Experience Nutrition

Category: A New View of Healthy Eating

  • Experience Nutrition: Beautiful Farm-to-Table Wilted Arugula Salad. Chive Cashew Cream Recipe by Melanie Albert

    Experience Nutrition: Beautiful Farm-to-Table Wilted Arugula Salad. Chive Cashew Cream Recipe by Melanie Albert

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    This week’s intuitive salad from the Soil & Seed Garden CSA at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, is inspired by the beautiful, fresh greens (arugula and red pac choy) and chives — grown by urban farmer Billy Anthony.

    I intuitively created a warm salad reminding me of the wilted spinach salad my Grandmom made when I was a kid. Today’s salad is a little different, all plant-based. While arugula is naturally a little spicy, when we gently saute and add cashew cream it becomes milder and very tasty.

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    The simple beauty of fresh farm arugula and red pac choy.

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    CHIVE CASHEW CREAM RECIPE

    Make this simple raw cream, with fresh chives (or green onions) as a simple dressing for the wilted arugula. Nutritional yeast add a cheesy flavor to this plant-based cream.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked 2-4 hours
    • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Handful chives, sliced
    • ¼ cup water, adjust for desired creaminess

    Simple Steps

    • Blend cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, and water in a small blender, such as a Nutribullet.
    • Fold in chives.
    • Save for salad.

    WILTED ARUGULA SALAD

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups fresh arugula
    • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 2-3 heads, bok choy
    • 1 cup Chive Cashew Cheese
    • 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (dry toast in sauté pan on low heat)
    • 3 tbsp clives, sliced
    • ¼ cup dehydrated tomatoes

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat sauté pan on medium low heat.
    • Pour olive oil into pan and heat for a minute.
    • Add fresh arugula and pinch of sea salt to pan.
    • Toss arugula and cook for 30 seconds.
    • Place arugula and cashew cream into a bowl.
    • Toss arugula with cashew cream.
    • Plate with bok choy, fresh chives, toasted sesame seeds, and dehydrated tomatoes.
    • Enjoy!
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    The Farm-to-Table Wilted Arugula Salad

    Pause and enjoy the beauty of the bok choy…

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    Red Pac Choy. Grown at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain

    Red pac choy as a wrap…with left-over veggies, tapenade, and cashew cream.

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    Red Pac Choy with Roasted Veggies, Tapenade, and Cashew Cream.

    Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Thanksgiving recipes in the November 2018 issue.

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    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

    Purchase Tickets for Holiday Plant-Based Desserts Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, December 9, 2018, 11am-1pm

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    Farm-to-Table Cooking Classes and Events at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Beautiful Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Thanksgiving Tapenade Recipe by Melanie Albert

    Experience Nutrition: Beautiful Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Thanksgiving Tapenade Recipe by Melanie Albert

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    This week I had the incredible opportunity to host a farm-to-table plant-based Thanksgiving cooking class at The Farm at South Mountain, a few minutes walk from my home. The recipes for the class, featured in the November 2018 issue of the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine, are simple and delicious, and perfect for a plant-based holiday meal.

    One of the recipes intuitively created during the cooking class is an amazing tapenade, loved by everyone at the class for it’s flavor, beauty, and simplicity. Many who attended the class will be shopping at our local farmers’ markets this week and will prepare this appetizer to serve at their Thanksgiving meals.

    Hope you enjoy the recipe and have fun creatively “plating” the tapenade using your local farmers’ organic veggies. For inspiration, take a look at some plating ideas from the cooking class at The Farm. Have fun intuitively plating your tapenade for Thanksgiving and other get-to-gethers this season.

    Thanks to Cassie Hepler, of ExploreWithCassie for the photos.

    Inspiration from the Thanksgiving Farm-to-Table Cooking Class at The Farm

    Love the creativity and colorful tapenades created at the cooking class…

    Farm-to-Table Cooking Classes and Events at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona

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    Tapenade…

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    Tapenade…

     

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    Kalamata Olive Tapenade Recipe

    Enjoy refreshing tapenade with local Arizona veggies. This rich appetizer is an update to the olive trays that our family enjoyed with holiday meals when I was a kid. When you make your tapenade, have fun experimenting with a variety of olives and mindfully plate with favorite veggies from your farmers’ market.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rough chopped
    • 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and rough chopped
    • ¼ cup fresh parsley
    • 1/4 cup capers
    • ¼ cup fresh parsley
    • ¼ – 1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

    Extras for Plating

    • 1 cucumber, sliced
    • 9-10 dehydrated tomato slices
    • 2-3 red or purple radishes, thinly sliced
    • 2 green onions, sliced on the bias
    • 2 Tbsp goji berries, re-hydrated in water for 10 minutes

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Gather your mise en place
    • Mince garlic
    • Rough chop the sun-dried tomatoes, soak in water to re-hydrate 5-10 minutes
    • In a food processor, pulse garlic and olives until fine, not paste-like
    • Remove the olive and garlic mixture from the food processor.
    • Place sun-dried tomatoes in food processor and process until fine.
    • Add capers and parsley and pulse a few times.
    • Place olive/garlic mixture and sun-dried tomatoes/capers/parsley mixture into a bowl and mix with a fork.
    • Add olive oil until you reach desired consistency.
    • Enjoy the tapenade on cucumbers with a few extra veggies from your local farmers.

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    Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Thanksgiving recipes in the November 2018 issue.

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    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

    Purchase Tickets for Holiday Plant-Based Desserts Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, December 9, 2018, 11am-1pm

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  • Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA: Roast Radishes & Turnips

    Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA: Roast Radishes & Turnips

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    This Fall season in Phoenix, Arizona, I’ve been intuitively creating dishes with the beautiful veggies grown at The Farm at South Mountain CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Thanks so much to Billy Anthony for his hard work and passion to grow such incredible, tasty food at the Soil & Seed Garden.

    I was inspired by the freshly harvested radishes (Spanish Black, French Breakfast) and the stunning Scarlet Turnip. With a few additional veggies, I created a simple roasted veggie dish, perfect for Fall and Thanksgiving.

    Let’s take a look at this week’s Fall CSA

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    The Vibrant Scarlet Turnips

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    The Beautiful Black Spanish & French Breakfast Radishes

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    SIMPLE ROASTED VEGGIES: Black Spanish & French Breakfast Radishes  & Scarlet Turnips

    Use this simple culinary roasting veggies technique to roast all kinds of vegetables. When we roast radishes, they become very sweet, and turnips become smoothy and buttery.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 black Spanish Radish, cut into circles
    • 3 French Breakfast radishes, sliced
    • 1 purple daikon radish, sliced into circles
    • 3-4 Scarlet turnips with greens, sliced
    • Handful chives
    • 1 purple bell pepper, sliced
    • 1 sweet potato, roughly cubed
    • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 3-4 tbsp seasoning, blend of dried herbs and sea salt.  (Used Penzey’s Fox Point Seasoning)

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice all veggies.
    • In small bowl, thoroughly coat each vegetable with olive oil and seasoning.
    • Place vegetables on parchment-lined sheet pan, without touching.
    • Roast 15 minutes.
    • Remove cooked vegetables,  such as chives and turnips.
    • Flip remaining vegetables.
    • Cook another 12 minutes.
    • Plate and enjoy.

