Experience Nutrition

Category: Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market

  • Experience Nutrition Recipe: Arizona Cucumber Summer Salad

    Experience Nutrition Recipe: Arizona Cucumber Summer Salad

    This fresh summer salad was inspired by the pickling cucumbers purchased at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market. When I purchased the cucumbers I was planning on making some quick pickles. Instead, I ended up enjoying them as a raw snack and this fresh salad.

    Enjoy the video of the salad…from farmers market to table…

    Chopped Cucumber Salad

    Inspired by the beauty of the cucumber…

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 small cucumber (Crooked Sky Farm)
    • 1 tomato (Crooked Sky Farm)
    • 1green pepper (Crooked Sky Farm)
    • 1 green onion
    • 1 cup yellow beans (Steadfast Farm)

    Simple Steps

    • Slice all veggies in unique shapes and sizes.

    Basil Garlic Lime Dressing

    Simple Ingredients

    • ½ lime, juiced
    • 2 tbsp organic extra olive oil
    • 3-4 basil stems (Melanie’s garden)
    • 1 garlic clove, minced (Blue Sky Organic Farm)
    • Pinch sea salt

    Simple Steps

    • Place all ingredients into small blender.
    • Blend until desired level of smoothness.

    Dress the Salad

    • Place all chopped ingredients into a medium bowl.
    • Pour dressing over the veggies.
    • Gently toss to coat all veggies with the dressing.

    Salad Food Art

    • Plating Mise en Place: Mindfully gather the salad, garnish, and bowl for plating

    • Mindfully plate the chopped cucumber salad with extra slices of cucumber, tomatoes, and fresh basil.
    • Enjoy!

    Another view…the beauty of the Cucumber Salad

    As you may be aware I am getting ready to announce “The 5-Day Beautiful Food Art Challenge”.

    If you’d like to be included in our e-mail to learn more about the Challenge, please fill in your Name and E-Mail below. Thanks!

  • Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market-to-Table Veggie Flatbread

    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market-to-Table Veggie Flatbread

    It has been such an honor to lead cooking classes at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market for a few years and it’s such an honor to create the Farmers Market-to-Table Flatbread with our local Arizona Winter veggies.

    Thanks so much to our local farmers for all the passion and hard work to grow and harvest such beautiful food for our community.  – Melanie Albert

    Enjoy the video with a look at the fun shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market and all of the cooking steps. Please come over to our Facebook Page to ask any questions and to share your flatbread creations with us: www.facebook.com/plantbasedfoodart and #plantbasedfoodart

    Shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market

    Melanie Albert, Shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market

    This week I had fun “shopping the market” intuitively choosing a variety of different color, shape and tasting veggies from our farmers. Thanks to Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Manager Colin Dueker who so graciously captured this week’s shopping at the market.

    Shopping for carrots with Steadfast Farms.
    Look at the great winter veggies at Blue Sky Organic Farms.
    The beauty of our local Arizona farmers veggies!

    Farmers Market-to-Table Roasted Veggie Flatbread Recipe

    To create the Farmers Market-to-Table Flatbread, create three simple recipes to create a beautiful Food Art dish.

    • Cashew Cream
    • Quick Roast Veggies
    • Quick Yeast-Free Sprouted Spelt Flatbread

    CASHEW CREAM

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 cup raw cashews
    • 3 tpsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    • ¼ cup water, adjust for desired creaminess.

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pour all ingredients into a mini blender.
    • Blend to desired smoothness.

    SIMPLE ROASTED VEGGIES

    Choose a few of your favorite veggies, such as those from the Downtown Phoenix Farmer Market.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 3 carrots, sliced (Steadfast Farms)
    • 1 golden beet, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 8-10 small tomatoes (Steadfast Farms)
    • 3 slices cabbage, such as the Caraflex (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 cup cauliflower, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 cup broccoli, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 5-6 Brussels sprouts, sliced (Crooked Sky Farms)
    • 1 cup waxed beans (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 cup peas (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 leek, white of leek in rounds (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 2 green onions, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 spring garlic, sliced (Al Hamka Family Farm)
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Farmers' Beautiful Veggies
    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Farmers’ Beautiful Veggies

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice veggies into bite-sized pieces.
    • Place veggies in roasting pan.
    • Drizzle with olive oil.
    • Sprinkle with sea salt.
    • Toss.
    • Roast 12 minutes.
    • Toss.
    • Roast another 12 minutes.
    • Use roasted veggies as flatbread toppings.
    Roast veggies for 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees F.

