What an honor to intuitively create recipes with the beautiful produce grown by hard-working, passionate farmer Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.
This is the final CSA recipe of the season, Recipe #54, and I’m so happy to share a Summer recipe with you, inspired by the peaches and apricots growing at The Farm. At this point, the farmers are focusing on summer crops, including tomatoes, which I’m really looking forward to.
Self care at The Farm. While picking up the CSA to create this week’s recipe, I was mesmerized by the breath-talking Autumn Beauty Sunflowers.
For the CSA Members, the May 16, 2020 Share includes:
Roots: Beets, Carrots
Greens: Salad Greens, Swiss Chard
Veggies: Zucchini
Fruit: Grapefruit, Peaches, Apricot
Herbs: Lemon Basil, Mint, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary
Eggs
The Farm at South Mountain CSA: May 16, 2020
Recipe: Simple Peach Apricot Salsa
This week’s recipe was inspired by the peaches and apricots. It’s a simple, fresh recipe to enjoy with hummus, or as a topping for fish or chicken.
The Farm at South Mountain: Arizona Peaches
Serves 2
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
5-6 peaches
5-6 apricots
¼ cup grapefruit juice
1 tbsp grapefruit zest
4-5 mint leaves, minced
Not from The Farm CSA
¼ cup white onion
2 mini red peppers
Pinch sea salt
Ingredients: Peach Apricot SalsaMise En Place: Peach Apricot Salsa
SIMPLE STEPS
Mince all fruit and veggies into small pieces.
Gently toss all ingredients.
Taste and adjust with additional grapefruit juice and sea salt to suit your taste preferences.
Peach Apricot Salsa: Mix Ingredients
SIMPLE PLATING
Enjoy with hummus, or as a side salad.
Peach Apricot Salsa. Classic Hummus.
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 Retreats.At this point, we are planning on hosting the Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Cooking Retreat in Sedona, September 18-21, 2020 and also customizing for small groups “when the time is right” in the next few months. Please let me know if you’re interested in learning more about the retreats. Click for information about the retreats and beautiful photos from our September 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.
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.
Beet Burger Veggies. Thanks Blue Sky Organic Farms.
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.
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
As always, it is my honor to create recipes with the produce grown for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) by passionate farmer Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden, at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.
It is especially touching this week, during the Coronavirus Pandemic while we are all staying at home, and cooking more. And, in Arizona we are transitioning from the Spring to the Summer crops, so we still have roots, along with summer crops, such as zucchini. – Melanie Albert
When I picked up my CSA this week, The Farm felt very still and calm, in align with the quietness of our Earth…a little video capture:
For the CSA Members, the items in the May 9, 2020 CSA include:
This week’s recipe was inspired by the peaches, and paired with beets, carrots, and grapefruit. Since grapefruits are still available, enjoy a simple dressing with a few extras: honey, mustard, and mint.
Serves 2
Roasted Roots & Fruit
Enjoy creating this dish, inspired by The Farm’s sweet fruit and roots: peaches, grapefruit, beets, and carrots.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 peach
1 grapefruit
1 golden beet
1 red beet
5-6 small carrots
Not from The Farm CSA: ½ red onion
3 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP honey
Pinch sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Chop all veggies in small bite-size pieces.
Veggie-by-veggie toss in olive oil and sea salt.
Place veggies, spread apart on parchment-paper lined sheet pan.
Place grapefruit and peaches on parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle with ¼ tsp of honey.
Cook for 12 minutes.
Flip the veggies and fruit.
Cook another 10-12 minutes.
Honey Grapefruit Dressing
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
2 TBSP grapefruit juice
1 ½ tsp honey
1 ½ tsp stone ground mustard
1 tsp red wine vinegar
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
6-8 mint leaves, rough chopped
Pinch sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
Into bowl, place grapefruit juice, mustard, vinegar.
Whisk until blended.
Add olive oil.
Whisk until blended.
Add more acid (grapefruit juice) or fat (olive oil) to balance.
Add sea salt. Whisk.
Add honey. Whisk.
Add mint. Whisk.
SIMPLE PLATING
Mindfully plate.
Place grapefruit slices on plate.
Layer veggies and fruit on top of the grapefruit slices.
Dressing Options: Drizzle dressing on top of the veggies. Or, when eating, use dressing as dipping sauce.
Plating Mise en Place…
Plating…
The beautiful, tasty Arizona Spring Roots & Fruit Dish
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.
We are now beginning to think about Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Experiences for Fall 2020…hands-on cooking, team building, catering. Please reach out to me to brainstorm ideas for your organization. Contact Melanie Albert at 602.615.2486 or Mel@MelanieAlbert.com
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.
So beautiful…one more view of the Arizona Roasted Roots & Fruit and our incredible sunset.
It is again such an honor to create recipe articles for the Natural Awakenings Magazine, Phoenix and Northern Arizona during the last few years. And, I am humbled to contribute to the important May 2020 issue during the Coronavirus Pandemic, to bring a little joy to our lives, with beautiful food. – Melanie Albert
Recipes in the Natural Awakenings, May 2020 article include: Three Beautiful, Simple Plant-Based Recipes
Enjoy mindfully and intuitively creating these simple dishes. Take time to appreciate the beauty of the food, the mindfulness of the cooking process, and the final food art of your culinary creations.
Simple Avocado Salsa. Intuitively create with the veggies, aromatics, and herbs in your kitchen. (Today’s recipe.)
Simple Avocado Salsa
I hope you are inspired by this simple to-prepare, tasty avocado salsa, along with “food art.”
Enjoy the video with the steps to prepare and plate your own avocado salsa.
Serves 1
Have fun intuitively creating your own avocado salsa with the veggies grown by our local farmers and available right in your own refrigerator. With the avocado as a base, add in your choice of aromatics (onion, garlic), citrus (lemon or lime), favorite veggies, such as carrots, green or red peppers, radishes, cauliflower, tomatoes), and a fresh herb (basil, cilantro, marjoram).
Thanks to my Arizona farmer friends for the beautiful produce in this Avocado Salsa.
Blue Sky Organic Farms, Litchfield Park: Grafitti (purple) Cauliflower, Green Onions
Pinnacle Farms Phoenix: Mini-Carrots, Spring Garlic
Add all other ingredients to the bowl and gently mix all ingredients.
Simple Avocado Salsa: Mise en Place
Simple Plating
Place ring mold onto plate or bowl.
Scoop avocado salsa into the ring mold.
OPTION: If you do not have a ring mold, place a mound of the avocado salsa onto the plate.
Garnish with basil leaves and mini-tomatoes.
Enjoy!
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.
I’m feeling that very soon we will ease out of our Coronavirus Stay-at-Home, so if you or your organization is looking for a live in-person hands-on interactive plant-based cooking experience, I’m happy to chat with you to explore opportunities. Feel free to call (602.615.2486) or e-mail (Mel@MelanieAlbert.com) – Melanie
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.
Again this week, I’d like to honor our local farmers and farmers’ markets in Phoenix, Arizona who are continuing to bring our “essential” beautiful food to us during the Coronavirus Pandemic. We truly appreciate you.
As always, I am so honored to create recipes for the CSA at The Farm at South Mountain, a small urban farm about half a mile from my home in Phoenix, Arizona. In early May our farmers are transitioning from the “cooler” to “warmer” weather crops. So this week, many farmers are harvesting end of the Spring root veggies (carrots, beets), along with the early Summer veggies, like zucchini.