    Veggies, ready for the oven.

    The roasted veggies, ready for plating.

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    Time to enjoy the roasted veggies…

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    One more plate…quite rustic…

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    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

    Purchase Tickets for the Plant-Based Thanksgiving Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, November 18, 2018, 11am-1pm

    Purchase Tickets for Holiday Plant-Based Desserts Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, December 9, 2018, 11am-1pm

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  • Experience Nutrition: Simple Vegan Herb Cashew Dip. Purple Daikon & Bok Choy with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA

    Experience Nutrition: Simple Vegan Herb Cashew Dip. Purple Daikon & Bok Choy with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    I am so honored to create recipes for The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). This week, the CSA, grown by Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm, features lots of fresh aromatic herbs – basil, onion chives, lemon verbena – and beautiful purple veggies including daikon radish, turnips, and purple bok choy.

    With these fresh ingredients I was inspired to intuitively create a simple vegan raw cashew dip. Enjoyed with the vibrant purple daikon radish and bok choy.

    Let’s take a look at this week’s Fall 2018 CSA.

    The beautiful lush basil growing at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.

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    Beauty of the Purple Bok Choy

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    BASIL, ONION CHIVES, LEMON VERBENA DIP

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 2-4 hours
    • ¼ cup fresh basil
    • 3 tbsp onion chives
    • 1 spring lemon verbena
    • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 2 tbsp fresh key lime or lemon juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 2-3 tbsp water
    • 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 daikon radish
    • 3-4 bok choy leaves

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-soak cashews for 2-4 hours in water
    • Place basil, onion chives, lemon verbena, nutritional yeast, key lime (or lemon juice), sea salt, and water into food processor.
    • Pulse to desired smoothness.
    • Stream in olive oil, to desired taste.
    • Thinly slice daikon radish with mandoline.
    • Plate dip, daikon radish on bok choy leaves.
    • Enjoy!

    Food Process the herbs, cashews, nutritional yeast, key lime, salt, and water. Stream in olive oil.

    Mandoline the Purple Daikon

    The Herb Cashew Dip Plating with Purple Daikon & Bok Choy

     

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

    Purchase Tickets for the Plant-Based Thanksgiving Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, November 18, 2018, 11am-1pm

    Purchase Tickets for Holiday Plant-Based Desserts Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, December 9, 2018, 11am-1pm

     

    A final look at the Vegan Herb Cashew Dip with Purple Daikon & Bok Choy.

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  • Experience Nutrition: Beautiful Plant-Based Thanksgiving Recipes by Melanie Albert, as seen in Natural Awakening’s Arizona Magazine

    Experience Nutrition: Beautiful Plant-Based Thanksgiving Recipes by Melanie Albert, as seen in Natural Awakening’s Arizona Magazine

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    I am so honored to create recipes for the November 2018 issue of Natural Awakening’s Arizona magazine. It has been a dream of mine to cook “my” recipes in a magazine in a cooking class. I’m excited that we will be creating the Fall Thanksgiving recipes in a fun, interactive hands-on cooking class on November 18, 2018, 11am-1pm,  at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.

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    Four Plant-Based Thanksgiving Recipes

    The recipes in the article and cooking class are inspired by our local Arizona farmers Fall produce, especially, the Squash Soup, and one of my very favorite desserts, the Sweet Potato Brownie.

    1. Appetizer: Kalamata Olive Tapenade
    2. Side Dish: Winter Squash Ginger Soup
    3. Side Dish: Sweet Potato Brussels Sprouts Fall Veggie Saute
    4. Dessert: Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownie and Goji Berries (PHOTO CREDIT: Cassie Hepler)

    In today’s blog, I’m sharing the step-by-step process to prepare the Tapenade, which has been a favorite at several cooking classes this month. Plus, you’ll see the process to create the soup and a fun plating video. Enjoy!

    Kalamata Olive Tapenade

    Enjoy refreshing tapenade with local Arizona veggies. This rich appetizer is an update to the olive trays that our family enjoyed with holiday meals when I was a kid. When you make your tapenade, have fun experimenting with a variety of olives and mindfully plate with favorite veggies from your farmers’ market.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rough chopped
    • 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and rough chopped
    • ¼ cup fresh parsley
    • 1/4 cup capers
    • ¼ cup fresh parsley
    • ¼ – 1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

    Extras for Plating

    • 1 cucumber, sliced
    • 9-10 dehydrated tomato slices
    • 2-3 red or purple radishes, thinly sliced
    • 2 green onions, sliced on the bias
    • 2 Tbsp goji berries, re-hydrated in water for 10 minutes

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Gather your mise en place
    • Mince garlic
    • Rough chop the sun-dried tomatoes, soak in water to re-hydrate 5-10 minutes
    • In a food processor, pulse garlic and olives until fine, not paste-like
    • Remove the olive and garlic mixture from the food processor.
    • Place sun-dried tomatoes in food processor and process until fine.
    • Add capers and parsley and pulse a few times.
    • Place olive/garlic mixture and sun-dried tomatoes/capers/parsley mixture into a bowl and mix with a fork.
    • Add olive oil until you reach desired consistency.
    • Enjoy the tapenade on cucumbers with a few extra veggies from your local farmers.

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    Winter Squash Ginger Soup

    Yields: 4 servings

    Create your Thanksgiving soup with local Winter Squash such as red kabocha or butternut, delicata, or even pumpkins. I especially love the sweetness of red kabocha, which contrasts to the green kabocha with has a more savory flavor. While cooking your soup enjoy the mindfulness and aromatherapy of grating warming ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Have fun plating the soup with a few sliced fresh veggies to add color and a crisp texture to the soup. Enjoy the soup warm or cold.

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    The components of the soup include: Veggie Stock, Roasted Squash, The Squash Ginger Soup, and the Plating Toppings.

    Winter Squash Ginger Soup

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • ¼ cup shallots, minced
    • 1 TBSP ginger, grated
    • ½ TBSP coriander seeds
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 3 cups roasted Winter squash (see recipe below)
    • 4 cups veggie stock (see recipe below)

     

    Plating Toppings (per serving)

    • 2 small tomatoes, sliced
    • 1 radish, sliced
    • 5 raw cashews, soaked in water
    • 5 slices dehydrated tomatoes
    • 1 tsp green onions, cut on diagonal
    • 1 tsp micro-greens
    • Pinch ground cinnamon
    • Pinch ground nutmeg
    • Optional: Cashew cream

    Cook the Soup

    • Pour olive oil into the soup pot and warm for 1 minute.
    • Add shallot and ginger and gently cook for about 5 minutes to release flavors.
    • Add roasted squash and veggie stock to the pot.
    • Bring to a boil.
    • Lower to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
    • Pour soup into food processor and pulse a few times for desired smoothness.

    Plate the Soup

    • Pour soup into a serving bowl.
    • Top with local, seasonal veggies, such as tomatoes, radishes, green onions, and micro-greens.

