your CSA.
Citrus: Grapefruit, lemons
Roots: Beets, Turnips, Mixed Radishes
Greens: Sugar Snap Peas, Braising Greens, Gem Head Lettuce
Farm Salad Bag with Glacier Lettuce
Mint
Eggs
Please share your culinary creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor @thefarmatsouthmountain.
Honestly, it was a little emotional picking up my CSA at The Farm on Friday, March 27, 2020. Here’s a glimpse.
Roots & Greens Sauté Recipe
Thanks to Lead Farmer Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden for growing such beautiful, tasty produce for our community. We appreciate your dedication, especially while we are Coronavirus social distancing.
Make this simple sauté with roots, greens, and the lemon from your CSA, along with an onion.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 medium purple daikon or another radish
1 medium turnip
3-4 stems kale
½ cup sugar snap peas
5-7 stems dandelion greens (from Farm Salad Bag)
½ white or red onion, or 2 green onions, sliced (not in CSA)
1 lemon, ½ juiced and zested
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Few mint leaves
SIMPLE STEPS
Mise en Place (Everything into place)
Thinly slice radish and turnip with mandoline or knife.
Pull center stems out of kale and tear leaves into bite-size pieces.
Slice onions into moon-shapes.
Zest the lemon.
Cook
Pre-heat sauté pan on medium heat on stovetop.
Once the pan is warm, place onions in pan, sauté until soft, for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add sliced radish and turnip to the pan.
Drizzle sea salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest onto the radish and turnip.
Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Move radishes and turnips to the middle of the pan.
Add snap peas, kale, and dandelion greens to the edges of the pan to cook with the olive oil.
Drizzle a pinch of sea salt onto the green veggies.
Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Plate
Plate the roots, greens, and sugar snap peas onto the plate.
Garnish with mint.
More Plant-Based Cooking Recipes. I look forward to sharing additional recipes and ideas with you, while we area all “at home” during the Coronavirus. Please check back, as I’m also shooting some simple cooking videos for my Experience Nutrition YouTube Channel.
Sedona Cooking Retreats. A few people have been asking about the 2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreats. We have not yet cancelled the June 12-15, 2020 retreat, and at this point I’m pretty sure we will hold the September 18-21, 2020 retreat. Let me know (Mel@MelanieAlbert.com) if you are interested in either retreat, and I will keep in touch with you. Just fyi, link to the retreat information.
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona. Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Leader, award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building and retreat leader.
While more of us are now baking bread and pizza at home during the Coronavirus social distancing and staying at home, I wanted to share with you a recipe we cooked during our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat. This recipe will give you an option if you live in an area where you are not able to purchase yeast at this point, or if you don’t normally keep yeast in your pantry.
For the flatbread, roast some vegetables, create a simple nut sauce, and enjoy a nice meal with your family. During our retreat we enjoyed cooking with beautiful local food grown by Whipstone Farm in Paulden, Arizona and The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.
Enjoy your flatbread with roasted veggies, hummus, tomatoes, salsa, or even a drizzle of olive oil. And, please share your creations with us on Instagram @plantbasedexperiences #plantbasedexperiences
EXPERIENCE NUTRITIONTM Yeast-Free Quick Flatbread
Simple Ingredients
1 ¼ cups sprouted spelt flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (dough)
½ cup water
1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (spread on dough prior to baking)
Simple Steps
Place pizza stone into oven. Pre-heat oven to 390 degrees F. Pre-bake stone for about 5 minutes.
In large glass bowl, with a fork mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt.
Add 3/8 cup water and oil until dough forms a ball. Add additional water, as needed
Knead on a lightly floured surface for 3-4 minutes.
Flatten out the dough on floured parchment-paper.
With parchment paper on top of the dough, roll thinly with a rolling pin.
Carefully move flatbread to pre-heated pizza stone.
Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the flatbread.
Bake flatbread for 5 minutes.
Remove stone from oven.
Spread hemp seed cream (recipe below) on the top of the flatbread.
Add roasted veggies to the top of the flatbread. (See two ways to roast veggies below.)
Cook flatbread for about 8 minutes.
Garnish with edible flowers.
Enjoy!
Look at the beautiful, delicious plant-based farm-to-table flatbread intuitively created at our 2019 Sedona Retreat, and a glimpse of beautiful self care meditation at Cathedral Rock to inspire you to pause and take time for you these days.
The Sedona Retreat flatbread features beautiful veggies grown by Whipstone Farm in Paulden, Arizona and flowers grown at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.
Amazing nourishing dinner, with the Farm-to-Table Flatbread at our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat.
Mediation. Breathwork. Awe….Omm…at Cathedral Rock. With Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.
ROASTED VEGGIES TWO WAYS
Choose a few of your favorite veggies and one of the following two culinary techniques to roast veggies for your flatbread. For the Sedona Retreat flatbread we roasted beautiful local veggies grown by Whipstone Farm including kohlrabi, cauliflower, radishes, leeks, potatoes, and peppers.
Simple Ingredients
5-7 of your favorite veggies, sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
Original Roasted Veggies Culinary Technique
With this technique, we use a flat parchment-paper lined sheet pan. Space the veggies out, not touching. This way, the veggies are cooked from the heat of the bottom of the pan which caramelizes them a little, along with the heat in the oven circulating around them.
Hope you enjoy making flatbread in a new way, without yeast, and enjoy it with your family these days. Feel free to share your creations with us on Instagram @plantbasedexperiences #plantbasedexperiences
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, team building, and retreat leader.
Now is the time to support your local farmers who have spent so many months passionately growing beautiful food for our communities.
This weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, amidst the Coronavirus, our farmers, farmers market, and community have come together with creative ways for our community to have access to beautiful, just harvested food, with extra food safety measures. Many farmers are offering one-time CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), for customers to quickly pickup at farmers markets and farms.
I am so fortunately to live about half mile from a beautiful urban farm, The Farm at South Mountain, where I’ve been teaching farm-to-table cooking classes since 2016 and where I’ve had the opportunity to create recipes for the weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
As usual, Friday afternoon, I stopped by The Farm to pick-up my CSA
The Spring 2020, March 21 CSA includes citrus, roots, greens veggies, and eggs. All grown right at The Farm at South Mountain, a beautiful urban farm in Phoenix.