This week I was totally inspired by the beautiful 2 pound 5 ounce (yes, I weighed it) Costada Romanesco Zucchini. I intuitively created a simple Zucchini Salad with Cashew Cream featuring The Farm’s grapefruit and fresh mint and lemon basil. I invite you to use this recipe as a guide to create your own Zucchini Salad with a nut cream prepared with fresh herbs and citrus available at your local farmers’ market, farmers, or grocery stores. – Melanie Albert
Enjoy the video that showcases the steps to prepare the salad including how to:
Prepare a refreshing Raw Cashew Cream.
Spiralize zucchini.
Peel carrots for salads.
Mindfully plate with fresh veggies and edible flowers.
Let’s take a look at The Farm at South Mountain CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
The May 2, 2020 CSA, with the transition from Spring to Summer:
The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden CSA, May 1, 2020.
RECIPE: Raw Cashew Salad. Cashew Cream.
Ingredients: Zucchini Salad. Cashew Cream.
Serves 2
Cashew Herbal Cream
Inspired by The Farm’s grapefruit and fresh mint and lemon basil.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water, 2-4 hours
2 TBSP grapefruit juice
1 TBSP grapefruit zest
¼ cup olive oil
2-3 stems of mint and lemon basil
2-3 onion green onions, sliced
Pinch sea salt
Mise en Place: Cashew Cream.
SIMPLE STEPS
Pre-soak cashews in water; rinse the cashews prior to using in the recipe.
Place all ingredients into food processor.
Process until smooth.
Spiralized Zucchini
Spiralize the zucchini and peel the carrots for the salad.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
¼ zucchini, spiralized
1 carrot
SIMPLE STEPS
Spiralize the zucchini with a spiralizer.
If you do not have a spiralizer, use a veggie peeler to thinly slice the zucchini.
Slice the carrots with veggie peeler.
Costada Romanesco Zucchini. Spiralized.
Zucchini Salad
SIMPLE STEPS
Toss the zucchini and carrots with the Cashew Cream.
SIMPLE PLATING
Ingredients
Zucchini Salad
1 Swiss chard leaf
3-4 fresh herb leaves: mint, lemon basil
3-4 mini-tomatoes
1-2 green onions
Zucchini Salad: Plating Mise en Place.
Simple Steps
Mindfully plate.
Place Swiss chard onto the plate.
Layer the tossed zucchini onto the Swiss chard.
Add the garnish ingredients.
Enjoy.
Enjoy a few plating views of this simple, delicious, beautiful “summer salad.”
Zucchini Salad. Sunflowers.Zucchini Salad. In the Garden.Zucchini Salad. On the Video Set.
Stay in Touch. Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz 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.
Please reach out if you are interested in future plant-based farm-to-table cooking experiences, or catering. Look forward to collaborating when “the time is right.”
So many people are gardening now with the Coronavirus pandemic. I hope you are inspired to plant and enjoy your own garden this year. Then enjoy the harvesting and cooking of the beautiful food you grow with and for your family and friends.
After returning from the Arizona Worm Farm (see more in the Earth Day Blog), I knew I only had a few hours to plant my garden and use the Worm Tea. Thus, I was focused, mindful, and in the moment with these 10 Gardening Steps:
Choose your Plants.
Gardening “Mise en Place.” Get organized with the plants, mulch, worm castings, and worm tea for your garden.
Take out the old (plants) to leave room for the new.
Pull out all old roots and thoroughly mix the soil.
Add mulch and mix it into the old soil.
Plant the transplants.
Sprinkle a layer of nutrient-dense Worm Castings onto the top of the soil.
Drizzle Worm Tea onto the top of the soil, around all of the plants.
Water the garden.
Enjoy!
Let’s take a quick video look at the Pre-Garden and then get started on our New Summer garden.
Step 1. Choose Your Plants
In general, at this time of year, in the Phoenix area and in many different areas across the USA, it’s time to plant warm-weather, hydrating crops. Think tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, watermelon, melons, summer and winter squash, beans, and herbs.
Top Tips to Choose your Edible Garden Plants
When purchasing plant-starts (transplants) be sure to purchase:
“Organic” or pesticide-herbicide-free.
Local crops, that will do well in your area.
Seasonal crops, to be planted now for the Summer.
Your favorite veggies, fruit, herbs, and edible flowers.
Although I’ve lived in Arizona, this time for 15 years, I totally rely on the expertise of our local Phoenix area entrepreneurs who grow plant-starts for our community. A quick list of what I’ve purchased so far this season:
Vilardi Gardens, Phoenix
Vilardi Gardens is known as one of the best places for high-quality Arizona-grown edible transplants: All-natural, chemical- and pesticide-free. Perfect for growing in our Arizona climate. During the Coronavirus “stay-at-home,” at this point in time, Vilardi Gardens is selling at the Roadrunner Park Farmers Market (Cactus Road & 35th Street) on Saturday mornings and delivering to our homes!
A few weeks ago, I opted for home delivery of a few summer favorites:
Tomatoes
Purple tomatillos
Peppers
Sweet marjoram
Italian oregano
The Vilardi Organic Transplants.
The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix
Thanks so much to Billy Anthony, farmer at the Farm at South Mountain, for my favorites, including edible flowers!
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Lemon balm
Peppers
Marigolds
The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. Plant-Starts.
Step 2. Gardening “Mise en Place.” Get organized with the plants, mulch, worm castings, and worm tea for your garden.
Step 3. Take out the old (plants) to leave room for the new.
Step 4. Pull out all old roots and thoroughly mix the soil.
Step 5. Add mulch and mix it into the old soil.
Step 6. Sprinkle a layer of nutrient-dense Worm Castings onto the top of the soil.
Worm Castings onto the Soil.
Step 7. Plant the transplants from The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.
Step 8. Drizzle Worm Tea onto the top of the soil, around all of the plants.
Step 9. Water the garden.
Step 10. Enjoy!
Let’s take a video look at the newly planted elevated garden…All ready with Summer plants!
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your edible gardening and plant-based culinary creations.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
Honored and happy to create the Recipe #51 for the CSA at The Farm at South Mountain, right here in my neighborhood. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to create new recipes for the CSA members, with ideas on how to prepare the veggies, fruit, and herbs in their weekly CSA.
During our Coronavirus Stay-at-Home, with everyone cooking more at home, I am happy that our farmers are still working so hard to bring great food to our community. I’m also grateful that our Arizona farmers’ markets are still operating as “essential grocery stores.”
Yesterday (Friday) afternoon, when I picked up this week’s CSA at The Farm, it was 99 degrees in Phoenix, and my AC was not working, so I decided to create a Raw Dish with the CSA veggies. Although, not at all planned, I then wanted to experiment with a cooked dish with those veggies as a base.
I hope you enjoy creating a simple Raw or Cooked Zucchini Lasagna, along with a Raw Hempseed Cream.
Enjoy the video for a glimpse of The Farm at South Mountain, where we are transitioning into our Summer growing season, along with the Raw and Baked Lasagna recipes.
Spring CSA Week 7: 4.25.20
For the CSA members, items in the CSA include:
Roots: Beets, Carrots, Purple Daikon Radishes
Greens; Glacier Lettuce, Salad Greens
Veggies: Zucchini
Citrus: Grapefruit
Herbs: Basil & Dill
Aromatics: Green Onions
The Farm Eggs
The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. CSA 4.25.20
Raw Zucchini Lasagna
This week’s recipe was inspired by our warm Arizona weekend and the Soil & Seed Garden zucchini. The Raw Lasagna recipe features the end-of-season purple daikon radish and carrots. Enjoy with a Grapefruit Hempseed Herbal Cream.
Lasagna & Hempseed Cream Ingredients
Ingredients: Zucchini Lasagna. Hempseed Grapefruit Herb Cream.