    CLICK LINK TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL SOUP PLATING VIDEO:

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    Simple Home-Made Veggie Stock

    To enhance the flavor of your soup, make this quick and easy veggie stock, with mirepoix base of carrots, onions, and celery. An option is a box of store-bought organic veggie stock.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    Stock Base

    • 1 medium white onion, rough chopped
    • 4 carrots, rough chopped
    • 2 celery stalks, rough chopped
    • 6 cups water

    Aromatics

    • 10 parsley stems
    • 3 bay leaves
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 1 tsp black peppercorns

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    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Rough chop the carrots, onions, and celery into 2” pieces.
    • Place carrots, onions, celery, garlic, black peppercorns, and water into the soup pot.
    • Bring to a boil.
    • Reduce to simmer and cook with lid covered for 30 minutes.
    • Strain the veggies from the liquid.
    • Use the stock in the Winter squash soup.

    Roasted Winter Squash

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 3 cups Winter squash, cubed
    • 3 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 3 tsp ground nutmeg

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Toss squash in olive oil, nutmeg and cinnamon.
    • Place squash on a parchment-lined sheet tray, making sure the squash does not touch.
    • Roast for 15 minutes, flip.
    • Roast for another 12 minutes.

    Another look at the Winter Squash Ginger Soup

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    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

    Purchase Tickets for the Plant-Based Thanksgiving Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, November 18, 2018, 11am-1pm

    Purchase Tickets for Holiday Plant-Based Desserts Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, December 9, 2018, 11am-1pm

     

    A final look at the Thanksgiving Plant-Based Cooking article in the November 2018 issue of Natural Awakenings.

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Welcome to the NEW Experience Nutrition with Melanie Albert

    Experience Nutrition: Welcome to the NEW Experience Nutrition with Melanie Albert

    By Melanie Albert, Intuitive Cooking Expert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Award-Winning Cookbook Author, Speaker

    Today, I’m excited to share with you the update of my website, www.ExperienceNutrition.com, With the website launch, I thought I’d take a moment to briefly share my initial motivation for healthy eating and living, along with my philosophies about plant-based eating.

    The Power of Food: Mom’s Breast Cancer 23 Years Ago

    23 years ago my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the conventional doctors gave her six months to live. At that point, I left my corporate marketing career in Kansas City to be with Mom and my Dad in Cocoa Beach, Florida. At night I read the few nutrition books that were available. I had already stopped eating meat and was eating organic food.

    This was when I first learned that food and positive mindset were key to health.

    I’m happy to say, as I write this today, that my Mom celebrated her 89th birthday this month. And, my Dad is now 92 years old. And, they are both enjoying life every day with their positivity and beautiful Cocoa Beach backyard.

    Melanie Albert with Mom & Dad in Cocoa Beach, Florida

    I’ll continue to share more of my journey with food and cooking in my blog posts so you can get to know me and my motivation for being here with you.

    Top 6 Philosophies of Plant-Based Eating from Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating”

    A new view of healthy eating begins with the food we choose to eat and extends to our shopping, cooking, and eating experiences.

    The key philosophies are:

    1. Eat real whole foods.
    2. Shop local and in season.
    3. Enjoy intuitive shopping.
    4. Cook with intuition.
    5. Eat mindfully.
    6. Enjoy food and life.
     Eat Real Whole Foods.

    Eat foods that are in their natural form, as nature created them. Focus on plants and local, in-season foods. Focus on organic. When we eat real whole foods, we get more nutrition and fiber from the foods and receive the energy from the Earth. When we focus on eating organic, we eat food that is “clean,” without pesticides or herbicides, and not genetically modified (i.e., not GMO).

    Real whole foods include vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. It’s quite simple. The recommended foods in “A New View of Healthy Eating” are primarily in alignment with an anti-inflammatory way of eating as advocated by Andrew Weil, M.D., the Mediterranean way of eating, and the Blue Zones as researched by National Geographic, Dan Buettner, and his team. The foods and recipes are all gluten-free and dairy-free.

    A New View of Healthy Eating Book, by Melanie Albert

    Farm-to-Table Cooking Classes at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona

    Farm-to-Table Intuitive Cooking Classes at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona

    I’m honored to teach hands-on interactive cooking classes at the beautiful The Farm at South Mountain for the three years. Hope our local Arizona friends can join us this Fall.

    November 18, 2018, 11am-1pm: Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Thanksgiving CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKET

    December 9. 2018, 11am-1pm: Plant-Based Holiday Desserts CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKET

    Join our Plant-Based Community Come on over to our Simple Daily Plant-Based Facebook Group, where I share daily tips around shopping, cooking, and eating beautiful, delicious food. CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE GROUP

    Join our e-newsletter for cooking ideas, recipes, and events. And, please let me know if you are interested in any nutrition cooking programs for your organization.

  • A New View of Healthy Eating by Melanie Albert: Celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week!

    A New View of Healthy Eating by Melanie Albert: Celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week!

    by Melanie Albert, Intuitive Cooking Expert, Award-winning Author of  cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Eating with Real Whole Foods”, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona

    Get inspired at your local farmers market.

    It’s National Farmers Market Week in the USA, and today, as almost always on Saturday, I visited one of my favorite farmers’ markets, the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market. This market opened in 2005, just after I moved back to Phoenix and I have to say I’m so glad it did.

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    A few reasons why I love this farmers’ market:

    • Organic Farmers. Three local organic certified small farmers sell their produce at this market. For me, this is key, as I focus on eating organic (no pesticides and no herbicides) and I personally know the farmers and have visited their farms around our Valley of the Sun.
    Hydrate All Day. Every Day.
    • Community. There’s such a sense of friendly community with the vendors and people who visit the market. People who attend the market are true friends with the farmers and are happy to catchup on life and food. Plus, it’s fun to see how much people who attend the market have so much fun meeting other like-minded people at the market. Personal note, today, I met 3 people who work with American Airlines, a pilot and two flight attendants, which was interesting as my Mom was an Airline Stewardess in the 1950’s with American. Small world.

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    • Fun. Going to the farmers’ market is fun. A great place to be on Saturday morning. Once a month, I teach the Taste of the Market Cooking Demo, where I shop the market and then show our Phoenix community how to intuitively prepare fresh, healthy dishes. Plus, the market offers demos including gardening, composting, and today they hosted a Watermelon Eating Contest.

    For my Arizona friends, I’ll be leading the Taste of the Market on August 25, 2018, 10am. Hope to see you!

     

    Interested in learning simple culinary skills and intuitive cooking, purchase my cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods.” I’ll gift wrap and mail a copy to you.

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    Join my Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips FB Group and get daily food and cooking tips.

    Interested in a cooking workshop, team building or corporate wellness event, would love to chat…

     

     

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating Healthy Recipe Blog by Melanie Albert: Arizona Peach Tomato Goji Salsa

    A New View of Healthy Eating Healthy Recipe Blog by Melanie Albert: Arizona Peach Tomato Goji Salsa

    Intuitive Cooking with our Local Arizona Farmers Summer Goodies: Peach Tomato Goji Berry Salsa

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, award-winning author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    This weekend, as usual, I shopped at our Downtown Phoenix Farmers’ Market. Honestly, my refrigerator was quite full and I didn’t really need food, but I love supporting our local farmers, the community of like-minded friends at the market, and creating unique delicious dishes with “what’s in season.”