Citrus: Grapefruit, Lemons
Roots: Beets, Turnips, Radishes
Tomatillos
Peppers
Sugar Snap Peas
Swiss Chard
Mixed Herbs
Farm Salad Box
Eggs
Quick Tomatillo Salsa
I was so excited to see the tomatillos for the first time in the CSA this season. Tomatillos, known as the Mexican husk tomato is a nightshade, have a vibrant, tart, citrus flavor and are commonly used in Mexican dishes. Hope you enjoy this very simple-to-prepare salsa recipe.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
2 medium tomatillos
1 pepper
2-3 green onions (Not in the CSA)
Pinch sea salt
Extras: Fresh lemon juice. Fresh mint
Veggies for dipping: carrots, radishes
Tomatillo Salsa: Ingredients
SIMPLE STEPS
MiseenPlace (Everything into place)
Slice tomatillos into about 8 slices.
Slice pepper into small strips.
Mince onion.
Chop carrots and radishes for dipping.
Tomatillo Salsa: Chop all produce
Cook
Pre-heat oven on broil.
Place tomatillos, pepper, and onion on parchment-lined sheet pan.
Drizzle with a pinch of sea salt.
Broil for about 3-5 minutes.
Toss veggies.
Remove veggies when slightly browned.
Broil for another 3-5 minutes, as needed.
Place tomatillos, pepper, and onion into food processor.
Pulse a minute or two to desired level of chunkiness.
Taste.
Add squeeze of Meyer lemon juice and fresh mint, if desired.
Place onions, tomatillos, and peppers onto parchment-lined flat sheet.
Plate
Plate the Tomatillo Salsa with a few greens from the Farm Salad Box, along with carrots, and radishes.
Enjoy.
Enjoy Tomatillo Salsa with a few fresh veggies.
Please stay in touch. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting cooking videos for adults and kids to learn simple plant-based cooking techniques with your family. Follow this Experience Nutrition Blog. And, get ideas on Instagram: @nutritionauthor @plantbasedexperiences
All the best to you and your family. – Melanie Albert
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, plant-based farm-to-table leader, speaker, and retreat host.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Leader, Award-Winning Cookbook Author and Speaker, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition
It has been such an honor to intuitively create recipes for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for The Farm at South Mountain, in Phoenix, Arizona, an urban farm located less than a mile from my home since October 2018. The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden farmer, Billy Anthony, passionately grows and harvests beautiful, incredible tasting produce, herbs, and edible flowers. Billy and his team harvest on Friday, I stop by the farm Friday evening to pick up my CSA, and then I intuitively create a recipe for the CSA members, which they receive Saturday morning with their CSA.
This is Week 1 of the Spring 2020 CSA. After seeing the Sugar Snap Peas growing at The Farm the last month or so, I was very excited to prepare a simple dish with them. Also, The Farm has a Pecan Orchard on the property, so I was looking forward to include them in the dish.
Prior to sharing the recipe, a look at The Farm this week.
Let’s take a look at all of the products in the CSA.
The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. CSA March 14, 2020.
Love the Sugar Snap Peas growing at the Soil & Seed Garden.
RECIPE: Simple Sugar Snap Pea Sauté
Simply sautéing Sugar Snap Peas are a great way to enjoy this fresh veggie. Along with this week’s dill, grapefruit, and pecans, create this tasty side dish.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 tbsp grapefruit zest
3-4 sprigs of fresh dill
6-7 pecans, cracked
1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Mise en Place: Sugar Snap Peas. Dill. Saute.
SIMPLE STEPS
Mise en Place
Zest the grapefruit.
Crack the pecans.
If desire, remove the stems and pod strings from the snap peas pods.
All set to quickly saute the Sugar Snap Peas.
Cook
Pre-heat a sauté pan on medium for about a minute.
Add olive oil to coat bottom of the pan.
When the oil is warm, add the sugar snap peas and sea salt to the pan. Continuously toss the snap peas with tongs.
Cook for about 2 minutes.
Add the grapefruit zest and dill to the pan.
Toss the snap peas with the zest and dill for about 2 minutes.
Plate
Plate the sugar snap peas with the pecans.
Enjoy.
Sugar Snap Pea Plating Mise en Place
The Soil & Seed Garden Sugar Snap Pea Saute.
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
2020 Retreat Dates: June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2010
Yoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.
Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona
So honored to create “recipe articles” for the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine, with our local farmers produce. For the March 2020 issue, the recipes include:
Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto
Roasted Spring Veggies Bowl. Cashew Cream
Recipe: Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto
Enjoy a simple lunch or side dish by gently steaming local Arizona Spring veggies in a bamboo steamer and enjoy with simple Arugula Hempseed Pesto.
Lightly steaming veggies brings out the beautiful colors and natural flavor of vegetables, while maintaining their nutrients. Steam a mix of a few Spring veggies with different colors, shapes, and textures, such as golden and Cylindra beets, Daikon radishes, Tropical Black carrots, purple snow peas, sugar snap peas, and corn grown at The Soil & Seed Garden at the Farm at South Mountain. Plus, steam beautiful, unique roots, such as those grown by farmer Billy Anthony of Tropizona – China Rose Radishes and Hinona Kabu and Hida Beni Red Turnips – to add brilliant red and purple to the dish. Enjoy the Spring steamed veggies with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt, refreshing Arugula Hempseed Pesto, and Calendula flowers.
The Farm at South Mountain Spring Produce
Tropizona Radishes and Turnips
Always be mindfully organized when cooking…
Arizona Spring Veggies Grown at The Farm at South Mountain & Tropizona
Steamed Spring Veggies
A bamboo steamer is key to simple plant-based cooking. Learn to steam spring veggies with the mindful process of steaming.
Simple Ingredients
5-7 different Spring veggies, such as beets, carrots, purple snow peas, sugar snap peas, corn, radishes, turnips, sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Garnish: Edible flowers
Simple Steps
To set up the bamboo steamer, fill a large (6- to 8-quart) soup pot with 3-4 inches of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
Place sliced veggies into the bamboo steamer. Spread out the veggies so that they do not touch each other to allow the steam to rise and cook them. Sprinkle veggies with a pinch of sea salt.
Place bamboo steamer on top of the pot with steaming water. Cover with lid and let steam for about 5-7 minutes or until just cooked.
Test the veggies for doneness. When veggies easily come off a fork, they’re ready.
Once the veggies have finished cooking, pour them into a large bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
Veggies into the Bamboo Steamer
The fresh steamed veggies
ARUGULA HEMPSEED LEMON PESTO
Make simple Arugula, Hempseed Lemon Pesto to enjoy with steamed Arizona Spring veggies. With plant-based cooking, add extra flavor to vegetables with simple herb and seed pestos.