Lasagna Veggies
Prep the zucchini, carrot, and daikon radish, and enjoy Raw Lasagna with Grapefruit Hempseed Cream.
Serves 2
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
¼ zucchini
1 carrot
1 daikon radish
2 tbsp olive oil
Pinch sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
Thinly slice veggies with a mandoline or veggie peeler.
Place veggies, not touching, on parchment paper.
Drizzle veggies with olive oil and sea salt.
Let the veggies sit for 10-15 minutes.
Save the veggies to create the veggie lasagna.
Hempseed Grapefruit Herb Cream
This raw hempseed cream was inspired by The Farm’s grapefruit and fresh dill, lemon basil, and green onions. This Hempseed Cream can be made very quickly since we do not need to pre-soak hempseeds, and you can add flavor with whatever herbs you have in your kitchen or garden right now.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
½ cup hempseeds
¼ cup grapefruit juice
1 TBSP grapefruit zest
¼ cup olive oil
3-4 stems of dill, lemon basil
2-3 onion green onions
Pinch sea salt
Mise en Place: Hempseed Cream
SIMPLE STEPS
Place all ingredients into food processor.
Process until smooth.
Add water, as needed, for creamier sauce.
Raw Hempseed Grapefruit Herb Cream
SIMPLE PLATING
Layer the zucchini, carrot, daikon radish and the cream.
Garnish with Glacier Lettuce and fresh dill and lemon basil.
BONUS RECIPE: Baked Zucchini Lasagna
Since I ended up with extra ingredients from the Raw Lasagna, I decided to cook a really quick and easy baked version of the lasagna. Hope you enjoy this version, as well.
SIMPLE EXTRA INGREDIENTS
All ingredients from the Raw Zucchini Lasagna
1 tomato, sliced
2 small sweet peppers, sliced
SIMPLE STEPS
Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Layer all ingredients into a baking pan.
Cook for 20-30 minutes.
Enjoy!
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutritionaz on your Raw and Cooked Zucchini Lasagna dishes and other plant-based culinary creations.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
During our coronavirus stay-at-home, a simple to prepare lunch, breakfast or snack, is an “avocado tartare.” You might call it avocado salsa with a few extra veggies. I hope this avocado recipe guide inspires you to create your own beautiful, delicious avocado tartare with whatever vegetables are in your kitchen. – Melanie Albert
To these base ingredients, add in a few veggies – any kind – available at your local farmers’ markets, local farmers, or grocery stores. Some ideas: Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives.
The plant-based cooking video guides you through the simple step-by-step process to prepare the avocado salsa. And, for reference, you can printout the recipe.
Avocado Salsa Recipe Guide
Use this recipe as a guide for Avocado Salsa with whatever veggies are in your refrigerator. This is a great recipe to experiment with intuitive cooking, where we choose a few vegetables, herbs, and aromatics we are attracted to and enjoy our creation.
Serves 1
Simple Ingredients
1 avocado
2 tbsp green onions
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp Meyer lemon juice
Pinch sea salt
1 carrot, sliced
3-4 cauliflower florets
Optional garnish: few broccoli stems
Avocado Tartare: Simple Ingredients
Simple Steps
Chop all ingredients
Toss all ingredients into a bowl.
Mix avocado with a fork.
Add Meyer lemon juice and sea salt to the avocado.
Mix all ingredients with a fork.
Mindfully plate.
Enjoy
Aocado Tartare: Plating Mise en Place
Since I love Avocado Tartare’s so much, I’ll continue to share some of my intuitively created dishes with you, to give you more ideas on how you an mix-and-match veggies, herbs, aromatics, and citrus.
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
Now that we all all cooking more at home, it’s a great time to learn a few simple culinary (it’s cooking!) methods.
With a plant-based way of eating, we do eat a lot of vegetables. With this in mind, it’s important to know several different simple culinary skills to prepare vegetables, such as roasting, steaming, sautéing, and raw.
One of my favorite ways to cook veggies is roasting. With this method of roasting, we cook the veggies spread out “distancing” in the oven to brown the outside, while keeping the center a little soft. We can roast all kinds of veggies which gives us a nice variety of tastes, textures, and colors. – Melanie Albert
Today’s roasted veggies were created with produce from local farmers: The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, and Blue Sky Organic Farms, Litchfield Park, Arizona. All of the veggies were in CSA’s (Community Support Agriculture) offered by the farms during our Coronavirus stay-at-home.
In Arizona, we are so fortunate that our farmers and farmers’ markets are considered essential grocery stores. Thus, we still have the opportunity to purchase beautiful food from our farmers, and they can continue to harvest and sell to our community. Thank you!
The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, April 2020
Farm-to-Table Spring Roasted Veggie Bowl
Enjoy this tasty roasted veggie culinary method and create a bowl with brown rice and beans for a perfect lunch. Use this recipe as a guide to roast crispy on the outside and soft on the inside veggies. Choose a few of your favorite vegetables from your local farmers that are right in your kitchen and enjoy roasting beautiful, tasty veggies at home.
Roasted Veggie Bowl: The Veggies, Olive Oil, Sea Salt
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
Blue Sky Organic Farms
1 fennel, root sliced
1 spring green garlic, sliced
1 leek, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
3-4 cauliflower florets
3-4 broccoli florets
The Farm at South Mountain
2 beets (golden and red), sliced
1 radish (breakfast), sliced
1 turnip ( scarlet) sliced
Grocery Store / My Pantry
1 sweet potato, sliced
2-3 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Extras
Plating: Brown rice, beans
Garnish: Edible flowers
SIMPLE STEPS
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chop all veggies into equal-sized pieces.
One-by-one, place veggies in a bowl.
Coat veggies with olive oil and sea salt.
Chopped veggies ready to be coated with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
Place veggies flat side down on unbleached, natural parchment-paper- lined flat sheet pan.
Veggies “social distancing” on the parchment-lined sheet pans.
Cook for 12 minutes.
Flip.
Cook another 12-15 minutes.
Roasted veggies. Ready to be mindfully plated.
Enjoy as a veggie bowl.
TOP 5 TIPS TO ROAST VEGGIES PERFECTLY EVERY TIME
Coat the chopped veggies thoroughly with oil.
When placing on unbleached parchment paper, be sure the veggies do not touch each other.
When placing veggies on parchment paper, place flat side down, so the side of the vegetable can brown.
Flip veggies about half-way through the cooking process.
Pay attention to veggies while they are cooking, as they cook at different speeds. More dense vegetables (like beets and sweet potatoes) take longer to cook than water-rich veggies, like onions.
Use this quick and easy culinary technique to roast any kind of veggies in your refrigerator, if possible, grown by your local farmers. All you’ll need is a few of your favorite vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. That’s it. A few simple ingredients and easy cooking method to create a tasty, healthy veggie side dish. – Melanie Albert
Thanks to our local Arizona farmers who are working so passionately to bring great, local food to our community while we’re all social distancing and cooking more at home. Thanks to my long time farmer friends at The Farm at South Mountain, Blue Sky Organic Farms, The Farm at Agritopia, Crooked Sky Farms, Rhiba Farms, Whipstone Farms, Steadfast Farm, Phoenix Pinnacle Farms, Maya’s Farm, and the Community Exchanges. From my heart, I really appreciate you.
Thank You Farmers Markets
Here in Arizona, I’d also like to thank our local farmers markets to continuing to stay open as grocery stores, so we have a safe place to purchase the quality food from our farmers, and our farmers have a place to sell the produce that is growing so abundantly right now. Special thanks to my friends at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, where I’ve been leading cooking demos for several years.