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITIONTM Yeast-Free Quick Flatbread Crust

    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 at 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 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.
    Sprouted Spelt Flatbread Crust
    Sprouted Spelt Flatbread Crust

    FOOD ART

    To create the flatbread, spread the cashew cream and veggies onto the pre-baked crust, bake and enjoy!

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Spread cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add veggies to the top of the flatbread.
    • Cook for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with fresh herbs, such as dill (Blue Sky Organic Farms) and bok choy flowers (Maya’s Farm)
    • Slice.

    Enjoy!

    Let’s keep in touch!

    Interested in additional farm-to-table plant-based recipes, virtual cook-alongs, and future events for yourself or your organization, join our e-mail list.

  • Experience Nutrition: Tomatoes 3 Ways: Salsa. Pasta Tomato Saute. Dehydrated.

    Experience Nutrition: Tomatoes 3 Ways: Salsa. Pasta Tomato Saute. Dehydrated.

    It’s tomato season in Arizona! And I love it. Over the years I’ve noticed that at the beginning of the season, our farmers are growing a few handfuls, then a few pounds, then a few hundred pounds of tomatoes each week. It’s actually quite amazing that our local farmers have each figured out their own process to grow tomatoes in 100+ degree days.

    Thanks so much to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market for your commitment to our local Arizona farmers and bringing beautiful food to our community. This week, thanks to Crooked Sky Farms for the heirloom tomatoes and corn on the cob. And, thanks to Blue Sky Organic Farms for the green onions, parsley. – Melanie Albert

    I hope you are inspired by these three very different ways to prepare and enjoy tomatoes.

    Raw. Cooked. Dehydrated.

    • Tomato Salsa. Corn on the Cob. Peppers.
    • Quick Tomato Sauté. Olives. Capers.
    • Dehydrated Tomatoes.

    Enjoy the video with all these tomato recipes…

    Tomato Salsa. Corn on the Cob. Green Peppers.

    For a simple, refreshing salsa, choose a few tomatoes and peppers, aromatics such as garlic and onions, along with citrus, a fresh herb and sea salt.  If your local farmers are growing corn, add corn to the salsa.  Use this recipe as a guide for your own intuitive tomato salsa.

    Mix and match with what your local farmers are growing to create your salsa. For sweet salsa, use bell peppers in any color: green, yellow, orange, or red. For a mild pepper taste, try Anaheim, or a more spicy pepper go for the jalapeno. Use lime or lemon as citrus to sharpen the flavor of the salsa. Experiment with different fresh herbs such as dill, basil, cilantro, or even mint.

    Enjoy the salsa as a side salad, taco topping or with a baked sweet potato. And, remember the flavors in the salsa marry together the second and third day.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2-3 tomatoes
    • 2 peppers
    • 5-6 green onions
    • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 lime, juiced
    • 3-4 sprigs fresh dill
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Optional: 1 corn on the cob
    AP-IMG_8106-salsaingr
    Farm-to-Table Tomato Salsa: Ingredients

    AP-IMG_8139-salsamise

    Tomato. Corn Salsa: Mise en Place.

    Simple Steps

    • Chop all veggies.
    • Place all ingredients into a medium-size bowl.
    • Toss.
    • Taste.
    • Add more salt or lime juice to suit your taste preferences.
    • Plate and enjoy.
    AP-IMG_8214-salsa-plate
    Tomato Corn Dill Salsa

    Tomato Sauté Recipe

    In a few minutes, create this very simple, tasty, aromatic tomato sauce to enjoy with pasta.  Choose a few local ripe tomatoes. Quickly sauté the tomatoes with onions and garlic to create a sweet aromatic sauce for your pasta. Add in Kalamata olives and capers for added depth of flavor. For a gluten-free pasta, experiment with chickpea pasta.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
    • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 3-4 green onions, sliced
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tbsp Kalamata olives
    • 1 tbsp capers
    • 5-6 sprigs parsley
    • Pinch sea salt
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    Tomato Saute: Ingredients
    BP-IMG_8147-sautemise
    Tomato Saute: Mise en Place

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat sauté pan on medium.
    • Place green onions in pan, stir, cook for about 3 minutes.
    • Add garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds.
    • Add tomatoes and sea salt.
    • Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover for about 2 minutes.
    • Add Kalamata olives and capers. Cook 1 minute.
    • Add parsley. Stir. Cook 1 minute.
    • Toss with pasta.
    • Plate and enjoy.
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    Tomato Saute. Pasta. Plating Mise en Place.
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    Tomato Saute. Chickpea Pasta.

    Dehydrate Tomatoes

    Dehydrating fruit and vegetables concentrates the flavor. With tomatoes, they become very sweet and beautiful. During tomato season, be sure to dehydrate local tomatoes to enjoy later in the year.