Simple Ingredients
2 cups arugula
1/2 cup hempseeds
5-7 stems chives
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 lemon zested
Pinch sea salt
Simple Steps
Place all ingredients (except olive oil) into mini-processor or food processor and blend.
After processing, stream in ¼ cup of olive oil.
Adjust with oil, lemon, or salt to suit your taste.
Enjoy with steamed veggies.
Arugula Hempseed Pesto Mise en Place
Mindful Plating
Mindfully plate the veggies and pesto, showcasing the color and shapes of the veggies.
Garnish with edible flowers.
Arizona Steamed Veggies: Ready to Plate
Simple plating…to start…
And, next, a full bowl of steamed veggies and pesto…
Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto.
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
2020 Retreat Dates: June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2010
Yoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.
Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona
It is my honor and pleasure to write “recipe articles” for the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine. For each recipe over the last few years, I first meet with our local Arizona farmer, primarily, Billy Anthony, Lead Grocer at The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, to determine what is growing during the season. Then, I intuitively create a few recipes to be featured in the Natural Awakenings Magazine.
I was so exited to learn that the March 2020 issue of Natural Awakenings focus was Plant-Based and loved offering a few tips to enjoy plant-based eating in Arizona and in creating the veggie-focused recipes.
Enjoy creating these recipes with your local farmers produce and share your creations with us on Instagram: @nutritionauthor @plantbasedexperiences
Natural Awakenings Arizona. Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking, by Melanie Albert
Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking
Spring in Arizona is an exciting season to enjoy cooking plant-based meals since our local farmers grow a wide range of produce this time of year. We see lots of greens, all kinds of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. If you are new to plant-based cooking and eating, visit a farmers’ market to get inspired by what our local farmers are growing and create simple, tasty, beautiful salads and veggies with different culinary techniques, including raw, steamed, and roasted.
Eat local. Buy produce, herbs, and edible flowers from our local Arizona farmers or grow your own for the freshest, most nutrient-rich food. Plant-based dishes start with beautiful fresh produce to create tasty, eye-catching meals. Shop at our local farms, farmers’ markets, commit to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), grow at a community garden, or grow your own.
Keep it Simple. With the plant-based way of eating, we focus on fresh veggies and fruit, nuts, and seeds, whole grains, and beans. With plant-based cooking, we use a few simple culinary techniques for flavor and color. The essential simple plant-based culinary techniques include raw, steaming, sauteing, and roasting. We cook the same vegetables with different culinary techniques to create different flavors, textures, and looks that add variety to our meals.
Cook Intuitively. Think about it: What grows together goes together. With plant-based cooking, mix and match the produce, herbs, nuts and seeds to create beautiful dishes. All veggies are different depending on the seeds, soil, weather, and geography. As a result, each dish we prepare is unique in a positive way with plant-based intuitive cooking. Be sure to taste while you are cooking and adjust your ingredients to suit your favorite personal taste preferences.
Mindfully Plate. We eat with our eyes first. Since plants are naturally beautiful, it makes sense to take time to mindfully plate your meals for visual beauty. Have fun experimenting with various plating styles with your version of “food art” using extras such as fresh herbs or edible flowers. Use your favorite bowls and dishes to add to the beauty of your meal.
Slow down and enjoy.Take a breath. Take time to enjoy the beauty of your local Arizona plant-based meal. Give gratitude to our local farmers for so passionately growing the incredible food and appreciation to yourself for taking the time to shop for and prepare your lovely plant-based meal. Enjoy mindful plant-based eating and the colors, textures, and flavors of your locally grown plant-based meal with your family and friends.
Three Arizona Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Recipes
These simple, beautiful plant-based recipes were intuitively inspired by and created with produce grown by our local Arizona farmers, The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, and Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park.
Roasted Arizona Spring Veggies Bowl. Cashew Cream (Will Blog)
The Farm at South Mountain Spring Produce, Herbs, and Edible Flowers
RECIPE: Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
Create a simple, beautiful salad with greens from our local farmers or your garden. Pair a few different light leafy greens and a simple-to-prepare light salad dressing with fresh herbs. This fresh salad, inspired by the local greens grown at the Soil & Seed Garden, also features cherry tomatoes grown at Blue Sky Organic Farms. We start with a simple salad 3-ingredient salad dressing to toss with the fresh salad greens. And, add extra plant-based extras to create a beautiful salad.
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
Basic Salad Dressing: 3 Ingredients. That’s It
Create your own salad dressing. The key components of a 3-ingredient salad dressing include an acid, fat, and salt. Once these elements are balanced, we can add in extras, such as garlic, fresh herbs, mustard, and honey. Acids are citrus, such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, along with vinegar. Fats are oils, such as olive oil. And, salts could be Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt. Once you’ve learned how to prepare a dressing with this technique, you can use this method to create your own unique salad dressings for your fresh salads.
Simple Ingredients
1 fresh lemon, orange, or ½ grapefruit, squeezed, approximately ¼ cup
Organic extra virgin olive oil, twice as much as the citrus juice, approximately ½ cup
Taste and notice if your dressing seems too oily or acid-tasting. Add more citrus or olive oil to suit your taste.
Sprinkle in sea salt.
Shake the jar. Taste.
OPTIONAL: Add in minced fresh herbs and garlic.
Shake the jar. Taste.
OPTIONAL: Add honey and/or mustard. Shake and taste.
Taste testing salad dressing is a great way to mindfully use your cooking intuition. Add ingredients until the dressing tastes great.
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
For the base of the salad, choose a variety of Spring greens grown by our local Arizona farmers or growing in your garden. In addition to the salad greens and dressing, extra ingredients add texture, beauty, and taste to the salad. Some sweet. Some salty. Some crunchy. Choose a few of your favorite extras such as tomatoes, berries, nuts and seeds, raisins, capers, and olives. When plating, add beauty to your salad with dehydrated Arizona citrus and edible flowers.
Simple Ingredients
4 cups Mixed Greens, such as lettuce, baby kale, arugula, spinach, mizuna, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens)
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad Mise en Place
Simple Steps
Chop or tear Spring greens into bite-size pieces.
Pour dressing over the greens.
Lightly toss the greens to coat with the dressing.
Add half of the extras (tomatoes, berries, nuts or seeds, raisins, olives, capers) and gently toss.
Mindfully plate with the remainder of the extras, dehydrated citrus, herbs, and edible flowers.
Enjoy!