Quick Roasted Veggies Recipe
Create this quick roasted veggie dish with a few of your favorite veggies in your kitchen and enjoy it with quinoa or brown rice.
Cooking Tip:Since some veggies cook faster than others, be sure to remove veggies from the pan when they have been cooked.
Simple Ingredients
Four to six of your favorite veggies.
For this intuitively created recipe, I pre-ordered a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park, Arizona. I then quickly picked it up at the Saturday Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market.
½ Caraflex cabbage (sweet and mild)
4-5 orange carrots, sliced
1 large green onion, sliced
½ kohlrabi, sliced
½ yellow (cheddar) cauliflower, sliced
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Sunflower seeds, arugula, edible flowers
Extras: Cooked brown rice or quinoa
Quick Roasted Veggies: Ingredients
Simple Steps
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Slice all veggies into bite-sized pieces.
Place veggies into baking pan.
Drizzle veggies with the olive oil and sea salt.
In to the Pan: Veggies, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt
Roast for 12 minutes.
Toss veggies.
Roast for another 12-15 minutes.
Enjoy veggies with quinoa or brown rice.
Plating
Plate the veggies in a veggie bowl with quinoa or brown rice, along with pumpkin seeds, arugula, and edible flowers.
During our Coronavirsus social distancing, stay-at-home, this 5 minute braising greens cooking method is a simple way to cook the greens your local farmers are growing. Choose any mix of dark, leafy greens such as kale, chard, collards, mustard, bok choy, dandelion, turnip, broccoli, or cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts greens.
This recipe was inspired by farmer Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, less than a mile from my home in Phoenix, Arizona. As part of this week’s Spring 2020 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Billy harvested beautiful white and red Swiss chard leaves that are perfect for cooking with quick stove-top braising. Add flavor to the greens with green onions and fresh dill.
A look at The Farm at South Mountain…April 2020
Beautiful White Chard at The Farm at South Mountain
Nutrition Tip: Dark leafy greens are fiber-rich and good sources of vitamins (such as A, C, and K and folate) and minerals (including iron and calcium). Our body needs a little fat to absorb some of the vitamins in leafy greens.
Braised Leafy Greens Recipe
Use this simple method to cook Spring braising greens while we are at home with our families and loved ones. Mix and match whatever greens your local farmers are growing to create a simple veggie side dish.
Now that nearly everyone around the world is staying at home to help flatten the Coronavirus Curve, I will be sharing simple Food & Lifestyle Tips of the Day. The intention of the tips is to give you ideas that you could incorporate easily into your day-by-day activities around living a healthy lifestyle while we are all at home. And, in the long run implement tips that resonate with you to positively affect your life. — Melanie Albert
Some of the tips will be around plant-based food, cooking, and eating with recipes, culinary (cooking) techniques, and even food art. Other tips will focus on positivity, mindfulness, and self-care.
Meet Melanie Albert
As a little background for those of you who do not know me, a few highlights. I am the founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona, and award-winning cookbook author.
My passion is plant-based farm-to-table culinary, and I’ve led hundreds of cooking experiences, courses and retreats. I’m trained with 610 hours of plant-based culinary training.
2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition / Certified International Health Coach
9 years marketing, branding, and licensing consultant with Weil Lifestyle, LLC/Andrew Weil, MD
5 years nutrition and cooking with former NFL players, catering and events at Super Bowls, and official Health & Wellness Partner of the NFL Alumni Association in 2011.
200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and nearly 20 years practicing yoga.
For decades, I’ve lived my passion around healthy lifestyle, cooking, and eating, and am happy to share ideas with you.
I’ve been a work-from-home entrepreneur for 25 years; thus I have decades of personal experience with being at home, and enjoying it.
I hope you are inspired by some of the motivational food and lifestyle tips I share with you.
Experience Nutrition: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: Cook Intuitively…with what’s in Your Refrigerator.
What is Intuitive Cooking?
With Intuitive Cooking, we pay attention to food. We notice the shapes, colors, flavors, and aromatherapy. By listening to our heart or gut, we choose a few foods we wish to purchase (at local farmers markets, if possible). When it’s time to cook, we pay attention to our bodies. What are we craving. Which foods are we visually attracted to. Then we cook with those foods and enjoy our meals.
During our stay-at-home, it is also important to cook with our intuition. We listen to our bodies and senses. And, we cook with what’s available in our kitchens during these days when our food options may be limited.
5 Simple Steps to Get Started with Intuitive Cooking
Learn basic culinary (or cooking) skills or techniques and then use those skills to intuitively create dishes and meals with ease and confidence.
Cook with what’s in your kitchen.
Use a recipe as a guide.
Substitute ingredients in the recipe with what you have in your refrigerator.
Have fun experimenting and enjoy your creation.
Intuitive Cooking Avocado Salsa Recipe
Today, with intuitive cooking in mind, I created a very simple Avocado Salsa with what was in my refrigerator and little edible garden. This is a quick and easy lunch or snack. You’ll need an avocado, an aromatic (any onion), garlic (if you have it), a small tomato, citrus (lemon or lime), a fresh herb (parsley, basil, cilantro, marjoram), and sea salt. Plus, include optional ingredients for plating (such as broccoli or cauliflower).
Use this recipe as a guide for Avocado Salsa with whatever veggies are in your refrigerator. Some ideas: Green or red bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, olives.
Serves 1
Simple Ingredients
1 avocado
2 tbsp onions
½ tsp garlic cloves, minced
1 small tomato or ½ cup mini tomatoes
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro, or marjoram
Pinch sea salt
Optional: few broccoli stems
Simple Steps
Chop ingredients.
Avocado Salsa: Ingredients Chopped & Ready
Toss all ingredients into a bowl.
Mix with a fork.
Mindfully plate.
Enjoy.
Please share your Avocado Salsa creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor #experiencenutrition and let me know if you have any cooking questions.
Since October 2018, I have had the honor to create weekly recipes for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) at The Farm at South Mountain, an urban farm less than a mile from my home. To date, I’ve intuitively created 47 recipes for the members of the CSA. Each Friday, I pick up the incredible just-harvested CSA produce and herbs at The Farm from lead farmer Billy Anthony, and then come home and create a recipe for the Saturday morning CSA bags.
Cooking at Home. Right now, while more and more people are cooking at home with the Coronavirus “stay-at-home” I’m finding it even more important to share my recipes to more and more people, beyond the CSA members.
For those of you who are cooking at home, I invite you to use this recipe as a guide to sauté a simple, tasty roots and greens dish. Use whatever roots (radishes, turnips, beets, carrots) and greens (kale, collards, dandelion greens) your local farmers are growing. And, for citrus, feel free to use a lemon, orange, or grapefruit.
For the CSA members, I hope you enjoy creating this recipe with the beautiful local Arizona produce in your CSA.
Citrus: Grapefruit, lemons
Roots: Beets, Turnips, Mixed Radishes
Greens: Sugar Snap Peas, Braising Greens, Gem Head Lettuce
Farm Salad Bag with Glacier Lettuce
Mint
Eggs
Please share your culinary creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor @thefarmatsouthmountain.
Honestly, it was a little emotional picking up my CSA at The Farm on Friday, March 27, 2020. Here’s a glimpse.
Roots & Greens Sauté Recipe
Thanks to Lead Farmer Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden for growing such beautiful, tasty produce for our community. We appreciate your dedication, especially while we are Coronavirus social distancing.