    Let’s take a look at some of my favorites at the Market, from flowers, to friends, to prickly pear cactus, to Armenian cucumbers…

    FOOD & FLOWERS

    FRIENDS

    When I arrive home from the market I love to simply enjoy the beauty of the food I intuitively shop for at the market.  With intuitive shopping, we pay attention to the colors, the textures, even the aroma of the foods, and buy what we are attracted to from a sensory view.

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    About a month ago, I created an Arugula Salad with Tomatoes and Peaches and recalled loving the combination. Again, these two summer fruits were the inspiration for my fresh dish which I intuitively created. When we create our dishes intuitively, we enjoy the process of mixing and matching flavors and colors to create beautiful, tasty meals. Have fun!

    Arizona Peach Tomato Summer Salsa Recipe

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 ripe peach, rough chopped
    • 3-4 yellow and red tomatoes, rough chopped
    • 1 Armenian cucumber, rough chopped
    • ½ red onion, minced
    • 2-3 garlic bulbs, minced
    • 1 lemon zested
    • 3 tbsp capers
    • 2 tbsp goji berries soaked in water
    • Pinch sea salt

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    Simple Steps

    Gently toss all ingredients.

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    Plate and enjoy!

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    PLATING FUN!

    In addition to intuitively shopping, and intuitively creating dishes, I love to have fun plating with different looks. Thanks to Clay Madness for my new aqua plate and my favorite green clay bowl.

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    If you’re interested in additional simple plant-based whole foods culinary techniques and recipes, please purchase my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods.”  I’m happy to mail a copy to you.

    If you’re interested in a Cooking Event, Class, Team Building for your organization, I’d love to chat and create a custom program for you. — Melanie

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Hummus 3 Ways

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Hummus 3 Ways

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, award-winning author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Last weekend I had the incredible opportunity to provide healthy plant-based food for my friend, Christina Jordan’s celebration of her cover of Woman’s World magazine. Christina, the founder of Fit Body Weight Loss, has lost 134 pounds and now guides her clients to lose weight the healthy way.

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    A few weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to be a segment of Christina’s tv pilot, teaching her clients how to make a massaged raw kale salad, so I was honored to be part of her magazine cover celebration.

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    Honored to be part of Christina Jordan’s magazine cover celebration, sharing the healthy organic farm-to-table culinary creations. Thank you, Christina.

     

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    For Christina’s celebration, I shopped at one of our incredible local Arizona organic farmers, Blue Sky Organic Farms.

    With the fresh, just-harvested organic produce from Blue Sky Organic Farms, I intuitively created several healthy dishes for the event:

    • 2 Salads
      • Arugula, Strawberry, and Figs. Basil Dressing
      • Kale, Heirloom Tomatoes, Golden Beets, Armenian Cucumbers. Lemon Garlic Dressing
    • 2 Tomato Gazpachos
      • Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes, Armenian Cucumbers, Mint
      • Red Heirloom Tomatoes, Red Peppers, Basil
    • Raw Seed Crackers
      • Mediterranean
      • Turmeric
    • Home-made Hummus
      • Classic Cumin Seeds, Coriander, Garlic, Lemon
      • Basil, Garlic
      • Turmeric, Nutmeg

    Simple Hummus Recipe

    Since the event, a few people have requested the culinary process to prepare the hummus. I invite you to learn the simple culinary technique of making the hummus, and then intuitively create your own with your favorite herbs and spices.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
    • 1/3 cup chickpea water
    • 2-3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
    • 2 TBSP tahini
    • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
    • Pinch sea salt

    Extra Ingredients

    • Classic: 1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds, ½ tsp ground coriander seeds
    • Basil: 1 cup fresh basil leaves
    • Turmeric: 1 tsp ground turmeric, ¼ tsp nutmeg, Omit garlic

    Simple Steps

    • Place all ingredients (except olive oil) into food processor.
    • Process to desired level of smoothness.
    • Stream in olive oil.

    A look at all three intuitive hummus creations:

    Classic Hummus

    Basil Hummus

    Turmeric Hummus

    The 3 Hummus Creations and Taste Testing

    Hummus with fresh organic veggies at Christina Jordan’s Magazine Cover Celebration.

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    Enjoying a plate of hummus…after the celebration.

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    The Hummus, Kale Salad, and Tomato Gazpacho recipes are all in Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods.”

    Purchase the book, and Melanie will autograph and gift-wrap for you.

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: How to Get Unplugged by Melanie Albert, former Type A Marketing Professional and 23-year Successful Entrepreneur

    A New View of Healthy Eating: How to Get Unplugged by Melanie Albert, former Type A Marketing Professional and 23-year Successful Entrepreneur

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, award-winning author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    A week ago I was enjoying the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Arizona. When I returned home to Phoenix after my brief get-away, I had a huge ah-ha. As a former Type A Marketing Professional and now 23-year successful Entrepreneur, I learned first-hand how valuable it is to “Unplug.”

    Thanks. Before I share my insights, I want to take a moment to thank my friend, Cassie Hepler, founder of the travel and lifestyle blog, www.ExplorewithCassie.com for inviting me to be her “plus-one” on her media trip with Grand Canyon Adventures www.DoTheCanyon.com

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    Thanks Grand Canyon Adventures for the enjoyable, memorable day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

    Profound Mini-Trip. Little did I know that when Cassie invited me several weeks ago how profound this mini-trip would be for me.

    Anyway, I’m usually sharing my behind the scenes with cooking and intuitive cooking creations, but I decided to share with you the behind the scenes with my “Unplugged” adventure.

    It All Works Out. Several days prior to the trip to the Grand Canyon, I realized that I had doubled booked myself the night before our scheduled road trip to the canyon. I was booked with coaching clients at the same time we were planning on driving to Flagstaff the night before the Canyon Tour. I was concerned that I would not have reliable internet or phone service for my clients. My friend, Cassie, kept telling me it would work out. I trusted.

    And, of course, it worked out. I changed my plans; stayed in Phoenix to do 6 hours of coaching until 10:30pm that night.

    I packed my food magazines, documents to work on with my business expansion, journal, planner, and some snacks: home-made raw trail mix, local apples, and grapes. I got up at 3:30am, after sleeping for 4 hours and drove to Flagstaff.

    Thanks to Grand Canyon Adventures. Happily, at 7:30am the friendly folks at Grand Canyon Adventures greeted me with a smile.

    I had just begun my “unplugged” adventure.

    Grand Canon Adventures drove us to the Grand Canyon, with history lessons, geological lessons, and expansive beauty through 5 different eco-systems.

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    7 Wonder of the World. It has been decades since I visited the Grand Canyon. When I saw my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, I was in awe. I paused.  The beauty. The magnificence. The magic. The power. Here I was with one of the 7 Wonders of the World!

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    Grand Canyon with a Little Yoga. During our full-day tour with 4 different stops at the canyon, all I wanted was to soak in all the beauty of the canyon. At each stop along the canyon, I paused and practiced some yoga and enjoyed “my” tree pose everywhere. Thanks, Cassie for the beautiful photos.