Create Your Spring Salad with your Favorite Greens and Tasty Extras
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
Enjoy our local Arizona Spring veggies by cooking with a few simple plant-based culinary techniques – raw salad, steaming, and roasting . Mindfully enjoy your plant-based creations with your family and friends.
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
2020 Retreat Dates: June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2010
Yoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.
Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
Let’s take a look at the beautiful intuitive Farm-to-Table Winter Harvest Cooking Class with Farmer Billy Anthony and myself at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.
We’ve all heard the terms: farm-to-table, eat local, eat with the season, and plant-based.
This class was truly an authentic farm-to-table plant-based cooking class, right in the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm.
The week before the cooking class experience, Billy and I walked through the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm and begin to strategize on food to harvest for the class, including all kinds of roots, greens, herbs, edible flowers, and other surprises.
Taking into account what would be growing the day of the class, we created the draft menu direction for the class. Since there are quite a few different roots growing we decided the participants would create a few appetizers to enjoy with the roots, along with an intuitive green pesto with the greens of the day! Plus, since one of my very favorite desserts is a raw carrot cake, and carrots are “in season” we decided to add it to the menu.
Our Arizona Winter Menu Direction
Appetizers
Green Pesto
Hummus
Olive Tapenade
Roots for “Dipping” : Carrots, Beets, Turnips, Radishes
Dessert: Raw Carrot Cake
The morning of the class, Billy harvested the beautiful fresh produce, including:
Greens
“Hail storm Arugula”
Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Greens)
Pea Tendrils
Roots
Tropical Black Carrots
Mixed Beets: Detroit, Cylindra, Golden
Purple Top Turnips
Purple Daikon Radishes
French Breakfast Radishes
Black Spanish Radishes
Herbs
Micro-cilantro
Rosemary
Mint
Citrus
Lemons
Grapefruit
It was a little dreary in Phoenix the morning of the class, so we decided to hold the class right in the Soil & Seed Garden, where we could stay dry under the roof, in the event of rain. Take a look at how we created our “farm-to-table kitchen set” right in the garden!
Billy started the class with a Farm Tour to see where the roots and greens for the culinary creations are growing in the Soil & Seed Garden. And, the “lucky” participants harvested beautiful edible flowers.
The Soil & Seed Garden Tour with Lead Grower Billy Anthony
Melanie’s view during the Farm Tour, with the just-harvested Shungiku and Arugula.
“Lucky” class participants harvesting edible flowers to garnish their culinary creations.
During the hands-on class, Melanie guided our guests to prepare the dishes and to plate them beautifully.
In awe, the Tropical Black Carrot Cake. Appetizers: Green Pesto, Tapenade, Hummus. Veggies.
Still in awe…the beauty of the Tropical Black Carrot Cake.
So much creative joy…
We then enjoyed the beautiful culinary creations in the beauty of The Farm with our foodie community!
Raw Carrot Cake Recipe
Adapted from “A New View of Healthy Eating” by Melanie Albert
Carrot cake has been a favorite of mine for decades. As much as I love the aromatherapy of cooking raisins with cinnamon and nutmeg for a baked carrot cake, I love the simplicity and freshness of a raw version of carrot cake.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 cup dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour in water, then rough chopped
Do not soak if dates are soft and moist
2 cups carrots, shredded (Tropical Black / Purple Yellow, Orange)
1 ½ cups apple, minced
1 ½ cups raw cashews or pecans, ground into a fine meal
½ tsp cinnamon, freshly ground
½ tsp nutmeg, freshly ground
½ tsp cardamom, freshly ground
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Raspberries, blueberries, mint, edible flowers, and dehydrated grapefruit, oranges, and apples.
SIMPLE STEPS
Gather mise en place.
Soak dates.
Place all ingredients into mixing bowl and combine gently with hands until the mixture forms a ball.
Press dough into springform pan.
Garnish with berries, mint, dehydrated grapefruit, edible flowers.
Refrigerate for an hour.
Arizona Winter Farm-to-Table Pesto
Simple pesto with local Arizona greens and herbs, enjoyed with Winter root veggies.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 cup Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Greens)
1 cup “hail storm arugula”
½ cup fresh micro-cilantro
2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup Arizona pecans, fresh cracked
Pinch sea salt
2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
SIMPLE STEPS
Place all ingredients except organic extra virgin olive oil into food processor.
Pulse to desired level of thickness.
Stream in olive oil little by little until smooth.
Taste and add extra garlic, lemon juice, or herbs to create a taste that’s right for you.
Enjoy with Arizona Roots
Enjoy Arizona Herb Pesto.
Arizona Root Veggies & Edible Flowers
Purple Daikon Radishes
French Breakfast Radishes
Purple Top Turnips
Beets: Detroit, Cylindra, Golden
Tropical Black Carrots
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
We are all so excited to share our passions with you during the Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats in 2020.
Retreat dates: February 7-10, 2020; June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2020
Melanie Albert,Retreat Host, Plant-Based Culinary
Muzique Broadnax, Massage Therapy
Gary Henderickson, Feng Shui
June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony and Hand Readings
Daniel Posney,Kiva Ceremony and Ceremonial Vortex Hike
Patricia Fonseca,Ayurvedic Yoga Hike
Melanie Albert, Retreat Host and Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Cooking Guide
Melanie Albert, Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, author, and speaker, Melanie is Founder and CEO of Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona, and award-winning cookbook author of “A New View of Healthy Eating.” She regularly contributes recipe articles to “Natural Awakenings” and appears on The List tv show.
Melanie’s passion is local Arizona food. She loves intuitively creating and guiding others to enjoy healthy eating and prepare simple beautiful farm-to-table plant-based meals with our local Arizona farmers’ produce.
A leader in wellness, nutrition, and whole foods cooking for over 15 years, Melanie is a 2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, worked in marketing with Weil Lifestyle/Andrew Weil, MD for 9 years, and has completed 610 hours of plant-based culinary training. Through hundreds of cooking classes, events, corporate wellness, team building, media, and retreats Melanie has taught thousands of people — former NFL players, MDs, holistic practitioners, business professionals, kids, and media — simple ways to cook delicious meals with plant-based food from our local Arizona farmers.
Muzique Broadnax, Therapeutic Massage
Muzique Broadnax, Certified Massage Therapist, Founder of Balenchino Massage in Arizona and Minnesota, is a charismatic and passionate deep tissue specialist with an abundance of formal and hands on experience and training. Who loves to heal, rejuvenate and motivate her customers! Working with intention to delve into muscle tension and create deep releases and detoxification in your body. Muzique was implanted in Phoenix by way of Minnesota since June 2019 that has been practicing the art of massage for over 12 years.