Make this simple sauté with roots, greens, and the lemon from your CSA, along with an onion.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 medium purple daikon or another radish
1 medium turnip
3-4 stems kale
½ cup sugar snap peas
5-7 stems dandelion greens (from Farm Salad Bag)
½ white or red onion, or 2 green onions, sliced (not in CSA)
1 lemon, ½ juiced and zested
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Few mint leaves
SIMPLE STEPS
Mise en Place (Everything into place)
Thinly slice radish and turnip with mandoline or knife.
Pull center stems out of kale and tear leaves into bite-size pieces.
Slice onions into moon-shapes.
Zest the lemon.
Cook
Pre-heat sauté pan on medium heat on stovetop.
Once the pan is warm, place onions in pan, sauté until soft, for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add sliced radish and turnip to the pan.
Drizzle sea salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest onto the radish and turnip.
Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Move radishes and turnips to the middle of the pan.
Add snap peas, kale, and dandelion greens to the edges of the pan to cook with the olive oil.
Drizzle a pinch of sea salt onto the green veggies.
Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Plate
Plate the roots, greens, and sugar snap peas onto the plate.
Garnish with mint.
More Plant-Based Cooking Recipes. I look forward to sharing additional recipes and ideas with you, while we area all “at home” during the Coronavirus. Please check back, as I’m also shooting some simple cooking videos for my Experience Nutrition YouTube Channel.
Sedona Cooking Retreats. A few people have been asking about the 2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreats. We have not yet cancelled the June 12-15, 2020 retreat, and at this point I’m pretty sure we will hold the September 18-21, 2020 retreat. Let me know (Mel@MelanieAlbert.com) if you are interested in either retreat, and I will keep in touch with you. Just fyi, link to the retreat information.
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona. Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Leader, award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building and retreat leader.
While more of us are now baking bread and pizza at home during the Coronavirus social distancing and staying at home, I wanted to share with you a recipe we cooked during our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat. This recipe will give you an option if you live in an area where you are not able to purchase yeast at this point, or if you don’t normally keep yeast in your pantry.
For the flatbread, roast some vegetables, create a simple nut sauce, and enjoy a nice meal with your family. During our retreat we enjoyed cooking with beautiful local food grown by Whipstone Farm in Paulden, Arizona and The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.
Enjoy your flatbread with roasted veggies, hummus, tomatoes, salsa, or even a drizzle of olive oil. And, please share your creations with us on Instagram @plantbasedexperiences #plantbasedexperiences
EXPERIENCE NUTRITIONTM Yeast-Free Quick Flatbread
Simple Ingredients
1 ¼ cups sprouted spelt flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (dough)
½ cup water
1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (spread on dough prior to baking)
Simple Steps
Place pizza stone into oven. Pre-heat oven to 390 degrees F. Pre-bake stone for about 5 minutes.
In large glass bowl, with a fork mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt.
Add 3/8 cup water and oil until dough forms a ball. Add additional water, as needed
Knead on a lightly floured surface for 3-4 minutes.
Flatten out the dough on floured parchment-paper.
With parchment paper on top of the dough, roll thinly with a rolling pin.
Carefully move flatbread to pre-heated pizza stone.
Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the flatbread.
Bake flatbread for 5 minutes.
Remove stone from oven.
Spread hemp seed cream (recipe below) on the top of the flatbread.
Add roasted veggies to the top of the flatbread. (See two ways to roast veggies below.)
Cook flatbread for about 8 minutes.
Garnish with edible flowers.
Enjoy!
Look at the beautiful, delicious plant-based farm-to-table flatbread intuitively created at our 2019 Sedona Retreat, and a glimpse of beautiful self care meditation at Cathedral Rock to inspire you to pause and take time for you these days.
The Sedona Retreat flatbread features beautiful veggies grown by Whipstone Farm in Paulden, Arizona and flowers grown at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.
Amazing nourishing dinner, with the Farm-to-Table Flatbread at our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat.Mediation. Breathwork. Awe….Omm…at Cathedral Rock. With Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.
ROASTED VEGGIES TWO WAYS
Choose a few of your favorite veggies and one of the following two culinary techniques to roast veggies for your flatbread. For the Sedona Retreat flatbread we roasted beautiful local veggies grown by Whipstone Farm including kohlrabi, cauliflower, radishes, leeks, potatoes, and peppers.
Simple Ingredients
5-7 of your favorite veggies, sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
Original Roasted Veggies Culinary Technique
With this technique, we use a flat parchment-paper lined sheet pan. Space the veggies out, not touching. This way, the veggies are cooked from the heat of the bottom of the pan which caramelizes them a little, along with the heat in the oven circulating around them.
Hope you enjoy making flatbread in a new way, without yeast, and enjoy it with your family these days. Feel free to share your creations with us on Instagram @plantbasedexperiences #plantbasedexperiences
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, team building, and retreat leader.
Now is the time to support your local farmers who have spent so many months passionately growing beautiful food for our communities.
This weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, amidst the Coronavirus, our farmers, farmers market, and community have come together with creative ways for our community to have access to beautiful, just harvested food, with extra food safety measures. Many farmers are offering one-time CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), for customers to quickly pickup at farmers markets and farms.
I am so fortunately to live about half mile from a beautiful urban farm, The Farm at South Mountain, where I’ve been teaching farm-to-table cooking classes since 2016 and where I’ve had the opportunity to create recipes for the weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
As usual, Friday afternoon, I stopped by The Farm to pick-up my CSA
The Spring 2020, March 21 CSA includes citrus, roots, greens veggies, and eggs. All grown right at The Farm at South Mountain, a beautiful urban farm in Phoenix.
Citrus: Grapefruit, Lemons
Roots: Beets, Turnips, Radishes
Tomatillos
Peppers
Sugar Snap Peas
Swiss Chard
Mixed Herbs
Farm Salad Box
Eggs
Quick Tomatillo Salsa
I was so excited to see the tomatillos for the first time in the CSA this season. Tomatillos, known as the Mexican husk tomato is a nightshade, have a vibrant, tart, citrus flavor and are commonly used in Mexican dishes. Hope you enjoy this very simple-to-prepare salsa recipe.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
2 medium tomatillos
1 pepper
2-3 green onions (Not in the CSA)
Pinch sea salt
Extras: Fresh lemon juice. Fresh mint
Veggies for dipping: carrots, radishes
Tomatillo Salsa: Ingredients
SIMPLE STEPS
MiseenPlace (Everything into place)
Slice tomatillos into about 8 slices.
Slice pepper into small strips.
Mince onion.
Chop carrots and radishes for dipping.
Tomatillo Salsa: Chop all produce
Cook
Pre-heat oven on broil.
Place tomatillos, pepper, and onion on parchment-lined sheet pan.
Drizzle with a pinch of sea salt.
Broil for about 3-5 minutes.
Toss veggies.
Remove veggies when slightly browned.
Broil for another 3-5 minutes, as needed.
Place tomatillos, pepper, and onion into food processor.
Pulse a minute or two to desired level of chunkiness.
Taste.
Add squeeze of Meyer lemon juice and fresh mint, if desired.
Place onions, tomatillos, and peppers onto parchment-lined flat sheet.
Plate
Plate the Tomatillo Salsa with a few greens from the Farm Salad Box, along with carrots, and radishes.
Enjoy.
Enjoy Tomatillo Salsa with a few fresh veggies.
Please stay in touch. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting cooking videos for adults and kids to learn simple plant-based cooking techniques with your family. Follow this Experience Nutrition Blog. And, get ideas on Instagram: @nutritionauthor @plantbasedexperiences
All the best to you and your family. – Melanie Albert
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, plant-based farm-to-table leader, speaker, and retreat host.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Leader, Award-Winning Cookbook Author and Speaker, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition
It has been such an honor to intuitively create recipes for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for The Farm at South Mountain, in Phoenix, Arizona, an urban farm located less than a mile from my home since October 2018. The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden farmer, Billy Anthony, passionately grows and harvests beautiful, incredible tasting produce, herbs, and edible flowers. Billy and his team harvest on Friday, I stop by the farm Friday evening to pick up my CSA, and then I intuitively create a recipe for the CSA members, which they receive Saturday morning with their CSA.