    Simple Ingredients and Steps

    • Choose a few beautiful heirloom tomatoes.
    • Thinly slice the tomatoes.
    • Place tomatoes on dehydrator mesh sheet.
    • Dehydrate at 125 degrees F for about 6-8 hours.
    • Enjoy as a snack or food art.
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    Dehydrate Tomatoes: Place sliced tomatoes on dehydrator sheet.
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    Tomato Food Art

    Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.

    Sedona Retreats. If you are interested in a self-care get-away in Sedona in September 2020, let me know. At this point we are planning on holding our Fall Plant-Based Cooking and Self Care Retreat with private rooms for all guests. Click to take a look at our Fall 2019 retreat. Or, send me a note (Mel@MelanieAlbert.com) if you’re interested in attending the 2020 retreat or in creating a retreat for a group of your friends.

    By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Culinary Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Summer Salads

    Experience Nutrition: Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Summer Salads

    Thanks so much to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market for the opportunity to share a few beautiful summer salads with our local Arizona farmers early summer produce.  Having shopped the market for 15 years and leading cooking demos at the market for 4 years, I am honored to be part of our local farmers community.

    Thanks to the farmers market and our local farmers for your continued commitment and hard work to provide beautiful, fresh produce and local products to our community during the Coronavirus Pandemic. We all appreciate you and all the farmers and vendors.

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    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market: Summer Veggies

    Looking forward to the Fall when we can continue our “Shop the Farmers Market” Cooking Demos.

    Meanwhile, I’m honored to share two simple, refreshing salads – Tomato Gazpacho and Chopped Salads. Hope you enjoy the recipes and have fun preparing and enjoying them with your family and kids.  – Melanie Albert

    Enjoy the Summer Salad Cooking Video featuring our local Arizona farmers produce and then create your own Tomato Gazpacho and Chopped Veggie Salad with your family and kids.

    Summertime Tomato Gazpacho Recipe

    A fresh, cold tomato gazpacho is refreshing, especially on warm days. Make this quick cold tomato salad with our local farmers tomatoes and cucumbers for a tasty summer side dish. Be sure to experiment with all kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

     Simple Ingredients

    • 4-5 medium tomatoes, rough chopped
    • 2 green bell peppers, seeded and rough chopped
    • 1 medium Armenian cucumber, rough chopped
    • ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
    • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice and lime zest
    • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
    • Sea salt, to taste
    AP-IMG_7730-gazveg
    Tomato Gazpacho: Farmers fresh ingredients

    Simple Steps

    • Place tomatoes in a large bowl.
    • Massage with hands to break down tomatoes.
    • Add sea salt, lime juice and zest, and garlic.
    • Mix well.
    • Add all other soup ingredients to the bowl.
    • Mix well.
    • Taste and season with sea salt.
    • Top with diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro.
    • Enjoy!
    • Refrigerate leftover gazpacho soup and enjoy the next day for an even more flavorful salad.
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    Tomato Gazpacho: Mise En Place
    AP-IMG_7835-gaz
    Arizona Summer Tomato Gazpacho

    Summer Chopped Salad Recipe

    Simple Ingredients

    Chopped Salad

    • 1 carrot, cubed
    • 2 cups, green beans, sliced
    • 1 green onion, sliced
    • 1 green pepper, sliced
    • 1 corn on cob
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    Summer Chopped Salad: Mise En Place

    Dill Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

    • ½ fresh lemon juice, approximate ¼ cup
    • ½ cup olive oil, twice as much as the lemon juice
    • 2-3 stems fresh herbs, such as dill
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 1 tsp honey
    • 1 tsp stone ground mustard
    AP-IMG_7777-dressmise
    Dill Honey Mustard Salad Dressing: Mise En Place

     Salad Dressing Simple Steps

    • Pour lemon juice in a small jar.
    • Add olive oil.
    • Shake. Taste.
    • Adjust with more oil, of too much acid; adjust with more lemon, if too much oil.
    • Add sea salt.
    • Add honey and mustard.
    • Shake.
    • Taste and adjust with any ingredients to suit your taste.

     

    Summer Chopped Salad

    • Place all veggies into a bowl.
    • Pour dressing over the veggies.
    • Gently toss.
    • Enjoy your fresh salad.
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    Arizona Summer Chopped Salad

    Have fun plating your Summer Salads…A few ideas to get you started. And, take a look at the video to “see” the plating.

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    Summer Salad: Mise En Place
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    Tomato Gazpacho. Armenian Cucumber
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    Arizona Summer Chopped Salad
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    Chopped Salad: Another View
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    Chopped Salad. Classic Hummus.