In her spare time she is an avid yogi and loves to travel the world. Open communication within her business directly applying the wants and needs of her customer into her business practices in turn creating meaningful and lasting relationships with her loyal customer.
During the retreat, you’ll receive one 1-hour therapeutic massage with Muzique, right in the comfort of our retreat house.
Gary Henderickson, Feng Shui
Founder & CEO of Feng Shui Design International, in Sedona, Arizona, Gary has over 42 years of study and practice with Feng Shui, architecture, interior design and community design as his professional background. He has developed an integral approach to feng shui, drawing from 12 different techniques of feng shui. He designs community developments, homes, offices, healing retreat centers, and industrial complexes. He lectures, teaches and consults throughout the United States and overseas to developers, city planning departments, architects, interior designers, design institutions, corporations, individuals, and homeowners.
Gary’s Feng Shui readings focus on how this ancient science can help you to increase your effectiveness and efficiency in your work and increase your income, discover your lucky direction, find which partners would be most compatible with you, enjoy more harmony in your relations with family, friends and business associates, and improve your sleep.
During the retreat, you will receive a private 30-minute Feng Shui Reading with Gary.
June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony and Hand Readings
June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony at 2019 Sedona Retreat
Melanie & June enjoying our Retreat House
June Rettinger de Arballo and her organization, Meaningful Thing, in Sedona, Arizona, has been specializing in the Spiritual Journey since 1979, focusing on Personal, Home & Land Clearings, Readings, Workshops, Healing Energy Work, and Medium to Deep Tissue Massage.
June is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico and follows her spiritual practice from her mother’s heritage of Apache and Mexican. She comes from a family of seers and uses her gifts as a psychic/medium and offers readings, clearings, ceremonies and blessings as well as group experiences.
June has also been a massage therapist since 1979 specializing in medium to deep tissue massage and cupping. Over many years she has worked closely with Indigenous Elders from around the world including the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers to bring their messages to our communities. Her private practice is in a historic stone house located in the heart of Sedona, Arizona.
During our retreats, June offers unique hand readings and special spiritual blessings — ceremony preformed asking (God/Creator/Universal energies/Spirits/Angels/Ancestors/Spiritual Guides) for good things and protection to come to an individual or a venture.
Daniel Posney, Kiva Ceremony and Ceremonial Vortex Hike
Daniel Posney, Kiva Ceremony during 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat
Daniel Posney, Founder of Shamystic in Sedona, Arizona, Daniel provides life transformation, energetic and shamanic healing, intuitive guidance, initiation into higher consciousness, and soul activation.
Introduced to native traditions and ceremonies while on childhood trips to Africa, Europe and later to Tahiti and Hawaii, Daniel discovered his Soul connection with shamanism and mystic wisdom. After several traumatizing life events, Daniel initiated a spiritual awakening and transformation. Living for 3 years in a 200-sq ft cabin on a 4000-acre Self-Realization ashram (spiritual community), Daniel continued his self-discovery and native experiences, which led to release of all possessions and a 2000-mile bicycle journey.
For over 10 years, Daniel is a recognized practitioner, healer, guide, and teacher who offers practical tools to create and attract more of what you want in your life, significantly reduce physical pain, discover new perspectives and experience more clarity about your life.
During our retreats Daniel guides us in a memorable kiva ceremony on the retreat house property, along with a ceremonial Sedona Vortex hike.
Patricia Fonseca, Ayurvedic Yoga Hike
Patricia Fonseca, Ayurvedic Yoga Hike at Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ
Co-founder of Back to Earth Sedona Tours, Patricia Fonseca grew up in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, and moved to Sedona in 2001. While her original career was that of attorney and legal author, she found new balance and purpose in her life through working with mentors in meditation, yoga, and the ancient Ayurvedic traditions.
Gradually, her new understanding led her to transition her own life to teaching meditation, yoga, fitness and Ayurvedic lifestyle at the world renowned Mi Amo Spa at Enchantment Resort. She is also a Reiki master with 7 years of hiking and nature guide experience. Patricia brings an innate compassion to every consult she leads, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Her own experiences in the high-stress world of law make her an ideal guide for anyone who has become worn by business stress, and for those seeking to incorporate more balance and meaning into their busy lives.
During our retreats, Patricia leads meaningful, unique Ayurvedic yoga with hiking in the magical Sedona vortex.
I’ll continue to post additional blogs, photos, experiences, and recipes from our September 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat. Meanwhile, please reach out to me if you’re interested in one of our 2020 retreats or a custom retreat for your organization or group of friends in 2020. – Melanie Albert
If you’re ready to reserve your spot for one of the 2020 Retreats, click here for the $500 initial deposit.
by Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, Award-winning Cookbook Author, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition
I’m honored to intuitively create recipes from the produce in The Farm at South Mountain CSA grown at the Soil & Seed Garden.
Farm-to-Table Intuitive Cooking. Each week, right after Lead Grower Billy Anthony and Grower Michael Schultz, have their ideas for the crops that they’ll be harvesting, they text the list to me and my creativity begins. With farm-to-table and intuitive cooking, we really do first see what’s available from our local farmers, then taking into account simple cooking techniques, begin to develop a recipe direction for the CSA.
Creativity Flows.After picking up the CSA at The Farm (less than a mile from my home) the creativity begins. First, I look at all the goodies. Then, I begin to organize the food to create the dish. this is when my creativity begins. Sometimes, or I should say, many times, there are produce which I have not previously prepared, and I get really excited.
Pesto Inspiration.This week, when I saw the green herbs and greens, I immediately decided to create a simple pesto. I was inspired by the combination of the aromatherapy of the lemon basil, the “good for us” omega-3 rich purslane (a weed that grows naturally here in Phoenix), and the sage (which I have never used in a pesto) as the base of the pesto.With the addition of a nut (almonds) for crunch, and an “acid, fat, salt” dressing, the pesto came to life in my mind.
Soil & Seed Garden, Fall Week 2 CSA. October 26, 2019
Enjoying our beautiful Phoenix evening at The Farm at South Mountain, while picking up the second week of the Fall CSA…
Now, the beauty of our Fall Week 2 CSA.
The Farm at South Mountain: Soil & Seed Garden: Fall 2019 Week 2 CSA: 10.26.19
The Greens and Herbs: Chard, Lavender, Lemon Basil, Purslane, Eggplant, Radishes.
The Soil & Seed Salad Box.