This is Week 1 of the Spring 2020 CSA. After seeing the Sugar Snap Peas growing at The Farm the last month or so, I was very excited to prepare a simple dish with them. Also, The Farm has a Pecan Orchard on the property, so I was looking forward to include them in the dish.
Prior to sharing the recipe, a look at The Farm this week.
Let’s take a look at all of the products in the CSA.
The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. CSA March 14, 2020.
Love the Sugar Snap Peas growing at the Soil & Seed Garden.
RECIPE: Simple Sugar Snap Pea Sauté
Simply sautéing Sugar Snap Peas are a great way to enjoy this fresh veggie. Along with this week’s dill, grapefruit, and pecans, create this tasty side dish.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 tbsp grapefruit zest
3-4 sprigs of fresh dill
6-7 pecans, cracked
1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Mise en Place: Sugar Snap Peas. Dill. Saute.
SIMPLE STEPS
Mise en Place
Zest the grapefruit.
Crack the pecans.
If desire, remove the stems and pod strings from the snap peas pods.
All set to quickly saute the Sugar Snap Peas.
Cook
Pre-heat a sauté pan on medium for about a minute.
Add olive oil to coat bottom of the pan.
When the oil is warm, add the sugar snap peas and sea salt to the pan. Continuously toss the snap peas with tongs.
Cook for about 2 minutes.
Add the grapefruit zest and dill to the pan.
Toss the snap peas with the zest and dill for about 2 minutes.
Plate
Plate the sugar snap peas with the pecans.
Enjoy.
Sugar Snap Pea Plating Mise en PlaceThe Soil & Seed Garden Sugar Snap Pea Saute.
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
2020 Retreat Dates: June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2010
Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado TartareYoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.
Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona
So honored to create “recipe articles” for the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine, with our local farmers produce. For the March 2020 issue, the recipes include:
Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto
Roasted Spring Veggies Bowl. Cashew Cream
Recipe: Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto
Enjoy a simple lunch or side dish by gently steaming local Arizona Spring veggies in a bamboo steamer and enjoy with simple Arugula Hempseed Pesto.
Lightly steaming veggies brings out the beautiful colors and natural flavor of vegetables, while maintaining their nutrients. Steam a mix of a few Spring veggies with different colors, shapes, and textures, such as golden and Cylindra beets, Daikon radishes, Tropical Black carrots, purple snow peas, sugar snap peas, and corn grown at The Soil & Seed Garden at the Farm at South Mountain. Plus, steam beautiful, unique roots, such as those grown by farmer Billy Anthony of Tropizona – China Rose Radishes and Hinona Kabu and Hida Beni Red Turnips – to add brilliant red and purple to the dish. Enjoy the Spring steamed veggies with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt, refreshing Arugula Hempseed Pesto, and Calendula flowers.
The Farm at South Mountain Spring ProduceTropizona Radishes and Turnips
Always be mindfully organized when cooking…
Arizona Spring Veggies Grown at The Farm at South Mountain & Tropizona
Steamed Spring Veggies
A bamboo steamer is key to simple plant-based cooking. Learn to steam spring veggies with the mindful process of steaming.
Simple Ingredients
5-7 different Spring veggies, such as beets, carrots, purple snow peas, sugar snap peas, corn, radishes, turnips, sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Garnish: Edible flowers
Simple Steps
To set up the bamboo steamer, fill a large (6- to 8-quart) soup pot with 3-4 inches of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
Place sliced veggies into the bamboo steamer. Spread out the veggies so that they do not touch each other to allow the steam to rise and cook them. Sprinkle veggies with a pinch of sea salt.
Place bamboo steamer on top of the pot with steaming water. Cover with lid and let steam for about 5-7 minutes or until just cooked.
Test the veggies for doneness. When veggies easily come off a fork, they’re ready.
Once the veggies have finished cooking, pour them into a large bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
Veggies into the Bamboo SteamerThe fresh steamed veggies
ARUGULA HEMPSEED LEMON PESTO
Make simple Arugula, Hempseed Lemon Pesto to enjoy with steamed Arizona Spring veggies. With plant-based cooking, add extra flavor to vegetables with simple herb and seed pestos.
Simple Ingredients
2 cups arugula
1/2 cup hempseeds
5-7 stems chives
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 lemon zested
Pinch sea salt
Simple Steps
Place all ingredients (except olive oil) into mini-processor or food processor and blend.
After processing, stream in ¼ cup of olive oil.
Adjust with oil, lemon, or salt to suit your taste.
Enjoy with steamed veggies.
Arugula Hempseed Pesto Mise en Place
Mindful Plating
Mindfully plate the veggies and pesto, showcasing the color and shapes of the veggies.
Garnish with edible flowers.
Arizona Steamed Veggies: Ready to Plate
Simple plating…to start…
And, next, a full bowl of steamed veggies and pesto…
Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto.
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
2020 Retreat Dates: June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2010
Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado TartareYoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.
Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona
It is my honor and pleasure to write “recipe articles” for the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine. For each recipe over the last few years, I first meet with our local Arizona farmer, primarily, Billy Anthony, Lead Grocer at The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, to determine what is growing during the season. Then, I intuitively create a few recipes to be featured in the Natural Awakenings Magazine.
I was so exited to learn that the March 2020 issue of Natural Awakenings focus was Plant-Based and loved offering a few tips to enjoy plant-based eating in Arizona and in creating the veggie-focused recipes.
Enjoy creating these recipes with your local farmers produce and share your creations with us on Instagram: @nutritionauthor @plantbasedexperiences
Natural Awakenings Arizona. Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking, by Melanie Albert
Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking
Spring in Arizona is an exciting season to enjoy cooking plant-based meals since our local farmers grow a wide range of produce this time of year. We see lots of greens, all kinds of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. If you are new to plant-based cooking and eating, visit a farmers’ market to get inspired by what our local farmers are growing and create simple, tasty, beautiful salads and veggies with different culinary techniques, including raw, steamed, and roasted.
Eat local. Buy produce, herbs, and edible flowers from our local Arizona farmers or grow your own for the freshest, most nutrient-rich food. Plant-based dishes start with beautiful fresh produce to create tasty, eye-catching meals. Shop at our local farms, farmers’ markets, commit to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), grow at a community garden, or grow your own.
Keep it Simple. With the plant-based way of eating, we focus on fresh veggies and fruit, nuts, and seeds, whole grains, and beans. With plant-based cooking, we use a few simple culinary techniques for flavor and color. The essential simple plant-based culinary techniques include raw, steaming, sauteing, and roasting. We cook the same vegetables with different culinary techniques to create different flavors, textures, and looks that add variety to our meals.
Cook Intuitively. Think about it: What grows together goes together. With plant-based cooking, mix and match the produce, herbs, nuts and seeds to create beautiful dishes. All veggies are different depending on the seeds, soil, weather, and geography. As a result, each dish we prepare is unique in a positive way with plant-based intuitive cooking. Be sure to taste while you are cooking and adjust your ingredients to suit your favorite personal taste preferences.
Mindfully Plate. We eat with our eyes first. Since plants are naturally beautiful, it makes sense to take time to mindfully plate your meals for visual beauty. Have fun experimenting with various plating styles with your version of “food art” using extras such as fresh herbs or edible flowers. Use your favorite bowls and dishes to add to the beauty of your meal.