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    Pause at the Canyon. I even found a beautiful quiet spot to reflect. Enjoy the Grand Canyon video.

     

     

    Cassie with the Grand Canyon. And, Cassie enjoyed her hiking and being grounded with our Earth.

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    More Self-Care. For the last 3 miles of our day at the Canyon, Cassie and I quietly walked the South Rim capturing photos of us enjoying even more self-care with the beauty of the Grand Canyon. One final tree pose.

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    Thanks, Root Public House. When we arrived back in Flagstaff, we found a great place to eat, Root Public House, with a lovely outdoor patio breeze. I enjoyed a tasty creamy pea vegan risotto, made especially for me. And, I was feeling as though I was on vacation for days.

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    Sedona Airport Sunset. After dinner, Cassie headed back to Phoenix. I drove south to Sedona, where I just caught the end of the sunset at the Airport Vortex.

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    My Favorite Place in the World. The next day, I spent the whole day at Oak Creek Crossing, at the base of Cathedral Rock, one of my very favorite places in the world.

    A video peek…

     

     

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    I hiked, walked in Oak Creek, sat, listened to water, listened to birds. That was it.

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    Pause and enjoy Oak Creek.

     

     

     

     

    Unplugged. Being “unplugged” was sinking in. I had no desire to look at the food magazines. No desire to “work” on my business. Only a little bit of journaling. This was huge for me.

    I was “Unplugged” from electronics and importantly “Unplugged” from working. I was away from business strategy and responsibilities, writing blogs, cooking, creating recipes, teaching classes, and hosting events.

    After a full day of being unplugged, I drove home to Phoenix.

    Unplug Ah-Ha. I know this may sound obvious. What I realized was that I (we) need time to really unplug from the phones, computer, work, magazines. Yes, we can do this with yoga or meditation. For me, it was extra special and powerful to unplug in the beauty of my beloved Arizona.

    For my few days at the Grand Canyon and Sedona I found that after being totally unplugged, I came back with even more creativity, energy, and passion.

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    Unplug in Arizona Retreats. I really do believe that it’s incredibly important for our own life and joy to “unplug.” I’ve been planning Cooking and Self-Care Retreats in Sedona for 2019. My time at the Grand Canyon and Sedona made me realize how valuable these retreats will be for our guests to get away and “Unplug.”

    With the insights from my personal “Unplugged” experience, I have now added a Grand Canyon Adventure to the retreats, along with the Phoenix Urban Farm Cooking Experience and the intuitive cooking, hiking, yoga, and extreme self-care in Sedona.

    If you are interested in attending Unplug in Arizona Cooking & Self-Care Retreats or interested in creating a custom retreat for your organization, please let me know and I’ll keep in touch. Warmly, Melanie

     

     

    Interested in my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods,” I’m happy to autograph and gift-wrap and ship to you.

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Summer Salad: Arizona Peach Tomato Arugula Salad

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Summer Salad: Arizona Peach Tomato Arugula Salad

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Summertime!!!! Peaches!!!!

    I’m so happy peaches are in season in Arizona right now. Today, I bought a few perfectly ripe peaches and tomatoes from local farmers. I really didn’t have a plan to prepare them; however, right away when I got home I intuitively created, for the first time, a salad with both tomatoes and peaches. I really got excited and created sweetness with figs to balance the bitterness of the arugula. Plus, I love goji berries for their earthiness and pistachios for a little crunch.

    Have fun creating your own peach salads and desserts this summer!

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    Beautiful Peaches at Agritopia, Gilbert, Arizona

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    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • Arizona peaches, sliced (neighbor friend)
    • Arizona yellow tomato, sliced (Abby Lee Farms)
    • Arizona arugula (Blue Sky Organic Farm)
    • Goji berries, soaked in water for 10 minutes
    • Mission figs, sliced
    • Blood Orange Olive Oil (Queen Creek, Arizona)
    • Pistachios
    • Arizona fresh mint (Maya’s Farm)
    • Sea salt

     

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    SIMPLE STEPS

    • In a small bowl, toss arugula, blood orange olive oil, and a dash of sea salt.
    • Add a few peaches, goji berries, Mission figs, and mint to the arugula.
    • Toss all ingredients.
    • Beautifully plate.
    • Enjoy!

    Making the salad…

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    Plating Mise en Place

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    Plating Video…

     

    The Final Summer Arizona Peach Tomato Arugula Salad

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    Enjoy…

     

     

    “A New View of Healthy Eating” by Melanie Albert is available directly from the author, and she’ll gift wrap for you.

     

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Simple Sweet Potato Tomato Sauté Late Night Snack and Brunch

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Simple Sweet Potato Tomato Sauté Late Night Snack and Brunch

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Late last night I was craving a sweet dish and almost dreaming about all the great produce I bought at our local Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market.  Around  9 or 9:30 pm I made a quick sauté with sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and arugula.

    This morning, I woke up thinking about how much I enjoyed the sweet and slightly bitter flavor combinations in the dish and that when I was a kid, my parents cooked potatoes for breakfast when we were boating on the Chesapeake Bay. So for brunch, I made another, slightly tweaked sweet potato sauté. (And, I actually ate the left-overs for an afternoon snack.)

    Late Snack Mise en Place

     

    Brunch Mise en Place

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    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • Organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Sweet potato, rough chopped (Crooked Sky Farm)
    • Several tomatoes, rough shopped (Abby Lee Farm)
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Fresh arugula (Blue Sky Farm)
    • Green garlic, sliced (Maya’s Farm)
    • Kalamata olives
    • Capers
    • Dehydrated tomatoes (McClendon Select)

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Heat medium sauté pan at medium heat
    • Drizzle olive oil into the pan.
    • Once olive oil is warm, add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.
    • Add pinch of sea salt.
    • Add green garlic and cook for about a minute. (Added to brunch sauté.)
    • Add sweet potatoes and sauté for about 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
    • Add olives and capers and sauté for a few minutes.
    • Add arugula to pan, and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.

     

    • Take a look at the saute:
    • Plate with quinoa. (Added quinoa to the morning sauté.)

    Late Night…

     

    Brunch…

     

    Final Brunch Sweet Potato Tomato Saute Plating…

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    Rustic…

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    A final look…food art…

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    If you’re interested in learning more simple culinary skills with real whole foods, Melanie Albert’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating” is available.