Fall CSA Week 2: 10.26.19
Farm eggs
French breakfast radish
Soil & Seed Salad Box
Ichiban eggplant
Lemon basil
Northern lights chard
Autumn sage
Goldbergs purslane
Spanish eyes lavender
Decorative pumpkin / gourd
Soil & Seed Garden Fall Green Pesto
A pesto is a quick, delicious dish to create with the Soil & Seed Garden fresh herbs and greens. This week’s pesto inspired by the lemon basil is perfect in a Chard Wrap. I’ll also use is as my “green sauce” in a Raw Deconstructed Lasagna.
Simple Ingredients
1 cup lemon basil leaves
1 cup purslane leaves, chopped
5-6 sage leaves
¼ cup almonds, rough chopped
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Radishes, Chard
Fall Green Pesto Mise en Place. Simple. Beautiful. Fresh.
Simple Steps
Gather mise en place (get all ingredients organized)
All ingredients are ready for the Fall Green Pesto.
Place lemon basil leaves, purslane, sage, almonds, lemon juice, and lemon zest into food processor.
All ingredients, except olive oil, into the food processor. Pulse 8-10 times.
Pulse 8-10 times, until desired level of chunkiness
Stream in olive oil and pulse a few more times.
Enjoy on a raw cracker, wrapped in chard leaves, or with other dishes, such as a Raw Deconstructed Lasagna.
The simple, fresh Arizona Fall Green Pesto.
Enjoy the Fall Green Pesto as a wrap with the Northern Lights Chard.
Enjoy the Fall Green Pesto as a snack on a Raw Cracker (this one Pumpkin Seed Turmeric) with French Breakfast Radish.
The Radish inspired salad with the radishes at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.
FARM-TO-TABLE PLANT-BASED COOKING CLASSES AT THE FARM with Melanie Albert and Farm Operations Manager/ Lead Grower Billy Anthony
I am so honored to be leading hands-on intuitive cooking classes at The Farm at South Mountain for the 4th year. For the classes this season, Lead Grower Billy and I will be walking the Soil & Seed Garden the week prior to each class to develop the food strategy for the classes. Billy will harvest the morning of the classes, and you’ll have the opportunity to intuitively prepare dishes, guided by Melanie.
SEDONA PLANT-BASED COOKING RETREAT: November 15-18, 2019
In September 2019, I hosted the first Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat. Based on the life-changing retreat with incredible cooking, hiking in Sedona, and friendships, I decided to host the next retreat in November. Learn more on www.ExperienceNutrition.com/sedona-retreats/
Or, to answer your questions about the retreats, please feel free to contact me (Melanie Albert): 602.615.2486 or Mel@MelanieAlbert.com
by Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, Award-winning Cookbook Author, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition
After our long hot summer, our local Arizona farmers are harvesting the early Fall crops. Billy Anthony, Lead Grower at the Soil & Seed Garden, located at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, harvested fresh veggies, herbs, and hibiscus roselle for the first week of the Fall 2019 CSA.
Soil & Seed Garden, Fall Week 1 CSA. October 19, 2019
Late beauty at The Farm at South Mountain picking up the first week of the CSA…
The Farm at South Mountain. Fall 2019 CSA. Week 1: October 19, 2019.
What a beautiful Fall Salad Box. Love the edible flowers.
1 salad box
4 oz lemon basil
1 bunch Sora radish
1 bunch French breakfast radish
½ quart rosemary
¼ quart hibiscus roselle
2-3 eggplant
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 lime
6 pullet eggs
Radish. Purslane. Swiss Chard Stem Chopped Salad.
I intuitively created a simple, quick salad inspired by the Soil & Seed Garden early harvest of radishes & Swiss Chard, with the juicy fresh lime.
Taste and adjust lime and oil, for balance of acid and fat.
Add lemon basil and pinch of sea salt.
Shake and use in salad.
Simple “Acid Fat Salt” Salad Dressing
Salad
Chop all ingredients.
Mise en place…All ingredients in place…for the Radish Purslane Salad.
Place radishes, Swiss chard, and purslane into bowl.
Mindfully place chopped ingredients into small bowl.
Gently toss.
Add dressing over the veggies and toss.
Gently toss the veggies with the salad dressing.
Garnish with edible flowers, radishes, lemon basil leaves.
Enjoy!
Yum. The simple Chopped Salad.
Mindfully enjoying the visual brightness of the salad.
The Radish inspired salad with the radishes at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.
Thanks so much to Farmer Michael for all the passion and hard working in growing the beautiful food at the Soil & Seed Garden.
FARM-TO-TABLE PLANT-BASED COOKING CLASSES AT THE FARM with Melanie Albert and Farm Operations Manager Billy Anthony
I am so honored to be leading hands-on intuitive cooking classes at The Farm at South Mountain for the 4th year. For the classes this season, Lead Grower Billy and I will be walking the Soil & Seed Garden the week prior to each class to develop the food strategy for the classes. Billy will harvest the morning of the classes, and you’ll have the opportunity to intuitively prepare dishes, guided by Melanie.
The beauty and food art during our Plant-Based Cooking Events at The Farm at South Mountain.
SEDONA PLANT-BASED COOKING RETREAT: November 15-18, 2019
In September 2019, I hosted the first Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat. Based on the life-changing retreat with incredible cooking, hiking in Sedona, and friendships, I decided to host the next retreat in November. Learn more on www.ExperienceNutrition.com/sedona-retreats/
Or, to answer your questions about the retreats, please feel free to contact me (Melanie Albert): 602.615.2486 or Mel@MelanieAlbert.com
Permelia and Melanie enjoying our Avocado Tartare!
Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.
Yoga, Hiking, and Meditation in the Beauty of Sedona
In addition to lots of hands-on plant-based intuitive cooking at our Sedona retreats, we enjoy hiking, yoga, meditation, and self-care in the beauty of the Sedona red rocks and vortex energy. – Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition
During our September 2019 retreat, we explored three different magical areas in Sedona.
Cathedral Rock.One of my very favorite places in the world.
Medicine Wheel and the Amitabha Stupa at Peace Park. Spiritual energy.
WOW! Yoga at Cathedral Rock. Dreams come true!
During our September 2019, we enjoyed hiking at the Seven Sacred Pools, Ayurvedic yoga and meditation with Back to Earth Sedona Tours at one of my very favorite places in the world, Cathedral Rock. Finally, to close out our retreat, during a beautiful hail storm, Wendi and I enjoyed an incredible ceremony at the Medicine Wheel at Peace Park and the Amitabha Stupa.