Slow down and enjoy.Take a breath. Take time to enjoy the beauty of your local Arizona plant-based meal. Give gratitude to our local farmers for so passionately growing the incredible food and appreciation to yourself for taking the time to shop for and prepare your lovely plant-based meal. Enjoy mindful plant-based eating and the colors, textures, and flavors of your locally grown plant-based meal with your family and friends.
Three Arizona Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Recipes
These simple, beautiful plant-based recipes were intuitively inspired by and created with produce grown by our local Arizona farmers, The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, and Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park.
Roasted Arizona Spring Veggies Bowl. Cashew Cream (Will Blog)
The Farm at South Mountain Spring Produce, Herbs, and Edible Flowers
RECIPE: Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
Create a simple, beautiful salad with greens from our local farmers or your garden. Pair a few different light leafy greens and a simple-to-prepare light salad dressing with fresh herbs. This fresh salad, inspired by the local greens grown at the Soil & Seed Garden, also features cherry tomatoes grown at Blue Sky Organic Farms. We start with a simple salad 3-ingredient salad dressing to toss with the fresh salad greens. And, add extra plant-based extras to create a beautiful salad.
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
Basic Salad Dressing: 3 Ingredients. That’s It
Create your own salad dressing. The key components of a 3-ingredient salad dressing include an acid, fat, and salt. Once these elements are balanced, we can add in extras, such as garlic, fresh herbs, mustard, and honey. Acids are citrus, such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, along with vinegar. Fats are oils, such as olive oil. And, salts could be Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt. Once you’ve learned how to prepare a dressing with this technique, you can use this method to create your own unique salad dressings for your fresh salads.
Simple Ingredients
1 fresh lemon, orange, or ½ grapefruit, squeezed, approximately ¼ cup
Organic extra virgin olive oil, twice as much as the citrus juice, approximately ½ cup
Taste and notice if your dressing seems too oily or acid-tasting. Add more citrus or olive oil to suit your taste.
Sprinkle in sea salt.
Shake the jar. Taste.
OPTIONAL: Add in minced fresh herbs and garlic.
Shake the jar. Taste.
OPTIONAL: Add honey and/or mustard. Shake and taste.
Taste testing salad dressing is a great way to mindfully use your cooking intuition. Add ingredients until the dressing tastes great.
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
For the base of the salad, choose a variety of Spring greens grown by our local Arizona farmers or growing in your garden. In addition to the salad greens and dressing, extra ingredients add texture, beauty, and taste to the salad. Some sweet. Some salty. Some crunchy. Choose a few of your favorite extras such as tomatoes, berries, nuts and seeds, raisins, capers, and olives. When plating, add beauty to your salad with dehydrated Arizona citrus and edible flowers.
Simple Ingredients
4 cups Mixed Greens, such as lettuce, baby kale, arugula, spinach, mizuna, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens)
Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad Mise en Place
Simple Steps
Chop or tear Spring greens into bite-size pieces.
Pour dressing over the greens.
Lightly toss the greens to coat with the dressing.
Add half of the extras (tomatoes, berries, nuts or seeds, raisins, olives, capers) and gently toss.
Mindfully plate with the remainder of the extras, dehydrated citrus, herbs, and edible flowers.
Enjoy!
Create Your Spring Salad with your Favorite Greens and Tasty ExtrasFarm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad
Enjoy our local Arizona Spring veggies by cooking with a few simple plant-based culinary techniques – raw salad, steaming, and roasting . Mindfully enjoy your plant-based creations with your family and friends.
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
2020 Retreat Dates: June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2010
Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado TartareYoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.
Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
Let’s take a look at the beautiful intuitive Farm-to-Table Winter Harvest Cooking Class with Farmer Billy Anthony and myself at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.
We’ve all heard the terms: farm-to-table, eat local, eat with the season, and plant-based.
This class was truly an authentic farm-to-table plant-based cooking class, right in the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm.
The week before the cooking class experience, Billy and I walked through the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm and begin to strategize on food to harvest for the class, including all kinds of roots, greens, herbs, edible flowers, and other surprises.
Taking into account what would be growing the day of the class, we created the draft menu direction for the class. Since there are quite a few different roots growing we decided the participants would create a few appetizers to enjoy with the roots, along with an intuitive green pesto with the greens of the day! Plus, since one of my very favorite desserts is a raw carrot cake, and carrots are “in season” we decided to add it to the menu.
Our Arizona Winter Menu Direction
Appetizers
Green Pesto
Hummus
Olive Tapenade
Roots for “Dipping” : Carrots, Beets, Turnips, Radishes
Dessert: Raw Carrot Cake
The morning of the class, Billy harvested the beautiful fresh produce, including:
Greens
“Hail storm Arugula”
Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Greens)
Pea Tendrils
Roots
Tropical Black Carrots
Mixed Beets: Detroit, Cylindra, Golden
Purple Top Turnips
Purple Daikon Radishes
French Breakfast Radishes
Black Spanish Radishes
Herbs
Micro-cilantro
Rosemary
Mint
Citrus
Lemons
Grapefruit
It was a little dreary in Phoenix the morning of the class, so we decided to hold the class right in the Soil & Seed Garden, where we could stay dry under the roof, in the event of rain. Take a look at how we created our “farm-to-table kitchen set” right in the garden!
Billy started the class with a Farm Tour to see where the roots and greens for the culinary creations are growing in the Soil & Seed Garden. And, the “lucky” participants harvested beautiful edible flowers.
The Soil & Seed Garden Tour with Lead Grower Billy AnthonyMelanie’s view during the Farm Tour, with the just-harvested Shungiku and Arugula.“Lucky” class participants harvesting edible flowers to garnish their culinary creations.
During the hands-on class, Melanie guided our guests to prepare the dishes and to plate them beautifully.
In awe, the Tropical Black Carrot Cake. Appetizers: Green Pesto, Tapenade, Hummus. Veggies.Still in awe…the beauty of the Tropical Black Carrot Cake.
So much creative joy…
We then enjoyed the beautiful culinary creations in the beauty of The Farm with our foodie community!
Raw Carrot Cake Recipe
Adapted from “A New View of Healthy Eating” by Melanie Albert
Carrot cake has been a favorite of mine for decades. As much as I love the aromatherapy of cooking raisins with cinnamon and nutmeg for a baked carrot cake, I love the simplicity and freshness of a raw version of carrot cake.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 cup dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour in water, then rough chopped
Do not soak if dates are soft and moist
2 cups carrots, shredded (Tropical Black / Purple Yellow, Orange)
1 ½ cups apple, minced
1 ½ cups raw cashews or pecans, ground into a fine meal
½ tsp cinnamon, freshly ground
½ tsp nutmeg, freshly ground
½ tsp cardamom, freshly ground
Pinch sea salt
Garnish: Raspberries, blueberries, mint, edible flowers, and dehydrated grapefruit, oranges, and apples.
SIMPLE STEPS
Gather mise en place.
Soak dates.
Place all ingredients into mixing bowl and combine gently with hands until the mixture forms a ball.
Press dough into springform pan.
Garnish with berries, mint, dehydrated grapefruit, edible flowers.
Refrigerate for an hour.
Arizona Winter Farm-to-Table Pesto
Simple pesto with local Arizona greens and herbs, enjoyed with Winter root veggies.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
1 cup Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Greens)
1 cup “hail storm arugula”
½ cup fresh micro-cilantro
2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup Arizona pecans, fresh cracked
Pinch sea salt
2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
SIMPLE STEPS
Place all ingredients except organic extra virgin olive oil into food processor.