     

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  • Experience Nutrition: Healthy Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Quick Roasted Spring Roots & Veggies

    Experience Nutrition: Healthy Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Quick Roasted Spring Roots & Veggies

    by Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition, Intutive Cooking Expert, Cookbook Author, Speaker and Retreat Leader

    Tonight’s quick meal was so beautiful I decided to share it with you right now. While I was working this afternoon, I roasted veggies with a quick roasting method and with the veggies in my refrigerator from our local Arizona farmers. At the same time I cooked a quick batch of Turmeric Quinoa. Have fun roasting all kinds of veggies with this simple culinary technique.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • Golden and chioggia beets
    • Red and yellow peppers
    • Daikon radish
    • Orange carrots
    • Romanesco
    • Sunchoke roots (Jerusalem artichoke)
    • Leek
    • Green onions
    • Organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Penzeys Spices Fox Point Seasoning, or your favorite dried herbs

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    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Preheat oven at 400 degrees F
    • Rough chop all veggies in various shapes
    • Place veggies in roasting pan

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    • Drizzle with olive oil and Penzeys Spices Fox Point Seasoning

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    • Roast for about an hour, stirring occasionally

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    • Enjoy with quinoa (1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water, about 2 TBSP turmeric powder)

    Take a look at tonight’s step-by-step plating…

    Enjoy the final dish…

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    • Plate and drizzle with blood orange olive oil, for extra flavor

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    The Roasted Veggies…

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    Just for fun, sharing tonight’s Arizona sunset…

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    Interested in learning more simple culinary techniques, with real whole foods. purchase Melanie Albert’s Book “A New View of Healthy Eating” right here.

     

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Spring Hemp Seed Quinoa Tabouli

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Plant-Based Recipes by Melanie Albert: Spring Hemp Seed Quinoa Tabouli

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    This week during our Whole Food SOUL (Seasonal Organic Unprocessed Local) cooking class at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, our focus was on whole grains and the students prepared Quinoa Salad and Hempseed Tabouli.

    It had been awhile since I’ve used fresh mint in my dishes, and I loved both the fresh quinoa salad and hemp seed tabouli, that I very intuitively prepared a tabouli with the mint, hemp seeds, and quinoa.

    I guide people to cook intuitively very often. The key is to know a few simple culinary skills, and then cook with what’s available at your farmers market or kitchen. Plus, with intuitive cooking, we listen to our body for foods we might be craving and also notice what foods we’re attracted to, with color, textures, and aromas.

    Today’s tabouli was intuitive in several ways:

    • Listening to my body: My body was looking forward to a grounding grain and I had about a cup of the tri-color quinoa in my pantry.
    • Aromatherapy: The fresh aromatherapy and bright tasting mint.
    • Looking for a variety of color and textures: Red tomatoes, yellow pepper, green onion.
    • Spring garlic: Just love the cross between garlic and onion, when spring garlic is in season.

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    Two Simple Culinary Techniques

    • Cook Whole Grains: Cook quinoa with 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups previously-made veggie stock. Bring to boil on stove, cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Rest the quinoa. Fluff with a fork. Use in recipe.
    • 3-Ingredient Salad Dressing: 1 part lemon, 2 parts organic extra virgin olive oil, pinch salt.

    HEMP SEED QUINOA TABOULI

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 cup quinoa
    • 2 cups veggie stock
    • ½ cup hemp seeds
    • Several tomatoes, rough chopped
    • Orange pepper, rough chopped
    • 1 green onion, rough chopped
    • 1 lemon, juice and zest
    • Organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Handful mint, minced
    • Handful parsley, minced
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Handful pea sprouts

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Cook quinoa with veggie stock
    • Rough chop all veggies
    • Gently toss all ingredients
    • Plate with sprouts
    • Enjoy
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    Hemp Seed Quinoa Tabouli: Rough Chop Veggies

     

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    Gently toss all ingredients in large bowl.
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    Enjoy your Spring Hemp Seed Quinoa Tabouli

    I have recently created the Simple Plant-Based Eating Group on Facebook, where I share daily tips around plant-based eating, and the community shares ideas. Please join us: www.facebook.com/groups/DailyPlantBasedEatingTips/

    Interested in addtional simple culinary techniques and recipes with real whole foods, Melanie Albert’s book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” is available.

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  • Experience Nutrition: A New View of Healthy Eating: Cooking Challenge Team Building Programs with Melanie Albert

    Experience Nutrition: A New View of Healthy Eating: Cooking Challenge Team Building Programs with Melanie Albert

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    I’m excited to announce that we have recently added another fun interactive Cooking Program to Experience Nutrition and A New View of Healthy Eating: Team Building Cooking Challenge.

    Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to host a memorable Team Building Cooking Challenge with Visit Phoenix. What an honor to lead such a beautiful event at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.

    “It was a great event! Thanks for everything. You and the team did an amazing job. Look forward to seeing you again soon!“ Ronnie Collins, Director of Sales, Visit Phoenix

    The goals of the team building event:

    • Fun, interactive, hands-on Team Building Cooking Challenge
    • Tour of The Farm at South Mountain, urban farm right south of the Phoenix airport
    • Friendly culinary competition around healthy eating and local Phoenix farmers’ food
    • Time for participants to enjoy the beautiful, tasty food created during the Challenge

    “Thank you for all your hard work on this. I had a blast with my teammates!” Polly Phelan-Flachman, Director of Member Relations, Visit Phoenix.

    Our Team Building Cooking Challenge Menu

    • ROUND 1: Massaged Kale Salad with 3-Ingredient Salad Dressing
    • ROUND 2: Raw Deconstructed Lasagna. Veggies: beets, carrots, zucchini, radishes. Three sauces: Red Tomato, White Cashew Cream, Green Pesto
    • DESSERT: Chocolate Dessert with Superfoods
      • NOTE: All recipes: Plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free.

    Photo highlights of the event, thanks to Travel Blogger & Photographer, Cassie Hepler, Explore with Cassie.

     

    The tables are set with local Arizona farmers’ beautiful produce.

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    We are Ready: Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition. Cassie Hepler, Explore with Cassie.

    Take a Look at the Amazing Kale Salads the Visit Phoenix teams created. Beautiful, creative, tasty, and delicious.

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    And, the proud winners of ROUND 1 of the Challenge.

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    On to ROUND 2: Raw Deconstructed Veggie Lasagna Cooking Challenge. Seriously, take a look at the culinary creations in the Cooking Challenge. Outstanding creativity, lots of passion, and friendly competition.

    Time to enjoy the meals in the beauty of The Farm at South Mountain with Visit Phoenix friends.

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    Finishing the meal with a little chocolate. Of course. Melanie Albert plating the sweet Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownie.

    A little Singing Bowl magic.

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    The Visit Phoenix Team enjoying the Team Building Cooking Challenge and the beauty of the day…

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    “Thank you so much to my friends at Visit Phoenix for the incredible opportunity to share our Team Building Cooking Challenge with your organization. I am so honored and love being part of our beautiful Phoenix community.” Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

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    Ronnie Collins, Director of Sales, Visit Phoenix. Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition. Lorne Edwards, VP Sales & Services, Visit Phoenix.

    Thanks, dear talented friend, Cassie Hepler for capturing the Visit Phoenix Team Building Cooking Challenge in photos.

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    Cassie Hepler, Explore with Cassie. Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition. Ronnie Collins, Director of Sales, Visit Phoenix

    If your organization is interested in a fun, unique, friendly competitive team building event in Phoenix, across the USA, or even around the world, please let me know and we can collaborate and create a custom cooking team building activity for you.

    Thanks, VISIT PHOENIX!

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: More Roasted Roots: Roast Roots & Roots Greens Tops

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: More Roasted Roots: Roast Roots & Roots Greens Tops

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Within my home-cooking, cooking classes, cookbook, and recipe blogs, one of my key philosophies is learning some simple culinary techniques and then using the techniques to cook all kinds of veggies. For those of you who know me from classes, Facebook, and my blog, you are aware that I love roasting veggies.