Enjoy a few favorite photos by my Brazilian photographer friend, Nathalia Rocha, and a few of my personal out-takes during the beautiful hail storm at the Medicine Wheel.
Seven Sacred Pools
The hike to the Seven Sacred Pools takes us through a beautiful, quiet winding path and the deep Devil’s Sinkhole. During the hike, we enjoy the beauty of nature and the feminine energy of the sacred pools, and simple quiet time with the red rocks.
What a magical spot on our Earth: The Seven Sacred Pools in Sedona, Arizona.
Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona
One of my very favorite places on our Earth. Cathedral Rock is my go-to visit, even when I take a day trip from Phoenix to Sedona.
In awe. Stunning beauty. Majestic.
Calming and energizing. Grounding and uplifting. Simply Beautiful.
Balancing our Bodies. Ayurvedic Yoga, with Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.
One of my very favorite special places on Earth. More than excited to enjoy the water energy at Buddha Beach at Cathedral Rock.
Mediation. Breathwork. Awe….Omm…at Cathedral Rock. With Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.
Medicine Wheel and so much more at the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park in Sedona, Arizona.
The final morning of our retreat, Wendi and I enjoyed a magical experience at the Medicine Wheel at the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park. The 14-acre Peace Park is juxtaposed between Chimney Rock and one of Sedona’s most massive mountains, Thunder Mountain.
Thanks to the beautiful experience, guided by Patricia Fonseca and Sharon Day of Back to Earth Sedona Tours. Photos from Melanie’s Cell phone.
Prayer Flags.Upon our first glimpse of the Stupa, we are greeted by prayer flags that hang from trees and are strung from the top of the Stupa, fluttering out in every direction.
Pause and enjoy the first glimpse of the Amitabha Stupa in Sedona, Arizona.
Meditative Walk. The Stupa architecture is filled with hundreds of millions of prayers for peace, sacred relics, and ritual objects. Upon arrival, we experienced a beautiful meditative, grounding walk around the sacred Stupa three times offering our intentions for ourselves and others around the world.
Meditatively walk the Stupa three times, with intention.
Then, we offered our prayers to the beautiful Buddha.
Prayers to the Buddha.
Time for Cleansing. As soon as we arrived at the Medicine Wheel, we experienced magnificent cleansing (literally) with a hail and rainstorm. Wendi and I huddled under a Jupiter tree and Wendi’s wide rim hat in an attempt to stay dry. Enjoy the video…
The Medicine Wheel.After the beautiful hail and rain storm, it was our time to walk the Medicine Wheel with indigenous teachings from each direction (North, East, South, West) and life in four segments of 25 years, while Patricia guided us with the beat of Sharon’s drumming. What fun!
Melanie Albert enjoying the Medicine Wheel ceremony!
East & West.During the ceremony, I intuitively gravitated to the East, symbolizing for me, New Beginnings and Growth. Wendi gravitated to the West energy. Definitely looking forward to learning more wisdom from the Medicine Wheel.
Tara Stupa. So much to experience at the Stupa including the first Stupa build in Arizona, a smaller one, dedicated to Tara, the mother of all Buddhas.
Stupa dedicated to Tara, the mother of all Buddhas.
Spin the Prayer Wheels.As you leave Peace Park spin the prayer wheels that are filled with thousands of mantras, to amplify your experience at the Park.
When you visit Sedona, or come to one of our Plant-Based Cooking Retreats, be sure to spend time at the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park.
I’ll continue to post additional blogs, photos, experiences, and recipes from our September 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat. Meanwhile, please reach out to me if you’re interested in our November 15-18, 2019 retreat or a custom retreat for your organization or group of friends in 2020. – Melanie Albert
If you’re ready to reserve your spot for the November 15-18, 2019 Retreat, click here for the $500 initial deposit.
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
During the summer in Arizona, our local farmers work very hard to grow beautiful produce for us in our 100+ degree weather, so I love to create beautiful dishes with it.
Earlier this week while I was chatting with a friend who reminded me that there are often “behind-the-scenes” steps in creating a beautifully plated dish. So with this Summer dish, I’m sharing with you the full steps from the vision of the dish to the final plate.
I hope you enjoy this “food art” lesson.
Step 1: Stop by the farm and farmers markets to see what’s in season.This was especially important to me the last few weeks, as I was traveling in the Boston area, Cocoa Beach, Florida, and Barbados, so I lost track of what would be growing seasonally in Arizona.
My first stop was The Farm at South Mountain, where Farm Operations Manager, Billy Anthony is growing hundreds of pounds of beautiful heirloom tomatoes.
The Farm at South Mountain: Beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes
My next stop was the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, where I often shop and lead cooking demos. I was happy to see that the farmers were growing some of my summer favorites. Thanks Blue Sky Organic Farms for the collard greens and leeks; and thanks to Maya’s Farm for the rainbow carrots.
Step 2: Pause and enjoy the beautiful produce from our farmers. Begin to visualize the creation of a beautiful dish. With intuitive cooking, once we learn cooking techniques and practice with recipes, we can intuitively create beautiful, tasty meals.
Step 3: Pause again and choose a few different types of produce with different colors and textures.
Step 4: Cut the veggies and fruit in different shapes.
Step 5: Pause, yet again, and intuitively notice if any of the produce “fits” together. Today, for me, it was a simple avocado salsa (or guacamole) with the tomatoes, avocado, colorful carrots, lemon, and sea salt. And, the fresh peaches and butterscotch melon with a squeeze of lemon seemed to go together nicely.
Avocado Salsa
Peaches & Melon
Step 6: Arrange all of the ingredients and components (the Avocado Salsa, Peaches & Melon) in a plating “mise en place.” That is, all ingredients mindfully organized to be ready for plating.
Step 7: Looking at the plating “mise en place” begin to visualize how the plate will look. Then, sketch out the plating of the dish, using colored pencils or markers. In the sketch include where the different foods will go onto the plate and the order to plate them.
I’ve been mindfully plating for a few years now, and this process does take practice. Once we get into our own rhythm of sketching our dishes and plating, it becomes fluid and fun. Key is to practice, practice, practice.
Step 8: Mindfully plate the food, following your plating sketch. Know that this phase is also part of the food art process, so if your plate does not look exactly like your sketch, no worries at all. Enjoy it!
All set to plate.
Step 9: Finally, mindfully enjoy eating your plate.
Of course, first pause and enjoy your “food art”.
Enjoy…
We are only two months away from our Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat in Sedona, Arizona September 13-16, 2019.Along with plant-based culinary skills we will also focus on mindfully plating and creating our own style of “food art”.