Pulse to desired level of thickness.
Stream in olive oil little by little until smooth.
Taste and add extra garlic, lemon juice, or herbs to create a taste that’s right for you.
Enjoy with Arizona Roots
Enjoy Arizona Herb Pesto.
Arizona Root Veggies & Edible Flowers
Purple Daikon Radishes
French Breakfast Radishes
Purple Top Turnips
Beets: Detroit, Cylindra, Golden
Tropical Black Carrots
2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats
Interested in a weekend of Plant-based Cooking, Self Care, Hiking and Special Sedona Ceremonies?
We are all so excited to share our passions with you during the Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats in 2020.
Retreat dates: February 7-10, 2020; June 12-15, 2020; September 18-21, 2020
Melanie Albert,Retreat Host, Plant-Based Culinary
Muzique Broadnax, Massage Therapy
Gary Henderickson, Feng Shui
June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony and Hand Readings
Daniel Posney,Kiva Ceremony and Ceremonial Vortex Hike
Patricia Fonseca,Ayurvedic Yoga Hike
Melanie Albert, Retreat Host and Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Cooking Guide
Melanie Albert, Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert, author, and speaker, Melanie is Founder and CEO of Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona, and award-winning cookbook author of “A New View of Healthy Eating.” She regularly contributes recipe articles to “Natural Awakenings” and appears on The List tv show.
Melanie’s passion is local Arizona food. She loves intuitively creating and guiding others to enjoy healthy eating and prepare simple beautiful farm-to-table plant-based meals with our local Arizona farmers’ produce.
A leader in wellness, nutrition, and whole foods cooking for over 15 years, Melanie is a 2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, worked in marketing with Weil Lifestyle/Andrew Weil, MD for 9 years, and has completed 610 hours of plant-based culinary training. Through hundreds of cooking classes, events, corporate wellness, team building, media, and retreats Melanie has taught thousands of people — former NFL players, MDs, holistic practitioners, business professionals, kids, and media — simple ways to cook delicious meals with plant-based food from our local Arizona farmers.
Muzique Broadnax, Therapeutic Massage
Muzique Broadnax, Certified Massage Therapist, Founder of Balenchino Massage in Arizona and Minnesota, is a charismatic and passionate deep tissue specialist with an abundance of formal and hands on experience and training. Who loves to heal, rejuvenate and motivate her customers! Working with intention to delve into muscle tension and create deep releases and detoxification in your body. Muzique was implanted in Phoenix by way of Minnesota since June 2019 that has been practicing the art of massage for over 12 years.
In her spare time she is an avid yogi and loves to travel the world. Open communication within her business directly applying the wants and needs of her customer into her business practices in turn creating meaningful and lasting relationships with her loyal customer.
During the retreat, you’ll receive one 1-hour therapeutic massage with Muzique, right in the comfort of our retreat house.
Gary Henderickson, Feng Shui
Founder & CEO of Feng Shui Design International, in Sedona, Arizona, Gary has over 42 years of study and practice with Feng Shui, architecture, interior design and community design as his professional background. He has developed an integral approach to feng shui, drawing from 12 different techniques of feng shui. He designs community developments, homes, offices, healing retreat centers, and industrial complexes. He lectures, teaches and consults throughout the United States and overseas to developers, city planning departments, architects, interior designers, design institutions, corporations, individuals, and homeowners.
Gary’s Feng Shui readings focus on how this ancient science can help you to increase your effectiveness and efficiency in your work and increase your income, discover your lucky direction, find which partners would be most compatible with you, enjoy more harmony in your relations with family, friends and business associates, and improve your sleep.
During the retreat, you will receive a private 30-minute Feng Shui Reading with Gary.
June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony and Hand Readings
June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony at 2019 Sedona Retreat
Melanie & June enjoying our Retreat House
June Rettinger de Arballo and her organization, Meaningful Thing, in Sedona, Arizona, has been specializing in the Spiritual Journey since 1979, focusing on Personal, Home & Land Clearings, Readings, Workshops, Healing Energy Work, and Medium to Deep Tissue Massage.
June is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico and follows her spiritual practice from her mother’s heritage of Apache and Mexican. She comes from a family of seers and uses her gifts as a psychic/medium and offers readings, clearings, ceremonies and blessings as well as group experiences.
June has also been a massage therapist since 1979 specializing in medium to deep tissue massage and cupping. Over many years she has worked closely with Indigenous Elders from around the world including the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers to bring their messages to our communities. Her private practice is in a historic stone house located in the heart of Sedona, Arizona.
During our retreats, June offers unique hand readings and special spiritual blessings — ceremony preformed asking (God/Creator/Universal energies/Spirits/Angels/Ancestors/Spiritual Guides) for good things and protection to come to an individual or a venture.
Daniel Posney, Kiva Ceremony and Ceremonial Vortex Hike
Daniel Posney, Kiva Ceremony during 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat
Daniel Posney, Founder of Shamystic in Sedona, Arizona, Daniel provides life transformation, energetic and shamanic healing, intuitive guidance, initiation into higher consciousness, and soul activation.
Introduced to native traditions and ceremonies while on childhood trips to Africa, Europe and later to Tahiti and Hawaii, Daniel discovered his Soul connection with shamanism and mystic wisdom. After several traumatizing life events, Daniel initiated a spiritual awakening and transformation. Living for 3 years in a 200-sq ft cabin on a 4000-acre Self-Realization ashram (spiritual community), Daniel continued his self-discovery and native experiences, which led to release of all possessions and a 2000-mile bicycle journey.
For over 10 years, Daniel is a recognized practitioner, healer, guide, and teacher who offers practical tools to create and attract more of what you want in your life, significantly reduce physical pain, discover new perspectives and experience more clarity about your life.
During our retreats Daniel guides us in a memorable kiva ceremony on the retreat house property, along with a ceremonial Sedona Vortex hike.
Patricia Fonseca, Ayurvedic Yoga Hike
Patricia Fonseca, Ayurvedic Yoga Hike at Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ
Co-founder of Back to Earth Sedona Tours, Patricia Fonseca grew up in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, and moved to Sedona in 2001. While her original career was that of attorney and legal author, she found new balance and purpose in her life through working with mentors in meditation, yoga, and the ancient Ayurvedic traditions.
Gradually, her new understanding led her to transition her own life to teaching meditation, yoga, fitness and Ayurvedic lifestyle at the world renowned Mi Amo Spa at Enchantment Resort. She is also a Reiki master with 7 years of hiking and nature guide experience. Patricia brings an innate compassion to every consult she leads, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Her own experiences in the high-stress world of law make her an ideal guide for anyone who has become worn by business stress, and for those seeking to incorporate more balance and meaning into their busy lives.
During our retreats, Patricia leads meaningful, unique Ayurvedic yoga with hiking in the magical Sedona vortex.
I’ll continue to post additional blogs, photos, experiences, and recipes from our September 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat. Meanwhile, please reach out to me if you’re interested in one of our 2020 retreats or a custom retreat for your organization or group of friends in 2020. – Melanie Albert
If you’re ready to reserve your spot for one of the 2020 Retreats, click here for the $500 initial deposit.
Muzique Broadnax, Certified Massage Therapist, Founder of Balenchino Massage in Arizona and Minnesota, is a charismatic and passionate deep tissue specialist with an abundance of formal and hands on experience and training. Who loves to heal, rejuvenate and motivate her customers! Working with intention to delve into muscle tension and create deep releases and detoxification in your body. Muzique was implanted in Phoenix by way of Minnesota since June 2019 that has been practicing the art of massage for over 12 years.