    Roasting is simple and the cooking process caramelizes the veggies keeping them crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. The flavor is always delicious and roasting can be used in any season with basically any veggies our farmers grow.

    Today I roasted veggies that I purchased on Saturday at this week’s Gilbert Farmers Market from a few of our amazing local organic farmers: Steadfast Farms, Blue Sky Farms, Abby Lee Farms, and Crooked Sky Farms. Plus, I still had a few turnips from The Farm at South Mountain. I was especially happy to also cook beans from Crooked Sky Farms for the first time.

    And, I had fun experimenting with roasting a few roots – carrots and radishes – with the whole veggie. I roasted the roots and the greens and they were so beautiful. Definitely food art!

    Simple Ingredients

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    • Sweet potatoes (Crooked Sky Farm)
    • Carrots (Blue Sky Organic Farm)
    • Radishes (Steadfast Farm)
    • Tomatoes (Abby Lee Farms)
    • Broccoli (Blue Sky Farm)
    • Turnips & Breakfast Radish (The Farm at South Mountain)
    • Black Beans (Crooked Sky Farm)
    • Quinoa
    • Organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Dry seasoning (Today Penzeys Fox Point (salt, shallots, chives, garlic, onion, green peppercorns)

     

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Slice veggies into equal-sized pieces.

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    • Coat veggies with olive oil and seasonings.

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    • Place veggies flat side down on parchment-lined flat sheet pan.

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    • Cook for 15 minutes.
    • Flip.
    • Cook another 12-15 minutes.

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    • Plate with quinoa and black beans.
    • Enjoy!

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    I have just started a new Facebook Group: Simple Plant-Based Daily Eating Tips with Melanie Albert. Please come over and join in the conversation.

    Interested in learning more plant-based culinary skills, Melanie’s book includes 84 simple culinary techniques.

     

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Purple Superfood Smoothie: Acai & Maqui Super Berries

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Like many of us around the world, smoothies are one of my go-to simple easy to prepare healthy breakfast options.

    For years, I’ve been making smoothies with a base of home-made nut milk or coconut water with chia seeds. Add-in a banana and frozen fruit, especially raspberries and black cherries. Then I top with goji berries, hemp seeds, and raw cacao, for a quick healthy breakfast.

    This month I’m participating in the Plantlab Culinary Superfoods course, so I decided to create a new-to-me smoothie with a few superfoods – Acai and Maqui – which I’ve honestly not experimented with very much.  Acai and Maqui both grow in South America, which I’m happy about since I was an exchange student in Brazil for a year many decades ago.

    Acai berries are known to be antioxidant-rich and full of omega-3 fatty acids. Maqui berries are deep purple, and is the fruit with the highest level of antioxidants. In addition to the berries, other powerful superfoods in this smoothie: chia seeds and hemp seeds, both rich in protein and good omega-3 fatty acids. Finally, wild Maine blueberries are also full of antioxidants and grow on a low bush and balance sweet and tangy.

    Purple Superfood Super Berrie Smoothie

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1-1.5 cups coconut water
    • 3 TBSP chia seeds
    • ½ cup wild Maine blueberries
    • 1 banana
    • 1 TBSP hemp seeds
    • ¼ tsp dried acai powder
    • ¼ tsp dried maqui
    • Chamomile flowers

    Simple Steps

    • Soak chia seeds in coconut water for about 15-20 minutes.
    • Blend all ingredients, except flowers, until smooth.
    • Garnish with blueberries and chamomile flowers.
    • Enjoy!

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    Excerpt from Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

    Smoothies

    Smoothies are a perfect way to eat a variety of organic fruit and veggies and a simple morning meal or afternoon snack. Because we drink all of the nutrients and fiber in smoothies, they’re nutritious and slow the digestive process. Make your own smoothies with your intuition using these steps. Have fun mixing and matching the ingredients in your smoothies based on what’s available in season and your own cravings.

    No-Recipe Smoothies: 5 Simple Steps to Create an Intuitive Smoothie

    1. Pour 1 cup of non-dairy liquid into a high-speed blender.
    • Coconut water
    • Homemade nut milk (coconut water with almonds, soaked cashews)
    • Homemade seed milk (coconut water with hemp seeds or sunflower seeds)
    • 1 date for sweetness
    • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for smoothness
    1. Add a thickening ingredient to liquid and blend.
    • Avocado
    • Bananas, frozen or fresh
    • Chia seeds; use 1 tablespoon of seeds and 3 tablespoons of liquid, pre-soaked for 10 minutes
    1. Add about ¼ cup fruit, fresh or frozen.
    • Apple, sliced
    • Cherries
    • Blueberries
    • Raspberries
    • Strawberries
    1. Add about ¼ cup vegetables.
    • Carrots
    • Celery
    • Cucumber
    • Kale
    • Spinach
    1. Add other extras.
    • Flaxseeds
    • Fresh basil
    • Ginger root
    • Goji berries
    • Raw cacao powder
    • Turmeric root

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    Interested in Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating” you can purchase here or at her local Arizona events.

    So beautiful (and aromatic). Sharing the beautiful wild chamomile that grows at an urban farm less than a mile from my home…

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    A final look at the Superfood Super Berry Chamomile Smoothie

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Top 4 Favorite Plant-based Culinary Techniques & Rustic Veggie Saute

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    This week while cooking my local Arizona farmers’ produce I realized I was cooking the same foods different ways every day. One of my philosophies of healthy eating is to learn simple culinary skills and then when we shop at our farmers’ markets we can cook intuitively with what’s available seasonally.

    Four of my favorite ways (or culinary methods) to cook veggies intuitively are roasting, sautéing, bamboo steamer, and raw. This week, I roasted twice, sauteed once, ate raw a few times, and, so far I have not used my bamboo steamer.

    Take a look a this week’s roasted Farmers’ Market Veggies. Simple steps to Roast Winter Veggies

    Rustic Winter Arizona Farmers’ Market Veggie Saute

    My veggie saute featured many of the same veggies that I roasted earlier in the week. With the saute, I very intuitively added 2 Arizona navel oranges for sweet flavor and moisture.

    • Romanesco
    • Yellow cauliflower
    • Purple carrots
    • Sweet potatoes
    • White beets
    • Turnip
    • Yellow tomato
    • Greens

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    Mindfully Chop Veggies and Organize your Mise en Place

    Chop veggies in about equal-sized pieces and mindfully organize them for cooking. Also, gather other ingredients for your dish. I added extra virgin olive oil, navel orange, and sea salt.

    Saute Veggies One-by-One

    Start with saute pan on medium heat. Warm the olive oil then add the tomato, root veggies, then cauliflower, and finally the greens.

    Mindfully Plate Veggies with Quinoa

    Again, be very mindful with your plating, placing veggies on the plate one-by-one. Add a few extras for extra flavor and interest, such as olives, capers, and dehydrated tomatoes.

    Enjoy your meal.