Please feel free to call (602.615.2486) or e-mail if you’d like to chat about the retreat and take a look at the information about the retreat on ExperienceNutrition.com/sedona-retreats
Top 11 Reasons to Go on a Plant-Based Cooking Retreat
by Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition Group, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona, Award-winning Cookbook Author, and Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert
If you’re still curious…
During our Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Fall 2019 Retreat, September 13-16, you’ll experience several days of hands-on, simple plant-based cooking, mindfulness in the kitchen and eating. We’ll enjoy a farm-to-table cooking experience at a local urban farm. You’ll experience self-care with hiking and yoga in the beauty of Sedona.
In the memorable life-changing retreat, our intention is for you to enjoy the cooking and self-care experiences during the retreat and then most importantly take home the experiences and plant-based cooking learning from the retreat to make positive lifestyle changes in your lives.
LEARN TO COOK SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL PLANT-BASED MEALS
Have fun with hands-on interactive cooking with Plant-Based Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. With hands-on interactive cooking you’ll learn culinary techniques to prepare a variety of plant-based breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
ONE: Learn How to Prepare Simple Delicious Healthy Breakfasts
Learn the basic culinary techniques to prepare plant-based breakfast options and when you return home intuitively create your own breakfasts with your favorite whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fruit.
Whole Grains (gluten-free)
Quick, easy, and tasty nut and seed milk
Superfood Smoothies
Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding
TWO: Learn to Cook a Variety of Plant-Based Lunches
For lunch, our focus is preparing beautiful, tasty raw salads, raw taco, and cold soup.
Raw Massaged Kale Salad with fruit, berries, nuts, and seeds. 3-ingredient salad dressing.
Avocado Tartare with fresh veggies
Raw Almond Walnut Taco with Quick Pickled Veggies
Cold Veggie Soup
Raw Dehydrated Crackers
THREE: Learn how to prepare tasty, healthy plant-based Appetizers, Meals, and Dessert for Plant-Based Dinners
For dinner, we’ll cook complete plant-based meals with delicious Mediterranean appetizers, Veggie Main Dishes, and beautiful, tasty desserts.
Mediterranean Appetizers
Hummus, Hempseed Tabouli, Olive Tapenade
Meals
Veggie Sautés (Roots & Greens)
Roasted Veggie Flatbread
Turmeric Lentil Soup
Veggie Brown Rice Pilaf
Raw Deconstructed Lasagna
Deconstructed Lasagna
Desserts
Raw Superfood Pie
Raw Cacao Berry Pie
Aromatic Apple Crisp
Raw Cacao Berry Pie
FOUR: Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Class at an Arizona Organic Farm
Enjoy a true farm-to-table experience. Tour a local organic farm with an Arizona urban farmer. Have fun cooking your dinner right at the farm with just-harvested produce from the farm and local farmers markets. Enjoy your culinary creations in the beauty of the farm.
Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition. Getting set for a farm-to-table cooking experience.
FIVE: Enjoy an afternoon Snack at a Local Sedona Plant-Based Restaurant
After hiking in Sedona, we’ll stop by a popular organic vegetarian Sedona restaurant to enjoy their delicious plant-based creations and chocolate treats.
MINDFUL COOKING & EATING
SIX: Practice Mindfulness while Cooking, Plating, and Eating
During the retreat, we’ll focus on mindfulness and being present throughout the cooking process. We’ll practice mindfulness while cooking our meals, beautifully plating our food, and enjoying our meals together.
Mindful Cooking. During the retreat, we will focus on mindfulness and being present while cooking, as part of the cooking process and a form of self-care. We will:
Mindfully choose the ingredients (beautiful veggies) and herbs and spices for our dishes.
Mindfully chop our food. (Learn basic knife skills).
Enjoy the beauty, the colors, the textures, the shapes, and the aromatherapy of our food.
Mindfully set up our mise en place. That is, get all of our ingredients in place before we start cooking for mindfulness and organization.
Learn to plate your foods beautifully. Since we eat with our eyes first, you will learn skills to plate foods beautifully. You’ll learn fundamental principles in the art of plating. You’ll have the opportunity to practice plating skills every time we cook and begin to develop your own plating style. We’ll use edible garnishes, herbs, and flowers in our plating to elevate the eye-appeal of our meals.
Mindful Eating.We’ll mindfully enjoy our meals in the beautiful Sedona environment with our retreat community. We’ll enjoy meals in the beauty of the retreat house and in the beauty of the Sedona Red Rocks. We’ll pause, slow down, and really enjoy the beauty and flavors of the food we prepare.
SELF CARE IN THE MAGIC OF SEDONA
SEVEN: Take time for your own self-care, relaxing in the beauty of the retreat house. Get away from day-to-day life. Retreats are the perfect place to really take time for you. Away from work, responsibilities, and technology. During your Sedona retreat, unplug and allow yourself to settle into quiet, to relax, recharge and reflect.
Relax at our Retreat House
EIGHT: Enjoy hiking and nature in beautiful, magical Sedona, Arizona. In Sedona, we can immerse ourselves in nature by hiking with the grounding red rock and expansive big sky environment which provides the perfect place to exercise and unwind. In Sedona, we’ll hike in the Vortex energy, breath in the fresh air, and enjoy the magnificent sunsets.
Cathedral Rock: Melanie Albert’s very favorite spot in Sedona.
Hike at the Sedona Airport Vortex
NINE: Practice yoga on the Sedona Rocks and our private yoga studio at the retreat house. Participate in a yoga class or practice on your own for self-care, quiet, and meditation during the retreat.
Retreat House Private Yoga Studio
Enjoy One-of-A Kind Sedona Experiences
TEN: Enjoy Memorable One-of-A-Kind Sedona Experiences.Only in Sedona experiences. During the retreat, you’ll experience the Sedona magic with Spiritual Reading, and a private Kiva Ceremony.
ELEVEN: Visit Magnificent Antelope Canyon. As a special add-on to the retreat, visit one of the most magnificent spots in Arizona on our adventure day to the Antelope Canyon, one of the most beautiful, mesmerizing, photographic locations in the world. A photographer’s dream, the canyon is known for its wave-like structure and the light beams that shine directly down into the openings of the canyon, creating a supernatural appearance.
If you and your friends are interested in our Fall 2019 Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat, September 13-16, 2019 in Sedona, Arizona, please fill out the form and I’m happy to share more and answer your questions. – Melanie Albert
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