    NEW: Corporate Wellness Healthy Eating Programs

    In light of the Coronvirus and safety, rather than in-person cooking experiences, we are now creating custom plant-based cooking videos with “cooking kits.” To learn more contact, Melanie Albert at 602.615.2486 or Mel@MelanieAlbert.com

    UPDATE: Sedona September Self-Care Plant-Based Cooking Retreat

    At this point, we are planning on holding our Fall 2020 culinary and self-care retreat, keeping in mind safety and limiting the number of participants. If you are interested in the September 18-21, 2020 or a custom retreat for your group of friends, let me know, Mel@MelanieAlbert.com  Click for a glimpse of our beautiful Fall 2019 Retreat

    Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.
    WOW! Yoga at Cathedral Rock. Dreams come true!

    Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.

    By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Culinary Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Beet Burger

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Beet Burger

    Thanks so much to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market for requesting a recipe for a “Beet Burger.” I honestly love your market all these years and our beautiful entrepreneurial community at the market. Thank you so much for all the hard work, dedication, and commitment to our community to stay open as an “essential grocery story” during the Coronavirus Pandemic. We all appreciate you and all the farmers and vendors.

    Looking forward to the Fall when we can continue our “Shop the Farmers Market” Cooking Demos. Meanwhile, I’m honored to share the Beet Burger recipe and hope you enjoy the recipe and have fun preparing and eating it. – Melanie Albert

    Enjoy the Beet Burger Video

    • A glimpse of the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
    • Beautiful veggies grown by Blue Sky Organic Farms.
    • The mindfulness and beauty of mise en place.
    • Steps to saute the veggies, aromatics, and spices for the beet burgers.
    • Mindful plating.

    Recipe: Arizona Farm-to-Table Beet Burger

    The beautiful, nutritious plant-based beet burger features veggies and beans grown by long-time Arizona farmers who support our community at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market. Thanks so much to my friends at Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park, Arizona, for the red beets, carrots, parsley, green onions, and Spring garlic. And, thanks to Crooked Sky for the black beans.

    AP-IMG_5271-Beet-veggies
    Beet Burger Veggies. Thanks Blue Sky Organic Farms.

    8 Servings

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • ½ medium red onion (1 cup), diced
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 large red beet (1 cup), diced
    • 1 yellow or orange carrot (1 cup), shredded
    • 1 ½ cups black beans, cooked
    • ¾ cup quinoa, cooked
    • ¾ cup walnut pieces
    • 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
    • 1 tsp smoked paprika
    • 2 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds
    • ½ tsp black pepper
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    • Garnish Ideas: Avocado, tomato, walnuts, hemp seed cream, capers
    AP-IMG_5298-BeetIngr
    Beet Burger: Ingredients.

    Simple Steps

    • Prior to making the burgers, cook black beans and quinoa.
    • Cook the Burgers
      • Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
      • Pre-heat medium sauté pan on medium heat.
      • Add olive oil to the pan.
      • Add red onion to the pan and gently cook for 3 minutes, until translucent.
      • Add garlic to pan and cook for 30 seconds.
      • Add carrots and beets to pan. Stir. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
      • Add black beans and quinoa to the pan, and stir well.
      • Add walnuts and parsley. Stir.
      • Add paprika, cumin, black pepper, and salt. Stir.
      • Remove pan from stovetop.
    • Make the Patties
      • Transfer 1/3 of the cooked mixture into a food processor and process until thick.
      • Place the mixtures from the sauté pan and food processor into a large bowl.
      • Hand mix (with gloves, if possible).
      • With your hands, form tightly packed burgers.
      • Place burgers onto parchment-lined flat sheet.
    • Cook the Patties
      • Cook for 25-30 minutes, flipping at 12 minutes.
    AP-IMG_5403-beet-platemis
    Beet Burger: Plating Mise En Place
    • Mindful Plating
      • Garnish with avocado slices, tomatoes, walnuts, hempseed cream, capers.
      • Enjoy!
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    YUM. The Farm-to-Table Beet Burger.

    A photo for the Coronavirus Pandemic…My weekly trip to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market.

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    Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition, Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market, Coronavirus Pandemic. May 2020.

    Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.

    Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat Update

    Excited to share with you that our next Sedona Retreat is September 18-21, 2020.  And, wanted to let you know that we decided to cancel the June 2020 retreat, in light of the Coronavirus. If you’re interested in the retreat, or a custom retreat for a group of your friends or business associates, please let me know, 602.615.2486 Mel@MelanieAlbert.com

    Click to learn more about the Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat and enjoy some photos of our 2019 retreat.

    By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Culinary Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.