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    This week I set up a new Facebook Group, Simple Daily Plant-based Eating Tips with Melanie Albert. The group is dedicated to daily actionable eating and cooking tips for people who wish to eat more plant-based food. Hope you join us and share in the conversation.

    Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Eating with Real Whole Foods” includes 84 simple culinary technique with simple steps and photos of the process.

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Arizona Farmers’ Roasted Organic Veggies

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    As I’ve been blogging recently, I really love the beautiful food our Arizona farmers are growing this season.  A few of my key philosophies are to shop locally and seasonally with your local farmers, learn a few simple culinary techniques, and then when you shop, use your intuition to choose the veggies you are attracted to. Then, when you cook, cook intuitively with your culinary skills and the local veggies.

    This week at the downtown Phoenix Farmers’ Market I purchased a variety of root veggies, a few staples, and fresh dill. Tonight, I cooked with the simple culinary technique of roasting veggies.

    Local Arizona Winter Veggies

    • White beets
    • Orange carrots
    • Yellow cauliflower, called “cheddar”
    • Yellow tomatoes
    • Sweet potatoes
    • Fresh dill

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    Other Ingredients

    • Extra virgin olive oil
    • Dried Penzeys Fox Point seasoning (salt, shallots, chives, garlic, onion, and green peppercorns).

    Simple Veggie Roasting Steps

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Wash and cut veggies into about equal size pieces.

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    • In a large bowl, coat veggies with organic extra virgin olive oil and dried seasoning (Fox Point today)
    • Place veggies, flat-side down onto parchment-lined sheet pan.

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    • Roast for about 15 minutes.
    • Flip veggies, and roast another 12-15 minutes.

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    • Mindfully plate the veggies, one-by-one, with a whole grain, like today’s brown rice with fresh dill.
    • Enjoy…

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    If you’re interested in Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating” you can buy it and Melanie will gift-wrap and mail it to you.

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Get Clear on Plant Protein and Simple Steps to Sprout Beans

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    This year I have the wonderful opportunity to lead the monthly Healthy Cooking Demo at the Humana Community Center in Mesa, Arizona. Each month Humana gives me a new topic to focus on. This week, the February topic was plant sources of protein. We cooked one of my favorite simple soups: Lentil Quinoa, along with Lemon Hummus, and I showed my jar of sprouted mung beans.

    Plus, we had a positive conversation around sources of plant proteins. Take a look at this chart that I originally created a few years ago when I was guiding former NFL players and their families about nutrition and cooking.  One of the first questions the guys always asked me: “Mel, will you make my stop eating meat?” I told them that I would not force them to stop eating meat, but I would teach them good sources of plant protein, and hopefully, they would reduce their consumption of meat.

    Protein in Plants and Animals

    • When we clearly examine protein sources, we see that we can indeed get enough protein in our diets from plant-based foods rather than from the typical SAD – Standard American Diet – of red meat, pork, poultry, and dairy.
    • It’s important to note how the levels of protein in many plant foods are comparable to the protein levels in meat, poultry, cheese, and fish. For instance, in a 3.5-ounce serving, pork and tuna have 30 grams, and chicken and Swiss cheese both contain 27 grams of protein. These levels of protein in animal food are comparable to pumpkin seeds with 30 grams, lentils with 26 grams, and hemp seeds with 23 grams.

    Simple Protein Chart

    Protein Grams per 100 Grams (3.53-ounce) servings

    30.2 Pumpkin seeds

    30.0 Pork

    30.0 Tuna

    29.1 Beef tenderloin steak, lean only

    29.3 Turkey

    28.4 Nori (sea vegetable)

    27.3 Salmon, sockeye

    27.1 Chicken

    26.9 Swiss cheese

    26.7 Halibut

    26.7 Beef chuck eye roast

    25.8 Lentils, raw

    23.6 Kidney beans, raw

    22.5 Hemp seeds

    21.6 Black beans, raw

    21.5 Dulse (sea vegetable)

    21.4 Pinto beans, raw

    21.2 Almonds

    20.3 Pistachio nuts

    19.4 Beef, grass-fed, ground

    19.3 Garbanzo beans, raw

    19.3 Sunflower seeds

    18.3 Flax seeds

    18.2 Cashews

    18.1 Beef tenderloin

    16.6 Soybeans

    16.6 Inca berries*

    16.5 Chia seeds

    15.4 Cacao*

    15.2 Walnuts

    14.3 Goji berries

    14.1 Quinoa, uncooked

    12.4 Cottage cheese, 1% fat

    3.4 Milk, non-fat

    3.3 Soymilk

    Source: USDA National Nutrient Database

    * Not in USDA Database

    Today, I enjoyed the sprouted mung beans in a fresh farmers’ market salad intuitively created with the veggies and spring mix from the Farm Tour with Blue Sky Organic Farm, and purple cauliflower from Maya’s Farm, about ¼ mile from my home. Blue Sky Organic Farm, 30 miles west of my home, grows about 150 varieties of produce on 35 acres. Their beautiful spring mix comes from 18-21 different varieties of baby greens. Blue Sky Organic Farm triple washes and spin dries the mixture at high velocity, so we can easily enjoy it in our salads.

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    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • Bamboo Steamer Veggies
      • Romanesco
      • Purple Cauliflower
      • Fennel
      • Yellow wax beans
      • Spring mix
      • Mung bean sprouts
    • Salad Dressing
      • Fresh lemon
      • Basil olive oil
      • Sea salt
      • Fresh home-grown basil

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    Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating”: Simply Sprout Beans: Try Mung Beans

    In the winter of 2014 I started to sprout beans while learning in the Plant-Based Professional Certification with Rouxbe Cooking School. When I visited my parents in Florida, we decided to experiment with sprouting different kinds of organic legumes (mung, adzuki, and green lentils) and a few seeds (sunflower and broccoli). Within a week, we had 12 quart jars full of sprouted beans and seeds. Luckily for my parents’ Cocoa Beach neighbors, they also enjoyed sprouts in their meals.

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    Soaking and Sprouting

    The soaking and sprouting process releases dormant enzymes that make beans more easily digestible and, in some cases, even more nutritious.

    Mung beans are the most widely eaten sprout on our planet and have been cooked in Chinese dishes for centuries. Mung beans, a great plant protein, are fun and easy to sprout, and can be eaten raw or cooked. Add raw mung beans to the top of a salad, avocado salsa or hummus for a nice crunch. Cook sprouted mung beans for added protein in veggie stir-fries or soup.

     7 Simple Steps to Sprout Mung Beans

    1. Soak ¼ cup dry mung beans in a few cups of water for 8 to 12 hours out of direct sunlight.
    2. Rinse beans and place them in a wide-mouth quart Mason jar with a wire lid.
    3. Rinse beans with cold water 2 to 4 times a day.
    4. After each rinsing, rest the jar on a slant so that any extra water can drain out of the jar.
    5. Harvest beans in 2 to 5 days.
    6. After sprouts have completely dried, store in the refrigerator.
    7. Enjoy raw in a salad or wrap or cooked in a stir-fry.

    Today’s Mung Beans

    You can purchase Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating” and also let us know if you’re interested in a Cooking Workshop, Event, or Retreat. Would love to explore your ideas and create a fun program for your organization.

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